Xichang Emperor Concubine did not remember how long she had slept. When she slowly opened her eyes, she only felt lazy and so sore that she did not want to move.
Her cicada-like eyelashes trembled. Her watery eyes were filled with alienation and confusion. She did not know what year and month she was in.
The setting sun outside scattered mottled golden shadows in the room. The shadows of the trees outside the window swayed left and right under the autumn wind. The Xichang Emperor Concubine listened carefully and could faintly hear the rustling of the leaves and the sound of the wind. The world was silent, as if she was the only person left in the world.
She had expended so much energy before falling asleep that the newly awakened Xichang Emperor Concubine did not even realize why she was lying there.
When she recalled her memories before she fell asleep, she remembered that she had been giving birth before she fainted …
Giving birth?
Xichang Emperor Concubine was stunned. Her hand under the blanket could not help but touch her much shriveled belly.
It felt very soft to the touch. She could pinch a soft lump of flesh with just a slight pinch.
Her belly still looked very big. It did not have the slender waist from before pregnancy. But she knew that the feeling of being connected by blood to the child for several months was gone. When the child was still here, her belly had been very tight and hard. Now it was soft to touch.
This fact made Xichang Emperor Concubine forget the ugly stretch marks on her belly. There was only one thought in her mind —
Where's the child?
Although this child was not what she had hoped for, it could not be denied that the child was the closest existence to her in the world. No matter how unbearable his existence was, he was still the child she had given birth to after being pregnant for a long time. Having such a child was better than having nothing at all.
"Come, come …"
Just as she was about to speak, Xichang Emperor Concubine realized that her throat was so dry that it felt like it was on fire. Her desire to drink water was stronger than ever.
She endured the discomfort in her throat and tried to use a hoarse voice to call for a servant girl to serve her.
Xichang Emperor Concubine had woken up at a very coincidental time. The servant girl had gone out to do something and she had woken up right after. Thus, she had waited for a long time before someone came to her. When the servant girl saw that Xichang Emperor Concubine had woken up, she was so shocked that she almost knocked over the water basin. She hurriedly brought her hot water and called for a doctor.
This cup of water seemed to extinguish the fire in her throat. Emperor Concubine could not help but let out a comfortable sigh.
"Where's the child?"
The Empress Concubine asked a bit nervously. Thousands of thoughts tangled together, and it was a mess that couldn't be cut off.
She hoped that the child would live well, but at the same time, she felt that there was little hope that the child would survive.
Before emperor concubine fainted, she heard the midwife say that she had just opened three fingers and was far from the time to give birth. However, at that time, she was in so much pain that she didn't have any strength, so she couldn't give birth. When she woke up from her coma, her stomach was empty, and there was no child crying beside her.
The Empress Concubine knew what this meant and felt a bit of despair.
Humans were complex creatures. The Empress Concubine felt despair for her child's departure, but also faintly let out a sigh of relief.
Outsiders all thought that the child was An Cui's posthumous child. Only she and her brother knew that the child in her womb was the product of the two of them going against human relations.
She and her brother were siblings born from the same mother. It was highly likely that the child she gave birth to would be a strange monster!
Before Xichang was destroyed, when the royal family was still at its peak, there was news that an elder emperor concubine and her uncle had gotten pregnant. It was rumored that the child that emperor concubine gave birth to was a three-legged, noseless monster. In the end, the child fell to his death and was hastily buried to cover up this scandal.
There were many similar rumors about the royal family. The more Xichang Empress Concubine thought about it, the more terrified she became.
If the child was a monster, as the woman who gave birth to the monster, would she be in danger?
Would outsiders suspect that this child wasn't An Cui's posthumous child, and then investigate that she and her brother had made An Cui a cuckold?
Even if this cuckold hadn't been intentional, and Hua Yuan had forced them to … …
But, who would believe this if he said it out loud?
Due to all sorts of considerations, Xichang Empress Concubine hoped that the child could live and be her companion. At the same time, she hoped that the child wouldn't be a burden to her.
From the moment she asked to the servant girl's reply, it had only been a few breaths of time. Countless thoughts flashed through her mind.
The Empress Concubine's hand under the blanket clenched, and she stared at the servant girl's mouth.
The servant girl said, "Little, little husband just drank milk at the wet nurse's place."
When it came to how to address the child, the servant girl was a bit conflicted.
He was born castrated. The midwife said that this kind of child could never be found in a lifetime.
He wasn't male or female. Even the way to address him was a problem.
The servant girl thought bitterly. He had such a crippled body, yet he was so beautiful. Who knew how much trouble and suffering he would cause in the future? In this world, beautiful women weren't the only ones who attracted competition. Beautiful men were also prey in the eyes of the strong.
He was a cripple who was born castrated. He was neither a man nor a woman. To a certain extent, his existence was a kind of "magic". He was good-looking, so he was bound to attract those perverts who liked to seek novelty. Sigh, if only the little husband was a girl through and through. With his status as An Cui's posthumous child and his status as a non-threatening daughter, perhaps the Duke of Lanting would be willing to favor him.
With the protection of a golden thigh, even if he was a beauty that could bring disaster to a country, the little husband would still be able to grow up in peace.
It was a pity —
He was born castrated.
The servant girl's answer was beyond the Empress Concubine's expectations. Because she was too shocked, she overlooked the flash of embarrassment on the servant girl's face.
"Quick, bring the child over. Let me see him."
The good news temporarily covered the confusion in her heart — she clearly remembered that she fainted from the pain and couldn't continue giving birth. Then, how did this difficult birth of a child go smoothly? This question was temporarily suppressed. She waited so long for the child that her neck grew long.
The servant girl's eyes revealed astonishment.
She asked, "Wife, you don't remember?"
The Empress Concubine asked, "Remember what?"
The servant girl said, "You gave birth and saw the little husband once, but you didn't like him very much … …"
Not liking was a rather tactful explanation. When she heard the servant girl in the delivery room describe it, the Empress Concubine was scared silly by the child's disability. She kept touching the child's side, turning the child over and over to find him. She crazily muttered, "Where did my son's eggs go?" … …
How could a newborn child endure this kind of torment?
As a mother, she clearly wanted to kill her son.
The Empress Concubine didn't have any impression of the servant girl's words. She didn't even have the memory of how she gave birth.
"That's my son. How could I not like him?"
Having a man in one fell swoop, the Empress Concubine had someone to rely on for the rest of her life. From the looks of it, he had all four limbs, thank the heavens!
En … …
He indeed had all four limbs, but unfortunately, there was something wrong with his fifth limb.
The servant girl was suspicious, but still nervously carried the child over.
Under the servant girl's despairing gaze, the Empress Concubine still discovered the abnormality of this child.
Looking at the child's abnormal body, her originally rosy face turned completely white.
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