Let Me Go, I’m Not Pregnant - Chapter 71

Changqing quickly sat down and picked up a pen to write a letter, casually saying, “En Shu, go get Zheng Chao.”

En Shu paused when he heard the name. “Zheng Chao?”

In his memory, Zheng Chao was someone who was around Luo Ming. Due to the recent troubles with the Qin family, Zheng’s family had to spend money to smooth things over, barely managing to save Qin Tianke. However, the two soon parted ways.

“Why would you look for Zheng Chao to cooperate when there are so many others? Just go,” Changqing said, losing patience.

En Shu, seeing the situation, went out to carry out the order. 

However, before he reached the door, he heard movement behind him. He turned around to see Changqing putting on an outer robe and walking toward him, saying, “Forget it. I’ll go myself.”

Recently, he had felt that the servants in the mansion were not listening to him. If he needed to discuss something, he preferred to do it elsewhere.

En Shu, relieved that Changqing might not have time to deal with Luo Shen tonight, followed him out.

Moments later, Changqing arrived at the Zheng residence.

At the same time, En Cheng arrived in front of Luo Shen’s room. Seeing no one at the door, he curiously pushed it open and entered.

Luo Shen, hearing the noise, climbed out of bed, causing the chains around him to clank loudly.

En Cheng approached the bed and, illuminated by the moonlight, saw the face covered by the blindfold. His brow furrowed in anger.

Luo Shen weakly spoke, “Is… the prince here?”

En Cheng’s anger flared further. He sneered, “Prince? Ha, take a good look. Who am I?”

As he spoke, he yanked off Luo Shen’s blindfold. When Luo Shen’s confused eyes met his, they widened in shock.

“It’s you?!”

“It’s me.”

En Cheng felt a twisted pleasure seeing Luo Shen’s reaction. He had been locked up, unable to move freely, worried for the future, while Luo Shen, who had arrived later, enjoyed such treatment.

And tomorrow, he would even be publicly declared as the prince’s consort?

En Cheng’s smile quickly vanished, replaced by a fierce look. “Didn’t expect this, did you? I’m not in any trouble at all.”

Luo Shen widened his eyes in disbelief, trembling slightly. “He clearly said… clearly said… he was lying to me?”

“You don’t have status or power! You’re just a face. The prince kept you for fun. Tomorrow, he will make me his consort.” En Cheng reached out, his cold fingertips brushing Luo Shen’s cheek. “You don’t have a chance.”

Their eyes met, and Luo Shen seemed to relax, sighing with relief.

En Cheng squinted. “Aren’t you supposed to be angry?”

He was prepared to make Luo Shen heartbroken and then drive him out, but now…

“If what you say is true, and he’s just playing with me, then at least he won’t harm my child,” Luo Shen said softly, relieved. “After all, it’s not his child, and I don’t want to marry him.”

En Cheng was surprised. “Are you saying that Changqing would actually raise another’s child?”

Luo Shen explained, “You were right that day. Changqing locked me up to prevent me from escaping. I have someone I care about, but Changqing fell in love with me at first sight and forcefully took me away. He even wanted to harm the child in my womb. I’m powerless and afraid of hurting the baby, so I had to yield to him…”

Luo Shen choked up, almost in tears. He looked at En Cheng as if seeing a savior. “Since he plans to marry you, he must be tired of me. Can I ask you to help me escape?”

En Cheng was momentarily stunned by the sudden plea for help and was at a loss. He opened his mouth but couldn’t speak. After a while, he managed to say, “You… really don’t want to stay here?”

He was bewildered but more delighted once he realized the situation.

Luo Shen nodded. “I have no interest in competing for favor. Besides, I had an agreement with him: if he doesn’t want to marry me as his primary consort, he should let me go. I will never be a concubine.”

En Cheng’s eyes moved slightly, still hesitating. “When do you plan to tell him?”

“Tell him?” Luo Shen gritted his teeth. “I don’t need to tell him. I don’t want to wait until tomorrow to be humiliated. If I weren’t tied up, I would leave right now!”

En Cheng said, “To be honest, after I drugged you that day, I learned about your situation. I was worried you might change your mind, so I tested you. I may have offended you, so please forgive me.”

Luo Shen suppressed his anger, gritting his teeth. “If marrying him is the only option, then I’d rather die with my child that day.”

En Cheng believed him even more upon hearing this. “I came to rescue you this time.”

