When Wei Qingping finished handling his matters and came out, Gu Chusheng had already calmed down. He took the child from Chu Yu's arms—the baby had fallen asleep under her soothing care. Gazing quietly at the infant, he remarked, "You really do have a way with children."
Chu Yu smiled but didn't respond. Yet Gu Chusheng suddenly remembered that, no matter what, Chu Yu had once been a mother—the mother of his child.
Holding the baby with lowered eyes, Gu Chusheng felt Chu Yu's understanding gaze. She said gently, "Give the child a name. Whether you have other children in the future or not, this will always be your first."
Gu Chusheng studied the sleeping child in his arms, cradling him awkwardly. After a long silence, he looked up at Chu Yu and said slowly, "May I name him Yan Qing?"
Chu Yu froze.
That was the name of their child in their past life—the child who had never even called her "Mother." When she left him, the boy had still been babbling; when she saw him again, they were strangers.
Staring blankly at Gu Chusheng, she saw his calm expression as he continued, "In both lifetimes, my greatest debts are to you and Yan Qing. As a husband, I failed you. As a father, I neglected Yan Qing. This life I can give to you, but Yan Qing... will never return."
Meeting her eyes solemnly, he vowed, "This child—I will raise him well. I'll teach him myself, watch him grow. What I failed as a father before, I'll fulfill in this life."
"My debt to Yan Qing..." His voice faltered, but he finished firmly, "I want to repay it."
"Chusheng," Chu Yu's tone softened, "not everything from the past can be mended. Just move forward. Treat this child as he deserves—not as atonement for Yan Qing, but for his own sake."
Gu Chusheng didn't respond, only tightening his grip. He sensed her implication—she didn't want his affections lingering on her. Without argument, he held the child closer and changed the subject: "Now that you've delivered the grain and medicine, don't stay long in Qing Province. Return quickly."
With concern, he added, "Zhao Yue is cunning. I fear he may target you."
"Don't worry," Chu Yu waved a hand. "Almost no one knows I'm here. I just came to check on you and Qingping. Since you're both well, all's fine."
Gu Chusheng nodded. Wei Qingping chimed in, "We're fine. You should head back if there's nothing else."
As Chu Yu acknowledged, Wei Qingping glanced at Gu Chusheng. "First find the child a wet nurse. If none, get a goat or cow—just keep him alive."
Prompted, Gu Chusheng hurriedly arranged for Chen Jiuer's burial and a wet nurse for the baby, while Chu Yu and Wei Qingping returned indoors.Wei Qingping briefly explained the current situation to Chu Yu and said calmly, "The disaster relief efforts are mostly under control now. What worries me more is the potential outbreak of epidemics afterward. The areas we've passed through haven't shown signs of plague, but major disasters are often followed by some degree of infection. Every day without reported cases makes me uneasy."
Chu Yu nodded, recalling the events from her past life. After the earthquake back then, there had indeed been a period of widespread epidemics. She replied, "I'll have people carefully gather news from all regions. Don't worry too much."
Wei Qingping acknowledged with a sound and followed her into the room. After a moment's thought, she remarked, "You've become quite formidable these days. Everyone's talking about you—my ears are practically calloused from hearing it all."
"Isn't that convenient?" Chu Yu laughed as she casually began removing her outer robe. "Saves me the trouble of repeating myself."
Wei Qingping watched her undress and, after a brief silence, finally asked, "Have you seen Shi Yue?"
Chu Yu turned her head with a knowing smile, looking rather pleased. "I knew you'd ask about him."
Wei Qingping remained expressionless. "He's my sweetheart. Should I be asking about Wei Yun instead?"
"Of course, of course," Chu Yu said, pulling letters from her clothes. These were the ones she had previously requested from Qin Shiyue, intending to pass them to Wei Qingping whenever they met. She tossed the letters to Wei Qingping and turned toward the inner room. "Letters from your sweetheart—I had someone get them for you. You can thank me later."
Wei Qingping caught the letters and eagerly opened one. As she read, her lips curved into a faint smile.
Chu Yu glanced at her and smirked, leaning against the bed. "Are you going back to your own room tonight, or staying with me?"
"Are you leaving tomorrow?" Wei Qingping looked up briefly before returning her gaze to the letter.
Chu Yu leaned against the bedpost. "I've already delivered the supplies. What's left for me to do here?"
Hearing this, Wei Qingping tucked the letter into her robe and walked over cheerfully. "Then I'll stay with you. We can chat for a while."
