Transmigrated into an Ancient M-Preg Novel as the Scumbag Alpha (GL) - Chapter 3
When Shen Liunian woke, she felt a warmth all around her. Her mind was filled with confusion; wasn’t she kneeling in the pavilion as punishment? The first snow had fallen, and the cold had set in, so how could it be warm?
Yet, she felt warm now, and a faint fragrance lingered in her nostrils, just like the scent of that scoundrel Yun Chenghuai.
She vaguely remembered seeing Dog Yun’s face before she fainted.
How could that scoundrel be out in the cold weather in the middle of the night instead of sleeping, just to see her?
Could she have frozen to death? Was this a hallucination before dying?
It wasn’t until she felt the pain in her knees that Shen Liunian returned to reality.
Dead people don’t feel pain.
She slowly opened her eyes, and what met them was none other than Yun Chenghuai. How was this scoundrel lying on her bed?
Then she sensed something was off. She disliked incense, so her room wouldn’t have such a strong fragrance, nor would it be so warm that she felt a slight hint of sweat.
Her room certainly didn’t have such strong charcoal fires.
Shen Liunian quickly sat up in bed, observing her surroundings. On her wedding night, she had visited Yun Chenghuai’s room, and its layout, aside from the removal of red silk and wedding characters, hadn’t changed much.
So she was in Yun Chenghuai’s room? Why was she here?
Could it be that this scoundrel Yun Chenghuai had done something to her? The moment this thought arose, she pulled out the dagger hidden in her calf.
Just as the dagger reached Yun Chenghuai’s neck, she controlled herself.
Over the next quarter of an hour, every time Shen Liunian’s thoughts changed, her hand would reach for the dagger, drawing it out no less than three times.
Yun Chenghuai had no idea that in just a quarter of an hour, she had nearly died more than a dozen times.
Coming back to her senses, Yun Chenghuai saw Shen Liunian’s face so grim it looked like it could drip water. She recalled the reason the original owner had punished her last night and cursed the original owner in her heart once more.
The original owner received news during her confinement that the Emperor intended to send her away from the capital to her fiefdom.
In the original owner’s mind, as long as she remained in the capital for one more day, there was still a chance to contend for the throne.
After all, the current Crown Princess was her biological elder sister. Once the Crown Princess died, her entire retinue would become available to her. At that point, there might just be a slim chance.
But the Emperor actually wanted her to go to her fiefdom, which meant that even if the Crown Princess died, she wouldn’t be able to use that opportunity to rise.
Upon receiving this news, the original owner burst into Shen Liunian’s courtyard, throwing anything she could get her hands on at her.
If it weren’t for a few loyal servants protecting her with their lives, Shen Liunian, even if not killed, would have been severely injured, and she was pregnant.
At this point in her memory, Yun Chenghuai thought of one of the main reasons Shen Liunian decided to leave three days later: those who came with her as part of her dowry. To avoid becoming a burden to her, they collectively created chaos in the capital city. Some took up weapons and caused trouble in the princely manor, eventually all falling upon the blades of the manor guards.
It was precisely because everyone sacrificed themselves in such a heroic manner that Shen Liunian left Southern Qin with overwhelming hatred.
The reason Shen Liunian chose to compromise and not resist was because the original owner frequently threatened the lives of the people who came with her as part of her dowry.
The original owner told her to kneel in the back garden. Not wanting to implicate those around her, she obediently went.
She wasn’t stupid; she wouldn’t choose to kneel in an open area, so she consciously went to the pavilion.
As she faced the scrutinizing gazes and endless mockery of the servants coming and going in the manor, she shivered in the cold wind.
After this incident, for the sake of their mistress’s life, and to allow their mistress to leave this man-eating place, the Shen family’s servants collectively chose to sacrifice their lives.
Yun Chenghuai felt furious at the original owner’s methods of leveraging power and threatening lives.
The chaos in the capital, coupled with the Shen family completely siding with Northern Qi, led to the original owner’s confinement and subsequent death.
The original owner reaped what she sowed. Yun Chenghuai naturally wouldn’t; she absolutely could not repeat the same mistakes.
