Chapter 74: "Who Do You Want Me to Have a Child With?

Chapter 74: Chapter 74: "Who Do You Want Me to Have a Child With?

"If you’re willing to come back, we’ll go back to our sweet, loving life together. As for all the resentment you have from before, you can take it out on me for the rest of our lives, for the next several decades. I’ll let you do with me as you please... But even if you’re not willing, you still have to come back. In short, we are husband and wife."

They were husband and wife!

Xie Jinbai’s smile vanished. He stared at her fixedly. "As long as I’m alive, even if we end up as a resentful couple who despise the sight of each other and spend a lifetime in mutual torment, you will stay by my side as my wife."

"If I successfully ascend the throne as Emperor, you will be my one and only Empress. In the history books, if I am a wise ruler, you will be a virtuous empress. If I am remembered as a foolish tyrant, you will be the wicked empress who brought ruin to the nation. For all our lives, in death and in life, in glory and in shame, we will be one, never to be separated."

Even in death, they would be buried together in the same tomb as husband and wife.

Their names would be written side-by-side in the annals of history, passed down for all eternity.

He would not allow her to stray, not even an inch.

’A quiet and stable life somewhere else?’

’In her dreams!’

His tone was calm, lacking the viciousness of his earlier rage, but Cui Lingyao felt a chill run down her spine.

Her understanding of his stubbornness was, once again, completely overturned.

’Wasn’t I supposed to be calm and collected, showing no emotion?’

The pupils of the young woman before him had constricted, her gaze trembling.

She was afraid.

Like a startled doe.

Xie Jinbai couldn’t stand that look in her eyes.

He almost subconsciously wanted to coax her.

But she was too cruel.

She didn’t want him anymore, insisting over and over that she wanted a life without him.

That was not an option.

This one thing was absolutely not an option.

Xie Jinbai wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into his embrace. He gently patted her back and softened his tone. "Yaoyao, you’re a smart girl. You should calm down and think carefully about whether you really want to reject me so heartlessly."

The young woman in his arms said nothing.

Her body was stiff, letting him hold her without struggling or resisting anymore.

Xie Jinbai’s heart softened further. His lips touched her forehead as he murmured, "Ours wasn’t a blind marriage arranged by our parents. You have feelings for me. It makes no sense that I’m the only one who can’t let go. After three years of marriage, is it really so difficult for you to give us another chance?"

His lips brushed against her cheek again and again, his oppressive presence enveloping her like a dense, inescapable net.

Cui Lingyao’s mind was in turmoil. "Stop kissing me! I can’t get over it!"

She reached out, covered his lips with her hand, and pushed his face away slightly. "No matter what you say, I can’t get over it right now."

She was still rejecting him.

But her words, compared to her earlier firmness, had already started to waver.

A sliver of warmth seeped into Xie Jinbai’s heart, which had just plummeted to rock bottom.

He was about to speak, but the hand on his lips pressed a little harder, stopping him.

Cui Lingyao said, "Besides the past hurts that I can’t get over, there’s another, bigger problem between us."

Xie Jinbai frowned slightly, a look of confusion in his eyes.

’The Empress is already bedridden and can’t stir up any trouble.’

’If she marries me, she’ll be the most honored woman in Great Yue.’

’Who else could possibly be a problem between them?’

Cui Lingyao pressed her lips together and said in a low voice, "Your status is too high. The pressure to produce an heir would be immense if I married you. I don’t want to live a life where everyone is staring at my belly again."

’I didn’t expect her to still be hung up on this.’

Xie Jinbai pulled her hand from his lips. "That’s not important. I promise, as for an heir..."

"You can’t promise that!"

Cui Lingyao quickly cut him off. "No matter what you say, you can’t deny that an heir is extremely important. You’re already twenty-four this year. At your age, the Eldest Prince already has several sons, yet you have neither a son nor a daughter. The matter of an heir is urgent. The moment I marry you, everyone’s eyes will be on my belly again."

Twenty-four...

Hearing his age emphasized like that, Xie Jinbai’s expression faltered for an imperceptible moment. He stared at her still-youthful face, lost in thought.

’How old is she now again?’

’Sixteen, it seems.’

’Before, we were only a year apart.’

’But now that she has been reborn in another’s body, there’s an eight-year age gap between us.’

’Shen Tingyu is...’

Xie Jinbai’s breath hitched. He quickly reined in his thoughts, not letting himself dwell on it, and continued to coax her. "That’s not a big deal. As long as you marry me, we’re both healthy. A child will come sooner or later..."

"Not necessarily,"

Cui Lingyao interrupted him again. "Have you forgotten? We were husband and wife for three years. We were both perfectly healthy then, too, but we were just never blessed with children. What if, even in this new body, we still can’t have a child?"

She said in a rush, "In any case, I don’t want to endure that overwhelming pressure for an heir again, nor do I want to face the possibility of you taking another concubine. And don’t promise you won’t take another one. When we first married, I never thought you would take a concubine, but you did."

"I know you had your reasons, but what if, three years from now, you find yourself with ’reasons’ again and need to take another concubine? No one can guarantee the future."

At this point, Cui Lingyao paused and softened her voice. "I don’t have a third life to start over."

’I don’t have a third life to start over...’

It was so rare for her to speak at such length.

Xie Jinbai vaguely sensed that something was off.

His expression shifted slightly. He lowered his gaze to stare at her and asked, "Then what do you propose?"

A scrutinizing look filled his eyes.

Under his gaze, Cui Lingyao’s heart leaped into her throat.

She swallowed, forcing herself to calm down, and said evenly, "I want to wait until you have a child and the issue of an heir is resolved. Then I’ll consider whether or not to marry you."

’Have a child...’

’A child.’

For a moment, Xie Jinbai didn’t even register what she’d said. Then, after a brief daze, he felt as if a giant hand had viciously squeezed his heart.

A sudden feeling of suffocation almost left him breathless.

He never would have imagined she could have such an idea.

’Have him produce a child first, and only then consider marrying him.’

’His child.’

’A child that had nothing to do with her.’

’A child he could only have by sharing a bed with another woman.’

This was her precondition for marrying him.

’Could any woman truly be this magnanimous?’

’If she cared about him in the slightest, she would never tell him to go to another woman...’

Xie Jinbai even began to suspect he had misunderstood her.

He moved his lips stiffly and asked her, "Who do you want me to have a child with?"

"Anyone," Cui Lingyao said without a second thought, too eager to complete her ’task.’ "As long as you have an heir, it’s fine."

Xie Jinbai let out a low "oh," then slowly tightened his arms, holding her even closer. His lips brushed against her ear. "How about Shen Hanyue?"

His voice was very calm.

But for some reason, Cui Lingyao detected a hint of killing intent.

Her heart skipped a beat, and she hurriedly said, "It doesn’t have to be Shen Hanyue. Anyone is fine. As long as she pleases you and is willing to bear your children, it can be anyone at all."

’Anyone at all...’

The last shred of wishful thinking completely vanished.

Xie Jinbai could no longer deceive himself or hold onto any hope.

He really was an idiot.

’To have been so deluded, thinking that such a cold-hearted woman ever had real feelings for him.’