I’m Really, Really Happy and Blissful
Su Jingyang’s pregnancy this time was different. He didn’t start vomiting early on. Instead, it began right after they returned to Rongcheng, and from then on, he puked every day until it felt like mountains were collapsing and the world was going dark, like the sun and moon had vanished and even heaven and earth had lost their color. When his energy was bad, he’d flop on the bed like a half-dead corpse, barely breathing. When he felt a little better, he’d keep the two sons company.
Ah Xi and Ah Yu had both turned one. The two kids could wobble-wobble walk on their own now, and they could call “die-die” in their soft baby voices, and they could say a few simple words. Sometimes, when Su Jingyang saw how lively and adorable they were, he couldn’t help feeling overwhelmed with emotion.
He already experienced, deeply and thoroughly, just how hard and brutal the whole process was, from getting pregnant to giving birth to raising a child.
Still, he remembered something Ling Li once said: the pain of giving birth would gradually be forgotten as the child grew up. Su Jingyang hadn’t believed it at the time, but thinking back now, it really was like that.
Watching them go from a tiny, soft little bundle to slowly growing up, smiling, rolling over, sitting up, crawling, walking, calling die-die… Watching them healthy and happy, looking into those clear, pure big eyes, it felt like that pain that had once been carved into bone and all the various soul-crushing hardships had already been replaced by something soft. It was truly kind of magical.
Only… the one in his belly hadn’t been born yet. The physical misery was happening right now, and nothing could replace it. He was terrified he would end up like the late stage with Ah Yu and Ah Xi, when his back pain had been so bad he started doubting his entire life. Though Li Yin said he was carrying only one this time and shouldn’t have that situation, Su Jingyang still feared that dark month-plus would descend again.
Seeing him constantly anxious and overthinking all day, Rong Ci took him out to Liyang to relax and also met with Rong Hua who was away.
Rong Hua had gone to investigate news of Lin Que. In the end, he’d already confirmed Lin Zhao had died young, and Lin Que would never appear in this world again. He’d been heartbroken and gloomy for a while. Su Jingyang couldn’t bear it, but he also didn’t know how to comfort him in a way that would actually reach him.
Ming Jiasheng seemed to be constantly hovering around Rong Hua, painstakingly trying to win him back. Rong Hua, however, was steady and coldly clear-headed, with no intention whatsoever of accepting him again. That made Su Jingyang relax a little.
Su Jingyang also told Rong Hua outright that he deserved someone better, and he absolutely shouldn’t get back together with Ming Jiasheng.
After attending a sacrifice ceremony in Rongcheng, Rong Hua said he wanted to go to Wangyue Manor, then go to Jincheng to see Ling Li. Long after he left, a letter came saying he had already departed Jincheng and wanted to wander around other places too.
Su Jingyang and Rong Ci drifted around in circles before finally finding Rong Hua in a remote little village. Fortunately, Ming Jiasheng wasn’t by his side. Rong Hua’s mood looked normal, and he could even joke with them like usual. After staying together for two days, Rong Hua split off from them again, saying he would keep traveling and looking around.
Before leaving, Rong Hua told Su Jingyang he’d time it and return to Rongcheng when Su Jingyang went into labor with this baby. Su Jingyang watched that red figure walk away and sighed. He desperately hoped Rong Hua could climb out of it sooner.
The Rong Hua he knew should be dazzling like blazing fire, bright and unrestrained, fearless toward everything, not like this. Even when he smiled now, there was still a faint, lingering chill of gloom hidden in his eyes that wouldn’t go away.
Not long after Su Jingyang returned to Rongcheng, he received happy news from the palace. Ling Li had safely given birth to a little imperial prince in the first month of the year. Su Jingyang was so happy he could’ve gone insane. If he weren’t currently carrying a huge belly and inconvenient to travel far, he would’ve rushed to Jincheng again to see that newborn little nephew.
Unable to go, he could only frantically exchange letters with Ling Li like falling snow. Sometimes a reply had barely been sent out when another one arrived. Though not as convenient as mobile video calls, when these precious, treasured words reached his hands sentence by sentence, that satisfied, warm feeling was truly especially wonderful!
Su Jingyang was seven months pregnant, not far from his “dark month,” Rong Ci seemed to get a little tense too. He started having Li Yin check Su Jingyang’s pulse twice a day, and he even began researching medicine to keep on hand. Two days later, they received a secret pill Rong Hua had someone deliver. It said that if Su Jingyang’s back started hurting again, he could take a small amount to ease it, and it wouldn’t affect the child.
