Hearing Bai Qingyan say this, Xiao Rongyan felt even more guilty in his heart.

His eyes reddened as he brought Bai Qingyan’s hand to his lips for a kiss, saying in a low voice: “A’Bao, rest assured, when our child is born, I will be by your side, just like today, accompanying you and holding your hand tightly!”

“When the child is born, the entire Great Zhou nation will certainly be watching. How could you appear?” Bai Qingyan chuckled softly. “You don’t need to worry so much. Important matters come first!”

She gently stroked her abdomen. Originally, she had thought this child came at an inopportune time.

But now it seemed that the child’s appearance could make Murong Yan and Murong Li take a step back, which might not be a bad thing.

If both nations took a step back and worked together to repel the elephant army, then in the future, after pacifying Xiliang, determining victory through national policies would be best for both the people and the soldiers.

To be honest, hearing the news that Xiao Rongyan had brought, Bai Qingyan truly felt relieved. This was the best birthday gift she could have received this year.

It wasn’t that Great Zhou was afraid of fighting Great Yan – she felt sorry for the people. Fortunately… Great Yan had an emperor like Murong Li who cared for the people.

Xiao Rongyan lowered his gaze and placed a kiss on Bai Qingyan’s forehead, gently massaging her shoulder while his large hand covered her abdomen: “I’ll find a way! They say that when women give birth, they step one foot into the gates of hell. At such times, I must be by your side to accompany you. There’s also one more thing I hope A’Bao can promise me… before you give birth, you must never risk going to the battlefield, understand?”

Bai Qingyan looked up to meet Xiao Rongyan’s deep black eyes: “I know…”

Looking at Bai Qingyan’s flawless face gilded with warm light by the candlelight, he couldn’t help but gently stroke her lustrous black hair with his fingers, caress her lips, and place a gentle kiss, stopping at just a taste, afraid he couldn’t control himself. He simply gazed quietly at his beloved in his arms.

Xiao Rongyan always carried an aura that was both reassuring and intoxicating. Though his gaze was calm, it still conveyed an extremely strong sense of aggression.

She traced Xiao Rongyan’s increasingly defined facial features with her gaze, feeling quite sorry for him: “You’ve lost weight…”

Xiao Rongyan squeezed Bai Qingyan’s hand and whispered in her ear: “That must be from missing A’Bao.”

His rich, enchanting voice carried warm breath into her ear, causing her earlobes to silently turn red.

Seeing Bai Qingyan’s flushed appearance, Xiao Rongyan was moved beyond restraint. He embraced her waist, pulling her close against him, and kissed her again, more deeply this time, his palm gently caressing her spine.

The flickering candlelight on the table suddenly made a soft crackling sound, and Bai Qingyan quickly turned her head to avoid Xiao Rongyan’s kiss.

Xiao Rongyan didn’t force her. If this continued, he feared he wouldn’t be able to control himself. He kissed her forehead, then her eyes, and drew her into his embrace again, restraining his heavy breathing: “I cannot stay long in the Great Zhou palace…”

“Mm, I know! I’m already very happy that you could come today…” Bai Qingyan said.

“This is your birthday gift…” Xiao Rongyan took out an exquisitely carved white jade tiger from his chest. “I started preparing it last year, but there were too many matters, always delays, but I finally finished carving it in time for A’Bao’s birthday this year.”

Bai Qingyan was born in the year of the tiger…

Not only was this white jade tiger of pure and transparent jade quality, but most remarkably, the white tiger’s forehead had gray floating patterns that perfectly resembled tiger markings. This jade stone… was something Xiao Rongyan had spent tremendous effort to find.

Bai Qingyan held the white tiger in her hands to examine it. The craftsmanship of this white jade tiger was countless times more refined than the hairpin Xiao Rongyan had made before, clearly showing that Xiao Rongyan had practiced extensively…

Just as she had guessed, Xiao Rongyan didn’t know how many jade stones he had ruined before he began working with this piece to carve the white tiger for Bai Qingyan.

“Yan Nation has many affairs. It’s just a birthday… You didn’t need to put so much effort into it!” Bai Qingyan held the white tiger in her palm, unable to put it down.

“A birthday gift for A’Bao must come from my own hands. How could I treat it carelessly?” Xiao Rongyan placed his hand on Bai Qingyan’s abdomen. “Daddy can’t stay with you and Mommy, so you must love Mommy well and not give her trouble…”

Bai Qingyan’s smiling eyes sparkled in the candlelight.

Xiao Rongyan couldn’t stay long. After spending only half an hour with Bai Qingyan, he reluctantly left the palace with the Yan envoy, carrying the peace treaty.

After Xiao Rongyan left, Bai Qingyan sat under the lamp playing with the white tiger he had given her, then untied from her waist the jade cicada that she had always carried in her pouch, placing it together with the white jade tiger. She remembered the scene from her previous life when Xiao Rongyan had given her the white jade cicada and told her to flee for her life.

Bai Qingyan picked up the jade cicada and gently caressed it, then picked up the bamboo scrolls left by Empress Ji and began reading carefully.

The candlelight on the table flickered, and the jade cicada in Bai Qingyan’s hand seemed to be coated with flowing light under the golden candlelight, appearing very beautiful.

At this time, thousands of miles away in the Rongdi imperial city, which had just experienced warfare, soldiers were cleaning up corpses and blood.

Bai Qingyu sat on the Rongdi King’s throne, the blood on his blue-faced, fanged ghost mask having dried into sticky scabs. He gripped the hilt of his long sword with both hands, the sword tip touching the ground, looking at the Rongdi King, who knelt on the ground, subdued by Lu Ping, trembling and cursing at him.

“I gave you honor! I gave you the opportunity! Everyone told me… You were a hungry wolf on the grassland who would never acknowledge a master, but I still trusted you so much! Is this how you repay me?” The blood-covered Rongdi King roared angrily.

“So I must thank your arrogance! From now on… Rongdi will become the Great Zhou’s horse racing ground!” Bai Qingyu’s pronunciation of the Rongdi language was extremely pure, so pure that when he said the three words “my Great Zhou,” it left the Rongdi King utterly astonished.

“You… what did you say?” The Rongdi King looked completely incredulous. “You’re not Rongdi? Who exactly are you?!”

In the great hall lit bright as day by torches, Bai Qingyu slowly stood up, looking down at the Rongdi King from his superior position: “I am the younger brother of Great Zhou’s Female Emperor, the fifth son of the Bai family… Bai Qingyu.”

The Rongdi King’s eyes widened: “No! Impossible! Your Rongdi language is so pure! How could you be from the Great Zhou?! You’re lying to me… you’re lying to me!”

For the Rongdi King, Rongdi had always honored the strong. Though he resented being replaced and was pained by Bai Qingyu’s betrayal… if Bai Qingyu was from a foreign race and he had misjudged people, then he would be Rongdi’s eternal sinner!

“Is it because I forcibly took that girl Su Mu’s body? Or… or do you resent me for killing your several companions despite your pleas, so… you deceived me, right! You want to take revenge for them by deliberately deceiving me, wanting me to die in unrest, isn’t that right? You are Rongdi! There’s nothing wrong with you wanting this throne! But you can’t give it to Great Zhou!” The Rongdi King shouted.