My enemies became my companions

Chapter 676 Congratulations
Cumulus clouds gathered like curdled milk above the Prince's Palace, their dull halo illuminating the depths of the cloud folds, instantly carving out the shadows of the roof tiles, revealing a touch of stubbornness.

Chen Yi and Min Ning had nothing more to say to each other, but they were unwilling to go too far apart. They each did their own thing in the guest courtyard to show that what had just happened had not left any lingering resentment in each other's hearts.

Chen Yi tried to comfort her several times, but as Qin Yue's father, he couldn't bring himself to say it directly, neither emotionally nor logically. He hesitated and tried to persuade her indirectly, but he couldn't sway Min Ning's mind.

After probing him until the very end, even Min Ning realized his intentions and spoke up, saying, "Chen Zunming, you don't need to do this anymore. I can get past this hurdle myself."

Chen Yi was speechless for a moment. After speaking, Min Ning turned around and went back to her room, as if she was too tired from practicing her sword and wanted to rest. In short, she left Chen Yi outside the door.

Yin Weiying led Donggong Ruoshu, a Taoist priest and a ghost, from the corridor of the Prince's Mansion.

Seeing the two of them acting strangely distant from afar, as if they had a minor conflict, Yin Weiying couldn't hide her joy and said to Donggong Ruoshu beside her, "You know, as soon as I arrived, Chen Yi started getting on her bad side. Isn't that because he's worried about me?"

The silly girl scratched her head, somewhat confused, and after a while, under Yin Weiying's prompting, she said, "...Does this count?"

"Of course."

After the female Taoist priest casually spoke, she composed herself and walked away with a calm gaze. Only when Chen Yi looked up at her did a subtle smile appear on her face.

"Husband, are you here to see Min Ning?"

There was no need to cover it up at this point, so Chen Yi nodded and said, "Yes."

“Last night, Min Ning drank wine but did not sleep for a long time, so he must be very tired,” Yin Weiying said, smoothing her sleeves. “Husband, you can go back first. If there is anything you need, I can pass it on to you.”

Upon hearing this, Chen Yi raised an eyebrow, his gaze hardening for a moment. Yin Weiying's breathing quickened for a second, then he added in a low, rapid voice, "I really didn't have any other intentions this time..."

"I doubt you'd dare," Chen Yi sneered.

After each time she played a cruel trick on him, Yin Weiying would always quiet down for a while. At that time, although she was occasionally cunning, she was generally obedient and could always reach the soft spot in Chen Yi's heart. If it weren't for this, Chen Yi would not have let her off so many times.

Yin Weiying felt as if he had been granted a pardon, his expression returning to normal. He gestured to the person behind him and said, "The Crown Prince's daughter has come to see you."

"The young lady of the Eastern Palace..." Chen Yi turned his gaze upon hearing this.

Having just returned to the Prince's mansion, he saw that foolish girl again. He didn't know how to feel. The floating ghost face appeared before him. Chen Yi took a deep breath and slowly said:
“Miss Donggong, at that time you should have been able to return to your own body as you wished.”

"That wouldn't be fun."

Chen Yi was at a loss for words, but since Donggong Ruoshu had come, he thought for a moment and then thought of Lin Wanguan, who was still on Gaoliang Mountain.

It's time to bring her back. We've been in the Southern Frontier for so long, and we've neglected her.

My relationship with Qin Qingluo is now completely stable, just one step away from completion. I doubt she'll care about my actions. Besides, this young lady is quite well-educated and reasonable. When Zhu E is busy and not around, she can also help Qin Yue with her education.

………………

Inside the carriage, Lin Wanquan sat somewhat nervously, her hands unconsciously twisting a plain handkerchief.

She occasionally glanced up at the man opposite her who was resting with his eyes closed, then quickly lowered her head as if she had been burned, her heart pounding.

She came to Southern Xinjiang with Chen Yi, but all in all, the time the two of them actually spent together could be counted on one hand.

