Chapter 65 – I’m pregnant with the prime minister’s brother’s baby.
Several people looked towards the direction of the gate together. Jiang Dehai asked, “What’s going on?”
Zhao Qi shook his head, set down his bowl of soup, and looked at the rippling layers of medicine in the soup, inexplicably relieved. “Let’s go take a look.”
Jiang Dehai opened the door and asked the guards outside, “What’s all the commotion about?”
The guard sounded hesitant, “It’s Prince Zhaonan who wishes to see the Emperor.”
Zhao Qi frowned. “Why is it Li Chisu again? He’s said everything he needed to. What’s he here for now?”
Jiang Dehai said, “Didn’t His Majesty instruct that he would see no one today? Tell him to come another day.”
“I did, but he insists it’s of utmost importance to see the Emperor. He seems really anxious, so…”
Jiang Dehai glanced back at Zhao Qi. After a moment’s hesitation, Zhao Qi nodded.
“Your Majesty!” Li Chisu practically rushed in, still in yesterday’s clothes, his hair slightly disheveled, his face pale and devoid of his usual demeanor.
Zhao Qi said, “Speak quickly.”
Li Chisu’s gaze caught sight of the bowl of soup on the table. He paused for a moment, then took a sudden step forward. “You… drank it?”
A peal of thunder rumbled in the distance, the rain lingering ominously in the clouds, refusing to fall.
Zhao Qi guessed why Li Chisu had come. It was probably to persuade him to reconsider, to leave this child behind. “Not yet,” he said, “but I will soon.”
Li Chisu visibly relaxed. He closed his eyes briefly, his long lashes trembling slightly, as if after restraining himself for a long time, he could no longer hold back. “Your Majesty, I lied to you.”
Zhao Qi stared at those peach blossom eyes that were skilled at beguiling hearts, his own heart tightening. “What did you say?”
Li Chisu took a deep breath and said slowly, word by word, “On the night of the palace banquet, I did not… engage in intimacy with you. I did want to do something to you, but before I could, Rong Tang arrived.”
Zhao Qi’s heart pounded wildly. For a moment, he couldn’t understand Li Chisu’s meaning.
The person who slept with him wasn’t Li Chisu, then the dragon egg in his belly…
Li Chisu smiled bitterly, looking at Zhao Qi’s swollen belly. “So the child in your belly isn’t mine.”
Another deafening thunder shook the room, as if striking within. Everyone held their breath, their gaze fixed on Zhao Qi.
Wide-eyed, Zhao Qi murmured in confusion, “Not yours, not yours…”
Not Rong Tang’s, not He Changzhou’s, not Li Chisu’s either.
Then… whose is it?
The answer seemed imminent.
His head felt like it was about to explode. He looked around blankly, unsure where he was or what he was doing.
“But… that’s impossible.” Zhao Qi lowered his head to look at his belly, silently asking, “Are you really the prime minister’s brother…?”
The dragon egg kicked him—this was the strongest kick he had felt since feeling the fetal movements.
Li Chisu couldn’t hide his heartache and guilt at Zhao Qi’s reaction. “I thought that acknowledging the child would make you look at me differently, treat me unlike others, and have me in your heart.” Li Chisu chuckled self-deprecatingly. “It turns out I was expecting too much.” Instead of valuing him more for the child, Zhao Qi didn’t want the child at all.
Zhao Qi remained stunned.
“I was too selfish, too eager for you, to do this. Whatever the Emperor decides to do with me, I will accept it. I only beg the Emperor to reconsider and spare the child…”
Li Chisu’s words fell on deaf ears for Zhao Qi. At this moment, all he could think about was that the person who slept with him that night was Xiao Shiqing.
He was carrying Xiao Shiqing’s child.
Xiao Shiqing… that noble and aloof man, distant from men and women alike, who once treated him as a puppet, and now… now the lord prime minister, whatever he thought of him, turned out to be the true “culprit”?!
