My Prince said he'd break my legs.

The imperial physician took Princess Lunyue's pulse and determined that she had simply fallen into a deep sleep due to overexertion before methodically administering acupuncture to stop the bleeding.

The midwife held the baby, and the group exchanged glances before kneeling on the ground, pleading, "Please, sir, spare our lives! This has nothing to do with us!"

Liang Zhiyi looked bewildered, then saw the imperial physician take the child, examine him for a while, and look at Liang Zhiyi with a complicated expression, saying, "Your Majesty, the princess gave birth to a boy, stillborn."

No wonder the child wasn't crying.

For a moment, Liang Zhiyi didn't know whether to be happy or sad.

Even if Princess Lunyue gave birth to a healthy child, if it was a boy, he would inevitably be executed at birth.

Now the child is dead... Liang Zhiyi's gaze locked onto Princess Lunyue's pale face, which was stained with blood loss.

This newborn child is her hope for survival. Without the child, could she still live?

The midwife had also overheard Princess Lunyue's words. After thinking for a moment, she boldly said, "Your Excellency, I was just delivering a baby at someone's house. The mother died in childbirth due to complications, and the baby was a girl. The man of the house doesn't want a daughter and is asking me to find a good family to take her away..."

Upon hearing this, Liang Zhiyi was overjoyed. She immediately gave several women a reward and instructed them, "You accompany the midwife and bring the child over before the princess wakes up."

The imperial physician hesitated, "Your Majesty,..."

Liang Zhiyi: "You all go ahead and take care of it. I'll handle things with His Majesty."

"Yes."

That evening, when Liang Zhiyi returned to her tent, Pei Yue was still reading official documents.

Since their argument that day, Pei Yue has been determined to keep her by his side, and he will not easily change his mind once he has made a decision.

No matter what methods Liang Zhiyi used to confront him, they had no effect whatsoever.

Under the power of authority, she had no choice but to bow her head.

She quickly washed up, and when she came out, Pei Yue was already lying in bed, staring intently at her: "Come here."

Liang Zhiyi swallowed hard, but finally moved over.

Before she even got close to the bed, Pei Yue pulled her over, and in a dizzying moment, she fell into his arms.

He pinched her waist: "If I hadn't sent someone to urge you, wouldn't you have known to come back on your own?"

She nestled in Pei Yue's arms and whispered, "The princess has no one she can rely on. She just gave birth and is still weak. I helped her settle in over there."

Princess Lunyue's maids who came with her as part of her dowry had all been killed by the Crown Prince of Wei.

Pei Yue scoffed, "You've got some nerve, daring to give Lun Yue a child without my permission."

Judging from his tone, Liang Zhiyi didn't think he was blaming her. Indeed, if Pei Yue hadn't agreed, he would have had the child taken away long ago.

Holding a baby girl to act as Lun Yue's child is the best solution.

Regardless of any past conflicts between Princess Lunyue's birth mother and Empress Dowager Xie, Princess Lunyue is now a victim of the war between the two countries. For the sake of the nation's reputation, Pei Yue will make proper arrangements for Princess Lunyue.

"Isn't this something His Majesty tacitly approved?"

Pei Yue fell silent, rolling over and pressing down on her, his eyes burning. He leaned down, slipping his hand inside her undergarments, his warm breath brushing against her neck, and kissed her lips...

Liang Zhiyi frowned, knowing that resistance was futile, and finally closed her eyes and let him be.

When he woke up the next day, Pei Yue was no longer in the camp.

He had already ordered that women's civilian clothes be prepared for her; the fighting was over, and she no longer needed to wear soldiers' uniforms.

She paused slightly as she got up to put on her casual clothes. Last night he had directly... (Tomato wouldn't let me write, I had writer's block, so I revised and deleted again and again.)

They did share a room during the month or so that they were with the army, but Pei Yue had always avoided it.

How come last night...? She assumed Pei Yue had forgotten because he was happy after unifying the world.

After getting dressed, he walked towards the camp, intending to find the imperial physician to prescribe contraceptive medicine, but then stopped and turned around to go to the city pharmacy to find a doctor.

This time she had money on her, and after Pei Yue brought her back, perhaps thinking she couldn't escape, he didn't confiscate her money.

After the doctor prepared the contraceptive medicine for her and she drank it, she asked the soldiers to fetch some tonics from the Wei imperial palace's storeroom.

