Chapter 1: He and she, unfortunately, it was a tragic fate...
Inside the bedchamber, the candlelight flickered, casting the gauze curtains in an alternating light and shadow.
Ling Zhenli lay weakly on the bed, her face pale. The excruciating pain in her abdomen was unbearable. Her slender fingers gripped the brocade quilt tightly, her knuckles turning bluish-white. Fine beads of sweat seeped from her forehead, soaking her hair.
The blood flowing from beneath her had soaked through the bedding; she clung to life, struggling desperately on the brink of death.
Xiao Chongheng, who was standing by her side, held her hand tightly, his brows furrowed, cold sweat beading on his forehead. He dared not blink, fearing that she would die in the next second.
"My wife has suffered from chronic illness since childhood, and now her pulse is disordered, and she is deficient in both qi and blood. I'm afraid we won't be able to save the baby in her womb..."
The doctor's voice seemed to be filtered through a thick veil, reaching Ling Zhenli's ears intermittently.
She tried to open her eyes, but her eyelids were too heavy to open. The excruciating pain from below made her feel as if someone was slowly gouging out her bones and blood with a blunt knife.
A tear slid down from the corner of her tightly closed eye, mingling with her sweat and disappearing.
She couldn't save her baby...
She was clearly looking forward to having a child with Xiao Chongheng...
Finally, she couldn't hold on any longer and fainted from the pain.
In her dream, Ling Zhenli was sitting in a chair, feeding a little girl porridge.
"Sweetie, have another sip."
"Okay." The little girl obediently opened her mouth.
"Would you like to have another sip?" Ling Zhenli asked with a smile.
"But Mother, I'm full." The little girl pouted, tugged at her sleeve, and pleaded with her, "I want to eat lotus root starch and osmanthus sugar cake."
"Well, look at you."
Ling Zhenli found her too cute and couldn't help but gently pinch her little nose. "Mother will go get it for you right away."
As soon as she got up and opened the door, she took a few steps outside and suddenly found herself floating in a white mist, surrounded by complete silence.
She suddenly remembered that her child was gone, and a sharp pain spread from the bottom of her heart.
"My child...my child, where are you...?"
She called out silently, her vision blurred with tears.
The fog suddenly dissipated a little, and the little girl from before stood not far away, wearing a light yellow jacket, reaching out her hand to her with a sweet smile on her lips. Her shallow dimples when she smiled looked just like Ling Zhenli's.
"Mother!" The little girl's voice was as clear as a bell. "I'm here."
Ling Zhenli was startled and walked towards the child without thinking, hugging her tightly in her arms.
The girl tilted her head, her eyes curving into crescents. "Mother, I'm leaving now. Please let go of me, it's hurting me."
These words were like a sharp blade, piercing straight into Ling Zhenli's heart.
Her legs gave way, and she knelt before the child, covering her face and weeping: "No, please don't go, please stay, I can't live without you, I really can't live without you..."
The girl shook her head and gently stroked Ling Zhenli's cheek with her small hand, as if to comfort her. The touch felt so real, yet as ethereal as clouds and mist.
"Mother, don't cry. Take good care of yourself."
She knelt on the ground, utterly distraught, tears streaming down her face, murmuring, "Don't go... please don't go... what will I do without you..."
Ling Zhenli desperately reached out to grab the child, but only grasped at nothingness.
The fog suddenly turned blood red, the surrounding scenery changed drastically, and she was back on the day her home was raided.
On a night of torrential rain, Ling Zhenli knelt in the rain, kneeling with her family. The fierce rain relentlessly lashed her face, the water droplets forming a string that flowed down her hair, mingling with her tears and falling onto the bluestone slab.
Ling Zhenli huddled up, shivering from the cold, and fearfully dug her fingers deep into the cracks in the ground.
A man clad in golden armor walked over, carrying a sword in one hand and her father's head in the other, stepping over the corpses of servants scattered on the ground.
Despite the gloomy sky and the surrounding darkness, Ling Zhenli remained too frightened to look up.
"Magistrate Ling colluded with the wicked and has been executed on the spot."
His voice was as cold and hard as the longsword at his waist. After speaking, the man threw the head to the ground.
The severed head rolled down beside the kneeling crowd, and immediately a chorus of weeping erupted.
Suddenly, a huge clap of thunder boomed in the sky. Ling Zhenli, still immersed in the fear of her father's death, was so shocked by the loud noise that she abruptly looked up.
