Black Belly Wife

Continued from the previous chapter

"It's still uncertain that it's going to be a son. So you don't have to be so upset." Murong Yunshu cheerfully comforted someone with a gloomy face.

"I'm sure we'll have a son."

"How do you know it will be a son?"

"I just know."

"......there is a jade shop over there. Let's go and have a look." Murong Yunshu said while pulling Chu Changge towards the jade shop.

There was a dazzling array of jade inside the shop. Although not all of them were of the finest quality, they had translucent colour and lustre, rare in Yanzhou, where resources were scarce.

Murong Yunshu was looking at the jade pendants when she suddenly saw a flash out of the corner of her eye. She noticed a black hairpin sitting at the corner of the counter filled with green jades. At first glance, she could see that it was carved from the finest black jade.

"Shopkeeper, I'll take this hairpin."

"This lady has such a good eye! This hairpin is the treasure of our shop!" The shopkeeper smilingly took out the hairpin and handed it to Murong Yunshu.

Murong Yunshu picked it up and turned it around in her hand for a while. It looked polished and smooth, an excellent piece of jade indeed. To say that it was the shop's treasure was a bit too much, but there was no denying that it was undoubtedly the best piece of jade in the shop. After looking at it, the other jades paled in comparison.

"Do a horse stance." Murong Yunshu turned and instructed Chu Changge.

Chu Changge's face became wary, "For what?"

"To identify whether it is good or bad."

"......I can see whether it is good or bad without the need to do the squat."

Murong Yunshu glared at him grumpily. "Are you going to squat or not?"

At that moment, the shopkeeper kindly moved a chair and placed it behind Chu Changge. "Please have a seat, Gongzi."

Before Chu Changge could respond, Murong Yunshu said, "He won't sit on it. For him, the horse stance is no different from sitting on a chair. "

"Er…..." The shopkeeper froze. After laughing awkwardly for a few seconds, he finally said, "You people are really good at making a joke."

On the other hand, Chu Changge's face was full of black lines. Could she not treat him like he was not a human being just because he was strong in martial arts?

Despite all the discontent in his heart, Chu Changge cooperated by bending his legs into a horse stance. He thought, 'although the evil little creature in her belly is only half a person, her status is now different. For example, no matter what disputes occur, later on, she can always act like a dictator with the excuse that the minority must submit to the majority.'

Chu Changge was so lost with his thoughts when he suddenly felt someone touching his hair. It suddenly dawned on him that she wanted to coil his hair up. Although it was only a small move, it touched Chu Changge to a great extent.

Murong Yunshu ignored the strange looks around her. Her movements were gentle and natural as if it was usual for her to do so.

Soon, Murong Yunshu withdrew her hand, nodded in satisfaction and praised, "That's good."

"After using this hairpin to coil up his hair, Gongzi looks......much more lively." What the shopkeeper actually wanted to say was――he looked much more decent. Before, his messy hair added up with his slanted eyes made him appear insufferable and unapproachable. He didn't seem like a decent person in any way. Although he still has an evil air about him right now, he looked much more handsome with his hair up.

"Gongzi, here, a mirror." The shopkeeper cheerfully handed Chu Changge a bronze mirror.

"He doesn't need a mirror." Murong Yunshu stopped the bronze mirror halfway over the counter.

The corners of Chu Changge's mouth trembled slightly. "Are you trying to say that my appearance will appear the same whether I look in the mirror or not?"

Murong Yunshu nodded her head very calmly. "M-hm. I just think it looks good on you, and no one else will appreciate you anyway."

"I can't say for certain…..." halfway through the sentence, Chu Changge realised that Murong Yunshu's eyes had become strange. He immediately changed his sentence, "It's enough that I have only you to admire me. For the others, just let them admire other people."

Murong Yunshu smiled satisfactorily at these words and turned her head to ask the shopkeeper, "How much is it?"

The shopkeeper all smiled. His shrewd eyes shifted a few times as he said, "Three hundred taels."

Murong Yunshu was silent for a short while before raising her hand to take the hairpin off Chu Changge's head.

Chu Changge's long hair, which had lost its confinement, slid down in an instant, and he went back to his previous ghost-like appearance.

In response, the shopkeeper immediately modified his previous statement by saying, "Two hundred taels!"

Murong Yunshu frowned and put the hairpin on the counter.

"One hundred taels!"

"Don't reduce it any further." Murong Yunshu responded indifferently, "If you reduce it anymore, I will no longer have the desire to buy it. It will just be too cheap to wear on his head."

