Chapter 54: Comeback: A Visit from the Prince of Jin
Summer had passed, and the coolness of autumn had arrived. Most of the flowers and trees in the courtyard had withered, their leaves nearly completely shed. The entire Princess Mansion felt lifeless. Since the Emperor's passing, all of Chang'an had observed the cold food festival and plain clothing for three months. The once splendid Princess Mansion had been adorned in dark grey, as if shrouded in a veil of gray mist.
After the regent took the throne, he used the methods previously employed by Prime Minister Xie to quickly and temporarily stabilize the situation in Chang'an. However, this peaceful situation would not last long. The longer the throne remained vacant, the more hidden dangers there would be.
The late emperor's will stipulated that upon giving birth to a prince, Yun Xi would be appointed Princess Regent, assisting the young emperor alongside the Prince Regent. However, Yun Xi had no talent for government affairs, so while she was pregnant, she could only study non-stop.
Now Yun Xi doesn't have to worry about what the invited teacher will think of her, because the original plot has largely deviated from the track, all thanks to her previous efforts.
But it was her deliberate reversal that caused her to lose contact with Ji Xun.
In these three months, Yun Xi thought of Ji Xun every day and what he said to her on the day he left.
After careful consideration, she felt that she was too reserved. If she could have told him directly at the time, perhaps he would not have left without saying a word.
Yun Xi was sure that Ji Xun also had feelings for her.
She resented him for leaving so quietly, but as time went on, she couldn't bear to continue blaming him. Yun Xi sometimes thought that if he was willing to come back, she could forgive him without holding a grudge.
But his hopes were dashed time and time again. Even the Imperial Guards couldn't find any trace of him. Yun Xi couldn't help but want to curse from time to time, but she couldn't find anyone to vent her anger on, so she could only bury her head in her book.
One month after the emperor's death, Regent Xie Xun took over the government. Not long after, he went to the south of the Yangtze River in the name of looking for the late queen's old belongings to be buried with her. He was away for half a month.
Not long after, the war drums sounded at the border, and General Xie led the elite troops of the Zhenxi Army to leave Chang'an. In less than a month, he heard that the battle at the border was a victory, and the Liang army was defeated. Then they took advantage of the victory to pursue the enemy to the north of Guanshan.
Yun Xi herself didn't know how she got through those days. It was not until Xie Xun came back from Jiangnan that she finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"Your Highness, the weather is getting cold, please put on some more clothes."
In the study, smoke rises from the incense burner, and the scent of paper and ink is light and comfortable.
Yuan He took an outer robe and draped it over Yun Xi's shoulders. She was sitting at a desk reading a book, flipping through a summary of the previous dynasty's political achievements. She was warming herself by the fire in the house, but her fingers were not very warm.
After a long time, Yun Xi finally stopped, rubbed her brows and sore eyes, and then glanced at herself in the bronze mirror.
In three months, she had lost a lot of weight, with an unconcealable pale blue under her eyes, and her eyes were tired and lifeless.
"Would you like some snacks?" Yuan He asked, "I'll ask the kitchen to prepare some."
Yun Xi frowned and raised her hand: "No need. I have no appetite."
It’s strange to say, maybe because she pretended to be pregnant too much, she actually developed some health problems this month.
At first, I could still get up early in the morning to read, but now I have to sleep until almost noon. Many of the dishes I used to like, I have no appetite now, and even feel nauseous when I smell them.
The only thing she could eat was the honey apricots. The apricots, pickled for so long in autumn, turned sour, which just suited her taste. Now, she didn't like the purely sweet honey apricots; she preferred something with a hint of sourness.
Yun Xi felt that she was really sick. If she didn't eat, she would feel greedy. After eating the honey apricots, she would always think of Ji Xun involuntarily.
She remembered that he said his hometown produced apricots and there were more apricots than he could eat every year.
After so much time, he should have returned to his hometown long ago. He hadn't sent any news back to the princess's mansion. Perhaps he had forgotten her. At his age, he was about to come of age, and he probably had a marriage arranged in his hometown.
Yun Xi got angry whenever she thought of this. She got a headache and stomachache, and felt completely listless.
Yuan He noticed that she was not in a good state recently, so she suggested: "Your Highness, why don't you let me go find the imperial physician to see her?"
Now that Yun Xi has a special body condition, in order to conceal her identity, she has to regularly invite the imperial physician to her house to prescribe "pregnancy-nourishing prescriptions". All the imperial physicians who can enter her house are appointed by Prime Minister Xie, and they are trusted.
Yun Xi also felt tired all the time, so she said, "Go ahead."
