My Queen, My Rules - Chapter 87

Chapter 87

The airport was bustling with crowds. Amidst the fragmented chatter and the rolling sound of luggage, announcements blared and electronic screens updated in real-time, staging scenes of farewells and reunions every moment.

Cen Sen’s appearance could be considered the final punctuation mark to this parting—Ji Mingshu slowly withdrew from his embrace, and Cen Yang, tactfully, prepared to exit.

But suddenly, with a "clatter," several unidentified objects inexplicably tumbled out of Ji Mingshu’s pocket.

Cen Yang reacted first, picking them up to help. He took a glance at what he was holding, his expression becoming rather colorful.

Cen Sen didn't care what they were; he coldly snatched them away and lowered his eyes to look.

Then, both men stared at Ji Mingshu simultaneously.

Ji Mingshu: "..."

The air remained silent for about ten seconds. It was Cen Yang who recovered first; he gave a light cough and said warmly, "Congratulations."

Ji Mingshu tucked her hair behind her ear and pressed her lips together.

Although pregnancy wasn't a shameful or bad thing, having the pregnancy tests tumble out like that was so embarrassing she felt like she might suffocate.

She threw an seemingly casual glance at Cen Sen, only to find he was staring at her without blinking.

Desperate to end this increasingly awkward farewell, she took small, quick steps toward him, hooked her arm through his, and cleared her throat to say to Cen Yang, "Well, you still need to go through security and customs, so you should head in early. We won't keep seeing you off; let's meet up next time when we go to the United States."

Cen Yang nodded, said nothing more, and simply waved goodbye.

There were always preceding flights arriving at the airport, and always planes roaring as they took off to head far away.

After Cen Yang left, Cen Sen asked, "Was sneaking out today just to buy these?"

"I wasn't sneaking around," Ji Mingshu unnaturally changed the subject. "By the way, how did you come here? Weren't you supposed to discuss that investment today? Did it go well?"

Cen Sen: "The contract has already been signed."

"That’s good." She breathed a sigh of relief.

Cen Sen: "You haven't answered my question."

"What?"

Cen Sen lowered his gaze, glancing at the pregnancy tests.

Ji Mingshu paused, organizing her thoughts to explain, "Well… I threw up this morning, and Gu Kaiyang and Jiang Chun said it might be pregnancy, so I wanted to buy one to test. It wouldn't have been good for me to go to the hospital alone, right?"

"Then why didn't you tell me?"

"Weren't you negotiating the contract? I wanted to get the result first before asking you to accompany me to the hospital."

Cen Sen fell silent, not dwelling on that topic. "I’ve already had Zhao Yang arrange a prenatal check-up. We’re going now."

He’d arranged it so quickly?

But she hadn't seen him make a call.

A slow question mark emerged in Ji Mingshu’s mind.

Following Cen Sen into the car, she felt a bit bewildered and a bit nervous.

Some people become talkative when they are nervous, and Ji Mingshu belonged to this category. Once in the car, she rambled on, reciting every detail of what happened after receiving Cen Yang’s farewell call.

When she got to the part about their phone call, she found it a bit funny. "By the way, why were you so nervous on the phone just now? You two are so strange. You didn't really think Cen Yang was going to kidnap me, did you? What kind of logic is that..."

"What if he was?"

Cen Sen suddenly interrupted.

Ji Mingshu: "…?"

Cen Sen watched the Passat following behind them, which carried the personal bodyguards, his voice revealing little emotion.

"When he was still at the Cen family, he was kidnapped. At that time, the Cen family had just learned of his true parentage, and facing a massive ransom, they were considering abandoning him."

"All these years, he has held a grudge against the Cen family, so I couldn't rule out the possibility that after losing all his chips, he would try to kidnap you to exact revenge."

Cen Yang had been kidnapped?

When did that happen?

Ji Mingshu couldn't process this for a long while.

Cen Sen had already looked away and quietly summarized, "Fortunately, he still has a brain."

Actually, he hadn't intended to tell Ji Mingshu about these old stories buried in dusty records. But Ji Mingshu had been protected too well; she had never witnessed the malice and coldness of human nature firsthand.

If Cen Yang hadn't truly decided to wave goodbye to the past today, but instead wanted to carry out one final, reckless revenge against the Cen family, he could have easily used their old connection and a single phone call to trick Ji Mingshu into leaving.

Even if the possibility of such a scorched-earth outcome was only one in ten thousand, he found it hard to maintain self-control the moment he thought of it.

After digesting the information, Ji Mingshu didn't feel any lingering fear or shock; she only felt amazed. "Why didn't I know about this? Why would they want to abandon him back then?"

