The days before something happened in the palace, he had not returned to the mansion. The next time he saw her was when she and others were besieging the imperial study.

  Was she pregnant at that time?

  Jiang Xuanjin stared blankly and looked down at his fingertips.

  "To be honest, after all that's happened, if she hasn't killed you yet, you should know what weight you hold in her heart." A low voice sounded from the doorway.

  He slowly turned his head, and saw Lu Jinghang leaning against the door frame, with a sarcastic expression on his face: "If it were me, with your child in my belly, I risked entering the palace to save you, and was sent to the heavenly prison by you. You would have died countless times."

  His heart seemed to have been grasped by something with great force, Jiang Xuanjin took a light breath and choked for an instant.

  "What... did you say?"

  "I'm telling you, you've been deceived. I never had any private relationship with Cui Yu." Lu Jinghang raised his chin and looked at him with a "watching the show" expression, "I don't know who told you this, but how did you end up pinning the child on me?"

  Isn't it Lu Jingxian's flesh and blood?!

  Jiang Xuanjin's face turned pale.

  In an instant, everything shattered to the ground, broken into pieces of glass. The scene reassembled itself, with her pushing open the door of the imperial study room with a joyful and celebratory expression, with his icy long sword placed around her neck, with the dark and damp sky prison, and with the Buddhist beads that were brutally torn from her hands.

  She said: Jiang Jing, I really like you.

  She said: I'm afraid you're not clear about it, so I must tell you, I want to have a child with you.

  In the darkness, her eyes shone brightly, every word was sincere and heartfelt. He listened carefully and remembered them all, but why...why didn't he still believe her?

  Lu Jingxing gazed at him with a mixture of curiosity and mockery, fanning himself as he spoke: "Today's weather is nice, so I don't mind chatting with you for a bit - do you know why the Empress Dowager keeps so many eunuchs? It's because all the eunuchs in her palace are her subordinates, each with their own unique skills and abilities. What a pity that she has someone in her heart, even if there are those among the eunuchs who have feelings for her, they can't get close to her."

  The cold wind outside the station rushed in from the wide open door, blowing people's clothes fiercely, filled with desolation.

  Jiang Xuanjin raised his eyes to look at him, his throat was so dry that he couldn't speak.

  Is it really not a true face?

  He thought she was romantic and sentimental, thinking that she was just a temporary infatuation, thinking that she had ulterior motives, thinking that she was ruining her own true heart.

  However, she didn't have either of them.

  She thinks that her true heart is the same as his, without any difference. She says she has given him her true heart, and it's really been given, earlier than him, more infatuated than him.

  The last thing that flashed through her mind was the delicate face at the entrance of the imperial study, with eyes full of light, which dimmed away with a clear change as he pointed his long sword. Behind her was the earth-shaking sound of slaughter, but in her eyes, there was only his icy face.

  What did he say at that time? Right, he said: I don't believe it.

  The face in front of him was as white as snow, and he said hoarsely: Aren't you just wanting me to die? I'll grant your wish.

  What kind of sorrow has it become that even life is no longer wanted? With that one sword stroke, she hadn't even thought about what to do with the child in her belly.

  With a panicked clench of his fists, Jiang Xuanjin subconsciously shook his head, as if he couldn't stand it anymore, and rushed out across the threshold.

  "Your Highness, pay attention to your demeanor." Lu Jinghang said from behind, "The Jiang family's motto is to walk upright and sit straight. Why do you walk with such a sloppy gait?"

  The teasing voice faded into the distance, Jiang Xuanjin seemed to have not heard it, he saw the horse carriage still parked at the door, hastily walked over, but suddenly stopped at the side of the carriage, stretched out his hand to lean on the carriage shaft, his eyes slightly red.

  The sun had just risen, and the outskirts were serene. He stood there, at a loss for what to do, stretching out his hand and then withdrawing it.

  Someone actively lifted the car curtain, hugged his stomach and knelt down, smiling at him.

  "Do you regret it?" she asked.

  He raised his eyes, with three parts anger and seven parts grievance: "You deceived me again!"

  What will make Xiang Fu teach and Lu Jingxing live a good life, what to give the child the surname Lu, she deliberately wants to make him suffer.

  "Yes, I deceived you again." Li Huaiyu said with a straight face and an air of confidence, "Who made you unwilling to coax me?"

  She had a smile on her lips, but her apricot eyes were red. By the time she finished speaking, the tip of her nose was also reddened.

  "I was just thinking, why don't I just drive back directly? You can only walk back if you want to come back. You're so cruel to me, how can I still be good to you and let you have your way?"

