Rebirth of an Unwanted Wife #wattys2019

Chapter 28: Eunuch Ruan and his wife

Before Emperor Rong Xiaoli, there was an equally troublesome prince who always created troubles whenever he could. That person was Crown Prince Rong Xiaoli. He has a best friend, General Ruan.

General Ruan is an exceptional man and has fallen in love with a fair maiden. That fair maiden is Fourth Miss Shi Pinghe. But luck was not on his side as the Emperor has given an imperial decree that Fourth Miss Shi Pinghe will be married to his best friend and be his Crown Princess.

He sincerely congratulated his best friend on his marriage and kept his true feeling inside his heart for the sake of their friendship. Crown Princess Shi Pinghe treated him favourably due to the fact that he is her husband's best friend and an exceptional General.

He really thought that no one knows but, someone has been watching him. That person is the personal maidservant who is always standing behind her mistress and never utter a single word in front of others. When he looked behind the Crown Princess, he realized that the maidservant has been watching him with a smirk on her face.

He confronted her and warned her not to spread rumours but all she said to him was that "A mere servant would never disclose such a scandal to others, General Ruan. Her Royal Highness will not know this nor the others."

As he watched her all he can think of is that she is a cold-hearted female. Since that day, they never met again and when they did, she completely ignored him.

When his best friend becomes the Emperor, they met again during the coronation ceremony. His heart broke when he saw the woman that he loves is walking beside his best friend to become the 'mother of the nation'.

During the banquet, he drinks too much of a wine which resulted in him being too drunk to return back to his residence. He did not notice that Empress Shi Pinghe has instructed for a eunuch to assist him to a side chamber for him to rest. He did not realize that as soon after he was left all alone in the side chamber, that cold-hearted maidservant came in with a cup of sobering tea for him.

Being too drunk, he remembers nothing that happened next. All he remembers was that his a pair of the clean outfit were neatly folded on the side table next to the bed. A few days later, he was ordered to go to the Northern Region to quell the rebels there. That war itself took a year for him to capture the rebels before they are being executed by the Imperial Censor.

Originally, those rebels are only meant to be captured and be prisoned but they fought fiercely and he ended up to be heavily injured by the rebels. Though he lives, he is no longer a normal man. He retired as a military man and recuperated within the imperial palace with the best care and medicine available.

When the Emperor and the Empress visited him, he saw the cold-hearted maidservant again. She was no longer a budding maiden, her hairstyle is styled in a way to represent that she was a married woman. His heartfelt a slight pain then. She smiles at him but did not say anything. She just stood there before she excused herself, Empress Shi Pinghe softly sigh than before she says, "Poor Ningjing... She has no husband despite having a son and a daughter."

Ruan Zhong looked at the Empress before he looked at Emperor Rong Xiaoli.

"Ruan Zhong, a year ago, that maidservant has been confirmed to be pregnant by the imperial physician. She volunteered to leave the imperial palace so that she can give birth to her children. Pinghe refused to let her go and asked who the man was..."

"She did not say who it was despite being forced by me. To enable her to remain here, I have made a story that she is a widow. Both Xiwang and Mingyun are luckily healthy children."

Empress Shi Pinghe immediately look at him before she says, "This might be weird but... Xiaoli, those children resemblance to the General is quite uncanny."