Huancheng Shen Shen

Capítulo 68

"...Since the baby is asleep, why are you still talking to him so much?"

"Maybe this way the baby will dream of Ling'er. When Mommy used to tell stories to lull Ling'er to sleep, Ling'er would always dream of Mommy."

Song Xiaohua was immediately moved to tears. She beckoned him to hug her and showered him with kisses: "I hope that my baby will be as sensible and beautiful as Ling'er in the future. Ling'er, I can't sleep with you now. After a while, when you're settled in my belly, I will definitely tell you lots of fun stories every night."

Lu Ling's eyes lit up: "Really? Actually, Ling'er has always wanted to sleep with Mother again, but Ling'er wants to be a great hero and a man, so..."

Lu Ziqi was determined to never live the kind of life where the three of them slept side by side again, so he deliberately made a joke, trying to nip this idea in the bud: "Ling'er, you can't be so clingy to your mother, what will you do when you have a wife in the future?"

Without a second thought, the little boy answered crisply, "Easy! Ling'er will sleep with Mother, and wife will sleep with Father!"

Lu Ziqi gazed at the moon in silence.

Song Xiaohua gently patted the little pink dumpling's head and said, "Ling'er, if you really have such thoughts, I guarantee you will never have a wife in your life."

Lu Ziqi continued to gaze at the moon in silence.

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As the night deepened and the dew grew heavy, Lu Ziqi tucked Song Xiaohua, who was fast asleep, into the blankets and dimmed the glass lamp. He then opened an official document and brought it close to the candlelight. Immediately, his eyebrows twitched and his lips tightened.

After a moment's thought, I picked up my brush, dipped it in ink, and was about to write when I suddenly heard two very faint sounds coming from inside the courtyard.

He shook his head helplessly, put down his pen, got up, and quietly slipped out through the closed door.

The starry sky illuminated two furtive figures creeping toward the tightly closed courtyard gate; one was tall and imposing, the other petite and graceful.

Upon hearing footsteps, they all stopped moving at once.

"What time is it?"

"Brother-in-law, did I wake you up?"

"He wouldn't go to bed that early, would he? Did he wake his sister-in-law?"

Looking at the two faces full of ingratiating smiles, Lu Ziqi felt unable to utter any words of blame, and could only sigh: "I shouldn't have told you about this side door!"

Huo Nan and Xue Yuhan, these two sworn enemies, felt restless if they didn't fight to the death for a while. In the end, they even felt that they weren't having enough fun fighting within the confines of the mansion, so they decided to expand their territory and fight their way out.

However, since neither of them was married, if they were to openly enter and exit the main gate together, it would inevitably give others cause for gossip and trouble. Blinded by happiness, Lu Ziqi wanted to help the two of them get together, but he also didn't want this pair of bored and helpless third wheels to keep wandering around in front of him. So, in a moment of weakness, he revealed the secret passage of 'Nianyuan' to them, which resulted in countless troubles.

Putting everything else aside, just the fact that Song Xiaohua would inevitably feel resentful and want to find a reason to vent his anger every time he saw them using the very means that should have allowed him to have some fun secretly is enough to give him a hard time.

"Xiao Han, your elder brother asked you to stay at the Lu residence as a guest and entrusted me to take good care of you. If he finds out that I have been tolerating your nonsense, he will definitely not let this go!"

Xue Yuhan walked over and tugged at Lu Ziqi's sleeve, who looked displeased. She shook it gently and said, "Brother-in-law, I'm not being silly. I'm on business."

Huo Nan crossed his arms and scoffed, "Who has time to play around with a brat like that?"

Instantly transforming from a gentle little rabbit into a fierce little leopard: "You're asking for a beating again, aren't you?"

Still with that same carefree attitude: "If you're so capable, then fight me one-on-one, no poison involved."

"How impressive it is for a grown man to say such things to a woman!"

"Are you a woman?"

You're not a man either!

"Do you want me to prove to you right now whether I'm a man or not?"

"Okay, how do you prove it? Take your pants off?"

"Hey, you think I wouldn't dare?!"

Lu Ziqi finally lost his temper: "This is getting more and more outrageous! Now tell me honestly, what were you doing in the middle of the night?"

Seeing his anger, Xue Yuhan quickly composed herself: "We went to Chen Kui's residence, intending to find some evidence, but we didn't expect that the residence of a mere fifth-rank official would be so heavily guarded. We almost fell into a trap."

Startled by the question, she couldn't hide her concern: "Are you injured?"

Huo Nan waved his hand dismissively: "Don't worry, I'm here..."

He interrupted his boasting with a low shout: "Why didn't you tell me beforehand? Such recklessness! What if something bad happened? How would we handle the situation?"

"Brother-in-law, don't be angry. I won't do it again, okay?"

She calmed herself down a bit: "Xiao Han, we can handle this. Don't interfere." Then she glared at Huo Nan: "And you, if you continue to cause trouble with her, get back to your barracks right now!"

Under the white moonlight, Lu Ziqi's face appeared even more bloodless, yet the sternness between his brows seemed to give that paleness a faint blush.

Huo Nan and Xue Yuhan rarely saw him truly angry, and knowing that this time they had crossed his bottom line, they both lowered their heads and remained silent.

Realizing he had been too stiff, Lu Ziqi took a deep breath and relaxed his tense expression: "Xiao Han, this matter is far-reaching and extremely complicated. If we are not careful, we will be in dire straits. You are not a person in the court, so you should not take risks. I will also not let you be in any danger. Otherwise, how can I face your sister?"