  "But thinking about it again, I felt reluctant to part with it."

  She touched the shallow scar on her neck and asked vaguely: "But how can you bear to part with me?"

  Her heart skipped a beat, Jiang Xuanjin's eyelashes trembled, and he wanted to reach out and touch her neck, but before he could, she slapped his hand away with a fierce expression.

  "What are you doing?" She stared at him with her big round eyes, "Don't you know the rules? Men and women shouldn't be so close to each other, didn't you know that?"

  Helplessly looking at her, Jiang Xuanjin pursed his lips and stretched out his hand again.

  Li Huaiyu showed no mercy at all. He stretched out his hand and she slapped it away, like a child throwing a tantrum, slapping his hand back and forth until it turned red.

  With a crisp "slap", she didn't control her strength well and slapped him a bit too hard. Her eyelid twitched, and Huai Yu subconsciously wanted to grab his hand to take a look, but as soon as she touched the tip of his finger, he took advantage of the situation and slowly wrapped her hand in his palm.

  "Sorry." Jiang Xuanjin said in a low voice.

  With a slight tremble, Li Huaiyu swallowed hard, and the mist in her eyes uncontrollably rose up.

  She didn't actually have any grievances against him, she just had been vomiting recently and her waist and back hurt, so she wanted to throw a tantrum. When she really heard those three words, all her internal organs contracted into a ball, feeling both sour and astringent.

  One of them couldn't hold back, and tears fell from their eyes.

  Jiang Xuanjin panicked, unable to maintain his composure, and pinched her sleeve to wipe away her tears. As he wiped, he furrowed his brow: "They say that pregnant women shouldn't cry... what do you want to hear? I'll tell you anything, what do you want? I'll give it to you, just don't cry, okay?"

  "No way." She gritted her teeth, "I couldn't control myself either."

  It was like a flood that had been accumulating for many years, and suddenly burst its banks, unable to be held back. Li Huaiyu sat in the car, sobbing uncontrollably, while Jiang Xuanyin grew anxious, looking around before heading off in one direction.

  He just left like that? Li Huaiyu was so angry, her mouth puffed up like a frog's, thinking what's the point of trying to carve rotten wood, might as well let him go back!

  Just as I was about to find a rickshaw, I raised my eyes and that cyan-colored robe had come back again.

  His slender fingers pinched a bright orange, he walked back to her side, carefully peeled it off, removed the stalks, and handed a slice to her lips.

  "Let me peel an orange for you, and you forgive me, okay?" She had said that to him a long time ago.

  Lowering her head to look at his hands stained with juice, Li Huaiyu stopped crying. She stared blankly at him with a pair of bright and clear eyes.

  Jiang Xuanjin felt somewhat uneasy, his hand raised, and a pair of calm eyes were filled with anxiety.

  "It should... be sweet." he said.

  How about trying some of this sweet orange? If you try it, you won't be angry anymore, and we can head home together.

  His emotions were clearly visible in his eyes, like a stubborn child who had finally mustered up the courage to make amends with someone. His eyelashes fluttered and his gaze wavered, but he insisted on pretending to be calm, his thin lips pursed tightly, refusing to show weakness.

  Li Huaiyu looked at him and thought that even if he was a stubborn stone, he should have softened his heart in front of him.

  She bit into an orange and pulled his sleeve to wipe her face, asking him: "Going back?"

  His fingertips brushed against her soft lips, Jiang Xuanjin was stunned for a moment, his gaze fell on her still red eyes, and his heart tightened.

  "Okay." He nodded.

  Qing Si and the others did not follow him out, they were all waiting in the princess's mansion, no one could guess what the outcome of this trip would be, and they couldn't help but worry.

  As the sun rose higher, there was a commotion outside the door. Everyone stood up and stared intently at the entrance.

  A flash of peony skirt swept across the threshold, and Li Huaiyu came in alone, hugging her belly as she looked at them.

  Seeing her eyes red, Qing Xuan hurriedly stepped forward and said: "Your Highness, don't be sad. What kind of man is not in this world? As long as you want, no matter who it is, we'll help you get him back!"

  "Yes." Xu Chuyang also chimed in, "If someone really wants to leave, no one can stop them, don't take it to heart."

  Yu Wu frowned and shook his head: "Ziyang Jun is really not a good person, in my opinion, Lu Zhuanggui didn't lose to him in any way."

  Jiang stood awkwardly beside him, wanting to hold his tongue, but unfortunately Xu Chunian glanced over at him unintentionally, with hostility in his eyes.

