First annul the engagement, then sever ties with the empress; the empress reigns supreme.

Mu Lingye frowned and looked at another midwife. Although he didn't ask aloud, his actions and expressions seemed to be asking – Is that so?

Another midwife's heart skipped a beat. She lowered her eyes and knelt before Mu Lingye, saying, "Your Majesty, it is indeed so. The little prince may not be very good-looking when he is first born, but he will grow up after a period of time. You and the Empress are both so beautiful, the little prince will certainly not be bad either."

With another person corroborating, Mu Lingye finally believed it. When he looked at Gu Junxi again while holding the child, the cold glint in his eyes had disappeared.

He gently brushed away the stray hairs from Gu Junxi's face: "You heard everything? In a few months, our prince will be even more handsome."

"Hmm." Gu Junxi nodded, but still looked disgusted: "It's still ugly, but since it's our child, I'll love it no matter how ugly it is."

Mu Lingye chimed in, "Me too. You should rest and get some sleep first, and we can name the baby together when you wake up."

Gu Junxi's eyelids were drooping, and she was indeed exhausted. However, before going to sleep, she repeatedly reminded Mu Lingye: "Keep a close eye on our child. It's best to remember what he looks like first, so that no one can switch him out."

"Alright." In the inner palace, with the Emperor having clearly stated that the children should be kept in close watch, anyone who dared to plot against the children would be courting death.

But even though Gu Junxi had given him such instructions, Mu Lingye still responded with the same indulgent affection.

A month after the baby was born, it finally started to look good, with fair and tender skin. Its facial features gradually developed, its single eyelids became double eyelids, and its lips, which were always tightly pursed, became pink and tender.

It's true that children whose parents are good-looking tend to be good-looking themselves.

Gu Junxi finally stopped doubting that her child had been switched.

However, after a month of discussion, the child's name was finally decided.

His name is Mu Jun, which combines his father's surname with his mother's given name—simple yet meaningful.

They were born on the same day, and Gu Junxi's full moon celebration was the same as Mu Qingfu's.

Holding the child, Mu Qingfu frowned with dissatisfaction as she looked at Mu Jun in Gu Junxi's arms: "You two are too perfunctory in choosing names. You should know that Mu Jun will be the ruler of a country in the future."

Gu Junxi poked Mu Jun's chubby little face and said with a smile, "The greatest truths are the simplest. Unlike your Zuo Yi, who, if it were an imperial examination, would have already finished answering the questions while your Yi Yi had only written his name?"

Mu Qingfu chuckled twice and said confidently, "That's impossible. Our Yi Yi's mother is a princess, so she can directly enter the court as an official without having to take the imperial examination."

Mu Qingfu refers to the "benefit of one's ancestors" who obtained official positions through their ancestors' titles and achievements.

Gu Junxi was speechless.

Seeing that Gu Junxi was silent, Mu Qingfu leaned her head closer.

"Gu Xiaoxi, I've made up my mind. I'll sneak out of the palace and head to the military camp later. I can't be left out of this fight against Yan."

The day after Gu Junxi gave birth to Mu Jun, Mu Lingye took the opportunity to announce that he would fight the Yan Kingdom to the end.

They say Mu Jun is a lucky star sent by heaven, and that he will surely win a great victory in this battle.

Ning Hanshuang immediately volunteered for battle, and Qin Yue followed suit, volunteering to be his deputy. Mu Lingye announced the appointments on the spot.

The great war with the Yan state has been going on for a month now, and several pieces of good news have come from the front lines. It's only a matter of time before the Yan state is decisively defeated.

"It's probably not appropriate for you to be out of confinement now," Gu Junxi disagreed.

If it weren't for Zuo Chengfeng keeping a close watch on her day and night, Mu Qingfu would have already sneaked off to the military camp on the third day after giving birth to Zuo Yi.

Ignoring everything else, Mu Qingfu glanced around furtively before lowering her voice to tell Gu Junxi, "Everything's fine. I've recovered very well; killing ten Yan bandits in one go is no problem for me. I'm only telling you this, so don't leak it to me."

After Mu Qingfu finished speaking, she handed Zuo Yi over to the wet nurse and secretly left the main hall.

