Chapter 51

Chapter 51

Li Xiujin's breath was hot and heavy, his dark, brooding eyes fixed on Lin Ze.

In the past, he would have kissed him immediately, but now he remained motionless, leaving Lin Ze ashamed and at a loss.

"If you don't want to, I'll just hold you like this until you sleep..." Lin Ze unbuttoned his own clothes, his cheeks flushed as he cradled Li Xiujin's head against his own chest, then gently patted his back. "Sleep..."

This only made Li Xiujin's expression grow even darker and more sinister. He opened his mouth, sucking greedily, then biting, until the pain became sharp...

Lin Ze, who had assumed he wouldn't go through with it, only realized after he entered. His luminous, fair skin quickly flushed red. Although his pregnant state made the sensation more intense, he still arched his back, allowing him to go deeper, to find a more comfortable angle...

After one round, Lin Ze, still in the afterglow, looked at his face and found his expression still stormy...

Originally intending to only do it once, Lin Ze didn't hesitate for long before saying with slight embarrassment, "Xiujin, if you still want... we can do it again..."

Li Xiujin's breathing was heavier than ever before. He said, "Enough."

After Lin Ze fell asleep, he took Lin Ze's phone and tried Lin Zhuo's birthday—it didn't unlock. He tried Lin Ze's birthday—still no luck. Finally, he tried his own birthday, and the phone unlocked.

His gaze shifted to Lin Ze's face, still sleeping soundly and completely unguarded. Li Xiujin's eyes darkened.

Using the anti-spy technology developed by his company, he had secretly installed blocking software on Lin Ze's phone, shielding all news accounts that might carry reports related to the incident, ensuring he wouldn't receive any news about the suspension.

After doing this, Li Xiujin opened Lin Ze's chat app, scrolling through his history with everyone to ensure nothing in the chats cast Lin Ze in a bad light. Then, he opened Lin Ze's photo album, starting from the first photo taken with this phone, scrolling all the way to the end, where he saw a photo of himself sleeping in Lin Ze's arms...

Li Xiujin was still for a long time, then turned off the screen, placed the phone back in its original spot, and without closing his eyes again, sat beside Lin Ze, watching over him.

The next day, after instructing the servants on a few matters, he hurried to the military headquarters. Despite using many extreme torture methods, the suspect's testimony remained unchanged. When the Prime Minister sent people to transfer the suspect to a higher authority, Li Xiujin personally executed him.

Upon learning this, the Prime Minister flew into a rage.

"Li Xiujin, you are utterly lawless!"

"General Li, even if you believe Colonel Lin is innocent, you shouldn't have killed him directly. That was too impulsive," Su Wang chimed in softly from the side.

Li Xiujin sneered. If he hadn't killed the man, the story of Lin Ze colluding with foreign groups would have been cemented as fact, and the events of seven years ago would have had a plausible explanation—killing his own teammates and teacher was to seize the methane hydrate with the foreign group.

He absolutely could not allow such a dubious testimony to ruin Lin Ze's innocence.

After venting his anger, the Prime Minister calmed down somewhat.

"Fine. If you can't find evidence that Lin Ze didn't do it, don't blame me for being ruthless. You should know that for his actions, he could already be executed by firing squad. When the time comes..." The Prime Minister narrowed his eyes.

"I won't go easy on him just because he's pregnant."

Li Xiujin revealed a chilling smile. "Don't use his pregnancy to threaten me. If he really did it, I'll take off my uniform and accompany him."

The Prime Minister rubbed his forehead. "Get out, all of you."

Su Wang's instinct told him to stay away from Li Xiujin at this moment, so as soon as the Prime Minister spoke, he quickened his pace, intending to leave. But just as he was about to open the car door, two people grabbed his arms and pinned him against the car.

Li Xiujin stood behind him, staring coldly.

"Commander Su, how does it feel to reap the benefits without effort?"

"General Li, I know you're angry, but you can't take it out on me. I actually believe that, given Colonel Lin's character, he would never do such a thing. But the foreign group member has already confessed..."

Yang Yu suddenly twisted his arm, joints cracking.

Su Wang's face turned pale with pain. "It hurts... Li Xiujin, what do you want?"

Li Xiujin, biting a cigarette, looked down at him disdainfully. "I need you to do me a favor."

When Li Xiujin arrived home, Lin Ze was curled up on the sofa asleep, still holding a children's picture book.

Li Xiujin wanted to take the book from his hand and carry him back to the bedroom to sleep, but as soon as he pulled it out, Lin Ze woke up.

"Why didn't you sleep in the bedroom?" Li Xiujin frowned.

"I... I wanted to wait for you to come back." A soft blush spread across Lin Ze's snow-white face.

Li Xiujin's Adam's apple bobbed.

"I was just reading a children's book for the baby..." Lin Ze opened the book beside him to show him, then asked, "Xiujin, did anyone read to you when you were little?"

"No."

His parents had passed away when he was four or five. Lin Ze thought he might have heard stories before, but even though he himself hadn't, he still felt a bit sorry for him. Lin Ze said shyly, "Then shall I read to you first?"

Li Xiujin squeezed onto the sofa, tightly wrapping his arms around Lin Ze's waist, and said hoarsely, "Read to me while I feed from you."

