The General Was Pregnant with the Emperor's Child - Chapter 16

Across the vast wilderness, the torches carried by the Great Jing army illuminated half the night sky. The cries of horns and the beat of war drums intertwined, circling above the armor of every soldier defending the nation. Smoke curled amidst soaring flames, surging like a tide until it swallowed the barbarian army before quietly receding. Victory followed the grand percussion of the drums, sounding its low, triumphant notes.

At dawn, the first rays of sunlight broke through.

The Ye Army returned to camp in triumph. Ye Wuyou rode at the very front in silence, his back held as straight as any soldier behind him.

After two hours of fierce fighting, the first wave of the barbarian sneak attack was repelled. Ye Wuyou’s body and face were covered in blood splatters. His Cold Plum pheromones, blended with Green Bamboo, continued to seep out with his every movement. Because of the barbarian incense, his marked Kun-ze pheromones were now detectable by everyone.

When Ye Wuyou, shrouded in the scent of an Omega, charged into the barbarian ranks, both sides had frozen in shock. His own soldiers suffered no less of a shock than the enemy, but Ye Wuyou merely offered a soft smile before raising his spear to cut down a barbarian who had exposed a weakness.

“Do not be distracted,” Ye Wuyou said, stabbing a barbarian attempting to sneak up on a young soldier from behind.

His identity as a Kun-ze was exposed. Instead of worrying about how to hide the scent, Ye Wuyou used his Omega status as a trap, catching the barbarians off guard.

As the fires of war roared, Ye Wuyou and his soldiers slaughtered their way through the smoke-filled battlefield. He didn’t look at all like an Omega in heat; he was the Asura who terrified the Northern Barbarians, the Gray Wolf leading the Jing army deep into the enemy camp. Ye Wuyou grew more courageous as he fought, bathing in blood to repel the foe. His Cold Plum scent stood like a banner, firmly planted in the hearts of the Ye Army.

As the battle subsided and the army returned to camp to recover, the young Ze-dui (Beta) soldiers closest to Ye Wuyou blushed, their gazes drifting toward him. They didn’t just smell his Cold Plum scent; the faint Green Bamboo blended within it unceremoniously invaded their senses as well.

…The shock of their commander being an Omega was surpassed only by the realization that General Ye already belonged to an Alpha. They wondered what kind of Alpha could possibly suppress their fierce, wolf-like General Ye.

The soldiers weren’t the only ones staring. Whispers filled the camp as the army rested. Ye Wuyou couldn’t hear any of it; he simply sat on the edge of the camp with his back to the troops, suppressing the dry heaves that rose in his throat due to the heavy scent of blood.

Countless gazes pierced his back. Ye Wuyou knew they were discussing his gender; from the moment the assassins entered his tent, he had prepared for the worst.

He had led his troops to deal a heavy blow to the raiding tribes last night; the enemy likely wouldn’t be able to regroup for a day or two.

He had only just learned of the spies in the camp when the barbarians attacked. Ye Wuyou hadn’t expected them to move so quickly; many soldiers had been injured because they weren’t fully prepared.

The military doctor was busy, and Ye Wuyou had sent Yang Shen away to look after the wounded. The logistics team in the camp assisted under the doctor’s direction, bandaging and medicating the soldiers who had just returned from the front lines.

Ye Wuyou sat stiffly. The smell of blood on him was too heavy, and his inner robes beneath his armor were sticky and wet. After forcibly gathering his strength last night, every part of his body ached. He couldn’t distinguish where the smell of blood was coming from. With his back to the soldiers, he stiffly covered his armored lower abdomen with one hand.

It felt… a bit heavy. A dull pain was throbbed.

He’s still there, right…?

From behind, one could only see Ye Wuyou’s slightly hunched posture. Their General’s back was usually rod-straight, but ever since dismounting, his figure seemed to stagger and sway.

They had returned from a great victory, yet because of Ye Wuyou’s silence, a deathly stillness hung over the camp, weighing heavily on every soldier’s heart.

“General, don’t force yourself. Go see the doctor,” someone said boldly, walking up to Ye Wuyou. Ye Wuyou forced his ringing ears to pay attention.

“Oh, it’s you.” Ye Wuyou recognized the soldier he had saved. He took the ladle the soldier offered and drank it all. The water felt like a blade sliding down his parched throat.

Seeing the soldier linger, Ye Wuyou focused his slightly blurred vision and gave him a reproachful look. He handed back the ladle and, smelling his own out-of-control pheromones, moved further away without a word.

“We are all Ze-dui (Betas); we can’t smell the Green Bamboo and Cold Plum on the General. You don’t have to hide.” The soldier was good at reading the room but perhaps too good. Ye Wuyou’s body visibly stiffened.

Receiving no response, the soldier turned back in embarrassment, only to see a large group of armored men behind him gesturing frantically. He had no choice but to turn back and continue persuading: “The smell of blood on you is too heavy; you can’t hide it. Even if it’s just to settle the troops’ hearts, you must let the doctor see you.”

“What is your name?” Ye Wuyou asked raspy, surprised the boy could guess his thoughts.

“Kang… Kang Jiang.”

“Mmh. Go back; I have noted it.” Ye Wuyou dismissed him.

Kang Jiang clutched the water ladle and returned to the group of soldiers. The group immediately swarmed over and submerged him.