  Is this the result of being in the same boat as the fish? His eyelid twitched, and Jiang Shen hastily said: "Even if he were my own brother, I wouldn't help Third Brother this time. If it's a misunderstanding, how can you not listen to an explanation? You're really heartless and unreasonable!"

  He actually didn't know what had happened either, but judging from the discussions of the people in the hall just now, it seemed that his third brother was not in the right. Anyway, he wasn't there, and speaking a few words for him wouldn't cost him anything.

  Thinking so, Jiang Er Gongzi's courage grew, looking at Xu Chuyan, wanting to take a stand: "If it were me..."

  "If it were you, you should have gone to the brothel and flirted with some beauties, making them cry outside the Jiang's residence, then come from afar to tell people that you know your mistake." Someone followed behind Li Huaiyu and stepped inside the door, coldly adding the latter half of his sentence.

  His heart skipped a beat, Jiang Shen stiffened and turned his head, his eyes meeting Jiang Xuanjin's icy gaze, he almost choked on his breath.

  "Third... third brother?"

  Jiang Xuanjin's face was smiling, but his heart wasn't. His eyes were cold as snow, and the words that came out of his mouth were icy: "Even if he's my own brother, I won't help him this time. He's been too reckless, and it's always others who suffer for his true feelings."

  His face turned blue and then red, red and then green. Jiang Shen looked at Xu Chuyan who was frowning beside him and shook his head repeatedly: "I didn't... I didn't..."

  Xu Chuyi calmly knelt down before him: "It's already been decided and settled, Young Master doesn't need to explain it to a lowly girl like me."

  "No, I didn't go to the brothel last time and had nothing to do with those people..."

  "Second Master." Chi Jin interrupted him warmly, "Since Miss Xu doesn't want to listen, why must you keep talking?"

  Jiang Shen was furious, he thought it necessary to clarify the matter, but Xu Chuyan really didn't intend to listen, without saying a word, she went straight to Li Huaiyu's side.

  "Congratulations, Your Highness." she said in a low voice.

  Li Huaiyu felt surprised: "Don't you all want to ask what happened? Or ask how I brought the person back?"

  Shaking her head, Xu Chuyan smiled lightly: "You wanted him to come back, he's back, that's enough. For us, nothing else is urgent, wait until you have time, it's fine to talk slowly."

  Jiang San Gongzi was mentally flipping through the little notebook, noting down the person who had just spoken ill of him. Upon hearing this, he looked at Xu Chuyan and struck her name off the list.

  Hua Yu's eyes were slightly red, and Lu Jinghang pushed Qi Jin forward, saying casually: "Let the doctor take your pulse first, you've been crying all day."

  Everyone came back to their senses and sent her back to the house in a flurry, leaving only Qi Jin and Jiang Xuanjin guarding, and everyone else retreated.

  As soon as the gate closed, Lu Jingxing was dragged to a corner of the yard.

  "What's going on? How can these two people act as if nothing had happened and be together like normal?" Xu Chuyan's eyes widened.

  Qing Si hastily asked: "Since everything is fine now, Master, why are you crying? Have you been wronged?"

  Yu Wu couldn't understand it either: "How could Zi Yang Jun, such a proud and aloof person, come back just like that?"

  Lu Jingxing's mouth twitched: "Just now who said that others are not in a hurry and can wait for Your Highness to speak slowly?"

  Everyone looked at Xu Chuyang in unison, and the latter said in a low voice: "Isn't that to stabilize her emotions and comfort her?"

  "Come on, say it quickly!" Qingxuan was so anxious that she scratched her ears and cheeks.

  He let out a soft hum, and Lu Jinghang leaned against the crimson pillar, fanning himself as he gazed at the closed door of the main house from afar. Only then did he begin to speak in a slow and gentle tone.

  The room was very quiet, and Qi Jin felt the gaze of Zi Yang Jun, making him tense, his fingertips on Li Huaiyu's wrist were trembling.

  "Ah, what's there to be afraid of?" Huaiyu smiled and said, "You're already considered a veteran doctor in the Jiang household."

  Qī Jǐn glanced at the person beside him with a sideways glance.

  With a gentle smile, she shifted her body slightly, patted the bed and said to Jiang Xuan: "Come."

  Jiang Xuanjin furrowed his brow: "Still taking the pulse."

  Saying so with her mouth, her body was very obedient and sat down, allowing her to lean half of her body against her.

  With a smile, she chose a comfortable posture, and while letting Qi Jin take her pulse, she gazed at him with autumn waves rippling in her eyes, as if wanting to say something but hesitating.

