I was used to being held and squeezed by His Highness, but tonight I suddenly felt empty. I felt inexplicably empty in my heart and could not sleep well almost all night.

The kid was squeezed between the two of them. He felt hot and kicked the mattress countless times throughout the night. Finally, he simply turned his lower body out of the quilt and pressed his two feet on the head and quilt cover.

However, Shen was afraid that he would catch a cold, so he simply went to bed, took out a thin blanket from the cupboard, quietly moved Si Lai to the inside, and wrapped him up with the blanket.

Then he carefully crawled into the quilt. If it were in the past, Xie Shiguan would have climbed up to him, pressed his calves, covered the back of his hands, rubbed them affectionately, and warmed him with his body temperature.

But tonight Xie Shiguan seemed to be fast asleep, with his back facing him and not moving at all.

Shen moved closer to him little by little until his back lightly touched His Highness' spine, and then he stopped.

This day.

Chen Que got up very early today and brought breakfast to the servants in the shop. The servants were very happy and divided the breakfast among them in no time.

Some of them have served several masters. If they met a master who was easy to talk to, their life would be easier. But if they met a master with a bad temper, they would be beaten, scolded, and abused every day.

They had never dared to imagine that they would meet such a kind-hearted boss like Shen Que. This mute did not tie them up with a bond and paid them a salary every month. The food in the shop was also good, with all kinds of vegetables, meat, fruits and vegetables. Not long after coming to the shop, all the servants had become well-off.

"Boss," a waiter came forward and took the outer garment that Chen Que had taken off, "Why didn't the noble master come to see you off today?"

Shen usually didn't get angry at them to show off his power, so these servants were not afraid of him and would just ask him directly if they had anything to say.

When it comes to family matters, Shen was not willing to talk to others, so he just raised his hand: "He has something to do and can't come."

Seeing that he didn't want to talk much, the servant didn't ask any more questions, but just said, "By the way, sir, yesterday when it was getting dark, we were planning to close the shop and take a rest, and a young lady suddenly came to your door and said she wanted to talk to you."

"You had already gone home by then, so I asked her to go back first and come back another day."

Shen was slightly stunned when he heard this. The shop was run by servants and maids. On weekdays, if there was nothing to do, he would stay in the inner room. Occasionally, he would go out to sit at the counter, and he didn't talk much with the customers who came and went.

Who else could be the young lady who would come to see him at this moment except Miss Sang, whom he met by chance?

Afternoon.

Just as Shen was about to take a nap on the bed in the inner room, a little girl suddenly ran in. It was Dongkui, the slave girl he brought back to the shop that day.

"Master, there is a lady outside who is here to see you," Dong Kui said straightforwardly, "She said she wants to invite you to the Qinhuai River to say goodbye."

Chen Que then stood up again, put on the outer dress, and walked slowly towards the river outside the shop. The sky was overcast outside, and Sang Tian was still standing under the weeping willows that day, but this time she had come of age and tied her hair into a bun, like a grown-up girl.

She didn't turn around when she heard the footsteps approaching behind her. She kept her eyes downcast, staring at the river below the bridge. After a long while, she finally spoke, "Two waiters came to my house to look for me that day, saying they were my husband's guests."

She paused for a moment here, then chuckled.

The people in the south of the Yangtze River call themselves "tangke", which means "wife". Except for Xie Shiguan, no one else would call themselves that.

"She must have known me, but she didn't make it difficult for me," Sang Tian whispered, "She also gave me a lot of gold and silver jewelry, saying that they were for my dowry. I refused to accept them, so the waiter said that there were also some gifts from my husband in this box."

She knew in her heart that Chen had no romantic feelings for her, they were just strangers, and she really couldn't just accept such a valuable gold hairpin and ornaments as if nothing had happened.

But the waiter had a tough attitude, and Sang Tian knew that her uncle and aunt would not prepare a dowry of two taels for her. But if she didn't bring any dowry at all, her life in her husband's family would definitely not be easy in the future.

So after much consideration, Sang Tian secretly accepted the jewelry without telling her family.

"Please thank Ling Zheng on my behalf," Sang Tian suddenly turned around and bowed to Chen Que, with tears in her eyes, "Ling Zheng is both gentle and considerate, which is beyond my reach."

