Li Qingyan died again.
Since taking on the mission to capture Li Yan's heart, this was her third death.
Inside the system space, Li Qingyan hugged a bucket taller than herself, cracking sunflower seeds. "Feicha, do you think this Li Yan is sick in the head? I was helping him, helping him! This guy must have a screw loose. He killed me three times. Three times!"
Li Qingyan was so angry that her head was literally fuming.
In her first life, she was a princess of an enemy state. She helped Li Yan gather intelligence, only to be framed by him as a spy and beheaded.
In her second life, she became one of Li Yan's stepmothers, speaking nothing but good words for him. But this guy was crazy. He orchestrated the Zhuque Gate Incident, and all the concubines were forced to drink poisoned wine.
In her third life, she became his royal sister and competed with him for the throne. After he ascended the throne, he somehow got news that she was a spy sent by their late imperial father. She was killed again, this time pierced by ten thousand arrows.
Having died so many times, she was emotionally unstable and even wanted to just kill Li Yan directly.
Feicha sighed, its voice ringing out with a hint of static electricity.
[Host, there is only one chance left, otherwise both of us will die.]
[Wuwuwu...]
Feicha transformed into a little boy, hugging Li Qingyan's leg and crying. They had worked together for many years. Although Feicha always caused trouble, still...
Forget it, who told her to be so soft-hearted.
"Since that's the case..." Li Qingyan's lips curled up into a sinister smile. "I will become the child he gives birth to himself."
Feicha immediately stopped crying, looking at her in disbelief.
[Host, you are courting death. If an ancient man gives birth, you will be considered a monster.]
Li Qingyan wagged her finger. "You don't understand Li Yan. It's decided."
She slammed her hand on the table. In this world, the person who understands you the most is often not someone close to you, but your enemy.
Inside the Diligence Hall, five imperial physicians were kneeling. Each had their head bowed, faces covered in sweat, and some were wiping the perspiration from their faces. Behind them stood four men in black holding swords; these were the death-sworn guards of the new emperor, Li Yan.
Ever since Li Yan got drunk with the God of War General, Yan Xu, a month ago, he had been ill-tempered. Especially in recent days, he had been vomiting incessantly.
Some even suspected that Yan Xu had given Li Yan a slow-acting poison.
Several imperial physicians took turns checking his pulse, but to no avail.
Until today.
Imperial Physician Liu had checked his routine pulse and found a pregnancy pulse. He called in a few others, and the result was the same.
Now, the Head of the Imperial Hospital was checking his pulse. If it was still... none of them would likely be able to keep their heads.
Sandalwood incense smoke rose in curls, lingering in the room.
Li Yan propped his head up with his hand. His handsome face was exceptionally gloomy. Because he had been vomiting uncontrollably lately, he had dark circles under his eyes and looked somewhat haggard.
"Speak."
The cold voice rang out in the bedchamber, making one's hair stand on end.
The Head of the Imperial Hospital, Zhao Zheng, hurriedly knelt. "It is a pregnancy pulse."
Li Yan immediately opened his eyes, drew the sword beside him, and rested it on Zhao Zheng's neck. "I am a man. How could I have a pregnancy pulse?"
Zhao Zheng had never seen such a thing either. How could a man give birth? This defied common sense, but how could he dare say that the thing in the emperor's belly might be a monstrous fetus?
The man before him was someone who had slaughtered his brothers and forced the Supreme Emperor to abdicate just to secure this throne. He had even imprisoned his own biological mother. No one's life held any value in his eyes.
"Get lost. All of you, get out."
The eunuch to the side, Laifu, hurriedly led the people away. However, outside the door, Laifu stopped the departing imperial physicians and said, "His Majesty does not like others discussing his affairs. Some words should not be said. If even half a word leaks out, I am afraid your families will suffer."
How could these imperial physicians not understand what this meant? They all left with pale faces.
The bedchamber was unusually quiet. Li Yan's hand touched his abdomen, then bounced away for a moment.
"Shadow One, go buy a dose of abortion medicine."
With an order, there was suddenly one less person in the room. One could not even see clearly how that person had left.
[Host, Host, he is going to kill you!]
