Chapter 68. He always felt he owed Bai Xuerou a great deal...
The people of Chang'an had always remembered Bai Xuerou as gentle and kind, but now, she had acquired a different impression.
The Ling family father and son were convinced that they had Bai Xuerou under their control, but Bai Xuerou was the last member of the Ying family, and this woman should not be underestimated.
Ling Xun told Bai Xuerou about everything that had happened outside, and she couldn't help but laugh.
“They really overestimate me,” she said, smiling at Ling Xun. “I was just lucky to meet you, Liu Lang.”
The best stroke of luck was that the fall into the water awakened my memories.
However, Bai Xuerou would never tell anyone about this for the rest of her life.
“How could that be? My sister-in-law is intelligent and thoughtful, which is something many people can’t do,” Ling Xun said, genuinely believing it to be true.
Over the years, Ling Xun has intentionally explored the past, peeling back the layers of information to vaguely perceive that period of history.
It turns out that Bai Xuerou had saved Wei Yi's life.
After they got married, she made preparations even after he fell into the water, sending Wei Yi into the Zhenbei Army and asking his mother for poison, making as many preparations as possible.
The plan was completed quietly, without implicating anyone.
Also, take care of him.
Ling Xun recalled this incident with only gratitude, gratitude that Bai Xuerou came into his life, and gratitude that he was able to meet her.
That's why we have such a happy life today.
As for the rest, none of that matters.
"You always praise me, but I'm not that good." Bai Xuerou was a little embarrassed by his sincere tone.
Ling Xun gently kissed her and said, "To me, my sister is the best person in my life. Without her, I can't imagine what fun this life would be."
"You," Bai Xuerou said with a helpless smile, "you're just used to us being around."
She never felt that anyone could truly do without anyone else in this world.
Ling Xun knew it wasn't; of course it couldn't be.
No one knew what Bai Xuerou meant to him, not even Bai Xuerou herself.
In those dark times when she was hated by her birth mother, ignored by her birth father, and bullied and suppressed, she was so warm and bright.
Ling Xun doesn't care about the world, but Bai Xue Rou does, so he's willing to care for her.
But deep down, he only ever had one thought.
No one in the world helped him when he was in pain, so what did the pain of the world have to do with him?
“No, sister,” Ling Xun retorted gently, but didn’t say anything more.
He knew how his sister viewed him, and those views were all deliberately created by him because his sister liked them.
If she knew his true personality and thoughts, her sister would probably distance herself from him.
So Ling Xun spent many years gradually transforming himself into the person Bai Xue Rou liked best.
So-called calmness and composure are nothing more than a disguise for indifference.
But what does it matter? As long as his sister is there, Ling Xun can pretend for a lifetime.
His tone was calm and casual, as if he were just saying it offhand. Bai Xuerou naturally failed to grasp the deeper meaning behind it. As Ling Xun then started talking about other things, her attention naturally shifted.
No one mentioned the war that took place after the New Year.
Ling Xun also intended to take advantage of this opportunity to take Bai Xuerou away from Chang'an and seize the Wu region.
Otherwise, he really wouldn't feel at ease if she were in Chang'an.
The Tangshan Imperial Palace, which Ling Xun has been developing for the past few years, was originally a transit point between the front line and Chang'an. Now, both the inner and outer areas have been taken over by the Zhenbei Army, making it almost as solid as an iron barrel.
Bai Xuerou makes him feel more at ease here than she does in Chang'an.
While Tangshan celebrated the New Year peacefully, other parties on the other side became more vigilant.
Ling Xun's military tactics were unpredictable; he often struck when his opponents were off guard, catching them completely off guard. But unexpectedly, this time Ling Xun did not make a move, and the entire New Year holiday passed peacefully.
Until February, the Zhenbei Army mobilized from three sides and pressed towards Wu territory.
Ling Xun, whom everyone subconsciously assumed would head to the battlefield, remained at the Tangshan Imperial Palace.
Since Ling Xun rose to fame, he would go to the army to oversee every battle, and over time, everyone got used to it.
This time, he suddenly didn't do that, which surprised everyone. At first, they felt that a wise man doesn't stand under a dangerous wall. The Prince of Zhenbei is now of noble status, so it's normal for him not to go to the battlefield. Of course, some people also said that the Prince of Zhenbei has been softened by the gentle pleasures of the countryside and is unwilling to betray the kindness of the beauty.
The Zhenbei Army and the King of Wu had been locked in a standoff for two years and were already familiar with each other. When the Zhenbei Army got serious, things went relatively smoothly at first, with the King of Wu losing his armor and weapons and his territory shrinking layer by layer.
