"Your Majesty..." Xinglai called out worriedly.
"I..." he said, but the rest of the words were stuck in his throat and he couldn't say them.
Inside the house
Nan Zhiyun lay quietly on the bed. All the palace servants in the room had left, leaving only An Xin, the Empress Dowager, Nan Su, and Nan Zhiyun.
The Empress Dowager sat down next to Nan Zhiyun and asked gently, "Are you still feeling unwell?"
Nan Zhiyun shook her head, but her face was still terribly pale. Although she wasn't pregnant at all, there were still some things that needed to be done. Nan Zhiyun had taken the medicine and was experiencing similar symptoms.
"Just bear with it for a few more days." The Empress Dowager held Nan Zhiyun's hand affectionately.
"Your Majesty the Empress Dowager..." Nan Zhiyun was worried.
"Honey, trust me, okay? We're just one last step away. It'll only take another two weeks at most. Just wait a little longer."
Half a month... it seems like a short time, but also a long time. No one can predict what will happen in those fifteen days.
Empress Dowager "A-Su" looked at Nan Su.
"You'll definitely have to hand it in at tomorrow's morning court session. You should know what to say," the Empress Dowager instructed. Nan Su glanced at Nan Zhiyun lying on the bed: "Is that alright?" He had his concerns.
"We should give it a try," the Empress Dowager said.
Nan Su didn't speak again, and the two of them remained inside the hall without going out. Yu Jingchen, who was outside, hadn't left at all. He stood there, wanting to speak several times, but in the end, he couldn't bring himself to do it.
About an hour later, the Empress Dowager ordered the imperial kitchen to send over the food, as well as Nan Zhiyun's medicine. However... it was sent out the same way it was sent in, which Yu Jingchen naturally noticed.
"What's going on? Didn't Consort Shu use these things?" Yu Jingchen couldn't help but call out to the palace servant who delivered these items.
"Your Majesty, Consort Shu refuses to take her medicine and has no appetite. The Empress Dowager tried to persuade her, but... Consort Shu says she can't eat. She also says... the child is gone, so taking the medicine is pointless..." the palace maid reported.
Upon hearing this, Yu Jingchen felt a pang of pain in his heart, but there was nothing he could do about it at the moment.
"You may leave," Yu Jingchen said, and the palace servants left with the things they were carrying. Immediately afterward, the Empress Dowager and Nan Su emerged together. Yu Jingchen looked at them; they exuded the aura of an abandoned person, disheveled and humiliated…
“She didn’t take any medicine or eat anything,” Yu Jingchen said.
"Does Your Majesty think she can stomach it?" the Empress Dowager asked rhetorically, leaving Yu Jingchen speechless.
"Yun'er wants to be alone now, so please don't disturb her unless necessary. Your Majesty, please leave as well." The Empress Dowager showed no respect to Yu Jingchen and was about to leave with Nan Su, but...
As he was leaving, Nan Su said, "Your Majesty, Yun'er has been spoiled since she was a child and has never suffered. But... it seems like she has endured all the hardships of her life in this past month. She is most afraid of hardship..." What kind of hardship is this fear of hardship?
Yu Jingchen lowered his head, his mind involuntarily recalling the changes in Nan Zhiyun these past few days: her lively self, her cheerful self, her silent self, and her wounded self.
After Nan Su left the palace, the Empress Dowager did not disturb Nan Zhiyun's rest. The day was almost over. Yu Jingchen had been standing outside for almost half a day, about three hours. Now it was already dark outside.
"Your Majesty, let's go back. It's already dark... Come back tomorrow," Xinglai reminded him.
"Is it dark yet?" Yu Jingchen seemed to only then realize that it was already dark when he looked at the sky outside.
“She’s afraid of the dark…” Yu Jingchen said, but luckily he didn’t realize it at first. Then he remembered that it was Consort Shu who was afraid of the dark.
“Stay outside and keep watch,” Yu Jingchen said. He went inside and stood there for more than three hours before finally making a move.
The room was dimly lit, so he tiptoed and lit a lamp beside him. His hands trembled slightly with nervousness. Yu Jingchen looked at the person on the bed; Nan Zhiyun was asleep.
Yu Jingchen stood there seemingly hesitant to approach, but now that the person was right in front of him, how could he possibly resist? So he took a step forward and walked to Nan Zhiyun's side.
Her face was completely bloodless, a heartbreaking sight. Nan Zhiyun was truly extremely fragile, as if she could be shattered at the slightest carelessness.
"I'm sorry..." This was the second time Yu Jingchen had said this. He used to think this was the most useless sentence, but now it was the only sentence he could say.
He reached out to touch Nan Zhiyun's face, but stopped short. He didn't dare; what if he woke her up? And what would he do if she woke up?
His hand froze in mid-air before he lowered it, leaving him speechless as he stared at her. Yu Jingchen sat down beside her. Last night, when he was with Nan Zhiyun, the wrinkles on her face had disappeared after she fell asleep, but now… how come they've reappeared?
Yu Jingchen's gaze unconsciously fell on Nan Zhiyun's abdomen. If he hadn't been so agitated today, if he had been more rational, perhaps none of this would have happened.
He knew Nan Zhiyun was unwell and that he was pregnant, so he didn't really try to shake her off. But... perhaps he was too irrational, so he still let Nan Zhiyun fall.
Looking at Nan Zhiyun like this, Yu Jingchen admitted for the first time that he truly felt sorry for her. He admitted that he regretted it, admitted that he had made a mistake, admitted that he... didn't want Nan Zhiyun to get hurt, and felt soft-hearted and compassionate towards her.
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