But a sudden change would certainly arouse suspicion. If it was discovered that her body contained a different soul, she might be burned as a demon.
She pondered for a moment, staring gently at Shen Liunian, and softly said, “Princess Consort, you are pregnant.”
Changing her attitude because the other party was pregnant seemed like a very plausible reason, right?
Shen Liunian: “…”
Her face darkened even further. She was too shocked by the news of her pregnancy to speak, completely failing to notice the change in Yun Chenghuai’s tone.
In Yun Chenghuai’s memory, they had only consummated their marriage once, during Shen Liunian’s last estrus cycle.
The Emperor, hearing they hadn’t consummated their marriage, gave the original owner a strict order. So the original owner took advantage of the situation, marking Shen Liunian during her estrus cycle when she had lost her rationality.
The original owner’s thinking was quite trashy. Even if she didn’t like Shen Liunian, as a princess, what was wrong with marking her own Princess Consort?
So, the original owner had permanently marked Shen Liunian.
In the novel, after Shen Liunian left Southern Qin, to remove the mark on her body, she went to the Yiren Valley and lost half her life to have it removed.
From then on, Shen Liunian began to become frail and sickly.
Yun Chenghuai disdained the original owner’s actions, but now she could only atone for the original owner’s mistakes. It was to save herself, and perhaps also because she couldn’t bear to see the female lead suffer any longer.
When she read the novel, she felt pity for the female lead. Now, seeing Shen Liunian’s real plight, that pity almost quadrupled.
“What did you say?” Shen Liunian couldn’t believe she was pregnant, thinking Yun Chenghuai had devised a new way to torment her.
Dog Yun had been confined by the Emperor for a month, so perhaps she was just amusing herself by playing tricks on her.
Yun Chenghuai knew Shen Liunian’s prejudice against the original owner, which, of course, was now a prejudice against her.
She took a deep breath and happily said, “Princess Consort, we are about to have a child.”
A smile spread across her face, not necessarily sincere, just a gentle smile.
When had Yun Chenghuai ever shown such a good attitude in front of Shen Liunian?
Shen Liunian gave her a cold glance, then got out of bed, but her legs buckled, and she almost fell.
Yun Chenghuai was about to help her but was brushed away.
Shen Liunian suppressed the pain in her knees, pushed aside the bed curtains, and walked out.
Being on the same bed as that Dog Yun was truly disgusting.
Every extra second she spent there added to her disgust.
Yun Chenghuai quickly got out of bed and followed. She knew that Shen Liunian wouldn’t believe her words, so she rang the bell by the bed.
Six maids pushed open the door and entered together, a chattering group. Yun Chenghuai felt a headache coming on.
For noble ladies, when they went out, they would have dozens of maids and servants. As a princess, she had over a hundred personal attendants, truly a multitude of servants.
Only six maids had come in now, with more than ten waiting outside.
This scoundrel of an original owner really knew how to indulge herself; no wonder she was always short on money.
The maids entered the room with their heads bowed, lining up in the outer chamber. A slightly older maid stepped forward and curtsied, “Your Highness.”
The maid, Lan Ping, was the daughter of the original owner’s wet nurse and had remained in the original owner’s manor as a first-class female attendant, holding a significant position even among them.
In the novel, Lan Ping frequently scoffed at Shen Liunian, arbitrarily deducting things from her courtyard, and oppressing and abusing the Shen family’s servants. Later, during the rebellion of the Shen family’s servants, she was hacked to death.
Lan Ping was one of the main people around the original owner who bullied Shen Liunian. The novel even dedicated some lines to describing Lan Ping’s death.
Yun Chenghuai painstakingly matched each person she saw with the names in her memory.
Although she had received the original owner’s memories, she couldn’t yet skillfully use them.
“Lan Ping, go invite the manor physician. Also, warm the medicine the physician prescribed last night. Once the Princess Consort has had her breakfast, bring it to her.”
Yun Chenghuai gave meticulous instructions. The servants attending her, their faces lowered, were filled with surprise.
Lan Ping froze for a moment, then quickly said, “Yes, Your Highness.”
Lan Ping bullying Shen Liunian and the Shen family was done with the Princess’s implicit consent, wielding power under her tacit approval.