He took out a set of keys from his pocket. “It’s good that you really want to leave; otherwise, I wouldn’t know how to return them.”

As he spoke, he unlocked Luo Shen’s restraints. Luo Shen climbed off the bed and gratefully said, “Thank you! I’m truly grateful for today’s help! If you need anything, just let me know!”

En Cheng was pleased by Luo Shen’s joy and was glad to have succeeded in rescuing him before he learned the truth.

He waved his hand dismissively, not caring much about Luo Shen’s gratitude.

Luo Shen said, “Although the person I care about is not as noble as the prince, he is young and capable, and he holds a position in the court. If you want anything, just ask, and we’ll do our best to meet your needs.”

En Cheng’s eyes flickered with a hint of something, and he said without hesitation, “I want a large sum of money and a house. Also, I have no maternal family support here and might face difficulties in the future. Could your person be present tomorrow to support me?”

Luo Shen hesitated. “I remember En Shu is your brother?”

“He’s just a servant. If I have a conflict with the prince, he wouldn’t dare help me. You know, servants have no say. He can’t protect me, so I need to find another way to protect myself.”

En Cheng sneered, “My brother has been with the prince for so long and hasn’t even gotten a proper position. His life is in shambles, and there are no descendants in his family. He’s just afraid of his family line dying out, so he continues to help me. If I rely on him, I’ll only get this good life because of my association with the prince. How can I count on him?”

He looked dejected and asked Luo Shen, “Do you think I’m not qualified to seek support? If so, I won’t press the matter…”

Luo Shen recalled seeing En Cheng’s repeated troubles, with En Shu frequently kneeling to Changqing, and thought that En Cheng was blaming himself for saving En Shu.

Luo Shen asked, “Have you asked En Shu about this? It might not be as you think.”

En Cheng scoffed, “He’d definitely claim credit. After all, it’s disgraceful to need his younger brother to save him. I won’t ask him; it’s better not to hurt his pride. You promised to repay me, so you can’t back out now.”

Luo Shen’s face darkened, but he agreed, “Alright, I’ll have him come tomorrow.”

“Good. He must protect me,” En Cheng said, lifting his chin. “Otherwise, I won’t give you the antidote!”

Luo Shen’s eyes narrowed. “What?”

“You don’t know, do you? The medicine I gave you that day wasn’t ordinary; it was a special medicine brought by my brother. It requires an antidote every six months, or you will certainly die!”

Luo Shen was initially nervous, thinking that En Cheng had switched the medicine after taking it. But when he heard that En Shuo had brought it, he relaxed his brows: “You have a heart of stone.”

“I have no choice. To survive in this world, one must always keep a backup plan,” En Cheng said proudly, pleased by Luo Shen’s reaction.

The earlier story was a last-minute fabrication to prevent Luo Shen from bringing help the next day and to stop him from wanting to return to Changqing.

En Cheng felt increasingly clever and then said, “Take off your clothes and swap with me.”

Luo Shen hurriedly grabbed his clothes: “What are you doing?”

“If you don’t change, how will you go out?”

Luo Shen thought about it and said, “I have other clothes. I don’t need yours.” He then took off his clothes and changed into the clothes sent by Gu Xingzhi.

Seeing that it was getting late, En Cheng hastily pushed the newly dressed person out of the house, urging him to escape quickly. He then shut the door, put on Luo Shen’s discarded clothes, locked himself with the shackles, and covered his eyes with a blindfold before lying back down on the bed.

Luo Shen stood outside the house for a couple of seconds, realizing what En Cheng intended to do, and couldn’t help but frown.

No matter how much En Shuo tried to save En Cheng, he could not prevent En Cheng from ruining himself.

Luo Shen averted his gaze and walked towards Gu Xingzhi.

Gu Xingzhi, accompanied by others, left through the back door, which had the least defense. The people at the back door were disguised thugs. When they saw Luo Shen coming out, they quickly surrounded him.

“Oh, your belly is so big already.”

“The Gu family is fortunate, how did it happen so quickly?”

“How annoying, I wanted to surpass Ah Xing, but didn’t expect Ah Xing to have a grandchild so soon. My family’s child still has no wife.”

“My family also…”

“Alright, alright, we’ll talk later.” Madam Gu glanced around, worried about potential problems, and directed everyone to hide Luo Shen in a nearby rented courtyard. Before Changqing returned, they hurriedly boarded the carriage and left.

