Chapter 22: Don’t Cry, Beauty, Your Crown Will Fall
“If men can get pregnant, isn’t it normal to have a man-period!”
Zhao Linxu couldn’t wait for Meng Qingshu’s announcement. He entered on his own, and the first thing he heard upon stepping into Li Jianyu’s room was this aggrieved cry from Li Jianyu. He felt as if he had been struck by a bolt of lightning. Although he didn’t understand what the second half of the sentence meant, but…
“Pregnant?” Zhao Linxu’s eyes widened. “You’re pregnant?”
Li Jianyu was still hugging his knees, facing the wall. The resentful aura almost filled the entire room.
Zhao Linxu couldn’t believe it.
Preg-nant?
Pregnant with a child?
Meng Qingshu looked at Li Jianyu and said cautiously, “City Lord, are you… crying?”
“No.”
A true man doesn’t cry just because he’s pregnant.
Damn it.
Li Jianyu pressed his lips together tightly.
Zhao Linxu said with a blank expression, “Which wild man!”
Zhao Linxu could no longer maintain his usual magnanimous smile. His face was expressionless, and his heart felt as if it were being constantly scratched by a cat’s paw—both unbearable and anxious. It was an unprecedented feeling, like an evil fire burning more and more fiercely.
“You tell Us. We will stand up for you. Which bastard wild man was it? We will definitely find him and bring him to justice!”
“…”
Li Jianyu felt even more aggrieved.
Justice my ass. Why don’t you just explode on the spot?
“Who was it.” Zhao Linxu’s face was so dark it looked like water was about to drip from it. Meng Qingshu stood to the side, silent as a cicada in winter. He had never seen the Emperor like this.
The atmosphere in the room was tense. Meng Qingshu felt it was better not to get involved, so he quietly left, gently closing the door behind him.
Li Jianyu was still hugging his knees, squatting in the corner without a word, as if he wanted to embed himself into the wall.
Zhao Linxu took a deep breath, walked over, and sat down behind Li Jianyu. He placed a hand gently on his shoulder. “If you’ve been wronged, just tell Us, hmm?”
Li Jianyu couldn’t hold it in anymore.
“You bastard!” Li Jianyu turned around and roughly crashed into Zhao Linxu’s embrace. A fist, full of force, slammed hard into Zhao Linxu’s abdomen, making a loud thud. The blow stunned Zhao Linxu.
“Bastard! Big bastard! Big pig’s trotter! Fuck your perverted ass!”
[Translator’s Notes: Big Pig’s Trotter : This is a very popular Chinese internet slang term used to describe a man who is insensitive, unromantic, fickle, or a jerk, especially in romantic contexts.]
Looking at the person in front of him, who was like a small beast with its fur on end, crazily punching him, Zhao Linxu’s mouth hung open, unable to say a word.
“Beauty…”
“Go to hell!”
“No, I…”
“You f-ing shut up!”
Li Jianyu’s eyes were red. His fists rained down on Zhao Linxu’s shoulders, chest, and abdomen, as if he were venting, using Zhao Linxu as a punching bag. After losing everything in his past life, Li Jianyu’s temperament had always been very calm. He had even endured the mess with Zhao Linxu at the inn that day, always being cold towards him, keeping him at a thousand miles’ distance.
However, this man had not only topped him but had also left his seed. Leaving his seed was one thing, but he had also barbarically refused to give him a chance to reject him, desperately trying to get close to him. Now, Li Jianyu couldn’t hate Zhao Linxu at all and didn’t even know what to do. This was the first time Li Jianyu had vented his emotions so roughly and without restraint, releasing years of pent-up feelings all at once.
Li Jianyu was hitting him with such excitement that his body swayed and he was about to lose his balance. Zhao Linxu quickly held him and pulled him into his arms.
“Calm down, calm down…”
Zhao Linxu didn’t dare to fight back. He could only endure the pain and let Li Jianyu hit him in his arms. Occasionally, when Li Jianyu hit him hard, he would at most let out a grunt and had to keep coaxing him.
He knew nothing about pregnancy and had always thought that pregnant people were weak and precious, and couldn’t be bumped or touched. Now, seeing Li Jianyu moving so violently, his heart was pounding with fear.
“Don’t be angry, don’t hurt yourself. Be good…”
Zhao Linxu held Li Jianyu with one arm to prevent him from falling and forcefully grabbed his wrist with the other. “Beauty, listen to me…”
Zhao Linxu’s voice paused, and his body stiffened.
He saw Li Jianyu’s wrist being held by him, unable to move. With his movements restrained, he finally quieted down. However, his eyes gradually reddened, and he just stared fixedly at Zhao Linxu.
“I was wrong, I was wrong.” Zhao Linxu was so scared that he reflexively let go of Li Jianyu’s hand. “Hit me, hit me as much as you want! I’m tough, it’s nothing.”
Zhao Linxu still hadn’t fully processed what was happening. What was wrong with Li Jianyu? He had never seen such an emotional Li Jianyu before and thought he was hallucinating. But the places where he had been hit were still faintly aching, telling him that what was happening was real.
But Li Jianyu stopped hitting him. He lowered his hands and sat down dejectedly, reminding Zhao Linxu of the rabbit Zhao Jiangxue was raising. The little fluffy thing looked just as crestfallen when it didn’t get any food.
