Chapter 36: Exposure

Whether Chi Mei was really experiencing morning sickness or not, Yue Gui and Xiao Rong knew very well. At first, seeing Chi Mei’s belly never showing signs of swelling, they thought he was just naturally not showing. After Dou Zhu’s words, Yue Gui suddenly realized.

He carried the freshly prepared dinner into the palace, his expression calm as if he knew nothing about this matter.

A woman’s voice came from inside the palace, soft and gentle in tone.

Hearing Yue Gui enter, Chi Mei quickly made a gesture for him to be quiet, indicating he should lower his voice.

Yue Gui stood there, holding the dinner in his hands.

“In Lingnan, there are towering mountains stretching for thousands of miles, with many clouds and mist. Because of the rugged mountain paths, there is little interaction with the Central Plains region,” Jiang Yang said calmly.

For some reason, after sending off Dou Zhu, this fish kept clamoring to hear about everything on land. Jiang Yang was too lazy to talk, so the fish tugged at her sleeve, acting spoiled and begging.

Just like those men in brothels who pull at her sleeve seeking favor, Jiang Yang was most annoyed by people who couldn’t read the room, but…

Jiang Yang sighed. This stupid fish couldn’t be lumped together with those men outside. He was too stupid.

She had forgotten how many times she had compromised with him, and surprisingly, she didn’t feel that sense of resistance and disgust.

“That’s all. Actually, there’s nothing interesting on land. Let’s eat.” Jiang Yang opened the food box and saw that it was all shrimp meat and shellfish, but no fish meat. Fish was the most abundant in the sea, fish meat was as basic as rice. Jiang Yang’s brows furrowed slightly, and she asked, “Why is there no fish today? Didn’t we always have it before?”

Yue Gui replied softly, “We’ve been having fish every day before. Yue Gui was afraid the Prince Consort might get tired of it, so I thought of trying something different.”

“Is that so?” Jiang Yang’s voice was very light, but it fell on Yue Gui’s heart like a weight of thousands of tons.

Yue Gui had thought himself to be one of the few clever men in the clan, especially compared to the ‘Prince’ who, apart from his noble status and good looks, was useless in everything else and not very bright.

But this pride in his own cleverness had to bow before Jiang Yang.

When Jiang Yang uttered that question, her eyes fixed on him. Her light and cold gaze seemed to strip off his clothes, leaving him naked before her. Any hidden little schemes were exposed, like a cockroach suddenly exposed to sunlight in a corner, feeling completely uncomfortable.

The atmosphere was silent for a moment.

Yue Gui was nervous and trembling inside. Humans were all cunning. Could she have noticed something unusual?

Fortunately, Jiang Yang didn’t pursue it further. She picked up a shrimp ball and placed it in Chi Mei’s bowl, her tone gentle and doting: “Yue Gui made new dishes. Try and see how his cooking is.”

“Alright.” Surprised by Jiang Yang’s sudden gentle and doting tone, Chi Mei first felt surprised in his heart, but then accepted it completely. Thinking he had received exclusive favor, he even shot a smug glance at Yue Gui.

He put the shrimp ball in his mouth and chewed gently. It was made entirely from fresh shrimp meat mashed into a paste, with a sweet taste and firm texture.

“Not bad, just average,” Chi Mei said, unwilling to praise someone else’s cooking in front of Jiang Yang, giving only a rough evaluation. Then he picked up a piece and put it in Jiang Yang’s bowl, blushing and mumbling softly, “A’Yang, you eat too.”

The taut string in Yue Gui’s mind finally relaxed. Thankfully, she hadn’t noticed. But why did Chi Mei look at him like that just now? Yue Gui felt a bit uncomfortable.

Jiang Yang tasted a bite, saw Yue Gui still standing beside them, and teased, “You can go now. We don’t need you to serve here. Or do you want to eat with us?”

“Of course not.” Yue Gui’s face instantly turned red. He hurriedly said, “Then Yue Gui will take his leave first.”

Watching Yue Gui walk away, the smile in Jiang Yang’s eyes instantly disappeared.

Looking at Chi Mei who was still happily eating shrimp beside her, she suddenly pressed down his chopsticks: “Let’s go!”

With that, she pulled Chi Mei towards the outside.

