Chapter 25
A man could get pregnant?!
This was the first time in Ji Qingzhou’s life that he had ever heard such a thing. He was completely stunned.
But judging by the expressions on Qin Zheng and Tu Dayou’s faces, they didn’t look like they were joking.
And thinking back to Xiao Shan’s condition…
Ji Qingzhou had no choice but to try to make sense of it, though he still found it nearly impossible to believe.
“But… how could a man possibly get pregnant?” Ji Qingzhou struggled to find the words to express his feelings—none of them felt adequate.
This defied all reason… Even if someone took medicine that suppressed male hormones or even caused female hormones to be secreted, the structure of the human body wouldn’t just change, right? Do men have wombs? Do they have birth canals? Where would the egg come from?
Sure enough, in a fictional world, logic wasn’t something to dig too deeply into.
Ji Qingzhou thought to himself that maybe the original book had only included a single offhanded line like, “It’s not impossible for a man to have a child,” and he, as a reader, probably hadn’t even noticed it. But now that this world had become flesh-and-blood reality, the implications of that one line had overturned the destinies of many.
“In the more open-minded outer regions, this has long ceased to be a secret,” Qin Zheng said. “But in our Dayu Dynasty, although there are those who favor men, the union between two men is still considered unnatural. So even if a male concubine gets pregnant, it’s usually kept secret and never spoken of.”
Tu Dayou added, “Qingzhou grew up in a scholarly family, so naturally he wouldn’t know about such… unsavory things.”
“Unsavory things?” Ji Qingzhou repeated under his breath. “This…”
Qin Zheng spoke up, “He’s not calling the union between men or male pregnancy ‘unsavory’—he’s talking about the people who keep these things buried in the dark just to protect their family’s reputation.”
There were actually many such rumors circulating in the capital. Stories of male concubines who got pregnant, only for their masters to find the matter shameful and refuse to call a physician. Some of those men died before they could give birth. Others died during labor because they had no midwife or doctor to care for them. In the worst cases, once the child was full-term, they would cut the baby out and discard the adult, with no regard for whether they lived or died…
After all, in those people’s eyes, whether it was a male concubine or a male lover, they were nothing more than toys.
No one wanted their child to carry the “shame” of having been born from a man.
“Shame?” Ji Qingzhou frowned.
“If this sort of thing happened to someone upright and honorable, they likely wouldn’t care about so-called shame,” Qin Zheng sneered. “But those who care only for appearances—they’re capable of doing anything just to protect their precious reputation.”
Although Ji Qingzhou was shocked, he gradually began to understand this so-called “public attitude.” Throughout history, every era had its own stigmas. In some eras, falling in love freely was shameful. In others, women showing their faces in public was shameful. In some, being a merchant was shameful… And now, in the Dayu Dynasty, it was men giving birth that carried the shame.
Humans always found new ways to create stigmas and use them against one another. Sometimes the arrows struck others; sometimes, they struck oneself.
As they were talking, the imperial physician walked out of the room.
Ji Qingzhou quickly gathered his thoughts and stepped forward to ask about Xiao Shan’s condition.
“The child, naturally, couldn’t be saved. The medicine was far too strong. Fortunately, the adult’s life has been preserved,” said the physician. “I’ll prescribe a few doses. Have someone boil the medicine and send it over daily. There should be no major issues.”
His words confirmed it completely—Xiao Shan had indeed miscarried.
No matter how shocked Ji Qingzhou was, he had no choice but to accept this reality.
“I must ask Physician Zhang to please keep this matter quiet, so things don’t spiral out of control,” Qin Zheng said to the imperial physician.
“Don’t worry. I understand.” Physician Zhang nodded.
Since Li Zhan had asked Qin Zheng to bring the doctor, they were likely on friendly terms. Ji Qingzhou wasn’t too concerned about that. But what worried him was that when Xiao Shan collapsed in the Yan Court courtyard earlier, nearly everyone from the Ministry of Appointments and the eunuchs had seen it. Some of them might have been just as clueless as Ji Qingzhou, but if even one of them guessed the truth, the rumor would spread like wildfire.
By tomorrow, the entire Inner Attendant Department would probably know.
“I’m sure you can guess,” Qin Zheng said to Ji Qingzhou, “this matter is too complicated. It’s already entered the official records at the Office of Judicial Review. Getting a physician to treat him isn’t hard, but the man himself…”
Ji Qingzhou nodded and said, “I understand. A nation has its laws, a household its rules. For you and Wang Ye to go this far already—I’m truly grateful.”
