The General Was Pregnant with the Emperor's Child - Chapter 13

Xiao Yun’an crushed a memorial he had accidentally stumbled upon one accusing Ye Wuyou of debauchery in the military camp his knuckles turning white with veins.

The names appearing in his “Flower Thief” dreams were becoming more numerous by the day. The chaotic, disorderly scenes in those dreams were exactly like Ye Wuyou’s flighty personality. Xiao Yun’an raised a hand to cradle his throbbing head. These past few nights, without the “Flower Thief” version of Ye Wuyou causing trouble in his dreams, he had actually slept fitfully. He felt a groundless sense of panic, as if something major were about to happen, and hadn’t slept well for days.

“Your Majesty, it is late. Please rest,” Gao Su advised boldly, seeing the dark circles under the Emperor’s eyes and his haggard complexion.

Yesterday, Gao Su had reported the results of the investigation from the Court of Judicial Review. It seemed His Majesty was sleepless due to worry over General Ye.

The Flower Thief case had always been handled between Gao Su and the Court of Judicial Review. Leaving aside the issue of the Emperor’s dignity if too many people pried, after Xiao Yun’an had personally “cautioned” every minister a month ago, the censors at court didn’t dare utter a word. The Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, who had been entrusted with the heavy responsibility, was trembling every time he attended court, fearing he knew too much and would be silenced.

“The jade pendant provided by Eunuch Gao… no matter how we investigate, it was never handled by anyone other than General Ye. The suspicion of the Flower Thief…” Just after the court session, the Minister pulled Gao Su into a corner, returning the evidence. He didn’t dare draw the final conclusion.

The suspect was still Ye Wuyou. Gao Su wore a pained expression, and after taking the pendant, he gave the Minister a standard fake smile: “To strike me unconscious and then kidnap His Majesty without a sound… if General Ye were truly the owner of the pendant, why would he go to such trouble? Lord, you know the relationship between His Majesty and the General.”

The Minister grew wary: “…What relationship? Should I know?”

Gao Su continued to smile: “Palace secrets. I hope you keep them, Lord.”

The Minister suddenly felt he was being pulled into a bottomless pit. Looking at Gao Su’s smile now, it felt exceptionally eerie. Throwing caution to the wind, he stiffened his neck: “Eunuch Gao, speak plainly.”

Gao Su: “This old servant dares not speculate on the Imperial will. It’s just that regarding this Flower Thief case, perhaps we have all been looking in the wrong direction. I will ask His Majesty later and return to report to you.”

The Minister’s face went limp. He backed up against a wall, stiff-bodied, as Gao Su said nothing more, merely playing with his horsetail whisk with a pleasant smile.

No matter how much more the Court investigated, all evidence pointed to Ye Wuyou. Yet the prime suspect wasn’t even in the capital on the day of the crime, and the victim himself was providing an alibi… The Minister couldn’t figure out who was trying to lure General Ye into a trap, but under Gao Su’s hint, he finally had an epiphany.

Ah… only the Sovereign would dare to protect Ye Wuyou so blatantly!

Since the Emperor intended to show favoritism, then this case should indeed be closed.

Sure enough, after Gao Su reported the link between the pendant and Ye Wuyou, Xiao Yun’an ordered the Flower Thief investigation to cease. The pendant left by the thief returned to Xiao Yun’an’s hands.

Whether the thief was Ye Mian (Ye Wuyou) or not could Xiao Yun’an really not feel it? It seemed the thief’s “waters” were very deep, able to investigate those around Ye Mian so thoroughly.

Xiao Yun’an tossed aside the dusty memorial and began to play with the pendant. The faint scent of Cold Plum pheromones had long since vanished. What a pity that Minister Ye is a Ze-dui (Beta) and cannot carry pheromones.

Xiao Yun’an looked at Gao Su with a brightened mood: “Zhen dreamed two days ago that Ye Mian’s health wasn’t good. Go to the treasury, take a few aged ginseng roots, and have someone send them to the Northern border for ‘unforeseen needs.'”

“What ‘unforeseen needs’?” Ye Wuyou’s face fell, and he slammed the table with a loud bang, protesting the military doctor’s interference in the child’s future.

Both Yang Shen and the doctor were startled by the sudden noise.

“The doctor’s suggestion isn’t without reason. He’s prepared abortion pills for you in advance to avoid brewing medicine publicly and shaking troop morale. If you don’t want it, it’s better to do it while the term is still early and there’s no emotional attachment…” Yang Shen had been shocked repeatedly today. He still hadn’t fully recovered from the news of the pregnancy. Midway through his sentence, thinking of the possibility of Ye Wuyou keeping the child, his expression became as colorful as a patterned cloth: “Could it be you actually want to keep this child?”

