The Amnesiac, Sickly Beauty Is Pregnant With My Dragon Cub - Chapter 32.1

Outside the cave, a misty drizzle began to fall, pit-a-patter. Yu Xuanji remained wide awake, her eyes open until the first light of dawn.

Only as morning broke did a faint drowsiness finally settle over her. By then, Cang Lan was nearly awake. He wrapped his arms around Yu Xuanji’s waist, nuzzling her twice. He pressed his lips against her hair, rubbing softly, and then kissed her ear.

The rubbing made Yu Xuanji feel ticklish, and her body grew warm, breaking into a light sweat. She tried to stretch her arm out from under the covers, but Cang Lan pressed it back down.

With his eyes still closed, Cang Lan murmured, “Lady, are you awake?”

Yu Xuanji gave a soft “mm” and replied, “I’m awake.”

The moment Cang Lan opened his eyes, he was met with the faint shadows of dark circles beneath Yu Xuanji’s eyes. “Lady, why are your dark circles so heavy? Could it be you didn’t sleep all night?”

Yu Xuanji shook her head slowly. “No, I just had a nightmare and didn’t sleep well. It’s no matter.”

Cang Lan retracted his tail, tucked the blanket higher around Yu Xuanji, and stepped off the bed barefoot. “Lady, stay in bed and rest well. I’m going to the kitchen to cook for you.”

At the mention of the word “cook,” Yu Xuanji’s sleepiness vanished instantly. She threw back the covers and sat up. “I should do it.”

Just as she sat up, Cang Lan pressed her back down by her shoulders, smiling. “I knew my Lady loved me and couldn’t bear to let me work, but you must cherish your own body too. I’ll handle the cooking today. When it’s done, I’ll bring it here and feed you myself.”

Yu Xuanji gave a small smile. “Fine, that… that would be wonderful.”

Humming a little tune, Cang Lan walked out of the room and into the kitchen. He tied on an apron and brandished a kitchen knife, beginning to prep the wild chicken that Huang Liu had caught.

Huang Liu’s favorite food was chicken; she had a special knack for catching them and was deeply researched in the art of cooking them. To that end, she had even written a treatise titled The Record of Making Chicken, detailing hundreds of ways to prepare the bird.

Cang Lan was about to chop the chicken into small pieces to boil them when Huang Liu reached out to stop him. “Great King! No! That’s not how you do it!”

Cang Lan looked confused. “Then how do you say it should be done?”

Huang Liu pulled out all the internal organs and tossed them aside. “The organs haven’t been removed yet. If the Madam eats them, she’ll get sick.”

Looking at the bird, Cang Lan realized in hindsight that he had only plucked the feathers and drained the blood. He continued, “Do you know how to do it? Show me… and while you’re at it… while you’re at it…”

Confused, Huang Liu asked, “While I’m at what, Great King?”

Cang Lan coughed twice, looked around, and whispered expressionlessly, “While you’re at it, teach me… Hurry up and do it! I’ll be watching! If you don’t do a good job, I’ll pluck your fur!”

Huang Liu quickly grabbed another apron and tied it on. “Yes, yes! This servant understands!”

Cang Lan crossed his arms, staring intently at Huang Liu’s technique. Seeing her cut off the head and the tail, he asked, “Why are you cutting off the chicken’s butt?”

Huang Liu grinned. “This subordinate’s favorite part to eat is the chicken butt.”

Cang Lan gave an eye-roll of disgust and waved his hand. “It’s yours, then.”

Huang Liu placed the whole chicken into a clay pot and set it over a small fire to simmer, adding herbs like lingzhi and celestial grass inside.

Seeing Huang Liu stuffing bits of bark and roots into the pot, Cang Lan couldn’t help but ask curiously, “If you put bark in there, can you still drink the soup?”

Huang Liu explained, “This is a type of medicinal spice used by humans. It’s very precious. I specially kept it when the Ten Thousand Demons paid tribute a few days ago. It’s delicious for stews and stir-fries!”

Though Cang Lan was skeptical, he leaned in and sniffed. He found the scent quite fragrant, even if the ingredients looked a bit shabby.

Huang Liu added, “Great King, we can also put some ginseng in the chicken soup. Soup made that way is more effective than any elixir or spirit pill.”

Cang Lan’s eyes darted around, and he immediately thought of something. “You stay here and guard the kitchen. I’ll get you a thousand-year ginseng.”

Huang Liu scratched her head, utterly perplexed.

After a moment, she saw Cang Lan returning, dangling a fair, chubby little infant by the scruff of the neck. She was so terrified her tail stood on end, and she stammered, “G-G-G-Great King! When did you and the Madam have such a big child!”

Cang Lan held the ginseng baby by the neck and said, “This isn’t a child of mine and Xuanji’s. Xuanji and I would never have such an ugly child. This is a ginseng spirit. Should we throw her in whole, or chop her into pieces first?”

The ginseng baby struggled for a moment, then stared at the boiling pot and said happily, “Is Long-Long making something yummy for me?”

Cang Lan smiled thinly. “Something like that. I’m planning to turn you into something yummy. Do you prefer being braised or steamed?”

The ginseng baby giggled. “I like both!”

Huang Liu remarked, “But this baby is too fat; she won’t fit in the pot. How about we just chop off one of her hands and throw it in to boil?”

Cang Lan pondered for a second. “Good idea.”

Huang Liu grabbed the ginseng baby by the neck, adopting the posture of a butcher about to slaughter a pig. She tossed the baby onto the cutting board and rubbed her hands together.

The ginseng baby thought they were playing with her. She lay obediently on the board, laughing, “What game are we playing?”

Cang Lan looked down at her coldly. “We’re just borrowing a hand.”