She, the young widow who followed him halfway through his life, had already been intimate with him on Longhu Mountain, but he never seemed to truly care about her. She was like a piece of dispensable luggage, casually placed on Gaoliang Mountain.

Lin Wan-guan, raised in seclusion, was naturally reserved and had no idea how to win over this man's seemingly affectionate but actually unpredictable heart.

During her time on Gaoliang Mountain, first, the loud and boisterous maid, Donggong Ruoshu, disappeared without a trace, and later even Yin Weiying, who was always quite opinionated, quietly left, leaving her and her maid Xiuhe to guard the empty courtyard, living in fear day and night.

She wasn't without resentment; she had a bellyful of grievances with nowhere to confide in.

But when she actually saw Chen Yi come to pick her up in person, appearing at the gate of the villa looking travel-worn, her resentment was instantly suppressed by a great sense of unease and bewilderment. She didn't even dare to ask why it had taken so long to arrive.

The carriage jolted, and Lin Wan-guan swayed slightly, letting out a soft cry.

Chen Yi opened his eyes at that moment, his gaze falling on her with scrutiny mixed with a hint of nonchalant laziness.

Without warning, he suddenly reached out and pulled her into his arms.

Lin Wanguan gasped and fell into his arms unexpectedly. Her nose was instantly filled with his scent. She subconsciously looked at Xiuhe in the corner and cast a pleading look at her.

Xiuhe, however, had already turned her face toward the carriage wall with great shrewdness, as if she had suddenly become very interested in the scenery outside the carriage, shrinking herself into a quail.

Chen Yi's palms were warm, and through her clothes, he casually caressed her arms and waist, his movements hardly gentle.

Lin Wanquan was so startled that she got goosebumps and her body stiffened instinctively for a moment. But that insignificant resistance quickly dissipated, and her body went limp and trembled slightly, like a frightened sparrow.

Chen Yi sensed her softening, lowered his head and whispered in her ear, his voice not loud, but clearly penetrating her ears.

"These past few days... staying alone on the mountain, have you felt neglected by me?" His breath brushed against her earlobe, and Lin Wanquan trembled. That straightforward question was like a needle, gently piercing the calm she had been trying to maintain.

She opened her mouth, her eyes suddenly welling up with tears, but she couldn't utter a single word for a long time. She just shook her head subconsciously, then nodded quickly, and finally buried her face even deeper, not wanting him to see her pathetic, tearful state.

After a long pause, Lin Wanguan finally said, "Why did you only come now? Did you pick them up before coming to pick me up?"

As soon as the words were spoken, Chen Yi turned his head slightly, and he could easily detect the slight reproach in them. It wasn't that he was angry or upset about it, but rather that he was surprised that Lin Wanguan would say such a thing to him. Ever since Longhu Mountain, he had mostly forced himself on her, and the young lady of the Lin family, who was too proud to refuse, could only half-heartedly comply. And no matter how intense the act was, afterwards the young lady always had an expression of not responding or replying, just like a virtuous young woman who would never submit to a villain.

However, she was originally a respectable woman.

Looking up slightly, Lin Wanquan saw Chen Yi looking at her. She suddenly realized that she had overstepped her bounds. Before confirming the relationship between her and Chen Yi, she vaguely felt that this person was obsessed with and entangled with her, so she avoided him in every way, yet she was unwilling to truly sever ties. But after confirming the relationship, she found that it was not that deep.

Lin Wanguan lowered her head dejectedly, and suddenly, Chen Yi pecked her cheek.

The young woman was stunned for a moment, then turned her head and saw him looking at her with a smile.

He said softly, "Do you really feel neglected? It's my fault... Zhenlan."

Hearing him call her by her courtesy name was a first for Lin Wan's, and she was instinctively puzzled for a moment, not even realizing he was calling her. After a long while, she belatedly felt her eyes welling up with tears. Realizing what was happening, she quickly wiped them away and turned her face away, saying:
"You know it's your fault. You took them away, you might as well not have come to pick me up at all, and just left me stranded on the mountain for the rest of my life."