Tu Dayou stood silently to the side, glancing sadly toward the door.
Qin Zheng still had other matters to attend to and couldn’t stay long. He took his leave from the two of them.
“Brother Dayou…” Ji Qingzhou asked, “according to the laws, what will happen to Xiao Shan?”
“Defiling the inner palace,” Tu Dayou replied. “Among palace staff, it’s the gravest crime next to betrayal.”
“The punishment is death by flogging.”
Death by flogging?
Ji Qingzhou never imagined that such a punishment—something he had only ever heard of in palace dramas—would actually befall Xiao Shan.
They didn’t linger long at the Office of Judicial Review. After sneaking another look at Xiao Shan, they left.
Fortunately, the junior medical officer had already cleaned the blood off Xiao Shan’s body and helped him change clothes. Although Xiao Shan still looked weak, he was clearly better than when he had just been brought in. Presumably, after taking the medicine, he would gradually recover. But the thought of Xiao Shan facing death by flogging still made Ji Qingzhou sad, and for a moment he didn’t know what to do.
Neither Ji Qingzhou nor Tu Dayou were on duty that day, so after leaving the Office of Judicial Review, they returned straight to their residence.
Not long after they entered, a young eunuch from the imperial kitchen arrived carrying a food box.
Tu Dayou recognized him as Guo Zi, who was usually very close to Xiao Shan.
“Brother Xiao Shan told me to deliver lunch to you if you came back late,” Guo Zi said as he set down the food box, offering a shy smile to Ji Qingzhou and Tu Dayou.
Guo Zi looked no older than fourteen or fifteen, still small in stature and full of youthful innocence. Ji Qingzhou didn’t know exactly what kind of relationship he had with Xiao Shan, but guessed it was probably similar to the brotherly bond he and Tu Dayou shared—relying on each other for support.
“About Xiao Shan…” Tu Dayou began.
“I already know,” Guo Zi said, eyes reddening. “You two eat slowly. I’ll be going now.”
After saying that, Guo Zi quickly ran off.
Tu Dayou opened the food box and saw that the top layer held sweet and sour fish.
Looking at the dish, Ji Qingzhou suddenly recalled something Xiao Shan had said before drinking his medicine: “Today the kitchen had sweet and sour fish. I saved a piece for you and told Guo Zi to bring it to you at lunch.”
He had actually remembered they might come back late and made sure Guo Zi delivered the food while it was still warm…
Ji Qingzhou’s eyes suddenly stung with emotion. He put the lid back on the food box. Tu Dayou sighed and said, “You have to eat. You were so sick today at Yan Court you even vomited and nearly fainted. Eat up. Don’t let Xiao Shan’s kindness go to waste.”
Tu Dayou reopened the food box and carefully arranged the dishes on the table.
Ji Qingzhou sat down and said, “There should… be a way, right?”
“Our lives have never been worth much. Xiao Shan’s, mine, yours too,” Tu Dayou answered, dodging the question.
“There must be some way…” Ji Qingzhou murmured. “I’ll think of something!”
Tu Dayou said nothing, instead picking up a pair of chopsticks and handing them to Ji Qingzhou.
Yinghui Pavilion.
The young emperor had fallen asleep on a low couch, holding a rabbit in his arms.
Li Zhan, sitting at the writing desk, pinched the bridge of his nose, looking exhausted.
“Since Young Master Ji wasn’t on duty today, His Majesty has lost all interest in playing,” Qin Zheng said as he laid a thin blanket over the young emperor. Then he walked to the desk and glanced at the documents Li Zhan was reviewing. “You’ve been restless all afternoon. Stop reading. You won’t absorb anything.”
Li Zhan ignored him and set the documents aside, then picked up another book.
“Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” Qin Zheng said. “The incident with that young eunuch has already alerted the Office of Judicial Review. There are people from the Ministry of Appointments involved too. Whoever tries to intervene will bring themselves serious trouble…”
Li Zhan paid no attention, his gaze fixed on the documents in his hands.
Qin Zheng grew anxious. “We’ve done all we can to help him. Don’t be foolish enough to interfere in this matter yourself. That young eunuch is no relation to us. Even if Young Master Ji got involved, you wouldn’t really confront the entire court for his sake, would you?”
“Did I say I’d interfere?” Li Zhan finally glanced at him.
“Oh…” Qin Zheng relaxed. “Good. I was afraid you might lose your head and do something stupid.”