Meanwhile, at the Tangshan Imperial Palace.
In everyone's mind, when Bai Xuerou was six months pregnant, she went through two days of struggle at the Tangshan Imperial Palace and successfully gave birth to a daughter.
Many years later, Bai Xuerou still remembered the fear and panic in Ling Xun's eyes at that time.
That was the only time in many years that she had ever seen fear in him.
Even in my past life, when medicine was highly advanced, childbirth was still fraught with great danger for women. In ancient times, childbirth was almost like stepping into the gates of hell.
This time, Bai Xuerou was in extreme danger.
The baby was in an abnormal position, which worried the doctor and midwife. She tried her best to cooperate, but gradually she also lost her strength due to the pain.
After struggling all day, she was almost at her breaking point and was about to faint.
"If anything happens to the princess, you will all be buried with her."
In her dazed state, Bai Xuerou heard Ling Xun's voice, which was cold and gloomy, almost unlike the gentle and smiling person she remembered.
She felt inexplicably uneasy and struggled to wake up.
"Sister." Ling Xun, who had been sitting by her bedside, noticed she was awake almost immediately and called out.
"My husband," she called out.
The sound was very soft, but in the deathly silence where everyone in the hall held their breath and dared not breathe too heavily, Ling Xun still heard it clearly.
“I’m here, I’m here,” Ling Xun said.
Bai Xuerou looked at him and, in a daze, saw a hint of water in his eyes.
She was still a little dazed, thinking that she must have seen wrong. Why would Ling Xun be crying?
“Don’t be afraid,” she said.
Bai Xuerou wanted to say a lot—don't take your anger out on others, don't be so nervous—but in the end, this was the only sentence that came out.
Even when she was exhausted and her mind was in a daze, she could still sense Ling Xun's panic and unease.
She was also afraid, and even felt a surge of anger towards him. If it weren't for Ling Xun, she wouldn't have acted this way.
Seeing Ling Xun like this, I still felt a pang of tenderness in my heart.
She's not love-struck.
how so?
Amidst the chaos, Bai Xuerou still had the mind to entertain this thought.
Ling Xun held Bai Xue Rou's hand tightly, trying to share some of his strength with her. He did not deny his fear and said, "Sister, please don't be hurt."
“If anything happens to you, I’ll go crazy,” he said.
Bai Xuerou smiled slightly, thinking to herself, how could that be? Time keeps moving forward, and maybe Ling Xun will forget her someday.
Thinking about it this way, she suddenly felt very unwilling.
She wanted to speak, but she no longer had the strength. She could only give Ling Xun a smile and softly hum in agreement.
The ginseng soup was ready. Bai Xuerou took a sip and finally regained her strength.
Bai Xuerou's mind, which had been numbed by pain and fatigue, gradually became active again, and she began to think.
For example, what would happen if something happened to her?
Bai Xuerou didn't take Ling Xun's words as a joke. You can't expect someone to always be calm and rational and never act impulsively.
This is especially true when the person is in a high-risk situation and has power, making it easy for them to do whatever they want.
The lives of many people are in his hands, depending on his every thought.
And her relatives and friends, and this unborn child.
Bai Xuerou was left with nothing but worry and concern.
So, in the time that followed, Bai Xuerou mustered all her strength, and the pain and exhaustion eventually made her almost numb. She only knew to follow the midwife's instructions.
Finally, accompanied by a faint cry, the baby was born.
Bai Xuerou had also lost all strength and closed her eyes, falling into a deep sleep.
"Sister? Come quickly and see how the Princess is doing!" Ling Xun said immediately, only feeling relieved after checking Bai Xue Rou's pulse and confirming that her breathing was normal.
The doctor immediately stepped forward.
"It's a girl." The midwife's joyful voice rang out, but no one answered. Her heart skipped a beat as she looked at Ling Xun, only to see the prince carefully wiping the sweat from the princess's forehead and tucking stray hairs behind her ears, completely ignoring her.
She was at a loss for a moment.
Jin Tao and her maids had been watching over Bai Xue Rou. When they saw that Bai Xue Rou had fallen into a deep sleep, they were all worried. Only Yin Gui remained calm. She went over and told the midwife to take care of the baby and wrap it in a small red blanket.
The doctor said Bai Xuerou was fine, just exhausted and unconscious. The tense atmosphere surrounding Ling Xun dissipated, and the tension in the room eased.
