At three quarters past three in the morning at the Prince's Mansion, the bronze bells on the eaves tinkled softly in the morning breeze, only to be interrupted by a stifled retching noise. Chuntao, carrying a mother-of-pearl-inlaid food box, crossed the moonlit doorway and saw the bedroom's carved lattice doors wide open. Shen Weiwan lay hunched over her pearwood dressing table, her fingertips gripping the edge as she retched muffledly. Beside her, Xiao Yu frantically smoothed her back. The front of her dark brocade nightgown was misbuttoned, her jade belt hung loosely around her waist, and her hair crown was tilted so far that it nearly fell to the ground.
"Miss!" Chuntao was so startled that she slipped and the bird's nest porridge in the food box spilled out of the porcelain bowl and onto the lotus carpet. "What's wrong with you? Did you have a bad meal last night?"
After Shen Weiwan finished vomiting, she straightened up, her face as pale as paper, but she pointed at Xiao Yu's nose and scolded him: "It's all your fault! Yesterday, you insisted on dragging me to the West Market to eat that damn roasted lamb, and now my spleen and stomach are churning!"
Xiao Yu wiped her sweat, feeling both amused and helpless: "It was you who pestered me to eat the third skewer, and you also said..."
"How dare you talk back!" Chen Weiwan grabbed the mother-of-pearl rouge box on the dressing table and threw it at him. Fortunately, Xiao Yu dodged sideways, and the box lid fell on the blue brick and burst into fine pearl powder. "I don't care! You've made my stomach sick. Today, I must serve you like a cow or a horse!"
Chun Tao suddenly clapped her hands and exclaimed, and came close to Shen Weiwan and sniffed fiercely: "Miss! Your morning sickness reaction is very similar to my sister-in-law's when she was pregnant with my nephew! Could it be..."
The moment Shen Weiwan was stunned, Xiao Yu had already picked her up like an arrow from a bow. The hem of his brocade robe swept across the dressing table, knocking over the celadon brush washer: "Quick! Call the director of the Imperial Hospital! Use my 800-mile express token!"
Half an hour later, Yuan Zheng emerged from the inner chamber, twirling his snow-white beard, and bowed deeply to Xiao Yu: "Congratulations, Seventh Prince, and congratulations to the Princess—it's indeed pregnancy, and it's been over a month."
Xiao Yu was so excited that he spun around in circles and almost knocked over the antique shelf. However, Shen Weiwan curled her lips and snorted, "Did you hear that? It was you, my enemy, who tricked me into having a debt collector in my stomach!"
Xiao Yu carefully helped her sit back on the bed, his tone sweet as honey: "Yes, yes, it's all my fault. What do you want to eat, Weiwei? Whether it's the stars in the sky or the pearls in the South China Sea, I'll pick them all for you."
Shen Weiwan rubbed her sore wrist and suddenly frowned: "My mouth feels bland. I want to eat something sour."
Chun Tao quickly responded, "I'll go get the iced sour plums right away!"
"No!" Chen Weiwan slammed the table and stood up, her pearl and jade headdress rustling. "Those sour plums are so sweet that they're cloying! I want the green apricots that were sent as tribute from Lingnan, and I also want to bring all the ten-year-old vinegar from the third compartment of Xiao Yu's warehouse. I want to mix it with bird's nest porridge!"
Xiao Yu's mouth twitched: "That vinegar is so acidic that it can corrode through bronze. Your precious body..."
"I don't care!" Shen Weiwan covered her mouth and retched again, staring at him with tears in her eyes, "If you don't agree with me, I will throw all your mutton-fat jade rings into the vinegar jar and soak them!"
Xiao Yu rubbed his forehead helplessly and said to the steward standing outside the door, "Hurry and get the vinegar from the storehouse. Then, hurry to the Lingnan Palace and tell them that I want ten baskets of the freshest green apricots. If you spoil the appetite of the princess, you'll be in trouble!"
The news spread like wildfire throughout the Prince's Mansion. The maids who were cleaning the house hid in the corridors and giggled. The old housekeeper was passing the flower hall with a pregnancy-preserving medicine when he heard Shen Weiwan's thunderous roar from the main hall: "Xiao Yu! You must have switched the sour plums! How come they are so sweet?"
Xiao Yu's voice floated out with a helpless smile: "Princess, those are honey-pickled plums from Suzhou..."
"Nonsense! You're just trying to trick me!"
The old housekeeper shook his head and sighed to Chuntao beside him: "Alas, I thought that the seventh prince had become the 'wife-waiting stone' which was the extreme, but who knew that he has become a 'punching bag' now." Chuntao laughed so hard that her shoulders trembled and the silk cloth was almost torn to pieces.
At lunch, Shen Weiwan raised her eyebrows at the steamed sea bass and said, "I have no appetite just looking at it. I want something spicy!"
Xiao Yu immediately ordered someone to replace it with spicy tofu. Shen Weiwan took a bite and spat it out, pointing at the dish and angrily said: "Is this called spicy? Go buy all the Chaotian peppers from Wangji in the West Market. I want to dip it in it!"
Xiao Yu was about to remonstrate, but Chen Weiwan had already glared at him with her hands on her hips: "Stop talking nonsense! It must be you who tricked me into losing my taste buds. If I don't agree today, I will go to my father and sue you for mistreating a pregnant woman!"
The poor Seventh Prince had no choice but to change into casual clothes and go to the West Market to buy chili peppers himself. He stood in front of Wang's Chili Pepper Shop, his black jade hairpin gleaming in the sun, but the peppers filling the shop made him sneeze repeatedly, attracting onlookers' gazes and comments: "Look, isn't that the Seventh Prince? Why did he buy so many chili peppers?" Xiao Yu returned home with a sullen face, carrying the peppers. Shen Weiwan complained, "They're not red enough. You must have bought the wrong variety!"
Xiao Yu couldn't bear it any longer and took her into his arms: "Be good, Weiwei. Pregnant women will be hurt by spicy food..."
"Bullshit!" Shen Weiwan broke free from him, "I insist on eating! If you don't agree, I will... I will use all the rare books in your study as pads for the table legs!"
In the end, Xiao Yu had no choice but to ask the kitchen to grind the chili peppers into powder and mix them into the porridge. After taking two bites, Shen Weiwan covered her mouth and ran to the bathroom. When she came back, her eyes were red. She pointed at Xiao Yu and cried, "It's all your fault! You ruined my stomach so badly that I can't even tolerate chili peppers. You have to compensate me for my appetite!"
The entire palace watched as the Seventh Prince was rendered speechless by his wife's rhetoric, yet he continued to coax her gently. They all hid in the corners, laughing uncontrollably. Chun Tao came in with a pregnancy-maintaining medicine, but was pushed away by Shen Weiwan: "It's bitter! I won't drink it! Your Highness must have ordered the use of Coptis chinensis to harm the child in my womb!"
Xiao Yu reluctantly took the medicine bowl and stirred it again and again with a silver spoon: "I'll blow it down for you to cool it down. Drink it when it's no longer bitter."
Chen Weiwan turned her head away: "The wind you blow is bitter! It must be mixed with candied fruit from Jiangnan, otherwise I will never drink it!"
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