127 Chapter 127
◎ "The princess has been pregnant for over two months."◎
The princess who had been married into the Fuguo Mansion for less than a year had disappeared.
It happened on the night of the Lantern Festival, when families should have been reunited.
It is said that the bridge was crowded with tourists at that time, and the prince went to the other side of the river to buy sugar paintings for the princess and did not return for a long time.
When the princess was alone on the top of the bridge, she was tripped by someone and her foot slipped. The next moment she fell into the lake with a scream.
It took half a minute for Prince Wei to react. Even if he immediately sent people down the river to search for the person, it would be of no avail.
However, what shocked everyone was that only ten days after the princess disappeared, Prince Wei wrote a letter of divorce, intending to reconcile with Princess Qinghe.
Not to mention the people who were not involved, even the Duke of Fu and his wife, who were the closest relatives, were puzzled by this.
"According to Daling law, a missing person is considered deceased only after three years, and a husband can only remarry after a year. But she's only been missing for ten days, and you're so eager to divorce her. If this gets out, not only will it damage your reputation, but I'm even more worried that someone with ulterior motives will use it to impeach you."
Zhao Wan tried to persuade him kindly, but her son ignored her and just drank his tea leisurely.
"What do you mean by divorce, mother? I am divorcing her."
Zhao Wan frowned. "She's gone, so how can we talk about a divorce? If this gets to His Majesty, he'll think you're so proud of your achievements that you've disregarded your wife's feelings. When she disappeared, not only did you not pursue her, but you immediately divorced her. With such heartlessness and ungratefulness, how can His Majesty trust you with important tasks in the future?"
"Mother, you're worrying too much." Wei Che advised, "Your Majesty employs people based on their abilities, not on whether I divorce or not. If you have to take care of even such a trivial matter as a minister, how can Your Majesty handle it?"
"Shut up! You think you can talk about His Majesty?" Wei Yiqun scolded.
Seeing that her husband had finally calmed their son, Zhao Wan immediately said, "Besides, she is still the princess of the Nan'an Palace after all. You must not be so careless."
Wei Yiqun's heart stirred slightly at the mention of the Nan'an Palace. He looked up at Wei Che, who sneered, "What Nan'an Palace? I'm afraid even the empty house has been taken back now. She's an orphan with no one to rely on. Even if I want to divorce her, what can I do?"
Zhao Wan wanted to persuade him again, but she heard Wei Yiqun beside her say, "Forget it, Madam, go check on the salvage situation first. I want to see the body if you want to see it alive or dead. I will persuade Che'er."
After Zhao Wan left, he looked at Wei Che again, his eyes scrutinizing him. "Haven't you been enamored with that princess since she came into your family? Why are you so eager to divorce her now that she's only been missing for ten days?"
"Father should be able to understand me on this matter."
Wei Che smiled and said, "As for women, I've been married for so many days now. At first, I found it interesting when she controlled and scolded me, but after a while, I got tired of her. Now I have the opportunity to get a divorce. I ask my father to help me so that I can quickly regain my freedom and continue to live my life freely."
Just had the opportunity?
Wei Yiqun's eyes flickered slightly: "Che'er, tell me the truth, how could she have fallen into the river for no reason?"
He changed the subject and continued, "Also, I heard that this princess was quite adept at swimming when she was in the southern border. What do you think the chances are that she would drown in the river?"
Wei Che's grip on the teacup tightened slightly, but his expression remained calm. Instead, he smiled and said, "As expected of a father, you're truly perceptive. Tell you the truth, it was your son who arranged for her to fall into the water. It was your son who insisted on taking her out that day, and that's how he created the opportunity for her to fall into the water."
"As for whether this woman is alive or dead..." He smiled, lowering his head to stir the floating tea leaves in the teacup. Even though his heart was filled with bitterness and embarrassment, his face remained calm. "Don't worry, father. I have made preparations. Even if we can't salvage the body, she is definitely dead."
In fact, what Wei Yiqun cared about was not Xu Qinghe's life or death, but the timing of her falling into the water.
Last October, Wei Fu left Beijing to pray for her family. Every month, only a few words were sent back in letters, and she did not even return home on New Year's Eve.
He later sent people to check various temples on the outskirts of the city, but found that Wei Fu had never been to any of them.
Then, in the winter of last year, Wei Yun and Jin Yao disappeared one after another. Even though he turned the capital upside down, he couldn't find them.
Not long thereafter, Xu Qinghe, an orphan from the Nan'an Palace, fell into the water and disappeared. It was hard not to suspect that there might be other reasons behind this.
Could it be that this orphan girl discovered something and took the opportunity to escape from the Jin Dynasty?
However, the son insisted that he was the one who did it...
Wei Yiqun looked up and saw his son, whose facial features still bore his shadow, looking at him with a smug look on his face, as if he was still feeling proud of his "feat" a few days ago.
Yes, this is his biological son.
Wei Yiqun suddenly found it ridiculous. What on earth was he thinking, to actually doubt his own biological son?
"Why are you laughing, father?" the son asked in confusion.
Wei Yiqun shook his head: "Nothing. Since you did this, you have to deal with it well, so as not to reveal any clues in the future."
Rushing to divorce is only considered a moral failing, but killing one's wife is a serious crime punishable by beheading.
Only after his son repeatedly assured him that everything had been taken care of and no traces would be left did Wei Yiqun leave leisurely.
Admittedly, he did enjoy the respect shown to him by the daughter of his former enemy, but if his son grew tired of her and wanted to regain her freedom, he would naturally be happy to help her.
At the same time, Nian Xiangju South City Branch.
Xu Qinghe had just finished drinking the last bowl of medicine for treating the cold when Jing'an brought the female doctor from her house again.
