After Disguising As A Woman To Marry The Foolish Prince, I Became Pregnant - Chapter 15

When the two returned to the Prince’s mansion, many people were already waiting in the courtyard. Aside from Pan Fu and the household staff, there were several unfamiliar faces.

Zhu Man stood at the very front, with Hua Jian and Jingxin following behind her. Their faces were filled with unconcealable worry, which only eased slightly upon seeing him. She practically flew into his arms, gesturing anxiously to ask if he had been punished.

Zhu Man was puzzled: “Why are you so frightened?”

Zhu Man gestured: “They said you invited me here, but I didn’t recognize them. Jingxin said you were discovered and taken into the palace.”

Zhu Man understood; his sister thought these people were using her to blackmail him.

He shook his head: “It’s a long story. Let’s head inside first.”

Zhu Man observed him carefully once more. Seeing that he was truly unharmed, she let out a sigh of relief and followed his lead.

Zhu Man took everyone to the small flower hall in the back courtyard. Pan Fu intended to follow, but Zhu Man stopped him: “I am speaking with my sister; must you follow as well?”

Pan Fu smiled: “This servant is here to attend to the Prince.”

“No need,” Zhu Man said, his gaze shifting toward the unfamiliar faces—likely the people the Imperial Concubine had assigned to him—and he hesitated.

Seeing this, the leading young woman asked, “Does the Princess Consort have any orders?”

Zhu Man said, “You all stand guard and do not let anyone in. Hua Jian, you all wait here as well.”

The woman agreed and made a gesture to those behind her. The group promptly took their positions around the small flower hall.

Only then did Zhu Man nod and pull his sister into the hall.

He Tianyun followed immediately. Zhu Man did not drive him away, telling his sister about the events of the previous night right in front of him.

Zhu Man was worried at first, but after listening, her expression became quite strange. She gestured: “Can there really be such a good thing?”

“Do you want the truth?”

Zhu Man nodded.

“The truth is, it might be fake.” Zhu Man shrugged. “Perhaps Her Ladyship the Imperial Concubine really intends to plot something through us, but what do we have that’s worth her scrutiny?”

Zhu Man frowned in thought.

Seeing this, Zhu Man smiled. “There’s another possibility—that she truly dotes on her son.” As he spoke, his gaze drifted toward He Tianyun, who was sprawled on the table playing with melon seeds. Zhu Man grabbed a handful and placed them in front of him. As he cracked each seed and placed the kernel before He Tianyun, he murmured, “If Mother were still alive, she would surely dote on you too.”

Zhu Man’s eyes reddened.

Zhu Man stopped mentioning it and turned to He Tianyun instead, saying in a very low voice, “This is my sister. You’ve met her before.”

“Sister.” He Tianyun hesitated for a moment, then took half of the uncracked seeds in front of him and pushed them toward Zhu Man.

Zhu Man thought he wanted her to peel them for him and was about to start, but Zhu Man stopped her.

“He means to share them with you,” Zhu Man explained, pointing to the pile in front of himself. “This is my portion.”

Hearing this, He Tianyun immediately beamed. He split his remaining seeds in half again and pushed one half to Zhu Man. What started as a large handful had been halved repeatedly until only a few remained. Only then did he pick up the remaining seeds one by one, tucking them into his robe.

Zhu Man had a headache: “They’ll fall out if you do that.”

He Tianyun ignored him entirely. After tucking the seeds away, he patted his lapel as if he were hiding some precious treasure.

After watching for a while, Zhu Man gestured to her brother: “Like a child.”

Just as Zhu Man was about to reply, he saw He Tianyun follow suit, mimicking the gesture for “child.”

Zhu Man raised an eyebrow. After a moment’s thought, he didn’t speak, but instead gestured to his sister: “Isn’t he cute?”

As soon as he finished, He Tianyun followed by gesturing “cute.” Zhu Man burst out laughing: “Do you even know what that means before you start copying?”

He Tianyun ignored him, his eyes fixed on Zhu Man, seemingly waiting for her answer.

Zhu Man hesitated and then made two gestures toward him.

He Tianyun immediately looked at Zhu Man and mimicked his sister’s movements toward him like a little messenger, except the gesture he made was “wife.”

Zhu Man looked at his sister with amusement: “Teaching him to tease me?”

Zhu Man pursed her lips and laughed, gesturing: “It’s fun.”

Helpless, Zhu Man reached out to pat He Tianyun’s head and said, “Don’t learn nonsense from her.”

He Tianyun repeated his sister’s previous gesture: “Fun.”

Zhu Man: “…”

If he didn’t know the guy was just repeating his sister’s movements, he would have thought He Tianyun actually understood.

He flicked He Tianyun’s forehead: “Don’t cause trouble.”

He Tianyun immediately pouted and looked at him unhappily.

Zhu Man ignored him and continued talking to his sister.

