Chapter 236

However, Yin Lan gave a self-deprecating laugh, pressed down the sour feeling in her chest, and walked directly away from him, boarding the carriage of the Duke's Mansion.

In a short while, she faded from sight at the street corner.

Huai An's heart was suppressed with indescribable anger. He stared deadly at the carriage, his eyes full of distress.

When they returned to the Duke's Mansion, it seemed there was suddenly estrangement between them.

Although outsiders couldn't see anything wrong as they still talked and worked like before, giving each other letters to and from the Eldest Prince and his wife.

But Yin Lan knew that Huai An had reservations towards her in his heart.

Perhaps he was very disappointed with her as a person after knowing she was a murderer, so he became aloof towards her.

It wasn't exactly disappointing, she had expected this early on. After telling him, she actually felt somewhat more relaxed.

She still treated him well like before.

She regarded him as her younger brother.

That was all, nothing more.

...

After Lantern Festival, Gu Ying became more and more fond of sleeping.

In early March, on a sunny spring day, there was occasionally a snowy day.

Later, the peach blossoms were in full bloom as the weather turned slightly warmer.

People became lazy. She was even less willing to move around.

Cheng was devoted to taking care of Zhao Changxing, and was also less temperamental. She only secretly gritted her teeth in resentment towards Changfeng Pavilion.

Gu Ying felt that a woman's mindset was truly hard to guess.

Cheng firmly believed that it was because of her that her son became like this, cursing her as a demon, a scourge.

Gu Ying helplessly raised her eyebrows. What does it have to do with me?

If you want to blame, then blame her son for having something inappropriate between his legs that is restless.

After the fallout with Cheng, Gu Ying was even more unwilling to leave Changfeng Pavilion. She was content to recuperate within the pavilion, and incidentally, locked Granny Sun, severing Cheng's connection with Granny Sun. Ning Si and Gu Shuang often came to see her. Especially Ning Si, who had some unpleasantness with the Prince, simply came to stay in Changfeng Pavilion for a few days.

Gu Ying’s Changfeng Pavilion became lively again.

But most of the time, she was asleep in bed, for some reason, once she fell asleep, she couldn’t wake up no matter what. Even asleep, she would have all kinds of dreams, about her past and present lives, Jiang Yin and the Eldest Prince, as well as the child she had lost.

Counting the days, that child should have been conceived when her body was still well, it should be from that time at the separate courtyard when the Eldest Prince took her body.

At that time, Jiang Yin hadn't touched her yet. Other than the Eldest Prince, she didn't have any other men.

Speaking of which, her first child...was the Eldest Prince's.

Jiang Yin loathed her for having an unclean body. He rarely touched her. After knowing she was pregnant, he directly had Jiang Ling'er feed her abortion medicine.

On an stormy night.

That medicine nearly tore her lower abdomen apart...the pain made her see stars, and the blood and amniotic fluid flowed out from between her legs...

She was young and hadn't experienced this before, she was so scared she cried straight away.

But Jiang Yin just stood at the door, watching coldly as she struggled in pain. There wasn't the slightest ripple on his face.

Later, he left.

On such a cold day, he left her lying on the icy floor. When she woke up with a pale complexion, touching her flat lower abdomen, she knew in her heart that the child was gone...

She didn't even know if it was male or female.

If it had been born, what would it have looked like...

Later, her body deteriorated and it became very difficult to conceive.

Upon dreaming to this point, Gu Ying cried awake from the dream, leaning against the bed. Her gaze was obscure and confused. She was sleepless until dawn.

If she could conceive the Eldest Prince’s child again in this life, that would be good...

She would definitely give birth to the child, take a look at its appearance, know if it was male or female, and make up for the regrets of her previous life.

Thinking this way, her hand slid down lightly and gently covered her abdomen.

“Child, will you come into mother’s belly again?”

No one answered. In the tranquility of the night, there was only a lone flickering candle light outside the curtains.

The corners of Gu Ying’s mouth rose. She knew early on that she should not have taken contraceptive medicine if she knew she would have loved the Eldest Prince like so.

...

Sitting solitary from dawn, she felt sleepiness overwhelm her.

She turned around and sank back into sleep.

Recently, she often slept. When she woke, if not to see Ning, then to read or practice calligraphy in the study, occasionally chatting with Ning Si. Upon receiving the Eldest Prince’s letter, knowing that the Eldest Prince and Qilin Army were safe, her heart eased a bit.

It was a pity that despite the two stabs she gave Jiang Yin on Lantern Festival, it didn't take his pathetic life. Shu Prince still promoted him to be a staff member in the Prince’s mansion.

She felt annoyed and hated him in her heart.

Thinking that ultimately she cannot let him appear before the Eldest Prince and tell him of her past.

Still need to find another way to kill him.

In mid-March, Gu Ying gradually lost contact with the Eldest Prince.

Previously, the two communicated by letter every three days, later gradually to four to five days before she could receive a letter from Yueyang.

In the last letter, the Eldest Prince said they and the Qilin Army had safely arrived in Yueyang, asking her not to worry.

Since then, she stopped receiving the Eldest Prince’s letters.

Huai An also didn’t know the reason, nor did the messenger returned. Changfeng Pavilion was uneasy.

Until March 15th, the telegram reporting Yueyang’s earthquake was delivered from Yueyang to the court. The deaths and injuries were countless, the Eldest Prince missing, and Qilin Army halved.

The entire court and public were shocked.

No one had expected that just a small snowstorm could lead to such heavy losses.

Gu Ying's complexion turned stiff upon receiving the news, before turning ghastly white.

After seeing the telegram from Huai An, just seeing the four words of “Eldest Prince missing”, she darkened before her eyes, the world spun as she heavily collapsed into the chair, almost unable to breathe.

Ning Si anxiously rubbed Gu Ying’s heart, comforting her, “Ying, don’t panic first. This is likely a mistake in the telegram. The Eldest Prince is wise and martial. Even amongst thousands of soldiers and horses he can emerge victorious in hundreds of battles. This is just a small snowstorm and earthquake, and will surely turn misfortune into a blessing.”

Gu Ying felt a stabbing pain in her heart, her five viscera and six bowels twisted into a ball.

She knew she couldn't fall apart, so she steeled herself with red eyes, “I know... I was just shocked for a moment. The Eldest Prince must be fine...”

She couldn't continue. Her lips were pale, her throat choked up.

Ning Si hugged her tightly, feeling her trembling shoulders, also feeling uneasy in her heart, “The telegram said that the Eldest Prince was just missing? What’s the reason for this?”

Huai An frowned, “It said there were Qiang assassins, taking advantage of this opportunity to assassinate the Eldest Prince in Yueyang. The Eldest Prince was struck by an arrow and fell off a cliff, disappearing without a trace.”

Gu Ying closed her eyes. Her tears slid down her cheeks. What else was there not to understand?

Jiang Yin knew Yueyang was dangerous, so he deliberately persuaded Shu Prince to let him have this opportunity to establish merits in disaster relief, wanting to bury the Eldest Prince and the Qilin Army entirely in Yueyang’s earthquake.

As for the so-called Qiang assassins, it was still unknown whether they were really people sent by Shu Prince and Jiang Yin.

Gu Ying gave a cold mocking laugh. Her heart ached badly, hating that she couldn’t hack Jiang Yin into thousand pieces!

She couldn’t sit still for a moment, and abruptly stood up.

Huai An was also anxious, “My Lady, I want to personally go to Yueyang.”

Gu Ying looked up at him with eyes filled with tears, gritting her teeth, “I’ll go with you.”