Qin Zheng understood that although Li Zhan seemed to navigate the court well, his situation was actually very difficult. Since the late emperor’s passing, Li Zhan had been left to care for his whole family and the realm. He had done all he could, but there was still no real reward.
Li Zhan asked, “Have you reported today’s incident to the Ministry of Appointments?”
“What incident?” Qin Zheng was momentarily taken aback. “You mean the falsification of the date on the eunuch’s medicine order? I was thinking if we reported that directly to the Ministry, they’d probably downplay it to avoid trouble. It might be better if I write a formal memorial to the Ministry tomorrow at court.”
Li Zhan gave Qin Zheng a disapproving look.
Qin Zheng hurried to explain, “Am I wrong? You see, the Ministry is under Prince Heng’s control. His subordinates are reckless with people’s lives. We finally have evidence against them. If we don’t use it to pressure them now, the chance will be lost forever.”
“You’re too combative,” Li Zhan said, shaking his head.
“What? Me? What’s that supposed to mean?” Qin Zheng frowned, clearly dissatisfied. “Are you saying I’m combative, or that you have become indecisive lately?”
Li Zhan was momentarily stunned by the remark, looking a little distracted.
After a pause, he asked, “Do you think I’ve changed a lot recently?”
“Of course you have,” Qin Zheng replied. “You’re definitely not quite the same as before.”
Li Zhan raised an eyebrow at that, a faint and meaningful smile surfacing in his eyes.
Ji Qingzhou had an unusually poor appetite that day. He barely ate a few bites of lunch before he felt nauseous.
Worried he might vomit again in front of Tu Dayou, he stopped eating altogether.
Tu Dayou noticed how downcast he was and assumed he was still troubled over Xiao Shan’s situation.
After lunch, Ji Qingzhou stepped out of the room and noticed the corner of a gray robe poking out from the gate. He walked over to take a look and saw Guo Zi standing outside. The moment Guo Zi saw him, he jumped in surprise and hurriedly wiped at his eyes.
“Were you crying?” Ji Qingzhou asked.
Guo Zi shook his head, but the redness in his eyes and nose made it clear he had just been crying.
At that moment, Tu Dayou heard the movement and came out. When he saw Guo Zi, he asked, “Why haven’t you left?”
“I…” Guo Zi stammered for a moment before suddenly steeling his resolve and dropping to his knees in front of Tu Dayou.
The sudden gesture startled both of them, and they reached out in unison to lift him up, but Guo Zi refused to get up. He pleaded, “Brother Dayou, I’m begging you, please save Brother Xiao Shan.”
As he spoke, tears streamed down his face again and he began knocking his head on the ground repeatedly. Tu Dayou grabbed him by the shoulders and forcibly pulled him up, scolding, “What are you doing? If you’ve got something to say, just say it!”
Guo Zi was so small that he had no strength to resist Tu Dayou. Choking back sobs, he said, “Brother Dayou, please save Brother Xiao Shan. I’ll do anything for you—be a horse, be a cow, I don’t care. I’m begging you… Please save him…” His voice was a jumbled mess as he sobbed uncontrollably.
Ji Qingzhou couldn’t bear to watch, but he also understood how Tu Dayou must have felt in that moment. If anyone wanted to save Xiao Shan, Tu Dayou likely wanted it no less than Guo Zi did. But Guo Zi was just a child with no one to rely on, so naturally he saw Tu Dayou as the only straw he could grasp at.
“Guo Zi, go back for now,” Ji Qingzhou said gently. “We’ll find a way to help Xiao Shan.”
“Really?” Guo Zi wiped his tears and looked at Ji Qingzhou with hopeful eyes.
Ji Qingzhou nodded and gave him a reassuring smile.
Hearing that, Guo Zi looked visibly relieved. In his heart, both Tu Dayou and Ji Qingzhou were close attendants to the young emperor. If they said they would help, then surely Xiao Shan could be saved.
“Have you thought about how you’re going to explain it when your lie catches up to you?” Tu Dayou asked Ji Qingzhou after Guo Zi had left.
“I wasn’t lying. I really will find a way—and so will you. Won’t you?” Ji Qingzhou replied.
Tu Dayou let out a sigh, looked at Ji Qingzhou, and said, “There’s always a way.”
Ji Qingzhou noticed the conflict in his expression, as though he was wrestling with a difficult decision, so he didn’t press him further.
A moment later, Tu Dayou finally spoke. “Do you remember the palace banquet?”