Soon after that, two envoys sent from the palace by Ling Li also arrived in Rongcheng. Su Jingyang had seen them before when he stayed in the palace with Ling Li. They were the imperial physicians who went to take Ling Li’s pulse every day.
Ling Li had been thinking about Su Jingyang’s situation too. He was worried, so he sent people to guard him and escort him.
The wave after wave of care made Su Jingyang’s heart feel like it had been soaked in vinegar, sour and soft all at once. Being cared for, protected, remembered, and missed was truly the best thing in the world.
After the two imperial physicians arrived, the number of people taking Su Jingyang’s pulse and checking him each day went from one Li Yin to three. If Su Jingyang mentioned any discomfort, the three would gather together, brows furrowed in thought and discussion.
Sometimes they would prescribe a little medicine depending on the situation, sometimes they wouldn’t. Either way, if medicine was brewed, Su Jingyang drank it. If there wasn’t any, he rested well. He didn’t ask too many questions.
Whether it was because he only carried one this time or because the medicine and conditioning helped, this pregnancy only left him with some severe swelling, and his body didn’t develop any other discomfort. He actually made it through the late stage smoothly and steadily.
Not only Su Jingyang and Rong Ci, everyone else also wiped their sweat and let out a long breath of relief.
One person was thinking, Niang! I can finally answer to the City Lord. The other two were thinking, Thank heavens! We can finally give a proper account to His Majesty and the Empress.
In the end, Su Jingyang delivered at full term, giving birth to a shuangrenzi with the same constitution as him. The child was named Rong Fei.
Of course, regardless of what the child would be like when grown, during birth Su Jingyang still hurt so badly he wanted to die and crash into walls!!!
Rong Hua returned before he gave birth. After Su Jingyang delivered and was recovering and nursing his body, he would listen to Rong Hua chat about matters outside, which was quite interesting.
Su Jingyang hesitated for a long time, but still didn’t ask whether Ming Jiasheng kept pestering him. Rong Hua acted like that person didn’t exist and didn’t mention him at all. He only said he met a few new friends while traveling.
Su Jingyang heard him mention a place called Bank of Yishui and asked curiously where it was. Rong Hua said that place was called Yishui Cheng, on the far southeast edge of the Great Lin Dynasty.
Because there was so much water, people habitually called it the “Bank of Yishui.” There the population was numerous, water transportation and trade flourishing, the city mostly full of wealthy people. Many outsiders even joked that it was basically the “Bank of the God of Wealth,” saying that even if gold fell on the ground, people there wouldn’t bother bending down to pick it up.
The Ning family of Bank of Yishui ranked firmly number one on every kind of wealth list. Only three words could describe it: absurd amounts of money. As for how absurd? It was probably the kind of number that could make you rack your brains until they cracked.
Su Jingyang listened with shining excitement and told Rong Ci that they should go there to play someday. Rong Ci was currently coaxing their youngest son, who clung only to him and refused to let anyone else hold him. Hearing that, he just nodded repeatedly. “Fine, fine, fine! Let’s go, let’s go!”
Su Jingyang asked Rong Hua again, “You said that friend of yours is from the Ning family?”
Rong Hua’s gaze flickered slightly. He nodded and gave a quiet “Mm.”
Su Jingyang’s eyes lit up. “Hehehehehe. I’ve decided! In the future I’m going to Bank of Yishui to find your friend, and I’m going to follow behind him all day picking up gold to get rich and become a filthy rich big shot!”
Rong Hua actually smiled a little, which was rare.
Rong Ci, coaxing the baby as he passed the bedside, spared enough time to toss Su Jingyang a white-eyed glare. “Unambitious thing! How much gold do you want? Say it. I’ll give it to you.”
Su Jingyang shot back, “I want the kind I pick up! I want the kind I pick up! Mind your business and go coax your child!”
As the saying goes, heaven’s wheel turns and karma comes around. Rong Fei wasn’t like his two older brothers. He didn’t cling to Su Jingyang but to Rong Ci. Other than nursing, the moment he left Rong Ci’s arms he cried, and he needed Rong Ci to coax him to sleep too.
Still, since Rong Ci didn’t have to raise two babies at the same time as Su Jingyang did before, he could barely handle it. He didn’t complain at all. Aside from occasionally lending a hand, Su Jingyang spent the rest of his time resting, sleeping, and recovering. It was so easy he could barely believe it.
Rong Ci originally planned to have this child take Su Jingyang’s surname, naming him Su Fei. Su Jingyang pinched his chin, stared up at the sky, and stammered for a long time before finally saying to forget it. He should take Rong as his surname. Rong sounded nicer.
