After Scheming Against the Enemy Nation’s Emperor, I Got Pregnant Chapter 81

Xie Zhe sharply turned to him, his expression like someone who’d just walked in on his wife cheating—utterly shocked. “…Your Majesty, did you fall for her?!”

“What are you saying?!” If they weren’t in the Miluo Manor, Xiao Yun would’ve kicked him.

Xie Zhe breathed a sigh of relief.

Who wouldn’t worry? Given Xiao Yun’s nature, if he wanted something, there was nothing he wouldn’t do.

That person wasn’t just someone’s wife—her husband was high-ranking and powerful. Plus, she was pregnant.

If Xiao Yun actually took her back to Great Ning, it would be catastrophic. The scandal would be as outrageous as when he waged war on Nanruo just to find Xie Caiqing.

Xiao Yun said, “It’s just… how do I put it. A pregnancy pulse feels like jade beads rolling—like holding prayer beads, but your hand’s still and the beads roll on their own. The baby’s very active, so it felt like the beads were happily bouncing around under my fingers, rhythmically and joyfully rubbing against me.”

Xie Zhe listened to his vivid description, increasingly alarmed.

Seeing his distrustful expression, Xiao Yun cursed with a laugh, “I’m a decent man! It’s just—when it jumped, my heart jumped a little too. I didn’t show it at the time, afraid they’d think I was some pervert. Especially in Nanruo, this d*mned place full of rules.”

Xie Zhe was relieved. So it wasn’t interest in her, but in the baby.

“Your Majesty wants a child?”

Xiao Yun replied, “Nah. I just thought it was fascinating.”

Xie Zhe cautiously said, “If you really do end up with Xie Caiqing, I fear that…”

Xiao Yun chuckled. “Anything I raise is only good for a few days before I get tired of it. How many cats and dogs have I dumped on you? What, you think I’ll dump a child on you too?”

“…” Xie Zhe was finally reassured.

Even if Xiao Yun didn’t end up with Xie Caiqing, with a harem full of women and countless children, they’d be treated like pets and discarded just the same.

At least he had the self-awareness not to ruin the life of a respectable lady. Indirectly, he’d only ruin Xie Zhe’s.

“But I’m serious—that lady likely placed her trust in the wrong person,” Xiao Yun said.

“You can tell that too?” Xie Zhe was stunned.

Xiao Yun said, “She’s full of pent-up emotions, clearly troubled, overworked, exhausted. If she were your wife—pregnant, no less—would you let her live like that? Wouldn’t she be pampered to the heavens? She’s wealthy, yet not even a physician follows her around.”

Xie Zhe nodded in agreement.

“Let’s not meddle.” Xiao Yun said, “Come, let’s go find the old master.”

…

Not long after Xiao Yun left, Jiang Huaichu slowly woke up.

Taifei quickly helped him sit up, only telling him vaguely that he fainted from overwork. Fearing an emotional reaction, she didn’t tell him that the person who checked his pulse was Xiao Yun. She handed him the medicine to drink.

Jiang Huaichu looked at the dark liquid with great reluctance. He touched his own left wrist. “I’m fine. I know my own condition. No need for medicine—”

“You must drink it! Open your mouth!” Taifei glared at him.

“…” Jiang Huaichu said softly, “Can I drink it later?”

“You’re just going to wait until I’m not looking and dump it out, aren’t you? Bitter medicine’s good for you. Open up!”

“…” Jiang Huaichu could only frown and open his mouth.

These days, he had no appetite for anything. Even delicious food made him nauseous, let alone this black concoction.

He had prepared himself to spit it all out because of the bitterness, but upon tasting it, it was unexpectedly tangy with a sweet aftertaste—not hard to drink at all, and it didn’t make him want to vomit.

Jiang Huaichu’s furrowed brows slowly relaxed.

Taifei was stunned to see him, for once, obediently drinking the medicine from start to finish. Was it just because it came from Xiao Yun?

“So cooperative?”

“Looked like it’d be awful, but it’s sweet and sour,” Jiang Huaichu said with a light smile.

Taifei stared at the genuine, even slightly naive smile on his face and was momentarily dazed. Was this really happening? Could Xiao Yun actually be this good at coaxing someone else’s wife?

Or was it that everything just fell into place the moment Xiao Yun showed up?

If he had been this attentive before, wouldn’t the little Wangye have already been unable to live without him?

Seeing the little Wangye’s mood lift noticeably, Taifei hesitated for a moment and said, “Wangye, there’s something I need to tell you.”

Jiang Huaichu stood up, slowly putting on his boots, and looked at her with slight puzzlement.

Taifei said, “Promise me you’ll stay calm.”

This was a serious matter—impossible not to tell him.

Jiang Huaichu nodded.

Taifei said, “When I went to get the old master to check your pulse, I ran into… Xiao… Xiao Yun.”

Jiang Huaichu snapped his head toward her. “Who?!”

“Xiao Yun, the Emperor of Great Ning. He’s here.”

This time he heard it clearly. Jiang Huaichu froze completely, his mind going blank.

For a long time, he didn’t say a word. He was quiet like a pale, pristine statue. Only after a while did he push down the chaos inside and his expression grew cold. “What is he doing here?”

He had only left Northern Ning for two months, and Xiao Yun had already arrived at Miluo Manor. That meant that Xiao Yun must have left Northern Ning only a month after he had.

An emperor had silently abandoned his entire court and come to Nanruo?

Taifei looked at him and asked cautiously, “Did he… come looking for you?”

Jiang Huaichu’s heart gave a jolt, his hand that had been resting on his belly suddenly tightened. His voice turned cold. “Impossible. He told me he never wanted to see me again.”

