A Marriage in Name Only? My Stepbrother Won't Let Me Go

Mei Wanying suddenly went into premature labor.

Fortunately, the estate had a Household Doctor, and a midwife had long since been arranged.

Mei Wanying was quickly rushed to the delivery room, with Mrs. Mei and Nanny Liu going in to be with her.

Knowing Mrs. Gu had upset her daughter again, Mrs. Mei ordered her to stay away from the delivery room.

Under the circumstances, Mrs. Gu didn’t dare to disobey.

Nothing was more important than the child in Mei Wanying’s belly.

That was a precious treasure; absolutely nothing could be allowed to happen to it!

Ding Xiang was still just a young girl, so for fear she would be frightened, she was stationed to stand guard at the door.

Xue Xingyao was also in the outer room.

Giving birth was like passing through the gates of hell. In the face of life and death, her own entanglement with Chen Shujing was thrown to the back of her mind.

Xue Xingyao had never experienced such an ordeal. When she had lost her own child, she had been in a daze. By the time she came to her senses, the baby was already gone.

But now, she could hear Mei Wanying’s cries of pain with her own ears.

Her body trembled with fear.

She placed a hand on her lower abdomen. ’If my child were still alive, would I have to go through this, too?’

Ding Xiang was frightened as well. She wanted to go inside and check on things several times but held back, afraid she would only get in the way and put her lady in danger.

All she could do was swallow her anxiety and wait at the door.

Seeing Xue Xingyao’s legs giving out from under her, Ding Xiang quickly supported her. "Second Miss, you should go rest in the guest courtyard. You can come see our lady after the baby is born."

Xue Xingyao shook her head.

’My friend is suffering in there. How could I possibly leave her?’

Perhaps reminded of her own lost child, or perhaps because her heart simply ached for Mei Wanying, Xue Xingyao began to weep silently.

’She and Mei Wanying were both so ill-fated. Neither of them had met a good man.’

"Those two are birds of a feather—neither one of them is any good!"

’Ah Yin is in there fighting for her life, so what is Pei Yan, the man who got her pregnant, doing now?’

’That bastard only brings Ah Yin misfortune. He might as well just drop dead!’

「Capital City.」

The poison afflicting Pei Yan was difficult to purge. If not for the Imperial Physician’s superb skill, he would have been dead long ago.

After another bout of coughing up blood, Pei Yan fell unconscious.

Before losing consciousness, he was still muttering "Ah Yin."

The physician had said she was the only one he seemed to care about, and that perhaps only this "Miss Ah Yin" could rouse him.

Empress Gu had been strong-willed her entire life, but seeing her son suffer such a disaster made her heart bleed.

’But Mei Wanying is in the final stages of her pregnancy. Making her undertake the long journey to the Capital City... wouldn’t that be a death sentence for both her and the child?’

Empress Gu didn’t dare take the risk.

’She was afraid that after losing her son, she would lose her grandchild as well.’

It was a blow she would not be able to bear.

Empress Gu personally wiped Pei Yan’s face. Seeing how deathly ill he looked, she couldn’t stop her eyes from welling up.

"I won’t stand in your way anymore," she whispered. "If you want to marry Mei Wanying as your principal wife, I’ll agree to it. As long as you wake up and live, I won’t force anything on you ever again."

Hearing the name "Mei Wanying," Pei Yan’s eyelashes trembled, as if he were struggling to wake up.

Empress Gu saw a glimmer of hope and quickly added, "You don’t know yet, do you? Mei Wanying is pregnant with your child! She’s due any day now!"

"You have to wake up, get better, and then go to Jiangnan to bring mother and child back home."

"That is your own flesh and blood. The child should be raised by your side. I won’t make Mei Wanying marry Xun anymore, and I won’t let the child take the Gu name..."

The more Empress Gu spoke, the stronger Pei Yan’s reaction grew.

Thinking this was a sign he was waking, Empress Gu revealed everything else she had been hiding from him.

She blurted it all out—the plan to have Mei Wanying marry Gu Xun, to have Gu Xun act as the child’s father.

The man in the bed coughed up another mouthful of blood.

He looked even weaker than before!