Ji Qingzhou was startled, immediately realizing Tu Dayou meant the one that took place when the Regent returned to the capital.
“At that time, I agreed to do something for him… That person promised me he’d grant me a favor in return—one big enough to even save a life,” Tu Dayou explained.
Hearing this, Ji Qingzhou was overjoyed—but then Tu Dayou added, “But I’ve already used that chance.”
“What do you mean…” Ji Qingzhou stared blankly at Tu Dayou, and a realization dawned on him.
Back then, Tu Dayou had agreed to poison the Regent. Although the plan failed, those above him simply assumed it had failed because the Regent had been too cautious to eat anything. As a result, they still honored the promise they had made to Tu Dayou. But now Tu Dayou said he had already used his favor—and Ji Qingzhou could only think of one incident…
“You used that favor… to kill the person in the lotus pond for me?” Ji Qingzhou asked.
“That man brought it upon himself. Even if I hadn’t acted, Wang Ye would’ve eventually found out and taken care of him,” Tu Dayou said. “But the rumors back then were too intense. If you had been implicated, I’m afraid your fate wouldn’t have been any better than Xiao Shan’s.”
Ji Qingzhou spoke up after hearing that. “So… I was the one who took away the chance to save Xiao Shan’s life!”
“I gave that chance to you willingly,” Tu Dayou said. “I’m telling you all this because I want you to know… that I no longer have any favors to use, but that doesn’t mean you don’t.”
Ji Qingzhou was stunned. He looked at Tu Dayou and asked, “What do you mean?”
“You know what that person is like… he’s never gotten along with Wang Ye,” Tu Dayou said. “But you’re still on good terms with Wang Ye. If you’re willing…”
“You want me to betray Wang Ye?” Ji Qingzhou asked in shock.
“It’s the only solution I can think of,” Tu Dayou replied. “The choice is yours.”
Ji Qingzhou stared at him for a while before finally beginning to understand.
Tu Dayou must have had the intention of roping him in from the very beginning. It was just that today, with Xiao Shan’s situation as a convenient excuse, he had finally voiced it.
Thinking about it, it made sense. The person Tu Dayou was loyal to was not in the same faction as the Regent.
From Tu Dayou’s standpoint, it was only natural to want Ji Qingzhou on his side. There was nothing unreasonable about that.
“Let me think about it,” Ji Qingzhou said.
Tu Dayou nodded in response and said no more.
Early the next morning, Ji Qingzhou went to receive the young emperor after court.
But the morning court session ran unusually long that day. Ji Qingzhou waited quite a while before Li Zhan finally came out, holding the young emperor in his arms.
Qin Zheng walked beside him, seemingly arguing with Li Zhan. But when he spotted Ji Qingzhou, he stopped talking.
“Let me take him,” Ji Qingzhou stepped forward and took the young emperor from Li Zhan’s arms. The little emperor didn’t even open his eyes—he simply snuggled into Ji Qingzhou’s neck and continued sleeping comfortably.
“Perfect timing. Why don’t we let Young Master Ji weigh in?” Qin Zheng’s eyes gleamed with mischief as he spoke up, not even giving Li Zhan the chance to refuse. “I was just telling Wang Ye that we’ve finally found a weak point in the Ministry of Appointments, and it’s a good chance to hold them accountable. I even had someone draft the memorial. But Wang Ye doesn’t want to press the issue—he wants to let it go. He said as long as the ministry corrects its previous mistakes and doesn’t repeat them, there’s no need to pursue it further. Don’t you think that’s a missed opportunity?”
The moment he finished, Li Zhan shot him a sharp glare.
But Qin Zheng was genuinely curious about Ji Qingzhou’s stance, and he made no attempt to hide his question.
Ji Qingzhou glanced at Li Zhan, his expression slightly surprised. After a moment’s thought, he replied, “Wang Ye is compassionate. Everyone in the Inner Attendant Department will surely remember his generosity.”
With that, Ji Qingzhou turned and walked away, carrying the young emperor. Li Zhan’s gaze followed the youth’s slender back for a long while before he finally looked away and left. Qin Zheng, on the other hand, finally realized something. He slapped his own forehead and said, “So that’s what he meant. I missed it completely!”
Qin Zheng had always considered matters from Li Zhan’s perspective, so this time he naturally wanted to take the opportunity to pressure the Ministry of Appointments—especially Prince Heng, who oversaw it. But he had failed to take into account the most awkward party in all of this: the Inner Attendant Department.
