Inside the prince's bedroom, the curtains of the carved pearwood bed were half-drawn. Chen Weiwan clutched the corner of the lilac quilt, retching uncontrollably, her knuckles white from the strain. Chuntao strode forward, carrying a copper spittoon, the silver hairpin in her hair jingling with her movements. The old housekeeper stood at the head of the bed, leaning on a jujube wood cane, his frosted white eyebrows knitted into knots that looked as if they could pinch a mosquito to death. As the Imperial Hospital's director, Doctor Li, entered, carrying his red lacquer medicine chest, he saw Chen Weiwan clutching Xiao Yu's sleeve, her fingertips practically digging into the brocade.
"Doctor!" She looked out the window with tearful eyes. The morning light shone through the window lattice, casting golden fragments on the blue bricks. "I want to eat the sugar-roasted chestnuts from Wang Ji in the west of the city. I want them fresh from the pan, with icing sugar sprinkled all over them like snow!"
Doctor Li staggered as she pulled him, his goatee twitching and his medicine box thumping against the edge of the table. "Prince's wife, this is a pregnancy reaction. You should rest and recuperate..."
"What's the point of staying still!" Chen Weiwan shook off Doctor Li's hand and pointed at Xiao Yu standing by the door. The coral pearl hairpin in her hair swept across the pillow screen. "Your Highness, go buy them yourself on horseback! If you're slow and the chestnuts get cold, I'll tear up all the copies of The Art of War in your study, make paper boats out of them, and let them float away along the moat!"
Xiao Yu was about to say that the west side of the city was a full ten miles from the Prince's Palace, but he was glared at by Shen Weiwan's watery almond eyes, and he swallowed the words back. He reluctantly accepted the black cloak that Chuntao handed him, and the fox fur collar brushed against her nose. "I'll be back soon. Please let Doctor Li take your pulse."
"Hurry!" Chen Weiwan waved her handkerchief, "If the chestnuts you buy have even a hint of coldness, I'll throw your entire white jade tea set into the well to feed the golden toad!"
The sound of Xiao Yu leaping onto his horse startled the birds beneath the eaves. The guards of the Prince's Palace peeked out from the corner gates to see their own prince galloping for candied chestnuts, their laughter hidden beneath the rustling of armor. As they passed the West Market, the aroma of candied chestnuts mingled with the sound of people. A flower girl pointed at Xiao Yu's back and muttered, "Look, isn't that the Seventh Prince? Why is he buying chestnuts himself?" The butcher, wiping his knife, replied, "Why ask? It must be the princess having morning sickness! I saw His Highness buy ten pounds of sour plums yesterday!"
Doctor Li placed his fingertips on Shen Weiwan's wrist pulse, his brow furrowing ever tighter. "The pulse is smooth, rapid, and strong, indicating a pregnancy, but this morning sickness..." He glanced out the window in the direction Xiao Yu had disappeared, and lowered his voice to the old housekeeper, "Have you noticed, old housekeeper? The Seventh Prince has dark circles under his eyes. I'm afraid he's been tossing and turning every night, unable to sleep soundly."
The old butler stroked his beard and smiled bitterly, remembering the noise he heard coming from the main courtyard at midnight last night: "Who says it's not? Late last night, His Highness was squatting in the toilet to test the temperature of the toilet for the princess. The prince blew on the porcelain ring. If this matter gets out..."
Before she finished speaking, Shen Weiwan suddenly kicked away the silk quilt, and her moon-white nightgown swept across the edge of the kang: "Doctor, I'm thirsty! I want the sour plum soup from Zhang Ji in the east of the city. You have to add ten green plums. If you add one less, I will break up all the thousand-year-old ginseng in your medicine box and feed it to the Persian cat!"
Doctor Li's hand, just as he had taken out the silver needle, suddenly trembled, and the needle fell onto the blue brick with a "ding". He looked at Shen Weiwan's angry face and reluctantly leaned over to pick up the needle: "Sour plum soup is cold in nature, and it is harmful to the fetus..."
"I don't care!" Shen Weiwan sat up with her hands on her hips, her tassels brushing against the tent hooks. "Go buy it before His Highness comes back! Otherwise, I'll melt all your silver stamps and make bracelets!"
Doctor Li sighed, setting down his medicine box. He stepped out of the room when he ran into Xiao Yu, his dark cloak still stained with morning dew, rushing in with two bags of candied chestnuts. "Weiwei, warm chestnuts!" He held out the bag, his fingertips brushing against her flushed cheek.
Shen Weiwan picked up a chestnut and bit into it, the icing on her lips stained: "It's not sweet enough! You must not have asked Boss Wang to add more sugar!"
Xiao Yu wiped his sweat and defended himself: "I deliberately added double the icing sugar..."
"You lied to me!" She flung the chestnut bag on the table, the sugar granules rolling in the cracks between the blue bricks. "I want to drink Zhang's sour plum soup now. Has Doctor Li gone to buy it?"
"I bought it," Xiao Yu said as he tucked the corners of the quilt for her. "I just met Doctor Li on the way. He said he had already arrived at Zhang's."
At that moment, Imperial Physician Li stumbled in, carrying a celadon plum vase. His crown and sash were askew, and his cuffs were stained with sour plums. "Princess, I've added ten green plums to the sour plum soup..."
Shen Weiwan took a sip of the soup and frowned again: "It's too sour! You must have asked the boss to add too much vinegar!"
Doctor Li steadied himself by holding onto the table, his beard still dripping with soup. "What an injustice! I saw the boss weigh out three grams of rock sugar with my own eyes..."
"I won't listen!" Shen Weiwan pushed the plum vase to the edge of the kang, "I want to eat the osmanthus cake from Liu Ji in the south of the city, and the soy milk from Zhao Ji in the north of the city!"
Xiao Yu and Doctor Li exchanged a glance, both seeing helplessness in each other's eyes. Xiao Yu was about to speak when Shen Weiwan pointed at Chun Tao and said, "Go buy it! Your Highness is tired!"
Chun Tao was so frightened that she twisted her handkerchief: "Miss, to get from the south to the north of the city, you have to cross the entire Zhuque Street..."
"Just go if I tell you to!" Chen Weiwan picked up the embroidered shoes beside her pillow and pretended to smash them. "If you dare to delay, I'll buy all your monthly savings into malt sugar and stick it on your bedside!"
Chun Tao ran out with a sad face, and Doctor Li took the opportunity to feel her pulse and said: "The princess has excessive liver fire, she should calm down..."
"What are you thinking!" Chen Weiwan interrupted him, grabbing Xiao Yu's wrist and shaking it, "I want to hear His Highness tell me about his childhood, or I'll smash all those snuff bottles in his collection!"
Xiao Yu sat down helplessly, his fingertips stroking her palm: "These are all old things..."
"I want to hear it!" Shen Weiwan shook herself harder, "Tell me how you stuffed stones into Taifu Chao's boots!"
Xiao Yu couldn't resist and had to tell the story of how he stuffed pebbles into the Imperial Tutor's boots when he was ten years old. This made Shen Weiwan laugh until she cried and pounded his shoulders, unable to straighten her back. Doctor Li watched the scene and couldn't help but whisper to the old housekeeper, "Old housekeeper, do you know? When His Highness was in the barracks, he could still ride a horse and kill the enemy after three days without sleep. But now he's been tormented to the point of having black eyes. This morning sickness is probably more troublesome than the enemy."
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
