Mei Qingxue looked extremely serious. Even Du Guqing was at a loss. "Xue'er, don't be so serious," Du Guqing said as he stood up, seeing the imperial doctor had gone far and that Mei Qingxue was all right.
"I'll finish handling the government affairs and then come to accompany you."
"You..." Mei Qingxue had finally mustered up the courage to reveal her secret, but Du Guqing had left. Whether it led to death or not, she would lay her secret bare today.
It was too suffocating to keep it all to herself. Du Guqing wanted a child, but though she was in good health, she couldn't conceive. The most likely reason for her infertility was that she didn't belong to this world.
"King of Hell, King of Hell, are you teasing me again?" Mei Qingxue's life had just taken a turn for the better. She had cleared all the obstacles and managed to placate her mother - in - law. But now, she was caught up in this dilemma.
Why was she reborn in ancient times?
Everything about ancient times really frustrated her. In modern times, it wouldn't matter if she couldn't have a child, but here it was different. Everyone cared about her womb. If she couldn't have a child, a woman who could bear children for her husband might appear at any time, which was the ancestral system.
It was perfectly reasonable for her to be divorced and sent back to her natal family just because she couldn't conceive.
Actually, Du Guqing didn't need to leave in such a hurry. He just saw Mei Qingxue was so solemn when speaking. He was afraid it was bad news, so he chose to escape.
As he walked out of the Qingxue Pavilion, he was still wondering what Mei Qingxue wanted to tell him. Had she fallen out of love with him? Or did she not want to stay in the palace anymore? Du Guqing was afraid that Mei Qingxue would ask him to set her free. He was afraid that he would be reluctant and heart - broken but still couldn't refuse her request, which would lead him to do something he would regret for the rest of his life.
Each with their own thoughts, they waited until night.
After dinner, the atmosphere between them was a bit strange. Mei Qingxue looked at Du Guqing, her heart filled with sadness. "Qing, I have something to tell you."
"Go ahead!" Since he couldn't avoid it, he might as well listen. Du Guqing had already prepared himself mentally. "You should stay calm. Don't be scared. What I'm going to say might be hard for you to accept."
Du Guqing's eyes were full of helplessness as he nodded heavily. He couldn't take it anymore. Xue, could you just not say it? But he didn't voice that thought.
What Mei Qingxue said stunned him: "You may think I'm a monster, but I think you should know the truth."
"I don't belong to this world," Mei Qingxue finally summoned the courage to reveal her biggest secret.
It turned out she hadn't fallen out of love, nor did she want to leave him. Du Guqing let out a sigh of relief. "The former Miss Mei, Mei Qingxue, had an accident when she was five. I came to this world because of an accident, too."
Du Guqing shook his head. "These are your past experiences. What do they have to do with me? Or with us?" Mei Qingxue covered her face. "I'm scared. I'm afraid my infertility is because of this. I also want a child with you, but..."
Du Guqing could no longer hear what Mei Qingxue was saying. As long as Mei Qingxue didn't leave him and didn't fall out of love with him, they could adopt a child if they couldn't have one of their own. As long as they were still in love.
"Fool, stop talking," Du Guqing hugged Mei Qingxue tightly. "I wanted a child to shut the mouths of the ministers and to stop the empress dowager and the emperor from interfering in the affairs of the harem."
"Fool."
Mei Qingxue burst into tears. This was her biggest secret, but Du Guqing didn't seem to care. She was a bit stunned, thinking she might have missed something.
Du Guqing said clearly, "Fool, all I want is you." Big fool, so she had been worrying about this. Superstition? Besides, his wife was originally the Plum Blossom Fairy. How could an ordinary person be a fairy?
"Aren't you afraid I'm a monster?"
"You're my wife!"
"We may never have a child," Mei Qingxue's voice grew heavy. In ancient times, a woman without a child was looked down upon. She could ignore what others thought of her, but what about Du Guqing and his family?
They would all be affected by her. How could she bear it?
"I've said, as long as you're by my side. Before, I thought you were going to tell me you had fallen out of love. I was so scared that I avoided you all day. Fool, how are you going to compensate me?" Du Guqing stared at Mei Qingxue with burning eyes, clearly asking for extra benefits on purpose.
"What kind of compensation do you want?"
As soon as Mei Qingxue finished speaking, she felt dizzy. Du Guqing carried her on his shoulder and then gently placed her on the bed. "You ate too much for dinner. Let's work off some calories."
Damn it, he was using her to work off calories again. Mei Qingxue glared at him angrily. Someone directly ignored her. Anyway, his little woman had scared him, and he was just asking for mental damages. He had learned this term from Mei Qingxue.
It made sense. He would often ask Xue'er for mental damages in the future.
"Du Guqing, you jerk!"
When she got up in the morning, someone's waist felt like it was broken, and her whole body felt as if it had been run over by a carriage a hundred times. She didn't even have the strength to lift her hand.
"Xue'er, sleep a little longer. Your husband is going to court."
In the past, they never had enough fun. Mei Qingxue always surrendered early, either pretending to have a headache or a toothache.