Ling Xun's anger, though restrained, hung over everyone like a dark cloud, making them all tense and fearful of the thunder that might strike at any moment.
They weren't the unconscious Bai Xue Rou; they had seen clearly just now, and therefore understood even more clearly that what Ling Xun had just said—that if the princess were to be harmed, everyone would be executed—was true.
Yingui took the swaddling clothes and stood aside. She watched as Ling Xun carefully tucked Bai Xuerou in before stepping forward with the child in her arms and saying, "Your Highness, this is the little princess."
Ling Xun ignored him.
Yin Gui lowered her eyes, pretending not to notice Ling Xun's anger towards the child who had almost taken his mother's life, and continued, "Your Highness, you should take a look. Perhaps the Princess will ask you about it when she wakes up." Ling Xun paused slightly before turning around and glancing at the child.
The newborn baby was red and wrinkled, and really didn't look good. He looked at the baby's features with almost disgust, hoping that he could answer Bai Xuerou's questions later.
But after a few glances, his gaze softened.
This is his and his sister's child.
Ling Xun calmed down, put on his carefully crafted facade again, and even smiled a little as he thoughtfully arranged what was to come.
The baby was placed in a crib on the side. Bai Xue Rou had specially ordered someone to do this, and everyone was rewarded, with a generous reward given as a form of appeasement.
We must strictly prevent any information from leaking out, conduct thorough screening both inside and outside, and ensure that nothing goes wrong.
Bai Xuerou has suffered so much for this child, and Ling Xun doesn't want to disappoint her.
Bai Xuerou slept for half a day and didn't wake up until midnight.
She opened her eyes groggily, feeling so tired that she almost closed them again to fall asleep, but remembering everything that had happened before, she struggled to open them again.
“Sister.” Ling Xun’s voice rang out immediately. Bai Xuerou turned her head and saw him sitting on the edge of the bed, looking slightly disheveled, staring intently at her.
Bai Xuerou hummed in agreement and asked, "How's the baby? Is he alright?"
At first, Bai Xuerou didn't have much affection for the child; it was just out of pity and reluctance for a new life. But after nine months of pregnancy, with blood ties connecting them, she felt the child being born from her body.
A feeling of fondness naturally arises.
Bai Xuerou was almost impatient to see the child she had just given birth to.
"She's fine, she just had her milk," Ling Xun said, turning around to take the red swaddled baby out of the stroller not far from the bed and carefully showing it to Bai Xuerou. Seeing that she wanted to get up, he quickly stopped her, "Sister, don't move."
"I'll put her next to you."
Ling Xun placed the swaddled baby beside Bai Xue Rou.
Bai Xuerou was too weak to move, but she managed to turn her head and see what it looked like. "Ugly."
She couldn't help but ask, her voice tinged with laughter and without a hint of disgust, "How long does it take for a baby to become fair and tender again?"
"It will probably stop being so red and wrinkled in about three days, but it will take until after a full month for it to become fair and smooth."
"Who told you that?" Bai Xuerou didn't think Ling Xun knew any of this.
"I asked the midwife beforehand."
Bai Xuerou finally believed it and said happily, "Then it won't be long before our child is very beautiful."
Ling Xun hummed in agreement, his gaze fixed on Bai Xue Rou, staring at her with an almost greedy intensity.
Before, he almost thought he was going to lose her.
Ling Xun even resented himself for keeping the child in the first place.
Even without this child, he was confident that he could get Bai Xuerou to agree, it would just take more time, but it was better than letting Bai Xuerou suffer like this.
He was filled with remorse.
"Okay, I'm fine, don't be afraid." Bai Xuerou felt his gaze and tried to reach out her hand. Ling Xun immediately took it and carefully put it back under the covers, but didn't let go.
"Sister, I regret it," Ling Xun said sullenly.
Bai Xuerou chuckled softly, "I know. I'm fine."
How could nothing be wrong?
Ling Xun thought to himself, remaining silent, only thinking that there would never be a next time, and that having this child was enough.
"Alright, alright, I'm the one who's suffered and toiled. Do you still need me to comfort you?" Bai Xuerou said helplessly, with a hint of annoyance.
To say she wasn't angry at all would be a lie; it's just that she's used to being reasonable and has always been restrained, so she couldn't bring herself to do something like that.
Seeing her annoyed, Ling Xun smiled instead and relaxed a bit.
He always felt he owed Bai Xuerou a great deal and wanted to give her the best of everything in the world, wishing she would ask him for even more.
But Bai Xuerou was content with her lot and took things as they came, rarely having any desires, which left him at a loss.
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