Autumn Ink

Pang Linqiu's heart softened instantly, and she didn't know how to deal with him. She simply pushed his face away, looked at him irritably, and frowned, asking, "How did you find your way here?"

"Hmm...uh..." He was worried about whether to say it or not.

Seeing his guilty look, Pang Linqiu instantly understood, knowing his personality, and was furious: "You let the shadow follow me again?!"

Peng Xuan'an felt even more guilty. "I... I was afraid that something might happen to Madam, so I wanted Shadow to step in and resolve the situation... I meant well."

Pang Linqiu was extremely annoyed. "Peng Xuan'an! Get out of here!" she yelled, pointing at the door. "I hate you! I never want to see you again!"

Peng Xuan stopped abruptly, struggling to breathe.

“Linqiu…” His words suddenly caught in his throat.

He then noticed that Pang Linqiu's eyes were brimming with tears. She was looking at him angrily, as if she had a thousand words to say to him, but she couldn't get them out. Her body trembled inexplicably, whether from the cold or a physical reaction, he didn't know. Peng Xuan'an was completely at a loss and didn't know how to comfort her.

"Lanmo! Show the guest out!" she shouted.

Lanmo pushed open the door and entered, gesturing for her to enter.

Peng Xuan'an had no choice but to leave. Perhaps his absence would better quell her anger. He glanced at her a few more times with reluctance, then finally left, closing the door behind him. He thought... perhaps she had been accumulating this grievance for a long time, and his appearance was like a fuse that ignited the bomb.

He secretly blamed himself.

After Peng Xuan'an left, the room became much quieter. Pang Linqiu felt a warm liquid run down her cheek, and when she gently wiped it away, she realized she was crying. She was crying for no apparent reason; she never usually had such strong emotions over such trivial matters, and she didn't know what was wrong with her today.

After wiping away her tears, she rubbed her temples in annoyance, then went back to bed and continued sleeping.

On the other side, Lan Mo led Peng Xuan'an out of the house, and when she saw Peng Xuan'an to the door and was about to close it, Peng Xuan'an stopped her.

The image of her crying and becoming emotional was still lingering in his mind, and the more he thought about it, the more confused he became.

"Lanmo, has Madam suffered some injustice recently?"

Lan Mo was momentarily stunned, but maintained her smile and replied, "Reporting to you, sir, Miss has not suffered any grievances recently."

"Then why is she... so agitated?"

Lanmo was taken aback. "My lord, your late-night visit disturbed Miss's sleep, so of course she's angry."

“Given her personality, she wouldn’t suddenly break down in tears. Lanmo, tell me! Is she in trouble?” he asked anxiously.

Lan Mo simply smiled politely, "Sir, it's normal for pregnant women to have fluctuating emotions during this time. You should also get some rest. I can take care of the young lady."

He was startled, pushed open the door, rushed into the courtyard, and chased after her, demanding, "What did you say!"

Lanmo remained silent, maintaining her smile. "Didn't Miss inform the Master?"

He was utterly shocked: "Lanmo, you...you said she...is pregnant!!" A mix of emotions welled up inside him.

Lan Mo nodded and said in a low voice, "Sir, it's late. Please keep your voice down so as not to disturb Miss's sleep."

Peng Xuan'an nodded excitedly, "When did this happen? How many months pregnant are you?"

Lan Mo hesitated for a moment, wondering whether to speak or not. What if Pang Linqiu was unhappy? If she didn't speak... who knew if Peng Xuan'an would pester her relentlessly, pressing her for an answer...

Seeing her troubled expression, Peng Xuan'an guessed that Pang Linqiu probably didn't want her to say anything. He had no choice but to suppress his surging joy, not wanting to make things difficult for her: "Alright, I'll come again tomorrow."

As soon as Peng Xuan'an stepped out, Lan Mo quickly closed the door, as if she were chasing away a plague god.

The next morning.

Peng Xuan'an arrived at the gate of the house early with a lunchbox. Lan Mo tried to shut him out, but it was no use; Peng Xuan'an was agile enough to climb over the wall and force his way in. Pang Linqiu was still fast asleep, so he didn't dare disturb her and quietly sat on a bench in the courtyard waiting for her to wake up.

He arrived at Chenshi (7-9 AM), and she got up at Sishi (9-11 AM).