“Did the General say he’d go see his wounds?” “I heard Omegas are more easily injured during that time. The General must be seriously hurt.” “Shh! You and your ‘good nose,’ stop talking nonsense! The General is a Beta always was, is, and will be!” “How about we…”

The frantic gesturing turned into a flurry of whispers, and within moments, a plan for “kidnapping” was formed.

In less than the time it takes to burn a stick of incense, the military doctor was carried by a swarm of soldiers and held up before Ye Wuyou. Above the gleaming armor sat a physician whose face was flushed with rage.

“General! Your health is paramount! We brought the doctor to you!”

“…”

Ye Wuyou felt as though he were hallucinating from the pain. He turned to leave, but the sudden movement caused him to break into a cold sweat.

“Don’t move! You brat! Ye Mian! Ye Wuyou! Stand right there for me!!!” the “skewered” doctor roared.

Ye Wuyou’s pace immediately quickened.

“So you are saying, I was not poisoned by a southwestern curse, but because of a high degree of compatibility between a Qian-jun (Alpha) and a Kun-ze (Omega), being separated for a long time causes an involuntary mutual attraction, resulting in shared dreams?” Xiao Yun’an showed no emotion, but Imperial Physician Liu, who had been dragged out of bed in the middle of the night, knelt on the ground trembling.

“Yes… there are no signs of a curse in Your Majesty’s body. When the souls are compatible, the Omega will be drawn into the Alpha’s dreams.”

The Emperor’s concubines had always lived safely in the harem; this was the first time Xiao Yun’an had heard of such a strange phenomenon. But Ye Mian was clearly a Beta… He knit his brows and asked again: “Can this happen with a Ze-dui (Beta)?”

“A Beta… a union between a Beta and an Alpha is rare. I have only seen it in ancient texts, which say that if the thoughts are deep and sincere enough, a Beta can also enter a dream.” The physician was sweating profusely but secretly felt relieved. Their Emperor, who had remained solitary until twenty-four, was finally willing to expand the Imperial line!

A Beta… a Beta is better than having no heir at all!

“Deep and sincere enough, indeed.” The knot in Xiao Yun’an’s brow gradually unfurled. He chose to ignore the plum scent on Ye Mian in the dream, thinking it was a manifestation of his own obsession. His desire for Ye Mian to enter the harem as an Omega must have caused him to be covered in the “Flower Thief’s” pheromones in the dream.

Ye Mian, oh Ye Mian. I have already decided to let you return to the border; why are you still so stubbornly persistent?

In a good mood, Xiao Yun’an bestowed a heap of rewards on Physician Liu and signaled Gao Su to escort him out. Gao Su, waiting to the side, pleasantly invited the physician out of the palace gates.

“Physician Liu,” Gao Su said, “I am old and tend to nag. What His Majesty just said to you… please swallow it into your stomach.”

Physician Liu nodded repeatedly while holding his rewards. Upon reaching the gate, he pulled a silver ingot from his sleeve and tried to give it to Gao Su. “Thank you for the reminder, Eunuch.”

Gao Su smiled and took it, only to place it back in the physician’s hand. “I don’t lack for this. You just focus on handling His Majesty’s affairs.”

The palace gates closed. Gao Su walked back with quick, small steps, feeling exceptionally cheerful as he looked at the pale blue morning light.

Aha! His Majesty and the General are actually trysting in their dreams.

Ye Wuyou didn’t reluctantly remove his armor until he entered the medical tent. When the doctor saw the large bloodstains blooming on his white inner robes, his forehead throbbed.

Seeing Ye Wuyou remain silent while clutching his lower abdomen, the doctor swallowed his scolding. He let his professional physician’s demeanor take over and invited Ye Wuyou onto the bed.

“He… he doesn’t seem well. I can’t feel the pain anymore,” Ye Wuyou said, lying flat in his inner robes.

“It would be strange if he were well.” The doctor’s face twitched as he tossed a set of clean clothes in front of him. “Take your clothes off.”

Ye Wuyou followed instructions like a wooden doll. Seeing that Ye Wuyou only had one obvious external wound on his left arm, the doctor’s expression softened slightly. He reached for Ye Wuyou’s pulse.

Faced with such a chaotic pulse again, the doctor’s eyelids began to twitch. He carefully differentiated the strands of the disordered rhythm.

“Pants off too,” the doctor said flatly.

“Huh?” Ye Wuyou snapped back to reality, his face flushing.

“Is there still bleeding? I need to check the status of the bleeding,” the doctor said succinctly.

“Why do you have to see that…” Ye Wuyou blushed. Since being forced into heat, he couldn’t tell if the fluid flowing down was blood or something else. He tried to bargain: “Turn around, let me check for myself first.”

“I am more than ten years your senior.” Having known Ye Wuyou for so many years, the doctor finally found it slightly amusing. He turned his back, allowing Ye Wuyou to investigate for himself.

Ye Wuyou knelt on the bed with his back to the doctor. He felt like he was sitting on needles. After a few moments of mental preparation, he suddenly yanked down his undergarments and dabbed at himself.

“The blood has stopped… Is he gone?” Ye Wuyou forgot his shame. He used his bloodstained inner robes to cover himself and frantically waved his undergarments, shouting for the doctor to come over.

The doctor leaned over. He saw a small, slightly spread-out bloodstain on the fabric. He calmly pressed the anxious Ye Wuyou back onto the bed.