Taifei said nervously, “…Maybe he didn’t mean it?”

Jiang Huaichu replied calmly, “Other people might say things in anger, but he’s the Emperor. His words are law. If he goes back on his word, wouldn’t the whole world mock him? When has my royal brother ever gone back on what he said?”

Taifei had to admit that was true. An emperor couldn’t afford to flip-flop. And she only knew Xiao Yun through Jiang Huaichu’s perspective—she didn’t truly know him.

After a brief silence, Taifei tried to read his expression. “Don’t… be angry.”

“I’m not angry,” Jiang Huaichu said firmly.

But his throat tightened again, and he clutched the bedpost, dry heaving a few times. As he caught his breath, his irritation spiked again, and he couldn’t help but misdirect it. He looked at his slightly protruding belly with frustration and shame.

That d*mn scoundrel’s child—it was a little troublemaker. The little one wasn’t enough, and now the big one had also come to torment him?

Taifei quickly came over to comfort him.

“I’m fine,” Jiang Huaichu said after calming down.

But she had to ask—the matter might be too important to ignore. “What exactly did he say to you back then? He… he really didn’t come for you?”

For some reason, as a woman, her first instinct was that he had.

Even though it seemed utterly irrational—a proud and dashing emperor letting a known enemy spy go, swearing never to meet again, and then suddenly showing up in Nanruo like a man struck by madness, abandoning his entire empire…

It was just as absurd as Jiang Huaichu’s earlier scheme to seduce Xiao Yun while secretly fleeing to Nanruo.

Jiang Huaichu said calmly, “Impossible.”

He chuckled. “In his eyes, I was the one who fell in love with him, who deceived him from beginning to end. And I was from an enemy country. Even leaving all that aside, his pride alone… if he really wanted to come find me, the price he’d pay… He never makes a deal at a loss. I’m definitely not worth that much.”

Taifei thought it over and had to admit that was true. If Xiao Yun knew Jiang Huaichu was pregnant with his child, maybe he’d chase after him. After all, it would be his first child. But Xiao Yun clearly didn’t know.

Why would he come all this way just for a so-called traitorous spy?

“What if he just really, really likes you?” Taifei asked, coughing awkwardly.

Jiang Huaichu calmly shook his head. “Don’t say things like that. You may not know, but both neighboring states—Ye and Yuan—want to kill him. If they find out he’s come alone to Nanruo, they’ll do whatever it takes to ambush him on his return trip. He’d never take that kind of risk unless he was absolutely sure of success.”

Taifei was instantly alarmed.

Jiang Huaichu said lightly, “He told me that if we meet again, we’d be on opposing sides—and not to expect mercy.”

Taifei was stunned by the implication. After a pause, she said, “You mean… he’s here to invade Nanruo?!”

She was so frightened by the thought that her soul nearly left her body.

Jiang Huaichu’s face darkened like deep water.

Xiao Yun had told him they’d go their separate ways—and that he wouldn’t hold back if they met again.

Jiang Huaichu said, “There’s no way he came alone. For him to arrive this quickly, he probably brought a few ten thousand cavalrymen. He can’t bring them into Miluo, so they must be stationed outside the Nanruo border. Come, we’re going to see the old master.”

Taifei watched him hurry out and cried, “Be careful of the baby!”

“I’m fine,” Jiang Huaichu replied coldly.

…

On the way, his mind uncontrollably flashed with countless memories of Xiao Yun.

Jiang Huaichu’s face remained cold, silently berating himself.

He had thought he would never see Xiao Yun again. Yet after betraying Nanruo, that final kiss kept replaying in his mind—especially in the quiet of night, or when the little thing inside him reminded him arrogantly of its existence.

It was as though he were trying to make sense of the large, blank space that kiss had left behind. Every detail became clearer and clearer.

But now—less than two months later—that man, whom he thought would live only in his memories, had appeared alive and well within the borders of Nanruo.

And all the good Xiao Yun had done, which used to fill Jiang Huaichu with guilt in the middle of the night, vanished in an instant—replaced only by a flood of Xiao Yun’s flaws.

Jiang Huaichu let out a cold laugh—death like the extinguishing of a lamp. Indeed, people remember the good, forget the bad. But now, the extinguished lamp wasn’t just lit again—it burned even brighter than before. Naturally, the dust on it became all the more visible.

—”His beloved is in my bed, writhing under me day and night, completely lost in pleasure. If he were going to be jealous, he’d have died from it long ago…”

—”And yet he gave his heart to a useless coward.”

—”Who are you to me? Why should I dote on you?”

—”It’s not like I can’t live without you, right? Wouldn’t it be better to find a woman who’s devoted to me, gentle, virtuous, and can bear children? Why must I cling to you?”

—”I’m already tired of you.”

He was tired of him.

…

Jiang Huaichu clenched his teeth.

It was absolutely not for him.

A wave of panic surged in his chest. Jiang Huaichu touched his belly, his expression calm, not betraying a single flicker.

Enemies when we meet again—that’s what Xiao Yun means.

He must not let Xiao Yun find out about the child. Otherwise, Xiao Yun would fight him for it. He had gone through so much just to conceive this baby. The little one was entirely his, and had nothing to do with Xiao Yun.

If Xiao Yun knew, there would be no peace. Everything he did to Nanruo afterward would be justified.

Once he found out—unless Xiao Yun had another child—he’d never let go of Nanruo. He’d cling, pester, and demand.

The hand in his sleeve clenched tighter.

He would never allow the child to be caught between two sides.

This was his territory. Xiao Yun could go back to wherever he came from.