Peng Xuan'an had sharp ears; hearing the noise inside through the door, she quickly grabbed the box and stood at the doorway. She was overjoyed to think that she would be the first person Peng Xuan'an saw when she opened the door.

As soon as Pang Linqiu opened the door, her tall, slender figure came into view. Pang Linqiu looked up and met his gaze for a moment, then Peng Xuan'an smiled sweetly, "Husband..."

With a "bang," he was turned away.

"Lanmo! Show the guests out!" Pang Linqiu called out from behind the door.

Peng Xuan'an used a lot of persuasion to finally dissuade her from sending the guests away, and successfully went inside to serve the meal.

inside the house.

He arranged the dishes in a flattering manner, including steamed buns, eight-treasure porridge, some steamed buns, rice milk, and so on.

Pang Linqiu wanted to eat, but inexplicably felt nauseous and instantly lost her appetite, her head aching as she rubbed her forehead.

"What do you think about the divorce I mentioned to you last night?"

Peng Xuan'an didn't really want to discuss this topic. "I..." He remained silent for a long time.

“…Okay, I understand.” She understood instantly.

After eating a few bites to tide me over, I turned and headed back to my desk. "I have other things to do. You should go back to Beijing."

Peng Xuan'an shook his head, but instead of leaving, he walked to her side and said, "Madam, is there anything you need? I'll help you."

"This is my personal matter and has nothing to do with you."

He spoke softly and gently, saying, "Madam, I can do anything for you. But now that you are pregnant, you should put these things aside for the time being." After saying this, he took the brush from her hand, hung it back up, and put the unfolded account book aside.

Pang Linqiu was startled. After thinking for a moment, he realized that apart from Lan Mo and himself, no one else knew about this. There was only one possibility: Lan Mo had told him when she saw him off last night.

She had mixed feelings. "With your abilities, you can't handle all of this. Perhaps you should..."

"Madam, shall we go back to the manor and take good care of the baby?"

"..."

"I will handle all the matters at your disposal, and my subordinates can handle them well too. They will definitely not mess things up, so you can rest assured, okay?"

Peng Xuan'an reached out and stroked her face, causing Pang Linqiu to stand up in surprise. Not wanting him to touch her, Peng Xuan'an pulled her into his arms completely, not daring to press too hard against her stomach.

"Linqiu, shall we go back to the manor?"

"No."

...

After much persuasion, pleading, and coaxing, Pang Linqiu reluctantly agreed to go back and put the matter of divorce aside.

Upon returning home, Peng's parents were overjoyed to learn of her pregnancy and ordered their servants to distribute congratulatory candies throughout the streets of Kyoto.

Pang Linqiu temporarily put aside her work, still worried that he would mess things up, so she divided the workload in half. He handled business matters, and she handled matters related to the girls' college.

As the months went by, Pang Linqiu's belly grew bigger and bigger.

One day, when she was six months pregnant, she looked at Peng Xuan'an, who was busy handling business matters, and told him not to bother. Peng Xuan'an listened and sat down next to her to keep her company.

Pang Linqiu touched the little life inside her belly. "Xuan'an, do you... hope the child in your belly is a boy or a girl?" She felt inexplicably nervous.

Peng Xuan'an smiled gently, "Both men and women are fine, it mainly depends on which one you like."

Pang Linqiu rested her head on his shoulder, and the thought of Peng's mother constantly burning incense and praying, muttering that she wanted a boy, a boy, gave her a headache.

Come to think of it, in a world where only the birth of a boy can give people a breather, how can it be good to have both boys and girls? If a girl is born, the outcome is to keep having children until a boy is born.

“Is that so…” she said softly.

Peng Xuan'an didn't know what was wrong with her. She thought it was just an inexplicable emotional fluctuation, so she didn't think much of it and turned to ask her, "Have you thought of a name for the child?"

"I have no idea."

Peng Xuan'an chuckled, picked up a pen, and wrote four characters on the paper.

Ambition, autumn ink.

Then he laid the paper out in front of her to show her, saying, "I've made up my mind. The boy will be named Zhishi, and the girl will be named Qiumo. I hope he will live up to his name, with lofty aspirations and unstoppable momentum."

