My Enemy Became My Cultivation Companion

Chapter 1227: Chapter 666: Strife Among All Living Things (Double-Length)

The surrounding air seemed to freeze for a moment.

Chen Yi’s fingertips paused instantly, his face suddenly stiffened.

The night was dim, the lights were blazing, the incense was intoxicating. It was the perfect time for a dragon and two phoenixes, a symbol of prosperity and dual harmony. One had eyes like a phoenix, and Chen Yi was just thinking how this perfectly mirrored the idiom "turning things upside down," when he was interrupted.

The female knight had already been pushed onto the bed; Yin Weiyin stood by the bed, suddenly asking a question that startled even the thick-skinned and worldly Chen Yi enough to shiver.

Fortunately, Hou Kang Sword did not lose composure, and did not fall into a disadvantageous position because of it.

Min Ning stared straight at him, his eyes shining bright. After a moment’s reflection, he reached out and gently grasped the hilt of his sword.

Chen Yi snapped back to reality, knowing that the more he reacted now, the more leverage he left behind. It was better to be straightforward and confident.

"...Yes, indeed," Chen Yi paused, lowering his voice, "I have reached the age to start a family, and indeed have a child, which is not unusual."

Min Ning heard this and momentarily lowered his head without speaking, still holding the Hou Kang Sword, seeming reluctant, yet uncertain if he truly was. Her heroic face showed little emotion, but her chest seemed tight, creating an unusual curvature.

Chen Yi took a deep breath, his chest rising and falling. He was about to casually brush off the matter and even shift the topic back to the interrupted romance when suddenly,

"Who is the child’s mother?"

Min Ning’s voice wasn’t loud, but sharp like a sword.

Chen Yi hesitated for a moment.

His hesitation caused Min Ning to momentarily lose focus. She subconsciously asked, "It’s... Princess Consort Zhuo’s, right?"

Back in the Capital City, Min Ning unintentionally witnessed the unusual relationship between Chen Yi and the Prince of Annan and Princess. Qin Qingluo, disguising as a man, had no children, hence borrowed Chen Yi’s lineage. Min Ning saw it then, a thorn in her heart, constrained by her inferiority to Chen Yi, unable to say anything.

Yin Weiyin had discreetly conveyed this as a shocking secret, yet Min Ning accepted it.

She was not unaware; she always knew. It was already confirmed the Princess was pregnant. Yet, somehow, the Prince of Annan Qin Qingluo violently clashed with Chen Yi, having such a strong reaction...

Only if it were true, then the child would be raised as a genuine member of the Qin Family, with Qin Qingluo as the nominal father king. Even if Chen Yi, the biological father, wanted to be close, he would always be separated by endless mountains and rivers.

His heart wouldn’t stay in the Southern Border.

As for herself, she wouldn’t interfere in this matter, nor would she want to be involved; if it came to the worst, like the usual tragedies in Jianghu where families are destroyed, leaving only the sole heirs, Min Ning could consider adopting her as a disciple for having Chen Yi’s blood.

Chen Yi didn’t answer but rather diverted his gaze.

Min Ning slightly paused, eyes fixed on Chen Yi, asking, "Could it be a maid from the Prince Mansion you fancied?"

Chen Yi still didn’t respond, neither nodding nor shaking his head.

"It’s..."

Beside him, Yin Weiyin couldn’t hold back, spoke out, but hesitated as the words reached her throat. Chen Yi immediately glanced at her.

In the instant his gaze swept over her, the female crown trembled violently, dropping her head, and trying to shrink into a silent shadow.

Chen Yi withdrew his gaze. Now was not the time to bother about Yin Weiyin, he slowly said, "It’s Qin Qingluo’s..."

Qin... Qin Qingluo...

The Prince of Annan, Qin Qingluo?

Min Ning was instantly stunned, phoenix eyes slowly widened, lips buzzing yet unable to produce a sound for a long time.

After a long while, she suddenly laughed, laughing silently.

Her hand even let go of the Hou Kang Sword hilt.

At this moment, Chen Yi couldn’t muster any interest either. He slowly sat down, watching Min Ning, not knowing what to say for a moment, with only one sentence:

"This matter... is more complicated than you imagined."

Min Ning remained silent.

The bedroom air felt leaden, weighed heavily on everyone’s chest, the candle occasionally cracking, emitting weak sparks, enhancing the deathly silence. The scent of incense still lingering, yet lost its warmth.

Chen Yi sat by the table, watching the stone-silent Min Ning, his thoughts complex as tangled threads. He tried to speak but then closed his mouth, not knowing what to say, his gaze sweeping over the shadowy figure almost blending into the corners.

"Did you tell her?" Chen Yi’s voice was not loud.

Yin Weiyin’s heart sank, her body tensed instantly. She dared not raise her head, her interlocked fingers gripping the Daoist robe sleeve, knuckles white, lips quivering but uttering only vague, untuned fragments.

She was terrified.

Chen Yi observed her terrified demeanor, Adam’s apple moved unexpectedly. He did not reprimand her, instead, his tone carried an indescribable complexity and fatigue.

"...I shouldn’t have thought of hiding this from her." He paused, eyes turned towards the heavy night outside the window, voice lowered, "It’s just... not knowing how to say it."

Min Ning listened, her lowered eyelashes trembling slightly, silent, her heroic face shifting with unstable emotions surging.

Qin Qingluo... that Prince of Annan with a nature similar to hers, equally fierce and proud, wasn’t the princess, but her... having a daughter with Chen Yi?

Though prepared, the impact of the news was far more overwhelming than imagined.