Feeling the Child's Presence First!

The system's activation and the news that the child was his came one after another.

Chu Ning truly failed to keep himself together for a moment.

His reaction instantly sent Ye Qinglian's mood plummeting. She stared blankly at the man before her.

"You... don't believe this child is yours?"

To be honest, Chu Ning's mind was in turmoil as well.

After graduating from university in his previous life, he had become a 996 corporate drone, living like a beast of burden every day. Then he had suddenly transmigrated, somehow spent a night of passion with the Empress before him, and gotten her pregnant.

Damn it, it had already been three months...

"That's not the issue. I believe the child is mine."

"It's just that I haven't processed the news yet..."

At those words, Ye Qinglian's expression improved slightly.

What had happened that day had not been within her control either.

Because of her Heavenly Fragrance Physique, every year on the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month, when yin energy was at its heaviest, the effects of her physique would affect her mind and the minds of everyone around her, including women.

Every year, she had to enter seclusion for at least half a month.

This year had originally gone smoothly. She had even vaguely touched upon the threshold of Seventh Realm Void Breaking. Once Cultivators reached that level, they underwent earth-shaking transformations and were known as Sages.

But on the final day, just as she was about to endure it...

A man had suddenly appeared.

That was a secret chamber she had specifically built, the most concealed one in the entire Great Gan Dynasty. Even her closest Maidservant did not know about it. Once someone entered, it could not be opened before the appointed time—not even by her. It had been built precisely to restrain this physique!

Yet she had no idea how Chu Ning had appeared there.

With her desires suppressed to that extent, she simply could not restrain herself. When Chu Ning embraced her, she responded to him...

After a night of unceasing battle, Chu Ning had directly lost consciousness.

Ye Qinglian had originally intended to kill Chu Ning and rid herself of the bastard who had taken her first time, but then she discovered that he was merely a mortal.

A secret realm that even a Sage could not enter had admitted a mortal. Perhaps there had been some reason for it, or perhaps Heaven had bestowed this man upon her...

Though Ye Qinglian appeared cold, stunning, and decisive in killing, she had shown mercy in this matter. She had her Maidservant drag him away and care for him for several days.

Later, she had still decided to throw him out of the palace, though she gave him some silver, treating it as though nothing had ever happened.

She was still the Empress of the Great Gan Dynasty, and she still had to strive toward her ambition of unifying the world.

But three months later, an unconscious bout of vomiting made Ye Qinglian seem to realize something.

When she looked inward, she suddenly discovered the presence of life stirring within her womb!

She had been dumbfounded and thought it was an illusion. She did not even trust her own cultivation, so she secretly left the palace at once to have her pulse checked.

Then the physician immediately offered his congratulations!

Great joy! A pregnancy pulse!

Ye Qinglian felt as though the sky had fallen...

The dignified Empress of the Great Gan Dynasty was pregnant before marriage. If word got out, it would damage her prestige and make the Luochen Empire, which was eyeing the Great Gan Dynasty like a tiger watching its prey, entertain ambitions.

But none of that was the most important thing. The most important thing was finding Chu Ning.

Ye Qinglian's thoughts were simple.

She had had no parents since childhood, ascended the throne young, and seized power as an adult to unify the court and realm. Though she seemed strong-willed, the things she had lacked all those years had remained engraved in her heart for life.

No matter who Chu Ning was, she could not let the child be born without a father...

Hearing this, Ye Qinglian's attitude changed slightly.

She had thought they would argue over the child's father for a long time, perhaps even to the point of requiring a blood test to confirm kinship.

Still surprised, Ye Qinglian spoke again.

"You believe me that easily? Aren't you going to ask anything else?"

Chu Ning shook his head.

"I don't have any other questions. If I did it, I'll admit it and take responsibility."

Ye Qinglian was slightly pleased.

"It is naturally best that you believe me."

Chu Ning had no choice but to believe her.

Even if the system had not appeared, Chu Ning vaguely remembered that when he had left the palace, his body had been incredibly weak.

As a mortal, he had fought a Cultivator for who knew how many rounds. In any case, he had felt like his kidneys were gone by then, and Chu Ning had been bedridden for a full three months!

