"Congratulations, my Lord. Congratulations, my Lord."
Hua Yuan bowed with his hands folded. His sincere expression darkened the Xichang Imperial Concubine's eyes. She grew even more wary.
She subconsciously rubbed her flat belly and couldn't help but sigh. She was both happy and sad.
She was happy that she was pregnant. Her treatment would be several levels higher. No matter how much An Cui looked down on her, he would not mistreat the child in her belly.
She was sad that she was the imperial concubine of a nation. The first half of her life had been doted on by her father and mother. She had enjoyed all the riches in the world. But in the second half of her life, her country had fallen. She was homeless and had even been treated as a slave by a small feudal lord. She had no control over her children.
She had once despised the women in the harem who used their beauty to please men. She had never thought she would be worse than them.
The Xichang Imperial Concubine was not old, but she was very shrewd. Even though she was filled with sorrow, she still wore a gentle and elegant smile on her face. She knelt behind An Cui. Those who did not know would think she was An Cui's legal wife.
Hua Yuan's congratulations were very ordinary, but An Cui beamed. He valued Hua Yuan even more now.
"I should be the one thanking you. That divine doctor is skilled and virtuous. He is truly a divine physician. "An Cui couldn't help but grab Hua Yuan's hand. He patted it as he sighed. Perhaps because he had resolved a matter, he looked radiant. He seemed several years younger. "Hua Qing, you have to thank that divine doctor for me. When Lin 'er is born, he will reward you greatly."
If not for Hua Yuan's recommendation, An Cui would not have been able to cure his illness and have his own child.
In terms of merit, the Xichang Imperial Concubine who had given birth was only second. Hua Yuan was without a doubt the first.
"Yes."
Only the heavens knew what kind of willpower Hua Yuan had to deal with An Cui without batting an eyelid.
He wanted to tell the unlucky An Cui that he could not give him the merit. After all, it was the Xichang prince who had worked hard.
After Hua Yuan left, An Cui reminded the Xichang Imperial Concubine again.
"The child is still young. You have to take care of yourself. When Lin 'er is born, you will not be treated unfairly."
The Imperial Concubine felt very disgusted, but she had to show a shy and happy smile.
"I understand. I will definitely give birth to a healthy child for you."
An Cui was very satisfied. He planned to spread this news so that everyone would feel happy as well.
The news of Xichang's Princess Concubine's pregnancy quickly spread. The officials all congratulated her, and she was so happy that she could only see her teeth but not her eyes.
This New Year was the most comfortable New Year since the disaster of the southern barbarians.
Apart from a select few, the other officials did not know that An Cui had an unmentionable illness.
Those in the know included the old officials who had fought alongside An Cui in the early years, such as the target brothers he had sworn to when he was a member of the Red Lotus Group in Dongqing.
Speaking of these two sworn brothers, he sighed.
An Cui had been able to call them brothers when he was down and out. Later on, when he returned to Nansheng and started his own business, the aristocratic ways in his bones had completely separated him from his two "sworn brothers". The two sworn brothers had martial prowess and were not afraid of death. In the early years, when An Cui had no men and no land, they were indeed the trump cards that An Cui could bring out. The present was different from the past. Was An Cui still the stray dog of the past?
He was now the vassal of Nansheng, An Cui!
The two sworn brothers were born in the wilderness and were illiterate. They spoke rudely and acted rashly. An Cui, on the other hand, was a famous aristocrat who had enjoyed all the glory, splendor, and wealth. The three of them did not grow up in the same environment at all. They did not share the same view of the world.
However, An Cui did not want others to say that he was an ingrate who "shared hardships but did not share hardships". Even though the two sworn brothers had fallen behind for many years, he did not abandon them. Instead, he gave them a place to retire and allowed them to live a life where they did not have to worry about food and water …
An Cui felt that he had done his best, but the two sworn brothers did not feel good about it.
They thought that they were very important, but as An Cui climbed to a high position … or as he recovered the glory that he once had, they seemed out of place. They had been marginalized by An Cui all these years. One of them had even been demoted again and again because he did not do a good job in supervising the rations. Now, he was just a bald general. Calling him a general was just a nice way to put it. In reality, he was not even as good as an ordinary centurion.
An Cui was overjoyed. They only had the right to be in the background because of their past hardships.
When the crowd of congratulatory people had left, the two sworn brothers finally had a chance to say a few words to An Cui.
One of them was more straightforward. With a hesitant expression, he said, "Big Brother, isn't your body … Why does sister-in-law have …"
Before he could finish, An Cui's face turned completely black. The other sworn brother interrupted him with an awkward smile. "Congratulations, Big Brother. When sister-in-law is pregnant, I will congratulate Big Brother again. I suddenly remembered that I still have things to do in the camp. I will take my leave first. "
With that, he dragged his sworn brother away without a word.
If he did not leave, did he want to be killed by An Cui in a rage?
Did he not see that An Cui's face was so black that it was almost green?
Men could not stand the humiliation of being cuckolded, much less being questioned by a sworn brother.
"My good brother, why are you dragging me away?"
"If I don't drag you away, do you want to drag me to death?"
"How did I drag you down?"
"Big Brother obviously cured his body and that's why sister-in-law is pregnant. Yet you're questioning whether his hidden illness has been cured. Aren't you suspecting that the baby in sister-in-law's womb belongs to another man?" He was almost at his wit's end. After so many years, did he still not know how to be more cautious?
As they followed An Cui, they became more aware of what it meant to be "powerless".
It wasn't that they were not brave enough when it came to killing their enemies. It was just that brute strength did not allow one to climb higher in this world.
To make an analogy, when An Cui had just started his business, of course, he prioritized profits. He rushed for sales and income. It was fine for his subordinates to be a group of undergraduates. But when his business expanded and he wanted to expand his business, it was inevitable that he would choose to transform and pay more attention to product quality and the capabilities of the company's personnel. The two sworn brothers were undergraduates. If they wanted to keep up with the pace and not be eliminated, they had to work hard to enrich themselves. They had to work hard to make their abilities catch up with the elites from prestigious universities. Otherwise, what awaited them was elimination.
Speaking of which, Dian Yan, who worked under Jiang Pengji, was a typical example. He was a hardworking person who kept learning and kept up with the pace.
Dian Yan was lucky. Jiang Pengji, the lord, gave him directions at the right time. Yang Si, the think tank, was stationed with him in Hu County for two to three years and gave him special lessons from time to time. Dian Yan learned with difficulty at first, but he also climbed up after much hardship.
On the other hand, the two of them were not so lucky. An Cui did not have the patience. He did not think that their hard work would be very effective. His other "colleagues" also looked down on their background and abilities. They were unwilling to pay attention to these two uncouth people, let alone give them pointers.
They could still stay in the An Cui Group as a customer service and janitor. They could earn a living because of An Cui's kindness.
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