Chapter 61 Chapter 61 Pregnant.

The porridge in the pot was bubbling. The soldier squatting beside it glanced at the general standing behind him, and sweat began to appear on his forehead, not knowing whether it was because of the heat or because he was being stared at.

"How long will it take?" Ji Wei asked in a deep voice.

The soldier tried his best to fan the flames under the boiler and whispered, "General, it will be ready soon."

He didn't know why the general had such a good appetite today. He ordered him to cook porridge before dawn and seemed to be waiting here impatiently.

Ji Rui took a deep breath impatiently and started walking around the camp.

The soldiers on night duty were about to change shifts, and their spirits gradually relaxed. They gathered in groups of three or four to chat.

"When I joined the army, my new wife had just married into the family a few days ago. She hadn't even warmed up to bed when she came here." A young soldier scratched his head and laughed, his tone a bit naive. "I wonder if she's forgotten me. Maybe she can't even remember what I look like!"

"Look at your potential, kid! When you achieve great things in the future, you won't have to worry about not having many wives and concubines!"

As everyone laughed, the soldier cursed, "Fuck you, I want this!"

Another person sighed, "When I left home, my wife was about to give birth." He even choked up and said, "I haven't even seen the child yet!"

As everyone tried to comfort him, he continued to talk even more. "How could you possibly know that my unfortunate wife was so upset when she got pregnant!"

"I vomit in the morning, I vomit in the evening! I vomit whether I eat or not!" As he spoke, the surroundings suddenly became quiet, leaving only his voice: "Why are you looking at me like that? I'm telling the truth!"

Just as he finished speaking, a hand suddenly landed on his shoulder. The force was not strong, but it brought a sense of oppression that made his back stiffen. A familiar and solemn voice came to his ears: "Say it again."

*

Ji Sui hurried to the tent and forgot about the porridge. He turned back halfway to get it. Holding the tray, he hesitated at the door for a long time.

After lifting the curtain and entering the tent, Lin Zhen, wearing only his single garment, was about to get off the bed when Ji Sui rushed over and supported her.

Lin Zhen frowned at him. Ji Sui withdrew his hand awkwardly and said to her, "Aren't you feeling unwell? Have some porridge."

Lin Zhen raised her hand to pick up the bowl, but Ji Sui got there first. He held the bowl in front of her, scooped up a spoonful and fed it to her mouth.

Lin Zhen felt baffled. She glared at Ji Sui and said, "I can do it myself."

Ji Wei had no choice but to slowly hand the bowl to Lin Zhen and watch her drink.

For three days in a row, he was so confused. He either sat alone in a daze, or made a fuss when she moved the slightest.

She originally wanted to go out for a walk to see if she could get some useful information, but these days, he didn't even let her go out of the tent.

Lin Zhen suspected that he had seen something, so he did not dare to resist.

That night, Ji Wei just held her in his arms like he did the previous two days, without any other action.

Lin Zhen gradually came to his senses. Later, he would gently stroke her flat belly from time to time, which further confirmed her guess.

Lin Zhen was very upset.

The next day, she insisted on leaving the tent. Ji Sui's vanguard had been speeding up their journey, but had stayed here for three days. Lin Zhen had a feeling something was wrong, and she wanted to go out and take a look.

"It's good to go out for some fresh air, but only I can carry you out." Ji Sui pretended to hug her.

Lin Zhen pushed him away angrily, his eyes filled with anger, "What are you crazy about?"

After saying that, she rushed out. The terrain was rugged and she almost fell several times. Ji Rui ignored her wishes and followed her and carried her back to the tent.

"Let me go!" Lin Zhen was holding back her anger and resisted fiercely, but Ji Bai was cautious and was accidentally kicked to the ground by her.

"Child! Be careful of the child!" Ji Sui blurted out. He knelt down beside Lin Zhen, "Lin Zhen... you might be pregnant." His Adam's apple rolled, and he paused for a moment, "with our child..."

He admitted that he was at a loss, like a person who had been trapped in the abyss for a long time and suddenly saw the light of day, but did not know how to face the dazzling light.

