Chapter 319: A jest for you, a lifetime of regret for me

Good slave......

Good slave......

Fragrant.

Du Shanü bent over to the other's hair ends, inhaled deeply, feeling the cool fragrance pass through her lungs, and for a moment felt as if she had fallen into a dream.

All those lofty ambitions—'iron-hearted,' 'earning plenty of silver,' 'ten thousand subjects submitting,' 'unrivaled under heaven'—had vanished with a whiff of faint fragrance.

Du Shanü thought of what her good slave was thinking, and even her heart and liver trembled for a moment:

"...... Those few cattle, if the slave says not to sell, then not sell—I'll listen to you."

Having thought it through, I really have thought it through.

My good slave followed me at a young age, and usually never asks for anything—what's wrong with buying two more cattle?

Given his merits, even if he now asked her for two cities, could she possibly refuse?

If there's blame to assign, it can only be that I'm too poor.

Blame this damned day, so miserable, that made her forget for a moment that two cattle were nothing but a trivial matter.

Du Shanü pinched a bitter tear for herself; Chinu, hearing that the cattle wouldn't be sold, finally lifted his head and glanced wistfully at his Wife Master.

He was already being pressed down by Du Shanü; turning his head now made any big movement difficult, so he only showed half a face of resentful grievance, with a faintly flushed, weary look at the corners of his eyes.

Du Shanü seized the moment, moved in to kiss the mole on his cheek, and spoke softly:

"Oh dear, it's just a small matter—look, you're crying again......"

The tear trace over the mole cannot be discerned, cannot be washed away.

Du Shanü thought she was kissing the mole, but what her tongue first touched was a hint of moisture.

That moisture was bitter; the instant it entered her mouth it numbed her tongue and seeped into her heart and spleen.

Du Shanü paused, but did not stop the kissing motion, and laughed:

"...... If you keep doing this, once the child is born I'll name the child Two Ox."

Afang kept calling her Wise Lord, Wise Lord, but upon reflection she indeed had never seen a Wise Lord exhaust his spirit over two cattle.

She will surely one day properly recount this embarrassing incident to her good child......

Chinu had been calmly trying to compose himself, but hearing this he flared with shame and anger, and began to struggle lightly:

"Wife Master is talking nonsense!"

He had waited a long time for this child, only awaiting the birth to indulge in being a steady, dignified, reliable good father!

If the Wife Master were to tell the child that those two cattle were what the father cried for......

He dare not imagine how he could lift his head before the child!

Du Shanü was scolded, yet felt no anger at all; instead she finally relaxed, chuckling as she turned over and, without bothering to remove their outer robes, put one arm around Chinu and drew the brocade quilt over both of them.

As the quilt was drawn, a sense of peace arose, and spring drowsiness immediately swept over them.

Du Shanü gently took her good slave's hand, interlocking their fingers, and immediately closed her eyes in comfort.

Only Chinu still didn't understand, murmuring incessantly:

"...... We must never tell the child about this, and we must not name the child Two Ox."

His lowly birth is indeed true, but being lowly is one thing; letting the child know his father came from humble origins and still serves others with his body is quite another.

Chinu reflected that in his daily dealings outside, as long as he could profit, whether kneeling to beg for mercy or fighting fiercely, he felt no resentment.

But if the child were to be humiliated......

That would truly be more painful than killing him.

As for the name, that is clearly something that must not be chosen hastily!

During this time he had secretly hoped that the Wife Master would give the child a name capable of bearing all the world's blessings.

How did we end up at Two Ox!

Is it that she, she has no expectations for this child?

Or that she has never even paid attention to this child?

Or is it that she is pointing at him, destined to abandon him, abandon the child, saying the child is only fit to herd cattle......?

Chinu knows, knows he shouldn't speculate like this, and he also realizes that perhaps he has, to some extent, belittled the Wife Master's intentions.

Yet once such a thought arises, it is extremely hard to extinguish.

Unwillingness, pain, resentment, gains and losses......

That is a complete Chinu.

Du Shanü thought she had made a harmless little joke, but now, with her eyes half‑closed, she was obviously getting drowsy.