Chu Yu crossed her arms, smiling without a word. Wei Qingping scrutinized her from head to toe and suddenly remarked, "You've been fighting for so long—how come you've gained some weight?"
"Huh?" Chu Yu was taken aback. "I've gained weight?"
"You haven't noticed?" Wei Qingping's gaze settled on her slightly protruding abdomen. With closer observation, it was clear she had indeed put on some weight—though only around her belly, while her face and the rest of her body remained noticeably thin.
After studying her for a moment, Wei Qingping suddenly said, "Turn around for me."
Chu Yu was puzzled but complied without question, trusting Wei Qingping's medical expertise implicitly. Wei Qingping frowned, took her hand, and guided her to sit down before placing fingers on her wrist.
Chu Yu sensed something amiss and held her breath, waiting for Wei Qingping's verdict. After a long pause, Wei Qingping finally asked, "When was your last menstruation?"
Chu Yu froze, racking her memory in silence. Wei Qingping glanced up and immediately understood. "Forgotten?"
Chu Yu forced an apologetic smile. "Too much has happened lately..."
"When was the last time you had intercourse? Did you take contraceptive medicine afterward?" Wei Qingping switched to her other wrist, and Chu Yu stiffened at the question, now seriously contemplating the implications.All along, she and Wei Yun had been very careful. Wei Yun didn’t want her to take medicine, and he hardly ever stayed inside her. Knowing her extremely Yin constitution made conception difficult—after all, in her past life, she had gone to great lengths just to have Gu Yanqing—she didn’t pay much attention either, especially since Wei Yun was already being cautious.
The only exception…
Chu Yu thought carefully. It seemed the only time was the night Wei Yun was enfeoffed as a prince.
That night, both she and Wei Yun had lost control. By the time they came to their senses, it was already too late to take medicine. But she had always been overly confident about her constitution and never imagined her luck would be this good.
But in her past life, conceiving a child with Gu Chusheng had been so difficult. How could it be this easy with Wei Yun…?
As she pondered this, Chu Yu couldn’t help but wonder—was the problem mainly Gu Chusheng’s back then?
Wei Qingping had no idea about her jumbled thoughts. After confirming the diagnosis, she said slowly, “Fortunately, your martial arts training has kept you in good health, and your true energy body protection saved this child. An ordinary person would have lost it long ago.”
“Wait,” Chu Yu finally snapped out of it. “Are you saying I’m really pregnant?”
“What else?” Wei Qingping glanced up at her, then stood to fetch paper and a brush. She looked back at Chu Yu. “Are you keeping this child or not? Give me an answer.”
Chu Yu was stunned. After a long pause, she stammered, “But… that can’t be. My constitution shouldn’t allow me to conceive…”
“What constitution?” Wei Qingping frowned. Chu Yu said uncertainly, “I… I have an extremely Yin constitution, making conception difficult…”
“You’ve been taking medicine for five years and nourishing your body with supplements for just as long,” Wei Qingping said impatiently. “Wei Yun even had me check your prescriptions before. You only had uterine cold and Yin deficiency—five years of treatment has long since fixed that.”
Wei Qingping looked at her strangely. “Why are you so sure you can’t conceive? Your body is in excellent condition.”
Chu Yu sat there dazed, only now vaguely recalling that she had indeed been undergoing treatment for many years. At first, it was at her own request. Later, the taste of the medicine changed—no longer bitter and hard to swallow—just like the nourishing soups other noblewomen drank after meals, such as white fungus soup, bird’s nest, or peach gum. She drank a bowl every day and almost forgot she was still undergoing treatment.
Later, when Wei Yun returned to the capital and war broke out again, with so many things happening one after another, when would she have had time to think about this?
It took Chu Yu a long while to digest the news. Then, she laughed.
If this had happened before, she might have had to worry about Liu Xueyang and the Wei family. But now that she was on her own, what did she have to fear?
So she lifted her head and said decisively, “I’m keeping it.”
Wei Qingping wasn’t surprised. “Are you sure?”
“I’m sure,” Chu Yu said, sitting cross-legged with determination. “I’ve made up my mind. If Wei Yun and I aren’t meant to be, I’ll take this child back with me and raise them myself. If it’s a boy, I’ll name him Chu—”
“Alright, alright,” Wei Qingping cut her off, having seen too many women who got overly excited upon learning they were pregnant. “I have zero interest in how you plan to handle this child. If you’re keeping it, I’ll write you a prescription. On your way back, don’t ride a horse or rush too much. Don’t push your luck just because you’re in good health.”"Alright." Chu Yu was overjoyed. As she waited for Wei Qingping to write the prescription, she continued, "I need to write to Xiao Qi... Oh no," she paused, then corrected herself, "I should go tell him in person! He’ll be so happy to hear I’m expecting..."
