The Amnesiac, Sickly Beauty Is Pregnant With My Dragon Cub - Chapter 60.1

Huang Liu had gone to invite Ming Huang and had not yet returned. Cang Lan, listening to the taboo mentioned by An Zhi earlier—”no intimacy during pregnancy”—drooped her head as if she were at a funeral.

Seeing the dragon finally lose her spirit, An Zhi couldn’t help but gloat, saying, “You must keep this rule in mind. I’ve heard people say ‘ten months of pregnancy,’ which means you can’t be intimate with the Master for ten months.”

Cang Lan’s face turned even paler. She said in disbelief, “Ten… ten months?”

Ting Lan nodded and said, “Yes, a ten-month pregnancy, so of course, it’s at least ten months without intimacy. Though, I remember there’s a safe period, but it’s not recommended because you—”

Her words stopped abruptly. Ting Lan met the gaze of Yu Xuanji, who was standing behind Cang Lan drying her hair. She pursed her lips tightly and looked away guiltily.

Cang Lan, holding a notebook filled with dense notes, asked anxiously, “Ting Lan, speak up! What about me?”

Ting Lan coughed twice and turned to An Zhi. The two shared a guilty glance. Suddenly, they heard Yu Xuanji speak from behind, “A-Lan, what are you all doing here?”

Cang Lan’s heart skipped a beat. She spun around, instinctively hiding the notebook behind her back. She smiled stiffly at Yu Xuanji and said, “Wife, why are you here? Finished your bath so soon?”

Yu Xuanji smiled, using a soft white towel to dry her hair. “Yes, I’m finished.” Her gaze swept lightly and landed with unerring precision on the corner of the notebook Cang Lan was hiding. Pretending not to notice, she casually brushed her dripping wet hair back and said, “I didn’t see you when I came out from the bath just now. I looked for you in the cave for quite a while.”

Cang Lan quickly hid the notebook and tossed it to Ting Lan. Taking the soft towel from Yu Xuanji’s hands, she dried it with spiritual power and then gently began drying Yu Xuanji’s hair. She said worriedly, “Wife, your hair is still wet; it’s not good for your health. Let me dry it for you.”

An Zhi and Ting Lan quietly backed away and ran off the moment they were out of Yu Xuanji’s sight. Once they managed to escape the cave, An Zhi suddenly asked, “Why did we run? It’s not like we did anything wrong.”

Ting Lan slowed down and said, “I don’t know. Master’s gaze was too terrifying. I’m most afraid of her when she’s expressionless; she’s just like a Rakshasa from hell.”

As she spoke, Ting Lan felt the description was a bit off, but knowing Yu Xuanji, she felt using “Rakshasa” wasn’t entirely wrong.

An Zhi panted and said, “Expressionless is fine; I can accept that, I’m used to it. If Master actually looked at us with that tender gaze one day, then death wouldn’t be far off.”

Cang Lan finished drying Yu Xuanji’s hair and suddenly picked her up in a bridal carry. Without warning, she asked, “Wife, if we had a child—I mean, just hypothetically—what should we name her?”

Seeing Cang Lan ask such a random question, Yu Xuanji thought for a moment and smiled, asking, “Do you want a boy or a girl?”

Cang Lan answered without hesitation, “A girl, of course! I hope she looks just like you. Your eyes are so beautiful; it would be great if her eyes were like yours.”

Yu Xuanji didn’t know why Cang Lan was asking this. Previously, whenever she mentioned children to Cang Lan, the little dragon always said she was too young. Usually, when Yu Xuanji said she was young, Cang Lan would argue that she was over a thousand years old, but when it came to having children, she’d claim she had just reached adulthood and couldn’t yet.

Could it be—?

Yu Xuanji curved her lips and leaned into Cang Lan’s embrace. “Does A-Lan want to have a baby with me?”

Cang Lan felt a bit awkward and found it hard to speak about. She lowered her eyes to gaze at Yu Xuanji’s flat belly and said bashfully, “The rice is already cooked… so… then…”

These words were squeezed out from between her teeth, and Yu Xuanji only caught the part about “cooked rice” and missed the rest.

The Misunderstanding Deepens

Upon reaching the bedroom, Cang Lan placed Yu Xuanji gently on the bed. She stood silently by the bedside, neither speaking nor moving, like a child who had done something wrong, head bowed waiting for a lecture.