Looking at Li Jianyu like this, Zhao Linxu, on a whim, pressed him against his chest, letting Li Jianyu lean directly on him.
Li Jianyu was also tired. He gave up and let Zhao Linxu hold him.
“You don’t have to say anything if you don’t want to. If you need my help someday, I’ll be ready to listen anytime.” Zhao Linxu gently patted Li Jianyu’s back.
Zhao Linxu’s hands were broad from years of practicing martial arts, with rough calluses on his knuckles. At this moment, they carried a scorching heat that gently soothed Li Jianyu.
Li Jianyu gave a vague “mm” in response.
The two of them just sat on the floor, holding each other. Zhao Linxu breathed a sigh of relief, then quickly lifted Li Jianyu in a princess carry and walked towards the inner chamber, gently placing him on the bed.
“The floor is cold.”
Li Jianyu’s emotions had slowly calmed down by now. He hugged the quilt, turned his back to Zhao Linxu, and said in a muffled voice, “Good night.”
Hearing the embarrassment in Li Jianyu’s voice, Zhao Linxu waited by the side for a while. He looked at the person who only showed the top of his raven-black hair, and in the end, said nothing. He tucked the quilt in for Li Jianyu and then turned to leave.
“Good night.”
After Zhao Linxu left the room, the wine flask he had brought earlier was still on the stone table in the courtyard.
Zhao Linxu picked up the wine flask, his eyes like a deep, unfathomable pool of stagnant water. The surface was calm, but what lay within was unknown.
Who was it.
Who was it that made Li Jianyu lose control like that? Li Jianyu had clearly been with him these past few days, but how could there be another man’s child in his belly?
Or, was that person Li Jianyu’s beloved? Then why didn’t Li Jianyu say who it was? Could it be a heartless man?
After returning to his own Luoye Garden, the first thing Zhao Linxu did was summon Shuo Lin.
The man in black knelt on one knee before Zhao Linxu.
“What are the master’s orders?”
“Investigate Li Jianyu. Who he has been in contact with, whether he has had a partner in the past. Find out everything.”
“Yes!”
The next day, Li Jianyu woke up early and went about his business as usual, no different from any other day, as if the news of his pregnancy had never happened.
At this moment, Li Jianyu was in his study, looking at the accounts. Meng Qingshu had gone back to his hometown today to celebrate his elder’s birthday, so there was no one to share the workload in the manor, and Li Jianyu was even busier.
“Beauty.”
Zhao Linxu, still holding the same pot of wine from last night, knocked on Li Jianyu’s open door.
Li Jianyu’s body stiffened. Just as he was about to stand up to greet him, Zhao Linxu had already come in and sat down on Li Jianyu’s desk.
The man, occupying half of Li Jianyu’s desk, swung his legs and tilted his head to look at him.
What’s coming will come…
Li Jianyu suppressed his shame and unease. “Does Your Majesty have any business?”
“About last night…”
He was interrupted before he could finish.
“It was this subject who overstepped last night.” Li Jianyu looked down at the account book, not daring to look directly at Zhao Linxu.
He had hit him quite hard last night… hadn’t he.
He had actually hit Zhao Linxu…
He had f-ing hit the Emperor! If he hadn’t transmigrated to this open era that didn’t exist in history, but to the Qing or Han dynasty, his head would probably have been hung on the city wall to dry.
And it was too embarrassing. He had never been so embarrassed in his two lifetimes.
Zhao Linxu found it amusing. He stroked Li Jianyu’s chin. “Daring to hit the Emperor, you’re the first in all of history.”
Li Jianyu’s head drooped even lower.
“But We weren’t joking about what We said last night.”
Li Jianyu was stunned.
“If you’ve been wronged, just tell Us.” Zhao Linxu took a sip of wine. “Didn’t you say you wanted to learn martial arts before? The basics won’t be affected by your pregnancy. We’ll start tomorrow night.”
Only then did Li Jianyu remember this.
“But there’s not much time left to learn, it’s almost time.”
Li Jianyu looked up. “Almost?”
“There will be a battle between Us and Zhao Zhanqi eventually. The Great Xi and the North-South Army have started to mobilize their troops recently.”
Li Jianyu pondered this.
In other words, Luoye City would be the first to bear the brunt of this storm.
And was Zhao Linxu now reminding him to start preparing?
“Anyway, the peaceful days won’t last long.” Zhao Linxu put away the wine flask, jumped off the table, and said, “Beauty, continue with your work.”
With that, he left.
Li Jianyu stared blankly at Zhao Linxu’s departing back.
He patted his forehead. Just as he was about to continue reading the account book, he heard a soft “pat.”
Li Jianyu looked around and found a small pebble by the window.
Was this… a signal?
Li Jianyu frowned, went to the window, and sure enough, he saw a wax pellet on the window frame.
He melted the wax pellet and took out the message inside. Li Jianyu was stunned.
The message was very short, only a time and a place. It was so strange that Li Jianyu would not have gone, but the signature at the bottom made him have to take it seriously and reconsider.
The signature was none other than the Fifth Prince, Zhao Zhanqi.
Zhao Zhanqi was asking him for a secret meeting?
Li Jianyu raised an eyebrow slightly.
Just as Zhao Linxu had said, the storm was coming.