He secretly hoped that the arrival of this child might be a godsend turning point that would make everything different.

A glimmer of hope quietly ignited in his heart, but was shrouded in deeper uneasiness.

He didn't know whether Lin Zhen was looking forward to it as much as he was.

In the past, when he was in the Jiaofangsi, he had never deliberately avoided the issue of offspring. Even though hatred was burning in his bones, he still subconsciously longed for an "accident".

An "accident" that forced them to get closer and could no longer be separated.

This delusion, which he hadn't even dared to dream of, had now come true. He suddenly raised his eyes and looked at Lin Zhen, his eyes blazing like a believer looking up at a god, waiting for the grace bestowed by the gods.

However, the gods are never moved by the prayers of mortals. They always look down upon all living beings with compassion and cold eyes, just like the way Lin Zhen looked at him at that moment, which was icy cold: "You are wrong. I can't have children."

"You really don't want to have my child...?"

Lin Zhen didn't say anything at this time. She became calm, slowly stood up, walked past Ji Bai, and left the tent.

Ji Sui was still kneeling in front of the couch, as if he had lost his soul.

*

In the next two days, although Ji Sui no longer kept Lin Zhen in the tent, he followed her wherever she went.

Lin Zhen felt helpless and simply ignored him.

On the third day, Lin Zhen clearly felt that the security in the camp had become tighter. In the afternoon, when the tent curtains fluttered slightly, she caught a glimpse of a group of people in strange costumes entering the camp.

The leader wore a golden crown with an eagle on top and a crescent-shaped bone knife at his waist.

Lin Zhen had a bad feeling, maybe this was the reason why they had been stuck for so many days.

The camp was heavily guarded and she couldn't get any information at all. She was extremely anxious, but she didn't expect that there would be a turning point that night - Ji Rui personally led one of them straight into his tent.

The man, carrying a medicine box, seemed to be a doctor. Under Lin Zhen's hesitant gaze, he slowly approached her and bowed, saying, "Madam, please extend your hand so that I can feel your pulse."

Lin Zhen frowned tightly. Even though she was extremely reluctant, Ji Sui would not give up unless she took her pulse. She put her wrist on the pulse pillow with a cold face.

The doctor felt her pulse while lowering his eyes and stroking his short beard.

She couldn't see the expression on the doctor's face, but she could feel the rise and fall of his fingertips on her veins. Somehow, she felt a little nervous...

Even though she knew it was impossible, her heart still beat uncontrollably fast. The moment the doctor looked up at her, her heart almost jumped out of her chest.

He nodded and said, "Madam's pulse is floating and slightly stagnant, and her stomach qi pulse is weak. From what the general said just now, Madam has been vomiting frequently recently. I think it's due to damaged stomach qi and the upward flow of qi. It's not serious. Wait for me to prescribe a few doses of medicine, and you can take them on time."

Ji Sui frowned slightly and was about to question the old doctor when he heard Lin Zhen's cold voice: "Get out of here!"

After leaving the tent, Ji Sui held the old doctor and continued to ask, "Are you sure you didn't make a mistake? I've heard that pregnant women can also experience vomiting—"

The doctor looked at him in surprise and asked slowly, "Madam, you caught a cold early in life. Your current constitution makes it difficult for you to get pregnant. Don't you know that?"

Although he is now a Dian citizen, he grew up in Zhou State. He knows that the rich and powerful families in Zhou State all have doctors who take their pulses on fixed days, so he has this question.

Ji Sui stood there in a daze for a long time, until the doctor could no longer stand and asked to leave, then he waved his hand woodenly.

*

After nightfall, the candlelight flickered in the tent, and Lin Zhen was holding a medicine bowl and preparing to drink it.

She had previously read the words on the cloth under the tray, and then carefully cleaned it and put it back in its original place. As soon as she stopped, the curtain was lifted and Ji Sui walked in.

He walked straight to the couch and sat down quietly, head lowered. His tone was a bit detached, as if he was talking to himself: "Was it raining heavily when you came to the camp?"

Lin Zhen's mind was still on the piece of cloth, and he said without thinking, "Not bad."