Yu Xuanji felt Cang Lan was different today. Usually, as soon as she finished bathing, the dragon would impatiently press down for a kiss, eager to taste every inch of her. But today, she stood still like a block of wood, just staring.

Though Yu Xuanji knew Cang Lan well, this awkward and strange behavior left her puzzled.

Yu Xuanji sat up to take Cang Lan’s hand, but Cang Lan hurriedly pulled it back and said quickly, “Wife, I… I don’t want to sleep yet.”

Yu Xuanji asked patiently, “If you don’t want to sleep, what do you want to do? Do you want to do it with me?”

Seeing Yu Xuanji preparing to untie her robe, Cang Lan covered her face in shock. “Wife, don’t!”

Yu Xuanji laughed helplessly. “Neither this nor that. What do you want? Tell me.”

Cang Lan stiffened her neck, shook her head, honestly took off her shoes and outer robes, and crawled into the warm blankets, turning her back to Yu Xuanji.

Yu Xuanji pressed against her back, wrapping a soft arm around Cang Lan’s waist. Her lips brushed against Cang Lan’s earlobe as she whispered, “A-Lan, are you mad at me?”

Cang Lan shook her head. Yu Xuanji’s soft, ambiguous voice made her feel weak and tingly all over. “Wife, I’m not.”

Yu Xuanji suspected the little dragon was going through puberty. Calculating in her head, by human standards, Cang Lan’s puberty should have been around eight or nine hundred years old. She was over a thousand now; was it a late onset?

Cang Lan swallowed and gripped Yu Xuanji’s right hand with both of hers, squeezing her knuckles. “Wife, I have a question to ask you. You must answer truthfully.”

Yu Xuanji’s nose pressed against the back of Cang Lan’s neck. She watched as layers of black scales slowly climbed up the neck. She lightly touched the soft, cool scales with her lips and smiled. “Okay, what do you want to ask?”

Cang Lan brainstormed for a moment. “Wife, I want to know if you like children.”

Yu Xuanji chuckled. “I do. Haven’t I been telling you I wanted one? Did you forget?”

Cang Lan lowered her eyes. “But I’m afraid you only said that because I mentioned wanting to increase the dragon lineage and flourish. I thought you only said it to comfort me.”

Cang Lan turned around, placing a hand on Yu Xuanji’s cheek and staring into her eyes. “Wife, answer me. Did you only say that for me? Or did you believe what that shaman said and only want a child with me because of that?”

Yu Xuanji stared back into those pale gold eyes and smiled. “A-Lan, when the opportunity comes, everything will happen. It’s not just for you, and not just for myself.”

Cang Lan didn’t understand. She desperately wanted to know Yu Xuanji’s deepest thoughts; she didn’t want to hear about “heavenly secrets.”

Outside, the wind howled. A great storm had struck the Desolate Wilderness, followed by heavy rain.

A clap of thunder boomed. Yu Xuanji leaned in to kiss Cang Lan’s lips. “Actually, I haven’t thought much about it. I just feel that if we had a child, it would be very happy.”

Cang Lan sighed. “But I heard An Zhi and Ting Lan say that pregnancy is a lot of suffering. If only I could be the one to carry it. Then I could lay a clutch of dragon eggs and slowly hatch them.”

Yu Xuanji smiled. “Either way is fine.”

Cang Lan felt Yu Xuanji was being cryptic. She didn’t dare say more, keeping it all inside while trying to figure out how to bring the matter up properly.

“Wife, it’s late. Let’s rest.” Cang Lan pulled the covers up, tucking Yu Xuanji in tightly. They lay face to face with eyes open. Cang Lan waved a hand to extinguish the mermaid-oil candle and patted Yu Xuanji’s back soothingly. “Close your eyes, Wife. I hope to see you in my dreams.”

Yu Xuanji obediently closed her eyes, letting go of Cang Lan’s hesitant words for the night. Everything would be dealt with tomorrow; after the thunder and rain, tomorrow would surely be a clear day.

Mirror Flower, Water Moon

In the dead of night, while Yu Xuanji was in a daze of sleep, she heard a rustling sound. She opened her eyes slightly and reached out, but the space beside her was empty. She quietly closed her eyes again.

