After doing it until Xia Xi's belly bulged, Chu Lan mischievously took off Xia Xi's bellyband, crumpled it into a ball, and stuffed it into the hole that was still half-open, blocking the semen inside. After Xia Xi struggled a few times, Chu Lan hugged him and said in a low voice: "You couldn't get pregnant before, it must've been because you quickly expelled the things I shot inside you, not letting them sprout. So this time, I'll block them; let them get to know the new soil, so that they can get used to it and live."
Xia Xi's face flushed with shame, he whispered, "How can you block my²..." He couldn't say it because of embarrassment. Chu Lan came over to kiss him again, his limbs wrapped around him while slowly rubbing his belly. Xia Xi couldn't tell what time it was, he only knew that the two of them had been doing it for a long time, and felt a little empty in his heart, "Are you going back?"
Chu Lan kissed the top of his head and said, "I'll stay a little longer." He stayed with Xia Xi and talked with him about love, making pornographic jokes, and describing the erotic scripts he had seen. Even at his age, Xia Xi still got shy. He kept burrowing into his arms but dare not cover his ears, he finally changed the subject: "Are you using Cai Huan? S-she won't be in danger, right?"
Chu Lan played with Xia Xi's long hair. He put Xia Xi's hair in front of his nose and sniffed at it, he then said casually: "She wants to be prosperous and wealthy, I'll give that to her, it's not using her. As for the danger? If I am defeated, then she's naturally in danger."
When Xia Xi heard the word "defeated" his whole body tensed, there was a thick layer of worry in his eyes. "You..." Seeing that he was so worried, Chu Lan kissed his lips reassuringly. He smiled and said, "Don't worry, no matter how bad my situation gets, they won't hurt you." The temple was the safest place for the Barbarians, he wasn't sent here for no reason. It was quite sneaky to send him here under the guise of "falling out of favour". Chu Lan's enemies would assume that he had a new favourite, and never came to see his Queen. On the bright side, even if he was defeated and died in the future, Xia Xi could still survive.
After all, although the Barbarians pay attention to cutting grass and uprooting the roots³, they wouldn't pay attention to a harem "woman" that had fallen out of favour and had no children.
Xia Xi stared at him and solemnly said: "I'm not worried about my safety. Chu Lan, if something happened to you I won't be able to live." He bowed his head and kissed the skin above Chu Lan's heart, "We are husband and wife, our fate is tied together⁴. If you're alive, I will blossom, if something happens to you, I will wither."
Chu Lan stared at him, deep emotions hidden in his eyes, but after a while he just smiled lightly, kissing him on the lips and saying: "In that case, since it's for my Xi'er, I too will be careful about everything."
The two of them cuddled and said a lot, but they felt that time passed by at an extremely fast speed. Seeing Chu Lan getting up, Xia Xi knew that he was about to go back, he wanted to rise and help him dress but Chu Lan held him down, "Alright, rest, you don't need to move." He dressed neatly and even tied his hair himself. He came over to touch Xia Xi's stomach and asked with a smirk: "How long will Xi'er keep my gift? Maybe this time, good news may come next month."
Xia Xi blushed, he opened his mouth but was too embarrassed to answer. Chu Lan stared at him closely, and whispered, "Will you keep it for the evening?"
Hearing this, Xia Xi felt a bit at a loss. When he imagined how he was going to carry his stuff till the evening, he kept thinking about the man's semen smelling so fishy and strong that even others could smell it. He felt ashamed to the extreme, but when he saw Chu Lan's look of expectation, he still nodded slightly.
Seeing him nodding, Chu Lan's breathing became messed up. He said with annoyance: "What should I do? Whenever I think of Xi'er holding my stuff in his belly for a day and my semen coating Xi'er's cunt, I feel hard again. I don't want to go anymore." Xia Xi's face was even redder, and his breathing also became messed up. Just when he didn't know what to say, Chu Lan gave him a smile and "pou-chu" kissed his lips hard. His expression suddenly got serious, he got up and said, "Don't put too much pressure on yourself just because you can't conceive for me. We won't have children. The Barbarians don't lack for good sons and daughters, let's choose a few to raise. Let them call you mother and gift them the best future we can manage."
Xia Xi was stunned hearing what he said. He never thought that Chu Lan would have such an idea, and it was all because of himself. Thinking of this, his heart trembled and he said in a crying voice: "Chu Lan..." But there was nothing to say except to send him another kiss.
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The civil war broke out in the middle of the winter of the same year, and the army under Zaha officially started the rebellion, starting from his fief and fighting all the way to Yudu.
When Xia Xi first heard the news, the civil war had already started for more than a month. He only felt his whole body become filled with ice, and his blood become frozen in his veins. Subconsciously, he wanted to find Yue Ling'er.
Compared to his panic, Yue Ling'er was calmer. When Xia Xi asked her, she said: "I already knew. Boy, sit, your lips are white. Drink a cup of hot tea first."
Xia Xi sat down without etiquette and looked at her in panic, "The King..."
Yue Ling'er said: "Yesterday, there was a battle report. The two armies are at a stalemate in Baiyanghe. My son is fine." A maid poured tea, and Yue Linger personally delivered the tea to Xia Xi's hands. "Don't be so alarmed, war is the best experience for a man. If he wins this battle, the world will be his."
Xia Xi took a sip of tea dazedly and didn't taste anything, he asked blankly: "What if he... loses?"
Yue Ling'er patted his head, "That's also his fate."