  At first, she could still calmly return his gaze, but after looking for a while, and with others around, Jiang Xuanjin's ears slowly turned red.

  "Don't look anymore." he muttered.

  The atmosphere in the room suddenly became much more relaxed, Qi Jin secretly took a breath, hastily focused his mind to take her pulse again, and then stretched out his hand to feel the abdomen of Huai Yu, retreating two steps he said: "Both mother and child are safe, but the lady's belly is indeed bigger than usual, so we must be extra careful during childbirth."

  As soon as he heard this, Jiang Xuanjin's back stiffened and he looked up to ask: "Will there be danger?"

  Qī Jǐn said in a low voice: "Childbirth is never without danger for women. If Your Majesty is worried, then find some experienced and skilled midwives."

  "Can a midwife ensure safe delivery?"

  "...This one is also uncertain, but at least there's a bit more grasp."

  He clenched his jaw and stared at Huaiyu's belly for a while before asking, "Can't you not give birth?"

  Li Huaiyu scratched her ear, thinking she had misheard: "What did you say?"

  "I won't give birth." He repeated stubbornly, "We don't need a child either."

  It seems that it's not you who has been pregnant for more than six months with great difficulty, if you don't want to, then don't let me give birth.

  "No."

  "What is it?" she bellowed.

  Jiang Xuanjin closed his eyes, his fingertips pinching a strand of her black hair, and after a long silence, he said in a low voice: "What if something happens to you?"

  If she were like his elder sister-in-law and left after giving birth to a boy, what would he do?

  Li Huaiyu was taken aback, looked up and saw his eyes, and asked belatedly: "Are you worried about me?"

  Are you worried to the point of not even wanting children?

  Jiang Xuanjin pursed his lips and nodded very seriously.

  From the moment he saw her pregnant belly, his heart was filled with fear rather than anger. He had seen the Jiang family's sky-high paper money and watched as his elder brother knelt in the mourning hall, holding a swaddled Jiang Yan and sobbing uncontrollably.

  That kind of pain, he was determined not to experience.

  Hua Yu was taken aback and stared at him for a while, slowly exhaling the air in her lungs, before finally bursting out laughing: "The divorce papers were written in vain."

  "Speaking of which, Jiang Xuanjin was still somewhat displeased: 'You have nothing to do with Lu Jinghang, and you're carrying my child, what's the point of a divorce letter?'"

  Is it intentional to make him sad again?

  Rubbing his nose, Yu Gong smiled wryly: "I've been expecting you."

  "Hmm?" He furrowed his brow.

  "Our Northern Wei custom is that children are all returned to the maternal family, right? I'm afraid if you knew I was pregnant with your child, you'd come and fight me for it, so I've prepared a divorce agreement first. The things we have in common, the ones I like will all belong to me."

  Facing the gaze of the person in front of her, Li Huaiyu's voice grew softer as she spoke: "The child is also shared, I'm sure I'll like it, and naturally it will belong to me..."

  Her eyes were cold and piercing, like the wind blowing outside, which made her skin crawl with goosebumps.

  Jiang Xuanjin asked in a cold voice: "In your heart, am I this kind of person?"

  Knowing that he was a small-minded person who measured others by his own standards, she pulled on his hand with a guilty conscience: "I just did it in case..."

  He gazed deeply at her, then closed his eyes and leaned against the edge of the bed, rubbing his brow with one hand, his lips completely bloodless.

  Li Huaiyu felt a bit reluctant and thought for a moment before asking: "What about the 'Divorce Letter' I gave you?"

  She turned over her sleeve pocket and Jiang Xuanjin took it out with a flourish, placing it in front of her.

  Actually carrying it with him!

  Her heart grew even more uneasy, she coughed dryly twice, and took out the divorce papers from her own sleeve as well. The two documents were combined into one, and she pinched them together in the middle and tore them open at once.

  With a "whoosh" sound, Jiang Xuanjin opened his eyes.

  The man in front of him laughed with a sly and rascal expression, threw the two torn resignation letters on the ground, pointed to his heart with his index finger, and said with a pretentious tone: "You are also mine, I like it too, according to what we agreed, it should belong to me."

  “……”

  It's been a long time since he saw this smiling face in front of him, as if it were another world, with the morning sun rising, dazzling his eyes and making his heart ache.

  He slowly raised his hand and covered his eyes, his Adam's apple slightly moving.

  Hua Yu gazed quietly, propped herself up, leaned forward gently, and lightly kissed the back of his hand.