A Marriage in Name Only? My Stepbrother Won't Let Me Go Chapter 79: Forbidden to Marry for Life

i Wanying’s refusal to marry Gu Xun infuriated Empress Gu.

"She’s already lost her virtue! Being able to marry Ah Xun is a blessing for her. She truly doesn’t know what’s good for her!"

The Gu Family is a great clan. How have they wronged i Wanying in any way?

To think she’d go so far as to use the child as leverage!

Mrs. Feng said, "She’s carrying Prince Chen’s child. It’s inevitable that she’d grow arrogant from the favor."

Empress Gu snorted coldly. "By refusing to marry Ah Xun, she’s showing she hasn’t given up. She wants to wait for Ah Yan to return to the capital and use the child to secure her position!"

Mrs. Feng thought the sa.

No matter how fine a gentleman from the Gu Family might be, he couldn’t compare to Prince Chen.

i Wanying looked innocent, but she was actually very ambitious.

Now that she had a child, she had a bargaining chip. It was even less likely she would let go.

Mrs. Feng asked, "Are you just going to let her act so recklessly?"

"What else can I do? She refuses to marry. If I push her too hard, she’ll get rid of the child!"

The child, though not yet born, had already beco Empress Gu’s weak spot.

There were plenty of children in the Eastern Palace, but she had no blood ties to them and couldn’t bring herself to like them.

She even found them repulsive.

’They’re nothing but a brood of cuckoos in the nest, usurping the glory that belongs to my son and my grandchildren!’

The child in i Wanying’s belly was her first grandchild.

Empress Gu looked forward to the child’s birth.

She looked forward to eting the child.

She stared at the lush flowers and plants outside the hall for a long ti before sighing in resignation. "If she won’t marry, she won’t marry. The child is more important."

i Wanying might look delicate, but she ca from a general’s family. She couldn’t possibly be so weak, clinging vine.

If truly pushed to the edge, she would do sothing drastic.

Empress Gu had no choice but to compromise.

After all, her only potential grandson or granddaughter was in i Wanying’s belly.

Mrs. Feng was a little worried. "Are we really going to let the child take the surna i? Wouldn’t that be an injustice to Prince Chen’s lineage?"

There was no other way.

They couldn’t announce with great fanfare that i Wanying was carrying Ah Yan’s child.

Putting aside the potential sha, it could bring danger to the child.

Those vile beasts in the Eastern Palace were still watching like hungry tigers!

Until the Crown Prince was dealt with, the fact that i Wanying was with child could not be exposed.

"Taking the surna i... isn’t too great an injustice. We can change it later when the child is formally acknowledged by the clan."

As long as i Wanying didn’t have an affair, find a new father for the child, and let the child take soone else’s na, it would be fine.

’But I doubt she would dare!’

Empress Gu compromised, but she still felt she had lost face. After so thought, she added a condition.

"Since she’s unwilling to marry Ah Xun, then she shall never marry anyone! She can spend the rest of her life with just the child!"

No man could accept his woman remarrying with a child who would then call another man ’Dad’.

Ah Yan was no exception.

Only if i Wanying remained chaste for him would Ah Yan not go mad when he learned the truth.

A smug look appeared on Empress Gu’s face. "Let her have a taste of being a widow in all but na. Then she’ll realize how good I’ve been to her!"

The man she had arranged for i Wanying to marry was the legitimate heir of the Gu Family.

Ah Xun was skilled in both civil and military arts, handso, and admired by countless young won.

i Wanying truly didn’t know what was good for her!

As she spoke, a Palace Maid ca to announce, "Empress, Lord Gu has arrived."

"Quickly, show him in."

Gu Xun had been back in the capital for so ti, but he had been too busy with official duties to visit his aunt in the palace.

Now that his official business was concluded, he was about to return to Jiangnan and had co specially to bid farewell to his elder.

The man was dressed in a brocade robe and a jade coronet, handso and refined, yet not lacking a masculine air.

He walked at an unhurried pace, his bearing dignified, his aura noble and free-spirited.

The Palace Maids kept their heads bowed, but once he had passed, they all simultaneously stole a glance at his tall figure.

