Chapter 688 - 466: Yansheng Skill

Chapter 688: Chapter 466: Yansheng Skill

"Pregnant?" Song Yunzhao was stunned.

Feng Yi waved his hand to dismiss the attendants in the hall, keeping only his son by his side. He held Yun Zhao’s hand and said softly, "Yes."

"Mother, I’m going to have a little brother or sister!" Feng Ze was also very happy. Yue Guanlan and Yang Weiqing both had younger siblings, and he wanted one too.

Song Yunzhao had made a huge blunder. For a moment, her face flushed red with embarrassment. In front of her son, she had to force herself to remain calm. She looked up at him and said, "That’s right. Are you happy?"

"Happy!" Feng Ze smiled. "Mother, can my little brother or sister come out and play with me tomorrow?"

Song Yunzhao: ...

Feng Yi burst out laughing. He patted his son’s shoulder and said, "No, that’s not possible. You have to wait a few more months. You need to be patient."

Feng Ze was a little disappointed.

Feng Yi looked at his son. "Why don’t you go find your playmates? They’re waiting for you."

’My son is in the way. There’s so much I can’t say to Zhaozhao with him here.’

Seeing that his mother was fine, Feng Ze was in high spirits. He was going to have a new sibling soon and was eager to share the news with his friends, so he scampered off in a flash.

Having finally sent his son away, Feng Yi turned to look at Yun Zhao.

Song Yunzhao’s face grew even redder. She buried her head in Feng Yi’s chest. ’I’ve never been so embarrassed in my life.’

Feng Yi had no intention of teasing Yun Zhao. He just hadn’t expected Zhaozhao to say such things to him. Her simple words had shaken him to the core.

"Zhaozhao, if there is a next life, I hope we can meet sooner. I will make you my bride, with a phoenix coronet and silken robes."

Song Yunzhao stiffened. She looked up at Feng Yi and blurted out, "I’m afraid that wouldn’t work. Back then, you were trapped in the deep palace, and I was far away in Nanyu. Besides, I was still a child."

Feng Yi: ...

Meeting Feng Yi’s speechless expression, Song Yunzhao chuckled. She wrapped her arms around his neck and smiled. "I know what you mean. Hearing you say that is enough to make me content."

’No matter how beautiful his words are, he can’t make me Empress right now.’

She knew that at this very moment, Feng Yi desperately wanted to do so.

"After you safely give birth to our child, I will promote you again."

"That would make me an Imperial Concubine."

"Yes. Just one step away from the position of Empress. Whenever you want to be the Empress, I will enthrone you."

Song Yunzhao felt it was a bit surreal. ’Is it happening this quickly?’

"Let’s wait a few more years, then."

’As the Empress, it would be inappropriate for me to vie for favor. I’d lose the dignity of the mother of the nation and would surely be impeached by the Imperial Censors.’

Feng Yi knew she would say that. In Zhaozhao’s heart, the position of Empress was not as important as he was.

Song Yunzhao had calmed down by now. She looked at her belly and, leaning against Feng Yi’s chest, said, "No wonder I’ve been so sleepy and tired lately. I thought it was just summer lethargy, but it turns out I’m pregnant."

Since Song Yunzhao had decided to have another child, she had stopped taking measures to prevent pregnancy. But there had been no news, so she thought she would have to wait longer.

’I didn’t expect it to happen so soon.’

"It’s one thing for you to be careless, but for your attendants to be so careless as well is another."

"You can’t blame them. My monthly cycles have been irregular these past few months, so it was hard for them to keep track." Song Yunzhao quickly made excuses for Xiangxue and the others, afraid Feng Yi would punish them.

Feng Yi saw through Yun Zhao’s little scheme. "You’re just too kind-hearted."

’That’s not necessarily true,’ Song Yunzhao thought.

After the excitement passed, Song Yunzhao remembered there was something she hadn’t asked. "What’s happened with Qin Wan Yi?"

