Chapter 43 Copy (I) "I'm pregnant!"...

Lin Meizhu's voice was so soft that it was blown away by the wind, but Shen Changfeng felt like he was slapped hard in the face.

He thought that unpleasant conversation would slowly fade into oblivion. He thought she would see his change and be willing to give him another chance. He thought today's banquet would be a turning point in their relationship. However, it seemed he was wrong. Deep down, her feelings hadn't changed.

The resentment and anger simmering deep within him gradually became uncontrollable. Why? Why couldn't she see his efforts?! At the same time, he felt something slowly tighten around his heart, instantly constricting it into a ball.

"You're still angry."

"How long are you going to make trouble?"

He thought he was at least furious at the moment, but in reality, while his tone was as hard as iron, the sigh at the end was softer than the breeze through bamboo leaves. To others, it wasn't a rebuke, but rather a sense of helplessness, a hint of doting, at his inability to do anything about her. This scene undoubtedly pierced someone's heart.

"Crack!" The sound of branches breaking came from not far away.

They both looked up at the same time. Lin Meizhu caught a glimpse of the frail, moon-white figure behind the bamboo shadows. She slowly pushed his hand away, a mocking look in her eyes: How dare you ask me this?

Shen Changfeng was overwhelmed: How could there be such a lingering person?

He was about to chase after someone, but was stopped by Su Qinxue.

Su Qinxue saw that he didn't even give her a straight look, and was only following that person wholeheartedly. Her heart felt like it was being cut by a knife. With red eyes, she shouted, "I'm pregnant!"

The two people in front stopped in their tracks at the same time.

This sentence only has four words. Shen Changfeng chewed on each word several times before he understood what it meant.

She's pregnant? She's pregnant. Damn it, she's pregnant! Is she saying that she'd been having an affair with another man before Qin Yan's body was even cold, and she'd gotten pregnant?

Didn't she know that she treated Qin Yan like her own brother?! What did she mean by that? Did she want to say congratulations? She'd better not let herself know who that bastard was, otherwise he would make her a widow again.

In just a few moments, Shen Changfeng had calmed his fury. After all, she was now a free woman, and he had no right or desire to interfere in her affairs. He felt that his control and patience were getting better and better, thanks to Lin Meizhu.

Su Qinxue watched Shen Changfeng's expression change again and again, from confusion and shock to anger and disgust, and finally to a hint of contempt. This was completely unexpected for her. She waited and waited, but with no response from him, she became anxious and said, "I'm telling you, I'm pregnant."

Shen Changfeng hummed in his throat, his expression showing more disdain, his eyes becoming cold and sarcastic, and he turned around to leave.

Su Qinxue was stunned: "Chen Changfeng, what do you mean? You dare not admit it, are you a man? "

Shen Changfeng frowned slowly: Oh? So that bastard was me?

Su Qinxue burst into tears: "Do you know how scared I have been these days? I'm about to show my pregnancy, and I don't dare to tell anyone about it. After returning to Beijing, I have been looking for a chance to tell you, but you have been avoiding me everywhere. You can't do this. You have to give me a definite answer today..."

She found out she was pregnant on the way back to Beijing. She thought it was because she was feeling unwell from the long journey, so she just found a doctor to treat her. Unexpectedly, the kind-looking doctor named Liang looked at the hemp bandage on her arm after taking her pulse and had a complicated expression on his face. He thought she was pregnant with a posthumous child and tried to comfort her.

Later she sent someone to kill Doctor Liang.

At first, she felt guilty and afraid, but gradually she let it go. Perhaps he was innocent, but who knew if he'd recognized her? Who knew if he'd tell others about it while he was treating patients in the countryside? Would he really be so kind as to hide the secret? He was old, and he would die sooner or later. She'd just been there to see him off.

As the presence of the child in her belly grew stronger, Su Qinxue's mentality also changed unconsciously. Resistance and anxiety quietly disappeared, and she looked forward to the days after marrying Shen Changfeng more and more. They had missed so much time together, and this child was here to help her.

