Ju Zi's face turned deathly pale almost instantly. Horrified, she turned and knelt again.
"No, Your Majesty, you must not. How could I bear another man's child? I am Your Majesty's Ju Zi. I can only be Your Majesty's Ju Zi. No, I refuse."
Xu Tianran looked at Ju Zi with some surprise and some emotion. This was the first time Ju Zi had defied one of his orders since he had rescued her all those years ago. Yet this defiance greatly satisfied his vanity.
"If it were possible, no one would want his wife to become pregnant with another man's child."
"But there is no other way. Only this can silence the masses."
"I have already chosen the man. He has genuine Royal Bloodline, a distant cousin of mine. Because his martial soul mutated, he is not even a soul master, and his status within the royal family is extremely low."
"No one besides you can know about this. I will have someone teach you what to do. Then, you will take his seed and implant it within yourself. After that, kill him."
"That way, no one will know this secret. Rest assured, I am incapable of fathering children. The child you bear will be our child. I will raise him as my own son, and after I am gone, he will inherit the throne. Perhaps by then, we will already have united the Douluo Continent."
Ju Zi raised her head and looked at Xu Tianran mournfully. "Your Majesty, is there truly no other way? This concubine truly does not wish to do this."
Xu Tianran's expression turned cold. "Enough. It is decided. Do you think I wish for this either?"
"I am in pain as well. Fortunately, with that method, you will at least not be touched by