Chapter 259: Meeting
Wan Qing looked at the man in front of her.
His hair was disheveled, his beard very long, his eyes full of red veins, and the clothes he wore clearly hadn’t been changed in a long time.
Where was the dashing and elegant, handsome Wu Lin she had known before?
Enduring the pungent smell of alcohol, Wan Qing stepped forward and snatched the already empty bottle from his hand. Wu Lin’s face darkened as he dodged to the side.
“Hand it over.”
Wan Qing held out her hand in front of him.
Wu Lin’s hand moved, but he sat to the side and said mockingly, “Your Highness has graced this humble subject with your presence. Is there some matter?”
Hearing him address her so distantly, Wan Qing felt her heart wrench in discomfort.
She sat down opposite him.
“Is this how you spend every day? The imperial exams are coming up soon after spring. Do you think this honors your mother?”
At the mention of his mother, Wu Lin’s brows twitched, but they quickly returned to calm.
“This humble subject’s affairs do not require Your Highness’s concern.”
Wan Qing looked at his state, and her already short temper exploded. “Wu Lin, I really misjudged you. I didn’t expect you to be no different from those profligate sons in the Capital—all drunkards and rice sacks. I thought you at least had ambition, but look at you; you can’t even compare to those profligate sons.”
These words stabbed at his heart. Wu Lin abruptly stood up. “Wan Qing, what right do you have to criticize me? You’re a person of the Crown Prince’s Manor now. What does it matter to you how I am? You walk your Yangguan path, I’ll cross my single-log bridge. My affairs don’t need your meddling.”
Wan Qing’s anger flared too, and she stood up as well.
“You think I want to meddle in your affairs? If not for…”
At this point, Wan Qing stopped.
Wu Lin frowned tightly and asked, “Because of what?”
Wan Qing turned her head away, feeling endlessly wronged, her eyes stinging, but she still didn’t let the tears fall.
Suddenly, she felt a stab of pain in her belly. Wan Qing pressed lightly on it, but perhaps because she had been too agitated earlier, the pain in her belly grew worse.
Thin sweat beaded on her forehead.
Wan Qing doubled over in pain, resting her head on her knees, trying her best not to make any cries of pain.
“Tell me, because of what?”
Wu Lin didn’t notice her abnormality and thought she was faking it. He angrily stepped forward, yanked her up forcefully, and just as he was about to speak, he saw her drenched in sweat, her face full of pain.
The words on the tip of his tongue couldn’t come out. Worriedly, he asked, “What’s wrong with you? Are you unwell somewhere?”
Wan Qing didn’t answer him, biting her lip slightly in pain.
Wu Lin scooped her up in his arms and walked toward the bed.
He shouted to the maidservant outside, “Xiao Qing, quickly go fetch a doctor. Your Miss…”
Before he could finish, Xiao Qing hurriedly pushed open the door. “What’s wrong with my Miss?”
Seeing Wan Qing pale-faced on the bed, Xiao Qing seemed to realize something. She turned and headed for the door. “I’ll go right away.”
“Xiao Qing, stop.” Wan Qing shouted enduring the pain.
Xiao Qing stopped in her tracks.
“Miss, you’re like this now. We need to get a doctor, otherwise, the one in your belly…”
“Shut up.” Wan Qing scolded loudly, interrupting her.
Realizing she had said the wrong thing, Xiao Qing panicked and glanced at Wu Lin. His expression was terrifying. She lowered her head and didn’t dare say more.
“What do you mean ‘belly’? Wan Qing, are you hiding something from me?”
Wu Lin vaguely sensed something unusual.
Wan Qing ignored him and thought of something. To Xiao Qing, she said, “Xiao Qing, pour me a cup of water.”
As she spoke, she struggled to get up, but with one movement, her abdomen cramped in pain, and she felt blood flowing from below.
Wan Qing paled even more in fright, thinking her child was about to be lost, her body trembling along with it.
“Don’t get up.”
Wu Lin saw her terrible complexion and, still holding his temper, pressed her shoulders to keep her from rising.
Wan Qing slapped his hand away and shouted in panic to Xiao Qing, “Hurry.”
Xiao Qing seemed to realize something too and quickly went forward to pour her a cup of water.
Wan Qing took out the medicine Jiang Ruanxi had given her from her collar and swallowed it with the water.
Now she couldn’t care if the medicine from Jiang Ruanxi was poison or not. As long as it could keep her child alive, she was even willing to die for it.
Just after she swallowed it, Wu Lin suddenly shouted, “Why is there blood down there?”
Suddenly realizing something and thinking of her series of reactions earlier, Wu Lin was so angry his lips pressed tightly together, his hands clenched tightly at his sides.
Still unwilling to believe, he said, “You’re pregnant?”
Wan Qing abruptly lifted her head to look at him.
Her eyes held panic, shock, and other complex emotions.
From her expression, Wu Lin instantly understood.
He felt as if a huge stone was pressing on his chest.
He raised his hand and slammed it down heavily.
Wan Qing thought he was going to hit her and closed her eyes, her body shrinking involuntarily.
With a bang, the expected pain didn’t come. Instead, the table beside her made a loud noise.
Wan Qing opened her eyes and saw Wu Lin’s hand covered in bloodstains, his face as black as ink, his whole body emanating a chilling aura.
The atmosphere instantly became extremely eerie. Wan Qing just looked at him, and soon tears filled her eyes and flowed down her cheeks.
Seeing the tears in her eyes, Wu Lin would have softened before, but thinking of her now carrying another man’s child, the anger and frustration in his heart wouldn’t dissipate. He turned his head away and didn’t look at her again.
A few seconds later, he suddenly spoke. “Xiao Qing, go fetch the doctor.”
“Don’t go.” Wan Qing refused directly.
Wu Lin turned his head angrily to look at her. “You don’t want your child anymore? You’re the Crown Princess; without a child, you’ll have a hard time.”
Wu Lin had been very angry that she was pregnant with another man’s child, but thinking that she was a concubine’s daughter with low status in the Crown Prince’s Manor, without a child, she would suffer.
Though he hated her, the thought of the woman he loved living in hardship still made his heart soften uncontrollably.
Wan Qing was stunned. She hadn’t expected that even now, Wu Lin was still considering her feelings.
Her heart warmed involuntarily, and thinking of all the grievances these days, tears flowed uncontrollably.
Wu Lin raised his hand as if to wipe her tears like before, but remembering she was no longer his Wan Qing, he put his hand down.
“Wan Zhaoxun, Grand Tutor Ling knows your pregnancy is unstable and sent me to check on you.”
Suddenly, a voice sounded at the door.
They looked up.
At the door stood a man of medium build with a light red medicine box slung over his right shoulder.
Wan Qing was stunned.
She had come to see Wu Lin secretly, with no one knowing, but this doctor claimed to be sent by Grand Tutor Ling. She had no dealings with Grand Tutor Ling at all.
And Grand Tutor Ling was the Crown Princess’s father, so this person must have been sent by the Crown Princess.