Chi Mei was a bit shocked, the shrimp ball in his mouth not fully swallowed, but he showed no sign of refusal, just foolishly following Jiang Yang.

The deep sea was vast, and the merman tribe was sparsely populated. The so-called guards and watchmen were non-existent, unlike on land where even a small house would have a dozen servants watching. It was too easy to slip away quietly.

Jiang Yang pulled Chi Mei, swimming quickly towards the sea surface.

Seeing the palace below becoming smaller and smaller, Chi Mei finally asked, “A’Yang, where are we going?”

“To the island.”

Jiang Yang said as she held Chi Mei. Because he didn’t have a pearl, he swam with difficulty and wasn’t as fast as Jiang Yang, so Jiang Yang simply held his waist as they swam towards the surface.

“To see Chun Jian?” Chi Mei asked again.

“Anywhere is fine, we can go anywhere,” Jiang Yang said.

Jiang Yang swam very fast, almost with all her might. Soon she saw the faint moonlight scattered on the sea surface above. She burst out of the sea, breathing in the fresh air deeply. Crystal-clear water droplets fell from her eyelashes, and the once lonely island was right before her eyes.

Chi Mei looked at the bright moonlight, his eyes forlorn: “A’Yang, are you not happy living in the sea— mmph—” Chi Mei’s eyes widened as he felt the familiar power about to return to his body. There was no joy, only frantic rejection.

Back on the island, as long as Jiang Yang wanted, she could easily sever their connection, and he would never see her again. The pearl was the only link between him and her, and he didn’t want even this last thread of connection to be cut off.

Disregarding Jiang Yang’s forcefulness, he even bit her tongue tip uncontrollably when he felt the pearl about to enter his body.

Jiang Yang let out a pained sound and pulled back: “What are you doing?”

Chi Mei’s eyes were rimmed with red, looking as wronged as a little wife: “I should be asking you that. Why are you giving the pearl back to me?”

Jiang Yang covered her mouth, her tongue tip still hurting: “The pearl was yours to begin with. Isn’t it right for me to return it to you?”

Chi Mei turned his back, wiped away a tear, looking as stubborn as a fish whose brain had been gnawed: “But without the pearl, you can’t live in the sea anymore. You want to break things off with me, don’t you?”

Jiang Yang sighed, turned his shoulders around and said: “Idiot, Yue Gui has already discovered that you’re faking the pregnancy. Should I wait to be executed instead of escaping early?”

“……” Chi Mei stared at her with slightly reddened eyes, slowly saying: “Really?”

“Of course it’s true. Why would I lie to you?”

“But when Dou Zhu was suspicious before, didn’t you brush it off? How did Yue Gui find out?”

Jiang Yang said: “There are many ways for information to leak. It doesn’t necessarily need to be directly told. From your living habits, and bits and pieces from others’ mouths, it can be detected.”

Jiang Yang’s living environment in the Jiang family made her political sensitivity more cautious and sensitive than the average person, although on the surface she had to pretend to be carefree and ignorant of everything.

“Only by going ashore can I escape the influence of the merman tribe. Once ashore, I won’t need the pearl anymore, so it’s perfect to return it to you. Then you can explain clearly to the elders about our relationship, and say that the fake pregnancy was all because I coerced you. You only helped me act under duress. Believe me, they will forgive you,” Jiang Yang said.

“No,” Chi Mei said firmly. “The fake pregnancy was my voluntary choice. I won’t throw you under the bus. The pearl… I don’t want the pearl. You keep it. This way they won’t dare to harm you.”

“Sister?! Sister!!!” Winter, who was collecting firewood on the beach, saw Jiang Yang emerge from the water. She threw away the firewood and ran towards Jiang Yang, shouting happily.

Author’s note:

Protect your teeth, everyone. Getting dental implants is so expensive, wuwu _(:з」∠)_

Thanks to the little angels who cast Overlord tickets or watered with nutrient solution during 2022−07−20 00:03:18~2022−07−22 23:39:03~

Thanks to the little angels who watered nutrient solution: Ading 10 bottles; Yan Huo 2 bottles; I love Esdeath~(≧▽≦、Hu Tu、Yue Ming Xing Xi 1 bottle;

Thank you very much for your support, I will continue to work hard!