His Hard Days Were Still Ahead...
What surprised Su Jingyang was that Ling Li was sitting on the stool by the bed, not sleeping at all, as if he’d been intently watching him the whole time. The moment Su Jingyang turned his head, he met Ling Li’s gentle, affectionate gaze.
Su Jingyang propped himself up. Ling Li leaned in to help him. Because Su Jingyang had screamed so miserably earlier, his voice was still hoarse. “Ah Li, why are you sitting here in the middle of the night? Why aren’t you sleeping?”
It was already nearly November, and the weather had turned chilly. After Su Jingyang put on his outer robe, he noticed Ling Li wasn’t wearing much either. He immediately turned to grab one of his own garments, ready to drape it over him.
Ling Li caught his hand and gave it a squeeze. “I’m not cold. My hands are warm.” He said that, but he still smiled and let Su Jingyang cover him with the robe.
“How could you not be cold? Once you start feeling cold, you’ll get sick.” Ever since Ling Li came to Rong City and fell seriously ill that one time, he’d taken plenty of tonics, but he still always looked frail, and he still got dizzy often. Su Jingyang really worried about him.
Hearing him fuss, Ling Li couldn’t help curling his lips into a smile again. Su Jingyang asked what he was smiling at, and Ling Li said, “I’m happy. You finally delivered the children safely. My wish has been fulfilled.”
“I must thank Ah Li for praying for my blessing. You have no idea, I almost thought I...”
That weird, sarcastic line from the system had popped out of nowhere. The hatred had shaken him to the core, and he had nearly vomited blood. Thankfully, he’d forced himself to adjust in time and had held on.
Su Jingyang looked at Ling Li and couldn’t help thinking about how Ling Li must have had it even harder when he gave birth to Ah Xuan. Ling Li only smiled faintly and shook his head when Su Jingyang asked about it, saying he’d almost forgotten. Yet Su Jingyang couldn’t help thinking, how could someone forget pain that carved itself into your bones?
Ling Li said, “Perhaps watching him grow bit by bit, the memory of that pain gets replaced by other things.”
Even so, Su Jingyang still felt he’d never forget it.
Su Jingyang told Ling Li again to go back and sleep, but Ling Li shook his head. “I haven’t been here that long either. I just got your two little ones to sleep.”
When he mentioned the two children, affection overflowed from Ling Li’s pale eyes, and he even looked like he was holding back laughter. “The older one is really good at making a fuss, just like you. Once they grow up, you’ll have plenty of days where your head hurts.”
Su Jingyang felt awkward for no reason and couldn’t help asking, “They only fell asleep this late?”
Ling Li smiled. “Newborns don’t have a set schedule. If you expect them to sleep on time like an adult, that’s absolutely impossible.”
Su Jingyang felt lucky. Thank goodness someone would help raise the kids later, otherwise he would go crazy.
Su Jingyang suddenly raised a hand to cover his stomach, which was loudly grumbling. Seeing this, Ling Li said, “I knew you’d get hungry, so I made food you like and kept it warm. I’ll have someone bring it in.”
“Ah Li, you’re the best!” Su Jingyang’s stomach already felt like it was caving in from hunger. His eyes lit up as he nodded hard at Ling Li. He felt like he could eat five bowls of rice in one go without stopping.
Ling Li got up and opened the door a crack. He murmured a few words outside, then quickly came back in to keep Su Jingyang company.
By the bright candlelight in the room, Ling Li leaned in slightly and studied Su Jingyang’s complexion. He found Su Jingyang really did look much better, no longer like that previous month, when he had been muddled and bleak, as if he might pass out in pain at any moment. “Right, does your back still hurt?”
Su Jingyang knew he was worried and immediately shook his head. “It doesn’t hurt anymore!”
After “unloading,” Su Jingyang felt light all over. Thinking back to those earlier days now, it was like his mind had been wrapped in a layer of black fog that wouldn’t disperse. It had felt like something had tightly enclosed him, and he couldn’t break free, couldn’t escape. He had been suffocating, depressed, and now that he thought about it, it was actually frightening. It was as if he had nearly been dragged into a bottomless abyss. Thankfully, he’d made it through.
“Good. That’s good...” Those days had also been a cloud weighing on Ling Li’s heart. Every day he had been on edge, unable to eat well, unable to sleep, terrified Su Jingyang would do something irreversible, just like Lu Qian back then...
Now, hearing Su Jingyang say this and seeing that his expression truly looked more like his usual bright self, Ling Li finally relaxed. He gripped Su Jingyang’s hand tightly, his eyes damp as he looked straight at him, his voice trembling at the end. “Jingyang, thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you for holding on. Thank you, truly.”
Su Jingyang: “...???!”
