The General Was Pregnant with the Emperor's Child - Chapter 30

A few lonely wisps of blue smoke drifted across the prairie where someone was sitting on a small earthen mound roasting pigeons.

It was said that these pigeons were all named “Zero-One.” After being specially trained by Ye Wuyou, their meat was exceptionally firm, and when roasted, they were crispy, succulent, and delicious.

Luren held a newly arrived pigeon in his hand. He tied a thin string to its leg, the other end of which the down-and-out Khan sat upon. Luren unfolded the latest letter Ye Wuyou had sent.

Every private letter this Great General guarding the border sent to the new Emperor of Great Jing refreshed Luren’s understanding of the world. From acting spoiled to ask for grain, to acting spoiled to sell misery, the intercepted letter had suddenly shifted into a plea for forgiveness. Luren had to force down the corners of his mouth.

He took a cursory glance at the new letter. His eyes first drifted over “openly provoked,” then slid past the flippant “just forget it,” and finally fixed upon the large characters: “Sixty Strokes of the Cane.”

Hmph, this letter can be allowed to leak back. Luren carefully placed the letter back into the tube and flashed a brilliant smile at the new Zero-One, which had been smelling the scent of the old Zero-One all day.

Luren pulled the dagger from his waist and brandished it toward the fat pigeon. Under the bird’s terrified, ruffled gaze, he cut the thin string on its leg.

Once the new Emperor of Great Jing finished caning Ye Wuyou, he would take the opportunity to snatch some more spoils. After several sneak attacks, he felt the Great Jing camp was full of holes, like a sieve.

Hah, Central Plains people are too cunning. Especially Ye Wuyou, enticing Chī-nà to defect. A mere Omega he probably can’t even lift a spear, yet relying on a stomach full of schemes, he led me into a trap.

Next time, I won’t fall for it so easily! The humiliation of defeat is not over!

The wind was favorable today. The white pigeon flapped its wings and flew toward the Great Jing capital. After enduring countless hardships, a living Zero-One finally fluttered its wings and flew out of the vast prairie.

Meanwhile, Ye Wuyou and Yang Shen, the targets of Luren’s resentment, were in the middle of an internal conflict.

Ye Wuyou aggressively slammed the kidney-strengthening prescription sent by Xiao Yun’an onto Yang Shen’s desk.

Yang Shen, who had finally managed to get a single day of rest, saw Ye Wuyou enter and felt his resentment materialize into a wild wolf.

Ah, I want to die. I want to die and take my superior with me.

“Great General Ye, can’t you just rest properly?” Ye Wuyou had been resting for nearly half a month and still had the Emperor sending tonics, while he, the vice-general carrying the whole burden, couldn’t even leave the camp to play with wolves on his hard-won day off.

“Yang Shen! You are already a grasshopper on my string! How dare you secretly report me to the Emperor!” Ye Wuyou shouted at the top of his lungs.

Yang Shen had no choice but to pick up the paper and examine it closely.

“Is the General ‘deficient’ again?” Yang Shen gave a very polite, slight smile.

If Yang Shen’s mouth hadn’t been twitching from a suppressed laugh, Ye Wuyou’s expression might have looked better.

“Being ‘deficient’ is also a skill of this General! You reported me to the Emperor and caused him to misunderstand!” Ye Wuyou’s face grew darker as he read. He didn’t even dare imagine Xiao Yun’an’s reaction to the news that he had guarded the North until he became “kidney deficient.”

This prescription was absolutely a warning! His pure and innocent reputation was ruined by Yang Shen!

Yang Shen: “What report did I make?” Ye Wuyou: “Reporting to the Emperor that this General is kidney deficient! I saw it the day we beat Luren you were secretly sending a message to the Emperor!”

Yang Shen’s face remained dark. Being able to maintain an ‘indecent relationship’ with Ye Wuyou in dreams for two months could our Sovereign’s feelings for him be a simple matter of master and subject?

The worst case is we all lose our heads. Hehe.

