Spring in Twin Streams - Chapter 2

Chapter 2

In a fit of anger, Li Chengming petitioned the imperial court for permission to lead troops into battle.

After he left, my father-in-law fell ill.

He had five sons and three daughters, and aside from Li Chengming, all of them were born of concubines.

If Li Chengming’s line still had no heir before my father-in-law died, then this vast family fortune would likely fall entirely into the hands of those concubine-born children.

My mother-in-law had spent half her life as the legal wife, managing the household and raising the children.

After so much hardship, her own son had finally made something of himself and surpassed the concubine-born children.

But now, because he had no offspring, the family estate might have to be handed over to others on a silver platter.

In private, she came to me and cried for a long while.

After coaxing my mother-in-law to sleep, I picked up my brush and wrote to Li Chengming for the first time.

I asked if he could find time to come home.

We could try a little harder.

What if a miracle happened?

Li Chengming’s reply came quickly, and his words were as unpleasant as ever: “You don’t write to me for half a year, and the moment you do, it’s for a child?”

“Do you take me for nothing but a tool for making babies?”

Of course not.

He didn’t have that ability.

Still, Li Chengming took leave and came back.

He traveled day and night, as if crossing thousands of miles in an instant.

The moment he stepped through the door, he pushed me down onto the bed, stripped off our clothes, and buried himself in the work with such intensity that he seemed desperate from holding back for too long.

I was a little confused.

I had clearly sent two concubines to the southwest to keep him company.

Why did he look as if he hadn’t touched a woman in ages?

During the break in the middle, I couldn’t help bringing up those two concubines.

Li Chengming was toying with my hair when his expression suddenly darkened. “Why are you so determined to make me take concubines?”

“Back at home was one thing. That was to silence Mother and outsiders. But now I’m away, and no one dares pressure you anymore. Why are you still so set on stuffing women into my bed?”

He stared into my eyes, his gaze somewhat cold.

Tears fell from my eyes. “I only want my husband to have an heir as soon as possible…”

Li Chengming looked at me in silence for a while, then lowered his head and kissed me. “Don’t put so much pressure on yourself.”

“As for the matter of an heir, I’ve already found a solution.”

When I woke up, Li Chengming was already gone.

He left behind only one sentence: “While I’m away, he can get you pregnant.”

He?

I looked at the young man’s handsome, youthful face.

I was utterly shocked.

This… this was the solution he had come up with?

I was a woman who observed the proper virtues of a wife.

I couldn’t do something so outrageous and immoral.

While I was still struggling with myself, my mother-in-law came over in high spirits to have tea with me. “Ruwan, Chengming said he left you a treasure that will ensure you become pregnant by next year…”

Before she could finish speaking, she strode into my room and turned pale with shock.

“This… this is what Chengming gave you?”

A long silence followed.

My mother-in-law swallowed with difficulty.

She closed her eyes and took a step back. “I didn’t see anything.”

“Ruwan, you carry on. I’ll go outside and keep watch for you.”

When she left, she even considerately shut the door behind her.

Only the young man and I remained in the room.

Li Chengming had left in a hurry and given me only a few brief details.

He was Miao from the southwest, named Shen Heng, and he couldn’t speak the Central Plains language.

Oh, and apparently he was also a physician.

I understood. I understood.

Naturally, Li Chengming needed to give him an identity that would allow him to stay in the manor long term.

Shen Heng stood quietly where he was.

He looked sixteen or seventeen, beautiful as a magnolia carved from jade.

At a glance, he seemed like a decent young man from a respectable family.

I had no idea what Li Chengming had used to force him into doing something as shameful as siring a child in another man’s stead.

I reached out to him.

He lowered his eyes and stepped forward, placing two fingers on my pulse.

I caught his wrist in return, pulled him closer, and smiled. “Are you doing this willingly?”

He froze slightly, then nodded with utmost seriousness.

A few seconds of silence passed.

I rose onto my toes and kissed him.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the young man’s earlobes turn completely red in an instant.

Then he shoved me away with all his strength, tears in his eyes, and stumbled out of the room.