FRGNM -Chapter 21 The Adorable Baby Strikes

“What?!”

It was like a bolt from the blue. That muffled thunderclap exploded in Ling Ruoxi’s ears. She—she hadn’t heard wrong, had she? She was actually pregnant?

Thinking back to the day she had transmigrated, Ling Ruoxi couldn’t help frowning. She had been taken advantage of, completely violated—but she never expected that the man would leave behind a seed!

Damn it! She still hadn’t found the culprit, and now she was carrying his child!

Fang Xu was equally stunned. Seeing Nangong Mo’s eyes blazing with fury, he immediately waved his hands and explained, “N-no, it wasn’t me! There’s nothing between Ruoxi and me!”

“No one said it was you. Don’t worry,” Ye Ningfeng said coldly. He still remembered what had happened in the bamboo sea that day. The person before him, the marks on her body… But judging by her expression, she herself didn’t seem to know who the child’s father was.

“Who is that man, exactly?” Nangong Mo’s voice grew even colder. Originally, he hadn’t cared about this woman, but now he had to—he even felt a trace of jealousy. Yes, jealousy. What kind of man was it that made this woman betray him?

Pressing on her wound and casually bandaging it, Ling Ruoxi tilted her head to look at the man behind her and raised an eyebrow with a smile. “Didn’t I already say it? A wild man. Even I don’t know who he is. I was careless afterward and ended up pregnant with his child.”

As she spoke, she pressed a hand against her lower abdomen. This little life had come far too suddenly—it truly frightened her. In her previous life, she had only ever teased handsome men; she had never even given up her chastity. And now… she was actually carrying a little lump of flesh?

“Your Highness, please don’t stimulate Miss Ling any further. She’s extremely weak right now—she may not even be able to keep the child,” Zuo Mingfeng said. How could he not see that Ling Ruoxi was forcing herself to hold on? He pressed a hand on her shoulder and said gently, “Child, go to sleep. You’re too tired. I promise you—I won’t let you lose this child.”

Fortunately, that sword strike hadn’t pierced her abdomen. Otherwise, it would have been two lives lost at once. But the massive blood loss from her shoulder had made her already frail body even weaker. As a medical practitioner, he could tell at a glance that Ling Ruoxi was barely holding on.

With Zuo Mingfeng there, in that warm embrace that felt just like how her parents used to hold her, Ling Ruoxi only responded softly and slowly closed her eyes.

Ling Huiru was utterly shocked, her eyes wide as she stared at the unconscious Ling Ruoxi. She shrieked, “Your Highness, th-this… this slut—she actually—”

“Shut up! Get out!” Nangong Mo scolded in a low voice, careful not to disturb the person before him. Looking at that exhausted face, he frowned deeply.

At the side, Ye Ningfeng sighed and said coldly, “Nangong, she exhausted herself treating you just now. I never expected you to draw your sword against her. I brought her here only to confirm whether she had injured you. Now it seems there was no need at all. I’m taking her away. I failed to keep my promise.”

He had promised not to let her be hurt, yet now… this had happened right under his nose, and he had been powerless to stop it. At the very least, he would take her away from this place and care for her—and the child in her womb.

“She… she just treated me?” Nangong Mo stared at Ye Ningfeng in disbelief, then looked again at the person in Zuo Mingfeng’s arms. His handsome face twisted. Had she really exhausted herself to save him? Impossible. The two of them had always exchanged harsh words—how could she possibly…

Nodding, Ye Ningfeng sighed. “I’ll find the person who injured you. As for Ling Ruoxi, she’s in my care now—”

“Enough!” Ling Hu interrupted angrily. “To have raised such a daughter—I’ve shamed my ancestors. Now she’s even pregnant with someone else’s child, bringing disgrace upon the family! This child must not be kept!”

At the side, Ling Huiru mocked, “Exactly, Young Master Ye. As the Crown Prince’s study companion, how can you keep an unclean woman by your side? Besides, you’re not even the man who got her pregnant. Aren’t you afraid people will gossip if you support her?”

“Enough!” Nangong Mo’s mood had sunk to rock bottom. His brows were tightly knitted as he looked at the still-sleeping woman and said in a low voice, “Let her rest first. Ningfeng, you’re not even married yet, and you’ve already gotten involved with such a woman—I won’t allow you to take her away. Ling Hu, I’ll stay here for the time being.”

“Yes, Your Highness,” Ling Huiru replied with delight. Although Ling Ruoxi had returned, the Crown Prince had come with her. With Nangong Mo staying in the Ling residence, didn’t that give her a chance? Living under the same roof, would she really have no opportunity to seduce the Crown Prince?

This ugly woman before her—what right did she have to match the Crown Prince? Whether in looks or body, she was completely unworthy. How could she compete with her?

Catching sight of the sinister smile at the corner of Ling Huiru’s mouth, Ye Ningfeng couldn’t help but pause. What was going on? Why would the Ling family’s eldest daughter look at Ling Ruoxi with such a gaze? And that sword strike earlier…

In the darkness, it seemed as though a voice softly called out beside her ear. She couldn’t hear it clearly, nor could she see anything. She tried to raise her hand to grasp that faint sensation, but it slipped through her fingers.

