After Disguising As A Woman To Marry The Foolish Prince, I Became Pregnant - Chapter 13

Having entered the palace, the two naturally would not be heading back out for the night.

The Xingqing Palace was inhabited only by Imperial Consort Yu, so she reserved the side hall for her son. Every time He Tianyun entered the palace, he slept there.

Once they entered the room, He Tianyun pulled Zhu Man toward the bed. Zhu Man looked around with some curiosity, discovering that the place was quite meticulously arranged. The corners of the tables were carefully wrapped in velvet, and there were no heavy or fragile items on the shelves; instead, they held light decorations or toys, making it look like a child’s room.

He asked with some curiosity, “Did you live here when you were little, too?”

He Tianyun turned his head to look at him, appearing somewhat puzzled as if he didn’t understand the question.

Zhu Man had no choice but to look toward Du Pingniang, who had followed them in.

“Yes,” Du Pingniang replied. “Once the Prince began his primary education, he moved into this side hall.”

“Primary education? Does that mean He Tianyun used to attend lessons?”

“Of course,” Du Pingniang smiled. “When the Prince was a child, he was extremely intelligent; even the Grand Tutor praised him.”

Hearing this, Zhu Man knit his brows. “He wasn’t… foolish when he was young?”

Du Pingniang nodded and explained, “When the Prince was small, he fell gravely ill with a persistent high fever that brought him to the brink of death. Though he was saved, his mind was damaged by the fever. Her Highness consulted many physicians, but all were helpless. She even invited sorcerers and masters of high standing; they said the Prince’s lifespan should have ended, but his great fortune saved him—only half of his three souls and seven spirits were snatched away, which is why he is like this.”

Although Zhu Man felt the latter half sounded a bit nonsensical—like the rhetoric used to swindle money—he understood that a mother, in her desperation, would naturally seek any cure possible. Moreover, the fact that He Tianyun was originally a bright child was probably more painful than if he had been born with a mental disability.

He felt a pang of sympathy for He Tianyun. If not for that major illness, there was no telling what his situation would be like now.

Zhu Man sighed and reached out to stroke He Tianyun’s head.

He Tianyun lowered his eyes, looking at Zhu Man’s tiptoed feet, and smiled silently in his heart. He reached out to grasp his hand and pulled him onto the bed.

But at this moment, Zhu Man could not sleep at all.

The events of the past two days were like a runaway carriage, crashing blindly in a direction he couldn’t predict. He had tried to pull the reins and thought there was hope when he saw the carriage slow down, only to realize the carriage was broken. It seemed he had no choice but to jump, yet he hadn’t expected that the end of the road wouldn’t be death. He had “plunged” into a pond; although his clothes were soaked, he wasn’t injured and had escaped a disaster.

Zhu Man didn’t know if he was lucky—after all, without the runaway carriage, he wouldn’t have fallen into the water—but at least the outcome wasn’t so bad.

As he was lost in thought, his face was suddenly poked.

“Princess,” He Tianyun called to him. “Not sleeping.”

“Alright, not sleeping,” Zhu Man turned over to face him. “What do you want to do?”

He Tianyun pulled his hand with a chuckle and said, “Princess won’t leave.”

Zhu Man froze. The memories from the Prince’s manor earlier that day flooded back into his mind. While changing clothes, on the way to the palace, and in front of the Imperial Consort, He Tianyun hadn’t mentioned it once. He had thought He Tianyun had forgotten.

“I won’t leave,” Zhu Man reached out and grasped He Tianyun’s hand under the covers, saying softly, “I will stay with you from now on, alright?”

He Tianyun immediately became joyful. No longer wanting to sleep, he tossed aside the quilt, climbed out of bed, and went to the floor.

Only one lamp remained lit in the room. Worried he might bump into something, Zhu Man quickly got up, took the candlestick, and followed him.

He Tianyun was looking for something, though Zhu Man didn’t know what. Seeing him rummaging through chests and cupboards, he brought the light closer and asked, “What are you looking for?”

He Tianyun didn’t answer. He felt around in a cabinet and finally pulled out what he was looking for, handing it to Zhu Man.

Zhu Man thought it was another toy and smiled as he took a look, but then he froze.

What He Tianyun had given him was a jade tablet. One side was carved with a lifelike dragon, while the other was carved with the character “Zhao.”

This was He Tianyun’s official waist token.

“Imperial Mother said… keep it hidden,” He Tianyun explained to Zhu Man one word at a time. “You are the Princess. For you.”

Zhu Man’s expression warmed. He helped him put the waist token back and said, “Since that’s the case, you should keep it safe.”

He Tianyun shook his head and stuffed the token back to him. “For you.”

Zhu Man frowned. “It’s not appropriate for me to hold onto this, you…”

He wanted to refuse again, but He Tianyun had already shut the drawer and moved to search the one next to it.

Zhu Man felt somewhat helpless. “What is it this time?”

He Tianyun didn’t speak but continued his searching until he pulled out two books and handed them to Zhu Man.

Zhu Man took them to look.

One was full of writing. The handwriting was a bit immature and not particularly beautiful, but every stroke was deliberate, showing the writer had been very earnest.

