More than half a month has passed in the blink of an eye.

In the past two weeks, the border sent two battle reports.

One good and one bad.

The good news is that, after a bloody battle, the soldiers of Great Chu finally managed to recapture one of the two cities that had been taken by Western Liang.

The bad news is that half of the grain supplies recently sent to the border were burned.

The good news wasn't particularly satisfying, since the cities of Great Chu shouldn't have been taken by Western Liang in the first place, but the bad news was truly terrible.

To put it bluntly, war is a war of attrition. The grain stored in the Meizhou granary for the war was sold off by the eldest prince. Now, the war has only been going on for a short time, and half of the grain sent to the border has been burned. The soldiers at the border are not even getting enough to eat. How can this war be fought?

Although Shen Wan was not knowledgeable in military strategy, she knew that the route for transporting grain was a secret of the imperial court, and that the fact that half of it was burned so easily meant that the information had definitely been leaked.

Shen Wan even suspected that the Crown Prince and the Duke of Maoguo might have been secretly instigated by Prince Cheng behind their private sale of the Meizhou granary.

Since the disappearance of Prince Cheng, there has been no news of him. Xie Jingyin, under the pretext of searching for the Crown Prince of Xiliang, left the capital and has also disappeared.

The thought of King Cheng instigating war and plunging the people of Great Chu and Western Liang into misery, while he himself was enjoying himself somewhere else, made Shen Wan so angry that she vomited blood.

It rained for two days in Kyoto, and after the rain, the sky was clear and blue.

After breakfast, Shen Wan took Yin Shuang out to visit Princess Huai'an at the Prince An's residence.

Shen Du entrusted Princess Huai'an to the care of Prince An and Princess An. Shen Wan and Shen Du were both at ease. However, Princess Huai'an had already married Shen Du and was the wife of the heir of the Pingyang Marquis's mansion. Moreover, she was six months pregnant, and her father and brothers were both at the border. She should visit them more often.

Two days after Shen Du went to the border, Shen Wan visited Princess Huai'an at the Prince An's residence. This was her second visit.

The carriage slowly came to a stop in front of the gate of Prince An's Mansion.

The gatekeeper recognized the carriage as belonging to the Prince Ling's residence and quickly went to inform the Princess An. He then went down the steps to help move a footstool.

The maid led Shen Wan to the inner courtyard. As soon as they entered the second gate, Princess An came over in a hurry and curtsied to Shen Wan with a smile on her face.

Shen Wan quickly helped her up, "Princess An, please don't stand on ceremony. It's already our Pingyang Marquis's Mansion that has wronged the An Prince's Mansion by helping to take care of my sister-in-law."

Princess An straightened up and said, "Princess Ling, you flatter us. The Prince and I were already reluctant to let Huai'an get married. We are overjoyed that she can come back to live in the Prince An's Mansion after she gets married and stay with us."

Many women find it difficult to even return to their parents' home after marriage, let alone spend the night there.

In other words, the Pingyang Marquis's residence was unconcerned with formalities, prioritizing Huai'an and the unborn child in her womb above all else. Princess An was genuinely satisfied with this kind of Pingyang Marquis's residence.

Of course, if there is no war on the border, it would be best if Shen Du could stay in the capital with Princess Huai'an.

Unfortunately, whether or not there is fighting on the border is not up to them. They can only hope that the border war will end soon so that Chen Du can return as soon as possible.

Princess An led Shen Wan to see Princess Huai'an.

It had only been half a month since she last saw her, and Princess Huai'an's belly had grown even bigger. When Shen Wan entered the room, Princess Huai'an was looking at the little bib and tiger-head shoes that the embroidery workshop was making for her unborn child. Although she still had two months before giving birth, these things had to be prepared early.

Seeing how much Princess Huai'an loved the little bellyband, Shen Wan was reminded of herself back then, and she was also filled with joy.

Seeing Shen Wan enter, Princess Huai'an happily showed her the tiger-head shoes, asking, "Aren't they pretty?"

Shen Wan smiled and said, "It looks good."