Looking for Yue Ling'er made Xia Xi feel more insecure, so he could only feel uncomfortable by himself. He wanted to return to the Palace for a while, but worried that his behaviour would mess up Chu Lan's plans. In the end, he could only endure. There was no news in the temple, so he ran to Yue Ling'er's residence every day to find out the latest news, but Yue Ling'er's sources weren't well-informed. Xia Xi couldn't get the information he wanted to know, so he came back in despair in the wind and snow.
He was so worried that he couldn't eat and sleep, his body quickly lost a lot of weight. One day, he started to vomit. Because of his sorry visage, the person who worried about him most was Xia Chun. The child stopped riding his favourite horse or practising martial arts, he just stayed by his side. The little one would feed him, and as soon as Xia Xi ate too little, he would stand in front of him with a bowl and look at him worriedly. Sometimes Xia Xi felt weak and would force himself to eat a few more mouthfuls.
The scared child turned pale with his vomiting, he opened his mouth but no words came out. After a while, he ran outside. Xia Xi saw him and quickly said, "Chun'er, come back." Xia Chun stopped. Xia Xi smiled and said, "I'm fine, you don't need to find anyone." He didn't want to bother others, but he still vomited for days on. Sometimes he would vomit a bit of filth, other times he simply retched. After a few days of this, even Lan Duo'er couldn't sit still and, despite his obstruction, went to invite a doctor into the temple.
Lan Duo'er hired a female doctor in her forties. She had a dark complexion, probably because she often went to the countryside, but her body was straight and she looked radiant. After she came in, she bowed to Xia Xi, but Xia Xi was embarrassed and said, "I'm fine. Making you take a trip in this kind of weather, I've troubled you."
The female doctor smiled and said, "This is what I should do."
Xia Xi stretched out his wrist and for her to look at⁵. After a detailed examination, she came to a conclusion, "Her Royal Highness is not ill, but pregnant." Her tone was a bit solemn, and she felt a little unspeakable, even looking at Xia Xi's with eyes that weren't quite right.
Everyone in the room was shocked by her words, Xia Chun still couldn't understand the Barbarian language, so he was a little dazed and anxious on his tiptoes. After a while, Xia Xi found his voice, "Truly?"
The female doctor said: "I've seen hundreds of pregnancy signs, it's absolutely impossible for the diagnosis to be wrong. The fetus your belly is already more than two months old. Your Royal Highness has a weak body, so you need to make up more, otherwise, it won't be easy for the fetus to stabilize it's grip." She spoke slowly, looking at Xia Xi a little strangely while explaning. Xia Xi was still immersed in this incredible news, it took a while before he recovered. He lowered his head and touched his stomach, saying dazedly: "I have a baby in my stomach...?"
Lan Luo'er laughed first, congratulated him with the other maids, and explained to Xia Chun who was stunned. The female medical officer was a little surprised when she saw their appearance. Lan Duo'er was intelligent and quickly understood. She first let the other maids accompany Xia Xi, and led the female doctor outside to softly explain: "Our Royal Highness lives with god in the temple, but the King comes quietly to visit from time to time, please don't worry too much about these things."
The female doctor breathed a sigh of relief and laughed, "I have thought unnecessarily." Outsiders thought that ever since Xia Xi was sent here, the King had never come to see her. At that moment, she diagnosed her with a second heartbeat, so the female doctor felt a little embarrassed. Lan Duo'er also laughed, she asked her to leave some tonic prescriptions for the fetus. Only then did she thank her while giving the service fee, and asked someone to send her away.
When Lan Duo'er returned to the inner chamber, Xia Xi still looked dazed, with a hand on his abdomen the whole time. Lan Duo'er called him again, and he returned to his senses. His face immediately recovered with some brilliance, even his eyes that had been dimmed for a long time lit up, "Do I really have a baby?"
Lan Duo'er nodded and chuckled: "Yes, Your Highness heard it right. Now let's let someone write a letter to the King, alright?"
When Xia Xi heard these words, he suddenly shook his head, "No." The last time he saw Chu Lan, the civil war still hadn't started yet. Thinking about it, it should've been the joy of that night that made him pregnant with this child. It's been two years now <b>(T/N: Since he was sent to the temple)</b>. Chu Lan hadn't visited for more than a month, presumably, he was still very busy. The war was also in a critical juncture. Xia Xi said, "I can't let him become distracted. He must be very tired these days. If he knows about this, he'll definitely come over. The time it would take for him to go back and forth is enough for him to win a war." He muttered: "Just wait... until the war is over."
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Notes:
1- Because the title was a spoiler I hid it from you XD the full title is.... *drumroll* 'THE CIVIL WAR AND PREGNANCY'!!! Yey!!!!!! To the people that got it right, claim your invisible, invaluable 'I got it right' certificate. It doesn't do much, but it does give you spiritual satisfaction and motivation UwU\n2- I have no idea what he's saying! :D\n3- Exterminating descendants\n4- East Asians believe that there is a deity of love that ties the fate of two people together in heaven with a red string. The two tied people are called soul mates and no matter how rocky the road fate is supposed to bring them back together. The Chinese one was Yue Lao which meant 'Old moon', however, I'm not very sure of this since it's been a while.\n5- I don't know if you don't know this but Chinese traditional doctors (sometimes even medical doctors) guess their patient's physical condition by feeling their pulse.
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<b>PastTimer: I got my phone and files back! TwT it's as good as I left it:'D</b>\n