73 Chapter 73
◎You are pregnant.◎
An hour later, Xu Qinghe let out a long breath and finally put pen to paper.
Wei Che took her wrist in his palm and massaged it. The latter only flinched at first, but then never refused again.
He felt secretly proud, and with a raised lip, he looked down at the two newly painted portraits.
"The princess's painting speed is really getting faster and faster. Although it takes a short time, she still captures both spirit and form."
Thinking back to when she was younger, it would take Xie Qi nearly an hour to paint a portrait, but now she had already painted two in less than an hour.
Xu Qinghe just thought that he was comparing the portrait of Xu Ji with the one he had painted in front of him a few days ago, and did not doubt it too much, but his heart could not help but recall the past in the southern border.
At that time, Xie Qi had just joined the army and often could not come back for several months. She missed him in her heart but did not want to express it directly, so she made up an excuse to draw a portrait of him to record each difference, so that her lover could sit there and she could freeze him on paper stroke by stroke.
When he rejoined the army, she could only express her longing for him by looking at the portrait, so she painted slowly and carefully every time, fearing that she would miss even the slightest detail.
Now, time has passed slowly, and her painting skills have improved to countless levels, but there is no longer a young man around her who is worthy of her careful sketching with her brush.
"Since the princess is so good at painting, I wonder when you can paint a picture for me? I promise to sit like an old monk in meditation and make sure to satisfy the princess." Wei Che suddenly spoke.
Xu Qinghe gently twisted her fingertips, feeling the warm current on her right hand, but she lowered her eyes and said nothing.
Just when Wei Che thought he would not get any more answers, the girl suddenly whispered, "Let's talk about it later."
The sound was so low that it was even louder than the chirping of cicadas outside the house.
"A portrait, and the promised wisteria cake. Princess, once you've spoken, you can't go back on your word."
Xu Qinghe said "hmm", and this time he was no longer shy.
However, speaking of the Tengluo Cake, she then remembered that she only remembered the portrait and had not yet had lunch. When she asked Wei Che, she found out that he had not had it either.
So she called Nanzhi in and asked her to prepare some simple meals.
Wei Che stopped her, "Why bother your precious maid? Let Chen An and Chen Tai go. They are both experts in this field."
"Chen An and Chen Tai? Are they the two who were guarding the gate of the villa just now?"
Wei Che: "Exactly. The one driving your carriage is Chen Tai, and the one guarding the other courtyard is Chen An. The two brothers used to be firemen in the army, but later went to the front lines and were injured. They had no choice but to withdraw from the camp and stay with me. They usually live in this other courtyard. If you have any instructions when I'm away, you can come here."
The two of them are his only two confidants left in the capital. He should have informed the girl earlier so that she would have someone to use in times of emergency.
In the military?
The two men who were able to follow Wei Che and had been firemen on the front line must have been the two helpers that the Duke of Fuguo specially assigned to his son from the Southern Border Army.
Because he was a member of the Southern Border Army, Xu Qinghe unconsciously felt a little more friendly towards him.
The house was stuffy in the summer, and since there happened to be two lush hawthorn trees in the yard, accompanied by a cool breeze, Wei Che simply had two wooden tables placed under the trees.
"How about letting your precious maid sit at the same table with you?" After all, she was a little girl who grew up as delicately as Xu Qinghe. It was inevitable that she would feel uncomfortable eating at the same table with two extravagant soldiers.
What's more, this girl loves her maid very much, and has been like this since she was a child.
I still remember that when she was young, she would bring that precious maid with her even when she played with Xie Qi, which made the young man, who had already discovered that she was having sexual feelings, very angry.
However, before Xu Qinghe could think and make a decision, Chen An answered first, "Your Highness, my brother and I have already eaten while the princess was painting. Please don't let Miss Nanzhi sit with us and see us wolfing down our food."
"Oh, well, what a pity." Wei Che sighed.
It's a pity that there is no chance to see whether he is more important to this girl or her beloved maid, and whether she wants to sit at the same table with him or with her beloved maid.
What a pity.
The Chen brothers got busy, and they were as fast as the wind. It wasn't long before they had served several dishes that had just come out of the pot. There were both hot and cold dishes, a balanced mix of meat and vegetables, filling up two small wooden tables.
The little beggar had never seen so many delicious foods in his life, and he immediately hurriedly scooped them into his bowl.
Compared to sitting at the table properly, he is more accustomed to squatting on the ground with his bowl in hand to eat, leaning against the tree trunk and facing the breeze, feeling comfortable and satisfied.
So in the end, Nanzhi sat alone at a table, while Wei Che and Xu Qinghe sat together.
Xu Qinghe was slightly stunned looking at the table full of food.
Most of the meals eaten in the army were just enough to fill the stomach. In order to show off their skills to the princess, Chen An and Chen Tai specially made a big pot of steamed pork with rice flour.
The two men had been on the battlefield for a long time, and they mostly used fatty meat, one piece was only about one finger thick, and was only coated with a thin layer of rice flour, making the meat look thick and oily.
Xu Qinghe raised her chopsticks and stared at the shiny steamed meat. When she looked up, she saw the two Chen brothers staring at her eagerly. Their burning eyes clearly showed that they were waiting for her to taste their specialty and ask her if it was delicious.
She had no choice but to hold her breath, picked up the smallest piece of steamed meat from the bowl and stuffed it into her mouth. She chewed it twice and then quickly ate two mouthfuls of rice. Only then did she suppress the greasy nausea brought by the steamed meat.
"The taste of this steamed meat is...excellent." She said with a forced face.
