Favored concubine deposed empress? I'll seize your throne and marry you to a powerful minister.

She left the palace openly, and when she encountered any obstacles, she simply said that she was leaving the palace for a short while.

However, once outside the palace, after several twists and turns, they could no longer be found.

Upon hearing that the new king was furious, he dispatched 3,000 elite troops who searched for two months before finally finding her trail on the southern border of Dajing.

The General Wei's Mansion, which was built more than a decade ago, is now completely marked by the passage of time, its weathered appearance etched by the winds and sands of the border region.

"Sister, please accept my condolences."

Wei Xing helped Wei Rong up. In the ancestral hall of the old general's mansion, the ancestral tablets of their Wei family were displayed.

The ancestors of the Wei family were mostly born in the southern border region and served as guards on the frontier battlefields for generations.

Until the late emperor summoned them back to the capital.

At that time, Wei Xing was still an infant in swaddling clothes, and he had no memory of the old general's mansion.

Now, a new figure has been added to the ancestral hall's arrangement—their father, Wei Beimu.

When Wei Beimu's head was sent back to Yunjing, Wei Rong erected a memorial tablet for him at Changhua Temple.

But my mother died in the southern border region, so I suppose my father's wish was to return to his homeland.

Therefore, two months ago, Wei Xingfei wrote a letter to Wei Rong, telling her that he had found the exact location where her father was burned, and she rushed over.

Even though nothing can be found, my father should still be laid to rest.

She built a tomb for Wei Beimu and buried his mother's coffin together with his father's.

Today is the day the grave is opened; once the tomb door is closed, it signifies a lifetime of separation between the living and the dead.

Wei Rong's eyes were slightly red, and when Wei Xing helped her up, she felt a sudden darkness in her vision.

Thinking Wei Rong was overwhelmed with grief, Wei Xing quickly helped her up: "What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"

"I feel a little dizzy, maybe it's from kneeling for too long."

Wei Rong didn't know why, but these days she was always easily tired, unable to squat or sit for long periods of time, and unable to eat meat.

She didn't tell Wei Xing any of this.

Qiaoyu, on the other hand, was extremely worried and kept waiting for Wei Rong to finish dealing with the affairs of the General's Mansion so that she could find a royal physician to examine her.

It's inconvenient not being in the palace; Imperial Physician Qian can't come out anytime to take a pulse.

"Young General, you should invite a royal physician for the young lady. Her loss of appetite has become increasingly severe these past few days, and she has lost a lot of weight."

Wei Xing was busy going to the military camp every day and didn't pay much attention to these things. Hearing this, he became nervous: "Why didn't you say so sooner?"

Qiaoyu said aggrievedly, "The young lady forbade me to say it."

It was indeed quite uncomfortable. Now that the important matter was settled, Wei Rong breathed a sigh of relief: "Alright, then please have someone take a look at me. It should be because of the heat. I don't feel uncomfortable anywhere else."

After the start of autumn, the "autumn tiger" heat wave is particularly fierce, and in recent days, people in southern Xinjiang have almost reached the point where they dare not step out of their homes.

It's normal to have a poor appetite.

"This is not normal," the old doctor said quietly after taking her pulse for a while. "This young lady doesn't have a loss of appetite; this is morning sickness."

General Wei's mansion enjoys a high reputation in the area, and this old doctor was an acquaintance of Wei Rong's grandfather and was very familiar with the Wei family's affairs.

Two months ago, Wei Rong shocked the world by divorcing her husband, thus relieving herself of the burden of being the Empress of the Great Jing Dynasty.

But now, two months later, a pregnancy has been diagnosed.

Whether it was the senior doctor, Wei Xing, or even Wei Rong herself, their faces went blank for a moment.

Qiaoyu, standing to the side, blushed deeply, wanting to speak but not daring to.

Wei Xing, having seen it all, was the first to recover: "Morning sickness—pregnancy pulse, sister, you're pregnant! That's good, that's normal, nothing to be surprised about. Although you don't have a husband right now, but—yes, pregnancy isn't strange!"

"..."