Flipping through the pages, one could see the progress the writer had made.

“Did you write this?” Zhu Man asked him.

He Tianyun nodded and said, “One for Imperial Mother, one for me.”

Zhu Man understood. This was likely something He Tianyun had written in the past, and the Imperial Consort had kept it as a memento.

The other book was probably similar.

This one was a collection of poems by predecessors, with small annotations written by He Tianyun on the side. They were done so seriously that the thought of it was quite endearing.

Zhu Man smiled and returned the books to him, saying, “You must keep these safe, too.”

He Tianyun nodded, put the things away, and went back to rummaging through the cabinets.

Zhu Man waited by his side; he had started to become curious about what He Tianyun would bring out next.

He Tianyun soon found what he wanted. He thrust his clenched fist in front of Zhu Man and said, “For you.”

Zhu Man held out his hand, and when He Tianyun loosened his fingers, a small, hard object fell into his palm.

Zhu Man brought it closer to look; it was a pebble.

He immediately burst into laughter, clutched the stone in his hand, and said, “Then I shall accept it. Thank you.”

He Tianyun reached out and took another stone.

This one was much larger than the previous one and wasn’t a pebble; it was just a craggy, lumpy big stone. Heaven knows where he had picked it up.

Zhu Man held out his hand again.

But He Tianyun placed the stone in front of himself and said, “One for me.” After saying that, he took out a gemstone the size of a baby’s fist from the cabinet and placed it in front of Zhu Man. “One for you.”

After that, all sorts of different patterns—some common, some precious, some beautiful, and some strange stones—were placed before him.

The corner of Zhu Man’s mouth twitched. He was literally dividing his “wealth.”

He patiently waited for He Tianyun to finish distributing his inventory before asking, “Is there more?”

He Tianyun didn’t answer but simply let out a yawn.

Seeing this, Zhu Man said softly, “Then let’s stop looking for now. Let’s go to sleep.”

He Tianyun rubbed his eyes and gave a muffled response. He gathered the stones he had assigned to himself into his arms; it was clear he truly tresured them.

Zhu Man was instantly struck by how cute he was. Smiling, he pulled him back to the bed.

As soon as they lay down, He Tianyun hugged him like a bear, pinning his arms down.

Zhu Man said teasingly, “How are you supposed to sleep like this?”

He Tianyun didn’t answer but nuzzled his face against his shoulder like a small animal acting spoiled. Thinking of He Tianyun doing this with that handsome face of his made Zhu Man’s heart soften completely.

Since he couldn’t move his hands, he could only nuzzle back against his hair and say, “If you like it, then keep holding me. Go to sleep.”

After saying that, seeing that He Tianyun still hadn’t responded, he assumed he had fallen asleep and closed his own eyes to rest.

After a while, just as he was finally about to drift off, He Tianyun suddenly called his name in a small voice: “Princess.”

“Mmm.” Zhu Man was exhausted by now and didn’t even open his eyes, only giving a muffled response.

“Princess.”

“Mmm?” Zhu Man responded again, but still didn’t receive an answer from He Tianyun. He had to force his eyelids open and reach out. “Prince? What is it?”

As soon as he finished speaking, his fingers touched the other man’s face, finding it cold and wet.

Zhu Man was instantly startled awake and sat up quickly. “What’s wrong?”

He Tianyun still didn’t answer. Zhu Man had to turn around, intending to get out of bed to get the lamp, but He Tianyun grabbed him.

“Don’t leave,” He Tianyun said.

Zhu Man was somewhat helpless. “I’m just going to get the lamp.”

He Tianyun refused to let go.

Zhu Man had no choice but to sit back down. He used the sleeve of his sleeping robe to wipe the other man’s face and said softly, “I won’t leave.”

He Tianyun then sat up as well. He reached out to take the stones he had just placed by the head of the bed and stuffed them into Zhu Man’s hands.

Zhu Man was puzzled and was about to ask when he heard He Tianyun say, “I’ll give them all to you. Don’t leave, alright?”

Only at this moment did Zhu Man understand the meaning behind He Tianyun giving him those things earlier.

He Tianyun was still worried that he would leave, but he didn’t know how to make him stay. Thus, he could only use a child-like, simple method to express himself—sharing the things he found important and liked, hoping to make him happy so that he would stay.

Zhu Man sighed and reached out to hug He Tianyun, patting his back gently as if coaxing a child. He whispered, “I won’t leave. You sleep peacefully. When you wake up tomorrow, I will still be here.”

“Really?”

“Really.” Zhu Man took his hand. “From now on, you hold onto me while you sleep, and I won’t be able to run away.”

He Tianyun nodded and was finally willing to sleep. Because the burden on his heart had been lifted, he fell asleep very quickly.

Lying beside him, listening to the long, steady breathing of the person next to him, Zhu Man’s heart felt complicated yet soft.

Since he had decided to be a proper Princess, he would have to treat He Tianyun well.

He reached out and patted He Tianyun’s chest lightly before closing his eyes to sleep.

In the next moment, the person lying beside him very lightly curled the corners of his mouth.