Chapter 81: The cramps in my calves are getting more and more frequent when I get up at night.

The night outside gradually deepened, and the room also became dim. Xiaobai lit a candle, reflecting the faint smile on Wen Zheliu's lips.

"Miss Murong, do you have anything else to tell me?"

They were a single woman and a single man living in the same room. Even though they had Xiaobai by their side, if the news got out, it would definitely not be good for their reputation.

The best solution is to finish the matter as soon as possible and separate.

As the saying goes, beauty is best seen under the lamp. Under the flickering candlelight, her pale skin was coated with a layer of light gold, as crystal clear as pearls. When Murong Jin, who was not easily affected by beauty, saw this kind of beauty, her ears involuntarily turned red.

The husband is so handsome and he is fighting for his unborn child. His wife is so lucky.

If Wen Zheliu hadn't had someone in his heart...

Well, a forced melon is not sweet.

When the unborn child was mentioned, Wen Zheliu, who always had a cold face, had her eyes curved up, swaying gracefully like a water lily in the wind. She should be more sensible and wish the emperor and empress a happy marriage.

Murong Jin turned her head to avoid Wen Zheliu's gaze, which was as calm as water and as gentle as the wind. "Since Your Highness is pregnant, you should take good care of the baby. If something goes wrong, not only will it hurt you, but the child's mother will also worry about you."

After listening to He Jiuyue and Wen Zheliu, the corners of his mouth couldn't help but curl up again.

"That's right. Thank you for your trouble. If there's nothing else, please go back. Don't stay too long and arouse His Majesty's suspicion."

Murong Jin bowed and stepped out of the threshold.

Xiaobai was the only one left by his side. Wen Zheliu no longer cared about propriety, morality, and shame, and just untied his belt to loosen up.

It’s so uncomfortable to always feel the pain in my stomach.

If it weren't for the fact that physical contact between men and women is forbidden, he would have wanted to untie the cloth belt when Murong Jing discovered that she was pregnant.

It will save you from having to save face in front of others and make yourself suffer.

"Tear it down quickly."

Wen Zheliu clenched the curtain tightly with both hands and gritted his teeth to avoid touching Xiaobai's hands that were removing his corset. His usually calm voice suddenly became hoarse like rough sand and gravel rubbing against each other, and a seductive red appeared at the corners of his eyes.

There's no way, this broken belt is too tight.

"Your Highness, Imperial Physician Helan said that one must not be impatient when removing the tape. If one is not careful, the child will be hurt. Your subordinate has done it as quickly as possible." Xiaobai was also sweating with anxiety.

After finally removing the annoying cloth belt, Wen Zheliu collapsed on the couch, his entire back soaked with cold sweat.

"I'll have someone bring you some clean clothes. Will you please take off these wet ones?"

Xiaobai first closed the window and added some firewood to the stove. He heard Zheliu hum in a low voice, and then poked his head out from the windproof curtain. After giving instructions to the servants, he came back.

"Besides the discomfort of wet clothes sticking to your body, are you feeling any other discomfort? Do you need to see the Imperial Physician Helan?"

"No need, please."

Helan Yuan went to the palace to treat Situ Yun's headache. She said that when the time was right, she would come to the East Palace to check on his pulse.

This dragged on for a while, but there was no sign of Helan Yuan. I was afraid that Helan Yuan was in the palace and was tripped up by Situ Yun.

He rashly sent Xiaobai to invite them, fearing that it would alert the enemy.

"You didn't take the pregnancy-maintaining medicine you were supposed to take at noon. Do you need to order the small kitchen to make a new dose and send it over?" Jianwen Zheliu's face was as pale as snow, and Xiaobai looked worried.

"No," Wen Zheliu still refused, "All medicines are poisonous. Besides, the time for taking medicine has passed."

Knowing that Wen Zheliu was unwell, he liked to curl up and not move. He sent people away to be alone. Xiaobai was speechless for a moment, found a brocade quilt, and carefully draped it over him. "If your highness has no other instructions, I will take my leave first."

Wen Zheliu hummed a single note from his nose: "Hmm."

He was the only one left in the house, and his every move was magnified by the night. Even the sound of his breathing, of varying depths, echoed diligently in the house.

Wen Zheliu felt his face getting hot just by listening to it.

How could a man who is so devoted to his husband make such dissolute noises?

But the pain raged like a tide, and Wen Zheliu had no time to care about his face. He tried to hold his breath for a moment, but was interrupted by the itchy Adam's apple. He had no choice but to look at the full moon outside the window, and a series of weak gasps escaped from his throat.

Master Xuankong had a mysterious look on his face, and it seemed like he was trying to be mysterious, but unexpectedly, he actually had some skills.

She said he had a tough life.

He was controlled by Situ Yun and had to give himself to Murong Jin. He was alone and helpless, and seemed to have no way out. However, because of his "bastard" identity, he was blessed with the surrender of the Murong clan, and there was a ray of hope in his life.

But I don’t know if he can turn danger into safety once the vicious He Jiuyue knows his life experience.

I hope so.

He really, really missed her.

He wanted to be hugged tightly by her, wanted to be bullied by her in bed... It didn't matter what he did, as long as she was by his side, he would be content.

Central Plains night, Princess Mansion.

A full moon is in the sky, and its bright light shines on the earth.

In the lonely courtyard, a breeze blew gently, causing the dead branches to rustle. He Jiyue drank alone facing the moon, with an empty stone bench beside him. The regent, who was a puppet over hundreds of officials and tens of thousands of civilians, had some free time, but no one was by his side.

The wine flowed into my mouth like water. It was a fine wine with a complicated production process, but when I poured a large pot of it into my mouth, it had no taste for some reason.

...I'm afraid it's not the alcohol's fault, it's because it seems like someone is missing next to me.

