5

Suddenly, my stomach churned, and I vomited all over his imperial robe.

Although Xiao Ce didn’t say anything, his face immediately darkened.

“What, does seeing me make you want to puke?”

How is this my fault?

…I don’t know why I feel like puking, maybe it’s just because he’s been so

unpleasant to look at lately.

Luckily, Xiao Ce didn’t make a fuss about it and instead let me stay in the

palace a bit longer to recover.

But the palace isn’t a place to stay for too long.

When I returned home to recover, things just felt more and more wrong.

Not only did I throw up whatever I ate, but I also seemed to be gaining

weight. Finally, my eldest brother called a doctor to check on me.

After checking my pulse, the doctor congratulated me with a chuckle:

“Young Master Lu, you’re pregnant.”

A strange silence fell between me, my eldest brother, my second brother,

and my younger sister.Then they all let out sharp cries of shock.

I, on the other hand, was a bit slow to react. My mind went blank for a few

seconds.

Pregnant? How could I be pregnant?

Could it be that I’m actually a woman disguised as a man all these years?

What nonsense.

I know whether I’m a man or a woman!

I almost got confused.

The key point is that as a man, I was actually made pregnant by Xiao Ce,

that scoundrel.

My eldest brother, the only reliable one in the family, took a long moment

to process what was happening. His expression was complex.

“Doctor, my third brother is a man. How could he…be pregnant?”

The doctor respectfully replied,

“Minister Lu, it’s true that men generally can’t bear children, but there are a

rare few who are ‘dual sons’ and can conceive. Young Master Lu appears to

be one of them.”

The courtyard fell silent again.

Finally, my second brother let out a couple of awkward chuckles: “Well,

third brother, only your own child will truly feel like your own.”

I looked at him and said with a sigh:

“I’ve heard that this ‘dual son’ trait is hereditary. If I am one, you might not

escape this fate either.”His laughter stopped abruptly: “I have to give birth too?”

And with that, a second round of shocked cries erupted in the courtyard.

My second brother ran back and forth in panic:

“Big brother, say something! Big brother!”

Even my usually calm and scholarly eldest brother fell silent, probably

trying to come to terms with the idea of men giving birth.

Finally, my eldest brother pursed his lips and said: “Doctor, please check

my second brother as well.”

It wasn’t long before the results came back, and thankfully, both my eldest

and second brothers weren’t “dual sons.” I was the only unlucky one.

The doctor stroked his beard and advised me to accept my fate: “In general,

there are very few dual sons in this world. Many never even realize they are

dual sons for their entire lives. To have been with a man and to conceive—

this is even rarer.”

“Young Master Lu, you truly are one of the chosen ones.”

I slammed the table: “To hell with being a chosen one!”

Sensing the dangerous mood, the doctor quickly tried to flee: “Young

Master Lu, please calm down. You’re with child, don’t upset the fetus.”

…The fetus!

I was about to explode with anger.

If it were a normal person’s child, it would be easy to take care of it with a

simple potion. But no, it had to be the emperor’s offspring, which meant the

slightest mistake could lead to ruin!

Xiao Ce, you wretched dog, you’ve really done it this time!When I went to the palace to see the Empress Dowager, I was stopped at the

entrance.

“Young Master Lu, please wait here for a moment. Inside…”

The Empress Dowager’s maid approached me and whispered, “The

Emperor and the Empress Dowager are currently arguing, and it’s about

you…”

Before she could finish, I heard the Empress Dowager’s furious voice from

inside, making me jump in fright.

“If you like Lu Ze’an so much, you can keep him privately, and I won’t say

a word! But you want to make him empress?!”

The Empress Dowager’s voice trembled with anger: “That Lu boy…”

“Can he manage the household and take care of the palace?”

I shook my head frantically from outside.

No way… I can’t manage that many women!

The Empress Dowager’s voice grew more enraged:

“Can he uphold the royal dignity and quell rumors?”

That too—I can’t do that either…

If I were to enter the palace as empress, the rumors would only increase.

Then, her voice grew even more strained:

“Can he bear children to continue the royal bloodline?”

Uh…

I glanced at my growing belly.

This mother-and-son battle was clearly not something an ordinary person

like me could be involved in.

Before I could sneak away, I heard a loud thud from inside as Xiao Ce

knelt.

“Mother, it is I who have failed you.”

“If you grant your approval…”

“Your son will never take another empress nor produce any heirs.”

“All I want is Lu Ze’an.”

The Empress Dowager, being elderly, couldn’t manage too many affairs,

and in the end, she compromised with Xiao Ce.

The compromise involved sending her trusted maid to the palace gates to

intercept me and deliver me to Xiao Ce’s sleeping quarters, to smooth over

the tense relationship between mother and son.

Great, you’ve reconciled. But who’s going to care about my survival?

Afraid that Xiao Ce would eventually discover the little one growing inside

me, I kept busy eating pastries, trying to distract myself.

But it seemed like Xiao Ce could sense something. Suddenly, he pinched

my waist.

“Imperial Scholar, you seem to have gained some weight.”

I panicked, trying to cover up: “Cough… cough cough!”

I was choking on a pastry, my face flushed red. Xiao Ce took the half-eaten

pastry from my hand and, without a second thought, bit into the part I had

already bitten.“Stop eating so much. You’re getting fat… The palace grounds are large.

Tomorrow, I’ll have the eunuchs supervise you as you run two laps,

morning and night.”

Me: … You’re killing me!

At this rate, with my belly growing fast, Xiao Ce’s sharp instincts will

figure it out soon. I have to escape quickly!

The Turkic delegation was preparing to leave. I secretly sought out the

Turkic princess.

