Chapter 612
Chapter 612
Shen Lang was surprised by her words.
‘Aunt, for a long-married couple like you, is it still so important to look good for each other?’
It had been nearly a year since Shen Lang began treating Madam Qiu. In that year, she had used countless skincare products and eaten all sorts of food good for her complexion. It was all an effort to restore her appearance. She had been living with her husband, Li Qianqiu, the entire time. Shen Lang had thought she wore a veil to hide her face from outsiders. But unexpectedly, she had been wearing it even in front of Li Qianqiu. Perhaps the main reason she wore the veil was so her husband wouldn't see her disfigured face.
Looking at Madam Qiu's face, Shen Lang saw that while there were still some marks, they now resembled faint freckles. In the West, many women with freckles were still considered stunning beauties. After a year of recovery, Madam Qiu's face was no longer shocking to look at; in fact, traces of her former beauty were beginning to show. Of course, this was just Shen Lang's perspective; to Li Qianqiu, she was already an unparalleled beauty. As Shen Lang stared, Madam Qiu became extremely nervous, her confidence waning, and she grew so flustered she didn't know what to do with her hands and feet.
“Tsk, tsk, tsk. I see now how beautiful our aunt is. Uncle is not worthy of you! Rest assured, when the Sword King sees you like this, he will surely be captivated.”
Madam Qiu smiled shyly.
“Then, wait for me for another hour.”
Soon, she put her veil back on and tried to pull the Sword King Li Qianqiu into the adjacent room. Li Qianqiu's face instantly turned beet red, all the way to his ears.
“My lady, don't do this, please don't… It's broad daylight, this isn't right… We're an old married couple, and we have a child…”
When he looked back, Shen Lang and Nandu were already gone without a trace. Frankly, Shen Lang was also extremely embarrassed. They were his elders, after all. The two walked a good distance away, and soon Shen Lang cleared his throat and muttered.
“Grand Master, what fine weather we're having today.”
Grand Master Nandu nodded.
“Yes, the weather is quite fine!”
*Rumble, crash!*
As if to mock them, a heavy clap of thunder echoed from the sky. It was the eighth month, and the weather was sweltering. Of course, in the capital, the autumn winds would be starting to blow, while in the Southern Ou Kingdom, it would be the hottest time of the year. He didn't know how the war was faring there, how that conflict, which held the nation's fate in the balance, was progressing.
The weather was fickle; a moment ago the sky was clear, but after the thunderclap, a sudden downpour began.
‘The rain is good, very good!’
At least it would muffle the sounds coming from afar. Those sounds were too awkward to listen to! Shen Lang and Grand Master Nandu went to the farthest barracks to take shelter from the rain. The three thousand soldiers of the Nirvana Army had gone out for another forced march training. This time, it was a one-hundred-twenty-four-mile round trip in forty hours, carrying a pack weighing over three hundred sixty pounds—a drill horrifying just to hear about. With the downpour and thunder, the difficulty of their training would increase significantly. Even a real battlefield might not present such harsh conditions. But the Nirvana Army always trained to their absolute limits; it was truly a hellish regimen.
Shen Lang asked Grand Master Nandu.
“Grand Master Nandu, how much longer must the Second Nirvana Army train to become a true military force?”
“Two months! Two more months will make it half a year of training, which will be equivalent to what other armies achieve in four or five years.”
“In two months, it will be nearly winter here. That means it will be summer in the Southern Ou Kingdom!”
“Trust me. This army will undoubtedly shake the world! I have never met such fine soldiers in my entire life. These boys can fight both individually and as a unit. I can't even imagine how powerful they will be on the battlefield when they coordinate with the First Nirvana Army.”
***
An hour later.
The downpour had stopped, and the sky had cleared again, but the ground was still muddy. The Sword King Li Qianqiu emerged from the room, his head bowed low, staring at the floor. His entire body was flushed red, and he looked as if he wanted to dig a hole and crawl into it. In contrast, Madam Qiu acted as if nothing had happened, completely composed. She considered it all perfectly normal. The matters of men and women eating and making love!
“Le-let's go!”
After Li Qianqiu finished speaking, he and Shen Lang boarded the ship, left Nirvana Island, and returned to Xuanwu City!
***
After two days and nights, the Sword King's embarrassment finally faded. He dared to show his face again, but his speech was still quite unnatural. Another day passed, and the ship neared the coast. Shen Lang spurred his horse and galloped toward Xuanwu City at high speed.
‘My love, Mulan. You have to wait for me. You must. Little one, try your best. You have to be born after your father arrives!’
Shen Lang spurred his horse even harder, racing into the Marquis of Xuanwu's estate like an arrow. The moment he appeared, Jin Jianniang and Bing'er rushed over.
