Reborn as the Crippled King's Beloved

Chapter 57: Chapter 57 This Prince Won’t Acknowledge an Illegitimate Child
 

Murong Qian’s words struck Jun Yuyan like a bolt from the blue.

Subconsciously, he glanced towards Murong Qian’s abdomen. Today, she was wearing a thin dress. When she mentioned that she was pregnant, she intentionally pressed down the dress at her waist to make her baby bump visible.

The bump wasn’t noticeable this month but because she was thin, the slightly protruding part was particularly conspicuous.

This was a silent fact; Murong Qian’s belly was not fake.

Jun Yuyan’s brows furrowed deeply. No, the child in Murong Qian’s belly could not possibly be his offspring.

Even if she brought over the jade pendant he’d left behind that night, Jun Yuyan still didn’t believe it. Ah Jiu’s scent was irreplaceable, though he also faintly smelled the same scent on Murong Qian.

If he had met Murong Qian before he understood Ah Jiu, he might have indeed made a mistake, as time, place, and token all matched.

This further proved that Murong Qian had come prepared.

He didn’t want to think ill of others—after all, chastity is so important to a woman.

But he had already determined that Ah Jiu was the person from that day, so the sudden appearance of Murong Qian naturally could not indicate that the child was his.

Murong Qian had no idea what he was thinking. Her eyes brimming with tears, she spoke softly,

“Prince, I know it’s rash of me to come like this, and it must make you suspicious, but, but I really can’t hide my stomach anymore. I do not ask for any status. I don’t want Ninth Sister to know about this, I still want to be the best of sisters with her. If you want this child, then I will give birth to it, but if you don’t, then I can only… only drink a bowl of red medicine to terminate the pregnancy…”

By the end of her speech, her tears seemed to break the dam, and anyone could see how hard it would be for her to give up the fetus in her womb.

Jun Yuyan had once again returned to his previous indifference. He sat back in his chair, looking down from on high at Murong Qian.

“You say you were the person that night, then why did you come to me only today?”

“After such a sudden event, I was truly helpless. I know it wasn’t your intention either. I’ve kept the jade pendant all this time, intending to keep that night a secret for life. However, a few days ago… I was diagnosed with a joyful pulse… Being a concubine-born daughter and not favored, if my family found out, I’m afraid my only fate would be to be drowned…”

She portrayed her arrival as a decision made out of desperation.

Jun Yuyan stared at her expression, yet could not detect the slightest bit of guilt in her words.

This woman’s scheming was even deeper than the likes of Murong Man, with even more ruthless tactics.

And she was still Ah Jiu’s “good sister.”

Murong Qian could not see through the expression hidden behind Jun Yuyan’s mask, but she guessed that he must not be completely unmoved.

She was with Murong Jiu together today, and had deliberately tested and observed the other party, who showed no signs of pregnancy, indicating that the absurd night did not result in pregnancy with Prince Ling’s offspring.

Furthermore, there were no clothes or boots belonging to Jun Yuyan in Murong Jiu’s room, indicating the two did not live together.

Jun Yuyan thus would not possibly know that the person from that night was Murong Jiu. Her sudden emergence with a pregnancy would definitely cause him a huge shock.

“Since you never thought of finding me before, why didn’t you just end the pregnancy with medicine instead?”

Murong Qian’s head shot up abruptly. She thought she heard wrong and looked at Jun Yuyan in disbelief.

“Prince, Prince… What did you say?”

“My stance is very clear. I will definitely not accept this illegitimate child. You drugged me, yet I haven’t troubled you about it, which is already merciful. Take care of the child yourself and I will not pursue the matter further,” Jun Yuyan’s voice was cold and merciless.

Murong Qian felt as if her heart had fallen into an ice cellar. She still couldn’t believe it, and the meaning in Prince Ling’s words—could it really imply that Murong Jiu drugged and seduced him?

But originally, wasn’t it Murong Jiu who had been drugged?

Murong Qian knew about this because when she went to find Murong Jiu, she found her maid Chun Tao sneaking off to a secluded spot to burn a bellyband and other clothing items. Suspecting something was amiss, she created a disturbance to scare off Chun Tao and then found the jade pendant that symbolized Prince Ling among the charred garments.

She had long harbored love for Prince Ling and was shocked and enraged when she discovered this. So, she bribed Cai Yun, someone close to Murong Jiu, with silver taels to inquire and managed to piece together the true sequence of events.

Murong Jiu thought she had lost her innocence to the Second Prince, while Cai Yun and Zhen Zhu believed it was a foul beggar called by the Second Prince since they did not see any other man when they went to “find” Murong Jiu the next day.

Murong Qian probed indirectly and they apparently were unaware of the jade pendant; they only said Chun Tao was there and had seen their young lady so exhausted and unconscious that she changed her clothing for her and packed the torn clothes to take back to the Marquis Mansion, where they were later burned in secret.

Probably even Chun Tao had not seen that jade pendant.

Nobody knew that the man that night was not some beggar but Prince Ling, Jun Yuyan.

Even Murong Jiu herself did not know.

So, Murong Qian came up with a brilliant plan in her mind.

She wanted to take Murong Jiu’s place.

For this, she sacrificed her chastity and successfully conceived.

But upon arriving at the Prince Mansion, Prince Ling told her he did not want the bastard child in her belly!

No! In her plan, Prince Ling was supposed to be overjoyed, embracing her and touching her belly, telling her she’d done well, not asking her to go back and get rid of the child herself!

She had seen marks on Murong Jiu’s body, marks that had not completely faded for many days, a testament to how infatuated Prince Ling was with Murong Jiu’s body.

Prince Ling couldn’t possibly be so heartless!

She didn’t realize Prince Ling was testing her and merely bit her lip, saying, “Prince, if you didn’t wish to have an heir, why then did you leave that jade pendant with me? If not for that pendant, why would I have taken the risk to come see you!”

Jun Yuyan noticed she spoke only of the jade pendant and made no mention of being drugged, which suggested she did not know the details of that night and thus refrained from speaking carelessly.

“Ha, this Prince has never left any jade pendant behind; that jade pendant was just lost by accident. I have said all I wish to say, give you three days to deal with the child yourself. Otherwise, I will personally force you to drink a concoction,” Prince Ling replied coldly.

Murong Qian staggered back, terrified by his cold and merciless voice. She now had to believe that Prince Ling truly did not want the child in her womb.

How could this be?

She had painstakingly schemed, only for things to go so terribly wrong?

And she had no fallback!

She fell to her knees with a thud, “Prince, how can you be so heartless? This child is nearly three months old, a life! Moreover, You should be aware of how much harm an abortion can do to a woman’s body. Are you trying to kill me? The events of that night weren’t solely my fault!”@@novelbin@@

“You drugged me, and now it’s my fault?” Prince Ling retorted.

“No, I didn’t mean that, but weren’t you also enjoying yourself that night?” Murong Qian recalled the marks on Murong Jiu’s body and couldn’t understand why Prince Ling had become so cold-hearted.

Jun Yuyan’s gaze grew even colder.

He had been drugged that night, but it was the doing of a spy.

The woman that night was his antidote.

Murong Qian had no idea what had actually happened.

Did she really think she could manipulate him with just a jade pendant?