Woman, you are mine…

It was as if she had returned to that night. That unfamiliar voice invaded her mind again, and an immense pressure pressed down on her like Mount Tai, so heavy she could barely breathe.

“No, no!” She suddenly sat up, tugging painfully at the wound on her shoulder. Sweat poured down her face as she looked around at the familiar room—it had just been a nightmare.

Why was she still dreaming about that night, about that man’s words? That magnetic voice, cold yet laced with a trace of gentleness—yet she had never once seen his face.

“It hurts…” Covering her shoulder with one hand, Ling Ruoxi slowly rose from the bed.

Creak—

Several maidservants entered with a bowl of medicinal soup. Seeing that Ling Ruoxi was awake, they lazily bowed and said, “Third Miss, the medicine is ready. Drink it while it’s hot.”

“What medicine is this?” Ling Ruoxi frowned slightly, draped her clothes over herself, and subconsciously touched her still-flat abdomen. Thinking of the little thing inside, the corners of her lips lifted faintly. From now on, she was no longer alone.

“Drink it. It’s medicine for healing your injuries,” one maid said, placing the bowl on the table and sneering. “Hurry up and drink it. We spent two whole hours brewing this. The master ordered that you drink it.”

“Drink it? The mouth is on my face. I’ll drink if I want to. It’s none of your business!” Ling Ruoxi was displeased, though she merely frowned and didn’t lose her temper.

The maid in a peach-colored jacket sneered. “Even if you died, it wouldn’t concern us. If the master hadn’t ordered us to watch you drink it, we wouldn’t even bother coming here. You shameless slut who sneaks around with men! If you weren’t the master’s daughter, you’d have been drowned in a pig cage long ago! Hmph—and you’re even carrying a bastard. If I were you, I’d have jumped into the river already. Even if this little bastard is born, it’ll only be a dead end!”

“Watch your mouth,” Ling Ruoxi said coldly. “You’re nothing but maids. What right do you have to judge me? You can insult me all you want, but the child in my womb is innocent!”

She didn’t even know how things had come to this, but if they still thought she was the old Ling Ruoxi, they were gravely mistaken.

Seeing the look in Ling Ruoxi’s eyes, the maid shuddered involuntarily. She had never seen such an expression on her before. Paired with that ghostlike face, it made one’s heart tremble.

Picking up the bowl of medicine, Ling Ruoxi tilted her head back, about to drink it in one gulp. Just as the bowl touched her lips, Fang Xu burst in, pushing the door open. “Ruoxi, I need to tell you—”

“What is it?” Ling Ruoxi quickly set the bowl down and stood up, supporting the man who nearly stumbled.

Letting out a sigh of relief, Fang Xu patted his chest and said, “You’ve been unconscious for three days. I came to see if you’d woken up. Oh, right—Senior Zuo Mingfeng has already left. This letter is from him. He said fate would bring you together again. I didn’t read it—you should open it.”

“Alright.” Taking the letter, Ling Ruoxi was just about to open it when she saw a group of servants rushing outside. Before she could react, she saw two figures leaping across rooftops, rising and falling in the courtyard.

“What’s going on?” Ling Ruoxi quickly tucked the letter into her clothes and followed them out. Fang Xu came along too, shrugging helplessly as he said, “It’s His Highness the Crown Prince and Young Master Ye. They often spar with each other, and…”

“That’s not what I’m asking,” Ling Ruoxi interrupted. “Why are they in the Ling residence?”

Her memory lingered only briefly on that earlier moment—the steady, comforting embrace that felt like a father’s and mother’s. It had been too short. She didn’t know why she felt an indescribable closeness to Zuo Mingfeng—perhaps it was simply her reliance on a medical practitioner.

As the Crown Prince, Nangong Mo was acting far too frivolously. Looking at the man standing on the rooftop, Ling Ruoxi turned to go back. Just as she lifted her foot, a surge of yellow light swept over, colliding with green Dou Qi. The two forces crashed together, nearly tearing the sky apart.

So strong!

The oncoming wind lashed her face, blowing her long hair free and revealing her half-beautiful, half-ugly face, startling the maidservants nearby.

“Amazing! I didn’t expect His Highness to be a Yellow-rank Dou Qi practitioner. Young Master Ye is even more impressive—a Green-rank Dou Qi practitioner!” Fang Xu exclaimed, his jaw nearly hitting the ground.

Ling Ruoxi had already learned about the history of this continent. Red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, and purple were the ranks of Dou Qi. However, on the Dragonbound Continent, purple-rank Dou Qi practitioners did not exist—in other words, they were nothing more than legends.

Even in the Northern Ning Kingdom, the strongest were only green-rank practitioners. As for blue-rank practitioners, honored as Blue Venerables, they did exist within Northern Ning. It was said that the king of Northern Ning himself was a blue-rank Dou Qi practitioner, commanding many capable civil and military officials. His Dou Qi was said to be close to the purple rank.