Warm medicine emits fragrance

Before the two could even reach the hall, just as they stepped out of the room, Li Qiuping arrived, followed by two other people.

The two people were completely covered up, wearing black veils on their heads, so their faces were not visible at all.

"Master, Princess, please come inside to talk," Li Qiuping said solemnly.

Li Chenbi and Fan Liuer glanced at the two people behind him, then turned back into the room.

The group entered the house, and Li Qiuping closed the door. The person in front then took off his veil, revealing a pale and haggard face.

Fan Liuer's eyes widened. "Your Majesty?"

It is Li Chenshu.

It had been several months since the two had last seen each other. Li Chenshu was now even thinner, looking like a withered branch in late autumn, and she had aged considerably.

The person behind her also removed their veil, and Fan Liuer's eyes widened again.

"emperor?"

Yan Qiu looked no better than Li Chenshu, his face etched with fatigue and exhaustion.

He helped Li Chenshu sit down and waved to Li Qiuping.

Li Qiuping immediately went out, closed the door, and stood guard at the entrance.

"What is this?" Li Chenbi frowned as he looked at the two of them, his gaze falling on Li Chenshu's stomach.

Fan Liuer also noticed that, logically speaking, Li Chenshu was pregnant at the same time as her, so her belly should be quite big now, but looking at her like this, you can't tell her belly under her loose clothes.

Li Chenshu frowned and remained silent. It was Yan Qiu who spoke first, letting out a long sigh, "The child was lost a month ago."

Fan Liuer paused, and Li Chenbi immediately supported her.

"Why...why is this happening?" Fan Liuer's heart tightened.

Li Chenshu shook her head, "I don't know. The imperial physicians couldn't diagnose the cause either. The baby was fine the day before. When I woke up, the fetus in my womb had stopped beating. The fetus had stopped developing."

"Then how come we haven't heard a single word about it?" Fan Liuer still found it unbelievable.

Li Chenshu looked up at her and said, "I kept it a secret. I dealt with the person who performed the abortion and the imperial physician. Now, apart from Yan Qiu and Li Qiuping, only you and your husband know about it."

This is not a good thing to say. Once you carry a secret, it means you have taken on a responsibility.

What's more, it's such a shocking secret.

Fan Liuer had a gut feeling that she was about to hear something even more frightening, so she immediately looked at Li Chenbi.

Li Chenbi didn't look at Fan Liuer, but stared at Li Chenshu, and chuckled.

His face was even darker than before. "Li Chenshu, are you out of your mind? Get out of here!"

Fan Liuer's heart pounded in her chest at Li Chenbi's sudden outburst of temper. She immediately grabbed his hand and whispered, "Are you crazy?!"

Now that Li Chenshu is the Empress, no matter how good their relationship is, she won't allow him to act so recklessly.

Li Chenshu is not the type to indulge her younger brother. She usually speaks directly to mock Li Chenbi when she doesn't like him. This time, however, she wasn't angry at all when faced with Li Chenbi's offense.

Yan Qiu immediately stood up. He no longer possessed the aura of the current emperor, as if he had returned to nine years ago, the boy who followed Li Chenbi around.

"Brother Chenbi, we had no other choice but to resort to this tactic."

Li Chenbi's face grew even uglier. Pointing at Li Chenshu, he said to Yanqiu, "What do you mean there's no way? If this child is absolutely necessary, and she can't give birth, then you should find someone else to have the child."

"Don't blame me for being impolite if you try to take advantage of me."

Yanqiu sighed again, "It's not that Shen Shu can't have children, it's..." He lowered his head, "...it's my problem."

Fan Liuer seemed to understand somewhat, and swallowed.

Yan Qiu added, "In the first year of my marriage to Shen Shu, the imperial physician diagnosed me and said it was my problem. It's already quite an achievement that I've been able to conceive twice, and I'm afraid it will be difficult to have a third time."

As he spoke, he looked up again, "Besides, Shen Shu's body can't withstand a third time. Brother Shen Bi, Shen Shu is your sister. Can you really bear to see her suffer such torment and pain?"

"Every miscarriage is a trauma for her. Look at her now, she looks so haggard."

Li Chenbi didn't accept his words and waved his hand, "Don't give me that. If you can't have children, then adopt one from your Yan family. Yan Ling has a son, and I think he would be happy to give him to you."

Yan Qiu hurriedly said, "Yan Ling hates me so much, how could I dare to raise his son? Besides, you can't really raise someone else's child properly. If I leave in the future, I certainly won't treat Shen Shu well."

Fan Liuer finally understood, clutching her stomach in disbelief, "You...you're not here to ask us for...the baby, are you?"

Yanqiu looked embarrassed and didn't say anything.

Li Chenshu spoke up, "His position is already precarious. If the news that he cannot have children gets out, those who covet this position will be even more restless. Therefore, he cannot adopt a child, and people cannot know that he cannot have children."

"After much thought, we came up with this idea: our due dates are around the same time, and you are carrying twins. When you give birth, give us one and say it was me. That will stop the rumors and dispel the fantasies of those with ulterior motives."

Fan Liuer was dumbfounded; she couldn't process such outrageous news for a while.

Li Chenbi was amused by Li Chenshu's words, "You two have made up your minds? Did I agree to it?"

Li Chenshu looked at Li Chenbi and said, "Why don't you agree? This is a good thing for our whole family. If you have a son, he will inherit the throne in the future. This is something that many people wouldn't even dare to dream of!"

"I don't care about your throne. If I wanted to sit on it, it wouldn't be his turn." Li Chenbi pointed at Yanqiu.

"Brother Chenbi!" Yanqiu looked at him, his face pleading.

"Get out!" Li Chenbi remained unmoved.

Yanqiu didn't back down, and he got angry too. "Don't forget we're all in the same boat now. If I really adopt Yanling's son, and I die and his son succeeds me, guess who's the first person to be dealt with?"

"You, your children, your whole family—no one can escape this. How long do you think you can protect your descendants?"

"Can you live for a thousand generations?"

"If you want your descendants to live a peaceful and stable life, the best way is to have your son adopted by me. He can become emperor someday, and you'll be his uncle in name only. How could he not treat you well?"

Li Chenbi frowned and stared at Yan Qiu, then sneered after a moment: "You've really grown up, starting to threaten me now."

Yanqiu pursed his lips and remained silent.

Fan Liuer then spoke up weakly, "What if it's not a son?"

Yanqiu's words enlightened Fan Liuer. If Yanqiu could not have children, the entire court would surely ask him to adopt a member of the imperial clan.

As Yan Qi's eldest son, Yan Ling's son was naturally the first choice.

If Yanling's son were to ascend the throne in the future, and Li Chenbi were to grow old by then, his entire family would indeed be in dire straits.