The next second, a bolt of lightning struck, illuminating the man's face. The shadow cast by his brow bone obscured his eyes, which were as cold as a deep pool. His thin lips were like blades, and his jawline was sculpted like ice shards. His breath was condensed into white mist, and raindrops gathered into silver streams on his armor.
It was in that very second that the man noticed her.
Ling Zhenli was so frightened that she was almost going crazy. In addition, the rain made it impossible for her to see or remember the man's appearance.
Magistrate Ling's body was still being forced to kneel on the bluestone slab in the courtyard by two Imperial Guards, his official robes soaked with blood from the cuts in his body.
Ling Zhenli watched in horror as her father's head was severed from his body, biting her lip tightly.
The icy rain poured into his mouth and nose, and as he looked at the warm blood flowing from the corpses scattered on the ground, his vision gradually became blurred.
The mother was horrified by the sight of her father's death. She crawled over, picked up his head, and ran frantically outside. She then smashed her head against a red lacquered stone pillar in front of the door and died instantly.
She woke up in fright.
As soon as I opened my eyes, I saw Xiao Chongheng with a worried expression.
His eyes were dark and swollen, clearly indicating that he hadn't slept for many days. It was unclear how long she had slept. Xiao Chongheng had a light bluish stubble on his chin, making him look somewhat disheveled, which was quite incongruous with his usual noble appearance.
When Xiao Chongheng saw that she had finally woken up, he couldn't hide the joy in his eyes as he looked like he had found a treasure again. He quickly called the imperial physician to come and take her pulse again.
Ling Zhenli was in a coma for two days and three nights, and she miscarried.
Ling Zhenli's family suffered a tragedy when she was forced into prostitution, which left her with a chronic illness. Her body simply couldn't withstand the hardships of pregnancy and the demands of the fetus. She had often bled before, but this time she suffered a massive hemorrhage and fainted from the pain.
The situation was urgent, and there was no time to hesitate. Xiao Chongheng painfully ordered the imperial physician to prepare medicine to abort the child. If the ordeal had continued, Ling Zhenli would have likely died along with the child.
After examining her pulse, the imperial physician sighed and said, "Your wife has suffered a miscarriage and has depleted her vital energy. She must rest in bed for the next month and must not catch a cold or get overexerted. I have prescribed some medicine to replenish her qi and blood. Please remember to decoct it for her to take morning and evening."
After saying this, Xiao Chongheng waved his hand, instructing the maid to quietly escort the imperial physician away from Zuixianlou and back to the palace.
Ling Zhenli's face was ashen. She was extremely tired and didn't want to say anything. When Xiao Chongheng looked at her, she turned her head away.
Xiao Chongheng sighed: "Ah Li, do you still resent me?"
Ling Zhenli remained silent, closed her eyes, and tried her best to hold back the tears in her eyes.
"I know you bled because you got emotional after hearing about my upcoming marriage."
Despite his own grief, Xiao Chongheng gritted his teeth and decided to reveal that he would not redeem Ling Zhenli and take her away, as well as his identity and the fact that he had to marry Princess Roujia because of his status, and that he had to break off all ties with her from now on.
But seeing Ling Zhenli's weak appearance, he changed his mind.
She had just lost her child and returned from the brink of death. If she were to be told now that the person she shared a bed with day and night was the enemy who killed her father and destroyed her family's property, and that the child she was carrying was the enemy's, wouldn't that be forcing her to die?
But as the Duke of Yan, who had rendered meritorious service to the emperor and held great power, with his mother being the powerful Princess Wuyang, the emperor's younger sister, and his father being the Right General of the Martial Guard, how could he allow a courtesan from a disgraced family to continue to stay by his side and even bear his child?
She doesn't deserve it.
Thinking of this, Xiao Chongheng hardened his heart, let go of her hand, and said coldly, "You just had a miscarriage, so rest well. I'll leave two more maids to take care of you. I'm very busy lately, so I'll come to see you again in a while."
After saying that, he left.
After Xiao Chongheng left, Ling Zhenli asked everyone to leave so she could be alone. Only after everyone was gone did she dare to let her tears flow.
She touched her flat stomach, where a vibrant life had once lived.
She was four months old when the doctor came to check on her and said it was a girl.
She even prepared little clothes for the child, embroidered with small flowers on pale yellow soft satin, which she kept at the very bottom of the dressing case.
