Ji Lingchuan couldn't help but hold the person in his arms tighter. His voice hoarse, he said, "I don't mean to blame you. I should be the one apologizing to you. I'm sorry for making you suffer."
He had defiled her innocence and cut off all her future paths. But out of ignorance, he had hurt her again and again afterwards. He could hardly imagine how scared and helpless she must have been after realizing she had lost her innocence. Yet, for the sake of her younger brother, she had to flatter him again and again, just to conceive a child earlier and be freed.
This apology touched Song Yihuan's heart.
From the moment Ji Lingchuan picked her up and carried her to the bedside, Song Yihuan knew her guess was right. In fact, he didn't blame her for hiding her identity and serving him in bed. He did what he did to protect her.
If he didn't have feelings for her, he wouldn't have searched so hard for Song Yixuan's whereabouts after the matter of "borrowing a womb to give birth" was exposed.
He was actually a really good person, serious, responsible, and committed to his promises. But for her revenge plan, she had to use him and continue to deceive him.
She looked up, her tear - filled eyes fixed on him. There was no trace of resentment in her eyes, only Ji Lingchuan's reflection.
"I know. Just now, my lord was so cold and heartless in front of the princess. In fact, you were protecting me so that the princess wouldn't resent me and would treat me better. I understand all your intentions."
Ji Lingchuan wiped the tears from her face with his thumb and said, "Don't worry. I'll do everything I can to ask His Majesty to annul this marriage. By then, I'll give you and our child an explanation."
He solemnly promised her, "I promised Xuan'er that I wouldn't let you be a concubine. This is my promise to him. A real man always keeps his word and will never go back on it."
So that's why. So this was the reason he had said so many times in front of her that he wouldn't take concubines. It wasn't because he looked down on her background, but because he had promised Xuan'er.
What on earth had Xuan'er done for her when she wasn't looking?
Song Yihuan couldn't hold back her tears any longer and cried on his chest.
She was used to being patient. Since she came back to this place, even when she cried, she bit her lip and stifled her sobs.
Ji Lingchuan pressed her closer to his chest and said, "Cry if you want to. Don't hold it in. From now on, in my arms, you can cry as much as you want."
So Song Yihuan stopped holding back and let out her cries.
Ji Lingchuan gently patted her back to comfort her. He looked up at the window. The moon was especially round tonight, but there was one cute and obedient child who could call him brother - in - law missing from their side.
Song Yihuan stopped crying after a while. Ji Lingchuan wiped the tears from her face and asked, "Have you taken your medicine?"
She nodded, "Yes, I have."
Ji Lingchuan had heard that pregnant women were prone to fatigue. Thinking that Song Yihuan had exhausted her mind and strength because of Song Yixuan's matter, he felt extremely distressed. He said, "Since you've taken your medicine, lie down and rest early."
Saying that, he lowered his head again and wanted to take off her shoes and socks, but she stopped his hand. She got up and led him towards the screen in the inner room.
She took the initiative to reach out and take off his armor, just like an ordinary wife would do for her husband.
Ji Lingchuan looked down at the woman who could finally stand in front of him openly. His gaze was focused and deep, and his heart was filled with tenderness.
After taking off the armor, Ji Lingchuan felt light and relaxed. He hugged Song Yihuan back to the bed and lay down, carefully holding the woman in his arms.
Song Yihuan rested her face on his chest and whispered, "When did my lord realize that I wasn't my elder sister?"
Although Song Yihuan had deliberately revealed many details to Ji Lingchuan during those days in the mountains, she was still curious about when he had discovered the truth.
"I'm not a fool. Even though you and your elder sister look similar and you can imitate her speech, the memory of the body can't be faked. I know better than anyone what the person sharing my bed for several nights should be like. Moreover, you have a fragrance that she doesn't have. I've been to Que Luo Fang. I'm sure that the fragrance on you doesn't come from perfume paste."
Suddenly, Song Yihuan remembered that Ji Lingchuan had taken her elder sister and her back to her natal family and gave perfume paste from Que Luo Fang to all of her sisters.
After they returned to the Prince Ning's Mansion, he summoned her to serve him in Shulan Courtyard. That night, he had asked her why she didn't apply the perfume paste. She had been so frightened by "Bai Shao" at that time that she completely forgot about it. She had just made up an excuse, which probably made him more certain of her identity.
No wonder every time he summoned her to serve him after that, he would specifically ask to turn off the lights and told her not to speak.
He had discovered the truth so early, but he had kept it hidden quietly. He really lived up to his reputation as the General Weiyuan who led the Xuanjia Army. He was so calm - headed.
"Was my lord angry after you realized it?" Song Yihuan asked this question carefully.
"Of course I was angry." He pinched the soft flesh on her waist. "But then I found out that this concubine daughter of the Marquis Mansion who had been playing me for a fool and trying to cling to me was actually the Goddess of Yue Lu that I had been looking for for a long time. No matter how angry I was before, I couldn't stay angry anymore."
There was less of his usual coldness in this sentence, but more of a sense of humor. Song Yihuan opened her eyes slightly and said, "You know everything?"
"Are you very surprised? You've brought the clues to me more than once. If I still pretended not to know, wouldn't I be letting you down?" Ji Lingchuan said with a smile.
"Your beloved? Admiring me? Did you really mean it, or were you just trying to lure me into a trap? Hmm?" As he said the last words, his voice became lower and lower, and his deep voice sounded very ambiguous.
So Song Yihuan stopped pretending. She put her arms around his neck, rested her face on his shoulder, and said in a desolate tone, "Of course I meant it. On the day we agreed to meet, my mother had an accident. Since then, I've never dared to hope that I could see Mr. Lingji again."
As soon as she mentioned this, Ji Lingchuan felt heart - broken. Especially now that Song Yixuan's body was nowhere to be found, it made his heart even heavier.
"It will get better. No matter how difficult it was, we've made it through. Your mother and Xuan'er wouldn't want you to be trapped by this for the rest of your life."
His tone became a bit heavier. "Song Yihuan, I hope you can trust me and don't hide any more secrets from me. We should join hands to achieve our goals. You should know that you're not fighting alone. You still have me."
Song Yihuan's eyelashes trembled. She said, "I do have a suspicion in my mind. I want to tell you."
Her trust made Ji Lingchuan very happy. Gently stroking her hair, Ji Lingchuan said, "Just tell me."
"I think Xuan'er's disappearance wasn't an accident."
"I suspect that Xuan'er accidentally witnessed some secret and was killed. That person may be related to the turmoil during the autumn hunting in Xingzhou before."
"Or maybe the killer who wanted to kill me took Xuan'er away. He may not be dead. Instead, he mixed into the team and intended to follow us back to the capital."