Chapter 412: Chapter 410: Lu Ying Suddenly Coughs Up Blood
Outside the hall.
Lu Ying appeared quietly under the plum tree, as if a ghost.
Through the eaves of the corridor and the tightly shut carved windows, he couldn’t hear what the two people inside were saying.
Because it was winter, the glass embedded in the windowpane was fogged with a thin layer of condensation. He could only vaguely see the two of them sitting together, their postures undeniably intimate.
The branches of the plum tree, weighed down by the snow that had fallen overnight, scattered flakes onto his shoulders. Even his eyebrows and eyelashes bore traces of frost.
He seemed utterly unaware, his gaze fixed only on the man and woman within the hall.
After all, it had been some days since he had last seen her.
She reclined on a zitan Grandmaster chair draped in a tiger-fur cushion, dressed in a crimson Shu brocade jacket and skirt embroidered with pomegranate blossoms. The cuffs and collar were trimmed with white fox fur, and she idly held an enameled hand warmer gilded with gold filigree. At her temples, the freshly picked Haitang flower was vibrant and lovely, accentuating her radiant beauty.
Only, her pregnant belly looked a little more prominent than it had the last time he saw her.
He’d overheard the palace maids gossiping: a sharp belly meant it was a boy, a round belly a girl.
But she was dressed so thickly that he couldn’t tell if her belly was sharp or round.
Since Doctor Xiao Chen had said she was carrying a boy, then perhaps it must be sharp?
Lu Ying tightened his fingers into a fist.
And yet, he couldn’t for the life of him picture how her belly could be "sharp."
The girl laughed and chatted, her Dan Feng eyes brimming with light.
Most likely, they were reflecting Cui Ji’s figure.
He was the father of her child.
The three of them were a family—a family that could openly appear before others.
Even if he lingered in her Furong Palace for hours, no one outside would dare speak a word of it...
Inside the hall, Shen Yinning softly declined Cui Ji’s proposal.
She said, "Doctor Xiao Chen said that in three months, I’ll be due to give birth. I made a deal with Empress Dowager Li: I will ensure Li Zhu becomes a concubine, and in return, she will ensure my child is born safely. There are many experienced Imperial Physicians and midwives in the palace. With their care, I’ll be much safer here than traveling to the border."
"But you’ve offended Empress Dowager Li before. I worry she’ll seize this opportunity to harm you."
"The Empress Dowager has an extreme need for control; otherwise, she wouldn’t go to such lengths to plant women in Lu Ying’s harem. As I have no attachments, she’s had no leverage against me. But to her, my carrying a child means I now have a weakness—a vulnerability she can manipulate. She, more than anyone, would want to ensure this child becomes my Achilles’ heel."
Cui Ji fell silent.
The young girl had calculated everything.
It made him feel incredibly useless.
After a moment, he grasped Shen Yinning’s hand.
Looking her straight in the eye, he declared, "You must remember, Cui Ji is your husband. No matter what happens, Cui Ji will always be here for you."
Having traveled across the northern lands for months, his aura of gentle spring rain had been refined by the snow-laden mountains and the clashing of swords under frosty skies. There was now a resilience and an edge in his gaze that no ordinary scholar possessed.
Shen Yinning nodded. "I know."
Cui Ji’s eyes lingered on her belly. "Though the child you carry isn’t mine, I will love and raise him as if he were my own. More than anyone, I hope for you and the child to be safe and well."
Their fingers intertwined.
Cui Ji leaned in, pressing a gentle kiss to Shen Yinning’s cheek.
Close enough to feel the shared breath between them, they stared into each other’s eyes.
Cui Ji’s gaze deepened, and suddenly, he kissed Shen Yinning’s lips with intensity.
Outside the hall.
Lu Ying stood solitary beneath the plum tree, his expression frozen like an icy expanse stretching eternally.
He had known what he would see before he came.
He had known, from the moment he chose to follow, that he would witness their tenderness and intimacy.