Hearing Yun Zhao’s question, Feng Yi’s expression darkened. "A straw doll with your birth characters written on it was dug up from Pingyun Pavilion. Qin Wan Yi practiced witchcraft. How could We spare her?"

Song Yunzhao was stunned. ’Witchcraft?’

’Could my nightmare have been caused by someone cursing me?’

Recalling the bizarre, inescapable fog from her dream, her face turned pale.

"What’s wrong?"

Although Yun Zhao didn’t really believe in such things, it was simply too strange. She tightened her grip on Feng Yi’s hand and described the scene from her dream. "If I hadn’t heard you and our son calling for me, I don’t know if I would have been able to get out."

’Is this stuff really that sinister?’

’I’m a modern woman who never believed in ghosts or gods, and now I’ve been targeted by witchcraft. It seems like it actually worked on me... ’

Song Yunzhao was speechless.

’This world of the book really is out to get me.’

"How did Qin Wan Yi get the straw doll and my birth characters?" Song Yunzhao asked.

"The small manager from the kitchen hired a witch to perform a ritual and make the straw doll. As for the birth characters, Xu Mingying bribed someone from the Cai Family to get them. I’ve already apprehended them. How do you want to deal with them?"

Song Yunzhao’s mind was a mess. "So when Xu Mingying said she was going to the Imperial Awakening Temple for spiritual cultivation, it was actually to get my birth characters?"

Birth characters were not something one would easily share. They were only given to a potential marriage partner’s family when exchanging marriage proposals, to see if the couple was compatible. Since Song Yunzhao had never been formally matched, it was very difficult to obtain her birth characters.

Besides the Song Family, the only other people who knew her birth characters were the Cai Family, her supposed maternal relatives.

’The Song Family definitely wouldn’t leak it. Even if Mrs. Cai and Song Qinghan despised me, they wouldn’t dare give my birth characters to an outsider. I’m an Imperial Concubine now; they value their lives too much.’

Song Yunzhao murmured to herself, "So, after Xu Mingying entered the palace, she conspired with Qin Xiyue to gain favor. They set up the Empress Dowager to intentionally punish Xu Mingying, causing her to fall gravely ill. Then, using the excuse of recuperating, she could leave the palace. From there, she went through the Cai Family to get my birth characters and give them to Qin Xiyue, who then hired a witch to use the Yansheng Skill to curse me to an early death?"

’So from the very beginning, this whole scheme was aimed at me.’

It was just that Qin Xiyue’s plot was so intricate and drawn out over such a long time that she hadn’t noticed.

’A serpent’s trail in the ashes, winding for a thousand miles.’

’As expected of the story’s protagonist. She has more than enough patience.’

Seeing Yun Zhao’s pale, frightened face, Feng Yi held her tightly. "It’s all right now. Don’t be afraid. I burned that thing myself. I am the ruler of this nation. The dragon’s might within me will surely dispel any dark magic."

At that moment, Song Yunzhao was incredibly grateful she hadn’t gone to watch the spectacle. If she had gotten so close to that evil thing without knowing she was pregnant, and if something had actually affected her...

She didn’t even dare to imagine it.

She was once again thankful that she never took the plot of the story for granted, and that she always chose to be cautious.

Song Yunzhao hugged Feng Yi tightly, a chill seeping from her very bones. At this moment, she was truly terrified in hindsight.

"Feng Yi... I can’t even imagine what would have happened if I’d gone to Pingyun Pavilion today." Song Yunzhao realized her own voice was trembling.

"Zhaozhao, don’t be afraid. Don’t think about it anymore. From now on, your path will be smooth."

"What are you going to do with them?" At that moment, Song Yunzhao truly wanted them dead.

"How do you want to deal with them? And the Cai Family."

Song Yunzhao thought of someone else. "What about An Fangyi? She was the one who feigned illness back then, which brought everyone to the gardens to escape the summer heat and gave Qin Xiyue the opportunity she needed."