She recalled how her father's incident that day had happened so suddenly that she hadn't even had time to drink the contraceptive soup. Afterwards, she was overwhelmed by other things and had completely forgotten about it. By the time she remembered, more than half a month had passed.
Yuan He accepted the order and withdrew.
Yun Xi continued to stay in the study alone, but her hand involuntarily touched her belly.
She didn't know if drinking the contraceptive soup would still be effective after more than ten days, but...
Yun Xi had an indescribable feeling, not sure if it was fear or joy, but it made her unable to calm down.
She should... shouldn't she?
Although they did it many times that night and a lot of semen was left inside, Ji Xun helped her clean it up shortly afterwards.
His fingers are long and slender, so there shouldn't be anything missing.
Yun Xi suddenly became nervous, wondering what she would do if she was really pregnant. She could afford to raise the child, but she wasn't ready to be a mother yet. Furthermore, the child's father was still missing.
Thinking of this, Yun Xi hated Ji Xun even more for leaving without saying goodbye.
Feeling somewhat inexplicably uneasy, half an hour later, Yun Xi finally waited for the imperial physician invited by Yuan He to take her pulse and examine her.
In the past, the imperial physician who was invited would most likely take her pulse for a while, tell her to take more pregnancy-maintaining medicine, casually write a prescription that she would never take, and then leave in a hurry.
Yun Xi has gone through this process countless times.
However, today's imperial physician frowned, as if he had really discovered something, which made Yun Xi curious: "How is it?"
Could she really have a child?
Is it a boy or a girl? What should I name it in the future?
At this moment, countless thoughts flashed through Yun Xi's mind, and it seemed that in the blink of an eye she saw a child who looked like both Ji Xun and her running around her.
"Your Highness has been sleeping too late lately, and your Qi and blood are insufficient. You need to take good care of yourself," the imperial physician said. "If you continue like this, your brain will develop hallucinations, which will be extremely harmful to your body."
Yun Xi was stunned for a moment, then blushed and asked the doctor to come closer. The doctor obeyed, and then heard her whisper, "Am I pregnant?"
"Your Highness, you are indeed pregnant with the Emperor's heir." The imperial physician lowered his voice. "Everyone knows this. Your Highness does not need to emphasize it."
Yun Xi suddenly understood: "..."
She was not pregnant, but she had been too nervous recently and always imagined that she was really pregnant, which affected her body.
"Okay, you can go down now." Yun Xi waved her hand dejectedly.
The doctor withdrew, and Yuan He stepped forward to massage her shoulders. Seeing that she was still tired with her eyes closed, she tried to divert her attention:
"Your Highness, when I went to the palace to fetch the imperial physician, I encountered several foreigners, seemingly envoys from another country. One of them was tall, wearing a mask, and had an extraordinary demeanor and manner of conversation. I heard he was the crown prince of some country, who had come to Wei specifically to visit the Regent and General Xie."
Yun Xi didn't open her eyes: "...The Crown Prince is personally going on a diplomatic mission to Wei?"
She couldn't remember any of the neighboring kingdoms having such close relations with Great Wei. However, now that she was about to become the regent princess, she had to pay attention to such political affairs.
"General Xie has returned?"
"Yes. General Xie just returned two days ago," Yuan He said. "Your period has come, so it's not convenient for you to move around. The Regent hasn't sent anyone to inform the Princess's residence about this matter yet, but I happened to see it."
Yun Xi responded rather calmly.
Ever since she learned that Ji Xun did not join the Zhenxi Army, she completely stopped paying attention to General Xie. She only heard that his battles at the border had been going very smoothly in recent months.
In the blink of an eye, so much time has passed.
She looked dazed and asked again, "What's the prince's name, and where is he from?"
Seeing her expression soften a bit, Yuan He smiled and said, "It is said that his surname is 'Ji' and he is the crown prince of Jin."
Hearing this familiar word, Yun Xi's fingertips paused slightly: "Which 'season'?"
"He Ziji, also known as Ji Huaixu."
"...Oh." Yun Xi replied coldly, "Didn't the Jin Kingdom perish a long time ago?"
"Under the leadership of this Crown Prince Ji, the state has been revived. It has already recaptured several of the former Jin fortresses and re-established its capital. Its momentum is very strong."
Yun Xi had been in poor health these days and hadn't had time to inquire about recent events. She had no interest in meeting the prince who had come from afar, and only wanted to pick up the next memorial she needed to process tomorrow.
Now she is able to handle some simpler government affairs, and the Regent does not spoil her. He always likes to give her these chores to do, and then comment on her plans, which is quite similar to his style of assisting the late emperor when he was young and was the prime minister.
"Yuan He, prepare the carriage tomorrow. I want to go to the palace."
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