Steal The Male Lead

1.4

The Empress Dowager opened the gift right away, taking out a piece of paper.

As she opened it up, there was the painting of a beautiful flower, surrounded by darkness. A poem was written on it.

'So beautiful the flower is, it's meaning so enigmatic and abstruse.

Out of a hundred, only that single one shines so bright,

Brighter then the moon, sun, and star, it is the only one.

And forever it will shine, when even time has slowly passed by.'

She sighed as she read the poem. It was a beautiful poem and she could tell just how much thought Bai Mengxiang put into it, and she hid her smile that threatened to show.

"It is a beautiful painting, accompanied by a meaningful poem." She quickly told a maid to carefully put it away, this poem was precious.

"Son, go and see how Mengxiang is feeling. Leave this matter for me to handle. You are excused." The Empress Dowager said. She didn't want the two of them to fall apart, not when Mengxiang still loved her foolish son.

Xu Yongheng had already wanted to leave when he saw Bai Mengxiang leaving so quick. He wanted to know what was happening to him. Just now, he was able to determine that Bai Mengxiang had been feeling extremely unwell. His whole face had turn pale and he was able to see sweat form on his head.

"Yes, Mother."

Bai Mengxiang quickly walked, his footsteps fast, but not to the point of running.

"Imperial Noble Consort, are you alright?" Xiao Lan asked with a worried face.

"Xiao Lan, I feel a little bit better. It must've been because of all that perfume." Bai Mengxiang wasn't lying. The perfume must've been the problem. That, and that he was currently pregnant.

"Imperial Noble Consort, the smell of perfume was alright at first, but after staying in there for a while, the smell was simply too hard to bear. When we get back, I will go and make you some herbal medicine." Xiao Lan said as she followed closely behind Bai Mengxiang.

When Bai Mengxiang entered his bedroom, he immediately sat down.

Xiao Lan had gone to the Imperial Kitchen to make him that calming soup.

(System, can you tell me where Xu Yongheng currently is right now?)

[Host, right now, he is currently walking towards your bedroom. Is that all you need?]

(Hmm, thanks System. If he's coming now, I think I can move on to my next plan.)

[Good luck, Host.]

The sound of the door opening shocked Bai Mengxiang, and he immediately got on his feet. Of course, he was only pretending though.

"Your Majesty," Bai Mengxiang said, bowing as he looked downwards.

"Mengxiang," Xu Yongheng said, helping him get up, and taking a look at how he was.

"Are you fine?" Xu Yongheng asked, his eyes staring at Bai Mengxiang's pale face.

"I- This consort is well. It was merely a fleeting feeling of sickness, Your Majesty." Bai Mengxiang replied, his eyes looking towards Xu Yongheng before he diverted it, unwilling to look into Xu Yongheng's eyes.

"Mengxiang, why are you treating me like this?" Xu Yongheng said, hurt that Bai Mengxiang now called him just like everyone else in the palace, instead of his name. But he also knew that it was his fault, and that he had no right to blame anyone else but himself.

"I can no longer call you like how I once had, Your Majesty. That was in the past, now things have changed." Bai Mengxiang replied, his eyes suddenly becoming red.

"Mengxiang, call me by my name. You will always be able to do that." Xu Yongheng told him, not letting go of his grasp on Bai Mengxiang.

Bai Mengxiang looked down, not wanting to see Xu Yongheng's face.

"Yongheng, if that is all then you must return to Mother's birthday banquet." Bai Mengxiang said, and he pulled his arm out of Xu Yongheng's grasp.

"Mengxiang, forgive me, I know that I have done you wrong, so let me fix that mistake. I now realize that you are everything to me, that I can't lose you. Please, let me fix everything. Even if it takes forever, I," Xu Yongheng said, his hand reaching towards Bai Mengxiang.

"Yongheng, you know well what you've done to me. You can't just walk up to me now and say that you still love me when you were gone for so long. I gave you my heart, I trusted that you would keep it safe. But you tossed it away, and instead fell for another man." Bai Mengxiang said, taking a step back from Xu Yongheng's hand, his voice trembling, his body visibly shaking.

"I know. My mistake can't be fixed in a short time, but I can't lose you." Xu Yongheng said, his eyes pleading as he walked towards Bai Mengxiang.

"No. Please Yongheng. When you left me, I waited so long for you to come back. By then you had already loved Shilian too much, and I couldn't do anything. I still love you as much as the day that we got married, but I have resigned to my fate that you will not belong to me, that you had never belonged to someone like me. Maybe it was just my wishful thinking, foolish to hope that I could be your only one in a harem filled with many beauties. But, when you walked away from me, you had left me a gift. That is already enough for me."

"What gift, Mengxiang?" Xu Yongheng asked, his eyes questioning, not understanding what Bai Mengxiang was saying.

"On that day, the last night that we remained as a couple before you left me, you gave me something that I will cherish with my life. You gave me something to remember you by, something that I had always wished for." Bai Mengxiang said, his eyes looked up towards Xu Yongheng, tears brimming and threatening to fall.

"What did I give you, Mengxiang?" Xu Yongheng wanted to know what Bai Mengxiang was talking about because he truly couldn't understand.

An intense and thick silence lingered inside the room. Xu Yongheng stared into Bai Mengxiang's eyes, his eyes questioning him. Bai Mengxiang stared back, his gaze gentle but resolute. Finally, the silence was broken.

"Yongheng, I'm.......I'm pregnant."