The Side Character Wants to Lie Flat-Chapter 124: A False Alarm

Hua Manman never expected Prince Zhao to say something like that.

Others might not know the truth, but Prince Zhao, as the other party involved, knew perfectly well that the two of them had yet to consummate their marriage.

Since they hadn’t consummated their marriage, where could a child have come from?

Any normal man in this situation would first suspect he’d been cuckolded.

But Prince Zhao didn’t seem to care at all. He even told her to have the child.

Hua Manman couldn’t help but marvel inwardly.

’This man is so magnanimous!’

’I misjudged him before. I shouldn’t have called him a dog of a man. I should praise him for being kind, tolerant, and generous—a truly great guy!’

Li Ji heard her inner thoughts, and the smile on his face faltered slightly.

No, he refused to be friend-zoned.

Hua Manman cleared her throat and put on an act as she explained.

"Actually, I was just lying. I’m not pregnant at all."

Liu Shizhong, who had just been woken up, happened to hear this. His eyes rolled back in his head, and he fainted again from rage.

Si Yun stared at Lady Hua in utter astonishment, asking in disbelief,

"You’re not pregnant?"

Hua Manman admitted frankly, "That’s right. The situation forced my hand; I had no choice but to say that."

Li Ji sneered. "So many people just heard you say you were pregnant. In less than a day, everyone in Yuqing Palace will probably know you’re carrying my child."

Hua Manman quickly proposed a countermeasure.

"First, we’ll try to explain. If we really can’t clear this up, then we’ll just say I had a miscarriage."

Li Ji said nothing, tacitly agreeing to her suggestion.

Soon, General Wang returned with the Flying Dragon Cavalry.

They took away the blood-covered, unconscious Liu Shizhong.

When the Emperor learned of the matter, he specially summoned Prince Zhao to comfort him personally, saying at the end,

"I heard your nanny is pregnant. This is wonderful news! I will have the Imperial Physician go see Lady Hua at once. We must ensure she carries this child to term."

Li Ji briefly explained the story of Hua Manman’s fake pregnancy.

Upon hearing this, the Emperor was quite disappointed.

"I thought you were finally going to have an heir. I didn’t expect it to be a false alarm."

Li Ji’s reaction was placid. "You can’t rush this sort of thing. It won’t come any faster by worrying."

The Emperor sighed. "That may be so, but you’re not getting any younger. It’s time you had a child."

Li Ji clearly didn’t want to discuss the topic, so he simply shut his mouth and said no more.

Seeing this, the Emperor felt both helpless and amused.

’This kid is still throwing a tantrum with me.’

Although Hua Manman’s pregnancy was fake, the Emperor still sent people to deliver many nourishing supplements to her, to soothe her frightened little heart.

Hua Manman was naturally overjoyed.

She picked a box of bird’s nest from the pile of rewards and had Si Yun take it to the small kitchen to be stewed.

Just as the bird’s nest soup was ready, Hua Qingqing arrived.

Hua Manman immediately slipped into her "brain-dead villainess" performance mode.

She sat on the low couch, tilted her chin up slightly, and said arrogantly,

"You have good timing. Fine, I’ll let you share in my glory. Have a taste of this bird’s nest soup, a gift from the Emperor."

Si Yun filled a bowl to the brim with rock sugar bird’s nest soup and placed it in front of Hua Qingqing.

Hua Qingqing wasn’t particularly interested in the bird’s nest soup.

She had mainly come this time to check on her younger sister.

"I heard an assassin snuck into your room this morning and took you hostage. Are you hurt?"

Hua Manman snorted. "A mere assassin? How could he possibly hurt me? You underestimate me."

Hua Qingqing was finally relieved to hear she wasn’t hurt, and then she asked,

"People are saying you’re pregnant. Is it true? How many months? Have you seen the Imperial Physician?"

Hua Manman’s movements, as she ate the bird’s nest soup, paused.

She tried her best to act as if nothing was wrong and said calmly,

"It’s fake. I’m not pregnant."

Hua Qingqing was first surprised, then showed a look of disappointment. "What a pity."

If her younger sister could bear Prince Zhao a son or daughter, her position in the Prince Zhao Mansion would be more secure. Even when the main wife entered the household in the future, she wouldn’t have to worry too much.

Unfortunately, the news of her younger sister’s pregnancy was false.

But Hua Qingqing soon came to terms with it.

’Pregnancy isn’t necessarily a good thing.’

’Both the process of pregnancy and the act of childbirth are incredibly difficult and dangerous for a woman.’

’The slightest mistake could result in the death of both mother and child.’

Hua Qingqing didn’t want her younger sister to experience that kind of danger.

So, not being pregnant wasn’t so bad after all.

Hua Qingqing took a bite of the bird’s nest soup and changed the subject.

"Last night, the Sixth Prince suddenly came down with a fever. It frightened the Lady badly. She sent for the Imperial Physician overnight, and even the Saint and the Empress were alarmed."

Hua Manman thought of the child who had been crying while eating sweet rice balls.

He was small and thin, the type who looked like he had poor health. On top of that, he had been caught in the rain yesterday and had experienced great emotional turmoil. It was only normal for him to develop a fever after returning.

In this day and age, a fever was no small illness. It was even more dangerous for a child with a weak constitution like the Sixth Prince.

Hua Manman was a little worried.

But reason told her that these matters had nothing to do with her. She didn’t need to meddle in others’ business.

Hua Qingqing noticed that although her younger sister wasn’t speaking, her pace of eating the bird’s nest soup had clearly slowed. She was obviously listening, so Hua Qingqing considerately continued.

"When I went to pay my respects to the Empress this morning, I didn’t see the Lady.

I heard the Lady stayed by the Sixth Prince’s bedside all night, looking after him without even changing her clothes.

Unfortunately, the Sixth Prince’s condition hasn’t improved. He’s still running a fever.

From what the Empress said, the Sixth Prince’s current situation is not very optimistic."

Many children in the palace died young.

For example, the Eldest Prince, born to the original Empress, died from a sudden illness.

The Seventh and Eighth Princes also died from illness shortly after they were born.

In addition, two princesses also died at a very young age.

If the Sixth Prince’s fever didn’t break, he would likely become the current Emperor’s sixth child to die young.

At this point, Hua Qingqing couldn’t help but sigh, her tone filled with sympathy. 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

"The Sixth Prince is truly pitiful. His mother just died, and now he’s fallen ill. I don’t know if he’ll be able to pull through."

The bowl of bird’s nest soup was finished.

Hua Manman mercilessly served tea, a gesture to see her guest out.

As soon as Hua Qingqing left, Hua Manman put down her teacup.

She watched the drizzling rain outside the window. It involuntarily reminded her of when her maternal grandparents passed away. She had been too sad to eat, and the hunger eventually gave her such a severe stomachache that she had to go to the hospital.

She registered by herself, waited in line by herself, picked up her medicine by herself, got an IV drip by herself, and went home by herself.

She was alone through the entire process.

There was no one to help her.

That was when she truly understood what loneliness meant.

How similar the Sixth Prince was now to the person she once was.

The one way the Sixth Prince had it better than her was that, at least, he had someone with him while he was sick.