Chen Yi laughed again after hearing this. At this moment, Lin Wanguan truly possessed a charm that other women did not have. He was indeed lustful, but he did not have a particular favorite temperament. Just thinking about it, it would be a sad thing if all the women in the family were cut from the same mold.

In any case, things have gotten on the right track with Lin's daughter and are moving in the direction I want. Although I'm not too emotionally invested right now, I still have a lot of time in my life to love her.

Chen Yi gently lifted her hand. She tried to pull it away, but found she couldn't, so she simply stopped trying.

The two stayed together quietly for a while, with only the monotonous sound of the wheels rolling over the road and their breathing gradually becoming calm in the carriage.

Lin Wanquan's tense body gradually relaxed, and she could even vaguely feel Chen Yi's steady heartbeat.

She lowered her eyes, her gaze falling on their intertwined hands. His palm was broad and warm, completely enveloping hers, and a strange sense of security quietly spread through her, diluting her previous grievances and unease.

Donggong Ruoshu, standing to the side, seemed completely oblivious to her embarrassment. Floating in mid-air, she cupped her cheeks in her hands, tilted her head, and watched with great interest, not at all feeling that she was in the way.

Her overly clear eyes never blinked, and she nodded slightly from time to time, her small nostrils twitching gently.

The way these two got along wasn't like the sweetness of Chen Yi's relationship with Da Yin and Xiao Yin; it was more like eating a chilled melon, with a bitter aftertaste that needed to be savored at times, and the sweetness that followed the bitterness was hazy and illusory.

Donggong Ruoshu couldn't help but wonder what it would be like if she seduced Chen Yi.

She was lost in thought, so engrossed that she even seemed to drool in her mind.

The carriage continued its bumpy journey along the mountain road, and the two remained leaning against each other for an unknown period of time.

The unease and fatigue of the past few days gradually overwhelmed Lin Wanquan, and her tense nerves relaxed, with a heavy drowsiness washing over her like a tide.

Her eyelids began to droop uncontrollably, and her head bobbed up and down, almost falling into Chen Yi's arms.

Chen Yi felt the increasingly limp body and steady breathing of the person in his arms, knowing that she was extremely sleepy. Now was the perfect time to tell her everything.

Taking this opportunity, he lowered his head and spoke slowly in an almost whispered voice:
"Zhenlan, there's something I need to tell you... I'm pregnant."

The moment the words left his mouth, the delicate body in his arms stiffened abruptly.

Lin Wanquan was awakened almost instantly, her drowsiness shattered.

She abruptly raised her head, her beautiful eyes wide with astonishment. She instinctively reached for her flat stomach, her voice trembling with panic:
"Wh-when did this happen? I...I'm not ready yet...I haven't thought of a name...When did this happen?"

She was incoherent, her cheeks instantly burning red, then quickly losing their color, as if the sky had fallen and the earth had collapsed, and she was extremely flustered.

Chen Yi chuckled softly, raised his hand and gently pinched her earlobe, saying, "It's not yours."

Lin Wanguan froze, as if she hadn't understood, and stared at him blankly.

Chen Yi met her gaze and slowly said, "Qin Qingluo was pregnant in the past and gave birth a long time ago. She's already two years old."

The carriage fell silent for a moment, with only the rumbling sound of the wheels rolling over the road.

The color drained from Lin Wanquan's face little by little, then returned. She lowered her eyes and let out a soft "oh," unable to tell whether it was disappointment or relief. She unconsciously twisted the plain handkerchief tighter, her knuckles turning slightly white.

After a long pause, she spoke softly, her voice as light as a wisp of smoke: "Then... congratulations."

For no apparent reason, she suddenly felt a pang of regret, even a sense of loss.

Why isn't it hers?
(End of this chapter)