Cang Lan was walking barefoot on the carpet. She was secretly hiding something under the bedside table while watching Yu Xuanji. Seeing Yu Xuanji roll over, she quickly shoved a pillow into Yu Xuanji’s arms to act as a decoy.

Seeing Yu Xuanji remain still, hugging the pillow with steady breathing, Cang Lan breathed a sigh of relief and tiptoed out the door.

The moment Cang Lan left, Yu Xuanji opened her eyes. She sat up and looked at the place where Cang Lan had hidden the object. She reached out and felt a book.

By the moonlight from the skylight, Yu Xuanji saw it wasn’t a book, but a crumpled notebook. On the first page, several large characters were written:

Manual for Taking Care of Wife and Guide to Child-Rearing

Yu Xuanji laughed instantly. She quietly flipped through, seeing Cang Lan’s “ghost-crawl” handwriting and some hard-to-decipher sketches.

The first sentence on the first page read: “Wife, you’ve worked hard.” The second sentence was: “I’m going to be a mother.”

Seeing this, combined with Cang Lan’s odd behavior today, Yu Xuanji suddenly realized—this little dragon thought she was pregnant.

No wonder she didn’t want to bathe together, didn’t want to kiss before bed, and refused any intimacy. It was all because of this.

Yu Xuanji closed her eyes, a lump forming in her throat. She stared at that first page. A hot teardrop fell onto the paper. Yu Xuanji hurriedly tried to wipe it away, but the tear blurred the black ink, leaving a clear tear stain.

Her lips trembled as tears slid down her face. She gently closed the notebook, choosing not to pry further into Cang Lan’s little secret, and put it back. She lay back down and pulled the covers over her face.

The moonlight was just right. Yu Xuanji blinked her wet eyes and curled around the pillow Cang Lan had given her, a sweet smile blooming on her lips. At this moment, she felt like the young girl from years ago who had found a precious treasure.

Yu Xuanji fell into a deep sleep. In a dream of the night, she walked into an ancient courtyard, lifting her dew-dampened skirt to cross the threshold. She ran to a room and pushed open the wooden door.

The night was a deep green, like dark jade, cold to the touch, with a faint mist.

Pushing through the cold bead curtains and the flowing gauze, she walked inside. The further she went, the faster her heart beat.

The corridor seemed endless. Yu Xuanji ran, eventually stopping out of breath. She looked up and met the reflection in a bronze mirror: Cang Lan’s brilliant, beautiful, and androgynous face.

Cang Lan stood before the mirror, holding a slender, frail woman in her arms. She held a piece of “Luozi” brow powder, tilting the girl’s chin up to gently draw willow-leaf brows.

Yu Xuanji stood frozen, watching. She instinctively reached out, her fingertips almost touching the Cang Lan who was painting the girl’s brows. Her eyes were full of envy and a hidden surprise.

The two were inseparable, like newlyweds. Yu Xuanji stared at the youthful face in the mirror—her own—and then at her current face. She reached out to embrace this “mirror flower, water moon,” afraid that a single touch would make it vanish.

Yu Xuanji closed her eyes and murmured, “For so many years, you never entered my dreams voluntarily. I thought you didn’t want me anymore.”

The phantom in her arms only laughed. Yu Xuanji stared at Cang Lan’s profile. “You’re a bastard, a liar. We promised to grow old together, and on the day of my natural death, you would personally walk me across the Naihe Bridge.”

Yu Xuanji’s pupils shrunk as she stared at the busy Cang Lan. “You said you never break a promise. Why did you leave me alone in this world and leave those words for me?”

“Do you know how I’ve lived these years?” Yu Xuanji sobbed, unable to breathe. She bit down on the phantom’s neck but felt nothing. “Why… why did you save me? I don’t want immortality; I only wanted you to live.”

She screamed at the phantoms, desperately trying to hug and kiss them, but she touched only air.

Cang Lan was combing the girl’s hair. She said to the face in the mirror, “Wife, how do you like the brows I drew today?”

The girl smiled. “It’s excellent. Where did you learn this? Don’t tell me you went to the brothel to find Mu Dan and the others again?”

Cang Lan rested her chin on the girl’s shoulder and laughed. “Wife is being jealous again. I didn’t. This is my own creation. I even named it: the ‘Crescent Moon Brow.’ See, doesn’t it look like the crescent moon in the sky?”