"Your Highness?" Qian Shengyan swallowed the words "Why are you here?" and jumped off the bed to greet him, but Yinzhen grabbed her forearm and scolded, "What kind of behavior is this? What if you fall?"
As they were talking, Su Peisheng led a few people forward to remove Yinzhen's cloak and then offered him a cup of hot tea and a hand warmer.
It was almost October, and the nights were getting a bit chilly, but Yinzhen was impatient with the hand warmer. He casually placed it on the bed and tried to pull Qian Shengyan to sit down, but before he could do so, he heard a loud "Ah, Father!"
"Yuanshou!" Yinzhen first smiled, then realized what he meant and looked at Qian Shengyan with a stern face again. "You let him sleep here?"
Qian Shengyan: ...
Qingxue had already brought the wet nurse over, and without saying a word, she picked up the chubby little boy and headed out. Qian Shengyan, worried that her son would get cold, simply picked up the hand warmer that Yinzhen didn't want and stuffed it into Yuanshou's arms, then took him to the door before returning.
...Then, as soon as I got back, I saw Yinzhen sitting on the edge of the bed with his legs spread apart, practicing his breathing exercises.
Qian Shengyan: 0-0
"You knew I wouldn't be coming tonight?" Yinzhen asked angrily.
Although Qian Shengyan was right, she didn't dare to say it. She just sat down next to him and hooked his finger with her little finger.
Yinzhen was angry but didn't shake her off, letting her hook her arm. Qian Shengyan felt a little more at ease and explained in a low voice, "This servant was thinking that Your Highness hasn't seen the Third Prince and the Fifth Prince for a long time, so maybe... you want to spend more time with them."
"...Don't they need to sleep?" Yinzhen said angrily, then reached out and flicked her forehead, "You little jealous girl."
Qian Shengyan: ? ? ?
Honestly! She was prepared for Cucumber to go off somewhere else tonight, so why is she suddenly jealous? Yinzhen is being completely unreasonable!
She was angry too and tried to pull her hand back, but Yinzhen grabbed it. She turned away, refusing to let go of her hand, and said angrily, "This servant wouldn't dare to be jealous. Your Highness, please go and rest in the main courtyard. This servant hasn't finished tidying up here yet, so I dare not ask Your Highness to stay."
Unexpectedly, her words made Yinzhen laugh. He raised his hand, turned her shoulder, and gently flicked her forehead with a smile: "You're getting more and more spoiled."
Qian Shengyan: ...
What kind of thought process does that jerk have?!
"Give me another son."
No one knows how the conversation turned out this way. Qian Shengyan was forced onto the bed again in a daze and pressured to agree to have a son. Not only was one not enough, but five, six, seven, or eight were to be made. By the end, she didn't even know what she was saying anymore. All she could do was cry and beg the man to stop having children...
When Qian Shengyan opened her eyes again, it was already bright outside. Startled, she sat up abruptly in bed and called out to Qingxue repeatedly.
Qingxue walked in with a smile on her face: "Is Princess awake?"
"What time is it? Where is Yuan Shou?" Qian Shengyan asked as she got out of bed. Although she still had some backache and leg pain, after more than a month of training, she was no longer as weak as she had been at the beginning.
"It's 8:30 AM, Princess. Don't worry, Fourth Prince has already had his milk and is playing in the room." Qingxue helped her get dressed, explaining one by one, "The Prince went out early this morning, saying that he might not be back for dinner tonight, and that Princess doesn't need to wait."
"Oh..." Qian Shengyan hesitated for a moment, then suddenly remembered, "I didn't go to pay my respects to the Princess Consort this morning!"
"Princess, don't worry, the Princess Consort is ill," Qingxue whispered. "Yesterday, the Prince returned from the main courtyard... The Princess Consort caught a cold and was unable to see the Prince..."
Qian Shengyan sensed that there was more to her question, so she pressed on, "And then?"
"I heard that the Prince had a fit of temper in the main courtyard, and the Fifth Prince... isn't feeling well; he's been sick two or three times this month," Qingxue said softly.
Qian Shengyan gasped in shock: "A baby less than a month old, sick two or three times? How could that be?"
"Perhaps it's because the weather is unpredictable?" Qingxue continued, "The Third Prince is in very good spirits. Last night, when the Prince went there, he happened to see him whipping a maid."
Qian Shengyan: ? ? ?
This...this spirit is truly remarkable...
"Of course, the concubine said that the maid was disrespectful to the Third Prince first, but the Prince didn't seem to like watching it and turned to go to the main courtyard."
Then, he didn't even see the Princess Consort, and he threw a tantrum.
No wonder she had such a long face when she came over last night; she even asked her to have another son.
Qian Shengyan sighed softly, pondered for a moment, and then asked, "Where is Green Willow?"
"I wanted to see the princess yesterday, but it was getting late, so I decided against it." After Qingxue finished speaking, she went out and called Lvliu in.
When Green Willow saw Qian Shengyan, she called out "Princess" with tears in her eyes, then knelt down and kowtowed. Qian Shengyan quickly told her to get up and took a pair of pearl-encrusted earrings from the dressing table and gave them to her: "You've worked hard guarding the courtyard, wear these and play with them."
"This servant thanks you, Your Highness." Green Willow choked back tears as she took the earring, and it took her a long time to calm herself down before she could speak slowly.
In fact, during this month, Dongyouyuan was largely unaffected because no one was there and it was located a bit far from the main courtyard.
This battle of wits mainly involved the Fulu Academy and the Main Academy.
"...That eunuch died of illness not long after. The concubine had him taken out for burial. A few days later, she heard that the Fifth Prince's wet nurse had fallen ill. The concubine had her dismissed and reprimanded all the servants around the Fifth Prince. But it was too late. The Fifth Prince fell ill, and the main courtyard had to call doctors over every day."
Green Willow slowly said, "Later, Princess Geng heard about it and often went to pay her respects to the Fujin, but the Fujin was ill and did not see her."
Qian Shengyan frowned: "Fifth Prince..."
"I heard from Liu San'er in the kitchen that the Fifth Prince is extremely thin and hasn't even opened his eyes yet," Green Willow sighed.
This is what Qian Shengyan can't stand the most. It's one thing for adults to fight, but what does it have to do with children?
Especially for such young children!
"I heard that His Highness sent someone to invite Physician Li, who specializes in pediatrics, to see the Fifth Prince today," Qingxue said quickly when she saw that Qian Shengyan was in a bad mood.
Qian Shengyan still remembered Physician Li, the one who treated Yuan Shou: "Isn't he the one who was very skilled at acupuncture?"
“Yes,” Qingxue said.
Qian Shengyan slowly exhaled: "That's alright."
She did know that the Fifth Prince Hongzhou had survived, but... if because of her intervention, the Fifth Prince was taken away by the Fujin (Prince Consort), but ended up losing his life due to the power struggle between the Fujin and the concubine, then that would be her fault.
Green Willow talked about the affairs of the manor for a while. Qian Shengyan listened and heard that there was nothing major. She only knew that Geng Shi rarely went to the main courtyard anymore and mostly went to Fulu Courtyard. It had been ten days since the Fifth Prince recovered from his illness last time, and she had not heard of him falling ill again.
She breathed a slight sigh of relief, but she was still uneasy.
After pacing back and forth in the room a few times, Qian Shengyan finally made up her mind: "Qingxue, pack some things, let's go see the Fujin."
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