"The cold I caught after falling into the water has healed. This is the last dose of medicine. Jing'an, you are being too cautious." She said with a smile.
Unexpectedly, Jing'an shook his head and said, "I didn't tell you in detail before because I was afraid it would delay your recovery. Now, let the doctor tell you what's going on."
Xu Qinghe looked suspicious.
"Please allow me to take your pulse again, Princess."
Xu Qinghe did as she was told, revealing her fair wrist, but she said, "The princess has already fallen into the water and disappeared. There is no princess here. The doctor called me—"
"Just call me Madam Xu."
Since she was already married, she felt embarrassed to be called a girl.
After a few breaths, the female doctor confirmed: "The pulse is like beads rolling on a plate. It is undoubtedly a happy pulse."
...Pregnant pulse?
"Impossible. Even if..."
She suddenly stopped talking.
Princess Jing'an has been dealing with doctors since she was a child, so she naturally knows that there are some things that patients do not want others to know, not to mention that this is a matter between her and Wei Che.
She tactfully took Nanzhi away with her, leaving only Xu Qinghe and the female doctor in the room.
Talking about the intimate matters between husband and wife, Xu Qinghe tried her best not to show any shyness and continued, "Even when we were in bed together, he never left anything inside me."
At least he had never lied to her about this.
Unexpectedly, the female doctor shook her head and said, "This is the world's misunderstanding of this matter. As long as the yin and yang are in harmony, even if the man finally withdraws in time, it cannot guarantee that there is no possibility of pregnancy. The princess's pulse has been like this for over two months. I believe her menstruation has not come for a long time. She has also had a poor appetite and is very tired in recent days."
Xu Qinghe then remembered that when she learned the truth last winter, her period should have come. However, she later devoted herself to finding out the truth and had forgotten about it.
"I thought the loss of appetite and excessive sleepiness were caused by worry."
Now that I think about it, they were all signs of pregnancy.
At the end of the winter month, she fell seriously ill, but the doctor did not detect any sign of pregnancy, probably because the pregnancy was still young.
By this calculation, the child should have been born in mid-winter.
The female doctor left after taking her pulse. A moment later, Jing'an pushed the door open and came in. Looking at the girl who had lost weight and was sitting on the couch, she suddenly felt sad.
When she saw her ten days ago, she had just climbed out of the icy river by clinging to a low-hanging branch. Her face was pale and her whole body was trembling.
Fortunately, Qinghe had been prepared and asked them to meet her there. After helping her onto the carriage, they immediately changed her into clean clothes and wrapped her in a quilt. However, she still inevitably caught a cold and immediately developed a high fever.
Jing'an didn't trust anyone else, so he still asked the female doctor in the mansion to come.
After taking the pulse for just a few breaths, she diagnosed that she was pregnant.
"You've been ill these past few days, and I didn't want to delay your recovery, so I kept this a secret."
Jing'an sat beside her and when she held her hand, she found it was ice-cold, so she asked someone to bring a hot water bottle to hold her hand.
"Now that you've separated from him, it's entirely up to you whether you want the child or not."
She once lost a child, the first child she and Qi Sheng had, but he died because of the Cen family's horse riding.
Even though Qi Sheng comforted her thousands of times by saying that they would have children in the future, Jing'an knew that it would be different.
"As a mother who has lost a child before, I naturally want to persuade you to keep the child. But Qinghe, as your friend and your sister, I still hope you can think carefully before making a decision."
After all, this world is really harsh on women.
"Jing'an, I've already thought about it."
Xu Qinghe stroked the patterns on the brocade cover of the hand warmer and said slowly, "I want to keep this child."
Jing'an, however, gripped her hand tightly and advised, "It's been less than a quarter of an hour since we diagnosed her pregnancy. Qinghe, think about it carefully. As you said before, you will return to the Southern Territory after this matter is settled. Without your status as the Princess of Nan'an, you will be just an ordinary woman. Do you know how much criticism a divorced woman with a child would attract?"
"By then, no matter how much you regret it, you will be powerless to change the situation."
Due to her health condition, she rarely gets so emotional, and now she does this just to let Qinghe understand the pain involved.
But she just kept shaking her head, not taking what she said to heart at all.
"But Jing'an, even without my status as a princess, I'm not just an ordinary woman. I possess a masterful brush and painting skills, and I'm surrounded by Nanzhi and Lin Xiao, both of whom possess management talent and experience. Even if we can't bring Nianxiangju to the Southern Territory, we can still open another shop there that's just as good as ours."
"Money makes the world go round. If we have ability and money, we won't have to worry about being poor and helpless in the future."
Jing'an saw that when she said this, her eyes were filled with sparkling stars, and they seemed to be shining brightly.
"Jing'an, you can call me naive or arrogant, but this is indeed my true innermost thoughts. I am only nineteen years old now, and I still have a long time to go. There are still many things to experience. Only by being naive and arrogant like this can I have the energy and hope to make it to the end."
"You...well, never mind. What you said makes sense."
Jing'an knew that he couldn't persuade her, so he left on his own to discuss the issue of prenatal care with the doctor.
After she left, the room was quiet. Xu Qinghe put down the hand warmer and stroked her belly, which had not yet shown any signs of pregnancy.
A little life had actually been conceived there.
She spoke softly, not knowing whether she was talking to herself or whispering to the unborn child in her belly.
"Actually... I'm not ready to be a mother yet."
"But since he never thought of coming back alive, this is the only bloodline of the Xu and Xie families."
So no matter what, she will give birth to and raise this child well.
"But thank you Qi."
"Since you took the initiative to push me away, don't expect me to look back at you in the future."
But according to what Fu Zongying said that day, there are so many obstacles in the Nanyi Kingdom’s palace, so can he still come back alive?
Xu Qinghe didn't know.
【Author’s words】
It was difficult to change.
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