Chapter 135: Xie Qingwu Is Pregnant, Son of a Late Friend, Lin Chuan Bo

Chapter 135: Chapter 135: Xie Qingwu Is Pregnant, Son of a Late Friend, Lin Chuan Bo

After bathing to wash away the dust and changing his clothes, Pei Shaoqing was in the outer room, writing furiously at his desk.

He was writing a formal visit request to Wei Yue.

Now that he was back in the Capital City, he had to pay a visit to his elder and superior.

"What are you writing, Husband?"

Xie Qingwu’s voice drifted in from behind him.

Pei Shaoqing instinctively turned his head, and his breath caught in his throat.

Xie Qingwu, fresh from her bath, was unexpectedly dressed in a magnificent red phoenix crown and brocade. She exuded a stately and elegant aura, the intricate wedding attire unable to conceal the graceful curves of her body. Where it should be round, it was full, and where it should be pert, it was perfectly so.

’What lingerie could even compare? This is on another level!’

"This phoenix crown and brocade was a special gift from His Majesty when I married you. I didn’t bring it to Tongzhou, so you’ve never seen me in my wedding dress. Do you like it?" Xie Qingwu’s smile was sweet as she spun around in a small circle. Her hair ornaments chimed, crisp and clear like a spring.

"I love it! I absolutely love it!" Pei Shaoqing immediately dropped his brush and walked over to Xie Qingwu.

Her eyes crinkling with a smile, Xie Qingwu slowly backed away step by step until she was sitting on the edge of the bed. She lowered the red veil over her head and placed her hands primly on her lap, just like a new bride on her wedding day.

Pei Shaoqing didn’t lift the veil.

Instead, he gently laid her down.

This was completely unexpected for Xie Qingwu. She couldn’t see through the veil and had no way of guessing what Pei Shaoqing would do next.

The hem of her skirt fell away, revealing a pair of slender, shapely calves wrapped in white silk.

He removed her embroidered slippers, revealing delicate, well-proportioned feet that were a perfect handful, so exquisite one wouldn’t want to let them go.

Xie Qingwu was naturally lush, but Pei Shaoqing wasn’t a fan of the overgrown look, so he’d had her give him a pleasant surprise by tidying up. Now, wearing silk stockings, her contours were even more defined.

Her silk skirt half-undone, the phoenix crown wobbled, and the pearled hairpins and dangling ornaments clinked and clattered endlessly.

When they were finished, night had already fallen outside.

"Husband... UGH~" Xie Qingwu had just started to speak when she was suddenly overcome by a wave of nausea.

She scrambled out of bed and began to dry-heave into a spittoon.

Pei Shaoqing asked with concern, "Are you all right, my dear?"

"I’m fine. I don’t know why, but I suddenly felt sick. Maybe my throat just hasn’t recovered from... earlier," Xie Qingwu said, shaking her head after she caught her breath.

But Pei Shaoqing was reminded of scenes he’d watched in movies and TV shows in his past life. "My dear, could you be pregnant?"

"Pregnant?" Xie Qingwu froze upon hearing his words.

Pei Shaoqing said, "My dear, give me your hand."

Although he wasn’t a professional Physician, as a martial artist, he had no trouble checking for a pregnancy pulse.

Xie Qingwu nervously extended her hand.

"My dear, you really are pregnant! Our return to the Capital City is truly a return bearing new life!" After checking several times to be sure, Pei Shaoqing was overjoyed and laughed with excitement.

’He was going to be a father!’

Although Zhao Zilan often called him "daddy," this feeling was completely different, in a way that was hard to describe.

At the very least, from this moment on, he finally felt a sense of belonging and connection to this world.

"I... I’m pregnant?" Xie Qingwu had dreamed day and night of conceiving, but now that she knew it was true, she felt a little dazed and lost. She subconsciously touched her lower abdomen, which Pei Shaoqing had just filled, and her face paled. "But we were just... intimate. It won’t hurt the baby, will it?"

"Don’t worry, my dear. It’s not that easy to harm the fetus. Just think of it as prenatal education. After all, they say spare the rod, spoil the child," Pei Shaoqing said, comforting her with an arm around her.

’In the future, his son could brag about how he’d gotten a beating before he was even born, a solid whack from his own father.’

