Chapter 36

Although they sleep in separate beds, Hui Lin still spends half of his time every day staying with Qi Xinglan.

The orchids in the same line understand a truth: fragrance from a distance is odious when near.

"Lan'er, why don't you eat anymore? Are you full? No... No, you only ate this little." Hui Lin held the soup bowl in his hand, frowning as he looked at the soup in the bowl -

There was still a lot left, but Lan'er said he was full.

Qi Xinglan was helpless, "Hui Lin, during these days of confinement...are you determined to stay with me every day? Don't you have any official duties to attend to?"

The embarrassment on Hui Lin's face lasted only for a moment, and then he said calmly: "Don't worry, Lan'er, there are capable people in the capital to take care of you."

Shen Fuxuan: "......"

Qi Xinglan was half-believing and half-doubting, only to hear Hui Lin trying to change the subject, "Lan'er, you've had enough of this soup, can I change it for you next time?"

"Do you want to drink fish soup? I heard people say that drinking crucian carp and tofu soup during confinement is good for the body..."

"Shut up!" Hui Lin was interrupted by Qi Xinglan. When he looked over, he found that Qi Xinglan's face was red. She was definitely angry because of embarrassment.

He was quite confused, and only heard Qi Xinglan stammering, "That crucian carp and tofu soup...is for women to drink during the confinement period to help them produce milk."

Now it was Hui Lin's turn to blush. He really didn't know, but he had heard a palace maid mention it once or twice before and kept it in mind.

He shook his head in embarrassment, "Sorry, Lan'er, I don't know..."

Qi Xinglan saw that Hui Lin Yuguang seemed to be looking at him... somewhere in the middle of the night. He was speechless and closed his eyes tightly before saying in a gentle voice, "I can't breastfeed the child. Do you understand?"

Hui Lin nodded quickly.

Qi Xinglan said, "Also, you should go back to the capital tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. You have been emperor for only a short time and you are running back. What will the people think?"

Hui Lin was very reluctant, "Ah? How can that be possible?"

"Ah Ci is still so young, how can she leave her father?"

"Then you can take him away."

"Then he can't leave his mother!"

Qi Xinglan then glared at him, "Then who do you know should leave?"

Hui Lin lowered his head, then raised it again for the final struggle, "Then... don't you have to wait until you are out of confinement before going to the capital? Then I will be absent from the baby's full month celebration."

Qi Xinglan had already come up with a solution. "Then... we can hold a full-month banquet for Ah Ci when we get to the capital. It doesn't matter if it's late. After all, you've already been invited to participate in the previous one-year-old ceremony. The full-month banquet can be smaller in scale. After all, there will be the coronation ceremony later. Otherwise, holding several banquets in succession will really waste money and resources."

When Huici was holding his first birthday celebration, he grabbed a history book and a sword. Everyone in the royal court said that this little prince must be a genius who is both talented in literature and martial arts, brave and resourceful.

Hui Lin nodded, "Then..."

Qi Xinglan gave him a look and Hui Lin didn't dare to say anything more.

"Nar, Lan'er, take good care of yourself during the confinement period. Don't be picky about food and don't be exposed to cold wind, otherwise you will develop a chronic disease..."

Qi Xinglan looked at him for a long time, and finally laughed for some reason.

Hui Lin was so dazed that he did not do anything. It was only then that the nurse brought Hui Ci to Qi Xinglan to see, which brought him back to his senses.

"Our Ah Ci is so good. Does she still remember her mother?" Qi Xinglan said with a smile while gently rocking Hui Ci in her arms.

Hui Lin also wanted to take a look, but he only dared to stretch his neck and look from a distance, for fear that Lan'er would think he was redundant and ask him to go back early.

Qi Xinglan noticed his gaze and held her son to him, "Why don't you talk to your son quickly?"

Hui Lin's posture was unfamiliar, but it was obvious that he had learned the theoretical knowledge. Apart from being a little stiff, his movements were actually quite standard.

As expected, Qi Xinglan spoke up, "So when have you decided to go back?"

Hui Lin reluctantly said, "The day after tomorrow! At least give me a day to pack up Xiyuan's things... After all, I will never come back..."

The tone was heavy and carried a hint of reluctance to leave his hometown.

Qi Xinglan's tone finally softened, "Remember to wear something warmer, it will be cold on the road."

Hui Lin immediately smiled brightly, and without caring that his son was still in his arms, he leaned over and kissed Qi Xinglan. The wet nurse next to him felt ashamed after hearing the loud noise.

"Aci is still in your arms!" Qi Xinglan said to him with a red face. Before he could say anything, she gave the nanny a look and asked her to take Huici away.

"Okay, you can go back too."

"ah?"

Qi Xinglan glanced at him again, "Aren't you going to pack your things? How can the palace maids know what you are going to take away? Don't you have to check it yourself?"

"oh..."

Hui Lin turned around and walked away, his back looking a little lonely.

Fu Wen looked at Qi Xinglan who was staring at the king's back without saying a word, "Your Highness, you are obviously reluctant to let the king go... Why don't you keep him a little longer?"

Qi Xinglan didn't know what she was looking at, but she just said, "He is the one who unified Xiyuan and Da Zhou. If I stay here for so long just because of me, I'm afraid people in the capital will have some opinions about him."

Fu Wen nodded and comforted Qi Xinglan, "Your Highness, don't miss the king too much. You will be able to go to the capital after your confinement. Twenty days is just a blink of an eye."

Qi Xinglan nodded, her expression relaxed, "That's true."

**

Twenty days is really fast.

It was snowing during the days when Qi Xinglan was out of confinement, and they started their journey only after the snow stopped.