Mrs. Feng grew anxious. "Was His Highness agitated by that?"

’What man is willing to be cuckolded?’

’And have his child call another man ’Father’...’

’This is enough to kill His Highness from sheer anger!’

Empress Gu didn’t know whether her son had been agitated or not, so she quickly sent for the Imperial Physician.

The Imperial Physician shook his head. "A reaction should be a good thing, but the more agitated His Highness becomes, the faster the poison circulates through his body. If this continues... I’m afraid... I’m afraid..."

The Empress didn’t need the Imperial Physician to say more; she knew what the consequences would be.

Her face went ashen. "Then what can we do?"

’Mentioning Mei Wanying is out of the question.’

’But not mentioning her is also not an option.’

’What on earth could she do to make her son wake up?’

The Imperial Physician pondered for a moment. "Your Majesty, try telling His Highness something good—something that will give him the will to live without agitating him."

Empress Gu thought for a long time but couldn’t think of a single piece of good news concerning Mei Wanying and Pei Yan.

She sighed. "Don’t you want to marry Mei Wanying anymore? She’s not getting any younger. She won’t wait for you forever."

"What will you do if she takes the child and marries someone else?"

"Ah Yan, hurry and wake up. The two of them are still waiting for you."

Pei Yan could hear the voices from the outside world intermittently, but he just couldn’t wake up.

The name "Mei Wanying" echoed endlessly in his ears.

Just the thought of her sent waves of pain through his chest.

’He missed her so much.’

’He wanted to see her so badly.’

As his emotions surged, he coughed up another mouthful of blood.

The poison afflicting Pei Yan was the kind that made its victim cough up blood until they died. Any emotional fluctuation caused him to vomit blood ceaselessly.

Ever since Empress Gu had mentioned Mei Wanying and the child, he had been coughing up blood even more frequently.

Fearing her son might actually cough himself to death, Empress Gu dared not mention Mei Wanying again.

’This was no good, and that was no good either.’

Despair filled the Empress’s heart.

’Should I bring Mei Wanying back? Have her marry Ah Yan as soon as possible?’

’If Ah Yan doesn’t survive, then the child would have a legitimate claim to the throne, wouldn’t it?’

Empress Gu finally made her decision. Squeezing her son’s hand, she said, "I will have Mei Wanying return to the Capital at once. I’ll let her be your wife!"

’As for the child in Mei Wanying’s womb... regardless of whether it’s a boy or a girl, the child that is announced will be a boy.’

’A girl would be sent to the Gu Family, to be raised by them. She won’t suffer the slightest bit of mistreatment!’

...

Far away in Jiangnan, Mei Wanying was in labor for a day and a night before finally giving birth.

It was a girl.

Thankfully, both mother and daughter were safe and sound.

The tiny baby slept by Mei Wanying’s side, her features and the shape of her face a perfect copy of her mother’s.

Despite being premature, she had a full head of thick, dark hair and looked perfectly healthy.

Seeing it was a girl, Mrs. Gu felt as if her world were collapsing.

’His Highness has faced so many dangers! Only a boy can help him secure his claim to the throne!’

’How could it be a girl!’

Mrs. Gu frantically went to write a letter to Empress Gu. Mei Wanying was utterly exhausted and had no energy to argue with her.

She just let her be.

She turned her head to look at the tiny baby beside her. The little one’s eyes were shut tight as she slept soundly.

Mei Wanying’s heart suddenly softened. ’This is my child, and mine alone—the continuation of my bloodline.’

’From now on, I have another family member.’

’I gave birth to a girl, not a boy. The Royal Family probably won’t come to snatch her away now.’

The thought brought Mei Wanying great relief.

She held her daughter’s tiny hand and pressed a gentle kiss to it.

’A girl.’

’How wonderful...’

Xue Xingyao looked the baby over from every angle, unable to see a trace of Pei Yan in her features, which satisfied her greatly.

’That scoundrel didn’t lift a finger. It would be a cosmic injustice if the child looked like him!’

"This little one certainly has good genes. You can already tell she’s going to be a beauty."

’I hope her personality is just like Ah Yin’s, too.’

’That would really drive Pei Yan mad!’