"Go find General Yan Ci, and he will fetch them for you. You need thousand-year-old ginseng, donkey-hide gelatin, deer antler, bird's nest, and other tonics."

Pei Yue has already sent people to guard the national treasury in the Great Wei palace, so it's impossible to take it privately, but Yan Ci can do it.

Sure enough, upon hearing that it was for Liang Zhiyi, Yan Ci knew who it was for and took it to the soldier.

Soon, the soldiers delivered the tonics to Liang Zhiyi, and only then did she go to see Princess Lunyue.

Yesterday, she ordered people to carry Princess Lunyue back to her previous residence.

Several palace maids and nannies were chosen to serve her closely in the palace.

Liang Zhiyi had just arrived at Princess Lunyue's residence when she found her awake.

When the nanny saw that the princess had woken up, she quickly brought out the food that was always ready. Princess Lunyue did not eat immediately, but looked at Liang Zhiyi with hope in her eyes.

"Zhiyi, child..."

Liang Zhiyi understood the meaning in her eyes; she was also afraid that she would give birth to a son, in which case she would have no way to survive.

"The child is fine; she's a very pretty girl."

Upon hearing this, Princess Lunyue breathed a sigh of relief and visibly became happy.

"The wet nurse just took the little princess down to drink milk. You should eat something first, otherwise you won't have the strength to carry the little princess later."

Princess Lunyue readily agreed and finished the bowl of porridge.

Liang Zhiyi had the wet nurse bring the little county princess to Princess Lunyue. She observed Princess Lunyue's expression, afraid that she would discover something was wrong.

Fortunately, Princess Lunyue did not realize that the child was not her own; she simply held the child and cried.

"My child, my child, my child..."

Liang Zhiyi turned her head away, unable to bear looking at her.

After spending the entire day with Princess Lunyue, Liang Zhiyi sent a soldier to inform Pei Yue near dusk that she wished to stay overnight at Princess Lunyue's place.

The soldier quickly replied that Pei Yue forbade her to stay out overnight.

Princess Lunyue said, "Go ahead, I'll be fine, don't worry. I'll take good care of myself for the sake of the child."

Back in his tent, Pei Yue stretched out his hands to warm himself by the stove, clearly having just returned as well.

Upon seeing her return, Pei Yue had someone serve her a meal.

Today, Pei Yue seemed unusually quiet. Neither of them spoke during the meal, and the only sound in the large tent was the crisp sound of chopsticks hitting bowls.

The atmosphere was strange. Liang Zhiyi didn't want to be in the same room with him, so she made up an excuse to go wash up.

Not long after she got into the bathtub, Pei Yue came in.

Liang Zhiyi was startled and blurted out, "You're not allowed to come in."

Pei Yue didn't even lift his eyelids, ignoring her words, and slowly took off his robes and entered the bathtub.

This made the already small bathtub even more crowded.

Pei Yue lifted her up, and she was practically sitting on him.

"His Majesty........"

Pei Yue didn't say a word, but lifted her chin and kissed her.

Liang Zhiyi didn't want to do that kind of thing with him in the bathtub, since they were in a military camp and the tents were very close together, so the noise they made would be easily heard.

She reached out to push him away, but he grabbed her hand and pinned her behind his back, completely controlling her body.

"Hmm..." Liang Zhiyi unconsciously let out an indescribable sound.

"Doesn't Zhizhi have anything to say to me?" Pei Yue released her lips, his tone unpleasant.

Hearing his words, Liang Zhiyi felt as if he were interrogating her. She tried hard to recall what she had done that day...

Contraceptive?

She pursed her lips; it wasn't a big deal to begin with, so why was she angry?

"Looks like she's remembered."

Seeing that she didn't respond for a long time, Pei Yue exuded a cold aura... (remaining few dozen words)

Liang Zhiyi bit her lip tightly, her voice trembling slightly: "His Majesty has always known my thoughts and has always cooperated with me."

Pei Yue's voice softened, his tone slow and gentle: "You don't need to take contraceptives anymore. Give me a child."

Liang Zhiyi naturally knew what he was talking about. Previously, she had used the excuse that she was too young to have children, and coupled with the shock of Zhou Liangyuan's death in childbirth, Pei Yue had let the matter drop.

This body is now twenty-two years old...

In ancient times, this would have been considered quite old.

She rested her head on his shoulder without saying a word; she didn't want to agree to this.

But can we really let her have her way?