“Ye Mian.” Since he didn’t have many days left to live anyway, Yang Shen was eager to enjoy his rest. He pounded on the leg Ye Wuyou had propped up on his desk. “Why would I tell the Sovereign that? Is my head too securely attached?”

“Then did I say it myself?” Ye Wuyou clutched his knee, his frown deepening. Did I babble nonsense after being touched by Xiao Yun’an? That’s even more terrifying!

Yang Shen squeezed his own pressure point to stay conscious. He pointed a sour face at Ye Wuyou’s “spring-flush” face and shoved a mirror toward him. “Look in the mirror, Ye Mian! I’m too embarrassed to even talk about you.”

With a father like this, I wonder if he’ll corrupt my godson. Yang Shen began to solemnly consider which crime was heavier: stealing an Imperial heir or deceiving the Sovereign.

Ye Wuyou’s anger came fast and left even faster. He suddenly squatted down dejectedly in front of Yang Shen.

Yang Shen was shocked: “Scamming me again?!”

Ye Wuyou looked up with a face full of conflict. “Tell me… before I die, if I have the chance to put a dagger to the Emperor’s throat… General or Empress? It’s so hard to choose, Yang Shen…”

Yang Shen: “…” Yang Shen bolted out the door. He had no time to waste his precious day off on Ye Wuyou’s nonsense! Especially a joke that could get him executed just for hearing it!

Within the high walls decorated with vermilion glazed tiles, Xiao Yun’an strolled leisurely, the sachet at his waist swaying.

The reddish morning dawn hit his tasseled crown warmly. He had just finished court, listening to the ministers argue for a long time. It had left him with a headache and once again quelled his dark thought of locking Ye Wuyou in the harem.

His Ye Mian was only a Beta. Even if he had developed “thoughts” about his body through the shared dreams, if a Beta were to hold the position of Empress, and Xiao Yun’an refused to take concubines, Ye Mian would face far more criticism than he did while holding power in the North.

As long as Ye Mian held power, they would at least be wary and restrained.

But once Ye Wuyou lost the command of his hundred-thousand-strong army and was placed in the harem, he would likely be branded a “calamity-bringing sycophant.” People might even use the excuse of “clearing the Emperor’s side” to force Xiao Yun’an to eliminate him.

Ye Mian was loyal; if pushed too hard, he might do something drastic. Xiao Yun’an didn’t dare think further. He couldn’t exactly poke Ye Mian blind and deaf and lock him in a cage with chains.

Since he would face criticism either way, it was better for Ye Wuyou to gallop across the distant North as a free hawk.

Even if he could give Ye Mian a palace wall that blocked out rumors, Ye Mian was a Beta he had been scared into a “limping retreat” in the dream. In reality, he would likely find it even harder to endure the Imperial grace during the Emperor’s monthly rut…

Forget it. He had survived without seeing Ye Wuyou for years before ascending; now he could at least meet him in dreams. If Ye Mian fled, then he would just have to be more proactive in “kidnapping” him into the dream.

Still, Xiao Yun’an couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like if Ye Wuyou wore the Phoenix Crown and spent a wedding night with him in a red-lit chamber. Sigh!

But if the “crime” of the Emperor having no heir fell upon Ye Wuyou… Xiao Yun’an’s face darkened.

He prepared to investigate the “Flower Thief” again. If that thief with the Cold Plum scent happened to be pregnant with a Dragon Seed, he would catch him, keep the child, get rid of the father, and pin the credit on Ye Wuyou.

Ah right, the Flower Thief. Xiao Yun’an thought of the other possibility for why Ye Mian only allowed himself to be touched once lately. …Did I tell Ye Mian about the ‘accident’ with the Flower Thief in a moment of impulse?

Calculating the days, the decree warning Ye Mian to be careful should have arrived in the North several days ago…

“Gao Su.” Xiao Yun’an’s face went flat. Gao Su immediately stepped forward with a smile. “Your Majesty’s orders?” “Zhen feels… ‘dirty’.” Gao Su was confused. Your Majesty, I personally dusted your robes! “I am ‘dirty’ in front of Ye Mian,” Xiao Yun’an said, looking at the sky. Gao Su: “Huh?”