The owner was dumbfounded. When she hesitated to buy it, it was not because it was too expensive but because it was too cheap?

Murong Yunshu glanced at the shopkeeper and said, "Wrap it up."

The shopkeeper immediately took out a brocade box and wrapped the jade hairpin inside it. I feel so sorry for myself! He should have known that this pair of well-dressed and elegant couples would not care about that 'small amount of money'......

Chu Changge, on the other hand, silently smiled as he enjoyed the bitter expression on the shopkeeper's face. You must be in the right frame of mind when you are with her. If you were not prepared to take joy in calamity and delight in other people's disasters at any time, you would miss a lot of fun. Fortunately, he was extraordinarily gifted and could find joy in other people's suffering.

*

The following day, all passers-by were shocked when a glowing, refreshed, handsome man emerged from Murong Yunshu's boudoir.

"Didn't Miss Murong and Chu Gongzi have a long-standing marriage contract? How could she have met with another man at the same time......."

"Yes. I don't know how will Chu Gongzi handle this when he finds out?"

"This is nothing strange. She can even get pregnant before marriage. How can something as a red plum tree jutting out over a wall be a surprise? For such a woman who is variable as flowing water and as light as Yang Hua won't know how to observe female virtues at all!"

"But I don't think Miss Murong is like that!"

"Yes. Miss Murong looks so noble. I don't believe she could be that kind of person."

"You are still young and are too easily fooled by false appearances. She even has the nerve to come out to meet people when she's already pregnant before she's married. She's really so shameless......"

At this moment, a murderous voice could be heard coming from above them――"Who did you say to be so shameless?" Even before his voice died out, North Guardian, in his black attire, made a surprise appearance in front of the old woman servant and a few maids.

The crowd was so frightened that they screamed in shock. Especially the old woman servant who just scolded Murong Yunshu. Her face turned white with fear. "No, no, we didn't......talk about anyone."

"Is that so?" North Guardian raised his voice slightly and cried out, "She said I misheard. Did I mishear her?"

"If she said you heard her wrong, then it must be true." West Guardian floated down to the left of the crowd. With his hands on his chest and a smirk on his mouth, he spoke leisurely, "You really misheard her. I remember she spoke about 'a red plum tree jutting out over a wall'."

The old woman servant's face turned even paler, and her legs began to tremble. "No, it's not...…."

"Lil West, you've treated her unjustly. She was talking about something variable as flowing water and as light as Yang Hua." Another voice came from the back.

The old woman looked back only to see a tall gentleman looking down at her expressionlessly. "You, you are......"

"I'm with them." South Guardian replied quite gently.

The old woman servant's legs went weak, and she almost fell but was helped by a man from her right side. She was about to look up and thank him when she heard the man say, "You three are making up such nonsense. She was talking about someone who doesn't know how to observe female virtues."

The little strength the old woman had just regained was instantly used up, and she fainted. This time East Guardian did not hold her up and just watched her fall.

"Would it look like I'm being ungentlemanly if I fix her head with a brick right now?" North Guardian cast a sideways glance at the old woman servant on the ground and asked.

South Guardian replied, "No, you won't. But if Leader finds out that you did it while that person was 'sleeping', he will definitely laugh at you."

"That's true." North Guardian nodded his head as if he had been told to do so.

"You can wait here for her. As soon as she wakes up, you'll fix her head with a brick, and when she wakes up again, fix her head with another brick." West Guardian put forth a very constructive suggestion.

North Guardian: "Then, what about you guys?"

"We are going to watch the fun." After saying those words, West Guardian leisurely smiled as he waved at him and took the opportunity to walk away.

"Watching what kind of fun?" North Guardian looked at South Guardian with a puzzled expression.

South Guardian simply ignored him and followed after West Guardian's footsteps. North Guardian immediately turned his attention to the only brother left. [+]

"Lil North." East Guardian patted North Guardian's shoulder and spoke with sincere words and earnest wishes, "In our line of work, it is not enough to only have good martial art. If you don't have a brain, people will always discriminate against you."

"......" Did he have to tell him that?

East Guardian added, "Did you not hear them say earlier that Madam was having an affair with another man?"

"Ah, how could I have overlooked this!" North Guardian slapped the back of his head as he said, "The Leader must have been furious. Let's go. Let's get there together."

The two men then drifted away just like ghosts. While the remaining maids were left standing in shock, unsure of what to do next.