“To keep or not to keep you make it sound so simple. He’s in my belly, not yours… he’s still so small.” As if afraid of being abandoned by his father, Ye Wuyou, who hadn’t been able to feel the child’s presence before, now belatedly felt a dull ache in his lower abdomen. He pressed his palm to his belly, gently rubbing it to soothe the unformed little fellow inside.

Look how scared he is, hearing Yang Shen and the doctor talk about getting rid of him!

Ye Wuyou naturally wanted this child. From the day he presented as a Kun (Omega), he had been pining for Xiao Yun’an. He had loved him for so many years; this little guy was the continuation of the bloodlines of both him and the Emperor.

Whether before or after his presentation, or before or after the coronation, Ye Wuyou had expressed his love to the Emperor many times. Xiao Yun’an was like a block of wood who never responded. Ye Wuyou understood: Emperors are heartless, and Xiao Yun’an simply didn’t like him.

Perhaps on the day the “Flower Thief” secret was exposed, he and Xiao Yun’an would be worlds apart. The prisons of the Jing Dynasty couldn’t hold him; before kidnapping the Emperor, he had already scouted his escape route. He would flee back to the border, secretly give birth, and leave himself a memento of his love for the Emperor for the decades of lonely life to come.

As long as he didn’t admit to “sampling” the Emperor, the little guy in his belly was just his child, having nothing to do with the Sovereign. He wouldn’t be “fleeing with an Imperial Prince.”

Ye Wuyou lifted his head, his hands tightly guarding his lower abdomen, only to meet the annoyed and frustrated glares of the doctor and Yang Shen. The words at his mouth took a difficult turn: “…I haven’t decided yet.”

“I will go prepare anyway. General, once you’ve decided, you can come to me anytime.” The doctor shook his head; thinking of the prenatal care he’d have to worry about in the future gave him a headache.

General Ye’s behavior was hardly that of someone who wanted to get rid of a child. Being a physician, the doctor saw through it but didn’t speak the truth aloud. He took his leave to prepare the pills, leaving Yang Shen alone in the tent.

With one person gone, silence hung in the tent for a long time. Yang Shen expressionlessly refilled Ye Wuyou’s water. Ye Wuyou hesitated for a long time before taking it, bringing the cup to his lips and instinctively sniffing to see if anything had been added.

“There’s no poison, and no abortion medicine.” The veins on Yang Shen’s forehead throbbed, but he forced himself to stay calm: “Ye Mian, you’ve wanted him from the very beginning, haven’t you?”

“I don’t know. He came too suddenly.” Ye Wuyou lowered his gaze, his eyes landing on nothingness. Facing Yang Shen’s interrogation, he feigned nervousness and helplessness to brush him off.

“Ye Mian, what I mean is, back in the capital when you kidnapped that person, you already wanted this child, didn’t you?” Yang Shen stared fixedly at Ye Wuyou’s dodging eyes, ruthlessly piercing through the paper window the General was trying so hard to hide behind.

Ye Wuyou’s expression sharpened, and he sat up straight. Yang Shen had been by his side for years and was sharp-witted, but he hadn’t expected him to discover the truth so quickly. He turned his head away, acting like a hooligan: “So what if I did.”

Ye Wuyou was sulking with the two doctors, but Yang Shen was even more irritated by the General’s stubbornness. Deceiving the sovereign or having children once is strange, twice is familiar. Since Ye Wuyou had made a decision, he should have said it sooner so that his unlucky vice-general could make plans. Instead, he dragged it out until it became an “accident,” making the last-minute planning even more taxing.

“But something’s still not right. Why do you have ‘kidney deficiency’ while being pregnant?” The shock of the joyful pulse had nearly made Yang Shen forget his original question. Fortunately, being angered by Ye Wuyou kept his mind focused on the point that would embarrass his superior.

Ye Wuyou’s face instantly turned red as a cooked shrimp. He truly disliked how doctors took pulses like they were reading fortunes.

“…It’s my private business. Vice-General Yang, you’re overstepping.” Ye Wuyou stiffened his face.

“Private business?” Yang Shen was laughed into a rage; he felt his emotions were more unstable than the pregnant man’s. “Between the pregnancy and the physical weakness, if the Northern Barbarians raid tomorrow, what will you do?”

“Then we fight! It’s not like I can’t lift a spear. A month and a half ago, while carrying this kid, didn’t I still beat them until they pissed their pants!” When it came to duty, Ye Wuyou didn’t falter; he even straightened his spine.

