Free Web NovelChapter 348: Chapter 197: Aunt Song, You Seem to Be Pregnant
Holding Bengbeng in one arm, Su Liyan’s father said, "I’ll go get some from the pickling jar in the courtyard. We can soak them in water for a while."
This was a complete change from his usual behavior; he was no longer acting like the lord of the manor at home.
Bengbeng, held in her grandfather’s single arm, found the rough hand against her tender calf uncomfortable. She started tugging on his beard and babbled, "Hurts!"
His other hand holding the pickled vegetables he’d just fished out of the jar, Su Liyan’s father chuckled at his granddaughter. "So you know pulling a beard hurts, do you?"
...
Lu Yuan sat cross-legged on the kang bed. After his wife left early in the morning, he had a simple breakfast and returned to his room.
Lu Yuan planned to use this time to refine the Flying Corpse’s eerie blue Flame and make it his own.
The temperature in Lu Yuan’s room steadily rose. The heat continuously radiating from the Flame scorched the few potted green plants in the room until they wilted.
But Lu Yuan couldn’t spare them a thought. This was a critical moment in the refinement process and he could not be interrupted.
If someone had placed a basin of water in the room, the whole place would have turned into a sauna.
Zhao Qiao’Er lay on a lounge chair in the courtyard, holding Huanhuan in her arms. This lounge chair was her favorite spot.
As Zhao Qiao’Er basked in the sun with her child, she glanced at the sky and wondered, ’The weather is usually so different in late autumn. Why is it so scorching and stuffy today?’
A Maid fanned her from each side. Zhao Qiao’Er turned her head to one and said, "Is it just me, or is it exceptionally hot today?"
The Maid wiped the sweat from her brow and replied, "It’s the autumn tiger. It won’t last more than a few days."
Everyone assumed it was the weather. No one suspected it was the young master, their nephew, raising hell in his room.
After meditating for three or four hours, Lu Yuan opened his eyes. A flicker of fire flashed through them. The eerie blue Flame before him had already been refined.
Lu Yuan clapped his hands together, and a ball of blue Flame appeared in his palm.
Looking at the Flame in his hand, Lu Yuan was ecstatic. "It’s done!"
With a light flick, Lu Yuan sent the Flame flying onto a celadon vase.
The celadon vase began to burn, and even the wooden cabinet it sat on caught fire, emitting thick smoke.
Lu Yuan had only wanted to test the Flame, which was why he’d aimed at the porcelain. He never imagined that even porcelain could burn.
Lu Yuan hopped off the kang bed, grabbed the teapot, and poured water on the fire, but the flames didn’t shrink in the slightest.
’Looks like this Flame isn’t afraid of water.’
Lu Yuan formed a hand seal, thrust his palms forward, and recalled all the flames before him back into his hands. After compressing them to their limit, he absorbed them back into his body.
Song Meiqin saw thick smoke billowing from Lu Yuan’s room and rushed over. When she threw open the door, a wave of scorching heat washed over her, making it hard to breathe. The acrid smell of something burning stung her nose.
Covering her mouth, she choked on the smoke. "Is there a fire?"
Lu Yuan replied, "I accidentally set the wooden cabinet on fire just now."
Song Meiqin glanced at the charred-black cabinet and the warped celadon vase, then went to open all the doors and windows.
Then she circled Lu Yuan, inspecting him and muttering, "Let me see. You’re not hurt, are you?"
Lu Yuan swiftly turned and swept Song Meiqin into his arms, lifting one of Aunt Song’s legs with his hand.
Song Meiqin was wearing a modified long qipao with slits on the side that went all the way up to her waist.
She only dared to dress like this inside the Zhao Mansion. If she wore it out, she would have stopped traffic.
Among the three women, Song Meiqin’s style was the boldest and most progressive.
One of Lu Yuan’s arms was wrapped around Aunt Song’s waist, while his other hand held her calf.
Because of the high temperature in the Zhao Mansion today, Aunt Song was only wearing the qipao.
Lu Yuan caressed her smooth calf, his hand traveling up her leg until he reached the junction.