Did she really think he had not wanted to go outside? He had simply been unable to walk at the time.

If it had not been the Empress before him, who else could it have been?

"Um..."

Chu Ning cautiously stepped forward.

"What is it?"

Hearing that imposing voice, Chu Ning was actually a little nervous. The pressure brought by someone who had long occupied a position of authority was truly intense.

Besides, he had not yet had much of a sense of the Immortal Emperor cultivation granted by the system.

"Can I... feel the child?"

Ye Qinglian looked doubtfully at Chu Ning as he drew closer, her eyes full of confusion as she evaluated the man.

Though he was barely clothed and had likely been dragged straight into the imperial palace, his appearance was remarkably handsome and rare to behold. His build also seemed quite good.

Who was this man? What power did he have? What was his relationship with her?

She was already the Empress of the Great Gan Dynasty, with thirty million li of mountains and rivers under her control, and she was also the dynasty's foremost Cultivator, having cultivated for a hundred years!

She had originally intended to devote this life solely to unifying the world and had not planned to appoint an Emperor Consort. One more person meant one more source of trouble and could very likely affect her authority.

It was fine if he was a mortal. At worst, he could take pills for longevity. As long as he was pleasant to look at, treated the child and her well, that would be enough.

As for what she could give Chu Ning, it was supreme status and power.

As long as Chu Ning did not meddle in politics, disrupt her authority, or fool around with women, she could accept it.

Yet the next moment, Chu Ning suddenly crouched down.

With a curious expression, he pressed his head against Ye Qinglian's lower abdomen.

Ye Qinglian's face instantly flushed red. Her instinctive self-defense nearly made her kill Chu Ning outright!

Bold scoundrel, how dared he take such liberties with her!

If it were anyone else, she would have slapped them into minced meat!

No!

He was the future Father of the Child!

In that instant, Ye Qinglian still restrained herself.

"You... what are you doing!"

Her voice was embarrassed and angry as she glared at Chu Ning before her.

The latter answered frankly, "I'm feeling my child's presence..."

Damn, I'm a father...

The child is right there in her belly. In a few months, I'll be able to hold them.

Chu Ning had never been a father before. He had not even had a girlfriend in the past, and he was so excited he could barely contain himself.

Then he suddenly sensed the life within her lower abdomen.

There was not one, but two?

"They're Twins!"

Chu Ning's face was filled with shock before he broke into delighted joy and excitedly pulled her into an embrace!

"I actually have children! Hahaha!"

Ye Qinglian's face reddened further. Being suddenly hugged, she had not even recovered her senses. "Insolence! I am the Empress of the Great Gan Dynasty, yet you dare take such liberties with me!"

Chu Ning also realized that he had gotten too excited and scratched his head awkwardly.

I forgot. We're not there yet—hugging her is a little inappropriate...

Ye Qinglian sat back down in her chair with an embarrassed, angry expression and shot Chu Ning a sidelong glance.

"Given the current situation within and beyond the dynasty, I cannot afford the slightest mistake. Your existence cannot be made public for now, and neither can the child's. When the time is right, I will hold a Grand Wedding with you."

"From now on, you will live within the imperial palace. Unless summoned, you are not permitted to see me."

Chu Ning looked at her in bewilderment. "I understand the marriage part. You're under a lot of pressure, after all. But why can't we meet? I'm already the Father of the Child, yet I can't see you? What happens after the child is born if we're like strangers? Won't the child find that strange?"

At that point, Chu Ning suddenly remembered something.

"I forgot the most important thing."

"Your Majesty, what's your name...?"

Ye Qinglian took a deep breath. She very much wanted to slap herself, then slap Chu Ning.

But the truth was that this man who had taken her first time and was the father of the children in her womb truly seemed not to know her name.

"Ye Qinglian."

She answered in an indifferent tone.

Chu Ning immediately committed the name to memory.

Unstained by mud, yet never seductive after washing in clear ripples. What a beautiful name...

It suited the peerless beauty before him perfectly!

It was hard to imagine that the reigning Empress already carried his own flesh and blood in her womb!

And she would even become his wife in the future!

"Xiao Bing, take Chu Ning to rest first. Prepare several sets of clothing for him. Let him stay beside my Ganning Palace..."