Being able to give such a gift casually, Sang Tian guessed that Shen Que's wife must be a lady from a prominent family. How could a merchant like her reach such a family background?

Shen didn't know what to say in response, so he just reached out and gave her a support.

It was only half past the afternoon today when Chen Que went to have a chat with Tao Yiru next door, then left the shop and went to the fruit shop in the north of the city to buy some snacks and fruits, and also ordered some seasonal sugar-roasted chestnuts on the roadside.

Carrying the food box back to the palace, Shen went to the main house first. Not finding the prince, he went out to ask the Silla maid standing under the eaves.

After the Silla maid understood, she quietly pointed in the direction of the study and lowered her voice and said, "In the study, he locked himself in this morning. Wuhua and the others went to deliver breakfast, and somehow, they caused His Highness to break two bowls. It was so scary."

Since the palace moved to Nanjing, Xie Shiguan's temper has improved a lot, and such sudden changes of expression are very rare. Therefore, the maids who serve him closely don't quite understand why the prince suddenly changed his expression.

Shen left her and hurried to the study, only to see that the door outside the study was closed. He tried to raise his hand and knock, but no one answered.

Xie Shiguan inside was leaning on a low couch, flipping through the pages of a book in a distracted manner. He was not deaf, and when he heard the footsteps outside the door, he knew who was coming.

But at the moment he was still sulking and determined to leave the mute alone, so he pretended not to hear.

After a while, the knocking on the door stopped. His Highness pricked up his ears to listen, but there was no movement outside for a long time.

Thinking that the mute was unwilling to knock twice more, he turned around and left, and the prince felt even more depressed.

Unexpectedly, after only half a while, there was a rustling noise coming from the window beside the hall. Xie Shiguan turned his head and saw the mute crawling inside along the window frame.

His Highness' heart tightened, fearing that he would not step firmly and fall, so he subconsciously stood up and went over to pick up the mute from the window frame.

"Why don't you remember that you're pregnant now?" Xie Shiguan put the person down steadily and scolded her angrily, "Why don't you just leave the door and have to learn to be a thief."

Shen raised his hand: "I knocked, no one answered..."

His Highness was angry and refused to admit it: "You knocked so softly, who could hear it?"

However, Shen did not want to argue with him over such a small matter, so he ignored it and followed Xie Shiguan to sit on the low couch. He gently tugged at the corner of His Highness' sleeve, asking him to turn around and look at him to talk.

His Highness still held it in his pocket and turned around reluctantly.

"That lady came to see me just now," Chen Que raised his eyes and moved his hands slowly, "I made a mistake last night, Your Highness."

Xie Shiguan snorted coldly and said in a low voice: "How great! You would rather believe others than me."

Shen lowered his eyes and raised his hand to gesture: "If Your Highness had shaken his head and argued at that time...how could I not believe you?"

Seeing that His Highness was about to turn his back and get angry with him again, the mute grabbed his sleeve again and softened his attitude: "It was my fault for suspecting you last night. Don't, don't do this to me."

Being looked at like this by him, His Highness suddenly lost all his anger and the cold face he had pretended to put on was ruined.

In fact, when the mute climbed in through the window, Xie Shiguan's anger had already subsided for the most part. He acted coldly on purpose, just to trick the mute into coaxing him a little more.

Shen came closer to him quietly, and then took the initiative to lean into his arms. His Highness's heart softened immediately, and even the tip of his heart was sour. He leaned down slightly and rubbed his temples: "This king shouldn't be so cold to you and refuse to talk to you properly."

"What did you buy?" His Highness had already seen the food box he brought in, and had been patient until now before asking, "Is it for me?"

The mute in his arms nodded, opened the food box, took out a candied chestnut from the paper bag, peeled it cleanly, and then raised his head to feed it into Xie Shiguan's mouth.

"Is it sweet?" Shen Que looked up and asked him.

This candied chestnut was sweet and sticky, and it was fed by the mute. His Highness was clearly very happy, but he deliberately said, "You want to send me away with just these snacks?"

Shen looked at him: "What does your highness want?"

Xie Shiguan did not even think: "I want the stars in the sky and the moon in the clouds, can Ah Que give them to me?"

