Chapter 74 A Twisted Fate "Our child has returned."...
You're hurting me.
The people behind her hugged her tighter and tighter, and Ruan Yang felt her waist hurt from the tightness. She couldn't help but pry Ning Xian's fingers apart and said, "What's wrong with you now? What if... you hurt it? Let go."
Ning Xian came to his senses, still holding onto hope for the unknown outcome. They had been separated and reunited for so many years, and he had never dared to hope for a child. But today, Ruan Yang's sudden words made his heart tremble.
Even if it turns out to be a false alarm, he will cherish it immensely.
He gently smoothed the wrinkles in Ruan Yang's dress from his caresses: "Okay, but promise me, if you get pregnant, you'll give birth properly and you're not allowed to hurt it."
Ruan Yang turned around and saw Ning Xian kneeling weakly on the couch, his bare chest smeared with blood.
She rubbed her shoulders and sighed, "Why are you making so many assumptions when nothing has even happened yet?"
"As for having children, you'd better stop focusing on me. My health isn't very good right now, and I'm afraid I'll have difficulty conceiving again. If you're worried about having no one to carry on the throne, you should take your concubines elsewhere as soon as possible. I don't mind."
After acquiring the contraceptive incense, she found the contraceptive soup too bitter and cumbersome to take, so she simply stopped taking it. In addition, she had been feeling weak and cold lately, so she figured there wouldn't be any problems.
"I only want children born from your womb; I don't want any other children."
Ning Xian: "You can hate me however you want, but it's still a life, and it didn't do anything wrong."
A child should be born into the love of his or her parents; if a child exists without love, it is a mistake.
You say your child is innocent, but what wrong did her and Lu Wenjin's child do? She was so small, her eyes weren't even open yet, and she, as her mother, didn't even have a chance to hold her before...
Ruan Yang didn't want to recall the pain of losing her child. She closed her already blurry eyes, reminding herself that it was not the right time to go against him: "I know, my daily life is being monitored by your people, how could I possibly have a chance to touch it?"
Ning Xian was panting, with fine beads of sweat on his forehead, looking like he was about to faint at any moment.
Ruan Yang got up, wiped his sweat with a handkerchief, and sighed, "Don't push yourself. Go to sleep. We have to travel tomorrow. I'll stay here with you tonight and won't leave."
Ning Xian rubbed his forehead and struggled to fall back down slowly. The girl beside him knelt on the edge of the bed, gently patting him while humming a lullaby. Before long, his eyelids felt as heavy as if they were filled with lead.
Outside the window, the leaves rustled and the wind and rain pounded against the glass. Inside, it was warm and cozy, with a beautiful woman by his side. Ning Xian held Ruan Yang's hand and gradually let down his guard.
Ruan Yang coaxed the person to sleep, but she was also exhausted. She leaned against the headboard and closed her eyes for a short rest. She didn't know how much time had passed, but the person next to her was probably having a nightmare. Suddenly, she looked tense and started talking in her sleep.
Noticing that Ning Xian's pale skin under her palm suddenly became burning hot, Ruan Yang turned around and placed a cool handkerchief on his forehead to cool him down.
But this obviously did not alleviate his pain. He began to throw off the blanket and scratch his skin wildly. He became restless and agitated, and even stopped caring about the knife wounds on his body. Suddenly, blood gushed out again.
Seeing this scene before her, Ruan Yang was horrified and at a loss. She instinctively tried to stop him from hurting himself, but froze in mid-air.
She offered a pale, comforting words: "What's wrong with you... don't be like this."
Sitting by the couch watching Ning Xian's suffering, Ruan Yang felt an even stronger sense of satisfaction, as if she had successfully exacted revenge.
She smiled and chuckled softly for a while, but then she couldn't help but burst into tears.
She couldn't bear to see this man's brow furrowed even slightly, so she tried to warm him with her sincerity. Even after learning of his deception and manipulation, her first thought was to convince herself that Ning Xian had his reasons for doing so.
But now she never imagined that seeing him half-dead would make her so happy, so happy that tears welled up in her eyes, so happy that her heart ached.
"Your Majesty, what has happened inside?"
Hearing the commotion, the guards standing outside stood outside and inquired.
Ruan Yang took a deep breath and stopped: "It's nothing. His Majesty had a nightmare just now. I'll stay here with him. You don't need to worry about him."
Ruan Yang forcefully wiped away her tears, then pulled her hand away from Ning Xian's bloodied palm and left temporarily.
She needs time to calm down.
She walked to the table, where the gleaming silver scissors in the bamboo basket were so bright in the candlelight that they were almost blinding.
The scissors are very sharp; it doesn't take much effort to stab.
Without thinking, Ruan Yang gripped the scissors tightly, her hands trembling.
That man rarely exposed his vulnerable side to her so unguardedly; what a perfect opportunity!
Why not kill Ning Xian now and end it all? Why exhaust yourself trying to cooperate with the Third Prince's grand plan?
Once the scissors are plunged in, Lu Wenjin's revenge will be complete. The only regret is that once she is branded with the crime of regicide, she will not survive. Even if she goes to the underworld, she will not be able to shake off Ning Xian.
Ruan Yang didn't want to hesitate any longer, fearing she would change her mind at any moment. She gripped the weapon tightly and turned around quickly.
Perhaps due to the wind, the candlelight flickered violently, and the curtains covering the pillars trembled slightly at that moment.
Ruan Yang had never killed anyone before, so he was extremely flustered and focused all his attention on his hands, completely ignoring any other disturbances.
