Dugu Jingyao is reborn as Li Chu's beloved

Chapter 451 Emperor Suzong Tests Li Chu

But the only ones who reacted differently from the others were probably Mo Xin and Lian Xin. They felt that this child came at the right time. As long as their wives could give birth to this child, their wives' status would be guaranteed, so they were naturally happy. Then they went to the court doctor to ask about everything they should pay attention to, etc.

Cui Caiping woke up around night. She felt like she had a dream in which all her family members were executed.

The first thing she did after waking up was to find Lian Xin and Mo Xin and ask hopefully, "I want to ask you, how are the Yang and Cui Mansions doing now?"

Lianxin and Moxin were stunned and looked at each other, but in their eyes, Cui Caiping was pregnant now, which was a good opportunity. She would not be implicated in the affairs of the Yang and Cui Mansions, so they wanted to evade the issue.

Lian Xin hurriedly took a few steps forward, helped Cui Caiping up, and leaned against the headboard, saying, "Madam, don't think about anything else now. You are pregnant now, so it's more important to take care of yourself and your child."

Mo Xin also agreed, "Yes, Madam, don't be afraid. Now that you have this child, and you have never been involved in family affairs, you will definitely be free from being implicated."

After hearing what the two said, what else did Cui Caiping not understand? Wasn't it obvious that something had indeed happened in the Yang and Cui mansions? It was just that she had a child...

There was a hint of hope in her eyes again: "Are you saying I'm pregnant?"

The two of them saw Cui Caiping's eyes light up slightly and nodded quickly. Lian Xin added, "Madam, you heard it right. You are pregnant. It has been two months."

Mo Xin also reminded, "Yes, Madam, you heard the bad news this morning while you were in a meeting. You were so depressed that you fainted. You asked the court doctor to treat you, and only then did you know that you were pregnant."

Cui Caiping looked down at her belly and thought, "This must be her mother's blessing! If that's the case, she must live well, for her mother and for her child!"

Cui Caiping looked up at Mo Xin and Lian Xin again, her voice revealing a hint of firmness: "Mo Xin, Lian Xin, I'm hungry. Go and see if there's anything to eat. By the way, heat up the pregnancy-maintaining medicine for me. Remember to check it carefully and don't let anyone mix in anything that shouldn't be there." Mo Xin and Lian Xin agreed and left.

Because he had official business to deal with that day, Li Chu left the palace late. It was so late that Li Chu stayed with the emperor and the queen for dinner before returning.

It was probably the evening hour when we came back. Since the Tang Dynasty was just beginning to stabilize after Emperor Suzong ascended the throne, we finally had time to dine with the Queen, Li Chu, Li Tan, Li Ruo and their family. So we enjoyed ourselves quite a bit, the meal lasted a while, and we drank quite a bit of wine.

However, Li Chu did not dare to really drink too much. Before, when Suzong was still the crown prince, he could just respect and love him as a father. But now he was the emperor, so there was an additional layer of monarch-subject relationship, and naturally he was more restrained than before.

He did not dare to stand out too much, nor did he dare to get too close to his colleagues, for fear that Emperor Suzong would be wary of him forming a clique for personal gain, and then the stable life he wanted to give Dugu Jingyao would no longer exist.

However, because Suzong later drank and chatted with him alone, Li Chu also drank a lot, but he didn't dare to get really drunk.

When he went to Wangyuexuan for drinking today, Dugu Jingyao was still awake. Dugu Jingyao has been particularly sensitive to smells since she became pregnant. When Li Chu was at the door, she smelled the smell of alcohol.

So Dugu Jingyao put on some clothes and got off the bed and went to the door. Before Si Jian could finish his reply, Dugu Jingyao opened the door from the inside and asked, covering her nose: "Have you been drinking?"

Li Chu didn't care that Dugu Jingyao looked a little disgusted with him, but quickly asked Shi Jian to push Dugu Jingyao into the house: "Ayao, it's cold outside, Shi Jian, help the princess in first."

Li Chu sniffed the scent on his body: "Yes, I was a little late today dealing with government affairs, so my father and mother invited me to have dinner. Later, my father asked me to talk alone, so... it's okay. It does smell a bit strong. I'll go back to Chenxiang Pavilion first."

Dugu Jingyao stopped him upon hearing this: "Wait, come in first."

Li Chu refused, "I smell too bad, let's talk about it tomorrow."

Dugu Jingyao said, "I told you to come in, so just go in."

Then he ordered Shi Jian and Si Jian: "Si Jian, go prepare a hangover soup for His Highness, Shi Jian, go prepare the bath water."

Li Chu then dared to come in, but after entering, he sat far away from Dugu Jingyao. Dugu Jingyao waved at him again and said, "Donglang, sit closer, it's okay, I'm not so sick anymore."

After hearing what Dugu Jingyao said, Li Chu finally felt relieved. After all, he remembered that there was a time when Dugu Jingyao was so sick with morning sickness that she couldn't eat. It was so painful to watch, and he wished he could suffer for her.

However, in recent times, with Emperor Suzong ascending the throne and the thorough investigation of Yang Guozhong, he has spent too little time with Dugu Jingyao at home, so he didn't even know that Dugu Jingyao was no longer suffering from morning sickness, and he felt a little guilty.