"Oh, get out of here," Xie Qingwu chided, reacting to his nonsense. She carefully caressed her belly, her expression turning serious. "From now on, we absolutely cannot be intimate again. You can have Lan’Er sleep with you from now on."

"Alright, alright, whatever you say, my dear." Pei Shaoqing chuckled and gave her a kiss, then reached out to stroke her soft abdomen. "This will be hard work for you from now on."

The ten months of pregnancy and the act of childbirth were an extremely difficult and painful time for a woman, especially in ancient times when even noblewomen faced the risk of a difficult birth.

"Accompany me to my family’s home tomorrow. We can tell my parents the good news, and at the same time, you can ask about the revenge for your friend’s annihilated family," Xie Qingwu murmured, nestled in Pei Shaoqing’s arms.

Holding her, Pei Shaoqing replied, "Alright."

"And what about your father and older brother? Should we send them a letter?" Xie Qingwu asked hesitantly.

Pei Shaoqing pondered for a moment before saying, "Let’s not tell them for now. Since we’ve already decided to distance ourselves from the Marquis Wei Yuan’s Mansion, just showing an attitude isn’t enough. We have to demonstrate it through concrete actions like this."

"You have the final say, Husband," Xie Qingwu replied.

’Never mind that Pei Shaoqing is an imposter. Even if he weren’t, in Pei Shiqing’s eyes, their son would never compare to Pei Shaotang’s eldest legitimate grandson. The support they could expect from the Marquis Wei Yuan’s Mansion in the future would be limited; they could only rely on themselves. So, distancing themselves from the Marquis Wei Yuan’s Mansion has more pros than cons.’

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK! A sudden knock on the door was followed by Qiu Ye’s voice. "My lord, the young master from Lin Chuan Bo’s family is here to visit. He says he is an old friend of yours."

Pei Shaoqing turned to look at Xie Qingwu.

"The master is currently bathing and changing. Have Young Master Zhou wait a moment," Xie Qingwu called back to Qiu Ye before turning to Pei Shaoqing. "The young master of Lin Chuan Bo’s family is named Zhou Rui. He’s the only son, so he’s been spoiled rotten since childhood. You can imagine the kind of character he has to be hanging around with the likes of the old Pei Shaoqing. I don’t think I need to elaborate, do I?"

Pei Shaoqing nodded in understanding.

’Birds of a feather flock together. If the original Pei Shaoqing was a scoundrel, Zhou Rui couldn’t be much better.’

"The old Pei Shaoqing had a pack of scoundrel friends, and this Zhou Rui was his best one. They were so close they would even share a woman at a brothel." Disgust and loathing crossed Xie Qingwu’s face as she spoke. She continued, "I don’t know many of the details of their relationship, so when you meet him, you’ll have to play it by ear."

"Can I avoid seeing him?" Pei Shaoqing asked.

"No," Xie Qingwu blurted out, her expression serious. "It’s precisely because I don’t know the details of your past relationship that avoiding him might cause even more trouble."

She paused here and offered a suggestion. "You can use this opportunity with Zhou Rui to send a message to all those old friends that you’ve seen the light and want to make a clean break with the past. That way, they’ll distance themselves from you on their own, and you’ll only have to deal with Zhou Rui."

"Alright. Then you rest well at home, my dear. I’ll go and be right back," Pei Shaoqing said with a nod.

An encouraging look appeared on Xie Qingwu’s face. "He’s just a dandy. I’m sure you can handle him easily, Husband."

...............

Led by Qiu Ye, Pei Shaoqing arrived at a side hall in the Marquis’s Mansion. As soon as he entered, Zhou Rui, who had been waiting for a while, stood up and approached him. He circled Pei Shaoqing, eyes wide, as if trying to scrutinize every inch of him.

"What are you looking at, Brother Zhou?" Pei Shaoqing asked calmly, taking a moment to size up Zhou Rui as well. He was in his early twenties, with a tall, straight posture and handsome features.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk." Zhou Rui looked him up and down, clicking his tongue in amazement. "It’s only been a few months, and not only have you been promoted, ennobled, and become famous throughout the land, Brother Pei, but you’ve even bulked up. Are you still the same Brother Pei I know?"

’No, I’m not.’

