Chapter 128
After Aunt Qian and Anyi came back, they gave Shen Jin a detailed examination. Not only did they take Shen Jin's pulse, they also asked Shen Jin to take off her clothes and looked carefully at Shen Jin's belly. They confirmed that Shen Jin was pregnant with twins. In this case, the birth time of the children might have to be advanced. Anyi and the others hurried to prepare for the delivery room and other things.
Because of his childhood experiences, Shen Jin is very good at observing people's words and expressions, so when An Yi and An Ning were happy about the twins, Shen Jin also noticed Aunt Qian's hesitation and worry.
"Aunt Qian, is there anything wrong?" Shen Jin didn't beat around the bush and asked directly.
The joy on An Ning's face froze for a moment, and she looked at Aunt Qian. An Yi's face was also full of tension. Shen Jin was the calmest one. Since she was a child, Shen Jin could only rely on herself. Even if her mother loved her, there was only a limit to what she could do for her. Until she got married, she was carefully taken care of by Chu Xiuming. Now that Chu Xiuming is not around, Shen Jin has returned to the situation before she got married, so Shen Jin knew that all she could do was calm herself down.
Aunt Qian hesitated for a moment and said, "Although they are twins, I'm afraid one of the children is too weak and can hardly feel its existence."
Shen Jin's face turned pale, and she subconsciously protected her belly with her hands. "I understand. Aunt Qian will do her best. If anything really happens, it's not your fault."
After saying this, Shen Jin felt a pain in his heart and his eyes turned red unconsciously, but he tried hard not to cry. Aunt Qian heaved a sigh of relief when she heard this. She didn't know who Shen Jin was, but she could see how much her husband valued Shen Jin and others, so she said, "Then let me take care of Madam's meals and her schedule during this period."
Shen Jin nodded and said, "Okay, let An Yi help you."
Aunt Qian agreed and went downstairs to prepare immediately. An Yi followed Aunt Qian to help her. Aunt Qian still had to go to the pharmacy to find her husband and tell him about Shen Jin's condition in detail. Only then could Doctor Qian prescribe medicine according to Shen Jin's condition.
Shen Jin and An Ning were the only ones left in the room. An Ning couldn't hold back her tears any longer and said, "Madam, let's send a letter to the general."
Shen Jin waved her hand and asked An Ning to sit next to her, and said, "Even if you send the letter and your husband comes over, it will be too late." This is true. From sending the message to the border town, even if Chu Xiuming comes over immediately after receiving the message, it will take more than a month to go back and forth. In addition, the road is blocked by heavy snow, so it will take at least two months. By then, the child will probably be born.
An Ning looked at Shen Jin's belly. There were two children in it, and there were Master Dongdong's brothers or sisters. If one of them could not be saved, could Madam hold on? An Ning felt that Madam could hold on, because she had to protect another child, and there was Master Dongdong waiting for her in the border town, but even so, what would Madam do? Although An Ning had never given birth to a child, Aunt Zhao had told them countless times that it was very important for women to have confinement after childbirth. If they were not careful, they would suffer from a lifelong illness. Madam...what if she suffered from a disease?
At this moment, An Ning hated Emperor Cheng and Prince Ying to death, and also resented Prince Rui. If it weren't for Prince Rui, Madam wouldn't have to take the risk of going to the capital as a hostage. If she was in the border town, even if the twins were born, they would be fine with the care of the general and Madam Zhao.
Apart from Emperor Cheng and the others, An Ning was also full of regret. It would have been better if she had been more attentive and taken better care of the Madam.
Shen Jin reached out and held An Ning's hand, saying, "Don't worry, everything will be fine."
An Ning bit her lip. She didn’t look good crying at all. Her whole face seemed distorted. “Madam…”
Shen Jin raised the corners of her mouth slightly, revealing a faint smile. Because she had lost a lot of weight, the dimples on her face were not very obvious. She held An Ning's hand and placed it on her belly, "It's okay."
"It will be fine." An Ning said.
Shen Jin smiled with eyes curved, "Yes, because they are my husband and my children."
An Ning nodded vigorously and said, "I heard that there is a temple on the mountain nearby that is very effective. I will go there tomorrow to burn incense and pray for Madam."
Shen Jin agreed, "Donate more money for me."
"Yeah." An Ning said, just as she felt the baby in Shen Jin's belly move. An Ning sniffed, not knowing whether she was saying this to herself or to Shen Jin, "It will be fine."
Shen Jin said nothing more, but asked An Ning to bring a book, and then she leaned on the cushion by the window and started reading. When she was pregnant with Dongdong, Chu Xiuming often told Shen Jin and the baby in her belly some things about the art of war, and Shen Jin remembered some of them and some of them she didn't, so she picked up what she remembered and told the baby in her belly. Occasionally, when she didn't want to recall it, she would take out a book about mountains and rivers and read it, doing whatever she wanted.
An Ning did not go to the temple to pray the next day. She didn't know who told her to do so, but she spent five days as a vegetarian, bathing and changing clothes, being extremely pious. On the day of the festival, she even walked there.
When it snowed heavily in the town, it was also Laba Festival. An Yi and her friends started to cook Laba porridge early. Although it was not as exquisite as the one in the border town, it tasted pretty good. They sent a lot of it to the neighbors around them, and other families also sent their own Laba porridge. It was a very happy scene.
