The Prime Minister Claims She's Pregnant - Chapter 15

At three o’clock in the afternoon, Du Yan arrived in a hurry, just as Tutu returned from her task. The two met at the entrance. Du Yan caught her and asked, “What happened?”

Tutu was panting from exhaustion. “Scholar Gu was assassinated. She hit her head hard. It was a hired hit. I led the assassins to find the person who hired them, but I didn’t expect that person to kill the assassins to silence them. I tried to give chase, but they vanished. I suspect the culprit is a high-ranking figure.”

Du Yan found it strange. “For a high-ranking figure to target a minor official like him… isn’t that using a sledgehammer to crack a nut?”

“I feel something is off.” Having caught her breath, Tutu analyzed the situation with Du Yan. “When I got there, it was clearly a move to eliminate witnesses. Usually, in a murder for hire, you just pay the silver. To dare to kill someone in broad daylight proves the person has immense backing. They came prepared, not wanting to get their hands dirty, so they hired killers—then killed the killers. It makes the plot foolproof.”

The two walked into the manor and fell silent, both well aware that even walls have ears.

They reached the bedroom and encountered Ming Yi, who was returning from the kitchen. After greeting her, Ming Yi nodded and led them inside to talk.

Tutu repeated her report. Ming Yi’s eyes flickered with a cold light. She lowered her voice and said, “I suspect it is either the Crown Prince or the Empress.”

Du Yan glanced toward the inner room, the faint scent of medicine lingering in the air. She asked in surprise, “You are actually hiding a man in your bedroom?”

Ming Yi touched her own ear, her heart softening as she replied, “We are already engaged.”

“Do you truly understand a man’s heart?” Du Yan snapped. Seeing Ming Yi’s ears turn bright red, she added irritably, “Don’t you know? The Third Princess has announced she wants him as her Prince Consort. The whole capital knows. Are you really planning to fight the Emperor’s daughter for a husband? Do you have a brain?”

Ming Yi smiled. “So what if I fight her for him?”

“You…” Du Yan stared at her in frustration, unable to understand how everyone seemed bewitched. Was a seventeen-year-old boy really that good-looking? Just a face—eyes, nose, mouth, ears—how was he any different from anyone else?

The Third Princess had lost her mind, but she was always blind. Now, even Ming Yi was so infatuated she couldn’t tell north from south. It was baffling.

Ming Yi ordered fragrant tea for them, but after a few words, she began ushering them out.

Du Yan refused to leave. “What is your hurry?”

Ming Yi sighed. “If you don’t leave, how can I go inside to check on her?”

“You!” Du Yan stomped off in a huff, but not before throwing back a warning: “You are going to end up crying one day!”

Once Du Yan left, the porridge was ready. A maid brought it in along with two plates of snacks. Gu Jinse had fallen asleep again. With a large gash on her head, she was in a daze, drifting in and out of sleep. Her neck was covered in a layer of cold sweat, and Madam Gu had helped her change her clothes.

Ming Yi entered and sat on a couch by the window. She watched them from a distance, leaning against a cushion. The sunlight slanted in, falling on her. She reached out her five fingers, as if to catch the light.

With a slight smile, Ming Yi opened her palm, paused for a moment, then gripped it tightly before standing up and walking to Gu Jinse’s bedside.

Madam Gu immediately moved aside. She watched as the Chancellor opened her hand and pressed her palm against Gu Jinse’s small face.

Madam Gu thought, How childish for a grown woman. Do you really think you caught the sunlight?

She couldn’t bear to look, but her mood suddenly brightened. She asked, “I wish to stay at the Chancellor’s manor. I wonder if it is convenient?”

“Of course. You may stay in the guest courtyard. I will look after her tonight.” Ming Yi straightened up and nodded to Madam Gu, standing with her hands behind her back, elegant and noble.

Faced with such a beauty, Madam Gu was delighted. She wanted to decline, thinking she should be the one to pull the night shift, but before she could speak, Ming Yi had already walked back to the window seat and opened her fair palm again…

Oh boy, here we go again. Madam Gu covered her eyes and looked away.

Night fell. A maid led Madam Gu to the guest courtyard to rest. Ming Yi stayed behind. Gu Jinse still hadn’t woken up; her face was flushed, showing signs of a fever.

The manor physician, Chimei, came and administered two acupuncture needles. The sleeping figure whimpered in pain. The voice was very small; Ming Yi had to lean in close to hear her crying out that it hurt.

She asked the physician, “Will her brain be damaged?”

The physician was one of the people who had followed Ming Yi out of the Imperial Villa. Her name was Chimei. Ming Yi often called her by her nickname, “The Spectre.”

Chimei sighed. “I don’t know. The injury is too severe. We can only nurse her. If she doesn’t recover well, you’ll be a young widow.”

Ming Yi watched intently as Chimei inserted a long needle into an acupoint.

Just then, Tuntun returned from the Eastern Palace. She had changed her clothes before coming to report. She drank some tea first and then spoke in detail. “The Crown Prince says it wasn’t him. However, he knows who did it. His condition is that he wants you to help him get out of his house arrest in the Eastern Palace.”

Without hesitation, Ming Yi said, “I agree.”

“The Crown Prince said it might be the Empress’s doing. The Third Princess is obsessed with Scholar Gu and clamoring to marry him. The Empress feels Scholar Gu’s status is too low and that he will only harm her daughter, so she hired the killers. That is the first reason. The second is what the elder Master Gu did years ago—insulting the Empress Dowager and the house of Marquis Yongping. The Empress still holds a grudge. She made a move, but whether she is the actual culprit remains to be seen.”