After a long time, one of the maids came back to her senses and shouted, "Go and inform His Highness that Madam Wang has fainted!"

*

When North, South, East and West arrived at the women guests' courtyard, they were just in time to see a gorgeously dressed man, with a striking appearance from behind, was playing a game of weiqi with Murong Yunshu.

"Old East, things are getting so serious." West Guardian said grimly.

East Guardian nodded heavily. "This man's martial art is not weak. I'm afraid, even with the four of us altogether, are no match for him."

"There are only a few people with such high martial arts skills in the jianghu (lit. rivers and lakes—people wandering from place to place and living by their wits, e.g. fortune-tellers, quack doctors, itinerant entertainers, etc., considered as a social group)." South Guardian also looked grave.

Without even thinking, North Guardian said, "I'll go get the Leader!"

West Guardian quickly grabbed him. "Where are you going?"

"Go find the Leader!"

"The Leader is not in that direction." West Guardian said.

"If he's not in that direction, then in which direction will he be?"

"In front of you."

"In front of me? There is no Leader in......"

Before North Guardian even finished speaking, he heard a man say, "You have come just in time. Go and invite someone for me."

South, East and West immediately jumped behind Murong Yunshu and stared at Chu Changge with a smile. "Who does the Leader want to invite?"

"Feng Cheng." After putting down a black chess piece, Chu Changge added, "Let him deliver the baby."

"......Leader, Feng Gongzi is a man." With his stomach full of sarcastic remarks, East Guardian reminded a certain someone to think carefully.

"M-hm, I know." Chu Changge slowly put down another black chess piece on the board and said, "Just in case."

East Guardian wondered. "In case of what?"

"The physician said that my Miss has a strange pulse, and the fetal position is different from the usual. She will likely have a miscarriage." Lu-er replied.

It dawned on East Guardian the seriousness of the issue. He immediately said, "This subordinate will go and invite Feng Gongzi over."

East Guardian was about to leave when Murong Yunshu added a warning, "Don't let the Fairy Yaoyue know about this."

East Guardian froze and looked back at her in disbelief.

Lu-er once again acted as an interpreter. "The physician said that pregnant women are emotionally unstable, and my Miss doesn't want to infuriate her mother-in-law before she gets married."

"......" The corners of the East Guardian's mouth twitched violently. "I get it."

South, East and West left with North Guardian, who had not yet understood the situation.

"That, that person is the Leader?" North Guardian asked as if something unimaginable had happened.

"You're so generous, Lil North. You didn't even recognise the Leader when his hair is up. A man who makes fun of me when he has nothing else to do, there's no way I wouldn't recognise him even if he turned into dust. Although he became a bit of a nice guy after he put his hair up."

"But you guys sounded so serious......"

"There is nothing fun to see. Of course, we have to be serious."

"......" They all had intentionally lighted the fire (make one angry) just to tease him! North Guardian secretly vowed that one day, he would also pat the three of them on the shoulder and say seriously: In our line of work, it is not enough to have good martial art. Without brains, people will always discriminate against you.

He wanted to discriminate against them. He really wanted to discriminate against them!

*

No sooner had South, East, North, and West left, King Sheng, turned up without being invited.

Without waiting for King Sheng to open his mouth, Murong Yunshu first made her position clear, "The seal has been handed over to you. If you want silver, go directly to the private banks to get it. Until this child is born, I will not interfere with the war."

"You've misunderstood. I am not here to discuss state affairs with you." Knowing full well that this couple were not modest people, King Sheng moved a chair by himself. He sat down next to them, saying, "A guest has come to the residence, saying that he is an old friend of yours and has important business to see you."

Murong Yunshu's dark eyebrows rose slightly, and the movement of her hand in putting down the chess piece paused as she asked, "Did this guest leave behind a name?"

"Yes, he is called Huberg."

Hearing the words 'Huberg', Murong Yunshu's hand trembled, and the white chess piece in her hand almost slipped off. How could the sorcerer of the Li clan suddenly come to their door? Could it be related to the Soul Snatcher again? Thinking of this, Murong Yunshu couldn't help but look at Chu Changge. Chu Changge happened to be looking at her too.

Four eyes collided, and they didn't need to utter any words. They knew each other's thoughts clearly. They shared the same belief as they were uneasy with Huberg's sudden visit.

Murong Yunshu thought about it and said, "Then, ask him to come in."