It was him who had forcefully and gently possessed him; he was the one who sat on Xiao Shiqing, unsatisfied, crying out “more”; and it was also him, with his moist hands stroking his back, whispering in his ear, saying those…
He didn’t want to recall those words!
After a long silence, someone shouted, “Lord Prime Minister.”
Zhao Qi suddenly looked up and saw a man in black walking in, bringing with him a chilling aura.
Though it was midday, the sky outside was dark as dusk. The room was lit by lamps, and Xiao Shiqing stood in the semi-darkness, his expression unreadable to Zhao Qi.
Before anyone else could speak, Xiao Shiqing said, “Everyone, leave.”
His voice was calm, carrying the usual irresistible authority.
Jiang Dehai hesitated. “Prime Minister, the Emperor…”
Xiao Shiqing repeated icily, “I said, everyone leave.”
“Yes.”
Jiang Dehai, Xiao Jinzi, Cheng Boyan, and Meichuan left one after another. Li Chisu keenly sensed the oppressive and dangerous atmosphere surrounding Xiao Shiqing, and couldn’t help but worry about Zhao Qi. “Prime Minister, you…”
Xiao Shiqing stared at Zhao Qi without blinking, but his words were directed at Li Chisu. “If you still want your Southern Twelve Provinces, don’t say another word.”
Li Chisu squinted his peach blossom eyes. “Do you think this can threaten me, Prime Minister?”
Xiao Shiqing smiled. “Can’t it?”
Li Chisu laughed. “No, it can’t.”
Xiao Shiqing turned to Zhao Qi. “Let him go.”
Zhao Qi was overwhelmed by Xiao Shiqing’s gaze, struggling to breathe. He managed to say, “Prince Zhaonan should withdraw first. His Majesty and I have… matters to discuss.”
Li Chisu was reluctant, not afraid of Xiao Shiqing, but also didn’t want to make things difficult for Zhao Qi. “I’ll be outside. Call me if His Majesty needs me.”
As Li Chisu left, only the two fathers of the dragon egg remained in the room. The storm finally broke through the dark clouds, whipping against the ground. Rain splashed outside the window, hazy and misty.
Listening to the rain, Zhao Qi’s lips trembled. “Is it… brother?”
Xiao Shiqing glanced at the bowl of soup beside Zhao Qi’s hand, his eyes cold and serious. “Do you want to drink?”
Without hearing Xiao Shiqing’s answer in person, Zhao Qi stubbornly repeated, “Is it you?”
Xiao Shiqing’s Adam’s apple rolled, and his thin lips lightly opened. “Yes.”
At that moment, Zhao Qi couldn’t describe his feelings. When he thought the dragon egg belonged to He Changzhou, he felt frustrated and uncomfortable; when he thought it was Li Chisu’s, he felt nauseous and angry. Now, he just felt absurd, unable to understand.
Why would it be Xiao Shiqing? It shouldn’t be?!
Xiao Shiqing looked down at him quietly. “You knew it was me?”
Zhao Qi reacted slowly, subconsciously murmuring, “Uh…”
Xiao Shiqing’s eyes were deep and cold, his voice chilling to the bone. “You knew it was me, yet you still want to get rid of him?”
He approached Zhao Qi step by step, leaving Zhao Qi no room to retreat, sitting straight on the bed. “Brother…”
“Even before the Southern Expedition, you knew about this and kept it from me until now, not to secretly give birth to the child, but…” Xiao Shiqing’s words abruptly stopped. He looked down at him condescendingly, the intense pressure making Zhao Qi unable to say a word.
Xiao Shiqing sneered coldly, “Who was the one who held me back and wouldn’t let me go back then—how come, now that you have a child, you don’t want to admit it?”
“I didn’t!”
“You didn’t?” Xiao Shiqing raised his eyebrows. Holding Zhao Qi’s chin in both hands, he forced Zhao Qi to look at the bowl on the table. “Then tell me, what is this?”