As expected, anyone who resembled Prince Chen was bound to be a handso man.

This Lord Gu didn’t have that unapproachable air. He seed gentle and warm—truly a fine young man!

"Ah Xun, co quickly and let your aunt have a look at you."

Having a visitor from her maiden family made Empress Gu genuinely happy; besides, it had been a long ti since she had seen this nephew.

A smile played on Gu Xun’s lips as he teased first, "I haven’t lost weight. I’ve actually gained a few pounds since coming back to the capital."

"You and your silver tongue!"

Empress Gu shot him a playful glare, looking him over from left to right. "You’ve lost a lot of weight. The food in Jiangnan must not agree with you."

Gu Xun thought the food in Jiangnan was excellent.

He was missing it greatly at this very mont and couldn’t wait to return.

He smiled and said, "It can’t compare to the food in Aunt’s palace. That’s why your nephew ca so early, hoping to snag a al."

Empress Gu was flattered into a state of delight.

’Ah Xun is such a wonderful young man. That i Wanying truly has no taste.’

’The day will co when she regrets this!’

She asked Gu Xun to order so dishes.

Gu Xun thought for a mont and ordered stead silver thread rolls and assorted vegetables.

They were common dishes that could also be found in Jiangnan, but the flavors were different.

"You’re much better. Unlike your cousin, whenever I ask him to order, he just says, ’Anything is fine.’ I don’t know what kind of life he lived before to develop such a habit of just making do."

Gu Xun’s heart tightened.

"Perhaps he was taken care of so well that every al he had suited his tastes, so my cousin never needed to worry about it himself."

Empress Gu huffed, "That’s about all she’s good for."

i Wanying was completely devoted to Ah Yan. Whenever Ah Yan was at the General Mansion, she insisted on personally managing all his daily needs.

Anyone who didn’t know better would have thought she was Ah Yan’s wife.

’So shaless!’

It was for this very reason that Ah Yan let his guard down around her, allowing i Wanying to find an opportunity and climb into his bed.

Empress Gu was annoyed with i Wanying, but she couldn’t bring herself to truly hate her.

Her devotion to Ah Yan was genuine; it would be difficult to find another like her.

Empress Gu hadn’t ntioned a na, but Gu Xun understood exactly who his aunt ant.

A sense of lancholy filled his heart.

’My cousin is truly fortunate to be treated with such sincerity by Miss i.’

"When I returned to the capital, I visited Miss i. She asked to send you her greetings."

Empress Gu was taken aback. "You’ve seen her? Then do you know that she’s pregnant?"

i Wanying had returned to her hotown, where people would inevitably ask about the child’s origins.

Empress Gu couldn’t bear the thought of the child being called a bastard, so she needed her nephew’s help to clear the path for the mother and child.

This was sothing she could hide from anyone but him.

The hand Gu Xun used to hold his teacup trembled. He suspected he had misheard.

But then he recalled i Wanying’s discomfort—how she had suddenly felt nauseous out of the blue.

’That was... a symptom of morning sickness.’

Gu Xun gripped his teacup tightly. "Is it my cousin’s child?"

"Their ill-fated connection is probably too tangled to sort out," Empress Gu said ambiguously.

Gu Xun’s excitent about returning to Jiangnan faded, and his heart felt heavy, as if stuffed with cotton.

’No wonder Miss i has grown so thin. For an unmarried noble lady to find herself with child... one can only imagine the psychological pressure she’s under.’

"Does my cousin know?"

"He absolutely cannot find out! Otherwise, he’ll disregard the bigger picture and insist on marrying i Wanying!"

Gu Xun asked, "Since Miss i is carrying my cousin’s child, why don’t you grant them your blessing, Aunt?"

Empress Gu’s expression darkened. "Absolutely not!"

’The struggle for power is utterly ruthless—it’s kill or be killed. She would never allow anyone to hold her son back!’

Gu Xun pursed his lips as a secret sliver of joy flickered in his heart.

’If the child needs a legitimate status, does that an... he could be the one to stand by Miss i’s side?’