After saying that, she slowly raised her eyes and glanced at Ji Bai, and saw that his long eyelashes were still drooping.

She was brought back to the tent by Shizhu when she was washing herself by the stream early the next morning.

The misty morning fog still lingered among the gurgling mountain waters, and the rain had only fallen once the night before.

She didn't know that Ji Wei regarded that night as a dream. She just thought that he was drunk and too drunk that he didn't remember anything when he woke up.

He would suddenly ask this, was he remembering something?

However, she had no intention of concealing it deliberately, nor did she intend to remind him.

She didn't care whether he remembered or forgot.

But when he suddenly mentioned it in front of her, her thoughts were brought back to that night.

The medicine was originally warm, but her fingertips holding Yao Wan were burning hot.

The medicinal juice flowing into her throat also became boiling hot, with a hint of sourness in it. It flowed down her throat and slowly spread throughout her body. She couldn't help but tremble slightly.

The bitterness spread in his chest, emitting tiny starlight, as if he had been gazing at her beautiful peach blossom eyes from beginning to end that night.

Lin Zhen raised his head and drank the remaining medicine in one gulp, trying to use the strong bitterness to suppress the waves in his heart.

Fortunately, Ji Rui did not ask any further questions. After she finished drinking the medicine, he took the bowl of medicine from her hand with a gloomy expression, walked out of the tent dejectedly, and even forgot the tray on the table.

*

In the next few days, Ji Rui seemed to be extremely busy, often returning to the tent late at night, when Lin Zhen had already fallen asleep.

When I woke up, he was gone.

She knew that his busyness must be related to those Dian people.

She had learned from the old doctor a few days ago that the people entering the camp were all from Yunnan, and among them was a nobleman from Yunnan.

Lin Zhen remembered that the current emperor of Dian was the seventh prince back then.

That night she tossed and turned on the couch until the sky turned pale, and then she heard the sound of the curtains rustling - Ji Sui had returned.

He took off his coat tiredly, lay down quietly beside her, and slowly embraced her from behind.

"Why didn't you sleep?" His voice was hoarse and tired, and his thin lips accidentally brushed against the back of her neck.

He was too familiar with her body, and even if she tried to slow down her breathing, he could still tell that she was awake.

"What about you?" Lin Zhen asked.

Ji Sui didn't answer. He let go of her arms and lay back down.

The two of them were silent for a long time, no one spoke, but they also stayed awake all night.

It was dawn, and the autumn wind blew up the curtains, blowing the hair that fell on Lin Zhen's neck.

"General, the troops to see you off are ready." Shizhu's clear voice came from outside the tent.

Ji Sui stood up and got off the bed, straightening his clothes while saying, "This general will be there immediately."

Lin Zhen stood up and grabbed Ji Sui's sleeve before he left the tent. Her eyes were dark blue, but there was a faint twinkle in them. "Do you know what you are doing?"

Ji Wei turned around, slowly brushed off Lin Zhen's hand, glanced at her, and quickly lowered his eyes, "You are sick, take a good rest."

His evasive attitude made Lin Zhen's heart sink even deeper, "Ji Sui, if you do this, there will be no turning back!"

Ji Sui suddenly raised his head, glaring at Lin Zhen with sword-like brows, and grabbed her shoulders fiercely with his big hands: "Turn back? Isn't my current fate all because of you? Tell me how to turn back?! When I go to Qi Yu, will I be a dog wagging its tail and begging for mercy? Will he really let me go?!"

"But father and—"

Both my father and I treat you sincerely.

Her words were interrupted by Ji Sui's large hand, which grabbed her chin fiercely. She could not speak, and only heard him coldly say, "You chose him in the Hall of Eternal Life, didn't you just want to see me end up like this? Why bother pretending to be so hypocritical?"

Lin Zhen pushed him away and raised her hand to slap him, but he blocked it firmly. He grabbed her wrist and said sarcastically: "This general advises you to save your energy, get well soon, and do what you should do. This general will not easily dislike you."

Lin Zhen stood there in a daze, watching Ji Sui stride out of the tent out of the corner of his eye.