After more than ten days of travel, the Fourth Prince and his entourage finally arrived in Kyoto. The Fourth Prince had assumed that Lanqin had gone to the villa, but upon returning, he realized that she had not gone there at all. No wonder he had received no reply to his several letters.

I left for two whole months. When I left, Lanqin's belly wasn't showing yet, and it was only late spring or early summer. Now it's already the height of summer.

"Master, the master is back!" Xi Cha and Si Hua went to get the ice as usual, and when they saw Su Peisheng, they realized that the Fourth Master had returned.

"Oh. You're finally back." Lanqin was counting mung beans with almost one-year-old Wuxiha. Recently, the little girl had become obsessed with counting mung beans in a plate. Seeing that she enjoyed playing, Lanqin consciously began to introduce Wuxiha to numbers.

"One, two, three..." Lanqin held Xiao Wuxiha's hand and stirred the mung beans in the plate one by one, chanting, "Your father is finally back. Did you miss your father?"

"Greetings to Master!" "Greetings to Master!"

The voices of Lan Qi and Si Hua greeting them came from outside, and the people standing inside all looked expectantly at the doorway. Lan Qin, however, remained seated on the bamboo couch, playing her game while holding Wu Xiha.

The Fourth Prince's long legs finally strode in. As soon as he returned, he looked at the door stickers that had accumulated over the past two months in the front yard, listened to the head nanny's report on the events in the mansion over the past two months, and then he came over. The Fujin (princess's wife) only sent someone to deliver the message.

The Fourth Prince felt relieved when he saw the carefree woman playing with Wuxiha on the bamboo couch. When he learned that she had almost miscarried recently, he came even more impatiently.

"Ushiha, come here, let your father hug you!" When Fourth Master saw that Lanqin was not paying much attention to him, his heart sank. He was afraid that the news of Nian's pregnancy had upset her.

Ushiha stared blankly at the Fourth Master. Perhaps the Fourth Master had become thinner and darker from being away for the past two months, because Ushiha acted as if he didn't recognize him and ignored the Fourth Master's summons.

"Nianxue, pour some iced tea for me. He's all sweaty. Why didn't Su Peisheng serve him properly?" Lanqin placed Wuxiha on the couch, then got off and stood up to greet the Fourth Master, "This concubine greets the Fourth Master!"

Seeing Lanqin's distant attitude towards him, Fourth Master felt uncomfortable. He walked over to Lanqin and pulled her up, saying, "Are you angry with me?"

Lanqin looked at the Fourth Master and saw that he had indeed become darker and thinner. Her heart softened a little, and she said, "No, I haven't. I just haven't seen you for many days and I don't know how to express my longing for you."

Looking at Lanqin's protruding belly, Fourth Master felt a surge of warmth in his heart. He reached out and touched Lanqin's belly, just as the baby inside seemed to sense its father's touch and kicked fiercely inside.

"Oh dear!" Lanqin stumbled, and was suddenly lifted up by the child inside. Caught off guard, she almost fell over. Fourth Master quickly caught her in his arms and steadily supported her.

Cui Niang silently walked to the main bed, picked up Wu Xiha, and everyone in the room lowered their heads and withdrew, leaving only Lan Qin and Fourth Master, who silently gazed at each other.

Hmph! He's already pregnant with another woman's child. When Nian went out, she wasn't pregnant, but she's pregnant now that she's back. Pretty efficient, huh!

Lanqin stared at Fourth Master, thinking to herself.

When Fourth Master saw the little woman's clear, bright eyes, as clear as autumn water, he couldn't help but raise his hand to pinch Lanqin's chin and slowly lower his head to hers.

"My stomach is a little upset, help me sit down!" Lanqin said suddenly just as Fourth Master's lips were about to touch hers.

Fourth Master was taken aback. He looked up at the little woman, bent down, picked Lanqin up in his arms, and walked into the inner room.

"Put me down, put me down! Yinzhen~" Lanqin said coquettishly in the Fourth Prince's arms. She dared not wriggle, afraid that she was too heavy and that if the Fourth Prince let go, she would fall.

Fourth Master refused to let go and carried Lanqin directly to the bed. Then the two of them got into bed without even taking off their clothes and shoes.

"What are you doing? I'm pregnant, in broad daylight?" Lanqin said angrily. She was still somewhat resistant to the Fourth Prince, after all, he had gotten Nian Shi pregnant, something that had never happened since Lanqin had gained his favor. Although Yin Shi had also been pregnant before, that was before she was the sole favorite; Yan Yu had also been pregnant, but the Fourth Prince didn't favor her much then.

"What's wrong with me being intimate with my concubine? Is it illegal?" The Fourth Prince got angry when he saw Lanqin's angry expression.

"You may not care about me, but do you not care about the child in my womb? Oh, I see, Princess Nian is also pregnant now, and you don't have just this one child." Lanqin became angrier as she spoke, and began to speak recklessly.

Fourth Master was furious. He grabbed Lanqin's hand, stared intently at her small mouth, and pressed it against her lips.

Lanqin couldn't dodge in time. She felt that Fourth Master's kiss was fierce and domineering. After a while, he quickly pried open her teeth and immediately took over her tender mouth. Fourth Master greedily sucked the fragrance in Lanqin's mouth, then entwined his tongue with hers, probing deeper until he kissed her until she couldn't breathe.

"If you dare to say anything to me again, I won't hesitate to take you right now," Fourth Master said, releasing Lanqin with a punitive tone.

"You're such a big man, bullying a mere woman, especially a pregnant one! Aren't you ashamed?" Lanqin said, her face flushed.

"You're no ordinary young lady, but one who dares to talk back to me. I wrote you two letters and sent them to the other residence, but I didn't expect you to still be in the manor." Was Fourth Master trying to explain?

Lanqin's complexion had improved somewhat, but she was still a little awkward. She said, "With such a beautiful woman by your side, I'm sure you won't think of me much."

“Nonsense, I haven’t missed a single day of thinking about you and Ushiha,” Fourth Master hurriedly said.

Seeing how eager and serious the Fourth Master was, Lanqin felt somewhat better and softened her tone, saying, "I also miss the Fourth Master."

Seeing that Lanqin was finally speaking gently, Fourth Master knew that her anger had subsided somewhat. This time, he pulled her into his arms, tapped her forehead, and said, "You're such a jealous little thing. No wonder Confucius said, 'Women and petty men are the most difficult to deal with.'"

Lanqin rolled her eyes and said coquettishly, "I am a lowly person by nature, so please be the master. I am just your lowly person and your woman!"