She approached the bed, but all the candles went out at once, plunging the brightly lit room into darkness. Ruan Yang was startled and instinctively guessed that her actions had been exposed. In her panic, she became even more eager to kill the man on the bed.
With a "whoosh," Ruan Yang felt the air being ripped open near her ear. She dodged, but her wrist was grabbed by a burning hot hand, which then threw away the weapon in her hand.
In an instant, her legs went weak, and she uncontrollably collapsed onto the bed. Before she could react, she had already fallen into a thick chest.
The pursuit by the men in black continued, so Ning Xian had no choice but to grab Ruan Yang, quickly roll off the bed, and carry her out the window to escape.
In a flash, the reins binding the horse were cut, and the two rode off together on the same horse.
Ruan Yang gradually figured out the situation. She turned her head and asked, "Where are you taking me? What about the guards outside...?"
“There’s a traitor inside. With our movements kept secret and the road blocked by mud and sand, my men won’t be able to find me so quickly.”
Ruan Yang broke out in a cold sweat, but found that Ning Xian was surprisingly calm, as if she hadn't seen him holding scissors and about to rush over to kill him.
Ruan Yang glanced down at the arm wrapped around her waist, her voice a little hoarse: "So where do we go now?"
"It's better to rely on ourselves than on others. If we go back ourselves, get rid of this mess, and get out of the muddy pass, we can reunite with my people."
Ning Xian said, "But I think that man in black was coming for you. Have you offended someone recently?"
“Your dear cousin, Ji Changhuan,” Ruan Yang sighed, “only she could infiltrate her own faction within the Ji family’s secret guards.”
"How come those two siblings aren't on the same page? One loves you willingly, while the other wants to kill you and usurp the throne."
Ning Xian paused for a moment, then scoffed, "You'll have to ask them about that. But I'd like to ask you, when you took the scissors and decided to avenge Lu Wenjin, who were those tears for?"
Ruan Yang's expression changed: "You were pretending to be asleep all along?"
As they spoke, the horse crossed the barren mountain and entered the market. The market was quiet and deserted. The wet bluestone slabs reflected the warm yellow candlelight, and the only sound was the night watchman's drum.
"If I hadn't noticed something amiss outside the door and hadn't been on guard, I would have died at your hands this time."
Ning Xian continued, "Besides, it's not surprising that you want to kill me. I'm used to it. Who told you that you might be carrying my child now?"
"I want it, that's why I'm not angry with you for now."
It turns out it was all for a child that didn't even exist.
Ruan Yang was certain that she could not have a child now, and that what she had just said was merely a delaying tactic.
"What if she's not pregnant?"
Ning Xian raised an eyebrow: "Not pregnant? If you're not pregnant, just wait to go back and hang yourself with a white silk ribbon. That will be the best way to prevent future troubles."
Ruan Yang was taken aback. She believed that Ning Xian would abandon her for his own benefit.
"Don't be like that. As long as we're alive, we can always make something again. If we don't have it this time, we'll have it later."
Scattered troops were already catching up from behind, and arrows rained down through the foggy night.
Ning Xian spurred the horse and lashed down with the whip: "What are you planning to do next? What kind of medicine will you put in my food? Will you continue to put the infertility-inducing powder in my food, or will you switch to arsenic?"
So he knew all along.
After Ning Xian exposed their sneaky misdeeds, Ruan Yang panicked and didn't know what to say when an arrow struck their horse's hoof, forcing them to tumble off.
Ning Xian alone could not withstand the people surrounding him. It is easy to dodge open attacks, but difficult to guard against hidden arrows. Ruan Yang hugged Ning Xian, and the iron arrow that was not taken with medicine was shot right into his shoulder bone.
Ning Xian's pupils trembled, and she shook the pale-faced person: "Ruan Yang!"
She collapsed to her knees: "Is this apology enough?"
Only when torches pierced through the fog in the distance, and the light grew brighter and brighter, did Ruan Yang recognize that they were reinforcements, and he breathed a sigh of relief.
........
It was three days later when they returned to Chonghua Palace.
Under the meticulous care of the palace servants, Ruan Yang slowly recovered. She lay on her side, wanting to lie flat, but could not move because of her wounds.
She lifted the bed curtains, only to see Ning Xian standing in front of the screen, staring at her intently with a sinister gaze.
"woke up?"
".......Um."
Ning Xian sighed, "Are you stupid? Who told you to take it upon yourself to stand in front of me? I'm tough and thick-skinned, I'm used to taking a few arrows, how could your delicate skin withstand that?"
Ning Xian was incredibly noisy, so Ruan Yang covered her ears and whispered, "I'm fine, I can handle it."
"Don't you hate me? Why are you doing this?"
"I......"
She just wanted Ning Xian's sympathy.
Ruan Yang lowered her eyes: "I don't know either. Maybe no matter who it was that day, I would have taken an arrow for him."
There's nothing special about it.
After speaking, Ning Xian had already half-squatted in front of her, looking up at her: "I know, you don't want your child to lose its father, right? You don't love me, but you'll still feel sorry for your child, right?"
"?"
Ruan Yang asked suspiciously, "What are you talking about?"
Realizing what was happening, she looked down at her slender waist and her abdomen, which showed no signs of abnormality. Her heart tightened, and a chill ran through her.
"...How is this possible?"
Seeing Ruan Yang's terrified and incredulous expression, Ning Xian suddenly laughed maniacally: "Yang Yang, you didn't lie to me after all. You really are pregnant this time."
"Even if you take every precaution, what's the use? You still can't defy what fate has in store for you."
“You should stay by my side and bear my children, surrounded by your grandchildren. This is a blessing that Lu Wenjin and that bastard have never had.”
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