Luo Yining didn't know that the most painful part was the intense morning sickness as she watched her belly grow day by day. The feeling of a new life was incredibly intense. She'd also considered it a boy or a girl. Either was fine, but she preferred a girl.
Thinking of Luo Shenyuan, she felt that Luo Shenyuan's personality would make it difficult for him to get along with his son. If she were a little girl, Luo Shenyuan would probably love her very much.
Luo Yining said nothing. She was becoming increasingly frightened and wanted to go back. She was afraid that if she returned too late, the capital would undergo a dramatic change. As for Luo Shenyuan, he had always been popular with women.
Would he still be waiting for her? Perhaps he would be forced to call her dead.
"I know you've always wanted to go back." Lu Jiaxue said lazily, "But I won't let you go."
"You won't give up, will you?" Luo Yining looked at him and asked.
Lu Jiaxue hummed a sound, leaned back in his chair and said, "I think I'm imprisoning you. Just like you said, I'm domineering and ruthless. Yining, you have to give me a few years." He squeezed her hand and said, "Back then, I was a bastard and had nothing. Now I have everything. I can give you anything you want."
He looked down at her, his eyes burning.
Luo Yining's lips twitched slightly. "Where can I get a few years to give you? I have my husband and father in the capital, and now I have his child in my belly. After a few years, I'm afraid everyone will think I'm dead, right? You just have this idea in mind, right? It would be better if others think I'm dead."
Lu Jiaxue laughed at this, his laughter carrying a deep, magnetic quality. "Yining, imagine if you've waited fourteen years for someone, and when they reappear, you don't really care about anything. You just want to do whatever it takes to get them. I'm telling you, I was pretty restrained at the time."
Luo Yining avoided his sight.
Luo Yining was finally able to stand up. The baby in her belly seemed to kick her lightly, and she let out a cry.
This was the first time she had clearly felt the baby move. It was curious, perhaps it was stretching its feet. Or perhaps she was making it uncomfortable and it was trying to find a more comfortable position to suck her finger.
Lu Jiaxue frowned: "What's wrong?"
She shook her head slightly, feeling strange.
Lu Jiaxue asked her to sit down. He played with the Buddhist beads in his hand and continued, "Jinling is connected by the Qinhuai River, and both sides of the Qinhuai River are extremely prosperous. Do you want to go and see it? Or do you want to relax at the Da Baoen Temple and pray for your child?"
The Great Bao'en Temple, built by Emperor Gaozu to commemorate the founding emperor and empress, is a magnificent sight. Its pagoda is said to be constructed of glazed glass, and 146 eternal lamps are placed inside and outside. It's known as the world's greatest pagoda, formerly the Ashoka Pagoda. Du Fanchuan's line, "Four hundred and eighty temples of the Southern Dynasties, how many pavilions and towers shrouded in mist and rain," originates from the Great Bao'en Temple.
"I'll ask someone to prepare it." Lu Jiaxue immediately waved his hand. He was particular about the pomp and ceremony when traveling, and he also had to be cautious with his current identity.
"Don't bother," Yi Ning said, stopping him. "It's inconvenient for me to travel right now. If it's convenient for you, I'll have to trouble you with Xuezhi's matter."
Knowing you can't leave, are you just too lazy to go out?
Xuezhi's child had been abducted for more than two years. She had searched ten villages and eight shops for the child and no one knew if she could ever find him.
Lu Jiaxue smiled and asked her leisurely, "If I help you find it, how will you thank me?"
Luo Yining knew it wasn't that simple. Lu Jiaxue continued, "I asked you to serve me tea and water, but it's not convenient for you right now. From now on, you will be responsible for my breakfast every morning. Make it well. If you don't do it well, I will have to redo it."
Luo Yining was speechless. She felt a little intimidated, thinking about how she hadn't cooked a proper meal in years. But she was asking him for help, so she had to go.
From that day on, Yi Ning woke up early every morning to make him breakfast. Fortunately, although she didn't cook often, she knew Lu Jiaxue's taste quite well. He loved noodles, especially mutton noodles with sauce, of which he could eat a whole bowl at a time. He absolutely refused to accept plain porridge, and would only tolerate pastries and steamed buns. He preferred pickled vegetables, so Yi Ning even had a shed built for him to grow cucumbers year-round. They were delicious served cold, pickled, in soup, and stir-fried with meat.
Lu Jiaxue never complained. After breakfast, he would stay with her and read the book.
Early spring to summer passed in a flash, and the weather is getting warmer.
Pale green buds have grown in the lotus pond outside, but there is still no trace of Xuezhi's child.
Yining mostly ignored him, so Lu Jiaxue came to bother her. He took the child's bellyband she was embroidering and looked at it: "I need an inner garment, can you help me make it?"
"Don't you have anything to wear?" Yining asked him.
His smile faded and he looked up at Yining for a long time.
Luo Yining was frozen by his stare. He leaned over and put his hands on her sides. His tone was slightly cold: "Luo Yining, make me a thong, okay?"
Lu Jiaxue stood up and walked out without saying anything else. Xuezhi, who was watching, felt a chill run down her spine. She whispered, "Miss, I think the Marquis treats you well... If there's really no other way."
"You don't understand him." Luo Yining sighed softly. If she took a step back, Lu Jiaxue would know she was softening, and then take a big step forward. Until he pushed her into a corner. He was the best at that.
Xuezhi had never asked about her relationship with Lu Jiaxue, but Luo Yining felt that Lu Jiaxue had undoubtedly told her. It was even possible that Xuezhi had been bribed and sent here specifically. Perhaps Xuezhi's story was also fabricated; Lu Jiaxue was not incapable of such acts. Otherwise, why did she rarely hear Xuezhi mention her children, or even her in-laws?
Although Luo Yining had doubts, she didn't ask.
That afternoon, Lu Jiaxue brought her a basket of lotus roots. The Jinling lotus roots were incredibly well-grown, as large as a man's arm, sweet and crisp, with no residue. Along with them was a small basket of Osaka red water chestnuts, which melted like ice in the mouth without needing to be chewed. Everything was fresh and in season, a welcome appetizer in the sweltering summer heat.
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