Lin Ze blushed. "Okay..."

The picture book was about a warrior overcoming numerous hardships to defeat an evil dragon—not a particularly original story, but because of some childlike charm, it didn't feel childish even for adults to read. However, as Lin Ze read, the book slipped from his hands. His snow-white arms tightly wrapped around Li Xiujin's neck as he was being pleasured, his pregnant belly trembling slightly...

*

Over the next few days, Lin Ze followed his usual routine: waking up, sitting on the bed staring at his round pregnant belly for a while, then getting up, having breakfast, and browsing the latest news on his phone. But for some reason, several news accounts had stopped posting political news and were instead sharing information about infant safety... This was also a topic Lin Ze was interested in, so he didn't think much of it and watched attentively to learn.

After that, he turned on the TV, intending to watch an early childhood education music program, but the TV wouldn't turn on. Back in military school, Lin Ze had taken courses on assembling and repairing various appliances, so he checked the TV with his pregnant belly, but couldn't find any issues...

The servant, seeing him kneeling on the floor to inspect the back of the TV, hurriedly helped him up.

"It's fine, the TV is broken. I'm just checking."

The servant's eyes darted away. "I'll call someone to fix it."

"Okay."

Lin Ze's life was simple. Without work, he had nothing urgent to do. Now, unable to even watch early education programs for the child, he lay on the sofa after breakfast and slept until noon. After lunch, he was still sleepy but felt he couldn't keep doing this. He then contacted Lu Mo, intending to ask him to investigate who the leader of the foreign group was, but even Lu Mo's phone was unreachable.

Strange.

It was possible for anyone else to be unreachable, but definitely not Lu Mo.

Lin Ze thought for a moment and then contacted Ji Ran.

Since getting married, Lin Ze had kept in touch with Lu Mo via phone. Ji Ran, because of work, often took his younger siblings to Lu Mo's place for him to look after, and the two had gradually grown very close.

And Ji Ran indeed knew about Lu Mo's whereabouts.

"He went back to the snow mountain just one day after returning."

"Went back? Didn't all extraction work stop? What's he going back for?"

"Strange, don't you know? It's already operating normally. Lu Mo has been there for two days."

After hanging up, Lin Ze was lost in thought. Operating normally? Why hadn't anyone informed him... And Xiujin must know too, why hadn't he told him... Was it just because he was pregnant, not wanting him to go into dangerous situations again? But this reason didn't completely convince Lin Ze. He remembered Li Xiujin's gloomy expression when he returned yesterday.

There must be something else he was hiding.

Lin Ze pressed his lips together, thought for a moment, and gave Yang Yu a call.

"Colonel Yang, sorry to bother you. I just tried calling General Li but couldn't get through. Any idea where he is right now?"

"The General's in a meeting. What is it? I can pass it along."

"I feel there's something off about the criminal's confession."

"The testimony? Did General Li tell you about it?" he asked, probing.

"Yes. Colonel Yang, do you believe me? Do you believe I haven't colluded with the foreign gang..." Lin Ze shared his suspicion.

Thinking that Li Xiujin had indeed told him, Yang Yu replied indignantly, "Of course I believe you! When I heard the criminal claim you were in cahoots with their leader, I was furious. Actually, our General was the angriest of all—he personally executed the guy... Because of this, the Prime Minister even summoned him and chewed him out..."

Lin Ze stopped listening. He let out a bitter laugh—his guess had been right all along.

So, the so-called business trip was also a return to the snowy mountains? Colluding with a foreign gang wasn't a minor charge, yet here he was, still eating and sleeping at home. It had to be Li Xiujin protecting him...

As Lin Ze stepped into the courtyard, a servant hurried after him. "Sir, are you heading out? Please let me come with you."

In the past, the servants never used to show such concern. Lin Ze gave a faint smile. "I'm just going to the military headquarters to see the General."

With another accusation hanging over him, Lin Ze felt no resentment or bitterness—only deeper worry for Li Xiujin...

At the military headquarters, he bypassed the formalities and went straight to Li Xiujin's office. Just as he reached the door, he heard Li Xiujin's furious voice: "Idiot!"

"General, I was negligent. I thought you had already told Colonel Lin..." came Yang Yu's voice.

Lin Ze knocked on the door. "Xiu Jin, can I come in?"

The office door opened. Li Xiujin's eyes were dark and fierce, while Yang Yu knelt on the floor, sweat dripping down his forehead.

Lin Ze felt a pang of guilt—he'd rushed over because he was afraid Li Xiujin would blame Yang Yu for it. He tried to help Yang Yu up, but Yang Yu didn't dare move.

"Xiu Jin, I tricked him into talking. Don't blame him..."

Li Xiujin said coldly, "Get out."

Only then did Yang Yu dare to stand up.

After Yang Yu left, Li Xiujin stared at him, his voice low. "Why are you running around while pregnant?"

Lin Ze asked, "Is the Prime Minister planning to convict me?"

Li Xiujin's jaw tightened, but he remained silent.

Lin Ze asked again, his voice trembling, "He hasn't detained me yet. Did you make some kind of guarantee?"