Su Qinxue wiped away her tears, her tone somewhat irritated, "That night at the palace banquet, it should have been me standing next to you. You clearly knew it! Your Majesty chose the wrong person, why didn't you say anything?"

At that time, Su Qinxue, angry at Shen Changfeng's reluctance to make a promise, agreed to Qin Yan's marriage proposal. She regretted it the more she thought about it. It just so happened that the emperor's greatest hobby was granting marriages, so she decided to have Concubine Xue whisper something in the emperor's ear at the palace banquet, using the imperial decree to legitimately ruin the original marriage. Qin Moyun had come to see her that night, but she hadn't expected the girl to suddenly decide to go to Quexian Bridge to watch the fireworks, nor had she expected Lin Meizhu to appear and help Qin Moyun up. She could only watch helplessly as Shen Changfeng carried Qin Moyun to Lin Meizhu and watched as Lin Meizhu stole everything from her.

"If we had been granted marriage..."

Shen Changfeng interrupted her and said slowly: "I will definitely do what I promised you."

Lin Meizhu, who was not far away, was silent for a few moments when she heard this, then silently reached out and took the peony flower off her bun. She thought she had let it go and her heart would no longer hurt, but that was not the case.

This was more painful than letting her know that Shen Changfeng would not fall in love with her. She felt like she was living like a clown. Her life was completely rewritten because of a few angry words from them. The pain and struggle she endured were just the whining of an actor on the stage in the eyes of others. In their eyes, she had no dignity at all.

She heard a familiar voice behind her: "Who's talking over there?"

She smiled and said, "It's my husband."

"But soon it won't be."

Shen Changfeng thought that Lin Meizhu was waiting for him there and planned to end the battle quickly.

He exhaled a breath of foul air: "Qin Yan is my brother, you are his widow, the eldest sister-in-law is like a mother, I respect you and take care of you because of our past relationship, but... you can't put all the blame on me!"

Su Qinxue: "You were the only one there that night! Are you planning to deny your guilt by getting drunk?!"

Shen Changfeng curled his lips and said, "If I were drunk, I wouldn't have gotten you pregnant. If I wasn't drunk, it would have been even less likely. As for the arranged marriage, I didn't even notice where you were that night. In fact... I could have left Quexian Bridge immediately that night, but I didn't."

Su Qinxue's eyes seemed to be filled with poison. "What kind of magic potion did that woman give you? I originally thought that since we are both women, I didn't want to embarrass her, but now it seems that I was wrong!"

Shen Changfeng's face suddenly changed color, and murderous aura burst out from him like a ferocious beast whose reverse scales had been touched. "Embarrass her?! What identity do you intend to embarrass her with?"

The next moment, her throat was grabbed by someone. His palm was hard and hot, and the violent energy was pulsating wildly, gurgling against her neck.

Su Qinxue had never seen him like this before. In her eyes, he was a young man from a noble family who loved romance, a cynical prince. He was always gentle with women, always reliable and steady. She had no idea how terrifying he could be when he got angry, and she suddenly lost the ability to speak.

"Anyone in this world could be the father of this child, except me! If I really wanted you, I would have taken you when you were naked and lying on my bed. I wouldn't have waited until now. You know very well what kind of person I am. I, Shen Changfeng, will never give up what I want, even if it's my own brother!"

"As for who the father of the child is, I think we will find out soon."

Su Qinxue slumped down among the fallen leaves, tears streaming down her face. Slowly and stiffly, she reached out and touched the side of her neck. Shen Changfeng had practiced martial arts since childhood, and his fingertips had obvious calluses. Was it the same feeling she had when he touched her that night? It had to be, right?

Compared to the tense atmosphere in the bamboo forest, there was peace in the Qiying Pavilion.

Lin Meiju rolled up her trouser legs trimmed with green satin, and as expected, she saw that her originally fair and slender calves were bruised, and even her ankles were numb and swollen.

Chuqi was a little embarrassed and wanted her to let her trouser legs down: "I'll be fine after a rest. This is because I've been kneeling too much these days. Don't think too much."