Wei Qingping’s hand holding the brush hesitated for a moment. After a brief pause, she finally ventured, "A relationship between sister-in-law and brother-in-law, a child out of wedlock—A Yu," she looked up at her, "have you truly thought through what you’ll face?"
Hearing this, Chu Yu laughed. "What do I have to face?"
"If I feared gossip, I wouldn’t have been with Wei Yun in the first place. Since I’m with him, whether people curse me for one reason or two makes no difference. Besides, this isn’t just Wei Yun’s child—it’s mine too. Even if Wei Yun weren’t in my life, I’d still be overjoyed to have a child."
"A woman’s sorrow lies mainly in helplessness. If I couldn’t raise this child, if I had to pin my hopes on remarrying for financial security, if I had to rely on my family or anyone else—then of course I’d care about gossip and other people’s opinions. But I don’t need that now. With or without Wei Yun, with or without the Chu family, I can provide for this child."
As she spoke, Chu Yu chuckled. "At worst, I could always become a mountain bandit queen, don’t you think?"
Wei Qingping nodded, reassured by Chu Yu’s words. Chu Yu wasn’t surprised by Wei Qingping’s attitude either. In her past life, Wei Qingping had also been pregnant out of wedlock. But after Qin Shiyue died in battle, entrusting Wei Yun with his last wishes, Wei Yun had married Wei Qingping out of brotherly loyalty to protect her reputation.
Yet, if not for Qin Shiyue and Wei Wang, Wei Qingping likely wouldn’t have cared about such things either. Raising the child alone wouldn’t have been an issue.
Life never becomes irredeemable because of a single moment. The only thing that truly damns a person is giving up on oneself, allowing oneself to sink into the mire.
Wei Qingping wrote the prescription for Chu Yu and gave her many instructions. Eventually, the two lay down and fell asleep.
Chu Yu was excited, but she was also exhausted. Thinking of Wei Yun and the child, she unconsciously rested her hand on her abdomen, a smile gracing her lips as she drifted into slumber.
In her dream, she returned to Bailing. Wei Yun knelt in his study, lamplight casting a glow over him. Standing at the doorway, she called out, "Huaiyu."
Wei Yun lifted his brush, his eyes filled with stars—and her.
In the dream, she wanted to speak but didn’t know how to convey her joy. So she simply placed her hand on her belly and said happily, "I’m going to have a child."
There was no fear, no unease. When love is the seed, all storms become insignificant.
As Chu Yu slowly fell deeper into her dream, Wei Yun lay asleep in his bedroom in Bailing.
He woke in the middle of the night to the sound of rain. Stirred by the downpour, he slowly opened his eyes, listening as the drops pattered against leaves, branches, and soil.
He didn’t know why, but he felt an inexplicable emptiness inside. Rising from the bed, his long hair loose, sleeves draping over his knees, he walked barefoot to the window and pushed it open. Watching the rain fall on the branches, he was startled to see tender green buds sprouting—when had they appeared?
Wei Qiu approached Wei Yun and asked respectfully, "Does His Highness require anything?"Wei Yun didn't speak. He quietly gazed at that touch of tender green for a long time before shaking his head and saying, "It's nothing."
With that, he closed the window and returned to his desk. Picking up a brush, he suddenly felt an urge to write something to Chu Yu.
Yet when the brush touched paper, he found himself at a loss for words that would convey composure and steadiness, unwilling to reveal the discomposure of being startled awake in the deep night.
He didn't want his fervent longing to become her shackles. He only wished to tell her that under this vast sky and upon this wide earth, she could come and go at ease without worrying about having nowhere to return—because he was here.
As long as he existed, she could wander ten thousand miles alone, knowing home would always be there when she turned back.
So he held his brush suspended for a long while before finally writing:
A Yu, new buds have appeared on the branches outside my door. I wonder if spring blossoms already grace your land?
A Yu, I plan to take Yu River next. Where will your journey lead you after this?
If nothing else calls you away...
Wei Yun's brush paused. Only after a long silence did he continue:
Might we meet at Yu River?
Author's note: Aaaaaah, why can I only write so little every day aaaaaah
Frustrated, heartbroken, why can't I have eight hands!!!!!!!
The great battle isn't at White Ridge, not at White Ridge, everyone please don't think it's ending immediately.
Will finish by month's end, but not in the next few days. [lights cigarette]
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