Zhou suddenly stood up: "Where is that wretched child?"
"The general went straight to the young mistress's courtyard, presumably to find her."
"The general looked like he hadn't slept for days and nights, travel-worn and not in good health..."
Zhou cursed, "Serves you right."
"Let's go take a look."
"Jiaojiao, let me explain."
Hearing Lu Ziqian's apologetic explanation from outside the door, Zhou stopped and did not disturb him.
Su Yujiao sat on the edge of the bed, playing with the child, not even lifting her eyelids, completely ignoring him.
Lu Ziqian sat on the edge of the bed, wanting to take her hand, but she was holding the child, so he had to give up.
"The child in Chen Yunniang's womb is not mine."
"I was forced to marry her."
Su Yujiao was patting and comforting the child when Lu Ziqian suddenly grabbed her hand and showed her his palm.
Do you remember this wound?
Su Yujiao glanced at her palm but didn't say anything.
How could she not remember? That night, a wound inexplicably appeared on her palm, and as she was bandaging it, he suddenly barged in.
He clearly saw it, but he didn't care at all. Instead, he asked her to take care of Chen Yunniang to protect her pregnancy.
They even kept her in Chen Yunniang's room and subjected her to all sorts of torment...
How could she forget such a deeply etched pain?!
Lu Ziqian continued, "I know you must be resentful of me. I saw the wound on your hand, but I didn't ask why or care how you got hurt. I even forced you to go and save Chen Yunniang's pregnancy."
"That's because I know the reason."
Su Yujiao paused in her patting of the child and looked up at him.
Although she didn't speak, she asked him the reason with her eyes.
"Chen Yunniang has placed a Gu poison on you. The mother Gu is inside her, and the offspring Gu is inside you."
"If the mother Gu is injured or dies, the offspring Gu will also be injured or die."
"That night, she stabbed her own hand with a hairpin to force me to agree to let you go and save her pregnancy, otherwise she would hurt you by harming herself."
"What?" Su Yujiao thought this was a bit of a fantasy.
Lu Ziqian continued to explain: "The Mother-Child Gu was given to her by Nan Sheng as a token of gratitude after she saved the Crown Prince of Nan."
"When she learned that I was going to expose her identity as a saintess, she put a curse on you and threatened me with your life."
"That's why, even though I went to great lengths to invite Nan Sheng over, I didn't expose her."
"She will surely die if she impersonates the Holy Maiden and returns to the Southern Frontier Kingdom, but if she dies, you will not survive either."
How could I disregard your life!
"She forced me to marry a concubine, after all, her identity as a saintess was an imposter. The only thing that can prove she is a saintess is the Dragon Serpent Jade, a treasure of the Southern Frontier."
“She doesn’t have the Dragon-Snake Jade, and her identity will be exposed sooner or later. That’s why she’s forcing me to marry her. First, she’s threatening me with your life, and second, the Lu family has the power to protect her.”
"As for the child in her womb, it is definitely not mine."
"I swear on the lives of hundreds of members of the Lu family, if I have ever touched her, may my entire Lu family be executed and suffer a terrible death!!"
"Jiaojiao, it was indeed my mistake to leave you behind that day."
“I’m afraid if you don’t stay, she will continue to torment you by self-harm.”
That's why I let you stay.
"However, I want to stay with you. Firstly, she wouldn't dare to bully you in front of me, and secondly, being in front of you will let you know that I have no romantic feelings for her, so you won't overthink things."
"It was only because the Crown Prince came to find me later, and the matter was urgent, that I was unable to stay with you."
"At the time, I thought that even if I left, she would only verbally attack you and wouldn't really hurt you."
"Because the mother and child Gu are connected, if she harms you, she will also suffer the backlash."
"I really didn't expect that if the offspring Gu is damaged, the mother Gu can be unaffected, or the impact on it can be negligible."
“I was really afraid that if I took you away, she would keep tormenting you.”
Su Yujiao listened quietly to his explanation, her initial indifference turning into shock, and finally into nonchalance.
Lu Ziqian spoke more today than he had in his entire life, but the other party didn't even give him a single reaction.
He carefully observed her expression, his heart filled with unease.
I don't know if these explanations will be able to dispel her resentment and make her accept him again.
"Jiaojiao, why aren't you saying anything?"
"Jiaojiao, please forgive me just this once more, okay?"
"I promise this won't last long. I won't let her be so arrogant for long."
"Give me just two years to recuperate and make arrangements, and I will destroy the Southern Frontier Kingdom!"
"Without the support of the Southern Frontier Kingdom, I've placed her under house arrest so she can no longer threaten you."
"Then our lives will be able to get back on track."
She finally spoke: "Why didn't you say so back then?"
"In your heart, am I such an unreasonable person who can't handle things?"
"Am I not worthy to face and solve problems with you when we encounter difficulties?"
"In your eyes, am I just a caged canary?"
"Why do you have to wait until I'm heartbroken, in pain, and suffering before you'll tell me?"
Lu Ziqian looked guilty. He didn't dare tell her that he had made her suffer so much because of his own pride.
Seeing his reluctance to speak, Su Yujiao snorted coldly: "If you won't say it, I'll say it for you."
"Did Chen Yunniang force you into a corner and make you feel embarrassed?"
"You are an invincible general, your reputation is naturally more important than my life."
"Don't try to deny it. You probably didn't expect that I could let bygones be bygones for what Chen Yunniang did to me. After all, the one who was wrong was not you, but Chen Yunniang who was truly evil."
"I can distinguish right from wrong on this matter!"
Therefore, I will not let her instigation cause me to take my anger out on you.
"However, I cannot ignore the reason why you kept my marriage to Chen Yunniang a secret from me."
"You know I'll be angry and sad, but you don't care about my feelings. You still do things your own way, and even use the children to force me to obey..."
"You only care about your own face and feelings, everything is more important than me, I'm always last!"
"So, you don't love me at all. You only ever love yourself. All you ever do is control and possess me."
Seeing that he was speechless, Su Yujiao raised her eyes and stared at his handsome face. His sincere eyes made it hard to associate him with a scumbag.
Actually, from the perspective of this era, he is not a scumbag at all!
He was a man of this era, with multiple wives and concubines, and the husband was considered the head of the household—rights bestowed upon him by the times.
Men of this era were taught from childhood that a gentleman should stay away from the kitchen, and that washing clothes, cooking, serving tea and water, sewing and taking care of children were all women's duties.
For a man to do this is an insult to men!
Women here are treated as commodities to be bought and sold; female slaves are worth less than a pig.
Such a lowly social status, expecting these high-ranking men to respect it, is clearly a joke.
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