His Highness's wish is beyond human power, but Shen is a little distressed and honestly raises his hand: "I can't pick it, can I... change it?"

"Then let's change to you," Xie Shiguan smiled, "It's the same."

The dumb man was so stupid that he didn't realize that His Highness was saying that he was the star in the sky or the moon in the clouds. Instead, he was stunned for a moment, and then he stammered: "But I already..."

"It's your highness's turn."

He was a bit old-fashioned and pedantic, and usually never said a word of love, but the few words he said unintentionally just hit Xie Shiguan straight in the heart.

"When did it become mine? How come I didn't know?" Xie Shiguan pretended to be ignorant and whispered in his ear, "It's been a long time. Your man is almost suffocating. Do you want to save me?"

He said it so aggrievedly, as if he was really going to die.

The pregnancy was already in full term and the baby was already well-pregnant. The mute could no longer find any reason to refuse him, so she could only hesitantly open her mouth and say, "Lighter, lighter."

"When have I ever been gentle to you?" He lied with his eyes open. "I have never been gentler than before."

…

Just as he got in, the mute struggled fearfully and quickly gestured to him, "I want to relieve myself, I want to relieve myself."

Just when he thought His Highness was going to pretend not to hear him again, Xie Shiguan leaned over and picked him up from the Arhat bed, took him behind the screen, in front of a urinal, and then spread his legs apart, coaxing him like a child: "Pee."

However, Shen seldom came to this study room often, so there was only a chamber pot used by Xie Shiguan placed here. Unlike His Highness, he could not use such a chamber pot.

"Aren't you in a hurry?" Xie Shiguan asked in his ear, "Why don't you pee?"

But Shen couldn't bear it any longer, so he turned away in shame and anger: "Don't be like this... I'll go by myself, outside."

From His Highness's position, he could only glimpse his lips opening and closing. Although he couldn't see clearly what he said, His Highness could guess it.

"I closed my eyes," Xie Shiguan coaxed him, "I didn't look at you."

Seeing that the mute was reluctant to do so, His Highness confidently took action: "Can't you pee? You want me to help you, right?"

Shen Quemin immediately shook his head, but Xie Shiguan pretended not to see it: "So squeamish, you need help with this?"

How could the mute stand the teasing of His Highness? In just a moment, his cheeks turned red and his insteps were tensed.

Xie Shiguan knew that he couldn't bear it any longer, so he loosened his hand at the right time. The next moment, he heard a little sound of water, but Shen had never felt that time was so long. He pinched his knees and pressed those two pieces of skin to the ground until they turned red.

When he stopped, His Highness held him and shook him, then took a clean towel and wiped him: "Is the urine clean?"

But Shen did not respond. When he carried the mute back to the couch, His Highness discovered that his eyes were red, with a bright tear hanging on his lower eyelash, which was very stubborn and refused to fall.

"Why are you crying?" Xie Shiguan leaned forward, licked his tears clean, and asked knowingly, "Did I bully you?"

"Did I bully you?"

…

There was only a low couch in the study, and in front of the couch was a bronze mirror nearly as tall as a person, which was used to adjust one's clothes.

But what was reflected in the mirror at this moment were two people in disheveled clothes. Shen kept turning his face away and closing his eyes, but His Highness insisted on forcing him to look: "Why don't you want to look?"

Shen Que had just seen it, but he refused to acknowledge it, refused to believe that the person in the mirror was himself. Seeing that... thing buried in him, he felt ashamed and afraid, so he would rather close his eyes than look.

"Open your eyes and take a look," His Highness carried him to the mirror and begged him softly, "Please."

He coaxed and begged like this, but Shen couldn't bear to reject him, so he opened his eyes obediently.

Seeing that he opened his eyes, His Highness, with a half-smile on his face, deliberately went deeper into the pit, and then ground and rubbed it, causing the mute to lose his mind.

"Am I good?" he asked him, "Is your man good?"

Shen's mind was empty, and there was only a blinding whiteness in front of his eyes. He couldn't even nod, but just clenched His Highness's shoulders and arms.

"Is it good?"

The author has something to say:

The dog in the eyes of outsiders: gentle, sensible, and a lady from a prominent family.

In the next chapter, Ah Que is about to give birth.

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