"As for Qiu Mo, I hope she can be happy. Autumn is the opposite of spring." He looked at her and couldn't help but smile: "It would be good to have a spring and an autumn. Mo also hopes that she is knowledgeable, reasonable, and has an outstanding way of speaking."

"Madam, what do you think?"

Pang Linqiu seemed a little tired, nodded, and half-closed her eyes: "All is well..."

Ten months of pregnancy have passed in the blink of an eye, and the moment of delivery is approaching.

"Ahhhhh──"

Heart-wrenching screams echoed from inside the house, making Peng Xuan'an's heart pound; she couldn't imagine how much pain that must be causing. Peng's parents waited outside for news from inside. Peng Xuan'an prayed that the agony of childbirth would end quickly, hoping that Pang Linqiu would be safe and sound.

Suddenly, the heart-wrenching screams from inside the house ceased. Instead, the midwife rushed out, looking at Peng Xuan'an with a panicked expression.

Peng Xuan'an immediately sensed something was wrong upon seeing this.

The midwife cried out anxiously, "My lord! My lord! Something terrible has happened! The lady has fainted from the pain!"

"What?!"

"Madam has a small pelvis, which is not suitable for childbirth. If she were to force a child, it would likely result in the death of both mother and child!"

Peng Xuan'an looked at her with even more despair, grabbing the midwife's shoulder and anxiously saying, "No matter what! Save the mother! Save her! I can give up the child! I can give up the child!" He was almost going crazy; the feeling of losing his precious treasure was extremely painful and life-threatening!

When Peng's parents heard their son say this, they dared not choose to leave the mother and keep the son.

The midwife was at a loss. "My lord! Forgive my limited medical skills, but the lady has fainted. The baby is still in her womb. If the lady were still awake, we could save either the mother or the baby. But now that she has fainted..." She sighed sadly, "My lord, it's not that I'm not good enough..."

"Waaaaah—" The sound of a baby crying rang out, and everyone looked over at the same time.

Another midwife rushed out to announce the good news, "My lady! It's a girl!"

Then a maidservant hurried out carrying a swaddled baby and went to Peng Xuan'an and his parents, handing the child over.

Peng Xuan'an didn't take it, but his parents took it and smiled happily. He rushed into the house, but was stopped by another midwife, "Sir! Madam is still bleeding, don't come in!"

Peng Xuan'an could only wait anxiously outside, feeling increasingly sorry for Pang Linqiu inside, who was enduring such severe pain.

After waiting for an unknown amount of time, he was finally allowed to enter the house.

Upon entering the room, Peng Xuan'an saw Pang Linqiu lying on the bed, her face pale and weak, her eyes closed and her face contorted in pain. Her breathing was shallow and rapid, and Peng Xuan'an was even more afraid that she would die before leaving behind the child.

He knelt down beside the bed, tightly holding Pang Linqiu's hand with one hand, "Madam... please wake up... okay?"

"Don't leave me alone to take care of Qiu Mo. If you leave, I don't want to live alone either." His eyes reddened, and he felt like crying when he didn't get a response from her for a long time.

He stepped out of the house and hurriedly pulled out a token, tossing it to Luo Pu: "Luo Pu! Take my token and fetch the imperial physician from the palace! Quickly!"

After waiting for a while, Luo Pu hurriedly went to the imperial physician to be admitted to the hospital.

The experienced imperial physician took Pang Linqiu's pulse, then pulled Peng Xuan'an aside. "Minister Peng, the lady has only fainted due to weakness. She will be fine in a while."

Peng Xuan'an's heart finally settled down, and she asked the imperial physician in a low voice, "Will she suffer from a lasting illness? Will she be traumatized?"

The imperial physician scratched his head, shook his head and sighed softly: "Madam has been through a near-death experience, losing half of her lifespan. Her health is probably not what it used to be, and there is a high possibility that she will fall ill."

Peng Xuan'an panicked. "Then... how much longer can she live?" He turned to look at Pang Linqiu on the bed and asked fearfully, "How much longer can she live?"

"In my opinion, he can live for another ten years or so. If he can take good care of his health, he can live even longer."

"...Okay...I understand."

After listening to the imperial physician's instructions, he saw the physician off. After handing the child over to his parents, he stayed alone in the room, waiting for her to wake up.