Cen Sen lowered his eyes and said flatly, "You know too little about the Cen family."

That was why she didn't know: deep down, they were cold-blooded.

All the way to the hospital, Ji Mingshu was busy digesting the fact that Cen Yang had been kidnapped. With this to distract her, her earlier nervousness vanished without a trace. Even when they reached the hospital and waited for the results, she was somewhat absent-minded, thinking half about whether she was pregnant and half about the history of the Cen family.

While waiting for the results, Cen Sen was on the phone, listening to Zhou Jiaheng’s real-time report on work progress.

His expression was calm as always, but looking at the door of the lounge, he drifted off. It took Zhou Jiaheng calling his name twice for him to regain his focus.

Ji Mingshu’s test results were delivered to the lounge by the head nurse herself.

"Mr. Cen, Mrs. Cen, congratulations."

The head nurse handed over the examination report with a beaming smile.

Cen Sen took it and scanned it, and Ji Mingshu leaned over to look as well.

In fact, the moment they heard the word "congratulations," their minds went blank in unison. As for looking at the report—it was merely an instinct, as neither of them could understand those indices no matter how long they stared.

After a full half-minute of blankness, the two finally clearly heard the head nurse explaining the precautions for early pregnancy.

One was quiet and spoke nothing; the other listened to her instructions and nodded lightly.

Seeing their reaction, the head nurse thought to herself: "People who have seen the big world are different; they’re so composed and calm even when pregnant."

After the head nurse left the lounge, it remained silent for a while.

Ji Mingshu snapped out of her trance and tugged at Cen Sen’s sleeve. "I… I really am pregnant."

Cen Sen’s fingertips twitched. He said nothing, only slowly turning to pull her into his arms.

Ji Mingshu thought she had been psychologically prepared for pregnancy, but upon hearing the news, it felt like a dream—unreal, yet wonderful.

She reached out to hug Cen Sen back. After holding him for a while, she felt Cen Sen was too silent, so, half-acting spoiled and half-dissatisfied, she raised her head and asked, "Why aren't you saying anything? Weren't you the one who said you wanted a baby? Now that I’m pregnant, aren't you happy?"

Cen Sen pressed his forehead against hers, staring into her eyes for a long time before saying in a low, husky voice, "I am very happy."

Ji Mingshu glanced back, and seeing no one coming, she suddenly, secretly lifted her hem to reveal her flat, soft stomach, acting unreasonably: "Then kiss your baby to prove you’re really happy and really like him."

Cen Sen paused, sat her down on the sofa, and actually leaned over slowly, pressing a kiss to her belly.

Ji Mingshu couldn't help it; the corners of her lips curled up. She stood up to hug him and added a command: "But after the baby is born, you still have to like me the most!"

Cen Sen gave an "Mhm," ruffled her hair, and promised in a low voice, "I’ll like you the most."

The head nurse remembered she hadn't given them the pregnancy handbook and came back to give it to them. Standing at the door, she was just about to knock when she heard the overly sappy conversation inside.

"..."

Never mind.

Just learning of the pregnancy, neither Ji Mingshu nor Cen Sen had a concrete sense of it. On the way home, they discussed it and decided not to tell their parents for the time being.

Cen Sen did so because he had limited feelings for his family and didn't think it necessary to inform them immediately.

Ji Mingshu, meanwhile, was deeply influenced by the "hiding pregnancy" tropes in palace dramas and felt that one shouldn't make a big scene and let everyone know during the first three months.

Back home, both remained in an unreal, floating state. Although they tried to act normal, they were both clearly affected by the pregnancy.

Ji Mingshu watched a show but didn't know what it was about after finishing an episode. Cen Sen cooked dinner, but the green pepper stir-fry with pork turned into green pepper stir-fried with red pepper, and he added salt twice.

After showering and lying in bed at night, one played on their phone while the other read a book. Ji Mingshu’s mind wasn't on her phone at all, but seeing Cen Sen focused on his book, she didn't know how to start the conversation.

She glanced at him, then glanced again ten minutes later.

Suddenly, as if she had discovered a new continent, she snatched the e-book from Cen Sen and asked with a hint of triumph, having caught him in the act: "You’ve only turned one page in ten minutes; what are you reading?"

Cen Sen pressed his brow bone and admitted, "Thinking about the baby."

Ji Mingshu lay down on his lap. "Me too."

"Mhm?"

Ji Mingshu sighed, feeling a bit melancholy. "It just still feels… so unreal. I’m not even mature myself, and suddenly I have to raise a child. Plus, my mother didn't look after me when I was little; I don't know how a mother should treat a child."

Cen Sen smoothed her hair, thinking about something, and didn't respond.