Mei Qingxue threw a pillow at him. She had revealed her secret but received such a severe "punishment". "Xue'er, you said it's not good to throw things around," What if it hit the flowers and plants? Du Guqing didn't say the second half of the sentence because there were no flowers and plants in Mei Qingxue's bedroom.
"Why didn't the empress dowager and the emperor come back to scold me after I was out of the palace for two months?"
"I'm curious about that too. We'll talk about it when I come back," Du Guqing straightened his court clothes by himself, then placed the pillow Mei Qingxue had thrown out of her reach before going out to court.
It was said that the emperor was in an extremely good mood that day.
"Your Majesty, it's time to get up!" Xuanqiao whispered to wake Mei Qingxue up. "Let this empress sleep a little longer."
"Didn't Your Majesty want Sister Yueru to bring the child into the palace to play? They're already here," If the empress slept until noon...
"Take them to the imperial garden, the fun place. Just don't provoke the imperial concubines and grand concubines." Mei Qingxue buried her face in the quilt and waved her hand out of the quilt a few times.
Xuanqiao saw the red marks on Mei Qingxue's body and knew that the emperor and the empress had had a passionate night.
Then she covered her mouth and laughed before backing out. "Xuanqiao, won't the empress receive us?" Yueru was holding the child and looking at her former sister - in - service.
"Sister Yueru is really forgetful. You served the young lady too. Don't you know how much the young lady loves to sleep?" Xuanqiao looked at Yueru with dissatisfaction in her eyes, but the dissatisfaction disappeared soon. Yueru and Hanchao's child was so cute. Whether it was the young lady or Xuanqiao, they couldn't help loving the child every time they saw it.
"Yes, look at how confused I am," Yueru said self - deprecatingly. Recently, she had been so busy with the child that she had less and less time to see the master.
"Xuanqiao, aren't you almost of age?" Yueru asked. She wondered which family the young lady would match Xuanqiao with.
"Yes, it'll be in a few months," Xuanqiao curled the corner of her mouth. She could feel that the young lady wouldn't treat her badly.
"You don't seem very worried," Yueru was teasing the child. "Sister Yueru, you married well. All the sisters envy you the most. I envy you too. It'll be my turn in a few months. I'm not worried. You know the young lady's personality."
"I know. I'm just asking casually. Why, just because you're serving the empress now, I can't ask?" Yueru joked deliberately.
"Where did the empress go when she was out of the palace before?" Hanchao didn't say anything when he went back, and the Prime Minister's Mansion had asked several times. "She went to the mountain to worship the Buddha," Xuanqiao didn't tell the truth.
"Just tell them like this when you go back," If the old master and the old lady of the Prime Minister's Mansion were disturbed, the young lady would definitely be angry. "I know, but..."
"Just say she went to the mountain to pray for a child. The old lady won't say anything." Xuanqiao had already got Mei Qingxue's instruction, so she immediately told Yueru the whole story of going to the mountain to pray for a child. Yueru nodded. "If I say so, it'll be easier for me to explain when I go back. You know I'm not good at lying."
"Who said it was a lie?" Xuanqiao said anxiously. Mei Qingxue really went there. To cover her tracks, she even asked Fengying to send someone to pretend to be her and stay in the nunnery for quite some time.
"Is it really true?" Yueru was surprised. She knew her young lady's personality best.
"The young lady has been unable to conceive for a long time. The court has been persuading the emperor to take concubines, and the empress dowager and the emperor are urging very hard. The young lady had no choice!" Xuanqiao said unhappily. "The young lady has no heir, and Xuanqiao is also anxious. I'm sure the old lady is anxious too." Having no heir was a big deal!
"Okay, I'll go back to the Prime Minister's Mansion to report. The old lady misses the young lady very much since she hasn't seen her for a long time." Yueru stood up. The child in her arms didn't cry or make a fuss. He just grabbed the tassels on his mother's head and played with them.
"In a few days, the young lady will go back to the mansion. Sister Yueru, I won't keep you. The young lady will get up soon."
"Zizai, say goodbye to Sister Xuanqiao." Yueru grabbed the child's hand and waved it at Xuanqiao. Xuanqiao pursed her lips. "You're teaching Zizai badly. We're clearly sisters, but you've made me one generation lower. I'll never talk to you again." Xuanqiao pretended to be angry, and Yueru laughed. "I'm just joking with you. You're the most stingy one."
"I'm leaving. The old lady is still waiting for my reply," Yueru hugged the child and left the palace. On the way, she saw Mei Haoxuan, curtsied, and then left.
Mei Haoxuan originally wanted to call Yueru to ask something, but then he remembered that Yueru was no longer a servant in his mansion and was a married woman, so it was not appropriate to call her. He endured the urge to find out the truth.
Yueru was probably going back to the Prime Minister's Mansion to pay respects. He would just go back to the mansion after his shift to find out. As for his younger sister... Mei Haoxuan didn't know what to say. She had always been opinionated and bold since childhood. Mei Zhenguo's biggest regret was that Qingxue wasn't a boy.