Su Mu supported Xie Yi back home. Except for a few more servants cleaning in the courtyard, everything else was exactly the same as when she left. She gently settled Xie Yi on the bed and instructed: “Your body is heavier now, move around less.”

Xie Yi held her hand in his, and under his slightly disheveled blue-black hair were his devoted and infatuated eyes: “Mu jiejie, a while ago, the doctor took my pulse and said it’s very likely to be a girl.”

A daughter was a man’s confidence. There was a hint of coquettishness in Xie Yi’s infatuated gaze.

Su Mu smiled: “A girl is good, a boy is good too. I like both.”

Xie Yi’s clear eyes were so gentle they could drip water: “…Then after I give birth to this one, I’ll give you a son next, so you’ll have both a son and a daughter, okay?”

Planning for a second child so quickly?

Su Mu tenderly stroked the corner of his eye: “Taking care of your body is more important first.”

Although she wasn’t the one giving birth or enduring the pain of childbirth, she was more concerned about Xie Yi’s body.

Xie Yi smiled, his crimson thin lips like a brilliant hibiscus flower: “My body is fine.” He could give birth to many, many children for his Mu jiejie.

Xie Yi was already over eight months pregnant and could give birth at any time. His body was becoming increasingly heavy, and his calves were a bit swollen. At night, when Su Mu had nothing to do, she wanted to help massage his legs, but Xie Yi firmly clutched his clothes and wouldn’t let her. He only allowed the servants to massage him, but wouldn’t let Su Mu come near.

He rarely was so adamant with her.

Su Mu was puzzled, but Shen Yuxue saw through to the essence at a glance: “He’s afraid you’ll see his legs aren’t as delicate as before and despise him.”

“How could I possibly despise him,” Su Mu said.

Shen Yuxue smiled: “Although it’s said that men endure the pain of childbirth to produce offspring for women, and women, regardless of what they think in their hearts, always say they appreciate men’s contributions to their wives’ families. But in reality, countless men who lose favor after giving birth are the best proof. No matter how nice the words are, once they see the man’s loose and saggy belly after childbirth, and figure not as slender as before, their thoughts change.”

“This is probably what Xie Yi is afraid of, so he simply hides it, not letting you see,” Shen Yuxue drank a cup of wine. “Moreover, his body is heavy now and he can’t serve you at all. Many women take in outside lovers during this time.”

Su Mu pursed her lips: “I’m going back.”

Shen Yuxue held her: “What? You want to go back and comfort your little husband? I tell you, it won’t work. Men at this time are especially insecure. Your persuasion won’t have much effect.”

Su Mu looked at the darkening sky and shook off her hand: “I’m going back first. You should go home early too, and drink less. You’ve been drinking non-stop since we returned from Cloud City. I didn’t know you had such a drinking problem before.”

Shen Yuxue lowered her head and smiled bitterly.

The weather was gradually turning cooler, and the temperature was even lower at night. Su Mu pulled her clothes tighter. Just as she was about to reach the door, someone suddenly hugged her from behind. A burning hot body temperature tightly embraced her waist and wouldn’t let go.

Su Mu was silent for a moment, then said, “Let go.”

Yan Jiyue was wearing a pure white mourning dress. The bright moonlight poured down, and she saw his tear-stained face: “Amu, take me. He can’t serve you now, but I can.”

Su Mu sighed and touched the white cloth tied around his waist: “The mourning period isn’t over, yet you want to engage in illicit affairs? If your father knew in the underworld, you’d have completely disgraced him.”

Yan Jiyue’s fingers dug into her waist as he begged: “I’ve long lost all face, and I don’t care about that anymore. Amu, I know I was wrong before, I treated you badly… But I’ve changed now. Give me a chance. I don’t need any status, just let me stay by your side and serve you, please?”

“No,” Su Mu flatly refused. “I won’t eat my own vomit.”

A scalding tear fell into Su Mu’s palm. Yan Jiyue’s swollen eyes were filled with suppressed despair: “Why are you so heartless towards me? Is it for him? But do you know, he’s not at all what you imagine. He’s deeply scheming. If it weren’t for him, we wouldn’t have ended up like this back then.”

“Even if he hadn’t been there back then, we would have still ended up like this.”

“No, you don’t understand at all, you—” Yan Jiyue’s eyes suddenly widened: “You…”

He seemed to have all his strength drained in an instant, collapsing to the ground, tugging at her skirt in disbelief: “It was you, it was you—”

“Yes, it was me,” Su Mu said calmly.

“No wonder, no wonder you were so determined to divorce me back then.” Yan Jiyue’s face was deathly pale, his expression a mix of crying and laughing: “At that time, you hadn’t even met that slut Xie Yi yet. But why? Amu, we were husband and wife.”

