Chapter 1414 - 767: Still Up to the First Lady (Double-Length)

Lin Wanxiao, in the end, was still weak. After crying for a while, she fell into a deep sleep.

Chen Yi pushed the door open and hadn't walked far when he saw Zhu E rising to meet him; she had been waiting outside the courtyard.

"I sent them away, but there are some things I haven't told you yet." Zhu E slowly explained, "This young lady from the Lin Family is not in danger of her life, but she is weak and needs quiet rest. It's crucial she isn't shocked or provoked again. I will prescribe a gentle nourishing remedy to stabilize the fetus and strengthen her. Her diet also needs careful attention, gradually nourishing her."

Chen Yi nodded slightly, remembering Lin Wanxiao's usually pale complexion and her tendency to feel cold. She was even more frail in the past; now she's somewhat plumper, yet still not cared for enough.

It's not too late to start caring now.

"And also..." Zhu E hesitated before continuing, "Regarding the Prince... you should pay more attention to him."

Chen Yi regained his composure; he hadn't considered it in his surprise, but now he recalled the look of disappointment when Qin Qingluo left with Yue'er.

Nothing but disappointment.

"I'll... see about it. This New Year's Eve seems to have more happenings than usual."

Chen Yi smiled wryly, needing some time to sort out his thoughts.

"Then I must bid farewell as well."

After Zhu E left, Chen Yi's feelings were indescribable, as if his chest was blocked by waterlogged cotton, unable to find relief, yet impossible to articulate clearly.

The tears of Lin Wanxiao, Zhu E's hesitant advice upon leaving, and Qin Qingluo's utterly disappointed back as she departed... Images and emotions mixed together, churning within him.

Joy? For this unexpected life, he didn't feel pure joy; rather, he was caught off guard. Guilt? Some for Lin Wanxiao, more for Qin Qingluo—to the core, he had been too greedy.

Now Qin Qingluo and Zhu E have both left, one in anger and disappointment, the other with care and worry but opted to temporarily avoid him. There's no one suitable to confide in.

He can only wander around the Prince Mansion.

Alone, he temporarily left Lin Wanxiao's small courtyard, aimlessly walking between the corridors and garden paths of the Prince Mansion. The night was deep, nearing midnight; it should've been the most raucous and festive moment with firecrackers, yet the mansion felt quieter than usual due to many concerns and changes.

The hanging lanterns gently swayed in the night breeze, their light flickering as the surrounding scenery stretched on. He walked without direction.

By chance, Chen Yi stopped and looked up, finding himself outside Yin Weiyin's courtyard.

This small corner where Yin Weiyin stayed was notably quiet, scarcely touched by dust, with a few bamboo stalks softly fluttering under the moon, emitting a gentle rustle.

Chen Yi paused outside the courtyard gate, not entering immediately.

Looking at the door, the knot of anxiety within him seemed to be slightly eased by the surrounding coolness, yet it grew into a feeling of hesitance as he neared home.

He stood for a long while, until the night wind grew colder, before thinking of leaving.

The door silently opened, revealing Yin Weiyin in a plain Daoist robe, peering out with a lantern, its light casting onto his face.

"Is that you?"

Yin Weiyin expressed mild surprise; he hadn't expected Chen Yi to come over on New Year's Eve. Wasn't he supposed to spend more time with the Prince and Princess?

"It's me."

"Then come inside."

The female crown turned and entered.

So Chen Yi followed inside,

Yin Weiyin placed the lantern on the tea table. The room had only one light. Unhurriedly, she pointed tea with her delicate hands and asked:

"Why are you so absent-minded?"

Perhaps the Prince and Princess quarreled again; he really couldn't manage it. Yin Weiyin sighed, he always panicked and couldn't learn to remain composed like in the face of Taishan collapsing.

"Lin Wanxiao... is expecting."

Yin Weiyin sprang up instantly.

A moment later, realizing she had lost her poise, she slowly sat back down, suppressing her mood, not quite knowing what to think. "She's expecting?"

Chen Yi nodded slightly.

Yin Weiyin's hand paused; Chen Yi wouldn't lie about such matters, and if someone else were pregnant, Chen Yi wouldn't have such a complex expression.

She let her long autumnal eyes fall, summoning some jealousy from within, and said somewhat ironically, "With another child, how will Tingxue feel about this?"

She didn't mention her own feelings, but rather Yin Tingxue's, using irony to express genuine emotions.

Chen Yi shook his head upon hearing this and said, "I haven't thought that far ahead; I didn't even expect her to have... Luan Huang, could you not be jealous right now?"

His words were unusually gentle, considering he rarely expressed genuine feelings to her; Yin Weiyin's eyes shimmered slightly, saying nothing.

She thought for a while and then asked, "Does the Princess know?"

"She was with me in the room."

The air in the room seemed to grow more stagnant with that comment, only occasionally disturbed by the faint crackling of the lamp wick burning.

Yin Weiyin's fingers paused again at his words; her keen intellect instantly grasped the intricacies within.

She cast down her eyes, gazing at the warm tea utensils under her pale fingers, silent for a moment, her mind racing to sketch out the possible scenarios—Qin Qingluo's shock and anger, Zhu E's thoroughness, Chen Yi's unpreparedness, and that awkwardly positioned Miss Lin of the Lin Family.

"I see." She spoke slowly, her voice returning to its usual cold tranquility, not asking about the details which were all too clear, "So, your coming here... is it to seek clarity or to find peace?"

She looked up at Chen Yi; in those autumn-like eyes, there was no blame, no surging jealousy, only clarity.

She was waiting for him to reveal his feelings.