In everyone's eyes, Shen Jin was a divorced woman, so it was not surprising that she hardly went out. Moreover, she had Aunt Qian's face, and An Yi and the others were good people, so the relationship between the neighbors was pretty good.
In a small inn, Chu Xiuming, with a beard, looked a little more dejected. He sat in a corner, ordered a lot of food, and started to eat with Jia Si. There was no elegance in his movements, and he looked a bit rude and unrestrained. Even people who knew Chu Xiuming might not recognize him, because today was Laba Festival, and the innkeeper gave Laba porridge to every guest. The atmosphere in the inn was quite good. Many people sat together and chatted. Most of the people who stayed here were businessmen who traveled all over the country. They whispered about the border town, the Prince of Ying, and Emperor Cheng.
"I heard that in order to reassure Emperor Cheng, the wife of the Marquis of Yongning was brought to the capital as a hostage." One of the slightly fat merchants said, "Tsk, but the Prince Rui and the Princess Rui are both missing. I'm afraid the wife of the Marquis of Yongning will not have a good time in the capital."
"Who made Emperor Cheng doubt Marquis Yongning?" Another man in shorts sneered, "Marquis Yongning has been guarding the border for so long. Look at what he has done. Isn't he afraid of chilling people's hearts?"
"Be careful, don't say anything careless, or you'll get into trouble." This person also reminded me kindly, "But it's also because Yongning Hou is a big tree that attracts wind."
Everyone started discussing, Chu Xiuming listened and glanced at Jiayi, who pretended to be curious and asked, "Why haven't I heard any news from there recently?" Jiayi pointed to the location of the Prince of England.
"Yeah, I haven't heard about it recently."
"I passed by there a while ago. The security there was much tighter. In the end, they seized half of my truckload of goods. Bah, not only did they charge a city gate fee, but also a toll. Every time they checked the goods, the people there were not clean. I made nothing from this trip, plus the money I had to pay for bribes."
"Not only you, one of my brothers has also changed his route and is heading to central Fujian. Ever since Yongning Hou led his men to suppress the bandits, it has become much safer there, and there are also a lot of seafood. We have made a lot of money, but the rules are also very strict, and we don't allow unfamiliar caravans to enter the city at all."
"I heard that Minzhong is now managed by the prince of Rui, and there have been many conflicts with the prince of Ying."
"By the way, I heard that Emperor Cheng might not be able to make it." This was said by a man who had drunk a little and was obviously drunk. Otherwise, he would not dare to say this. He lowered his voice and said, "The palace is in chaos. The princes and grandchildren of the emperor are dying one after another. Tsk tsk."
"No more talking." The sober person interrupted and said, "Let's have a few more drinks and then go to rest."
"Yes, now that the goods are sold out, we can have a good New Year."
Jiayi drank with everyone. Chu Xiuming had left at some point. Jiayi went upstairs to the room they had booked. After making sure that no one was eavesdropping, he lowered his voice and said, "General, I'm afraid those people have already suspected that something has happened to the Prince of England."
Chu Xiuming was not surprised. The Prince of England had been missing for such a long time without any news, so it was strange that those people had no suspicion. However, they would not dare to act rashly as long as the death of the Prince of England was not confirmed in a short period of time. However, they just did not dare to act rashly against the border towns and the capital. They had already begun to guard against each other and to unite and divide each other.
Jiayi said, "General, it's snowing a bit heavily outside. Do you want to take a rest tomorrow before continuing on your journey?"
Chu Xiuming nodded, calculating the time he would arrive in Beijing. If nothing unexpected happened, he would be able to catch up with Shen Jin's birth. At that time, he wanted to be by Shen Jin's side and watch their child being born. He was just afraid that he would not be able to spend the New Year with Shen Jin.
It snowed for several days in a row. After it stopped, they couldn't set off immediately. They had to wait for the weather to get warmer, at least until the ice on the road melted. Zhao Duan and his men also encountered troubles. Zhao Duan decisively took his men to complain to the inn, but their luck was worse. There were no rooms left in the inn. Pretending to be businessmen, they could only pay more money to have someone vacate two rooms, and several people squeezed in. The room was originally used to store sundries and firewood, so it was not much better, but at least they had a place to stay.
Zhao Duan and his men stayed here the whole day, waiting for the snow to stop. Although they had expected snow before they set out, no one had expected it to be so heavy. Zhao Duan sighed, looking at the white smoke coming out of his mouth, fearing that some places would be affected by the disaster. Looking at the current situation of the imperial court, he was afraid that they would not be able to provide disaster relief in time. Who knew how many people would suffer.
Although he thought so, Zhao Duan also understood that there was a limit to what they could do. They could only wait for Chu Xiuyuan to ascend the throne. Zhao Duan believed that Tianqi would become prosperous again by then.
Chu Xiuyuan in the border town had also made preparations in advance. The winter here is colder than other places, so they were not affected much. But Prince Rui, who had just arrived in the border town, couldn't stand it anymore. He didn't even go out during this period of time, and stayed in the house all day to keep warm. He was worried about his son. After knowing that his son had to do exercises every day even in winter, he wanted to call his son back. However, this idea was suppressed by Princess Rui as soon as it came up. Prince Rui still doesn't know that Shen Xi and Zhao Che have followed General Jin and others to leave the border town and raid the barbarian lairs.
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