After saying that, he stretched out his chopsticks to the salad lettuce beside him and did not touch the steamed meat again.
Wei Che looked at her wrinkled face that was trying to appear calm, and he really wanted to laugh. He even picked up a piece of steamed pork that was only coated with a thin layer of flour and looked thick and shiny from the bowl of steamed pork with flour and put it into her bowl.
"This is your two brothers' specialty. You two usually don't want to eat it. Princess, please eat more."
Xu Qinghe faced the increasingly eager gazes of the two Chen brothers, but in the end she couldn't bear to refuse them. She just cursed Wei Che in her heart, and finally picked up the steamed meat with gritted teeth.
A thumb-sized piece of meat was covered with a thick layer of oil. When you put it close to your nose, you could smell the strong and greasy meat smell.
The smell of meat rushed into the nose, passed through the throat, and finally brought about a feeling of nausea in the stomach.
She tried to hold it in for a few times but failed, and finally lost her strength and dropped the meat into her rice bowl. Then she covered her mouth and ran out to the yard to retch.
"Princess!" Nanzhi hurriedly chased after her.
The princess has never liked fatty meat, and she doesn’t know how the two brothers made the steamed meat. How could they make the delicious steamed meat so greasy!
Not to mention the princess, even she didn't dare to eat anymore after just one bite with chopsticks. But Prince Wei deliberately put meat into the princess's bowl. How hateful!
Prince Wei, who was described as extremely hateful, was now laughing loudly on the stool, like a young man who had finally caught his sweetheart's pigtails, laughing heartily at the prank he had just succeeded in.
However, when he finished laughing, he met the meaningful gazes of the two Chen brothers.
"...Why are you looking at me like that?"
Chen An is the older brother and more calm, but his younger brother Chen Tai, who is shorter in height, is outspoken. He gave Wei Che a look that said "any man knows", bowed to him and said "congratulations".
Wei Che didn't react for a moment: "Congratulations for what? Congratulations on what?"
Congratulations to Xu Qinghe for finally meeting his old comrades from the Southern Border Army?
Congratulations to them for finally getting something out of the little beggar?
What are you congratulating for?
Chen Tai's mouth almost stretched to his ears. "Of course, congratulations, General... Congratulations, Prince, on finally becoming a father!"
When the two brothers heard the prince say that he was going to marry the princess, they secretly sighed that the young general Xie had finally married the princess.
I didn’t expect that just over a month had passed and the princess already had good news. It was worthy of General Xie who had led their elite troops of twenty people to raid the enemy. He was indeed “brave”!
Seeing Wei Che still in a daze, Chen An explained in a gentle voice, "Nausea and retching are symptoms of pregnancy. Congratulations, Prince."
Wei Che: ...
"Congratulations."
"She's just tired of the meat you made. It has nothing to do with whether she's pregnant or not!" After saying that, he waved his sleeves and went to find Xu Qinghe.
Since getting married, apart from taking advantage of her occasionally, he has never done anything excessive. If the girl is really pregnant, he will have to change the headband on his head to a green one today!
When he walked out of the yard with a dark face, Xu Qinghe was still stroking his chest and retching. When he saw him coming, he gave him a sharp flying knife with his eyes.
It was obvious that he wanted to laugh at me, but why was he coming over with a sullen face?
After this incident, Xu Qinghe could no longer eat anything. Fortunately, the matter had been settled and it was time for them to return to Beijing.
Before leaving, Wei Che deliberately left the two Chen brothers at the other courtyard. "You two brothers have worked hard these past few days. Take a break for the next few days. Just take good care of the little beggar here. If there is any unusual movement, come to my house immediately."
So on the return journey, Wei Che drove the car himself, taking the girl and her precious maid back to the capital, while he rode the same red horse that he had come with earlier, and was following beside them with its tail wagging.
The weather was too hot, so Xu Qinghe rolled up the curtains to ventilate the carriage, and saw the red horse walking proudly beside them.
She felt a little itchy.
If she wasn't still feeling nauseous and afraid of vomiting when she mounted the horse and galloped, she would really want to ride the horse.
Thinking of this, she stared at Wei Che's back again and glared at him fiercely.
After he finished glaring, he said angrily, "Since we have already found out where Xu Ji was buried from the little beggar, we will go directly to find Xu Zhuangyuan after returning to the capital and reveal this to him. Then the government will investigate the matter and convict Wei Si."
Wei Che leaned against the car door, listening to the girl's clear and cold voice, as cold as the collision of jade, and nodded: "Then I will have the Chen brothers secretly send the little beggar as a witness to the government, to ensure that this matter will not be traced back to us."
As for Xu Zhuangyuan, he did not seem to be an unreasonable person. As long as they made a request, he would probably not say much.
"It's a pity for this pair of brothers who are rarely together." Xu Qinghe leaned against the wall of the car, looking into the distance.
The two of them had always depended on each other. Now Xu Zhuangyuan had finally passed the high school entrance examination and seemed to have a good future ahead of him, but his younger brother was not able to enjoy the good fortune. He was even hated by others because his brother was too outstanding, and thus died.
"Don't let your imagination run wild." Wei Che said softly, "It's Wei Si who's wrong. Xu Zhuangyuan has figured this out. Since he's achieved the top spot in the imperial examination, he'll have plenty of opportunities to serve the people in the future. Having a brother like him, Xu Ji would be proud even in his grave."
Ever since he saw the girl again, he always noticed a layer of sadness between her brows, and she liked to think the worst of everything. She was no longer as cheerful and lively as she was when she was young.
When will he be able to make her happy like when she was a child?
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