"Mmm~"
Aunt Song pressed her lips together, letting out a muffled sound from deep in her throat.
After a dozen seconds, Aunt Song finally spoke. "You rascal. You’re never well-behaved. Always bullying your aunt."
Lu Yuan grinned. "A rascal? I can be much worse."
Aunt Song said coquettishly, "I don’t believe you!"
Lu Yuan took her tone as a challenge. He couldn’t let Aunt Song underestimate him.
With a flick of his sleeve, Lu Yuan made the door and windows shut on their own.
With a raise of his hand, he drew the bed curtains.
Aunt Song placed a hand over his mouth, interrupting his "spell." "Wait," she said, "I... well, I’m late. What if something’s happened?"
Fired up as he was, Lu Yuan wasn’t about to listen. "After we’re done," he said, "I’ll check your pulse and give you a diagnosis."
Aunt Song relented. "Alright, then. But you have to be gentle. Don’t just do as you please."
Lu Yuan agreed to her terms, already getting to work.
Only then did Lu Yuan remember that he had just finished refining the Flame from the Flying Corpse.
Having just absorbed the Flame, Lu Yuan’s entire body was already a few degrees hotter than a normal person’s.
This was especially true for the parts of his body that didn’t dissipate heat well, which were now searing hot.
Lu Yuan said, "Aunt Song, it might be a little hot."
Afterward, Lu Yuan checked Aunt Song’s pulse. Feeling its rhythm, he said, "Aunt Song, I think you’re pregnant."
Hearing this, Aunt Song leaped for joy, jumping three feet in the air. Her long qipao flew up, unable to contain the flash of her fair skin.
Song Meiqin cried out, "Hooray, hooray!"
Lu Yuan had to hold her down by the shoulders. "Aunt Song, calm down. There’s no need to be this excited."
Aunt Song grabbed both of Lu Yuan’s arms. "I’ve waited for this day for so long."
"Yes, yes, I’m happy for you too, Aunt Song!" Lu Yuan chimed in.
All that bitter medicine Song Meiqin had been drinking recently hadn’t been for nothing. Her efforts had finally paid off.
"Wait! That thing we just did... it won’t affect the baby in my belly, will it?" Song Meiqin was suddenly filled with regret. Her momentary passion had made her forget, and now she was afraid it might have harmed the baby.
After all, everyone said the first three months were the most unstable time for a fetus. Being intimate during this period could easily harm the baby.
Lu Yuan pulled Aunt Song into an embrace. "It won’t. I just checked your pulse, and it’s very stable. Nothing’s wrong. I’ll prepare some nourishing tonics for you later, just in case."
Song Meiqin looked at him and said, "For the next eight or nine months, you’re not to touch me."
Lu Yuan asked, confused, "Why, Aunt Song? Don’t you trust my medical skills?"
Song Meiqin said with a straight face, "It’s not that I don’t trust you. I heard people say that... doing *that* while pregnant will affect the baby’s skin."
Aunt Song’s words made Lu Yuan understand her reasoning. ’She thinks the... fluid... will get on the baby’s skin, like when you carelessly drip oil on your clothes while eating, leaving a stain that’s hard to wash out.’
"Well, we could just use one of those..." Lu Yuan trailed off mid-sentence.
’Oh, for crying out loud,’ Lu Yuan thought. ’This is the Divine Ling Empire. There are no convenience stores, no pharmacies. Where am I supposed to buy something like that? I can’t be expected to make my own plastic bag, can I?’
At this, Lu Yuan’s mind began to wander. He thought about his grandfather’s generation, where it was common to have seven or eight uncles and aunts.
’Could the reason be the lack of entertainment, combined with the lack of ’plastic bags’? One little accident, and suddenly you’ve got a new uncle.’
Lu Yuan couldn’t help but admire his own wild train of thought. He let out a silly chuckle.
Seeing this, Song Meiqin interrupted his silly chuckle. "What are you up to? What dirty daydream has you grinning so happily?"
Snapping out of it, Lu Yuan asked, "Feifei? Who’s Feifei?"