In fact, he himself didn't know what he was saying.

It was visibly that General Wei's face was turning whiter inch by inch.

My sister is pregnant!

The cause of her father's death was orchestrated by Xiao Heng, and the child in her womb is most likely Xiao Heng's. Should she keep the child or not?

The senior doctor also felt troubled: "The pregnancy is still early. If the baby is born later, the girl will have to raise it alone, which will inevitably lead to a lot of gossip. Perhaps—"

Although it's cruel, it's better than growing up and experiencing love, hate, and grudges.

Wei Rong couldn't help but place her hand on her lower abdomen, feeling that it was completely flat.

But could a life have actually been conceived here?

Two months ago, she was asking Ling Xianru what to do if she couldn't have children in the future.

this--

Moreover, for the past two months, she had only left him a note informing him that she was leaving temporarily, and they had lost contact for more than sixty days without any communication.

Ling Xianru didn't even know that she was in the southern border region.

She's pregnant already?

Judging from the expressions of the old doctor and Wei Xing, they probably still thought she was carrying Xiao Heng's child.

How could that be?

There was no way she could have given birth to Xiao Heng's child.

Wei Xing agreed with the doctor's words. In his opinion, this child was out of place, lacking all the right timing, location, and people. Even if he came into this world, he would not be blessed or valued.

"Sister," Wei Xing held Wei Rong's hand, his brows full of encouragement, "You are still young. Wait for me for two years. After I have made my mark, I will definitely find you a good husband. Then, when you have another child, I will treat him as my own child."

The old doctor also took out a pill and handed it to Wei Rong: "This medicine will not have any side effects, so please rest assured, young lady. I will personally take care of your health here."

The pill emitted a peculiar fragrance and had no bitter taste whatsoever.

Qiaoyu turned her face away.

She thought the young general disliked Donglin's offspring and insisted on killing the child in her master's womb.

Wei Rong took the pill and gently rubbed it between her fingertips.

Her expression was blank; no one knew what she was thinking.

The tables and chairs in the old general's mansion are old and worn, and the hall is full of traces.

On the table at the head of the table are still paint stains from when Wei Rong was learning to paint as a child. Although the paint has faded, it is still possible to vaguely see how mischievous she was in her youth.

Attracted by her gaze, Wei Rong stared intently at that spot.

Some distant memories came flooding back.

She was very young then, not even as tall as this table.

She tiptoed and climbed, finally reaching the top. She spread out a sheet of snow-white Xuan paper, held the paintbrush she had stolen from her grandfather's study, and painstakingly made a stroke on the paper.

Then another stroke.

Footsteps hurried by, and from a distance, someone shouted, "Little Arong, you've messed up my table again!"

It was my grandfather with graying temples.

He was already unwell at that time. He approached, picked up Wei Rong's painting, examined it for a moment, and patted her head: "I told you to attend classes in school, but you didn't. You do have some talent for drawing these. What, have you already forgotten about your father punishing you for trespassing into the wolf enclosure?"

"Grandpa, those people aren't dead yet. They even sent me a message by carrier pigeon. I'll send a reply to them too."

Wei Rong's face and nose were covered in paint, but she looked extremely pleased with herself.

"Oh?" General Wei picked her up and put her on the ground. "That's no excuse for you to draw on my desk!"

The scene faded inch by inch as her grandfather passed away and Wei Rong grew up.

This table has gone from being bright and vibrant to being worn and faded.

It was only at this moment that Wei Rong began to truly grasp the reality of her past interactions with Ling Xianru.

She once leaned over this table and wrote a letter back to the boy she had saved.

Now she sits at this table, pregnant with his child.

Several people around her looked at her nervously.

Just then, a doorman rushed in to report: "Young General, Miss, someone has come to visit outside."

In the past two months, quite a few of Wei's former subordinates and people from the southern border have come to visit, mostly to reminisce or to bring gifts.

Wei Xingzheng was in a state of confusion when he heard this, he said, "I won't see him. Tell him he's busy right now."

"But—" the doorman hesitated, "The person who came is unusual, unlike people from our southern border region. He even specified that the young lady should go to meet him."

