Reincarnated as the daughter of my mortal enemy, all I want is to ascend the throne.

Yan Xu supported his head with one hand and patted Li Qingyan with the other.

His hands, which were used to kill with knives, guns, and clubs, were now used to coax children, and he was still a little unaccustomed to it.

The baby is so soft and squishy; I always feel like I could kill this little thing with the slightest bit of force.

The general's mansion should be quiet at this hour.

Suddenly, the barking of dogs rang out, followed abruptly by the sound of clashing weapons.

Yan Xu covered the baby's ears, worried that she would be frightened, but then he saw the baby looking at him without crying or making a fuss.

"Good girl."

He placed Li Qingyan on the bed, drew the sword hanging by the bedside, and the moment the door opened, the sword was instantly at her neck.

"Yan Xu, you've got some nerve."

Li Yan's cold voice rang out.

Startled, Yan Xu dropped his sword and immediately knelt on the ground, saying, "Greetings, Your Majesty. I was unaware that Your Majesty had come."

Li Yan wiped the tiny wound on his neck; if he had been a second slower to speak, blood would have splattered everywhere.

The door was closed, and inside, the emperor and his minister, one standing and one kneeling, remained silent.

"It's so depressing, Fei Cha." Li Qingyan was a little bored. She regretted letting Li Yan give birth to her; she would have preferred Yan Xu to have given birth to her.

Yan Xu may seem like a ruthless killer, but deep down he's gentle, treating this little girl of unknown origin so well. If she were his biological daughter, she'd definitely be wonderful.

Flying Fork cracked a few sunflower seeds.

[Host, you're overthinking it. What if Yan Xusheng gave birth to you...]

You and the Yan family will be killed.

Li Qingyan shuddered, wishing she could slap herself to death. Spending so much time with Li Yan had made her forget that Li Yan hadn't killed her because she was his child. But what if she were someone else's child…

Forget it.

Just as she was feeling sleepy and about to fall asleep, Li Yan picked her up. When she saw that familiar face, she instinctively rolled her eyes.

Li Yan slapped her bottom twice through the blanket, "You little brat, you've caused such a ruckus and you still dare to glare at me."

He just can't speak. If he could speak, Li Qingyan would definitely open her mouth and curse him. If it weren't for those people scheming against you, would I have suffered this?

Seeing Li Yan skillfully holding the child, Yan Xu was somewhat shocked, and suddenly thought of the little princess he had waited outside the palace until she was born.

This child is a little princess.

Yan Xu's eyes widened. Luckily, nothing had happened to the child; otherwise, the Yan family would have been wiped out.

Li Yan looked at Yan Xu kneeling on the ground and said coldly, "Get up."

Yan Xu quickly stood up. "Your Majesty, I did not know this was the little princess."

Li Yan didn't intend to blame him for this; babies all look almost identical, and besides, he had never met Li Qingyan.

"Ignorance is no excuse."

These five simple words put Yan Xu at ease.

But the two fell silent again. The once inseparable friends were now unusually distant.

It was Li Yan who broke the deadlock: "Were you worried sick, thinking I was going to kill you for military power?"

Such rumors were circulating, and Li Yan was not unaware of them, but he simply didn't take them to heart.

It would be a lie for Yan Xu to say he wasn't afraid. He wasn't afraid of dying himself, but he was afraid that the rest of the Yan family would suffer a terrible fate.

"Everything I have is given to me by Your Majesty, even my life. Your Majesty can take it away at any time if you want."

Instead of giving a direct answer, he expressed his loyalty.

Li Yan patted the child in her arms a few times and said coldly, "Do you know who this child's mother is?"

The question asked suddenly caught Yan Xu off guard, but he still had to answer.

"I do not know."

"You really don't know. If you did, you'd be dead." Li Yan's words sent chills down one's spine.

Yan Xu's mind was racing, but he knew nothing about Li Yan's harem. Apart from knowing which of the concubines with official titles belonged to which faction, he, as an outsider, had no right to concern himself with other matters.

"This is my child," Li Yan said, uttering only these words.

Yan Xu knew that the princess was Li Yan's child, but... he suddenly raised his head. What did that mean? Was it what he thought?

It is a rare and unusual story for a man to give birth.

But then he remembered that Li Yan had suddenly left the palace banquet that day, leaving him to guard outside the hall.

It seems like everything makes sense now.

No woman in the world would be valued by Li Yan so much, unless that person is himself.

"Self-destruct? What is that madman Li Yan doing?" Li Qingyan asked with disgust. "Did Fei Cha go crazy from having a baby? If this kind of thing gets out, he'll easily be seen as a demon. If someone uses this to shake his foundation..."

Li Qingyan already wanted to kill Yan Xu.

She happened to have collected quite a few treasures from Feicha.

[Host, wait a minute, don't rush to kill. Besides, the other one is also your father.]

[And didn't you say you didn't care about Li Yan's life or death?]

Li Qingyan's lips twitched. "First, he's my target. Second, I'm just a baby. What if he dies? Do I have to die again?"

That flying fork is really brainless. If Li Qingyan weren't bound to it by fate, she would really want to get a different one.

"Your Majesty..." Yan Xu suddenly felt his legs go weak. Did Li Yan tell him such a secret that he was to be killed? Killing him alone was fine, but what about the Yan family and the White Tiger Army behind him?

Are we going to die too?

Li Yan looked down at him. They had known each other for many years. Yan Xu had always been fearless. He hadn't felt a bit scared when they were besieged in Biancheng together.

Are you afraid of dying?

"Your Majesty, I am not afraid of death, I only beg Your Majesty to spare the rest of the Yan family and the White Tiger Army." Yan Xu kowtowed to him, not afraid of death, but only afraid of implicating others.

Li Yan sneered, "General Yan should worry about himself instead of worrying about others."

"This child has more than one father."

Yan Xu's hand trembled again. He had known Li Yan for many years, and this child was...

After drinking that night, Li Yan became distant from him; it was he who had offended Li Yan.

"Your Majesty, I deserve to die ten thousand times." Yan Xu kowtowed, thinking that Li Yan was kind enough to have spared him until now.

Offending the emperor is punishable by the extermination of nine generations of one's family.

This is an enormous sin.

"It's over," Li Qingyan's heart skipped a beat, "This madman is going to kill someone."

Li Yan remained calm. "I do want to kill you, but I think it's more useful to keep you alive. From today onwards, you will obey my orders and Qingyan's."

Qingyan is the child's name. Yan Xu likes this name very much, perhaps because the child is his.

She was also his only child in his life.

Watching the departing procession, Yan Xu took a deep breath and said to the steward, "Send back all the marriage proposal invitations that have been sent to me."

"From this day forward, I will not marry or have children."

The old butler immediately knelt on the ground. "General, the biggest worry for the old general and his wife before they passed away was you. They hoped that you could have a wife and children."

Yan Xu helped the old steward up, saying only, "There are still my younger brother and sister at home. They have a home, that's enough. People always have to exchange something for something they gain."

He has a child but cannot say so; that child will only ever belong to Li Yan.

What he did was submit and spend his life atoning for his sins.

Li Qingyan's disappearance truly frightened Li Yan, leading to a major reshuffle in the Qin Zheng Hall. Li Yan took Li Qingyan with him at all times, even carrying her to court.