With Xiao Shiqing’s stern expression and indifferent tone, Zhao Qi hadn’t seen this side of Xiao Shiqing in a long time. He felt a chill rising from the depths of his heart, as if he were facing Xiao Shiqing for the first time.
Zhao Qi swallowed nervously. “It’s… it’s a miscarriage potion…”
At the mention of “miscarriage potion,” Xiao Shiqing’s eyes filled with fury, and he embraced Zhao Qi’s waist from behind, pushing him onto the bed from behind, his knee squeezing between Zhao Qi’s legs, like a predator towering over its prey, easily within reach.
“It seems that His Majesty has never quite remembered what happened that night. Should I help His Majesty remember?”
Danger approached, and even the weakest prey would struggle, let alone Zhao Qi.
“Let go of me!” Zhao Qi pushed back with both hands, but Xiao Shiqing twisted him in place, rendering him unable to move.
Feeling the jade belt around his waist being undone, Zhao Qi knew Xiao Shiqing wasn’t joking. He was really about to reenact the scene from the Festival of Longevity Palace Banquet. His eyes reddened instantly as he shouted, “Brother, please don’t…!”
“If you scream louder,” Xiao Shiqing coldly and mockingly interrupted, “let everyone outside hear how the emperor enjoys himself.”
A chilly hand slipped into Zhao Qi’s clothes. He shook his head desperately. The golden crown symbolizing supreme imperial authority rolled from the bed to the corner with a crisp sound.
“You… bastard!” Zhao Qi choked out, tears streaming, “Xiao Shiqing, you universal bastard!”
“Bastard?” Xiao Shiqing leaned close to his cheek, gently licking away tears, “I’m a bastard. Then what does that make the emperor who’s fathered by a bastard?” He held one of Zhao Qi’s hands, forcing it to touch the slightly swollen abdomen. “What is the emperor carrying?”
“A… a little bastard!”
Xiao Shiqing chuckled softly. “This little bastard will soon be obliterated by his imperial father. But before that, let him see how his father conceived him, alright?”
“No, please!” Zhao Qi trembled in Xiao Shiqing’s embrace, tears falling relentlessly. “I didn’t know! I really didn’t know! I was drugged into this, I didn’t want it… Why, why do you treat me like this, sob sob sob…”
Xiao Shiqing abruptly stopped his movements.
“I didn’t know it was my brother’s child, I didn’t even know who that person was that night!” Zhao Qi cried like a grievously wronged child. “I was drugged into this with you. I didn’t want this… Why, why do you treat me like this, sob sob sob…”
Xiao Shiqing fell silent for a moment, then turned Zhao Qi around and held him face to face.
Once Zhao Qi started crying, he couldn’t stop. His tears soaked Xiao Shiqing’s clothes. “I’m a grown man, unexpectedly pregnant with who knows whose child, and you don’t know how scared and sad I am. How can you still scold me! Are you even human!”
“… Xiao Shiqing’s heart was almost broken by Zhao Qi’s tears. He kissed Zhao Qi’s forehead gently, his voice unusually tender. “Hmm, I’m not human. Your Majesty, please don’t cry.”
“Sob sob sob… Hic.”
T/N: There is plenty more where that came from, so stay tuned! And stay healthy! Straighten your posture, so some stretches and drink some water before continuing hehe~
If you like my translations, feel free to donate to my ko-fi!
I really, really appreciate all the support from my readers <3 It goes a long way and motivates me lots!
Also, check out the other series we have on HoH!
If you like cats, check out Revenge of the Garfield
If you like dragons, check out I’m Pregnant with the Hope of the Entire Planet and The Dragon and the ‘Princess’
How about some mystery or showbiz? Check out Morbid Addiction & Perfection
What about the perfect, most non-toxic male lead ever? Laws of Love
How about MC nursing ML back to health? Forced into the Deep
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