Lately she has always been sleepy, drowsiness coming and going, which is not really unusual.

But this drowsiness ultimately made her forget an important matter——

She had vastly underestimated Chinu's obsession with names.

After that joke, Chinu would not let her sleep no matter what.

He is unwilling, he truly is unwilling.

Chinu leaned close to Du Shanü's ear, suppressing the tremor in his chest, and asked softly:

"...... Wife Master wouldn't be that cruel, right?"

"You can't just casually cast him and the child aside, right?"

"Moreover, moreover, if we name his child Two Ox, what would we name the child of Yu Yiai?"

Symbolizing 【praying for longevity and health, blessings that endure】 the characters shou, qi, sui, kang, ning, an, yong, xia, zuo......

Or symbolizing 【inheriting the imperial line, fortune heaven‑bestowed】 the characters cheng, yin, si, ji, ding, zuo, chong, long, jing, chang, xi, tai, yu?

In short, it won't be like his child, just casually cast aside, right?

I'm stupid.

A drop of scalding hot cut open Du Shanü's throat, then slid to slice her neck.

Du Shanü jerked awake, seeing Chinu leaning over beside the pillow, tightly covering his face.

Drop after drop of water trickled down between his fingers, each drop slicing her neck, pain so intense it felt like dying a hundred times without rebirth.

Chinu, pitying his own reflection:

"Wife Master is so ruthless, truly never showing any pity for me and this child."

Afang lied to him.

Afang lied to him.

Afang said things like "After having children, everything will be fine" and "Once we have children, we'll have good days," all of which were lies.

Throughout history, it's often the case that a child's status comes from the mother; if the mother's family is well-born, the child relying on the maternal clan naturally becomes a bit more stalwart than other children.

Only a fool like him would think of gaining status through his son, believing he could rely on the child for whatever.

Upon reflection, doesn't "gaining status through one's son" mean he can't help the child at all, leaving the child naturally helpless and even burdening the child?

If it were Yu Yiai today, there'd be no need to cry like this to keep two cows; Yu Yiai's subordinates would surely have already schemed and prepared everything needed.

As for how to prepare, never mind; anyway, no matter what, it's about being able to first support Yu Yiai and Yu Yiai's child...

Du Shanü this time was truly wronged to the point of her soul leaving her body and her spirit ascending to heaven, crying out to her ancestors:

"My Heavenly Lord... I'm pregnant, why are you even more sensitive and suspicious than I am?..."

"I'm just teasing you, right? How could we really name the child 'Second Ox'..."

Chinu refused to listen to these, only demanding:

"Then what does Wife Master say, what name should we give the child?"

This time Du Shanü was truly not sleepy, she slapped her forehead, sat up, and spoke solemnly:

"Don't say that—I've actually thought about this!"

"Actually, deep down I wanted a daughter, but after thinking it over, whether favoring sons over daughters or daughters over sons, both are actually unacceptable..."

"So, whether boy or girl, we'll just use the same name—Yi."

Du Shanü raised Guai Nunu's hand, writing the character stroke by stroke, smiling narrowly:

"Nunu is smart, she'll surely understand the meaning of this character, right?"

Yi, profound and perceptive, also signifying wisdom and brilliance...

Most importantly, this character is currently a common term used to praise emperors.

Chinu tearfully complained that she had no expectations for the child...

Actually, her hopes for the child are all contained in this character.

Du Shanü gently closed Chinu's hand, lightly patting it to comfort her, then smiled and said:

"...... I've thought about this earlier; if there's no accident, once I ascend the throne, I will certainly consider leaving the throne to this child."

Their eyes met, the spring light was lovely, smiles filling their eyes.

Perhaps due to youthful vigor, perhaps because love was deep, Du Shanü did not yet know that she had made the biggest mistake of a lifetime—

She said, if there were no "accident," she would certainly consider first leaving the throne to this child.

?? Mysterious Feather Mountain, Mysterious Feather Mountain.... (a muttering trying to spoil the plot. jpg)

? (Quickly coming, again quickly slipping away to rest, go on! No wonder it's me, even in such a bad state I'm only three hours late...... again a day of perfect attendance!)