Now, Li Qingyan was just a little ball of flesh that couldn't move. Her consciousness barely managed to communicate with Feicha. "I took a life-saving pill."
She yawned. "He wishes he could kill me. Whether he wants to give birth or not is no longer up to him to decide."
Speaking of this, Li Qingyan laughed out loud, feeling the thrill of revenge.
Laifu carried the bitter medicinal soup to the window. Li Yan had been standing there for a long time, lost in thought.
"Your Majesty, the medicine is here." Laifu lowered his head, somewhat unable to bear looking at Li Yan's expression.
Li Yan's body stiffened. He picked up the bowl and downed it in one gulp. The bitter medicine in his throat made him want to vomit, but he forcefully suppressed the nausea.
The world was so big, what absurd things didn't happen?
In their Li family, fathers and sons killed each other, brothers harmed one another, and even mothers would want to kill their own children for power.
Li Yan had seen too many things that outsiders could not comprehend.
He stroked his flat lower abdomen. The supreme ruler could absolutely not leave behind any hidden dangers. Just like the inexplicable absurdity of that night.
There were already four concubines in the harem, three imperial princes, and two imperial princesses.
If this child had been born to a woman, he would have kept it. Which emperor didn't have his share of absurd affairs?
Unfortunately, it was reincarnated into his belly, and that was unacceptable.
The medicine Shadow One bought was mild, so the effects came on a bit slowly.
Li Yan was awakened by pain in his sleep.
Hearing the commotion, Laifu came in, only to see Li Yan's face deathly pale and his nightclothes soaked in sweat. Terrified, he had someone carry Zhao Zheng directly over.
Zhao Zheng crawled and stumbled to the bedside to check Li Yan's pulse.
[Host, Host, wake up, wake up!]
Feicha called out for a long time without getting a response, terrified that Li Qingyan had died right in the middle of reincarnating.
Li Qingyan was a bit groggy now. She gritted her teeth and said, "Just wait until I am born. That brat who fetched the medicine, I am going to kill him..."
As the last word fell, Li Qingyan passed out.
Zhao Zheng hastily wrote a few prescriptions and had someone go fetch the medicine. Bowl after bowl of medicine was brought in from outside, all going into Li Yan's stomach.
This ordeal lasted until the latter half of the night before Li Yan's complexion finally recovered.
The commotion was quite large. Consort Jing, the head of the four consorts, stood outside waiting for a long time. Laifu blocked her with a smile on his face. "His Majesty merely ate the wrong thing and does not wish to see anyone else right now. Your Ladyship, please return."
Consort Jing's father was the Minister of Revenue, and she had given birth to the eldest imperial prince and the eldest imperial princess. She was the woman with the most authority in the harem right now.
Everyone said the position of Empress belonged to none other than Consort Jing.
She thus had the confidence to say, "Insolent! How dare you block this Consort? If something happens to His Majesty, what use is your dog head?"
Laifu had been by Li Yan's side since childhood, accompanying him from an unfavored prince to the current supreme ruler. He had even saved Li Yan's life. Ordinary people wouldn't dare not give Laifu face.
"Naturally, I wouldn't dare. It is just that I have only listened to His Majesty's words since I was a child. Whatever His Majesty says goes. What do you say, Consort Jing?" Laifu was clearly still smiling, yet he gave off an eerie feeling.
Consort Jing said "Good" several times in a row, flicked her sleeves, and led her people away in disgrace.
Laifu straightened his back and swept a cold glare over the guards stationed outside. "Open your dog eyes and look carefully at where you are, who your master is, and who the Emperor of Yongrong is."
"If you let any irrelevant people approach again, you can consider your heads forfeited."
A chorus of "We wouldn't dare" echoed from all around.
Consort Jing had not gone far. Hearing the commotion, she knew Laifu's words were meant for her ears. She viciously cursed, "Dog of a slave," but did not dare to actually do anything about it.
As dawn approached, Zhao Zheng finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"His Majesty is alright now, but he must absolutely never take this medicine again, or his life will be in grave danger."
Zhao Zheng's legs were trembling so badly from fright that he could barely walk; he only managed to leave with the support of the guards.
Laifu pressed his palms together in prayer. "Thank heavens, thank heavens."
