Yan Xixi hardly knew how to begin.

Liu Daqing walked over, sat down, and said lightly, "Look, your problem isn’t difficulty getting pregnant. I think your psychological burden is just too heavy. Why are you under so much psychological pressure?"

She didn’t dare hide it. "I’m afraid of losing everything I have now! Even when I’m at my happiest, it feels like a dream... Perhaps it’s because I was so poor in the past. There was a time when I thought my life was over, that I would never have a chance to succeed. But then, Wan Donglin appeared. He’s given me so much: a house, a car, an exclusive store, Harvard... Sometimes, I just zone out, feeling like all of this is a dream. I even pinch myself. Is this real, or a dream? Am I not dreaming? Why do I possess things that many ordinary people struggle their entire lives to obtain?"

Liu Daqing remained silent, his gaze steady on her. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"During the two-plus months Wan Donglin was missing," Yan Xixi continued, her voice trembling slightly, "I was terrified. I constantly felt like I’d reverted to my original state, like a fox spirit stripped of its disguise, its true tail finally exposed..."

Liu Daqing said meaningfully, "If you continue with this dreadful mindset, I’m afraid no Miracle Elixir will be able to help you."

She was speechless.

Liu Daqing picked up the report again and glanced at it. "You’re right. I pushed you two to get married because I was definitely hoping to hold my grandson soon. If that’s not possible, I truly don’t know what I’ll do..."

This was what I expected. Liu Daqing had always been a straightforward man, never beating around the bush.

"If that’s the case," Liu Daqing continued, "then I hope you’ll take the initiative to break up with Donglin."

Yan Xixi reeled as if struck. Her eyes lost all their light. See? It’s just as I thought.

Liu Daqing said bluntly, "This attitude of yours is terrible, and I don’t like it either. You came here today clearly wanting me to make the decision for you. Then, down the line, you can conveniently blame it all on me."

She remained silent.

"Yan Xixi, do you think I’d fall for that trick of yours?" Liu Daqing scoffed. "I can’t be bothered with your affairs."

Yan Xixi felt overwhelmed by his directness.

"Whether you break up or not is none of my business," he went on. "In any case, I won’t be your scapegoat. However, if you insist on maintaining this unhealthy mindset, then I suggest it would be best for you two to separate for a while and let both of you cool down."

She was silent for a long moment, then said softly, "Please rest assured."

Liu Daqing remained silent.

"I will break up with him," Yan Xixi said. "After all, he’s not young anymore; it would be wrong of me to keep holding him back. However, Empress Dowager, please don’t tell him about this."

"Why?"

She hesitated for a moment, then said in a low voice, "I want to leave him with a good impression of me... At least, when he thinks back on it in the future, it won’t be that he abandoned me, but that I was the one who let a good man go..."

Liu Daqing was silent for a long moment before suddenly asking, "Yan Xixi, have you only ever thought about breaking up? Haven’t you once considered trying to find a solution?"

How could I possibly solve it? she wondered.

But she still answered frankly, "I originally thought about waiting two years, to try and relax. The doctor said that increasing exercise is most effective, but... I don’t know if that was just to comfort me. After all, we’ve been together for over a year and haven’t actually been taking any precautions. Yet, I still haven’t gotten pregnant in over a year... Of course, if Wan Donglin knew, he would definitely give me two years. But what about after those two years? And after three?? What if I still don’t succeed??? I’m afraid that one day I’ll become the sinner of the Wan Family. If that happens, I’ll be abandoned, divorced, and driven out. How could I bear such humiliation?"