After Scheming Against the Enemy Nation’s Emperor, I Got Pregnant Chapter 42

When Xie Zhe’s messenger delivered Xiao Yun’s message, Xie Caiqing was in the middle of dinner.

He handed the messenger some silver with a faint smile and saw him out.

As soon as the person was gone, Taifei panicked. “What do we do? He won’t even see you anymore!”

She was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan. “I told you, Xiao Yun has been in power for too long. He’s used to people throwing themselves at him. He’s too proud to lower himself! If you dangle the bait for too long, the fish will escape. He still wants you, I’m sure of it! You should force-feed him the bait before it’s too late—”

“I won’t try to win him back,” Xie Caiqing said as he slowly washed his hands in the copper basin.

“You won’t? But if you don’t, you won’t see him again—”

“If he refuses to see me, that’s simply the prelude to a major shift. He’s resisting the change he knows is coming by avoiding me,” Xie Caiqing said unhurriedly.

Taifei looked confused.

Xie Caiqing’s tone was indifferent. “Think of a woman who has suffered endless humiliation from her husband. She endures it because she fears the judgment of others and refuses to divorce. But when she finally reaches her limit, she decides to shut off all emotion, becoming an empty shell to escape the pain. And then she realizes—if she can abandon herself so completely, then divorcing him is actually a trivial matter.”

Taifei: “Huh?”

“He avoids me because he’s faced with two tempting choices, and he’s struggling to decide. It makes him restless. He hates feeling trapped in indecision, so instead of waiting, he just abandons the choice entirely.”

“But once he realizes this doesn’t actually solve his frustration,” Xie Caiqing smiled, “he’ll take the other path—he’ll claim me.”

Taifei stared. This little Wangye treated love like a battlefield.

Xie Caiqing said, “From this, we can see that he’s an extreme narcissist. The more insecure someone is, the longer they hesitate. But Xiao Yun loves himself too much to waste his precious time being conflicted. He takes action to protect his peace of mind.”

His eyes curved with amusement. “He doesn’t like me. He just wants to feel at ease again.”

Taifei hesitated. “And when he does…”

“I won’t let him,” Xie Caiqing said with a grin. “Dissatisfaction is the root of desire—the driving force of action.”

“The more I keep him restless, the more he’ll obsess over me.”

He needed to stay with Xiao Yun long enough to conceive. The longer Xiao Yun was tormented, the better.

Taifei cleared her throat. “Do you hate him or something?”

She paused, then felt the need to defend Xiao Yun. “I mean, he was going to punish you, but he didn’t. He actually treats you quite well—”

“…” Xie Caiqing gritted his teeth. “He’s not what you think.”

Sensing something, Taifei quickly changed the subject. “But if you’re not seeing him, how will you keep him restless?”

“I have an ally, someone even Xiao Yun can’t control.”

Taifei was puzzled. “Who?”

Xie Caiqing smiled. “The version of me that exists in Xiao Yun’s mind.”

“What he really wants is not to see him. He thinks that by not seeing me, he won’t have to see him.”

….

Late at night, the emperor’s bedchamber.

Yin Xian had been punished and temporarily removed from his post. His Majesty hadn’t yet chosen a replacement, so Yin Xian’s young apprentice, Fu An, was temporarily filling the position, serving closely.

He remembered his master’s instructions: no matter how hot the summer or how cold the winter, His Majesty disliked sleeping with clothes on—it felt constraining and affected his rest. So he had to be careful not to let the bedding fall to the floor and risk His Majesty catching cold.

He stood silently by the bedside.

Just earlier, His Majesty had been tossing and turning, the bed creaking noisily. Now, at last, it had gone quiet. He must have fallen asleep.

Fu An was about to quietly step farther away when he suddenly heard the emperor call out, “Sister-in-law,” which startled him to his core.

On the bed, Xiao Yun was caught in a string of dreams.

In front of the carriage bound for the capital stood a man with a blurred face. The man said to his eighteen-year-old younger brother: “Ah Yun, I’m heading to the capital to take the imperial exam. Your sister-in-law is pregnant now. You must take good care of her for me.”

As he spoke, he placed the hand of the woman beside him—her lower belly just beginning to swell—into Xiao Yun’s hand.

The hand was pale, smooth, and incredibly soft.

Xiao Yun looked up. The glow on the woman’s face faded, revealing her true appearance.

It was the face of the top scholar.

Xiao Yun stared dumbly at the beautiful sister-in-law smiling at him. “Alright,” he said.

Behind him, his older brother’s carriage slowly drove off. Xiao Yun shyly and nervously led his sister-in-law into the house: “Ah Yun will take good care of sister-in-law.”

The scene shifted. Xiao Yun was lying in bed asleep.

Sister-in-law came in holding her back and sat down by his bedside.

The Xiao family was poor, and the room was sparsely furnished. His elder brother loved his wife dearly and spent all his money on her. She was dressed elegantly, adorned with flowers and jade. It was winter, and she wore a fluffy white cloak. She touched Xiao Yun’s forehead and frowned deeply: “Why do you have a fever? Ah Yun, wake up.”

The man on the bed didn’t respond.

She took off her white cloak and draped it over him. Without removing her clothes, she began caring for him, and even bent down to kiss his lips.

The scene paused here.

Half-asleep, Xiao Yun seemed to sense that something was off—his sister-in-law would never kiss his lips—so after a moment, he edited the dream to make it more reasonable.

His sister-in-law kissed him gently on the forehead.

Xiao Yun was gravely ill and bedridden, while his sister-in-law’s belly grew bigger by the day.