Usually, Chen Yi rarely confided in Yin Weiyin, but under her gaze, the tangled chaos in his heart seemed to find an outlet. He smiled wryly, unusually relaxed, even somewhat bewildered.

"I don't know," he said truthfully. "Maybe a bit of everything. My heart is a mess. Happiness? Not really. Worry? Not entirely. More than anything... I didn't expect this and I'm not prepared for it. Towards her, I... was indeed negligent."

Yin Weiyin listened quietly, lifted a small pot, and poured the freshly boiled water into the tea cup. The steam blurred half of her delicate face.

"The cycle of the Heavenly Dao, the transformation of yin and yang, has its own reasons," she spoke calmly, like she was explaining the Taoist scripture. "You and her have this destined bond, intertwined in karma, your essences blending, leading to the formation of a fetus, which is a natural matter. Chen Yi, what is unexpected? Even the wise can make mistakes. It's just that you think too much for others and too little for her."

These words hit the nail on the head, revealing the source of Chen Yi's confusion. He's accustomed to control, to weighing pros and cons, calculating others' hearts. Whether it's Qin Qingluo's pride, Zhu E's gentleness, or the moods of other women, he could always find the threads to navigate.

Except for Lin Wanxiao, whom he subconsciously ignored or, indeed, didn't think she needed much of his attention, leading to this most natural result arriving only for him to realize he was utterly unprepared.

Chen Yi remained silent, unable to refute, his chaotic thoughts slowly settling.

"As for being unprepared, there's no hurry."

Yin Weiyin's tone was particularly calm because she was already prepared.

However, temporarily relying on others now, the only variable was... Qin Qingluo.

Thinking of this, Yin Weiyin felt slightly worried.

Knowing her husband has another offspring one day, she knows what kind of feeling it is.

By putting herself in the Prince's shoes...

She fears that after this night, the Prince may come to a resolve, to sever ties with Chen Yi completely and expel him, even if the ties aren't completely severed, there would likely be a chasm in the future.

Thus, her plan to accept Qin Yue as a disciple would be ruined.

That's an emperor's destined path to immortality... She would have been tempted to accept as her chief disciple, even without Chen Yi's involvement.

"There at the Prince..." She switched her tone, referring to Qin Qingluo, "Right now, her emotions must be the most complex, with disappointment and anger, but those aren't the most important. The most crucial is... anyway, you should first go to her."

Chen Yi was a bit shocked when he heard this.

He raised his eyes to look at Yin Weiyin, seemingly not expecting her, the family head of Great Yin, to offer advice, which was unlike her usual conduct.

Chen Yi thought briefly, frowning slightly.

Go find Qin Qingluo? At this time?

After she just found out about another woman carrying his flesh and blood and left with full disappointment?

That would be akin to voluntarily entering Sword Mountain and Fire Sea.

Afterward, he still shook his head.

"No," he sighed, somewhat fatigued, "I... haven't figured it out."

He paused, looking for a reasonable explanation: "Besides, over there with Qing Luo... she might also need time to quell her anger. She's upset right now, and if I go over now, it might only add fuel to the fire."

This seemed somewhat reasonable, as a form of understanding, but more than that, it felt like he was buying himself a bit of breathing room.

Finally, he looked at Yin Weiyin and said softly:

"Tonight, I'll accompany you first."

Yin Weiyin heard this but didn't feel much tenderness or comfort; instead, it felt like something pricked her. Her cold eyes showed a trace of urgency.

"Accompany me? Is that what you really want?"

She stood up, her white Daoist robe swaying slightly with the movement, as she revealed,

"You're just avoiding facing the situation.

Lin Wanxiao's pregnancy disrupted all your plans, the Prince's reaction was unexpected to you, even your own heart is in turmoil. Nothing is going according to your plan, becoming thorny, and you just want to drag it out?"

Yin Weiyin, rarely speaking with such urgency, left Chen Yi momentarily unable to respond.

She stepped closer, continued, "But how can you drag this out? That is your flesh and blood, a living person rooting in another woman's womb, and the Prince is a living person too, with emotions, pride, and temper. Don't you think about what personality she has as the Princess? Is she as forgiving as me, Yin Weiyin?"

Chen Yi was pinned in place by her barrage of questions, stunned.

He was silent, battling his inner turmoil, eventually speaking slowly:

"I... actually don't know how to face her."

This was the truth.

Because feeling guilty, he didn't know what expression, what tone, what words to use to start that destined-to-be-difficult conversation. Apology? Explanation? Promise? They all seemed powerless.

Qin Qingluo tolerated his greed, but she also had her bottom line, and instead, he wanted to transcend this line. It could have just been a laugh, but afterward discovering Lin Wanxiao's pregnancy made him feel more indebted.

Yin Weiyin watched him like that, knitting her brows, feeling more anxious inside.

"How can there not be a way to face it? Chen Yi, you've been pretending for so long, do you truly think yourself to be garlic?

The Princess has a strong personality, accepting weakness but not hard-heartedness, but much prefers honesty over evasion. The more you hide, the more she feels you're lacking confidence, feels you're not caring enough about her, is that not how it is in the World of Ignorance?"

She retorted, her gaze piercing,

"You should also be strong! If you're not justified, then be even stronger,

when you were ruthless with me, you were so decisive, so... assertive. How come now facing the Prince, you don't understand how to do it?"

Is it possible that she's only left with calculations and cautiously pleasing, lacking that spirit that forced me... forced me to face you?"

Saying this, an air was released from Yin Weiyin's chest. She thought to herself, blame that Second Lady for making Chen Yi too soft-hearted.

Indeed, it still needs the First Lady!