Back in bed, Yu Xuanji tossed and turned, unable to sleep. Thinking of Cang Lan in the kitchen made her uneasy; she felt something was bound to go wrong.

Whenever Cang Lan cooked, he either blew up the kitchen or blew himself up. Even with nine lives, one shouldn’t squander them like that.

Sure enough, as soon as Yu Xuanji reached the kitchen door, she saw two great demons—who together were over three thousand years old—bullying a weakling, sharpening their knives for the slaughter.

Huang Liu had a ferocious expression as she brandished the kitchen knife. The moment the blade was about to descend, Yu Xuanji tightened her palm, freezing Huang Liu’s hand in place.

Huang Liu’s hand, clutching the knife, couldn’t move. She said in shock, “Great King, my hand isn’t listening to me anymore. Has it gained a soul of its own?”

Cang Lan rapped her on the head with the handle of a chopstick. “Idiot, aren’t you a demon yourself?”

Yu Xuanji walked in then, seeing the mess in the kitchen. She asked with a smile, “A-Lan, what are you two doing?”

The moment Cang Lan saw Yu Xuanji, his heart filled with guilt. He had promised her before that he would never bully this “fat radish” again, and here he was, caught red-handed.

Thinking fast, Cang Lan quickly hugged the ginseng baby, putting on an act of deep affection. He said with a grin, “Lady, the three of us are playing a game. Weren’t you supposed to be sleeping? Why are you out of bed?”

With that, Cang Lan tossed the fat radish to Huang Liu, scooped Yu Xuanji up, and turned to run. In the blink of an eye, he had placed her back on the bed.

Cang Lan said, “Rest, Lady. Just keep your heart in your stomach. If you can’t trust anyone else, surely you can trust me?”

Yu Xuanji opened her mouth, wanting to say that she trusted everyone except him, but Cang Lan slipped away again instantly, leaving her alone on the bed.

Watching Cang Lan’s guilty, fleeing silhouette, Yu Xuanji felt utterly helpless. She could only lie back down and wait for the “big surprise” Cang Lan would surely bring later.

Returning to the kitchen, Cang Lan saw that Huang Liu’s hand had returned to normal. She was clutching the ginseng baby by the neck again, ready for the killing blow. Cang Lan shouted, “Stop!”

The knife was already falling. In that split second, Cang Lan pushed with her palm. The ginseng baby was knocked aside, and the sharp blade only sliced off a lock of her snowy-white hair.

The ginseng baby rolled on the ground a few times and bounced up. Her two freshly tied buns were knocked loose. Her body, like an inflatable toad, bounced along the floor and flew right out of the room.

Huang Liu was nearly knocked over by Cang Lan as well. The lock of hair floated down from the air into her hand, instantly transforming into a piece of ginseng root. She said in awe, “Great King! This is magical! So we only needed a lock of hair!”

Cang Lan smacked Huang Liu’s forehead. “Shut up. Hurry and make the soup.”

Huang Liu tidied the ginseng whiskers, lifted the lid of the clay pot, and placed the ginseng inside neatly. “Be good now. Stay in the pot and don’t run around. I’ll fish you out in a bit.”

After finishing, Huang Liu clapped her hands in satisfaction. “The Great King mentioned the Madam wasn’t sleeping well, so I added some soul-soothing herbs. Drinking this soup is good for the body; it’s even safe to eat during pregnancy.”

At the word “pregnancy,” Cang Lan’s face turned beet red. He could barely hear what Huang Liu was saying, so he just nodded vaguely. “Oh… okay.”

Huang Liu, having just mentioned that all the chicken butts would belong to her in the future, saw Cang Lan nod in agreement and almost jumped for joy.

Cang Lan sat nearby on a small stool. The firelight flickered, and his eyes mirrored the shifting light.

Huang Liu leaned in gossipingly and whispered, “Great King, why is there no movement in the Madam’s belly yet? It shouldn’t be.”

Cang Lan’s face flushed instantly. “We… we haven’t planned for it yet.”

Squatting on the ground, Huang Liu’s eyes nearly popped out of her head. “No way! We see you and the Madam together every day, inseparable. There are even rumors outside that the Madam will hatch a whole clutch of dragon eggs for you. Hey! That’ll be a sight!”

Cang Lan’s face felt hot and itchy from the fire. He would never admit to Huang Liu that it was from embarrassment. Sure enough, Huang Liu turned and saw Cang Lan’s face was as red as a cooked shrimp. She jumped. “Great King, are you cooked?”

Cang Lan replied solemnly, “It’s the heat from the fire.”

Huang Liu continued, “Then Great King, I have a question.”

Cang Lan conjured an ice ball in his palm and pressed it to his face to cool down. “Speak.”

Huang Liu, bold as a mouse, leaned into Cang Lan’s ear and asked mysteriously, “Could it be that Great King… you aren’t very capable in that department?”

CRACK. The ice ball in Cang Lan’s hand was crushed into powder.

Huang Liu slapped her thigh. “Aha! I knew that was the reason! Otherwise, as much as you two love each other, forget dragon eggs—little dragons would be running around everywhere by now.”

Huang Liu went on, “I know a divine doctor on the neighboring mountain who specializes in infertility. He has a miraculous touch and can cure anything. How about I introduce the Great King to him? You should at least go see him…”

As she spoke, the surroundings grew quiet. Huang Liu was vividly describing the doctor when she failed to notice that Cang Lan’s face had turned black as the bottom of a pot.

In the bedroom, Yu Xuanji was lying down when a tragic scream echoed through the sky. She looked up at the skylight and saw a small black dot getting smaller and smaller against the blue sky. She had no idea what had just been launched into the air.