Even though Su Jingyang had grown accustomed to constantly collecting energy from Ling Li, he still couldn’t help being shocked right now. During this period, he hadn’t collected energy, and the progress bar had dropped a bit. It was only 6.4. Yet after Ling Li said that one thanks, it surged upward and jumped straight to 7.5. It was a complete burst increase. The energy had come out of nowhere!
Even more than that, what Ling Li was thanking him for was that he managed to endure and make it through?
Su Jingyang knew Ling Li regarded him as special, but the depth of it still hit him hard. His eyes stung. He couldn’t help it. He reached out and hugged Ling Li tightly.
The food was brought in quickly. Ling Li wanted to bring it to the bedside for Su Jingyang to eat, but Su Jingyang said he wanted to get out of bed and move around. After bundling himself up in clothes and putting on his shoes, he got down on his own to eat. He’d been inconvenient for so long with that huge belly. Now, at last, he could understand what it meant to feel as light as a swallow.
Su Jingyang stuffed food into his mouth. Ling Li watched him from the side and occasionally placed dishes into his bowl. “Right, Jingyang, after you gave birth, something happened.”
Su Jingyang’s cheeks, working as he chewed, froze. He stared at Ling Li with wide, bright eyes and asked through a mouthful of food, “What?”
Could it be... Rong Ci? Su Jingyang’s heart suddenly started pounding.
Seeing that he looked tense, Ling Li hurriedly said, “It’s a good thing. After you gave birth, the purple qi at the Wuqun Mountain surged, it was quite spectacular. I heard them discussing it. People in Rong City are ecstatic now. They said... they said the energy is more abundant than it’s ever been.”
So it was that. Su Jingyang thought maybe it was related to the twenty-year fluctuation Rong Ci had mentioned. This time their luck was good, so there was more.
Su Jingyang shoveled in two more bites. From Ling Li’s expression, it was obvious he wasn’t finished, so Su Jingyang asked directly without hiding it. Ling Li hesitated, then said softly, “They said this change happened because of your two children. Everyone’s praising you, saying you’re Rong City’s lucky star.”
Su Jingyang fell silent for a moment. It was connected to the children?
Perhaps. After all... the children carried Rong Ci’s blood.
“Jingyang, the children’s other father is Rong Ci, right?” Ling Li had basically already guessed.
Su Jingyang nodded. He lowered his head and drank two mouthfuls of soup, then lifted his face again to look at Ling Li. His expression cooled a little. “It’s him. He knew from the beginning, but he deliberately hid it from me.”
Ling Li looked at him quietly for a long while, then sighed.
Su Jingyang asked, “Does Ah Li think I’m being unreasonable?”
Before Ling Li could answer, Su Jingyang set down the soup spoon. The anger he’d forced down surged up again. Fury rolled in his eyes, and his tone turned heavier. “But I think it’s absurd. It’s clearly his child, yet he refused to say anything, and he hid it from me for so long!
After I married him, seeing how tolerant he was of me and the children in my belly, especially that last month when I was like that, when he stayed up with me night after night, I... I even thought I was the one who owed him! I felt guilty, like I dragged him into this because of the children...” Su Jingyang’s throat caught. “Now it seems he just found me amusingly stupid to toy with!! Can I not be angry?!”
“Maybe Rong Ci has some kind of reason. You could ask him and get it clear...” Ling Li saw the dark, unhappy look on Su Jingyang’s face and didn’t continue further.
Truthfully, even now, Ling Li still didn’t understand how Su Jingyang could not know who the children’s father was, but Su Jingyang had always had too many mysterious things about him. Ling Li didn’t want to pry.
After a pause, Ling Li said, “No matter what, Jingyang, I’ll support whatever decision you make. Wherever you go, I’ll follow. As long as you’re happy, that’s enough.”
In the end, Su Jingyang still couldn’t finish five bowls of rice. After rinsing his mouth and walking around the room for a while to digest, he climbed back into bed.
He told Ling Li to get into bed and sleep with him, but Ling Li said, “I won’t stay tonight. Rong Ci went to interrogate someone. He’ll definitely be back soon.”
“Interrogate someone, who?” Su Jingyang had learned Rong Ci’s whereabouts by accident, and he asked on impulse. What he heard from Ling Li was a completely unexpected answer.
“Madam Ru.”
“Her?!” Su Jingyang was baffled. Why would that suddenly involve that woman? Ling Li shook his head. “You don’t know. She deliberately had Rong Xia notify you.”
Su Jingyang froze. Ling Li’s gaze turned a little cold as he continued, “That child Rong Xia has always cared about Rong Ci. He cried and begged you, and in your panic you definitely wouldn’t suspect anything. You were pregnant, so the carriage could only take the main road.
Rong Hua was injured, but he was terrified you would act rashly from worry, so he specifically had someone send you word not to worry. Rong Ci shouldn’t be in serious danger, but the messenger was in a hurry to get back and took the smaller mountain path, so he missed you.
