Chapter 79

Chapter 79: The Child Is Mine

Huo Zheng held Chun Zhi close and shielded her from the wind and snow.

“Chun Zhi!” Song An Lan tried to chase after them, but Dongzhou soldiers blocked the courtyard.

“Sister-in-law!” Song Wan’er almost cried from worry.

In Huo Zheng’s arms, Chun Zhi struggled to lift her head to look back at the Song siblings, wanting to tell them not to worry, but Huo Zheng pressed her head back to his chest.

She did not have time to say anything before she was carried out of Song Manor.

The Dongzhou soldiers had come fast and left fast. The new bride had been taken by a noble midway, leaving the new groom standing alone.

The guests stared at one another, not understanding what had just happened, but when they heard Song An Lan call the man “Prince Chang’an,” they knew the uninvited guest had great status indeed.

The wedding wine could no longer be drunk. No one dared linger in Song Manor; one by one they made their farewells.

Knowing what they were thinking, Song An Lan said, “Forgive our poor hospitality,” and saw the guests to the door.

In moments, the full garden cleared like startled birds.

The red gauze under the corridor blew down into the snow, and the joy went with it.

Tears ran down Song Wan’er’s cheeks. On such a fine wedding day, when Chun Zhi was about to become her sister-in-law, a noble had suddenly burst in and taken her away.

Song An Lan wiped his sister’s tears and said gently: “Enough. Don’t cry.”

“I can’t help it,” Song Wan’er said, half for herself and half for her elder brother. “That man didn’t come earlier or later, but right when you and sister-in-law were about to bow and marry. That day at Wanhua Temple, he never even saw sister-in-law’s face. How did he know the bride you were marrying was the person he was looking for?”

Song Wan’er could not make sense of it.

Song An Lan also felt the matter was strange.

Just then, several uncles of the Song Clan arrived.

Second Uncle looked at the manor draped in red and clicked his tongue, and said: “An Lan, it’s not that your second uncle wants to scold you, but of all the people to marry, why choose the one a noble holds dear? Look at this mess. If the noble blames us, the whole Song Clan will suffer.”

“Exactly,” Third Uncle echoed, and said: “Good thing your second uncle knows which way the wind blows. That day at the main residence I saw that woman once and remembered her. After learning the noble was looking for her, I immediately reported it to him to make up for our faults.”

“So it was you who sold out sister-in-law!” Song Wan’er burst out, forgetting to cry.

The maids and servants of Song Manor were loyal. Song An Lan had warned early on that no one could reveal that Chun Zhi was here.

Everyone in Song Manor had kept the secret.

Who would have thought that after a single visit, the uncles would spread the news that Chun Zhi was here?

The Song Clan uncles kept saying they did it for the good of the clan. The noble had carried a portrait and searched the world for Chun Zhi for so long without finding her. Thanks to their good memory, they recognized her after seeing her only once.

They claimed the only reason Song Manor still stood safe today was because they used their “merit” to cancel out the crime of Song An Lan hiding Chun Zhi.

Before Song An Lan could speak, Song Wan’er snapped. Crying again, she ordered the servants to throw the uncles out.

The Song Clan uncles left, cursing.

Soaking several handkerchiefs with tears, Song Wan’er asked: “Elder brother, I thought I heard you call that man Prince Chang’an. Did you already know the one looking for sister-in-law was a lord?”

Handing her a fresh handkerchief, Song An Lan said softly: “Yes.”

Though she lived in the inner court, Song Wan’er had heard the stories about Prince Chang’an inspecting Nanzhou and wiping out Prince Ning’s Residence. She grew even more worried for Chun Zhi, and said: “Sister-in-law said in front of everyone that the child in her belly is yours. He… will he kill her in anger?”

Song An Lan said: “He should not.”

Prince Chang’an had surrounded Song Manor today, but he had not taken any lives.

When Huo Zheng pointed his sword at Song An Lan, the moment Chun Zhi stepped forward, he withdrew it at once, clearly afraid of hurting her.

Song An Lan had noticed these small details.

He knew Prince Chang’an had spent the last half year searching for Chun Zhi, disobeying an Imperial Edict to do so, and that after reaching Dongzhou he had searched day and night without rest.

When Song An Lan proposed to Chun Zhi, he had his own private wish as well.

He wanted someone who would truly be good to Song Wan’er and care for her all her life.

Now that Huo Zheng had taken Chun Zhi away, Song An Lan also wanted to see whether Chun Zhi truly wished to stay at Song Manor, or if she would change her heart and reconcile with Huo Zheng.

If Chun Zhi truly wished to stay at Song Manor, then even if he had to file an Imperial Petition in the Capital, he would keep her.

“Good, then she’ll be safe,” Song Wan’er said. She remembered that day coming down from Wanhua Temple, when Huo Zheng had not known who rode in the carriage yet still stepped in to save them. He likely was not a truly evil man.

She hoped he would soon lay down his obsession and let Chun Zhi go.

Meanwhile, in the carriage rolling down the long street:

Huo Zheng still held Chun Zhi and watched her closely.

“Let me go,” Chun Zhi said, giving him a push.

Now that they had left Song Manor, she no longer feared Huo Zheng would harm Song An Lan. Free of his threat, she did not want to be so close to him.

Huo Zheng sat her on his knees, not letting her leave his arms, and asked, unwilling to give up: “The child in your belly… how many months?”

“Five months,” Chun Zhi said, telling a guilty lie.

Huo Zheng raised a hand and gently touched her belly, and said in a low voice: “Five months…”

She had jumped into the river and left him almost seven months ago.

If the child was only five months along, then it was not his.

“I don’t believe it,” Huo Zheng said, his gaze dark as he looked into her eyes.

He had shared a bed with Chun Zhi every night in Linshui Town. If Chun Zhi was pregnant, the child should be his.

Chun Zhi did not dare meet his eyes.

She was afraid he would see through the lie.

“Believe it or not,” she said, turning her head to watch the carriage curtain rise and fall in the wind.

The cold wind slipped into the carriage. Only Huo Zheng’s arms were warm.

“If the child in your belly is really Song An Lan’s,” Huo Zheng said, “then why did he wait until now to marry you?”

Those greedy Song Clan uncles had come today asking to be received. They said Song An Lan was hiding a beautiful, pregnant woman in Song Manor, whose looks were very much like the person he sought.

They wanted to swallow the Song family’s property and so most hoped Song An Lan’s marriage would fail. They told Huo Zheng very clearly why Song An Lan wanted to marry, from beginning to end.

Chun Zhi could not find the best answer at once, so she said coolly: “What does that have to do with you?”

“It has everything to do with me,” said Huo Zheng. “The child in your belly should be mine.”

Chun Zhi almost lost her balance and blurted: “What dream are you dreaming?”

“If the child were Song An Lan’s, then right after you met him you would have…” Huo Zheng paused, then said solemnly: “You are not that kind of frivolous person.”

“How am I not?” Chun Zhi snapped on purpose, anger rising. “You and I also slept together after only knowing each other a few days. And An Lan saved my life. A life-saving grace should be repaid with my body…”

Before Chun Zhi could finish, Huo Zheng lowered his head and kissed her, swallowing the rest of her words.