CH 75

Chapter 75: I Think About Things I Shouldn’t Be Thinking About All The Time.

Bian Zhonghua raised his eyebrows and curved his eyes in a smile: “Oh? You should rethink that. Who knows? Maybe I’ll threaten you with this secret in exchange for something. I’m not as good as you think I am. I think about things I shouldn’t be thinking about all the time.”

Qi Ci simply thought that Bian Zhonghua was bad-mouthing himself, so he said bluntly: “In any case, if you haven’t saved me from the brothel, I’m afraid I would’ve been buried without a decent grave already. There’s no need to threaten me, if you need anything from me, just ask.”

Bian Zhonghua’s smile got bigger. However, this kind of smile was a naughty one.

Qi Ci coughed lightly, determined to tell Bian Zhonghua what he had just heard. Bian Zhonghua also put away that flirty smirk from his face and sat opposite Qi Ci, looking more serious this time.

“I….” Qi Ci paused for a moment, without knowing where to start. After hesitating for a long time, he finally said: “Bian Zhonghua, I’m not really a Prince, let alone do I have royal blood. Granny Yao asked me not to tell anyone, for fear that if this matter reached the Empress Dowager and the Crown Prince’s ears, they would accuse me of pretending to be part of the Royal Family.”

Bian Zhonghua asked: “Why are you so sure that you’re not a Prince?”

Qi Ci replied softly: “Because I…. I’m not my mother’s biological son. She found me as a baby….”

Bian Zhonghua’s guess turned out to be true. When Qi Rulan passed by this village, she didn’t only settle down, but she even lived here for a year and a half.

The house Qi Rulan lived in at the time, was Granny Yao’s wooden house.

The memory of Qi Rulan was fresh in Granny Yao’s mind.

At the time, someone from the village met Qi Rulan, who had fainted on the roadside, by chance. That person rushed to bring her to Granny Yao to get treated.

Qi Rulan was already eight months pregnant when she was brought to the village. It wasn’t that Qi Rulan didn’t want to run away anymore, she simply could no longer walk.

At that time, Qi Rulan bled heavily, and her life was in danger. Granny Yao spent a lot of effort, but in the end, she was able to save Qi Rulan’s life.

However, the baby couldn’t be saved.

Thinking about it, after escaping for months, Qi Rulan’s body was as thin as wood. It was a true miracle she could be saved, but the same couldn’t be said about the baby. It was a lost cause.

The kind-hearted Granny Yao let Qi Rulan recuperate at her home. However, Qi Rulan, who had just lost her baby, began to lose her mood each day it passed, even crying in the middle of the night. Granny Yao, in order to distract her, told her about the legend of the Dragon buried in the lake. After knowing that Qi Rulan could paint, Granny Yao bought ink and a brush for her, to paint the murals.

Those murals on the walls were left behind by Qi Rulan.

Then, one day, Granny Yao left the village to visit a physician. When she came back, she saw Qi Rulan sitting at home…with a crying baby in her arms.

Granny Yao pulled her hair in fear, repeatedly asking Qi Rulan where that child had come from.

Qi Rulan replied: “I found it by the lake.”

Granny Yao hurriedly went to the village to ask each family if a child was lost, but the village in this valley was so small that everyone knew everything about each other. After asking around, she couldn’t find out where that baby had come from, so she had to give up.

‘Perhaps, a girl with an unspeakable secret passed by and abandoned the baby by the lake?’ Granny Yao thought at the moment.

Ever since Qi Rulan picked the baby, her mood became surprisingly better each day it passed. After seeing that Qi Rulan was no longer bitter and depressed, Granny Yao no longer tried to investigate where that baby came from, she simply thought that it was fate who brought them together.

One day, when Qi Rulan was putting the baby back to sleep, Granny Yao suddenly asked: “What name are you going to give to this child?”

Qi Rulan froze. Only then did she realize that she hadn’t named the child yet. As she thought about it, she glanced at the mural on the wall and said: “Since I found him by the lake, and the lake was created by Chiwen, then why don’t I name him Qi Chi….?”

Granny Yao shook her head: “Chiwen stumbled throughout a difficult life. It’s not a good omen. Why not a similar-sounding character? How about Qi Ci? ‘Ci’ from ‘refined speech and beautiful sentences’1. I think it’s a good character.”

“Alright, I’ll listen to Granny.” Qi Rulan nodded, hugged the child, and happily sang over and over again: “A2-Ci, A-Ci~~”

Later, Qi Rulan took good care of her health until she recuperated completely. However, she still felt that she was too close to the Capital and became worried that one day, she would involve Granny Yao in her own problems, so she decided to bid her farewell and take Qi Ci towards the northern frontier.

Such a big reveal!! Qi Ci is not really a Prince~ did you all see this coming? 

Poor Qi Rulan, she went through hell. Not only did she get pregnant by the Emperor (which I always suspected wasn’t exactly consensual), but she even had to flee the Capital (although she was never formally charged, people would have accused her of poisoning the Emperor, which resulted in the poisoning of the Crown Prince). It doesn’t even end there! Because she even lost her friendship with the Empress, and then her own child died in childbirth.

Good thing she found Qi Ci, but then I get sad when I remember that she got sick and then died (and Qi Ci blamed himself for it) (╥_╥)