Ye Wuyou was once again “kidnapped” into a dream by Xiao Yun’an, who had been tossing and turning for half the night.

Before the Emperor entered the dream, Ye Wuyou who had eaten too many tonics was dreaming of selecting beauties from a collection of portraits in the General’s estate. A huge pile of scrolls was laid out neatly on the desk, and Ye Wuyou was looking at them with wide eyes.

“Minister Ye.” Xiao Yun’an was greatly displeased. Excellent. My Ye Mian dares to meet other ‘beauties’ in his dream.

“Xiao-lang (Dear Xiao)?!” A slip of the tongue. Ye Wuyou closed his eyes and slapped his own mouth. As he turned around, his hands behind his back frantically tried to roll up the scrolls.

Excellent. His Ye Mian’s ‘beauties’ even have a specific name. Xiao Yun’an approached ominously, step by step. “Who is this ‘Xiao-lang’?” Insulting the Imperial name take him out and behead him!

“Your Majesty! Why did you come again without saying anything…” Ye Wuyou wished he had eight pairs of hands; he was too guilty to look the Emperor in the face.

Excellent. Now that he has ‘beauties,’ he even dares to dislike Zhen. Xiao Yun’an stepped quickly to the desk, trapping Ye Wuyou between his arms while seizing the wrists that were fumbling with the scrolls. He leaned in until he could feel Ye Wuyou’s frantic breath on his neck.

“Let Zhen see as well.” Xiao Yun’an’s narrowed fox eyes held a dangerous smile. He didn’t snatch the scroll in Ye Wuyou’s hand; instead, he targeted the few portraits on the desk that hadn’t been rolled up yet.

The one Xiao Yun’an was staring at depicted a man in armor. After Ye Wuyou’s messy cleanup, the man’s face was hidden by another scroll.

Trapped between the Emperor’s arms, Ye Wuyou couldn’t see the disaster zone behind him, but he heard Xiao Yun’an’s breathing become increasingly rapid.

Ah… it’s over! He saw them! Ye Wuyou’s face collapsed. Ever since Xiao Yun’an arrived, the dreamscape had stopped following his orders. He could only grip the most “unspeakable” portrait in his hand even tighter.

“So many portraits. Minister Ye truly has a leisurely interest.” Xiao Yun’an gritted his teeth, fresh from a “barrel of vinegar” (jealousy).

Ye Wuyou shuddered. He tried to beg for mercy, but his nose was pre-emptively filled with the aggressive scent of Green Bamboo. His marked body honestly went soft in Xiao Yun’an’s arms. The portrait in his hand tumbled to the floor. Ye Wuyou’s eyes quickly misted over, and he restlessly rubbed against Xiao Yun’an’s chest.

“Minister Ye, tell Zhen… what were you doing just now?” Xiao Yun’an smelled the Cold Plum scent leaking from Ye Wuyou. A fuzzy head leaned onto his shoulder, its tears soaking his front. He no longer needed to pin Ye Wuyou’s hands.

Slowly, very slowly, Xiao Yun’an unfurled the armored portrait on the desk. His breath hitched. Why is it my own face?!

He unfurled all the remaining scrolls. His breathing grew even heavier. He saw various versions of himself in Ye Wuyou’s mind. There were even a few that were… extremely erotic.

So what was Ye Mian planning to do with my portraits just now?

The portrait Ye Wuyou had been clutching also unrolled completely on the floor. It depicted Xiao Yun’an dressed in a bright red wedding robe… with one shoulder half-exposed, looking lecherously out of the painting while lifting a red bridal veil.

“Minister Ye… you truly are…” When a person is utterly speechless, they truly can only laugh.

“Se… selecting concubines?” Ye Wuyou, whose brain and mouth finally reconnected, babbled out a response to the previous question while in a daze.

…Fine, Ye Mian. Xiao Yun’an pressed him down.