Gu Junxi noticed that as soon as Mu Qingfu left, Zuo Chengfeng immediately followed her out.

She knew that Mu Qingfu's escape was destined to fail this time.

"Sister, let me hug Ah Jun."

Su Li came over and took Mu Jun away from Gu Junxi's arms.

"The little guy is so cute."

Su Li loved it dearly.

Gu Junxi stared at Su Li, who had gained a lot of weight over time and had a rosy complexion. Then she looked at Murong Yuan, who was drinking alone in the distance, and gently tugged at Su Li's sleeve.

"When are you finally going to give her a proper status?"

Su Li understood the meaning behind Gu Junxi's words, but she pretended not to understand: "What title, sister, you're talking nonsense."

"Nonsense?" Gu Junxi raised an eyebrow and lowered her voice, saying, "On the first day after leaving Qunxi Island, in your room, you and Murong Yuan..."

"Sister!" Su Li interrupted Gu Junxi with a high-pitched voice. She really didn't expect that Gu Junxi would find out about the relationship she had with Murong Yuan that day when she couldn't help herself.

Su Li's cheeks flushed red with embarrassment and anger: "How did you know? Did Murong Yuan tell you? How could he be so shameless?"

Seeing that Su Li was anxious, Gu Junxi, not wanting Su Li and Murong Yuan's conflict to escalate again, quickly explained, "It wasn't Murong Yuan who said it, I overheard it by accident. Don't worry about that, just tell me when you're willing to give Murong Yuan a title. I don't want people to say that our Ning family's daughter is fickle and irresponsible."

Gu Junxi didn't know what was going on between Su Li and Murong Yuan. They had clearly already had a relationship, and their feelings for each other should have made significant progress.

Unexpectedly, after one night, the situation returned to a stalemate.

Su Li even started avoiding Murong Yuan.

Su Li accompanied her to the palace every day, partly to avoid Murong Yuan.

Su Li pursed her lips, clearly still unwilling to talk about the matter, and even shoved Mu Jun back into Gu Junxi's hands: "Sister, don't worry about this, I'll handle it myself."

After Su Li left, Murong Yuan, who had been sitting in the distance silently waiting, stood up and followed her out.

After Mu Jun's full moon celebration, Gu Junxi finally regained her freedom.

She personally established medicine and was busy every day.

As a result, Mu Lingye began to complain that having a wife was the same as not having one, and that seeing his wife was more difficult than a commoner seeing him, the king.

However, on one occasion, when he took Mu Jun to see Gu Junxi at the hospital, he saw Gu Junxi engrossed in teaching the children medical skills, surrounded by the children who genuinely respected her. He then let go of his resentment.

Nothing is more important than seeing Gu Junxi genuinely happy. Gu Junxi is his wife, but she is also the empress of a country, and above all, she is herself, with the right to pursue what she likes.

The year after Gu Junxi gave birth to Mu Jun, she became pregnant again. This time, her belly was even bigger than when she was pregnant with Mu Jun. She started to show before three months had passed, and she only realized she was carrying twins when she checked her pulse.

When Gu Junxi gave birth to Mu Jun, it nearly scared Mu Lingye to death. When he heard that Gu Junxi was pregnant with twins this time, he was so worried that he went bald.

It is known that Mu Lingye did not want a second child at all; this second pregnancy was purely accidental.

But since you're already pregnant, you can't just abort, because abortion will still harm your body.

There was no other way, so Mu Lingye could only be more careful this time. In addition to asking Prince Su to personally oversee the delivery, he simply stopped going to court as the due date approached and had people move the memorials to Fengyi Palace every day.

Fortunately, although the second pregnancy was twins, it wasn't as difficult as the first.

Gu Junxi gave birth to twins, a boy and a girl, in just one hour.

From then on, the family of three became a family of five, and Mu Lingye, who had no one to love, gained two more people who loved him.

It was Gu Junxi who transformed Mu Lingye from a lonely man into a man surrounded by his children.

When Mu Jun turned sixteen, Mu Lingye simply relinquished his power, passing the throne to Mu Jun and taking Gu Junxi on a journey of adventure and wandering the world.