The Tyrant's Beloved Empress

69

Edited and Proofread by KitKat

When An Chang Qing was little, he had always wondered why his father would treat him differently from all his brothers. Whether it was the An family's New Year banquet or an acquaintance's invitation, he would always be left out and ignored. To make things worse, the servants would occasionally mock him by reminding him of the old days when he and Lady Yu were still the apple of An Zhi Ke's eyes. But the more he listened and hoped, the more far-fetched those glorious days felt. Gradually, he only felt helplessness and disappointment in his father and learned to not expect anything from him.

But the question still lingered and as he dared not ask Lady Yu for fear it would bring up unpleasant memories for her, he could only keep them buried in his heart.

Later, after being with Xiao Zhige and learning to let go of his grievances regarding An Zhi Ke, he no longer felt any attachment to his father.

Unexpectedly, after he had finally let go, the knot he had always felt since childhood had been unraveled.

Such a reason to hate his son, although seemingly ridiculously, did suit An Zhi Ke's small minded nature.

With this, the remaining dissonance in his heart dissipated.

An Chang Qing saw Lady Yu's listless expression and held her hand to comfort her. "The red mark is not a big deal. What I wanted to ask you is something else."

At this point, An Chang Qing found it hard to continue. He looked towards Xiao Zhige for support and encouragement. He then took a deep breath and spoke to Lady Yu, "Do you remember me asking you about the mermaid tribe? For the mermaid tribe, there is no distinction in gender and those who bare the red marks are able to conceive..."

"I probably have mermaid blood and... I can give birth." The nervous An Chang Qing subconsciously touched his abdomen and finally disclosed his secret, "I'm almost four months pregnant. Mother, you're about to become a grandmother."

Lady Yu seemed to partly understand what she heard but also partly couldn't understand it. She looked at An Chang Qing with a blank expression on her face.

An Chang Qing thought she needed time to digest the information so he kept quiet and waited. After a long while, Lady Yu let out a deep breath and said, "Is that true? Will it affect your health?"

She then beckoned him to stand up and carefully looked at his belly. "It's already been four months but you don't seem to show any symptoms. Is it possible the physician has made a mistake? How's it possible that our family carries the mermaid bloodline..."

Lady Yu suddenly remembered that she did not know anything about her birth parents nor her bloodline. She thought deeply and finally sighed with guilt, "This is my fault, I brought this upon you." Because she came from the brothel, her children were frequently ostracized for it and now, due to her unknown bloodline, her eldest son was clearly a man but had gotten pregnant...

"How is it your fault? I won't be here if you didn't give birth to me." An Chang Qing saw her guilt stricken look and tried to comfort her, "Although it was too sudden and unbelievable at first, I've come to believe that this child is a blessing."

"Wangye also feels the same, isn't it right?" An Chang Qing looked towards Xiao Zhige and gave him a wink.

Xiao Zhige immediately responded positively, "That's right. This child carries Nuo Nuo's and my blood, we are really looking forward to having him. It's just that a man conceiving is unheard of so we are only checking if mother has any knowledge of this."

Lady Yu earnestly tried to recall her past but she really couldn't remember anything about her birth parents. Her earliest memories were of her being sold to the brothel where she was taught poetry, calligraphy, and music. As she got older, her reputation spread and she began serving more esteemed guests. It was then that she met and fell in love with An Zhi Ke and eventually married him.