“Don’t talk nonsense. It’s hard to say if he was even there yet.” Yang Shen’s temples throbbed. He suppressed the urge to dig his nails into his palms, mentally reciting “Ye Wuyou is a pregnant man” three times before asking as gently as possible: “The first three months are the most delicate. If you get on a horse to face the enemy and come back covered in blood, do we save you or the child?”

Ye Wuyou was shocked and reached out to cover Yang Shen’s mouth: “Don’t scare him.”

Yang Shen: “…” It seems he is determined to protect the child.

Hearing that he only needed to be careful for another month or so, Ye Wuyou suppressed his joy and offered a clumsy reassurance: “He was fine during the previous barbarian raids. For the remaining month and a half, I’ll just be careful.”

“I’m afraid you won’t be able to be ‘careful.’ The Northern Barbarians are moving again.” Yang Shen tossed a piece of intel gathered via the “Wolf Scouts” onto the table, saying irritably, “It’s not just a month and a half. After four months, the fetal heart is stable, but the belly will grow. After six months, movement will be difficult you won’t even be able to wear a breastplate. Does General Ye intend to charge onto the battlefield with a protruding belly?”

Ye Wuyou finally understood why his vice-general was exploding like a firework. He ignored the mockery and grabbed the intel; the chicken-scratch handwriting was packed together. He knit his brows and read it three times before straightening out the military situation.

Khan Moise’s tribe is interesting, trying to pull off a “latent infiltration” in front of us Jing people.

“Those grandsons truly have bad intentions. Starting today, store the grain in separate zones and have trusted men guard them.” The Jing camp had been resting for over a month; on the surface, even Ye Wuyou looked lazy. After thinking it over, he decided to use his power for personal gain just this once. He grabbed Yang Shen’s hand, his eyes sincere with a desire to slack off: “The drills stay the same half a day in the morning, rest in the afternoon. Yang Shen, you take on more of the worry.”

“…General Ye, you’re really something!” Yang Shen, having received the order, stormed out of the commander’s tent, knocking aside several small soldiers trying to play peacemaker.

With Yang Shen gone, Ye Wuyou was alone again. He gripped his own wrist, placing his ring finger on his pulse to feel it carefully.

It doesn’t feel any different from usual…

In the lonely commander’s tent sat a “no-longer-lonely” Ye Wuyou. Biting the end of his brush, he prepared to send his second military report to the Emperor.

He started with the usual “Wishing Your Majesty health,” reported the news of possible spies infiltrating the Jing camp, and then began his “free-style” writing. With the previous nonsense as a foundation, his brush was much more decisive this time. He no longer worried if his wording was inappropriate.

It was late May, the beginning of summer. The General, suffering from “spring fatigue,” first mimicked the court officials by inquiring about the Emperor’s “selection and consort induction” matters, then waded through a large section of vinegar-soaked words about missing His Majesty. Finally, at the end of the letter, he mentioned the truly important matter. He drew a persimmon tree that wouldn’t be ripe until autumn.

[I saw a persimmon tree at the border; has Your Majesty eaten persimmons yet? Your Majesty is twenty-four, yet still has no offspring. Perhaps I should send a few back to wish Your Majesty a ‘Dragon Son’ soon.]

A small dragon with glittering golden scales suddenly surged through his mind. After finishing the private letter, he put down his brush and rolled into the green bamboo bedding, cherishedly placing his hand back on his lower abdomen.

Within his belly, there really was a new life and it was His Majesty’s child.

The Wutong trees, the white jade spring, the golden dragon carrying him through the clouds… the dreams he had forgotten were remembered one by one. Ye Wuyou gripped the quilt and rolled around, laughing foolishly.

The little golden dragon in the dream was as beautiful as His Majesty, but as mischievous as himself, already daring to scare his daddy before even being born. If the little fellow could enter his dreams and transform into a dragon, he must be protected by the Imperial pulse; how could he be so easily lost?

Ye Wuyou sat up, looking down and stroking his slightly protruding belly apologetically: “Before Khan Moise’s tribute is settled, the Luren will surely act again. You’ll have to suffer a bit with your daddy.”

If war broke out again, Ye Wuyou would only charge at the very front to stabilize morale and slay the enemy.

Keeping the child was his personal desire, but he would also protect the people of the Jing Dynasty behind him. He was Ye Wuyou, but more importantly, he was the General guarding the border.

The lower abdomen that had been aching slightly suddenly went quiet. Ye Wuyou smiled and patted his tight belly twice.

Good boy, he’s definitely my seed!