“Princess, you once said you’d grant me a request.”

“Does that still stand?”

The Turkic princess wasn’t surprised: “Of course! What do you need? As

long as it’s within my power…”

“Can you… take me out of the capital?”

Finally, she gave me a curious look.

“…Why do you want to leave the capital?”

“Isn’t your emperor treating you well?”

I rolled my eyes in frustration.

“Yeah, sure, too well… so well I can’t take it.”

Well enough that I got tricked into bed and ended up pregnant. If I don’t run

soon, I’ll lose everything!“Alright, let’s hope Xiao Ce doesn’t chase us all the way.”

The Turkic princess handed me a water flask and said indignantly, “Little

Master Lu, you have no idea! Last time, when you fainted, your emperor

almost put a knife to my neck. What happened to the promise of peace

between two nations? That dog emperor was using a personal vendetta to

scare me!”

The Turkic princess patted her chest, promising, “Don’t worry, Little

Master Lu. Follow me, and I’ll make sure Xiao Ce suffers for how he

treated me. If he dares to track us down, I’ll admit defeat.”

The Turkic princess led me along a very secluded route. We hid along the

way and didn’t encounter any pursuers. Eventually, she left me in a

riverside town in Jiangnan and said her goodbyes.

I spent my days there enjoying food and leisure, occasionally sending

letters home to let them know I was safe. Other than my growing belly, I

was quite content. That was until one day when I went to buy a sugar

figurine, and someone paid for it before I could.

“… I’ll pay for his sugar figurine.”Seeing the familiar face before me, I rubbed my eyes, nearly convinced I

was seeing things. Shouldn’t this man be sitting in the capital? How could

he appear in such a remote place in Jiangnan?

I turned to run, but Xiao Ce grabbed my clothes.

“Didn’t you want a sugar figurine? Why run before taking it?”

I accepted the sugar figurine from him, but he held my hand in his.

He glanced me over and gave a blunt assessment, “The Imperial Scholar

has gained weight again.”

I looked at him with mixed feelings before snapping, “Gained weight? Who

gains weight only in their belly? Look carefully—it’s your child!”

It took Xiao Ce a long time to accept that I wasn’t just getting fat but was

pregnant with his child.

Late one night, I suddenly felt a chill in my abdomen. Looking down, I saw

Xiao Ce pulling at my trousers.

Startled, I almost fell out of bed. “What are you doing?!”

His face turned slightly red, like a child caught sneaking sweets. “I’m just

curious about how a man like you can give birth.”

His face grew redder, and his words became more awkward. “I just…

wanted to take another look.”

I rolled my eyes. I wasn’t embarrassed, so why was this dog of a man more

flustered than me?

I covered myself back up with the blanket.

Seeing his disappointment, I asked, “Are those secret guards you brought

along off duty?”Xiao Ce replied, “I sent them all away.”

I lifted a corner of the blanket slightly. “Then you can sneak a look.”

Xiao Ce and I stayed in Jiangnan for half a month. Eventually, the court

sent people to urge Xiao Ce to return to the capital.

He ignored them and instead lit a grand display of fireworks for me in

Jiangnan. It was something typically enjoyed by girls, yet for some reason,

it stirred feelings of romance in me.

As we stood side by side, watching the fireworks, Xiao Ce turned to me and

said, “Lu Ze’an, become my empress.”

I gently withdrew my hand from his grasp. “Xiao Ce, I don’t want to be the

empress.”

Xiao Ce looked puzzled. “Why not?”

Lowering my eyes amidst the burst of fireworks, I said, “Because I am a

son of the Lu family.”

I paused and then added, “Even if you, Your Majesty, act foolish and

indulge your ministers, I must still maintain the reputation of a clear and

righteous stream for the emperor and for the Lu family.”

Xiao Ce leaned against the wall behind me, hands pressing on my waist as

our baby stirred inside me. “Lu Ze’an, I want the truth.”

I smoothed out my expression and bowed slightly to Xiao Ce. “The truth is,

I’m not willing.”

“The men of the Lu family belong to the Central Plains, not solely to you,

Your Majesty.”

The eldest brother, who had been sickly, did not survive the winter of that

year. It was also during that winter that Xiao Ce welcomed a wailing babyprince into his arms.

The prince’s mother remained a mystery, though he was deeply cherished

by Xiao Ce. However, the young prince seemed unusually close to the

newly appointed young Lord Lu.

This young Lord Lu, said to be the younger brother of the former minister,

was once a wayward playboy. But for reasons unknown, after assuming his

role, he cleaned up the long-standing corruption in the court with the same

decisiveness his elder brother had.

However, with only one prince in the palace, rumors spread among the

courtiers. They began to petition for the selection of concubines to ensure

the continuation of the imperial line.

Xiao Ce listened, then looked at me for help.

Already burdened with state affairs, I had no desire to be harassed by these

old ministers. So I turned a blind eye and stayed out of it.

Xiao Ce, ever mischievous, pinched the little prince in his arms, making the

boy cry out and run to me for comfort.

“Father! Emperor Father pinched me! It hurt!”

I sighed. “…”

The court fell into an awkward silence.

Once the officials left, I held the little prince in my arms and stormed up to

Xiao Ce, “Why did you pinch Yu’er?”

Xiao Ce, however, covered Yu’er’s eyes with one hand, wrapped his other

arm around me, and gave my waist a teasing squeeze.

“Lu Ze’an, you chose to be a court official. Now that I’m being pressured to

take wives and have more children, shouldn’t you share in the task of

expanding the family?”

“Yu’er, cover your eyes and leave.”

(End of story)

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