"You jest, Brother Zhou," Pei Shaoqing said with a feigned, melancholic sigh. "It’s just that after this whole ordeal, I’ve had a great awakening. I no longer want to waste my life away as I did in the past, nor do I want to be exiled at a whim again. So, I’ve learned from my painful experience and decided to achieve something in my career."

"But with you being so outstanding, Brother Pei, it just makes me look useless! For the past few months, my old man at home has been itching to beat me three times a day." Zhou Rui tightened his grip on his folding fan, giving Pei Shaoqing a resentful look. He’d thought they agreed to slack off together in secret, but here was Pei Shaoqing, making a name for himself behind his back.

"Then you should pull yourself together too, Brother Zhou, and build a career to show Lin Chuan Bo what you’re made of," Pei Shaoqing advised earnestly. He let out a slow breath. "I’ve made up my mind this time. Aside from you, Brother Zhou, I don’t plan on contacting any of our old friends we used to hang out with."

"Good thing you still remember me, you rascal." Zhou Rui’s face broke into a wide grin, and he snapped open his folding fan with a SHFFT. "I’ll spread the word for you. Besides calling you disloyal behind your back, those guys definitely won’t dare to bother you."

"Thank you, Brother Zhou," Pei Shaoqing said, clasping his hands in a salute.

Zhou Rui waved it off. "We’re brothers who have shared the same woman. Why be so polite?"

As he finished speaking, he gave a suggestive wink. "I’ve recently found a new little minx—an absolute Top Grade! I’ve been giving it my all but can’t seem to conquer her. Why don’t you lend a hand, Brother Pei?"

’Damn, this guy is really wild.’

’Pei Shaoqing didn’t dare agree. What if Zhou Rui noticed a difference in the size of his Jill and started to suspect his identity?’

"Thank you for the generous invitation, Brother Zhou, but I’ll have to pass. I was ignorant in the past, but I can’t do such things anymore. After all, aren’t friends’ wives off-limits?"

Zhou Rui looked at him with suspicion. "You really have changed. You used to be the one saying you liked friends’ wives, which is why I let you have your way with them. If it weren’t for that face, I’d suspect you were an imposter."

"You’re quite the joker, Brother Zhou. Why don’t you feel my face and check for a human-skin mask?" Pei Shaoqing’s expression didn’t change at his words; instead, he even shot back a jest.

"No thanks, I’m not interested in men," Zhou Rui said with a wave of his hand. "Forget it, forget it. Let’s not talk about this. We haven’t seen each other in so long, let’s go for a drink. You mentioned before that you had a lead on that matter. We can talk while we drink."

Pei Shaoqing subtly raised an eyebrow.

’That matter from before? What matter?’

His curiosity piqued, he followed Zhou Rui out the door.

The moment they left, a report was delivered to Nalan Yujin. After listening, she let out a disdainful sneer and mocked, "A dog will always go back to its own vomit."

Her expression then turned uncertain. She didn’t care about Pei Shaoqing, but she felt she needed to have a talk with Xie Qingwu.

Zhou Rui led Pei Shaoqing toward the best brothel in the Capital City, chattering excitedly the whole way.

"Brother Pei, not long after you left the Capital City, Ningxiang Courtyard got some new beauties. Two of them are even foreign girls, with blonde hair, blue eyes, and pale skin..."

"Zhou Rui! Fuck you!"

A sudden roar interrupted Zhou Rui’s words.

Pei Shaoqing instinctively followed the sound with his eyes and saw a young master in brocade clothes approaching menacingly with his attendants.

The common folk on the street instantly and expertly scattered, clearing a space in the middle. They then stood to the side, ready to watch the show.

’The entertainment options for the people of the Capital City really are plentiful.’

"Tang Zhi, what are you trying to do?!" Zhou Rui’s face changed at the sight. He swallowed hard and said, lacking confidence, "You’re a scholar who has studied the classics! A gentleman uses his words, not his fists."

Hearing the name Tang Zhi, Pei Shaoqing narrowed his eyes and sized up the brocade-clad young master in the lead. Xie Qingwu had mentioned that the man Jiang Yuechan was supposed to meet for a potential marriage arrangement was also named Tang Zhi.

She had also described Tang Zhi to him: the most scholarly of all the dandies, and the most depraved scoundrel among all the scholars.