She knew that Xiao Chongheng had treated her extremely well, providing her with fine clothes, delicacies, rare treasures, and even giving her the best courtyard in the Drunken Immortal Pavilion to live in alone.
But what good was it? She was still just a courtesan, not even qualified to bear his children. She had thought the baby in her belly was a harmless daughter and that Xiao Chongheng would let her give birth, but he still had the doctor abort her child...
This time, she suddenly went into labor because the maids who were taking care of her "let slip" that Xiao Chongheng was about to marry his cousin. She was already having trouble conceiving, and this shock caused her to suffer unbearable abdominal pain and continuous bleeding.
But if Xiao Chongheng hadn't given the order, why would these maids have told her about this?
Now that things have come to this, there's no point in thinking about anything else. She can only hope that Xiao Chongheng will take pity on her and redeem her from Zuixianlou.
*
Half a month later, one night Xiao Chongheng came. Ling Zhenli was asleep when he arrived.
Ling Zhenli had been having nightmares for the past few days and was sleeping very lightly. When Xiao Chongheng got into bed, she seemed to notice, but she didn't make a sound. She just turned over, and Xiao Chongheng took the opportunity to grab her waist.
Ling Zhenli let the man grope her body for a while before embracing her.
A year ago, Ling Zhenli's father was executed on the spot by Xiao Chongheng's troops after being convicted of colluding with wicked people. Ling Zhenli, who was once a pampered young lady, was reduced to a courtesan.
On the day her home was ransacked, Xiao Chongheng saw her face clearly when she looked up during the lightning strike, and he also took a liking to Ling Zhenli, who at that time looked like a broken doll that had lost its soul.
Ling Zhenli was so frightened that she lost her mind, and with the rainy weather, she couldn't remember what he looked like at all. So Xiao Chongheng kept Ling Zhenli, the courtesan who was originally going to be enjoyed by thousands, and teased and played with her.
He maliciously thought that if he made this woman writhe and submit to his enemy day and night, and then told her the truth one day, she would surely go insane.
Over the past year, Ling Zhenli has suffered greatly. As an unmarried young woman, she used to blush at the mere mention of such brothels, but had never actually seen one. Now, however, she has been worn down to the point of being weak and supple.
Xiao Chongheng was initially playful, taking all sorts of ways to abuse her body and mocking her reactions. Ling Zhenli, being of lowly status, felt that Xiao Chongheng was her savior and that she should be grateful, so she let him take what he wanted.
Gradually, Xiao Chongheng softened. Although he was unwilling to admit it, he had fallen for this woman who was not good enough for him in his eyes.
Did I wake you up?
Xiao Chongheng, who had been breathing steadily, spoke up; he hadn't been asleep.
"I just had a nightmare." Ling Zhenli rolled over, snuggled into Xiao Chongheng's arms, and took a deep breath.
Smelling the sandalwood scent on the man, Ling Zhenli gradually relaxed.
This is the first time the two of them have been this close since the child was lost.
"Had a nightmare?" Xiao Chongheng's voice remained indifferent. "Are you still sleeping?"
"I'm so sleepy." Ling Zhenli leaned against him, her voice softening. "Let's sleep a little longer."
"Um."
After a long while, just as Ling Zhenli was getting sleepy and about to fall asleep again, Xiao Chongheng suddenly spoke up: "I won't be able to come see you as often as I used to, you..."
Before he could finish speaking, Ling Zhenli let out a dissatisfied sob, stopping him from continuing. She was overcome with sleepiness and just wanted to go to sleep, so she didn't hear what he was saying in her hazy state.
Xiao Chongheng wisely kept quiet.
Moonlight streamed through the gauze curtains, casting hazy, fragmented shadows beside the bed.
In the middle of the night, Ling Zhenli was breathing steadily, already asleep, her curved eyelashes casting two shallow arcs on her cheeks.
Xiao Chongheng couldn't sleep, so he propped his elbow up and looked at her, his fingers hovering above the tip of her hair, but ultimately didn't fall.
He remembered what he hadn't finished saying, so he looked at Ling Zhenli's face even more carefully.
This bewitching and enchanting face is so beautiful that one cannot bear to let it be disturbed. Any man, even with just one glance, would probably be captivated and willingly choose to drown in it.
It's a pity that their relationship was a tragic one.
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