The entire Princess Chuxiang Manor, from top to bottom, acted according to Yun Chenghuai’s expression.
Her attitude would dictate the manor’s future treatment of Shen Liunian.
No one dared to question her words. In an era where imperial power was supreme, her single word could decide everyone’s life or death.
Even if everyone was surprised by her meticulous care for the Princess Consort, the astonished expressions on their faces had already vanished when they looked up.
Shen Liunian, standing nearby, frowned deeply and cast a profound glance at Yun Chenghuai. She began to suspect that she truly was pregnant.
However, everything would have to wait until the manor physician arrived.
Clearly, Yun Chenghuai inviting the manor physician was to tell Shen Liunian that she wasn’t lying and had no intention of playing a trick on her.
Actually, first-class female attendants like Lan Ping already knew about Shen Liunian’s pregnancy after the manor physician visited last night.
They had initially thought the Princess would despise anything associated with her, but they never expected Shen Liunian to actually have a chance to rise in status by virtue of her pregnancy.
Ancient times emphasized “mother gaining status through child.” Instantly, those in the princely manor who learned of the Princess Consort’s pregnancy began to reconsider their future attitude towards her.
But these people would certainly take their cue from Yun Chenghuai’s attitude.
What attitude could Yun Chenghuai have? The power over life and death was in Shen Liunian’s hands; she certainly had to be good to her!
She raised her gaze to Shen Liunian’s expression; her face was very unpleasant.
Indeed, their consummation was engineered by the original owner, and now she was pregnant, carrying the child of the person she most detested. Who could be happy about that?
She hoped she could quickly remove this sword hanging over her head.
Soon, the on-duty manor physician quickly entered the room, first bowing to her, then, at her signal, proceeding to take Shen Liunian’s pulse.
Yun Chenghuai was nearby, with several maids helping her wash and dress.
It wasn’t that she wanted to follow local customs, but ancient clothing was simply too complicated for her to wear.
Southern Qin’s clothing was similar to that of the Ming Dynasty. The Princess’s clothes were made of the finest materials and exquisitely embroidered.
She was confined at home and wore everyday clothes, but the original owner’s everyday clothes were still splendid, a deep red, with silver thread patterns on the collar and golden phoenixes embroidered all over.
This outfit was incredibly valuable but also too flamboyant and arrogant. No wonder the court officials disliked the original owner.
In the original owner’s memory, most people’s everyday clothes were ordinary garments, predominantly dark in color, without too many patterns. Even if embroidered, they wouldn’t use gold or silver threads.
Southern Qin was wealthy, yet its court officials were simple. That was because the current Emperor advocated frugality.
Just as the original owner, as a princess, had the entire manor follow her lead, the actions of the current Emperor would be the guiding direction for the entire country.
If the Emperor was frugal, even if he indulged in luxury at home, court officials wouldn’t dare to be extravagant in front of him.
Ministers with some foresight would prepare a few sets of clothes that didn’t appear too ostentatious.
Unlike the original owner, who was flashy even at home and dressed like a peacock when going out.
Yun Chenghuai was very curious: how did the original owner think she could inherit the throne without Shen Liunian?
She felt she had one more important task: to prepare a few sets of less ostentatious clothes.
Yun Chenghuai, while complaining, finished dressing. As the maid helped her with her hair, she glanced at Shen Liunian out of the corner of her eye and saw that after confirming her pregnancy with the physician, Shen Liunian’s gaze went past the physician and fixed on her.
She quickly put on a smiling face and said gently, “Princess Consort, you must rest well. If you have any requests, just say the word. The entire princely manor is at your command.”
As she spoke, she felt that saying this might arouse suspicion, so she added, “Our child deserves the best.”
However, after hearing her words, Shen Liunian thought she was being nauseating. Her already cold eyes grew even colder, as if to freeze Yun Chenghuai to death.
She had no doubt that if there weren’t so many people in the room, Shen Liunian would very likely rush over and bite her to death.
Indeed, Shen Liunian’s hand subtly lowered, aiming for the dagger on her calf.
It was fortunate that there were many people; otherwise, it might have ended in bloodshed.