Ji Mingshu suddenly poked his Adam’s apple, hesitating as she brought up a question she had been curious about for a long time but had never asked.

"Um, I want to know, your mother… I mean your biological one… have you ever seen her?"

"I saw her once."

The emotion in Cen Sen’s eyes was unreadable.

Ji Mingshu: "I saw her many times when I was little, but suddenly, she disappeared along with Cen Yang."

Actually, in the past, Ji Mingshu hadn't liked to get to the bottom of things—first, she wasn't curious, and second, she didn't want to get involved. For a long time, she had even conscientiously stuck to the principles of a family marriage, actively leaving space for each other.

She had never pursued the question of why he and Cen Yang were switched, nor had she probed into why her proper mother-in-law was completely invisible, and she had never asked what Cen Sen had been thinking all these years.

But tonight, she suddenly had an urge to walk completely into Cen Sen’s past.

This urge had been brewing since he showed more politeness than closeness to the Cen family, and until today, when he said in the car, "You don't know enough about the Cen family," she realized with a start that she had given Cen Yang a lot of sympathy but had never really deeply considered why Cen Sen, who clearly had family, lived with a sense of loneliness that felt like he had no kin.

Cen Sen wound her hair around his fingertips, remaining silent for a long time before answering her question: "She passed away a long time ago."

Cen Sen’s biological mother came from a prominent family. Before marrying Cen Yuanzhao, she had been engaged to her childhood sweetheart, but that sweetheart died in a car accident before they could marry.

When Cen Yang was very young, she discovered that he wasn't Cen Yuanzhao’s child. However, she never thought that he wasn't her own child either; she subconsciously believed he had been conceived with her childhood sweetheart before marriage, so she tried every means to hide it from the entire Cen family.

It could be said that Cen Yang’s identity wasn't exposed until he was seven or eight years old, all thanks to her efforts.

She had never been able to forget her childhood sweetheart, and she had poured all her heart and soul into Cen Yang.

Later, Cen Yuanzhao accidentally discovered that Cen Yang’s blood type didn't match their couple. He secretly conducted two paternity tests, and after the results came out, he followed the clues and soon uncovered the An family.

Back then, the An family was also a scholarly family in the capital that happened to give birth at the same hospital as the Cen family. The nurse had been careless and switched the two families' children.

The elderly head of the An family had retired from his post after some sensitive issues following his daughter-in-law Chen Biqing’s delivery, and the whole family had moved to Star City, their lives gradually fading into plainness.

What followed was Cen Yuanzhao confirming Cen Sen’s identity and wanting to bring him back.

Cen Yuanzhao had originally been determined to keep and raise Cen Yang as well, but upon learning of the switch, his wife had suffered a inexplicable breakdown. The reason for the breakdown wasn't the switch, but the fact that the child she had been nurturing with all her heart was not the crystallization of love she had believed him to be.

Upon learning the truth, Cen Yuanzhao was furious. He even developed a sense of revulsion toward Cen Yang, so much so that when Cen Yang was kidnapped, he ignored the kidnappers' threats to kill the hostage and directly called the police. Fortunately, Cen Yang was lucky and was indeed rescued by the police.

Later still, Cen Sen declared that he would not coexist with Cen Yang, so Cen Yuanzhao took the opportunity to send Cen Yang back to the An family.

Cen Sen’s biological mother had never recovered since then. When he returned to the Cen family, they had met once; the look in her eyes wasn't just distant, it was even mixed with disgust.

At that time, she and Cen Yuanzhao had started divorce proceedings. The day after Cen Sen returned to the Cen family, she left without a shred of nostalgia.

The Cen family told the outside world that she was accompanying Cen Yang for his studies. The following year, she died of illness, and her ashes were buried in the West Suburban Cemetery. Since then, like Cen Yang, she became a taboo of the Cen family.

Outside, light rain fell. The floor lamp cast a warm yellow glow. Cen Sen’s voice was flat and deep; the entire story, told from his mouth, sounded completely indifferent to himself.

After hearing it, Ji Mingshu remained stunned for a long time.

So, the complete version of the story was this.

She had seen his biological mother when she was a child, though back then, the woman was Cen Yang’s mother.

In her impression, she was a very gentle, placid, and reasonable woman. She never expected she would be so cold to her own biological child, not even saying a word during their only meeting.

For some reason, the thought of that gentle aunt from her childhood having once looked at Cen Sen with disgust made her feel deeply uncomfortable.

The room remained silent for a long time. She suddenly hugged Cen Sen’s waist, rose to wrap her arms around his neck, and pressed light kisses to his lips—one, two, three.

"Husband, don't be sad. The baby and I will be good to you from now on.”