One day, she came in carrying a brass basin and found Xiao Yun trying to put on his pants.

She turned her back instantly, face flushed. After a long while, she still didn’t hear him finish dressing.

Turning slightly, she saw that his hands were too weak from illness—they were shaking, and he couldn’t even pull his pants up. Gritting her teeth, face burning red, she said, “Ah Yun, let me help you.”

“Sister-in-law, that’s not proper, is it?” Xiao Yun said, startled.

She replied, “You’re Patriotic’s younger brother, which makes you my younger brother too. What’s the harm?”

Patriotic was his sister-in-law’s husband’s name.

Xiao Yun thought, You’re my brother’s wife, which makes you my wife too. What’s the harm?

Unconscious Xiao Yun was clearly done worrying about whether the story made any sense.

“Sister-in-law, you’re so good to me. I should be the one taking care of you, but here you are, pregnant and still looking after me.”

“It’s nothing.” She put down the basin, knelt beside him, closed her eyes, and helped pull up his pants.

Above her, Xiao Yun asked, “Sister-in-law, am I much bigger than Brother?”

Sister-in-law’s eyes flew open and saw something coming toward her face. Her cheeks flushed crimson, and she cried out, “Ah Yun!”

She dropped her hands and fled in shame and fury.

Xiao Yun was on the brink of death. His sister-in-law went from caring for him without undressing to simply sleeping in the same bed.

She lay clothed, while Xiao Yun, completely naked, hugged her from behind.

Sister-in-law woke instantly. Feeling Xiao Yun—who surpassed Patriotic in size—she blushed furiously and struggled hard: “Ah Yun!”

“Sister-in-law, I’m dying,” Xiao Yun said hoarsely, tightening his hold so she couldn’t move. “Before I die, I have one wish. Sister-in-law, can you grant it?”

The sister-in-law’s struggle became less intense: “Speak.”

Xiao Yun said: “Ah Yun died before he could get married and enjoy the happiness of being married. Ah Yun hasn’t gotten out of bed for a long time. Sister-in-law, can you lie on the table with your clothes on so that I can… fulfill my wish?”

The eldest sister-in-law widened her eyes and breathed rapidly: “How can this be! I can’t let -“

“He won’t know. I’m going to die soon. You don’t have to worry about me telling others. I won’t pester you either.”

“I have your brother’s in my belly–“

“It’s been four months. It’s okay. I’ll be gentle… My nephew and niece haven’t met Ah Yun yet. How can you be so cruel?”

“No–“

“Brother has been gone for at least half a year. Won’t you be lonely? Ah Yun will take good care of you.”

Without waiting for his sister-in-law’s consent, Xiao Yun had already picked the person up and pushed him onto the table.

“No, don’t do this, Ah Yun, Ah Yun, don’t do this—”

Xiao Yun lifted up her white skirt and held her belly…

A bright light suddenly hit Xiao Yun’s face, and the door beside him opened inexplicably. The eldest brother stood at the door, his eyes bloodshot: “What are you doing!”

“Brother!” Xiao Yun sat up from the bed with a start, looked at Fu An who was anxiously lifting the curtain beside the bed, and said angrily, “What are you doing!”

Fu An was so frightened that his legs went limp and he knelt down, saying in a trembling voice: “Your Majesty…Your Majesty had a nightmare, and I was afraid that you would be startled, so I wanted to…want to wake you up…”

“Nightmare?” Xiao Yun’s face was extremely gloomy, as if a storm was about to come.

“Your Majesty…Your Majesty keeps calling for your sister-in-law in your dreams. Tai Wang’s Wangfei died of childbirth complications that year—”

“Your sister-in-law died in childbirth! Get out of here! Leave me here—”

Xiao Yun finally woke up from the fantasy that he could not understand at all. He wiped his face, savored the taste for a while, felt annoyed and irritated, and felt bitter. He thought that he really couldn’t waste time talking nonsense during the day. What a mess.

He hummed in his heart, thinking that Xie Caiqing was a little b*tch who even haunted him in his dreams. He was too lazy to get angry and said impatiently, “Pour me a cup of cold tea.”

Fu An felt as if he had been pardoned. He tied up the curtain and was about to pour tea, but his eyes involuntarily drifted to one place and his heart was shocked. He thought that his master was really wronged. He was thinking about the health of the emperor, but ended up sweeping horse manure in the Taifu Temple.

Fu An walked a little slower. He was able to follow Yin Xian and was valued by him. He was always smart. He couldn’t help but think that His Majesty obviously wanted it, but he sternly rejected the minister’s proposal to select an empress and punished her so harshly.

Could it be that… Your Majesty just wants to vent his emotions for a bit and doesn’t want to overdo it?

Fu An rolled his eyes slightly, poured some herbal tea and brought it to Xiao Yun, who took it and took a sip.

Fu An hesitated for a few seconds, then stepped forward and whispered, “Should I go to Chuxiu Pavilion to call a beautiful palace maid for Your Majesty?”

Xiao Yun paused as he put down the teacup, thinking that he was just longing for Xie Caiqing because he had been holding it in for so long, so wouldn’t it be the end of the matter if he solved it? Did he really have to have him?

Xiao Yun pondered for a moment, waved his hand, and said lazily: “Go.”

Fu An was very happy.

He said that the master had completely misunderstood his meaning.

“Wait, come back!” Xiao Yun said.

Fu An paused for a moment.

Xiao Yun said lazily without blushing or beating his heart, “I want someone with a quiet and shy personality, a little thinner and more delicate, in a white dress and a white cape.”

“The point is the white dress.”