Lin Meiju did not refute, but just massaged the acupuncture points for him lightly or heavily until she felt a slight warmth on the skin of her palms, and then she spread out the needle bag.

Who could have imagined that she would pick up a man who won the third place in the imperial examination after just standing in the bamboo forest for a while?

Chuqi saw Lin Meiju's stern face and knew that she was very angry, so he didn't dare to move and just sat on the recliner and let her do whatever she wanted.

He'd been having severe leg pain for the past few days, and he'd assumed he could get through it today with just the medicine he'd taken. But after the emperor presented him with flowers and wine, he suddenly felt a dull, excruciating pain in his ankle. Fearing a loss of decorum in front of the palace, he quickly sought an opportunity to retreat. Before he even reached the Qiying Pavilion, his calves began to ache, and he dove headfirst into a pile of bamboo leaves, unable to get up.

Although it was an emergency and there were few people in the back hall, Chu Qi still felt that it was not appropriate and said cautiously: "I'll do it myself."

Lin Meizhu looked nonchalant. Even if someone discovered her, what would it matter? Would they accuse her, a woman from a family of officials, of learning low-class medical skills? Or would they accuse her of shamelessness for treating men? In the past, she might have cared deeply, but now it was nothing.

Chuqi looked at her calm eyes and suddenly remembered how they first met many years ago.

It was the middle of winter. A fat maid knocked on the door of the hut, handed the backpack on her back to Chen Huisheng with one hand, and spread out the money with the other hand to ask for travel expenses.

"Mrs. Chen said you would give me the remaining five taels of silver!"

"Is that true? Don't even think about denying your debt, old man! I almost lost my life just to send this girl here!"

Old Chen was almost driven mad, partly because of his daughter's reckless behavior, and partly because of the old woman's exorbitant demands.

Just as Chen Huisheng was engaged in a verbal battle with someone, Chuqi lifted the tattered felt cloth on the backpack, met a pair of dark eyes, and let out a soft "Ah".

The little kid was wearing a half-worn cotton-padded jacket, his face was pale, there were purple scabs around his lips, his chin was pointed, his hands and feet were red, and he looked up at him quietly.

Chuqi teased her: "Dear, are you cold?"

The little kid didn't answer.

He asked again, "Are you hungry?"

The little girl blinked but remained silent. Chuqi suspected she was mute.

Nanny Sun's voice was piercing, "We agreed on five taels of silver, not a penny less!"

The little baby trembled all over, his eyes turned red instantly, he shrank his body and pressed himself against the backpack, his throat whimpered, but his mouth pursed even tighter.

I saw it on the seventh day.

He lowered his eyes and was silent for a moment, then reached out and picked up the little baby, just like the pair of thick, big hands that lifted him from the wind and snow. The warmth of his palms caressed her face, and the two abandoned mosquito larvae snuggled together. His voice was warm and powerful: "Don't be afraid, we're home."

Lin Meizhu learned to speak very late. When she was a child, her neighbors always praised her for being well-behaved and quiet, but later they stopped praising her.

Life in Lingnan was poor, but she had grown up freely in the barren mountains, even her tears were abundant. But now, no matter what happened, she would habitually hide her tears. Even if she couldn't help it, she would immediately wipe them away and pretend nothing happened. She became dignified and generous, with elegant manners, but he was not happy at all.

"I don't care what anyone says about me."

"But I care, I care a lot." Chu Qi tucked the strands of hair that fell from her temples for her. "Even though I know what they said is not true, even though I know what they said makes no sense, I still don't want them to talk about you or look down on you."

Lin Meiju's hand paused and she looked at Chuqi's face.

His eyes were always gentle, as warm as honey, making people unable to help but look at them twice after just one glance. There was a faint scent of ink on his fingertips, which was the aftertaste of his countless days and nights of hard study. This hint of sweetness aroused some bold, outrageous and even evil secret thoughts in her heart: Since Shen Changfeng can be entangled with other women, why can't she?

Chuqi will not refuse.