“I heard Changqing went to the Zheng residence, the Zheng Chao family,” Madam Gu said. “I checked on the Zheng family earlier and found something.”

“What is it?”

“Zheng Chao’s father was childhood friends with the former Empress.”

The former Prime Minister wanted his daughter to enter the palace as a consort for power, but Zheng’s father’s unrequited love ended in vain. A few years later, upon learning of the former Empress’s murder and the imprisonment of the former Prime Minister’s family, he actively contacted the former Prime Minister’s old subordinates, intending to avenge the former Empress.

This also explains why Luo Ming initially sought out Zheng Chao instead of anyone else.

“Next, it should be the Zheng family’s turn to act,” Madam Gu signaled to Gu Xingzhi. “If we win tomorrow, the new order will be smoothly implemented.”

Gu Xingzhi nodded and then heard Luo Shen say, “Changqing should also have sent people to assassinate Liu Kuang.”

“Don’t worry about that. I sent Changxin to intercept. With her there, no one can harm Liu Kuang.”

After all, Liu Kuang was an important hostage holding back Liu Changqing and must not die.

Luo Shen then sighed with relief.

He leaned against Gu Xingzhi’s arms and slowly began to feel sleepy.

A light breeze lifted the curtain, revealing a small portion of Luo Shen’s neck and back.

Just then, Changqing also lifted the curtain and saw that flash of white, which stirred a strange feeling in his heart.

But soon, that feeling faded away.

At the moment, Luo Shen was bound to the bed and couldn’t wander leisurely on the road.

He smiled faintly and urged En Shuo’s carriage to go faster.

The two carriages passed each other and continued until they reached a house on the other side of the outskirts.

After stopping the carriage, Gu Xingzhi carried Luo Shen inside and placed him on the bed. Luo Shen woke up as soon as he was put down, gripping his clothes tightly.

Gu Xingzhi paused his steps, seeing that Luo Shen had woken up, and leaned in to kiss his forehead: “Good, you stay here and sleep. I’ll go discuss something.”

Luo Shen was still a bit dazed, having just woken up, and took a while to remember that he had escaped from Changqing.

But he was still unsure: “When will you come back?”

“Soon,” Gu Xingzhi reassured him. “I just need to handle a matter.”

Luo Shen nodded but continued to clutch tightly.

Seeing this, Gu Xingzhi’s heart ached. He then asked, “Do you want to come with me?”

Luo Shen shook his head.

He was still too tired to listen properly.

Gu Xingzhi saw that Luo Shen’s eyes were about to close and chuckled softly. He lifted the blanket, lay down beside Luo Shen, and held him in his arms.

Previously, while with Changqing, Gu Xingzhi had always held Luo Shen like this every night to give him a sense of security and to ensure he didn’t worry about danger.

Sure enough, after a short while, Luo Shen fell asleep.

Gu Xingzhi then carefully got out of bed, left the room, and went to the study to find Madam Gu.

He entered the study and saw Madam Gu, but then noticed another woman.

The woman, upon seeing him, paused for a moment and then remembered: “Oh, it’s you, Young Master. I saw you at the banquet.”

Gu Xingzhi said, “Miss Qin, I didn’t expect you to remember.”

“With your appearance, it’s naturally hard to forget,” Qin Tianke said with a slight smile. “Zheng Chao wronged and betrayed me. I hope Young Master Gu can assist me in avenging this grievance.”

Qin Tianke was no longer as proud as she had been; her face was full of resentment when she spoke of Zheng Chao.

She had once hated Zhao Xiaoling, but later realized that the true culprit deserving of her hatred was not Zhao Xiaoling but the one who had harmed them.

In this entire scheme, the Qin family had been nothing but pawns, used and discarded.

She said, “I have arranged to meet Zheng Chao tomorrow. I hope that Lord Gu can help me.”

“Of course,” Gu Xingzhi said. “Miss Qin, you need not worry.”

“Certainly not,” Qin Tianke replied, glancing at Madam Gu. “It also serves as repayment for Madam Gu’s help that day.”

She then gave Madam Gu a slight smile.

Madam Gu sighed, watching Qin Tianke leave the house and disappear into the darkness.

That figure was filled with resolve.

Madam Gu looked on and sighed: “Zheng Chao is likely doomed.”

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