His heart felt as if clutched by an invisible iron hand, squeezed so tightly he could barely breathe.
With every shuddering breath, that heart seemed to swell violently in his narrow chest, as if it might burst at any moment.
His narrowed eyes were bloodshot, and he clung to the tree trunk, barely suppressing the turbulent blood coursing through him.
Luckily, it was lunchtime.
Haitang entered the hall and interrupted Shen Yinning and Cui Ji’s moment of intimacy by asking where to set the meal.
Shen Yinning warmly invited Cui Ji and Shangguan Min to dine with her in Furong Palace.
Shangguan Min glanced over the array of delicacies and said warmly, "Seeing with my own eyes what you’re eating, I can finally trust that the palace hasn’t mistreated you."
"Furong Palace may be on the outskirts, but I have my own little kitchen." Shen Yinning placed a crispy chicken leg onto her plate. "With enough silver thrown around, who would dare not get things done for me?"
"You," Shangguan Min smiled with indulgent affection, "everything about you is fine, but you still refuse to teach children properly. Always reading those nonsensical books—aren’t you afraid of setting a bad example for him?"
"Isn’t that what I have you for, elder sister? I have no interest in raising a child. Once the baby is born, why not send him to you to be raised? You’d make an excellent stepmother."
Shangguan Min stared at her in shock, then smiled in delight, turning to Cui Ji, "You see? She’s lazy beyond hope!"
Cui Ji chuckled. "She’s always been this way."
Inside the hall, the floor dragons kept the space warm, and flower arrangements in the corners added a touch of vitality.
The three of them dined together. Though no wine was served, the atmosphere was harmonious and pleasant.
Lu Ying remained standing in the shadowed corner outside the hall.
He watched them.
Though he couldn’t hear their conversation, he could feel Shen Yinning’s happiness and ease.
That kind of ease was something she had never shown while with him.
When she was with him...
Lu Ying’s mind drifted back to countless moments from the previous year.
He had forced her, pressured her.
He had used his power to suppress her, making her lower her head, forcing her to admit she was wrong.
During that Dragon Boat Festival when he had just returned to the capital from Gan State, she had been afraid to even ask if he intended to gift her Shen Garden, afraid such a question would provoke his ire.
He had stripped her of her dignity and her freedom.
He had demanded she serve him with her beauty, training her into an unashamed plaything for his pleasure.
Because of Lu Shiyan, he had held back his resentment, venting all his hidden insecurities and jealousy upon her in cruel, underhanded ways.
A torrent of emotions surged within him.
Anger, hatred, jealousy—and perhaps...
Regret.
Lu Ying’s complexion turned ashen as he stared intensely at the fogged glass window, at Shen Yinning’s silhouette. Suddenly, he coughed up a mouthful of blood.
He looked down, his fingers trembling for no discernible reason.
Even his heart was quivering with him.
He scarcely remembered how he left Furong Palace.
He only remembered that, though it was midday, the road back to the Imperial Study felt endlessly dark and long.
When he finally reached the Imperial Study and stepped inside, he collapsed directly over the threshold.
Gui Quan and De Sun were terrified, immediately shouting for the "Imperial Physician" and directing the eunuchs to hurriedly lift him onto the bed.
Lu Ying kept his eyes closed.
His consciousness drifted and wavered.
Sometimes, he dreamed of himself as a boy secretly watching Shen Yinning. Other times, he saw the two of them studying under their tutor’s roof. Then there were the days of his youthful poverty, silently observing Shen Yinning and Lu Shiyan from afar.
The moon...
She was the moon he had quietly loved for so many years.
He had finally held the moon in his arms, only to push her far away with his own hands.
If he had known the pain he would feel today, perhaps he wouldn’t have meddled in her relationship with Cui Ji at all.
In truth, everything she said was right.
He had his three palaces and six courtyards; what right did he have to demand her fidelity?
He had never given her a proper title; what right did he have to demand her love?
It was all his fault.
It was all his fault...