When I brought Physician Li and the others to the Wuqun Mountain, we happened to run into her after she had practically summoned all the Rong clan elders. I suspect she wanted you to go up the mountain to search for him. If the child you carried wasn’t Rong Ci’s, you wouldn’t be able to approach Wuqun Mountain and you’d be exposed. If the child you carried was Rong Ci’s, she would incite the elders, who were frantic to save him, and force you to go up the mountain to look for him.
However, you were eight months pregnant. This double-edged scheme of hers was meant to send you to your death. If Rong Ci also died, her ambition would be fulfilled. The only thing she never expected was that Rong Ci would come down at that moment.”
F***ing hell, this woman was outrageous! Even if she killed everyone, Rong Xia still didn’t have the ability to inherit the City Lord position. What was she thinking?!
Su Jingyang ground his teeth and spat out in hatred, “Right! How could I trust anything Rong Xia said?! How did I fall for it so fast?!!!”
Back then, his heart had already been hanging by a thread. The moment Rong Xia cried like that, only one thought filled his mind, find Rong Ci. He couldn’t think about anything else. He didn’t have time to think that much.
Ling Li said, “She nearly put you in danger. I don’t think Rong Ci will let her off this time.”
Ling Li still wouldn’t sleep, and he also refused to leave. He just sat at the bedside guarding him. Su Jingyang closed his eyes, opened them again, blinked a few times, then smiled helplessly. “Ah Li, what’s going on with you today?”
Ling Li tilted his head slightly and smiled, eyes curved. “Nothing. It’s just, it’s just that I want to look at you a little more.”
It was just... suddenly, he was afraid he wouldn’t be able to see him again... Ling Li covered Su Jingyang’s eyes with his warm hand and said gently, “All right. Sleep now.”
Su Jingyang didn’t know when Rong Ci came back or when Ling Li left. When he woke, he found Rong Ci holding him as he slept. The moment Su Jingyang opened his eyes, he saw that handsome face close enough to touch. Rong Ci slept quietly and deeply. Even when Su Jingyang moved a little, he didn’t wake. His complexion looked faintly pale.
Was he really injured?
Su Jingyang frowned. Just as he lifted a hand to touch Rong Ci’s face, Rong Ci spoke without even opening his eyes, voice low. “On the mountain, my body took some impact. With time, I’ll recover. I know you’re not worried about me. I’m just telling you because I’m afraid you’ll guess wildly.”
“...I won’t guess wildly. Don’t overthink it.” Su Jingyang huffed hard.
“Mm.” Rong Ci pressed Su Jingyang’s head into his chest. “It’s still early. Accompany me to sleep a bit more.”
Suddenly, Su Jingyang heard the children crying at the top of their lungs, and the cries gradually drew nearer. He hurriedly sat up from Rong Ci’s arms, eyes wide as he stared toward the doorway. Two wet nurses came in, each holding one child, their faces full of misery as they begged Su Jingyang for help.
“Oh my, these two young masters won’t stop crying no matter how we coax them. Maybe Furen should try holding them?”
Su Jingyang looked at those two little faces both crying red, immediately at a loss. He reached out then withdrew his hands, rubbing them on his body before tensely reaching out again to hold the one crying harder in his arms.
Su Jingyang’s face went pale with fear. Oh my god, he’s so soft! What if I hold him wrong and break him?!
Rong Ci also reached out and took one. He moved more smoothly than Su Jingyang, probably because he’d held Rong Xia before. He wanted to guide Su Jingyang, but Su Jingyang smacked his hand away and, instead, humbly asked the wet nurse to teach him.
After stumbling through it for a while, Su Jingyang’s stiff arms finally started to loosen. The child in his arms, flailing little hands and crying, gradually quieted down.
Su Jingyang hadn’t even managed to let out his breath of relief when he saw that the one in Rong Ci’s arms was still crying no matter how he coaxed him. His voice was about to crack from crying.
“...Give me the baby!” Su Jingyang said stiffly to Rong Ci.
Rong Ci’s dark eyes looked at him in silence for a moment, then he obediently exchanged the child with him.
After the exchange, Su Jingyang began coaxing again. Unfortunately, just as this side was coaxed, the originally non-crying one in Rong Ci’s arms started again!!! Like being strangled, crying heartbrokenly!
Su Jingyang and Rong Ci looked at each other.
“...”
“...”
What the hell was this?!
After repeating this several times, nothing changed. The two children would start wailing nonstop as long as they were away from Su Jingyang for even a short while. Su Jingyang’s eyes widened little by little. A horrible premonition gnawed at his heart, and in an instant his brain felt like it had blown up to this size———————————————!!!!
Whether it was the system’s doing, or the children were just far too dependent on him, he only knew one thing.
His hard days were still ahead...
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