Chapter 131

Thinking of this, he lifted his gaze to the lake outside the window, but it was no longer as easy as before to calm his mind.

Ever since Feng Liwu discovered that she could abandon him without any attachment, every moment of his life had been spent in an indescribable rage.

When he saw the documents she left behind, he couldn’t sleep for several nights, staying up late to ponder the unfathomable thoughts of a woman through her delicate handwriting.

Finally, when he repeatedly read the phrase “a harmonious union for a hundred years, enduring as long as heaven and earth,” he thought of a reason to forgive her: after all, she was just like any ordinary woman who felt jealous.

Could it be that she couldn’t bear him taking a principal wife and thus fled to the ends of the earth?

At first, he thought she was too immature.

Didn’t she know that his heart had always been with her?

Marrying the Yang family was a grand strategy to stabilize the political situation; what did it have to do with romantic entanglements?

But just as the Yang family urged him to hold the wedding, Feng Liwu vaguely felt that if he really married Yang, she might never come back.

Thus, he postponed the wedding, using the excuse of being busy with military affairs.

That heartless woman, far away, had returned to her homeland, nourished by the local waters, and was likely even more radiant and alluring.

He had once seen her dancing in the attire of a Bo country dancer, how bewitching she was.

Over time, not only would the Rong king be tempted, but he couldn’t let her disturb his heart and then return to her motherland to play the pipa for someone else!

Thinking of this, he resolved to temporarily set aside romantic feelings, only ordering the guard to go back and look after the woman, but not to bring him any news of Jiang Xiurun, lest it disturb his peace of mind.

A woman who had no place for him in her heart did not deserve his day and night longing!

Feng Liwu thought bitterly, but Jiang Xiurun’s life was not as nurturing as he imagined.

By spring, the fetus in her belly was already seven months old, and her abdomen was gradually swelling.

However, she was naturally tall and slender, which helped conceal her pregnancy.

If she wore loose-fitting dresses, it wasn’t obvious unless one looked closely.

During these days, the reputation of the eldest princess of Bo, Jiang Xiurun, had spread throughout Bo.

Her pregnancy was not much of a secret, as Bo was quite liberal about such matters.

When the people heard that she had fallen in love with the Crown Prince of Da Qi and was then forced to separate, they naturally spun thousands of tales of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl being forced apart.

It was said that although the Crown Prince could not keep the beauty by his side, he promised to use the mighty army of Great Qi to protect Bo from being bullied by other countries.

Such a vow was more pleasing to the hearts of the Bo people than any promise of eternal love.

Jiang Xiurun’s experience of being pregnant before marriage also matched the legend of the Bo saintess Adai Shan, who was pregnant with a warrior’s child but separated from him.

The legend that the eldest princess was the reincarnation of the saintess was becoming more and more vivid.

When empress Shen realized that the eldest princess had ambitions to interfere in state affairs, she was extremely anxious.

Since Jiang Xiurun returned to the country, empress Shen had summoned her several times to bring her into the palace, but Jiang Xiurun always found excuses to gently deflect.

Now she knew that Jiang Xiurun had returned pregnant, which explained why she was being so cautious.

If she had known earlier, she would have sent guards to escort her into the palace, as a pregnant woman could easily lose her life from a simple fall.

But now that Jiang Xiurun was further along in her pregnancy, she made it public and used the excuse of unstable fetal movements to request the emperor to exempt her from the tedious morning and evening courtesies.

When empress Shen called again, Jiang Xiurun directly used the emperor’s words to fend her off.

Empress Shen was indignant, and her daughter, Princess Jiang Xiuyao, was even more furious.

Both were princesses, and she was the beloved daughter of the empress, naturally more noble than Jiang Xiurun.

But after a trip to Great Qi, both returned with children out of wedlock, yet their situations were vastly different.

She had to marry Shen Siwen’s memorial tablet for her son to be recognized by the family.

But Jiang Xiurun couldn’t even clearly state who the father of her child was, yet she lived in luxury in a grand mansion.

Two months ago, when a charity house was opened outside the city, all the noblewomen of Yang city attended, but none had clothes as stylish as Jiang Xiurun’s.

Although she only wore a plain long dress, it was something not available in Bo.

According to knowledgeable ladies, the plain dress was woven with silver threads split into three strands, creating snowflake patterns that shimmered faintly in the sunlight.

That day, Jiang Xiurun wore no makeup, only a touch of cherry red on her lips, but her beauty was extraordinary.

Combined with her dress that occasionally sparkled, she truly looked like a fairy descending to earth, causing the people who received the porridge to kneel and hail her as the saintess Adaishan.

Jiang Xiuyao watched with envy, feeling resentful, and often went to her mother to vent her frustrations.

Empress Shen, tired of hearing it, today happened to hear that two of the emperor’s favorite concubines were also pregnant, and she vented her anger on her daughter:

“How can you compare with her! Whose child is she carrying? Even if she doesn’t say, all the court officials know, it’s most likely the Crown Prince of Great Qi’s. And you?”

Empress Shen pinched her arm as she spoke: “You just fooled around with your cousin before the mission to Great Qi and had a bastard! Don’t be so short-sighted! If you hadn’t caused the scandal of giving birth at the post station, wouldn’t the position of the Crown Prince’s concubine in Great Qi rightfully be yours? Now she’s relying on her child to gain status, using the Crown Prince of Great Qi to intimidate others, and your father is buying into it. What’s the use of complaining to me! It’s all because you’re not capable!”