Not from southern Xinjiang?

Why would someone from southern Xinjiang visit at this time?

With a thought, Wei Rong stood up, hurriedly crossed the corridor, and arrived at the main gate.

The vermilion gate is no longer as imposing as it once was. When she was young, she could only stand on tiptoe and felt that the top of the gate was far away. But now, standing behind this gate, she was surprised to find that time had passed like a white horse galloping by, shaping her into an adult.

She stepped onto the stairs.

When she was six years old, she didn't know many words yet, but she drew her joy at learning about the group of people she had saved on paper.

It's a scene of myself dressed in red, standing under the gate of the general's mansion, with two red lanterns above my head, grinning widely.

At that time, she didn't know that after so many lifetimes and deaths, they would meet again.

At that time, she didn't know that some encounters are destined.

First order.

Two-stage.

My heart was beating clearly and rapidly.

We missed each other when we were both busy struggling to make a living, and then met again when we were covered in wounds.

How could I possibly want to give up our child?

The pill at her fingertip fell to the ground with a thud.

Third order.

The main street in front of the General's Mansion was bustling with people from the southern border region.

A familiar face stood there, dressed in a moon-white cross-collar robe, with a cold expression.

Wei Rong didn't feel like it had been long, but perhaps because pregnant women are more sentimental, her eyes welled up with tears at that moment.

Ling Xianru was taken aback, then strode forward, her warm fingertips brushing against the corner of her eye, her tone tense: "I haven't even questioned why someone would sleep with you and then run away, why are you crying?"

Upon hearing this, Wei Xing, who had accompanied him, exclaimed: "......???????"

But then, Wei Rong gagged as Ling Xianru touched her.

"??????"

Ling Xianru's face was as gloomy as a ghost.

To prevent Donglin from going to war with Dajing, Wei Xing hurriedly shouted, "My elder sister is pregnant!"

Then the ghostly expression twisted and went blank.

"Great," Wei Xing thought. "Anyone who hears this will be devastated. The child's father will ultimately have to bear everything."

After a long while, Ling Xianru finally made a move.

He gently patted Wei Rong's back, his ghostly expression vanishing, replaced by a cautious look: "Are you feeling unwell?"

It's actually just in bursts.

After enduring it for a while, Wei Rong shook her head slightly and pointed to the ground: "When I learned that you were still alive, I painted a picture of myself here."

I drew a picture of myself that made me very happy.

She could no longer utter a thousand words of reproach; Ling Xianru's heart turned to water.

He certainly remembered, "I treasured that painting for fourteen years."

He searched for two months, realizing that the affairs of the state in the east could not be done without him. When his informant reported that Wei Rong was in the southern border region, he hurriedly finished his important tasks and rushed over.

Fortunately, they arrived in time.

Fortunately, they arrived in time.

He put his arm around Wei Rong's waist.

Under Wei Xing's astonished gaze, he placed a light kiss on Wei Rong's forehead.

But just then, the old doctor, who was slow on his feet, arrived, panting heavily before even getting close, exclaiming, "You need to stay in bed after taking that medicine. Although it won't harm the mother, a miscarriage is still possible!"

—Hmm!?

Wei Xing covered up what he was about to say, but it was too late.

Ling Xianru's expression turned ghostly again, or rather, not like a Yama, the King of Hell, coming to collect debts.

"Miscarriage?"

Eager to prove herself, Wei Rong pointed to the black pill on the ground: "I threw it away a long time ago."

Wei Xing seized the opportunity and said, "I have long said that I will definitely love my elder sister's eldest nephew dearly."

doctor:"................"

It is said that from then on, this doctor never approached Wei Rong again.

Seven months later, Wei Rong gave birth to a baby boy.

Unexpectedly, this prince, who had attracted the attention of both Donglin and Dajing, returned to Dajing many years later and, with the support of his uncle, the commander-in-chief of the Southern Frontier, ascended the throne of Dajing.

From then on, Dajing and Donglin established friendly relations and did not engage in warfare for decades.