Seeing Li Chu like this, Dugu Jingyao felt that it was unnecessary. The two of them had always been straightforward. After sending Shi Jian and Si Jian away, Dugu Jingyao said, "Don't feel guilty about me, Donglang. After all, the emperor needs you now. If you are well in the previous dynasty, the child and I can feel at ease in the palace. Besides, I am no longer feeling unwell. Lin Zhihe, the palace doctor, comes to check my pulse every once in a while, and the pulse shows that mother and child are safe. You don't need to worry about us. But you said that the emperor also talked to you alone. What did he say?"

Upon hearing this, Li Chu felt once again that his Ayao was truly thoughtful and considerate. He had made the right choice in marrying this wife. Although he thought so, his face remained somewhat serious. He said, "Father said that in order to maintain a check and balance in the court, he might not assign me any particularly important positions in the future. He also said that when you, Ayao, give birth to a legitimate son, he will make me a prince."

Dugu Jingyao was not as anxious as Li Chu, because Suzong was willing to talk about these things with Li Chu, which meant that even if he was afraid of Li Chu, he would not attack him directly, but there might be a hint of testing mentality.

So she asked curiously, "How did you respond, Donglang?"

Li Chu sighed and said, "Before Grandfather left, he privately contacted me and told me to be there to counsel Father, but not to be too prominent, or else he might be wary of me. So I said there was no need to assign me any particularly important positions, and that I could just start my training from the bottom. He then said I wasn't in a hurry to get a princely title, and that it wouldn't be too late to do so once I'd gained enough experience. What do you think Father said?"

Dugu Jingyao politely declined, "I dare not speculate on the emperor's intentions. I still want to live longer!"

Li Chu was amused by her words, and his serious expression faded. He said, "There are only two of us here. How could I possibly harm you?"

Dugu Jingyao shrugged and said, "Well, then, let me guess. Father has lowered his guard against you and arranged an unimportant position for you, but he still promised you that after I give birth to a legitimate son, I will make you a prince?"

Li Chu was a little surprised. She knew Dugu Jingyao was clever, but she hadn't expected her to guess Suzong's plan. He said, "As expected of you, A'yao! You guessed right. Father has assigned me the position of General Ningyuan, a fifth-rank official, to train me in the army. However, he still promised to make me a prince if you give birth to a legitimate son. He said that I have made great contributions to the Anshi Rebellion and the suppression of the Yang family. As the eldest son, this is what I deserve."

Dugu Jingyao nodded and said, "That's not bad. At least you haven't been assigned to be a civil official. As for being a military commander, have you forgotten that you have a military commander father-in-law behind you? Just go for it without worry. As for being crowned king, don't forget that this matter is accidental. If I hadn't given birth to a boy this time, your title could have been delayed for at least another three to five years..."

Li Chu also agreed and said, "Yes, that's why I agreed. No matter whether A Yao gives birth to a boy or a girl, it will be our child and I will love it."

Dugu Jingyao laughed and said, "If you dare not love me just because I gave birth to a girl, then I really don't know people well."

Li Chu also nodded in agreement and said, "Don't worry, how could your father be that kind of person?"

Dugu Jingyao's expression suddenly turned serious, as if changing his expression: "By the way, Donglang, I have something else to tell you."

Seeing Dugu Jingyao's expression change so much, he thought something had happened to Dugu Jingyao and the child, but then he thought about what she had just said about both mother and child being safe, so that shouldn't be the case. What else could be wrong? He asked with a look of suspicion: "Ayao, what happened?"

Dugu Jingyao told Li Chu that Cui Caiping was pregnant. Li Chu was shocked, his face darkening as if struck by thunder. "How is that possible? How long has it been?"

Dugu Jingyao repeated what the court doctor had said to her, and Li Chu understood: "So this is why she tricked me into going to Linglong Pavilion!"

He really regretted it and once again felt that drunkenness was the cause of his mistakes!

Dugu Jingyao saw that he looked like an eggplant hit by frost, so she asked, "So, Donglang, now that you have this child, what are your thoughts?"

Li Chu couldn't say he didn't even want to think about it, could he? He suddenly felt a headache, so he said, "This Cui Caiping has been restless since she entered the mansion. Now she has a child. Now that the Yang and Cui families behind her are finished, I can finally find an excuse to demote her or stop seeing her. But if I do that again when she's pregnant, the world will only think I'm kicking her when she's down! To be honest, I really don't want her to have a child at this time."

Dugu Jingyao told him not to worry: "Since Donglang doesn't want it, don't worry. After all, the person behind the scenes last time wanted to use Cui Caiping to harm me and the child, so they definitely won't tolerate Cui Caiping giving birth to a child so easily."

Hearing this, Li Chu felt that this was very reasonable. He could also take this opportunity to catch the person behind the last incident, killing two birds with one stone. He couldn't help but kiss the back of Dugu Jingyao's hand. After all, he was drunk, so he still didn't get too close.

At this time, Shi Jian and Si Jian also came back. Dugu Jingyao said, "Dong Lang, drink this hangover soup first, then go take a bath. Don't think too much. When the enemy comes, we will fight back with our generals and when the water comes, we will block it with earth."

Li Chu took the hangover soup and drank it all, then said: "Well, Yao, if you are too sleepy, go to sleep first."

Dugu Jingyao also nodded and watched Li Chu leave the bedroom.