There was a rustling sound behind him, and He Jiuyue's ears twitched.

As expected, Chen Jin's voice rang out: "Princess, I have something to report."

"What's the matter?" He Jiuyue put down his wine cup.

"The Minister of Revenue, An Rui, wants to see you. He said he has heard news about the young master." As soon as Chen Jin got the news, he rode back to the princess's mansion at full speed.

He Jiuyue has been searching for Wen Zheliu for many months, and she will definitely be happy to get news from him.

The princess is drunk again, and she might go to the prison to interrogate An Rui in person. I just hope the princess won't torture him as harshly as last time.

Those torture instruments are used by rough people. It would be bad if the princess hurt her hand.

But to Chen Jin's surprise, after hearing the news, He Jiuyue just silently added more wine to her empty wine cup.

Any news related to Wen Zheliu?

Speak of the devil, and he will appear. She was still thinking about Wen Zheliu in her mind when this clue came to her. It seemed that it was obtained without any effort.

But how true can this news be coming from An Rui, who is used to changing his stance according to the situation and is only interested in profit?

"Chen Jin, how true and false do you think this news about Wen Zheliu that An Rui told you is?"

Chen Jin was stunned: "I don't know."

"More than half are fake."

He Jiuyue has always been swift in her actions, but she never speaks easily - she has been in power for many years, and the military emphasizes that superiors should lead by example. If she speaks rashly before the situation is clear, it will delay military affairs.

Every time she spoke, she thought deeply in her mind.

"What a cunning man this An Rui is! I tortured him severely before, and he couldn't utter a single word. Now I spared his life and locked him up in a dark room in the prison, where he couldn't contact anyone outside. How could he suddenly know the news about Wen Zheliu?"

Chen Jin was excited about finally getting some news about Wen Zheliu, who had been missing for a long time. However, after hearing He Jiuyue's analysis, she was poured a bucket of cold water. She drooped her head and looked visibly dejected.

"Your Highness is absolutely right. This is most likely fake news fabricated by An Rui. He's desperate to redeem himself for his crimes and report the news without knowing if it's true. It's my fault. Please punish me, Your Highness."

"You're just worried and confused, what's wrong with that?"

Chen Jin thanked He Jiuyue for not blaming him, bowed and stepped back, but was stopped by He Jiuyue again.

"slow."

At first, He Jiuyue placed Emperor Jingming under house arrest, controlled the imperial edicts, and prevented her from touching state affairs. She was also busy looking for Wen Zheliu all over the Central Plains. A large pile of government affairs accumulated in the imperial study. After He Jiuyue completely monopolized power, she worked tirelessly for three to five days before she finally managed to restore the operation of the Central Plains officialdom.

She had some free time recently and started thinking about Wen Zheliu's disappearance. She always felt that something was wrong.

I just took a few sips of wine and now I have some thoughts.

Wen Zheliu had indeed disappeared without a trace in the Central Plains. She had set up a tight net, but he still disappeared without a trace. However, this did not mean that there was no trace of him in areas outside the Central Plains.

The geese leave their voices behind when they pass by, and as long as one is still alive, it is impossible that there is no news at all.

"Keep an eye on An Rui and see who he's in contact with. As for the information he's saying about Wen Zheliu, have Guan Ze carefully examine it and confirm it's true before reporting back."

He Jiuyue pinched the aching Taiyangxue.

Perhaps they had heard that she was looking for a pregnant man, and all the civil and military officials "worked together" and simultaneously received news about various beautiful pregnant men.

A large number of pregnant men poured into the princess's mansion and were then asked to leave. They were all fakes, not the real ones.

Hearing the news, hope slowly rose in He Jiuyue's heart, but when her eyes swept across the big bellies she had never seen before, her heart, which had been hanging high in the air, suddenly fell to the ground and shattered.

An Rui had seen her power before and luckily survived her hands, so there was no need for him to deliberately make up lies to deceive her.

But what he said was not necessarily the whole truth.

When he heard the news about the broken willow, why didn't he take it out earlier to atone for his sins? Why did he keep it until now?

It's really cunning.

Countless hopes turned to shattered sand, and He Jiuyue was hurt badly by the lies. She would rather have never thought that "this news about Wen Zheliu is true."

She couldn't stand such setbacks anymore.

Xiyue, Donggong.

"Hiss!" Wen Zheliu cried out in pain.

Perhaps because his belly was getting bigger and squeezing his internal organs, Wen Zheliu had been having trouble sleeping recently.

Firstly, it is difficult to fall asleep, and secondly, you have to get up in a hurry at night. Even if you light a calming incense stick next to the bed that burns until dawn, you will inevitably be awakened by the feeling of suffocation.

Once again, he was interrupted by a dream in the middle of the night. Wen Zheliu held onto the bed and was about to reach for the chamber pot beside the bed to relieve himself, but his calf twitched and he could not move.

The calf cramps are becoming more and more frequent.

Wen Zheliu originally didn't want to alarm others, but thinking that he had endured this dozens of times, he gritted his teeth and persevered.

But the twitching of the legs increased instead of decreasing.

He was in so much pain that he wanted to reach out and press his calf, but was pressed by May's pregnant belly. Although the belly was still soft and could be pressed, it was painful to squeeze it.

Why did she start fighting on both ends and only picked on a pregnant man to bully?

Is it because you see that he has no one to rely on, so you pick on the weak?

This disease is really good at bullying the weak and fearing the strong.

It was obvious that when he was with He Jiuyue, he had rarely been sick and his stomach didn't hurt much. Even though he couldn't see, he was well taken care of by He Jiuyue.

Now that He Jiuyue is gone, everything is messed up.

A line of clear tears rolled down from the corners of his eyes, and he curled himself up into a ball silently.

It would be great if He Jiuyue were here.