Jiang Xiuyao didn’t expect her mother not only not to support her but also to bluntly criticize her.

Tears streamed down her face: “Mother, if you don’t do something, and let her continue to be so arrogant, she will truly act like a saintess and dominate Bo!”

Empress Shen couldn’t really sit back and do nothing as Jiang Xiuyao said.

When she realized Jiang Xiurun’s ambitions, she summoned Jiang Zhi to the palace, showing rare maternal care, inquiring about his well-being, and even gifting his newborn daughter a pair of gold bracelets.

Then she earnestly advised Jiang Zhi that he was the eldest prince of Bo, the future successor to the throne.

But if he let his sister Jiang Xiurun continue to act recklessly, wouldn’t his reputation as the elder brother be overshadowed by his sister’s, making him a laughingstock among the feudal lords?

She originally thought that these heartfelt words for Jiang Zhi’s benefit would be taken to heart.

After all, no matter how deep the affection between father and son or siblings, it couldn’t compare to the importance of royal power.

No matter how much Jiang Zhi loved his sister, if he detected her ambitions, he would surely take precautions.

Moreover, she knew Jiang Zhi too well; he was a young man who adhered strictly to propriety, righteousness, filial piety, and fraternal duty.

When the late empress died, Jiang Xiurun refused to call her mother, and was punished by the emperor with two days of fasting.

Her elder brother even tearfully scolded her for not making the stepmother angry.

Before going to Luo’an, this stepson had always treated her with the respect due to a mother!

But unexpectedly, this trip to Luo’an not only hardened Jiang Xiurun’s wings but also changed Jiang Zhi’s temperament.

He frowned as he listened to her words, then coolly said: “Since ancient times, talent knows no gender or age. Xiurun’s talent far surpasses mine, even the Crown Prince of Great Qi relies heavily on her. Should she pretend to be foolish just to make her brother stand out? Our Bo has had empress before. If father thinks Xiurun is fit for the throne, as her elder brother, I naturally should step aside. Why should I scold her?”

After saying this, he left in a huff, leaving Empress Shen so angry that she couldn’t eat for a day, cursing the men of the Jiang family for being useless, letting a woman get the better of them.

But since the Jiang family was indifferent, she had to think of some measures.

When the Rong state proposed a marriage alliance, she had her half-brother Shen Hua send a portrait of Jiang Xiurun to the Rong king.

The Rong king, already fond of beautiful women, couldn’t control himself upon seeing the exquisitely painted portrait.

When the marriage fell through, it was said that the Rong king was furious.

Empress Shen decided that since the king treated this eldest daughter as a treasure, she couldn’t act directly.

But if the Rong state came to seize her, and Jiang Xiurun had an accident during the seizure, it would have nothing to do with her.

Even if the Crown Prince of Great Qi, who had already married a principal wife, really got angry, the Rong king would bear the brunt, and Bo wouldn’t be blamed… Thinking this, Empress Shen’s heart gradually calmed.

By late summer, when the rulers of the northwestern border states held a meeting, Jiang Xiurun would have already given birth.

Given her love for the spotlight, she would surely attend the meeting, and then… with a little manipulation, the thorn in her side would be removed.

For a time, the royal court of Bo was unusually calm.

Although Jiang Xiurun lived a reclusive life, focusing on her pregnancy at home, there were no troubling matters to bother her.

After much cajoling and stern reprimands, Qian’er finally reluctantly went to report for duty at Bo’s elite military camp—the Wuwei Army.

It was said that when she first joined the camp, because she was a woman and considered ugly, she was mocked by the soldiers of the Wuwei Army.

During lunch breaks, several men splashed water on her, trying to make her wet clothes reveal her figure and embarrass her in public.

Of course, Qian’er didn’t react as they expected, covering herself in shame.

This ugly woman actually had a beautiful figure, with curves in all the right places.

Amidst the men’s laughter, she calmly took off her wet outer garment, wearing only a thick, cotton belly band that seemed to shape and support her chest, with no ties.

The ugly woman, slippery like an eel, had nothing to grab onto, and she moved among the teasing soldiers, kicking groins, pinching testicles, punching faces, and stomping chests.

To the surprise of these elite soldiers, the ugly maid by the princess’s side could take on ten at once, beating a group of Bo’s finest soldiers until they were bruised and battered.

Finally, Qian’er’s large feet measured each of their faces, forcing them to cry out for their mothers before she let them go.

From then on, Bai Qian became famous in the Wuwei camp, with countless adopted sons, a mother figure to be respected from afar.

But when Bai Qian excitedly returned from military training to tell Jiang Xiurun about it, Jiang Xiurun regretfully shook her head.

Qian’er was truly delayed! Bo’s elite soldiers were so weak, how could Qian’er improve and gain experience?

She wondered if, in this life, without the rigorous training in Great Qi’s elite martial camp under Feng Liwu’s control, Qian’er would lack the talent to sweep across a thousand armies.

Lost in thought, the baby in her belly kicked hard, as if complaining that his mother had neglected him and hadn’t read him the Book of Songs as usual.