Princess Huai'an put down the tiger-head shoes and asked Shen Wan, "How are the candied hawthorns?"

Princess An couldn't understand why such a pampered young prince would have such a down-to-earth nickname.

When it comes to her children, Shen Wan has endless things to say, and they become more and more fun as they grow up.

Princess Huai'an touched her belly, hoping for the baby's early birth. She said to Shen Wan, "You have candied hawthorns to take care of. Everything is fine at the Prince An's residence. You don't need to come to see me often."

Shen Wan said, "Taking care of you is my elder brother's duty. He went to the border and entrusted his sister-in-law to Prince An and Princess An, which was already inappropriate. It would be too much if I didn't come to visit more often."

Princess Huai'an said, "My fourth aunt came to see me yesterday, and my maternal aunt from the Yun family also came a couple of days ago."

Not only Shen Wan, but also the Fourth Madam and the Yun family were very concerned about Princess Huai'an and the child in her womb.

It's good that the Fourth Madam comes; she brings more tonics. The Yun family and Shen Wan always bring a lot of things when they come, not only for her but also for the Prince An's mansion.

Princess An dared not accept gifts of great value.

As a mother, isn't it her duty to take care of her daughter and grandson?

Without disturbing Shen Wan and Princess Huai'an's private conversation, Princess An stayed for a while before going about her business.

Shen Wan sat with Princess Huai'an for half an hour before leaving. Princess Huai'an, heavily pregnant, insisted on seeing Shen Wan out of the mansion. Shen Wan couldn't refuse her and, thinking that walking around would be good for childbirth, agreed.

Princess Huai'an escorted Shen Wan to the outer courtyard, where she saw the Prince An's heir approaching. Shen Wan hadn't seen the Prince An's heir many times, but she always felt that his personality had changed quite a bit.

The Prince of An greeted Shen Wan and left. Shen Wan smiled and said, "Your Highness seems much more composed."

Princess Huai'an covered her mouth and laughed.

Shen Wan was completely bewildered by the laughter. "What are you laughing at, sister-in-law?"

Princess Huai'an laughed and said, "I was taught a lesson by your elder brother."

Shen Wan, “…???”

Princess Huai'an could still laugh even after her elder brother had been taught a lesson?

Even if there was a Taoist prophecy beforehand, it shouldn't be possible, right?

Princess Huai'an said, "Isn't it because the candied hawthorn looks like your eldest brother, your uncle? Your eldest brother is afraid that the child in my belly will also look like his uncle in the future, so he doesn't like my eldest brother at all. My eldest brother complained to Father, and when Father asked what happened, your eldest brother told the truth. My eldest brother thought that he couldn't set a bad example for his soon-to-be-born nephew, so he became much more composed and stopped doing things like cockfighting and dog walking."

Shen Wan was both amused and exasperated.

In his previous life, Princess Huai'an and she committed suicide together, which made Prince An's son repent. Unexpectedly, in this life, a simple phrase like "nephew is like uncle" made him calm down.

But this is fine.

Princess Huai'an saw Shen Wan off at the mansion and watched her leave in her carriage.

As the carriage returned to the Ling Prince's residence and passed through a bustling street, Yinshuang asked, "It's still early, Your Highness, would you like to stroll around the streets?"

Shen Wan didn't need to buy anything; she just wanted to go home and be with her child as soon as possible, so she didn't go shopping.

However, when the carriage reached the end of the street, it slowed down, and Chen Yu reported, "Your Highness, Young Master Yun has arrived."

Shen Wan lifted the carriage curtain and saw Yun Qi riding towards her. Shen Wan thought it was just a coincidence and greeted him, but Yun Qi smiled and said, "I have something to do at the Ling Prince's Mansion. I didn't expect to run into my cousin on the street."

So, going to the Ling Prince's residence wasn't to see her.

Shen Wan didn't ask Yun Qi what he wanted to see Xie Jingyan about, but it must be something serious.

Since they had run into each other, Yun Qi took the opportunity to escort Shen Wan back to the Ling Prince's Mansion.