"Okay." King Sheng nodded and then said to Chu Changge, "There is also a guest looking for you."

Chu Changge frowned at his words and said in an unpleasant tone, "Since when has King Sheng's residence become a vegetable garden where anyone can just come in and go?" The reason why he had agreed to live in the Sheng Wang Mansion was because of its remoteness. It was the only suitable place for Murong Yunshu to nurse her baby because no one would disturb her here.

King Sheng glanced at Murong Yunshu, then said to Chu Changge, "Her name is Qiu Shuiyin."

"It's her?!" Chu Changge was filled with shock. He did not expect that Qiu Shuiyin would not only left the Hundred Flowers Pavilion but even found her way to the Sheng Wang Residence.

"Is it your old friend?" Murong Yunshu asked lightly, but there were a few hints of displeasure in her words. Qiu Shuiyin was obviously a woman's name, and she had never heard Chu Changge mention her before.

"She saved me." Chu Changge thought for a moment and said, "She probably wants to ask for a favour."

"Is that so?" Murong Yunshu smiled faintly and said, "Then let's meet her first. It's always bad to owe someone a favour."

Chu Changge nodded. "All right." Also, there was no need for him to get involved with that woman anymore in the future. [+]

King Sheng did not expect Murong Yunshu's reaction would be so calm and so――abnormal. He stared blankly at her for a long time before he could accept it. "There is another thing." King Sheng added, "I just heard while on my way here that your guardians had scared my nanny unconscious. What is this all about?"

"There is such a thing?" Chu Changge raised his eyebrows. "There must be some kind of misunderstanding here. Without my permission, the four of them wouldn't just randomly hurt other people."

King Sheng argued, "But some maids saw four of them commit the physical assault on her with their own eyes, and more than one maid had seen it."

At that moment, Murong Yunshu spoke out, "It's probably because the four of them look too scary that their appearances had scared her." After saying that, she looked at Chu Changge again and said, "I warned you a long time ago to not let them hang out outside. It is not good if they scare people like this." [T/N]

Hearing this, Chu Changge immediately looked like he had been particularly taught and agreed, "What Madam said is true. I will definitely pay more attention next time."

King Sheng's face was full of black lines. He was the foolish one to even think of arguing with these two people.

Before leaving, King Sheng looked back at Chu Changge again and complimented, "I noticed that you have become more delicate and pretty."

"......if you're not going to get lost, I'll tear down your Sheng Wang (King/Prince) Residence!"

*

Not long after King Sheng left, Qiu Shuiyin was led to the guest courtyard by a maid from the royal residence.

"Lu-er, prepare the tea."

"Yes."

Murong Yunshu said very politely, "Please sit down."

"No need." Qiu Shuiyin's face was cold as she looked at Chu Changge. She then said, "You said that if I had any wishes, you would help me to fulfil them."

Chu Changge responded, "Just don't ask me to marry you."

After hearing his words, Qiu Shuiyin sized Murong Yunshu up with an indifferent glance and said, "I'm no worse than her."

"What's nonsense are you talking about?!" Lu-er shouted, "My Miss is much better than you even realise!"

Qiu Shuiyin glanced at Lu-er and said, "How shamelessly boastful."

Lu-er got annoyed when she heard her words. "Miss, she......"

Murong Yunshu smiled gently and reminded, "Lu-er, how many times have I told you. Don't forget to be well-mannered even if the other person is being impolite to you."

"Oh." Lu-er closed her mouth and stepped back.

Murong Yunshu took a sip of tea. She smiled again and looked leisurely at Qiu Shuiyin before saying, "I am rarely polite to people. And I rarely tolerate people who are not polite to me. For the sake of you being my husband's life saviour, I will forgive you this once." Her tone was calm as water without any hint of confrontation. After a few moments, she added, "If you are not here to compete with me for a man, please sit down."

"What if it is?" Qiu Shuiyin asked.

At these words, Murong Yunshu snorted, and a bit of coldness spilt out from her eyes as she indifferently replied, "If it is so, I'm afraid you'll be disappointed."

Qiu Shuiyin frowned. "Are you so confident?"

"No. I just believe him." Murong Yunshu looked at Chu Changge and continued speaking, "Since you want to fight with me, one of us is bound to be disappointed. And I know he won't let me down."

Chu Changge was glad that Murong Yunshu trusted him so much. At the same time, he was relieved that he wouldn't have to worry about being left alone again at night after Qiu Shuiyin had made such a scene.