When Xie Lu brought him back to the Xie family, he made up a reason that no one could find fault with, and that's how Xie Liwei's name was put on the Xie family genealogy, making him Xie Lu's legitimate son.

But Song Yaozhu knew that this child's origins must be extraordinary.

When his father returned from Qin, news of the murder of the King of Qin, his wife, and the Crown Prince by rioters had just reached the Xie family. He brought with him a child whose identity was in doubt.

At that time, no one would have associated Xie Liwei with the Prince of Qin, after all, the world was in chaos. It was common for bandits to break into houses and kill and rob, so the background that Xie Liwei's father fabricated did not seem particularly remarkable.

Xie Liwei's behavior was unlike that of an ordinary child. Even though he tried very hard to learn and imitate the children of the Xie family, the aristocratic education he received from a young age created a barrier between him and the children of the Xie family.

He rarely showed anger. When faced with bullying from the Xie family children, he didn't take it to heart, as if these grievances were insignificant compared to the pain he had suffered.

Song Yaozhu treated this nominal younger brother no differently than she treated her other siblings. But her cheerful and optimistic demeanor always gave people boundless strength. It seemed that no difficulty mattered to her; as long as she lived, she could stand up again with her own strength.

Making a mistake isn't terrible, as long as she has a chance to start over.

When Song Yaozhu woke up the next day, she held her aching back and cursed the little beast in her heart. She was clearly younger than him now, so why was she committing the sin of old age?

Looking at Xie Liwei still sleeping beside her, she wanted to kick him off the bed, but she found it unbelievable that she was actually lying in the same bed with him.

She turned to look at him, admiring his sleeping face.

Putting aside the injured area, his features remain exquisitely handsome. Time seems to only make good-looking people even more beautiful, bestowing upon them an even more captivating charm.

Xie Liwei, seemingly sensing the gaze in his sleep, abruptly opened his eyes and met Song Yaozhu's gaze. In an instant, he breathed a sigh of relief and reached out to embrace her waist, his voice still groggy from just waking up.

"When did you wake up? Are you hungry?"

Song Yaozhu must be starving. She was up until midnight last night and hadn't ordered any midnight snacks yet.

Song Yaozhu ran her fingers through his hair, enjoying its smoothness and coolness. Suddenly, she slipped her hand under the covers.

"Your Highness drank quite a bit of ginseng soup last night, so you must still have some energy, right?"

Xie Liwei woke up with a start, his heart pounding wildly, followed by a period of fooling around until the sun was high in the sky.

Xie Liwei was supposed to go to the Ministry of Revenue today, but because of this commotion, by the time he arrived, the Ministry of Revenue had already closed its doors and refused him entry.

To obtain this money, Xie Liwei arrived at the Ministry of Revenue early every morning to stake out the office. The officials there had no choice but to endure the suffocating stares of the officials, their days filled with misery. Today, Xie Liwei was finally late, and as soon as they all arrived, they immediately slammed the doors shut!

Xie Liwei remained silent and had a tea stall set up at the entrance of the Ministry of Revenue, where passersby could drink tea and rest for a while.

He also hung a sign on the tea stall that read "Debt Collection Tea Shop".

Yuwen Wuji was so angry he almost had a heart attack.

Since fainting from anger last time, Yuwen Wuji has been very careful about his health, but he is still very angry today.

He told Li Wei to ask the fellow what he needed the money for. He said that he had been appeared in a dream by Empress Jingxian, and that the ancestral hall of Empress Jingxian in his hometown was dilapidated and needed repair. However, after he got married, the expenses of his household were too high, so he remembered the money.

He planned to have a golden statue made for Empress Jingxian after he got the money.

The reason was absurd and ridiculous, yet he couldn't refute it!

Who told him to pretend to be a romantic all these years! He's made the whole world know that he's deeply in love with Empress Jingxian. Now that Xie Liwei claims that his elder sister appeared to him in a dream and asked him to repair the tomb, if Yuwen Wuji were to obstruct him, wouldn't that just reveal his hypocrisy?

But it's not good to keep him wandering around the Ministry of Revenue all day!

"Has Tong Qian's matter not been resolved yet?"

"The Ministry of Justice is close to closing the case. One of Lord Tong's relatives has confessed to all the crimes. Lord Tong will be released from prison in two days."

"Tell him to get rid of Xie Liwei as soon as possible! And this debt, make him figure out a good way to solve it!"

Yuwen Wuji let out a long sigh of relief, and then said, "Let's go see Consort Song."

Song Wenyue is now more than eight months pregnant. Her belly is protruding and her legs are swollen every day. Every morning, she is most afraid of combing her hair. When she combs her hair, clumps of hair come out, which frightens her so much that her face turns pale.

It felt as if I wasn't pregnant, but rather had a serious illness.

The child in her womb didn't seem to be her own, but a monster that was draining her life force through the umbilical cord!

The longer she was pregnant, the more terrified she became. The people who were taking care of her removed the mirrors from the room and told her that she was still just as beautiful, but every time she washed her face and looked at her reflection in the water, she felt that she had aged, that this child had worn her down!

Many times, she wished she hadn't gotten pregnant, so she would still be young and beautiful. But then she thought, the Emperor is holding a general election, and only with this child can she secure her position.

When Yuwen Wuji arrived, she was lying there in a daze. In the late stages of her pregnancy, she began to have sluggish thinking and often sat motionless.

"Your Majesty, the Emperor has come to see you." A palace maid helped her to her feet, and only after she had dressed did she realize that the Emperor had arrived. She then put on a smiling face to greet him.

Yuwen Wuji looked at her swollen face and protruding belly, his thoughts focused on the child.

The imperial physician said that after the previous miscarriage, the pregnancy was unstable, and there were still residual toxins in his body that hadn't been cleared away, so there was no guarantee that the child could be delivered smoothly. But eight months had passed in the blink of an eye, and seeing that the mother was becoming increasingly thin and her belly was growing bigger and bigger, Yuwen Wuji felt that it was still worthwhile to use the secret medicine to protect the pregnancy.

Just wait a little longer, and the baby will be born.

"Your Majesty, I've been feeling listless and unable to eat lately. Sometimes my stomach aches..."

"Summon the imperial physician," Yuwen Wuji said breathlessly, his eyes filled with worry as he looked at her belly.

The imperial physician comes to take her pulse every day. Today's pulse has already been taken, but Song Wenyue says she has a stomachache, so something must be wrong.

"This is Consort Zhao's first pregnancy. She may feel fear and worry excessively when facing childbirth. As long as she adjusts her mindset, it will be fine."

That's what the imperial physician said.

Yuwen Wuji said to Song Wenyue, "Don't worry about giving birth. The Imperial Concubine has arranged everything for you in the palace. Today, I will have your wet nurse and midwife move into your palace, and the imperial physicians from the Imperial Hospital will be on your side at any time. Once you give birth safely, I will bestow upon you the title of Imperial Concubine."