On the first day of the Lunar New Year, I learned that she was two months pregnant, so...

After the Spring Festival, the first day of the Lunar New Year.

The cold air is still filled with the smell of gunpowder from last night's fireworks, which is a unique scent of the New Year.

Pei Yue and Chu Yufu went to Pei Shangshu's residence to pay New Year's greetings early in the morning, and then went to the Chu family in the afternoon. They happened to meet Lu Jiaan and Prince Zhao who came to visit their grandmother.

When they learned that she was two months pregnant, everyone was overjoyed and surrounded her, asking her questions non-stop.

In the small attic, a small red clay stove was burning brightly. The faint tea fragrance escaping from the purple clay teapot mixed with the cool fragrance of red plums under the attic, refreshing the heart.

Aunt Bai's eyebrows curved, her eyes filled with tenderness and a smile as she asked, "When did you find out you were pregnant?"

Chu Yufu held the teacup in her hand and replied with a smile, "It was at the beginning of last month. To be honest, I was so careless that I didn't even know I was pregnant. It was only after Doctor Xu took my pulse that I found out."

Cousin Lu picked up a hot, sugar-roasted chestnut from the plate, peeled it neatly, and stuffed the golden kernel into her mouth. She counted on her fingers as she chewed, then her eyes widened in surprise. "The beginning of the month? Isn't that when my brother-in-law got into trouble and everyone was in a panic? That must have been hard on you!"

That's right. That period of time was only seven or eight days, but looking back, it feels endless. The scenes in my memory seem to be shrouded in a gray gloom.

Just thinking about it makes me feel so uncomfortable that I can't breathe.

"Ah... Fortunately, it's all over. It was just a false alarm." Chu Yufu sighed, unwilling to talk about it any further. Her eyes fell on Aunt Bai's round belly and changed the subject, "Auntie, you only have two months left, right? Are you feeling nervous?"

Aunt Bai's belly is now very big and weighs heavily in front of her body. She looks clumsy when she walks and often needs to put one hand behind her back to support her waist for strength.

Chu Yufu didn't feel much about the pregnancy at first, but when she saw Aunt Bai's belly today, she couldn't help but feel a little scared.

A child this big... how painful would it be to give birth? Add to that the poor birthing conditions in ancient times, and she couldn't help but feel nervous when she thought about it.

Aunt Bai probably guessed what she was thinking. She raised her hand and gently touched her belly, giving her a soothing smile.

"It's actually not that bad. After all, it's not your first time. Don't be too nervous. You're young and in good health. Walk around more often to stretch your muscles. Pay attention to your diet and don't let the baby get too big. The birth will go much more smoothly."

Chu Yufu naturally understood these principles, which were commonplace, but she still felt unsure. She didn't dare ask any more questions, fearing that her anxious questions would affect Aunt Bai's mood.

Seeing that A Niang and Second Sister's cups were half empty, Chu Linglan turned around and picked up the warm kumquat drink from another small stove nearby and poured it for them. Her big eyes blinked and she asked about other things.

"Second sister, there's something I can't understand. My brother-in-law won a victory in the northern border and was given the title of General Zhenbei. But why is it that after he came to the capital to protect the emperor and performed such a great service in saving him, he was only rewarded with some gold and silver, and no further promotion?"

Grandmother Wei, who had been leaning on the main seat, smiling as she listened to the younger generation's gossip, put down her teacup upon hearing this and explained on Chu Yufu's behalf, "Your second brother-in-law is now a third-rank official, not yet thirty, and has a bright future. If he were to be promoted again now, the rewards would be too great. Once His Royal Highness ascends the throne in a few years, if another war breaks out and he achieves new merits, there would be no more rewards or titles left. That's why His Majesty is deliberately suppressing his efforts."

"Grandma is absolutely right." Chu Yufu nodded in agreement.

The attic's doors and windows were left open to admire the beauty of the red plum blossoms beneath the snow. A gust of cold wind swirled in, causing the flames in the clay stove to flicker slightly.

Grandma Wei glanced at Aunt Bai and winked at Mother Yang beside her. Mother Yang understood and immediately took a thick brocade cloak and carefully draped it over Aunt Bai's shoulders.

Grandmother Wei said gently, "Take care of yourself and don't catch a cold."

After saying this, he raised his hand and rubbed his brow. He then glanced towards Yunxitang and sighed almost inaudibly, "I can't count on that side. I just hope that the one in your belly is smart and capable."

Nowadays, all the girls in the family are successful.

The granddaughter married the upstart General Zhenbei, and gained favor with the Empress Dowager, and her subordinates' businesses also prospered.

My granddaughter married into the Marquis's Mansion and is now the wife of General Zhennan. She is loved by her mother-in-law and lives a happy life.

