Quick Wear: Oh no, the lady is running away with the ball again

Li Xi's absent-mindedness was obvious. There was no malice in his gaze on Yun Qian's slightly bulging belly, but it was enough for the owner of the belly to notice the slight loneliness and sadness behind his dazed look.

Yun Qian still smiled faintly and generously explained to him that this was the posthumous child of her "deceased husband". Then she lowered her head at the right time to look at her obviously bulging belly with a gentle expression.

The child was already four months old. When she was three months old, Li Xi wasn't sure if she was really... pregnant. She consoled herself by thinking that Yun Qian had just gained a little weight. Now that she thought about it, she was really deceiving herself...

She must have a very good relationship with her husband, otherwise why would she be willing to keep her late husband's child... Also, it turns out she was married.

The world's requirements for women are not that strict. Women are allowed to tie their hair into a bun or wear it halfway down, so people don't use the bun to distinguish women's status...

Li Xi finally came to his senses and apologized to her. Yun Qian said that it was nothing and that she was very grateful for Lord Li's help.

But Li Xi seemed to have lost interest in what he was saying. He hurriedly said goodbye and turned away. Yun Qian was a little surprised. Could this have had such a profound impact on him? She had thought he had understood everything when she was three months pregnant, but now it seemed that was not the case.

Li Xi was a man of very handsome appearance, and his personality was similarly upright. He was very strict in everything he did. To be fair, such a person would easily suffer in official circles. However, he seemed to have some ability. The fact that he was able to become a prefect at such a young age showed that he had a very good record in government affairs.

----

Li Xi actually received an imperial edict from the emperor like other local prefectures, but he never thought it was from Yun Qian. After all, Qi Huan was looking for a woman, and Yun Qian was a pregnant woman, so how could they be a match?

But he still had to look for her. He had checked all the women who had moved to Yunzhou during that time period, but none of their ages matched, so he gave up...

The consequence of Qi Huan's massive search was that he watched with gloom as batches of women were brought into the palace for investigation every day. He had dispatched all the secret guards to search for people, but Qi Huan still felt it was not enough...

He went to the Xia family to ask for Yun Qian's portrait...

The former Emperor Xia was so angry that he pointed at his nose, his fingers trembling. He wanted to curse, but after pointing for a long time, he couldn't say a word.

When the news of their daughter's death first reached Empress Chen, she fainted instantly. Upon regaining consciousness, she burst into tears. He held his wife close every day, both of them consumed by grief. Their daughter, abducted by this tyrant and brought to the palace, met her untimely death. They, in their middle age, had to endure the pain of losing their daughter after experiencing the fall of their nation. How could they not be infuriated? And yet, Qi Huan, like a lunatic, refused to believe his daughter's death, constantly demanding to find her. He insisted he wouldn't believe his daughter's death until he saw her body... What a lunatic! Why would his daughter, rather than be buried, choose cremation? Isn't it obvious?

Whenever Queen Chen thought of this, she couldn't stop crying. Her daughter died early due to illness and her body was incomplete. Now she couldn't rest in peace even after death.

Some time ago, this madman Qi Huan kidnapped their entire family and brought them to Qindu, far away from their homeland.

Duke Xia felt so upset that he couldn't eat when he thought about dying in a foreign land in his later years.

Now it was even more absurd. He had the nerve to come to him and ask for his daughter's portrait... Was he truly insane? He had been an emperor before, but he had never been so willful and shameless as him. He had killed Yun Qian, depriving him and his wife of even the chance to see their daughter for the last time. What more could he ask for?!

Qi Huan looked at Duke Xia coldly. He was an emperor with great power. Naturally, everyone had to follow his wishes. The man who was disrespecting him was just a king of a fallen country, but he didn't care about him just because he was Yun Qian's father.

The only thing he wanted now was Yun Qian's portrait. Mr. Xia was unwilling to say, "Okay, very good."

No problem.

Qi Huan sneered and immediately ordered his men to tie up his youngest son. The armored guards put their swords to Yunsheng's neck. The silver sword light was sharp and dazzling. Qi Huan used the same trick again, but he had to admit that this was the fastest and most effective method.

Because it's not just a bluff, everyone knows that he can really do it in order to find Yun Qian.

Xia Gong's eyes were blazing, yet he was helpless. The man, who had been full of vigor just a moment ago, lowered his head, his slightly hunched body filled with vicissitudes and helplessness...

"At first, the palace painter said that Qian'er's appearance was too gorgeous. With his brush skills, he was afraid that he could not paint even a third of her true charm. He was reluctant to start, saying that if he couldn't paint, it would be better not to paint. Later, it was..."

Mr. Xia paused at this point, as if he was about to say something that would not please the man in front of him. He raised his head slightly and sighed. When he spoke again, his tone was filled with a hint of nostalgia.

"It was Qian'er's fiancé, Wen Qi. He painted several portraits of her and sent them to us. It was truly a beautiful story back then..."

"Where is the painting?" He only heard the emperor before him impatiently interrupting Lord Xia's recollections. He didn't want to hear these bittersweet, infuriating stories of the past, about a perfect match made in heaven, but the man never made it back to marry her, leaving her a widow forced to mourn for him. How could this be considered a match made in heaven? It was more like an ill-fated marriage...

Mr. Xia was interrupted and spoke dejectedly, as if he was suddenly brought back to reality from his memories.

"In the Duke of Qi's mansion, he said he kept it as a treasure. I wonder... if it's still there."

Then, not wanting to bother with Qi Huan anymore, he strode over and tried to brush away the guard's sword. Unexpectedly, the guard didn't move, and Lord Xia was furious again. The guard questioned Qi Huan's intentions, and only when Qi Huan signaled did he put down the iron sword. Lord Xia sighed deeply and returned to his room with his son.

Qi Huan didn't care about his rudeness. These were all small matters. Finding Yun Qian was the big deal.

It was just that after hearing what Mr. Xia had said, he couldn't help but feel a pang of bitterness. He couldn't help but think of that painting, the one Yun Qian had painted for her dead fiancé, the one that had once inflamed him and made him lose his mind, the one that had so hard to mend the gap… He couldn't help but gloss over the beautiful moments of youth, painting each other's portraits and then cherishing them, right? Oh, how disgusting. It made him want to vomit.

He knew that he was actually extremely jealous.

By the time I left Mr. Xia's mansion, it was getting darker, and the clouds that had once been so golden had lost their luster and turned gray.

The man said in a deep voice,

"We will set off for Xiazhou tomorrow."

"Yes, sir." An order was given, announcing that he was on the journey to Xiazhou again.