“Young Master, quickly, quickly…”
“The young mistress is about to give birth…”
The baby in Mulan's womb was a boy. Shen Lang had known this for a long time, and both his mother and his mother-in-law, Su Peipei, had also known it was a boy. It seemed the method of determining the baby's gender by the shape of the belly was quite accurate. Mulan was overjoyed to know she was carrying a boy, but it didn't matter much to Shen Lang. He preferred girls, but since he already had Shen Mi, having a boy was good too. Then what about the child Qiu Yao'er gave birth to? Never mind that, let's not talk about it. Qiu Yao'er had no real relationship with Shen Lang; it was as if he had simply donated his sperm.
Shen Lang quickly entered his own chambers, which were filled entirely with women. There were more than ten midwives and female physicians alone. The baby in Mulan's womb was the center of everyone's attention. Shen Lang saw a strange woman standing guard outside the door with a blank expression. After seeing Shen Lang, she lowered her eyelids. Shen Lang didn't recognize her, but seeing Huang Feng beside her and her resemblance to a female Heavenly Lone Star, he knew she was the Old Demon of the Snowy Mountain, Lin Shang. The supreme master who had never won a fight in her entire life. Her skills were close to that of a Grand Master, but she was a tragic figure who had never managed to enter their ranks. What was she doing here? Shen Lang realized that his father-in-law, Jin Zhuo, must have asked her to stand guard, fearing Mulan might not have a smooth delivery and might need the help of a supreme master.
“Greetings, Palace Master Lin!”
That title seemed to finally satisfy Lin Shang. She raised her eyes slightly and nodded. Shen Lang knew he should never call her Master Lin. If he used that title, she would think he was mocking her. In this world, it was truly the case that the weaker one's martial arts were, the more they put on airs. They had to make up for their lack of skill with bravado.
But Master Lin, despite her airs, was a rather reliable person. After all, you could hire her sect for five hundred gold coins a month. That's right. The price had dropped again. Previously, they had a contract for five thousand gold coins for three months, which was about sixteen hundred a month. Now, with a yearly contract, they could get an even better deal. In exchange for providing them with room and board, of course. Originally, Shen Lang had intended to exchange a few more words with the Old Demon of the Snowy Mountain, but now he had no mind for it and ran straight into the room.
“Husband…”
Because as soon as Shen Lang reached the courtyard outside, he heard Mulan calling for him from inside.
“You silly girl, your husband isn't here yet.”
“He's here, he's here. He's outside.”
Shen Lang was stunned.
‘Has Mulan's martial skill become so great? She could sense my arrival from more than ten meters away?’
When Shen Lang rushed into the room, everyone was astonished.
‘Are this husband and wife really so deeply connected?’
From such a distance, even before his voice could be heard, Mulan knew Shen Lang had arrived. Shen Lang gripped Mulan's hand tightly and asked.
“Has your water broken? Is your cervix dilated? How many fingers?”
Several midwives shook their heads.
“My lady has been having contractions for several hours, but she hasn't dilated yet.”
“Ah!”
Mulan let out another groan, and the sound startled Shen Lang. Mulan was braver than Bing'er, a woman who wouldn't even cry out when injured. Childbirth was naturally painful, but he thought someone with Mulan's personality and martial arts training would surely be able to endure it. But if even she couldn't bear it, he couldn't imagine how much pain she was in.
Shen Lang quickly examined the fetus. It was very healthy, and its position in the womb was perfectly normal. The baby's heartbeat was strong and healthy, which reassured him somewhat.
“Lang'er, you're no help here. Go outside for now!”
Shen Lang wanted to stay, and Mulan wanted him by her side, but their two mothers kept pushing him out. Mulan changed her mind, thinking her face wouldn't look very pleasant while she was screaming, so she also agreed that Shen Lang should leave. And so, after just one look at his wife's face, Shen Lang was ushered out. Soon, he could hear Mulan's painful screams from inside, and he grew incredibly anxious.
***
While the situation with Mulan's childbirth was incredibly tense, things in the capital were even more grave. Not just the King and Ning Zheng, but perhaps everyone was at their wit's end. This was especially true for Ning Zheng. It had been over half a year since he became the Admiral of Tianyue, but his work had not gotten any easier, nor had he ever managed to display his authority. Not a single person came to his estate to curry favor or flatter him; instead, he was reprimanded and cursed by others every day. And he didn't even know why so many of these things were happening. One could even say that he only shouldered the responsibility without ever enjoying the pleasures of power.
After Shen Lang left, Ning Zheng was once again regarded as useless. The King used Shen Lang's strategies to desperately elevate the Third Prince, Ning Qi, and suppress the Crown Prince, bringing the court back into a state of equilibrium and preserving Ning Zheng's position for the time being. But despite this, many court officials and ministers still went out of their way to make things difficult for Ning Zheng. Moreover, they did so in subtle ways that couldn't be reported, refusing to cooperate with anything Ning Zheng tried to do, rendering him unable to work. The goals of the Crown Prince's and the Third Prince's factions were crystal clear. It was to ensure Ning Zheng made no progress in his position as the Admiral of Tianyue and to eventually make him give up and fade away in discouragement.