Xue Yuhan looked up at him, her eyes flashing with a cold light: "Brother-in-law, I've grown up in the army these past few years, and I know firsthand the hardships and difficulties soldiers face in defending our land. That's why I hate even more those who embezzle military pay and those traitors who collude with foreign powers! Although I'm not a man and I don't hold any official position, I hope I can at least do my part to expose these scoundrels, so that I won't have wasted the bond I formed with my brothers on the battlefield! Don't worry, I'm no longer that delicate little girl who can't do anything. I'll protect myself and keep myself safe. I believe my sister will agree with me doing this, because she also wants someone to share your burden, even if it's just a little bit."

The night was still, the voices were soft, yet every word struck my heart like thunder.

Huo Nan remained standing with his arms crossed, seemingly nonchalant. However, the usual mockery on his face had somehow been replaced by an indescribable expression, his eyes growing increasingly frighteningly bright, as if trying to see through something, or as if trying to etch something forever into their depths…

The author has something to say: What a loving mother Wa is! She made Xiaohua's pregnancy so comfortable, without her suffering at all!

So, I have a friend who got pregnant pretty much without any warning after getting married, and then gave birth to her baby without any problems whatsoever. She ate well, slept well, played well, and didn't miss a thing – it's like her ancestors were blessed! LOL

P.S.: For those who enjoy farming and cultivation novels, you can check out the book "A Lifetime of Pure Joy" if you have time. It's really good! Links are available in the 'Author's Recommendation' section on the right and the 'Recommended Reading' section on the page.

Chapter Sixty-Eight: Using Oneself as Bait

As the weather grew colder, Song Xiaohua's belly grew bigger, but her intermittent mental disorder symptoms gradually improved.

Perhaps it was due to the awakening of maternal instincts, but the wild monkey, who used to be restless, changed its temperament and became much calmer. It could stay in the room alone for most of the day without feeling bored.

After several months of practice, her needlework skills have improved by leaps and bounds. She can now make lifelike and vivid dolls such as Doraemon, Mickey Mouse, and Donald Duck.

Of course, in Lu Ziqi's eyes, they were still a bunch of strange monsters comparable to the little devils in the King of Hell's palace. So, in order to 'ward off evil,' he made a lot of wooden swords, forks, and halberds, which greatly stimulated Lu Ling's enthusiasm for learning martial arts.

However, although Huo Nan was Lu Ling's martial arts teacher, he was extremely disrespected and suffered immense discrimination. Song Xiaohua would always avoid him, and if there was no way to avoid him, she would take a cloth and make him cover his face completely.

Because, according to popular belief, the baby in a pregnant woman's womb will resemble whoever she frequently sees. In other words, pregnant women should look at handsome men and beautiful women more often, and try to avoid looking at certain typecast or character actors…

Huo Nan was ruined by that big beard that made him unable to recognize his true face. Song Xiaohua's philosophy was to kill the innocent rather than let the guilty go free. Since she didn't know what he looked like, she simply treated him as someone who was an eyesore.

Huo Nan felt indignant at this blatant act of rubbing salt into the wound...

Despite being pregnant, Song Xiaohua remains agile and doesn't seem to have any of the burdens of her large belly. She still acts as carefree as ever, and her movements often startle those around her.

In fact, Song Xiaohua felt she had been very careful. After all, in modern times, there are pregnant women everywhere, struggling on crowded buses and subways like human cans, going out early and returning late, and facing workplace competition and various forms of radiation. Aren't they all able to give birth to healthy babies peacefully?

Unfortunately, Lu Ziqi did not think so.

At first, they wished they could keep her in bed all day without moving. But after her fierce resistance and after carefully consulting the doctor, they finally determined that appropriate activity was very beneficial for pregnant women, and they gave up the idea of tying her up with a rope. Instead, they instructed the servants to take good care of her and not leave her side for even a moment.

However, every time I see her humming a little tune and toddling around, even running and jumping a couple of times when she's in the mood, I can't help but feel my heart clench and my voice change:

"Yaoyao, watch out, there are stones at your feet!"

"Are you kidding me? It's eight feet away from me!"

"Yaoyao, be careful not to bump your head!"

"Come on, the tree branch is that high, do you think I'm Yao Ming?"

"who?"

"Little giant!"

"distant……"

"If you keep nagging, I'm going to climb onto the roof and sunbathe!"

After a moment of silence, just as Song Xiaohua was feeling smug about her successful intimidation, Lu Ziqi suddenly said very sincerely, "Do you think you can find a ladder within a ten-mile radius?"

"...There's no need to go to such extremes..."

After some time, a cold wind rose, and the branches and leaves withered.

Knowing that Song Xiaohua was sensitive to cold and that she was even more susceptible to cold during her pregnancy, Lu Ziqi simply sent her to a hot spring resort in the suburbs owned by the Lu family to recuperate.

Lu Ling had studies to attend to, Song Wuque had to drink with Lu Tuo, Huo Nan and Xue Yuhan were busy bickering, and Lu Ziqi had some urgent official business to attend to. So, for the time being, only Song Xiaohua went with Xiaoyan, Tingxian, and two nannies who had experience in taking care of pregnant women.

It was agreed that Lu Ziqi would go to see her as soon as he finished his work, and the others should also visit her whenever they had free time. As for Song Wuque, they'd deal with him when he regained consciousness...

Song Xiaohua had finally managed to get out of the house, and to such a beautiful, comfortable, and pleasant place, she was having so much fun that she didn't want to leave and didn't feel lonely at all.

Of course, she was unaware that on the fifth day after she left, news spread throughout the capital—

Lu Ziqi, the second master of the Lu family, was a guest at the home of Chen Kui, the official in charge of finances and grain. After drinking for a while, he vomited blood and fell into a coma.