However, many palace servants of the Xiyuan Royal Court did not leave, but stayed here to wait for their next master——

The son of the late emperor, the ninth prince who was only seven years old.

This was actually the only son left by the old emperor. Hui Lin did not kill him, but instead named him the King of Xiyuan, in order to appease the royal family of the Great Zhou.

On the day Qi Xinglan, Queen Mother Wang and others arrived at Shangjing City, it was still snowing in the city, but the snow was much lighter than that in Xiyuan.

When Qi Xinglan went to the Jiaofang Palace, she personally carried Huici in her arms, with the wet nurse and Fuwen by her side.

Although it was snowing, many palace servants would look over here from time to time under the pretext of sweeping snow for the Empress in order to catch a glimpse of her.

They heard that the emperor originally created the harem just for this empress.

They even heard that the empress was the son of General Qi who was unjustly killed.

They saw that the Queen had thin shoulders and did not look bloated even when she was wearing a very thick white fox cloak.

Needless to say, his face had delicate features like those in ancient paintings but without any trace of femininity. Instead, his slanted eyebrows and upturned eyes gave him a hint of youthful heroism, just like the high-spirited gentlemen of the Central Plains!

The palace maids thought again that the Empress came from a military family and was only nineteen years old.

"This master comes from a military family and must be a very proud person. Would she be willing to give birth to a little prince for the emperor?" asked the young palace maid who had just entered the palace.

She looked at Qi Xinglan's straight back and even wondered whether the emperor had won her heart by force.

Someone immediately told her the reason, "No, I have a good relationship with the eunuch in front of the palace. He told me that the Empress was fed a fertility drug by those sinister soldiers during her exile, which made her weak and that's why she was picked up by the Emperor, who was the King of Xiyuan at that time."

"It's easy to fall in love with your lifesaver. Even if you want to have a child with him, it's probably because you love the emperor too much!"

Someone nearby echoed, "I think so too. Our emperor values ​​the empress so much that he ordered people to rebuild the Pepper Palace as soon as possible. If the empress didn't want a child, he would definitely not force her."

"that is."

"Alright, alright, the Queen has gone in, let's just finish up here and go back, it's still quite cold outside."

"The head aunt will definitely be angry if she sees the three of us gathered together."

"OK."

*Inside the palace.

"Your Highness, this Pepper Room is indeed spacious and magnificent, as expected of a place where successive empresses lived." Fu Wen said, "I heard that the king...the emperor even specially ordered someone to renovate it. Do you like it, Your Highness?"

Qi Xinglan looked around and nodded, "Yeah, it's really beautiful."

Huici in her arms burst into tears, and Qi Xinglan tried to comfort her but to no avail.

"Your Highness, the little prince is hungry. I will take him to feed him."

Qi Xinglan hooked Huici's nose and said with a smile, "What a greedy little devil."

The nanny had to hold the baby and couldn't pull the curtain, so Fuwen went over to help, and just when she was about to put the curtain down, she arrived back at Lin.

Qi Xinglan was sitting on a stool with her back to the door, drinking hot tea, and did not notice what was happening here. Hui Lin also signaled with his eyes and actions not to tell him.

Hui Lin walked over quietly like this, and before Qi Xinglan could feel the coolness coming from behind, she was grabbed by the waist and lifted up horizontally.

"Why!"

Hui Lin hugged him excitedly and spun around, "Lan'er, I asked the craftsmen to renovate the Pepper House according to your preferences. Do you like it?"

Qi Xinglan felt a little dizzy, so Hui Lin stopped and sat on the edge of the bed, letting Qi Xinglan sit astride his lap. Fu Wen didn't dare to look and quickly found an excuse to go out.

Hui Lin held his hands below the waist again, forcing Qi Xinglan to look down at him.

He shook Qi Xinglan again, making her unable to sit still and she could only hug him tightly, "Tell me, Lan'er, do you like it?"

Qi Xinglan was not annoyed, she lowered her head and kissed him, "I like it..."

The two of them were pressed tightly together, so even if there was no reaction, there would be a reaction.

Hui Lin restrained himself, buried his face in Qi Xing's neck and began to kiss him gently, "Will it take a long time before you can..."

Qi Xinglan didn't let him go, in fact she wanted it too.

"Well, the imperial physician said that even for boys, we have to wait three months..." Qi Xinglan said, and then looked at him, "Can you bear with it for a while?"

Qi Xinglan had a look of gloating on her face. She looked back at Lin and bit his lower lip again, saying stubbornly, "I'm not in a hurry...Don't accuse me."

Qi Xinglan nodded, "Is that so..."

Then he made a move to get off Hui Lin's legs, "Then I was planning to let you sleep here with me tonight, forget it."

When Hui Lin heard this, he immediately stood up, grabbed Qi Xinglan's waist and kissed him again. After a heavy kiss, he was about to leave. "Then I'll go and get busy. I'll definitely come tonight!"

"You must wait for me!"

**

In the evening, Hui Lin finished his work early, fearing that he would not be able to have dinner with Qi Xinglan.

After dinner, the two stayed together for a while before going to bed.

"The day after tomorrow, come with me to Qi's house. We'll take Ah Ci to see my father." Qi Xinglan said softly while being held in Hui Lin's arms.

Qi Xinglan had originally planned to go as soon as she arrived, but the day after tomorrow was the coronation ceremony of the new emperor and the enthronement ceremony of his empress, and she had been busy these days, so she could only move it to the day after tomorrow.

"Okay... I married you without Dad's permission before, and now I'm going to meet Dad, and I'm a little nervous."

Qi Xinglan smiled and said, "Why? Are you still feeling guilty?"