Ming Yi gave a low laugh. “Narrow-minded, yet she managed to become Empress. Tell the Crown Prince that he can leave the Eastern Palace in three days at the latest. Also, bring me proof of the Empress’s hiring of killers tomorrow. Otherwise, I will change my mind. Regardless of whether it was her or not, we will treat it as if it were her.”

Tuntun nodded. “I will deliver the message tomorrow. How is Scholar Gu?”

“Not good,” Ming Yi’s face was somber.

Tuntun didn’t dare speak further. If even Chimei found it tricky, then it was truly serious.

Ming Yi added one more thing: “Tutu did a ‘fine’ job, watching and doing nothing to help.”

Tuntun’s expression changed. Ming Yi waved a hand. “Go back and rest.”

Tuntun left. Chimei finished the acupuncture and came out to say, “There is no blood clot in the brain. If she makes it through the next few days, she’ll be fine. Chancellor, are you serious about her?”

“A marriage by contract… everyone has to get married eventually, so I might as well choose her.” Ming Yi’s tone lightened slightly.

The Emperor wanted to use her in a political marriage to a general to secure the Crown Prince’s future. It was better to strike first and settle the engagement with Gu Jinse.

Chimei packed her medical kit and stole a glance at her. “She is… quite nice. Good-looking and easy on the eyes.” Gu Jinse had a sweet appearance that was pleasant to look at. She lacked arrogance and seemed gentle, delicate, and beautiful.

Gu Jinse burned with fever all night. Chimei and Ming Yi stayed by her side until dawn. Fortunately, the fever broke as the sun rose. When Madam Gu arrived, neither of them mentioned that they hadn’t slept a wink.

Tuntun went to the palace while Ming Yi caught up on sleep. By the time Ming Yi woke up at noon, Gu Jinse was still in a deep sleep. The Ministry of Justice sent word that they hadn’t found the culprit.

Madam Gu managed to feed Gu Jinse two rounds of medicine. Her small face was still rosy with a lingering warmth. Finally, toward dusk, she woke up.

Ming Yi first handed her a piece of candy. “The doctor said you can have candy, but only this one piece.”

Gu Jinse lay on her side. She didn’t take the candy; she closed her eyes and said, “I had a dream. I dreamt we got married and treated each other with mutual respect. Later, we divorced, and you gave me a lot of money. I became the richest person in the land.”

Madam Gu, standing nearby, laughed. “You really have your eyes on the money, don’t you?”

“Mother, I dreamt of you too. You also got a divorce,” Gu Jinse grumbled. Her head hurt so much she could barely open her eyes.

Madam Gu snapped, “Do you really wish for your father and me to divorce that much?”

Gu Jinse opened her eyes and pursed her lips, looking at Ming Yi. The other woman was wearing a simple green dress with a pink inner lining, giving her a soft and beautiful appearance.

Gu Jinse paused, appearing deep in thought. Madam Gu tactfully withdrew. Ming Yi handed her the candy. “What are you thinking about?”

“Chancellor Ming, could you… give me a kiss?” Gu Jinse suddenly blurted out. She couldn’t help thinking that if she was going to die, she wanted to be a romantic ghost.

Ming Yi laughed softly. “There is plenty of time for that in the future.”

Gu Jinse didn’t believe her and said dejectedly, “I’ve offended someone and I’m going to die. If I don’t die this time, there’s always next time. You don’t know, I already died once when I was eight. Someone pushed me into a lake, and I can’t even remember anything from before then.”

“There won’t be a next time.” Ming Yi’s hand holding the candy trembled slightly. She comforted her, bringing the candy to her lips and coaxing her gently, “If you keep thinking such nonsense, your head will hurt even more.”

Gu Jinse opened her mouth and ate the candy, still mumbling, “I just thought of it suddenly. Do you think this is a sign before death?”

Ming Yi laughed low and said meaningfully, “You are only seventeen. Why speak such sad words? Trust me this once. Even if the sky falls, I am here.”

Gu Jinse closed her eyes, wondering if she would go back to her own world if she died. She almost wanted to die; the pain in her head was too much.

Ming Yi lowered her gaze and poked her cheek. “Gu Jinse, are you hungry?”

“Not hungry. I feel full.” Gu Jinse sighed, ignoring the Chancellor whom everyone else feared. She kept her eyes closed, her mouth full of candy, her cheek bulging as she chewed. Ming Yi suddenly reached out and poked her cheek again.

“Gu Jinse, are you angry?”

Gu Jinse opened her eyes. “Angry? About what?”

Ming Yi fell silent for a moment. Gu Jinse didn’t look angry; she looked like she was being tortured by a headache. She let it go and said, “It’s nothing.”

The two of them looked at each other, neither understanding what the other was thinking. Suddenly, it became quiet.

Gu Jinse asked curiously, “Why are you looking at me?”

Ming Yi frowned. “If you weren’t looking at me, how would you know I’m looking at you?”

Gu Jinse spat out, “I want you to kiss me, but you won’t.”

Ming Yi’s face turned red. She straightened up and said, “We only agreed to a marriage by contract.”

“Oh, I see.” Gu Jinse nodded slightly and closed her eyes again. She felt exhausted; her head was too heavy and her body had no strength.

A marriage by contract, how boring. You can look, but you can’t touch or kiss.

She regretted it! She wasn’t a block of wood. Having tasted the sweetness before, was she supposed to hold back forever?