After Rong Fei’s one-month banquet, Rong Hua left again. Su Jingyang heard Rong Ci say a new witch maiden had been born in Rongcheng, and Rong Hua probably wouldn’t come back much in the future. Su Jingyang felt a mix of sadness, relief, and hopeful anticipation. Rong Hua traveling more and making friends might mean he could meet a good man, someone who could help him step out of the past and start over.
Rong Fei’s rebellious stage lasted far longer than Rong Xi and Rong Yu’s. It dragged on until he was a full six months old, still refusing to be coaxed or held by anyone else. Su Jingyang couldn’t do it either. Sometimes when Rong Ci went to discuss official affairs, he carried the baby with him.
Su Jingyang handled the other two older ones, so the two of them split the work. The older two could already run, jump, and talk, and the wet nurses helped watch them too. On the other hand, the youngest could only wail and cry. If anything, Rong Ci was the one who was more exhausted.
This day, Su Jingyang had only gone to bathe. When he came back, he found the father and three sons who’d been playing together were all asleep. Rong Ci lay on the bed with his eyes closed. One child was sprawled on his chest, one was across his stomach, and one was by his hand. Su Jingyang had been drying his hair. Seeing that scene, his mouth couldn’t help twitching twice.
He carried the kids one by one into the inner side of the bed, then comfortably slipped into Rong Ci’s arms. With no sleepiness, Su Jingyang started lifting his eyes to study that handsome, good-looking face in front of him. Pale skin, long lashes, a high nose bridge, rosy lips. Being asleep, he lost that sharp, imposing edge he usually had. Tsk, tsk. What a fair-skinned, gorgeous young gentleman. It really made a person want to bully him a bit.
Su Jingyang’s eyes fluttered as he pursed his lips, about to sneak a kiss when those red lips suddenly curved slightly upward.
Su Jingyang knew he was awake, yet he still viciously kissed him hard on the lips, making a loud “chu” sound. Rong Ci opened his eyes, grabbed his hand, and rubbed it. Those pitch-black eyes stared at him. “Sneaking glances at me, kissing me, and I caught you again, didn’t I?”
Su Jingyang spat, “Peh. What do you mean sneaking? I’m doing it openly.”
Rong Ci curved his eyes again in a smile, and the light in his pupils flowed gorgeous and bright. Su Jingyang froze for a second, then grabbed his neck. “You damn public fox seductress. Don’t smile. Don’t tempt me!”
Rong Ci caught his hand, turned over to press him beneath, gazed at him tenderly for a moment before kissing down on his slightly parted lips. Su Jingyang raised both arms to hook around his neck.
They tangled and kissed for a while. After moving the three little brats aside, the two of them hugged each other, preparing to sleep.
Su Jingyang asked him, “Caring for children this long, very tiring right?”
Rong Ci burrowed his head into the hollow of Su Jingyang’s neck. His voice carried a little exhaustion, yet it sounded so soft. “I don’t feel tired at all. Having you all by my side, I’m really, really happy and blissful.”
Su Jingyang’s hand stroking his hair paused. His eyes suddenly swelled with pain. Fine. A man who usually didn’t say sweet words suddenly dropping a sincere confession always had ridiculous killing power. Su Jingyang’s heart turned sour and tight, and his tears were practically about to fall.
Rong Ci made a little sucking kiss against his neck and said, “So fragrant.” Then he added, “I only want to feel tired on your body, even dying from exhaustion would be worth it.”
…Damn it.
Su Jingyang had been suppressing tears to the point his lips trembled and chest ached, but now immediately changed expression. He forcibly held back the tears, raised his hand to swat him, and snarled, “Get to one side. I’m not interested in ‘granting you favor’ today!!”
Rong Ci, with a helpless smile on his sleepy face, was chased to the edge of the bed. He rubbed his head where it hurt from being hit. With the faint shadows under his eyes, he fell asleep quickly. Su Jingyang kept a stiff face, huffed, and pulled the blanket up to cover him properly.
Su Jingyang had barely closed his eyes when he suddenly opened them again, because System #1, which had been quiet for ages, suddenly popped up like a damn zombie returning from the dead!
System #1 rushed out, said a few hurried lines to him, then crashed again.
After hearing it, Su Jingyang sat there in a daze for a long, long time. He turned his head and looked at Rong Ci, then looked at the three children sleeping sweetly beside him. After a long while, he let out a heavy breath and draped his forearm over his eyes.
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