“In the previous life, we were husband and wife, but now we’re not, and we won’t be in the future,” Su Mu replied coldly.

“No, no,” Yan Jiyue pulled at her sleeve: “Amu, I was wrong, I wasn’t good before, but I’ve changed. I won’t treat you like I did before. I like you, I’ve liked you for many years, I just didn’t know how to express it. Whenever I saw Xie Yi by your side, I felt jealous, envious. I don’t want anyone else by your side.”

He prostrated himself at her feet, futilely grasping at her skirt hem. His throat burst out with a desolate, tearing howl: “…You are my wife-master, not that slut’s. Why can he eat and live with you, while it’s so difficult for me to even see you once? Why, why exactly? I am your properly married husband.”

“You like me?” Su Mu gazed at the heavy night sky: “For ten years, I never felt the love you speak of. All I felt were your cold words and attitude.”

Tears filled Yan Jiyue’s eyes: “I’m sorry, I was wrong. I was too willful before, but I’ve changed. You can see that, right Amu? I haven’t lost my temper again.”

He knelt at Su Mu’s feet, holding her hand and begging: “Give me one more chance, please? We’ll definitely be good together in the future. Please forgive me?”

“On what grounds?” Su Mu looked at him: “Why should I turn back just because you’ve changed? I don’t want to dwell on the past anymore. You should start anew too. Even without Xie Yi, there’s no possibility between us.”

Watching Su Mu’s cold, departing figure, Yan Jiyue fell to the ground, laughing with a desolate look in his eyes. Under the moonlight, even his tears were cold.

He couldn’t start anew, just as he could never let go of Su Mu. The past scenes tormented him like knife cuts.

He walked back to his narrow room step by step, took out a dagger, and in his gradually unfocusing eyes, he seemed to return to that scorching wedding night.

Su Mu returned home, and Xie Yi came forward to greet her, supporting his belly.

Su Mu immediately supported him: “Didn’t I tell you not to move? Your belly is so big now, be careful.”

“I’m not-” Xie Yi’s smile froze for an instant as he smelled a familiar male fragrance on Su Mu. It was the scent Yan Jiyue often used. Even though he wasn’t buying it now, the scent still lingered on his old clothes from years of use.

Could it be?

Xie Yi thought of Yan Jiyue’s former status, and the possibility that he might have rekindled old feelings with Su Mu. Suddenly, he felt a heart-wrenching pain in his abdomen, and his face instantly turned deathly pale.

“Xiao Yi, what’s wrong?” Su Mu saw something was amiss and asked anxiously.

“The child-” Xie Yi was tortured by intense pain and could barely speak: “The child is- is coming.”

“Quick! Go fetch the midwife!”

Su Mu paced anxiously outside the delivery room, listening to Xie Yi’s heart-wrenching screams inside. Servants carried in basins of hot water one after another. She was so nervous she didn’t know what to do.

Finally, the cry of a baby was heard from inside, and Su Mu’s anxious heart was put at ease.

“Congratulations, madam. Felicitations, madam. It’s a little princess,” the midwife said, carrying the child to Su Mu with congratulations.

“Thank you.” Su Mu held the child, gave the midwife some money, and brought the baby into the room for Xie Yi to see: “Xiao Yi, look, this is our child.”

“Mu jiejie, please give her a name,” Xie Yi smiled weakly, his pale face devoid of any color, his voice hoarse and feeble.

Su Mu thought for a moment and was about to speak when suddenly a group of people came to offer congratulations. Xing Ren ran in excitedly: “Congratulations, madam. Congratulations, young master. Madam has passed the imperial examination and been appointed as the magistrate of Cloud City. Madam truly has double happiness!”

The midwife immediately said: “Oh my, this child is truly blessed. Just as she’s born, the madam passes the imperial examination. She’s really a little lucky star.”

“Mu jiejie-” Xie Yi’s frail hand tugged at the corner of her clothes.

Su Mu stroked his sweat-covered face and placed a kiss on his forehead: “You’ve worked hard.”

After Xie Yi completed his confinement period, Su Mu packed her things and prepared to set off for Cloud City to take up her post.

“Are you reluctant to leave?” Xie Yi held the sleeping child, as gentle as a spring pond.

Su Mu shook her head: “I’m thinking about life after going to Cloud City. It’s you who just gave birth and now has to travel around with me.”

Xie Yi settled the child and shifted his body, leaning into Su Mu’s embrace: “As long as I’m with Mu jiejie, anywhere is fine.”

The vague melancholy in Su Mu’s heart softened with Xie Yi’s gentle words. The carriage rolled over the dust. She lifted the curtain and gazed at the city that had once trapped her for a lifetime. She had finally left.