Stinky Bandit, I’m Pregnant! - Chapter 22:

Chapter 22: The Empress and I Are Good Friends

Gu Fei carried the empress through the main gate just as Da Ya shouted, “Master, what happened to Madam?!”

Her words almost made Ye Anlan faint as well. Her body swayed twice.

But Gu Fei didn’t notice—Xiao Lingshuang in his arms had already regained consciousness but was still incredibly weak.

“Da Ya, hurry and prepare some sugar water!”

Though the empress felt dizzy, she could sense how concerned Gu Fei was for her. Thinking of all the grievances she had suffered these days, tears began to fall again. She didn’t even know whether she was crying from sorrow or from hearing the news that Xiao Yang was conspiring to seize the throne.

Gu Fei naturally carried her to the same bed they had slept in the night before. He gently placed her down, then looked at her tear-streaked face and said softly, “Hey, your body’s still not well. You shouldn’t have gone out walking around with me.”

Ye Anlan saw him being so tender with Xiao Lingshuang and turned to leave in anger.

Da Ya’s earlier words had deeply pierced her heart. They had even called that woman ‘Madam,’ and now Gu Fei had placed her on his own bed. This house was huge—at least several dozen rooms—yet he didn’t use any of the others?

At that moment, she regretted it. Gu Fei had asked her to move in long ago, but she’d been too stubborn and refused. Now, a woman who had only arrived two days ago had stolen a march on her.

As soon as she stepped outside, her tears fell uncontrollably.

…

Back in the room, Da Ya brought the sugar water. Gu Fei quickly took it and said to the empress, “Drink some sugar water to warm yourself up!”

Xiao Lingshuang shook her head.

Gu Fei’s face darkened. “I don’t care what your reason is, you’re drinking it. Otherwise, with your fragile body, I’m not taking you back—what if you die on the way?”

That sentence worked better than anything else.

Xiao Lingshuang opened her mouth. Within minutes, the bowl of sugar water was empty, and her complexion visibly improved.

As Gu Fei put the bowl aside, the empress suddenly grabbed his hand.

“Gu Fei, can you take me back now? I’ll agree to anything you want!”

“Are you crazy? Have you seen yourself right now?”

“Didn’t we agree I’d take you back to Dadu the day after tomorrow?”

“No… there’s no time!”

Tears streamed down the empress’s face again.

“If Xiao Yang ascends the throne, then Northern Heng is truly finished!”

Gu Fei said irritably, “You’re not the empress. Why are you so anxious?”

“The one who should be anxious is the empress. Besides, didn’t those two people just say the empress willingly abdicated to the second prince?”

“No… that’s not true… the empress would never give the throne to that ambitious wolf Xiao Yang!”

Gu Fei sensed something suspicious from her words. “You mean… they forced the empress to abdicate?”

“Yes, yes… that’s exactly it! That’s why I have to return to Dadu and find Marquis of Julu and Duke of Zhao, Tuoba Hu, and ask them to send troops to rescue the empress!”

“You? A little maid, and you think you can command them? Why would they listen to you?” Gu Fei looked completely unconvinced.

The empress was speechless, overwhelmed with anxiety. What should she do if this damned bandit refused to take her back? If she rushed, she might still have time to stop that traitor from ascending the throne in seven days.

As long as she appeared, Xiao Yang would never become emperor.

Most importantly, the crown prince’s sudden death was most likely Xiao Yang’s doing. If he were crowned emperor, she’d never get justice, never avenge the truth.

Just as the empress was about to risk everything and tell Gu Fei that she was the empress…

Gu Fei, smug and self-assured, said, “The empress is so close to you—what are you two, besties?”

“Besties? What does that mean?” The empress was completely confused. This man kept saying incomprehensible things.

“Uh… it means good friends.”

“Yes, the empress and I are good friends. I’m also her personal maid-in-waiting!”

“Aha… we’ve been going in circles! You should’ve said that earlier. No wonder you said you could help me get official recognition!”

Suddenly, Gu Fei was fired up with motivation. He nearly burst out laughing like a pig.

“If you promise to speak to the empress and get an imperial decree granting Shangyuan City official status, I’ll take you back to Dadu tomorrow morning. But if you want to leave now, forget it. You know your body can’t handle it!”

Xiao Lingshuang processed his words carefully. This guy really spoke strangely.

She hesitated for a moment. Just as she was about to respond, Gu Fei said again, “As long as you help me with this, I promise to get you to Dadu one day early.”

The empress didn’t understand why Gu Fei was so confident. But something in her gut told her he might actually be able to do it.

At this point, agreeing or not didn’t matter. She had already said she’d do anything as long as he took her back.

Hearing Gu Fei’s assurance now, she agreed without hesitation.

“I promise you. As long as you can get me to Dadu ahead of time, I’ll do everything I can to secure official status for Shangyuan City.”

“Deal!”

Overjoyed, Gu Fei suddenly leaned in and kissed her on the lips.

The empress was so furious she almost fainted again.

“Sorry… sorry… I couldn’t hold back. Want me to let you kiss me back?” Gu Fei grinned shamelessly.

The empress completely lost her temper, collapsed onto the bed, and cursed, “You damned bandit! You keep bullying me. One day, I’ll kill you!”

“You’re worse than that traitor Xiao Yang!”

And with that, she started crying again.

Gu Fei quickly wiped the tears from her cheeks. “I’m sorry… If you don’t like it, I won’t touch you again!”

With that, he left the room.

He needed to get moving. The meeting with the magistrate of Shancheng County was now irrelevant.

Since he was going to Dadu, he had to bring Zhang Biao and the others.

The city’s security would be left to Ye Anlan and Deputy Magistrate Wang.

He walked down the stairs and shouted, “Someone, inform everyone—meeting in the yamen in half an hour!”

Lying in bed, the empress vaguely heard Gu Fei giving orders downstairs. Though she was still mad at him, she also felt somewhat reassured.

Maybe Gu Fei really could deliver her safely to Dadu. If she could arrive even one day early, she’d have more than enough confidence to drag Xiao Yang down into hell.

As for how to deal with Gu Fei…

Right now, her heart was in turmoil.

If Leng Feng found out Gu Fei had treated her like this, Gu Fei would be dead for sure.

Leng Feng had always admired her. She had always been kind to him. Although many ministers wanted to marry their sons into the royal family, in most people’s eyes, Leng Feng had the highest chance. And he himself believed that among all the contenders, he had the greatest odds.

Half an hour later, in the conference hall of Shangyuan County’s yamen…