The youngest girl, Lan, is also sensible and well-mannered. With the care of her two older sisters, her future marriage will not be difficult.

As for He'er... let's not mention her.

The girls' futures were secure. But the only son was a difficult one to carve! If he was merely mediocre, but honest and dutiful, he could have relied on his ancestors' influence to get a sinecure in the future, protect the family business, and expand the family, which would have been considered a reasonable outcome. Unfortunately, Chu Junze had already been completely misled, and he had nothing to do with the words "honesty and steadiness"!

She now only hoped that Aunt Bai would be pregnant with a boy. While she was still strong, she could personally take him by her side and raise him carefully, perhaps she could help revive the family.

Chu Yufu noticed her grandmother's gaze sweeping towards Yunxi Hall. She remembered that when she had just paid New Year's greetings in the main hall, she had only seen her father, Master Chu, but not her stepmother, Madam Wu. So she asked, "It's New Year's Day today, and you haven't come home, Big Sister? I heard that both Father and Mother were ill a while ago. I was having severe morning sickness at the time, so I couldn't come visit."

Aunt Bai raised her eyes and glanced at Grandmother Wei. Seeing that she didn't react, she lowered her voice and replied, "What else can you say... Miss and Madam, they're almost enemies now! Master and Madam were really angry a while ago and fell seriously ill. They're feeling better now, but their mental illness is hard to cure..."

When Lu Jiaan heard this, his eyes rolled around, and he dragged his stool forward, his face full of curiosity: "How could it have become like this?"

Aunt Bai explained quietly, "After Master Ren's accident, the old lady agreed to let the young lady return to her parents' home, but the master and his wife refused. They would rather let the young lady suffer in the Earl's Mansion than not let her maintain her relationship with the Earl's Mansion. The young lady was anxious and said she wanted to go to a Taoist temple to become a nun."

"When the lady heard her say this, she angrily scolded the young lady for only thinking about herself and not her mother and brother. The lady covered her face and cried, saying that she had only seen her mother clearly today. It turned out that she never loved her at all and only used her as a tool..."

Lu Jiaan's eyes widened!

-

The women were chatting around the fire in the attic. As the only two male guests, Pei Yue and Zhao Chunheng set up a table in the small pavilion diagonally opposite the attic, where they drank and chatted.

A pot of sake simmered on a clay stove, and a few delicate side dishes were placed on the stone table in the pavilion. Fine snowflakes danced, wetting the corners and eaves of the pavilion.

Zhao Chunheng picked up the warm wine, took a sip, and said, "After the Second Prince's accident, the job of inspecting the salt supply in the south became vacant. The other day, His Highness asked me if I had a suitable candidate, and I..."

He stopped talking halfway through, raised his hand and drank the wine in the glass, and teased helplessly.

"General Pei, your second daughter is sitting in the attic across the street. Can she possibly grow wings and fly away? Is she worth your constant staring at her?"

Ever since they sat down in the pavilion, Pei Yue hadn't paid him a proper look! He'd been glancing up at the attic opposite. Was it really necessary to stare at him like that? Thinking back to the man who had been so cold and silent, so indifferent to everyone two years ago, he was now in this state. It was truly unbearable to look at him!

Pei Yue slightly retracted his gaze upon hearing this and glanced at him indifferently. The four characters clearly written in his eyes were: What do you know!

Zhao Chunheng was so angry that he couldn't help but complain in his heart, who doesn't have a beautiful wife?

As the sky darkened and the wind picked up outside, the maids in the attic began to close the windows one by one. With the doors and windows blocking his view, Pei Yue withdrew his gaze, poured a glass of wine, and tapped his fingers lightly on the cold stone table.

"I've been thinking of a few names for my children these past few days. You've always been a talented writer, could you give me some advice?"

Zhao Chunheng became interested when he heard this and put down his wine glass: "Tell me about it."

"If it's a boy, use Yunqi and Tingxu. If it's a girl, use Chunxi and Zhaohua."

Zhao Chunheng pondered for a moment and praised, "The cloud flag, driven by the graceful eight dragons and carrying the winding cloud flag, is magnificent. Chunxi is also very majestic. Shi Chunxi is a great symbol, implying purity and brightness!"

Pei Yue continued, "I just thought of another one. Yan Zhen, what do you think?"

Fine snow drifted down, covering the bluestone path. The two of them discussed the child's name, one after another. After three rounds of wine, Pei Yue coughed lightly and said, "But what I say now doesn't count. The specific name still needs to be discussed with my wife."

Zhao Chunheng was speechless. He picked up a piece of crispy shredded pork with chopsticks and threw it onto his plate. "How come I didn't realize before that you were so henpecked?"

Pei Yue snorted and laughed, too lazy to explain to him what it meant to be henpecked. It meant loving and respecting your wife!