The physician's words left Yinzhen momentarily stunned. His first reaction wasn't happiness, but rather a sense of fear. After giving birth to Liu Liu, Yi Hua's health had been weak ever since, and they had been consciously using contraception. They hadn't expected her to conceive so quickly.
"How is the Princess Consort's health?"
The physician carefully said, "In the past few years, the princess's health has recovered to about 80-90%. Judging from her pulse, as long as she takes good care of the pregnancy and keeps a cheerful mood, there will be no problem."
"But pregnancy is a complicated matter, and the reactions to each pregnancy are very different. We'll have to see if the wife will have a hard time."
Yinzhen grew tired of the repetitive ramblings and waved him away. He placed his hand on Yihua's wrist, examined it, and found nothing seriously wrong. However, he still needed to keep a close eye on Fei Yanggu; if anything happened to him, Yihua's pregnancy would be over.
When Yi Hua woke up and found out she was pregnant again, she was stunned. Was she some kind of fertile body? In ancient times, she would be considered an elderly mother at this age. Yi Hua suddenly felt a great appetite.
"Sir, I want to eat."
Yinzhen found it amusing to see Yihua swallowing her saliva so pitifully, so he quickly ordered the kitchen to serve some nourishing food. Yihua wasn't picky and ate whatever was served, just watching from the side, and she ate with great relish.
Liu Liu also got a small bowl. She leaned close to Yi Hua's belly, looked at it, and then touched it: "Mother, is there a little brother here?"
“It could be a little sister,” Yi Hua corrected.
Liu Liu thought for a moment and shook her head: "No, it has to be a little brother."
"Why?"
"My mother can only have one daughter, Liu Liu," the little girl declared domineeringly, and even clenched her fist to show her seriousness.
Yi Hua leaned down and kissed her: "Whether it's a younger brother or a younger sister, Mother will still love Liu Liu very, very much. You see, before you were born, Mother only had Hong Hui. After you were born, wasn't your older brother good to you?"
"Big brother is the best to Liu Liu." Liu Liu understood, felt a little conflicted, but finally sighed and compromised, "Okay, whether you are a younger brother or a younger sister, Liu Liu will always be a good older sister."
Yinzhen watched from the side, feeling extremely satisfied, and at the same time, anticipation arose within him.
He has few children, and he doesn't mind having more sons. He hopes this pregnancy will be a boy, but of course, it's best not to let Yihua know.
******
Dzungar military camp
The Khan, with a beautiful woman in his arms, laughed wildly: "Hahaha, I thought it was the eldest prince who came, but it turns out it's the crown prince himself. We'll have to prepare an even more elaborate welcoming ceremony."
A general in armor flattered, "It is the Khan's brilliant strategy that made him appear weak, leading the Qing to believe we were short of food and men, thus causing them to underestimate us. This time, we will ensure that this noble Crown Prince never returns!"
"Haha, well said." The Khan drank the wine in large gulps, thoroughly enjoying himself, already imagining the scene of the Qing Crown Prince prostrating himself at his feet.
Fei Yanggu and his party rushed to the border. The prince looked pale and sickly, having vomited.
Just one glance at the severely damaged city made Fei Yanggu frown; it was quite different from what the intelligence had described. He had only glanced around briefly and noticed that many people's surplus grain hadn't been taken, which didn't fit the scenario of people being forced to kill, burn, and loot for food.
Moreover, many of the building remains indicate that they were destroyed by artillery fire.
The Dzungars were a nomadic people who were skilled in horsemanship. I have never heard of them being able to manufacture cannons; they must have borrowed them from Tsarist Russia.
If that's the case, then their trip to quell the rebellion will be troublesome.
The other side had deliberately lured them here, and must have set a trap for them. Looking at the bright yellow tent, Fei Yanggu secretly made up his mind that even if the entire army was wiped out, he had to get His Highness the Crown Prince out safely.
After listening to Fei Yanggu's report, the Crown Prince finished the last sip of ginseng soup, at least enough to catch his breath: "General, I understand everything you've said. But I am the commander-in-chief of the three armies, I cannot be a deserter! As long as there is still a son of our Great Qing behind me, I cannot retreat, otherwise I am not worthy of being the Crown Prince, do you understand?"
Fei Yanggu knelt and kowtowed: "Your Highness is righteous, but this journey is fraught with danger, and you must be mentally prepared. I believe the safest course of action at present is to secretly send you back, and announce to the outside world that you have fallen ill from the long journey, and that no one is allowed to enter this tent. What does Your Highness think?"
The Crown Prince shook his head again: "You've gone to a lot of trouble. In half an hour, summon the generals and discuss in detail how to fight!"
"Yes." Fei Yanggu could only agree, and then sent a memorial with urgent delivery, requesting more troops and artillery from Kangxi, while also writing down His Highness the Crown Prince's insistence in the memorial.
******
At the Eighth Prince's residence,
The Eighth Prince's wife sat by the window, doing her hair. The bronze mirror reflected a fair-skinned and beautiful woman. Her eyes and brows were as sharp as ever, but the corners of her mouth turned down slightly, giving her a somewhat sorrowful look.
"Did the master go to Nalan's room again today?" the Eighth Prince's wife asked lazily, her tone of questioning yet certain.
The head maid was combing her hair: "Reporting to the Madam, the Concubine has prepared the master's favorite old duck soup today, and the Eighth Prince has graced us with his presence to have a cup. You need not worry, the master said he will come to have breakfast with you early tomorrow morning."
"Ha, he's all lovey-dovey with someone else at night, yet he doesn't forget to comfort me in the morning. Doesn't the master really care about tiring himself out?" The Eighth Prince's wife spoke sarcastically with a cold face, and no one dared to respond.
"Where's the Longjing mung bean cake? Why hasn't it been served today?" The Eighth Princess Consort wanted to eat a delicious snack, but found that the things at hand were all unappetizing, so she asked.
"Reporting to Madam, the head kitchen reported today that the Longjing tea in the storeroom has been prioritized for the Master. As for the rest, the Master said he would give one jin to the Consort today, and they said they would go out to buy more tonight and they will definitely be able to replenish it tomorrow. Please do not blame me, Madam."
The Eighth Princess Consort pointed to the plate of pastries, then pushed it down forcefully. The sound of the porcelain shattering made the servants in the room involuntarily kneel on the ground.
"Today there's no Longjing tea, tomorrow there won't even be rice left, will there?" The Eighth Princess Consort's eyes were simmering with anger. She had indeed been stripped of her power to manage the household, but she had to make sure that everyone in the mansion understood that she was still the Princess Consort, not someone who could be looked down upon.
The Eighth Prince's wife led a group of people to smash up the main kitchen. The head housekeeper's bowing and scraping was of no use. She was also bitter. Everyone in the manor knew what kind of person the Eighth Prince's wife was. She wasn't the kind of person who was out of her mind, so they served her even more carefully, for fear of becoming the unlucky chicken in the "killing the chicken to scare the monkey" incident.
She really didn't have any Longjing tea on hand; she couldn't use those small bits of dregs. Who would have thought that the Fujin (principal wife) would seize on this?
The Eighth Prince's wife made quite a commotion, waking the Eighth Prince who had just finished resting. He rushed to the main kitchen.
Nalan followed at a distance, as if they were the closest of husband and wife.
The sight of the two of them arriving hand in hand stung the eyes of the Eighth Prince's wife.
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