If Li Zhan used this chance to punish the ministry, then besides implicating himself, it would most likely drag the Inner Attendant Department into it as well.
After all, it was Ji Qingzhou who had stirred things up. If someone submitted a memorial and a formal investigation began, Ji Qingzhou would almost certainly have to appear in court as a witness to confront the Ministry of Appointments’s officials. In that case, the ministry might suffer a blow, but unable to strike back at the Regent, they would likely turn their fury toward Ji Qingzhou and the Inner Attendant Department behind him.
And for the Ministry of Appointments, punishing the Inner Attendant Department was all too easy.
They could, for instance, rile up the censors and use Xiao Shan’s case to claim that the medicine the inner attendants were taking wasn’t effective enough. Then they could recommend changing the dosage cycle from every four months to every three—or even two. Or they might suggest changes to the medicine quantity. The consequences of that would be easy to imagine.
So the moment Qin Zheng mentioned Li Zhan’s attitude, Ji Qingzhou immediately understood what was going on.
But Qin Zheng himself hadn’t considered that angle at all…
“Why does Young Master Ji understand you so well?” Qin Zheng asked in confusion. “How come I can’t figure out what’s on your mind, but he gets it instantly?”
Li Zhan glanced at him but said nothing.
Qin Zheng quickly caught up with him and asked, “Be honest with me—are you really being lenient and kind because you’re thinking about the people in the Inner Attendant Department, or is it all just for Young Master Ji alone?”
“Take a guess,” Li Zhan tossed out the words and strode away.
Qin Zheng chased after him with a frustrated look, grumbling, “You don’t care about me at all anymore! All you see now is that little inner attendant. I’m getting jealous!”
After escorting the young emperor to the palace school, Ji Qingzhou was still thinking about what Qin Zheng had said earlier.
He had worried about the same thing himself before.
The officials in the Ministry of Appointments were, to put it bluntly, bullies who feared the strong and preyed on the weak. If the Regent used this chance to suppress them, it would definitely feel satisfying in the short term. But as the saying goes, “better to offend a gentleman than a petty man.” Ji Qingzhou could already imagine that if the ministry were provoked today, they’d surely hold a grudge and settle the score with him in the future.
The entire Inner Attendant Department might even suffer because of it.
After all, Li Zhan was a prince. They couldn’t touch him, so they’d come after Ji Qingzhou and the inner attendants instead…
But what Ji Qingzhou never expected was that Li Zhan would actually take the Inner Attendant Department’s position into account.
“Xiao Tang…” Ji Qingzhou called to Tang Yi, the attendant beside him. “Keep an eye on things here. I’ve got something to do—I’ll be back soon.”
With that, Ji Qingzhou hurried off in the direction of Yinghui Pavilion.
Inside Yinghui Pavilion, Dong Dong came in to announce that Ji Qingzhou was requesting an audience.
Upon hearing that Ji Qingzhou had come, Qin Zheng looked at Li Zhan in surprise and asked, “Did you two plan this? How did you know he’d come to see you?”
The moment they stepped into Yinghui Pavilion earlier, Li Zhan had confidently said that Ji Qingzhou would show up within half an hour.
Qin Zheng hadn’t believed him at all. He even made a bet with Li Zhan, staking a luminous pearl, insisting that since Ji Qingzhou was on duty at the palace school, there was no way he’d show up at Yinghui Pavilion.
But now here Ji Qingzhou was, in the flesh…
Qin Zheng looked extremely disgruntled, silently fuming that these two must’ve teamed up behind his back to cheat him out of his pearl.
“Did you two spend the night together?” Qin Zheng asked. “Is this some trick to swindle me out of my luminous pearl?”
Li Zhan cast him a sidelong glance and asked, “Wanna bet again?”
“On what?” Qin Zheng asked.
“His reason for coming is… that he wants to go to the Office of Judicial Review again,” Li Zhan said. “If I’m right, you go with him.”
Qin Zheng gritted his teeth. “If you’re wrong, I’m taking my pearl back.”
Li Zhan raised an eyebrow but didn’t respond.
A moment later, Dong Dong brought Ji Qingzhou in.
“Quick—tell me you’re not planning to go to the Office of Judicial Review!” Qin Zheng immediately said to Ji Qingzhou.
Ji Qingzhou was caught off guard. “How did Young Master Qin know I wanted to make another trip to the Office of Judicial Review?”
Qin Zheng: …
I don’t want to be involved with these two anymore. So annoying!
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