In the end, Zhu Man decided she wanted to live outside the mansion. Zhu Man didn’t mind this; what mattered to him was his sister’s happiness. He simply asked her to stay at the Prince’s mansion for a few days until the other place was prepared.

While they were discussing matters, He Tianyun was uncharacteristically well-behaved, not interrupting them the entire time. Zhu Man thought he had been distracted by something else and didn’t pay much mind, but when they returned to the Eastern Courtyard, he realized that wasn’t the case.

He Tianyun was throwing a tantrum over what happened earlier.

“Your Highness.” Zhu Man poked him.

He Tianyun crossed his arms and ignored him.

“He Tianyun—” Zhu Man leaned in front of him and continued to poke him.

He Tianyun turned his body away with his arms crossed, still ignoring him.

Zhu Man had no choice but to walk around to him. He cleared his throat and called out in his original voice: “He… Tian… Yun.”

He Tianyun’s attention was instantly captured. He looked at Zhu Man’s mouth in confusion.

Zhu Man smiled and then switched to a soft, sweet feminine voice to call him: “Your Highness—”

He Tianyun leaned to the side to look behind him, seemingly trying to see if someone else was speaking.

Amused, Zhu Man asked him: “Which one do you like?”

He Tianyun frowned and thought for a moment before nodding: “I like it.”

Zhu Man: ?

He felt somewhat helpless, but seeing that He Tianyun’s mood had seemingly improved, he stopped teasing him and called in the people who had been guarding the door.

Jingxin had already changed back into male attire and looked much more lively. Zhu Man asked him: “Is everything clear now?”

Jingxin nodded: “Mister Qin told me everything just now. From now on, I am the Prince’s man.”

Zhu Man nodded and looked at the others.

The Imperial Concubine had given him fewer than ten people. Aside from one maidservant, there was an older man and eight strong young men.

He looked at the maidservant first: “What is your name?”

The maid bowed and said softly, “Chun Cao greets the Princess Consort.”

Although they had only known each other for less than half a day, he was very satisfied with this girl. He nodded and looked at the middle-aged man.

The man understood and stepped forward to bow: “Qin Shanhe greets the Princess Consort.”

Zhu Man asked what he was skilled in. Qin Shanhe said he was previously in charge of accounting for the Qin family.

Zhu Man understood; this was a manager.

He then looked at the young men. They also came forward to bow and announced their names one by one.

Without being told, Zhu Man could guess that these were the guards.

He wasn’t likely to encounter any danger, so his requirements for guards weren’t high—as long as they were better than the ones already in the Prince’s mansion.

He originally wanted to pick four for his sister, but Qin Shanhe said: “Their duty is to protect the Princess Consort. If the Princess Consort is worried about the young lady, this humble one will go and hire more guards.”

Zhu Man hesitated and said, “My sister cannot speak; I don’t trust outside guards.”

Qin Shanhe said: “Then two of these men will suffice. Too many people would be conspicuous instead.”

Zhu Man thought about it and agreed, saying, “Then you arrange it. I’ll leave the rest to you as well. How much do you know about the situation in this mansion?”

Qin Shanhe was no fool. Hearing the question, he said: “The Princess Consort is the master. In this mansion, the Princess Consort has the final say. Naturally, this humble one also listens to the Princess Consort.”

The words were fine, but the head manager of the mansion was still Pan Fu, who was also the Imperial Concubine’s person. He couldn’t just throw Qin Shanhe in to replace him.

But on second thought, while he didn’t like Pan Fu, he didn’t actually know Qin Shanhe either—there didn’t seem to be much difference. So he simply said: “Then help me take inventory of the items first and find a place to store them. Do not put them together with the mansion’s property.”

Qin Shanhe acknowledged the order and led the people away.

Jingxin originally wanted to say something, but seeing Chun Cao present, he hesitated and remained silent, standing obediently to the side.

Zhu Man found it funny: “What do you have to say?”

Jingxin shook his head.

Zhu Man didn’t press him. He turned to look at He Tianyun, who had been listening intently to their conversation, and asked: “And you? Nothing you want to say?”

He Tianyun looked at him and said nothing. Instead, he shuffled closer to him and said, “Princess Consort, let’s go play.”

Zhu Man was helpless: “Didn’t we just get back?”

He Tianyun grabbed his hand and led him outside.

Zhu Man had no choice but to let himself be pulled along.

When he said “play,” He Tianyun actually just went to the garden. He crouched by the pond, trying to scoop the fish out through the railing. Zhu Man watched with a pounding heart, finally understanding why a railing had to be built around the pond.

After scooping for a while, He Tianyun got bored and ran off to climb a tree. After climbing, he wanted to pick flowers. After picking flowers, he started digging holes in the garden. He couldn’t stay still for a single moment.

Zhu Man followed him at first, but eventually, he became truly exhausted and simply went to sit in the pavilion.

Seeing this, Chun Cao immediately brought over tea and snacks, along with a few books she said she had taken from the study.

Zhu Man glanced at them. They were all storybooks, quite suitable for passing the time.

So he sat in the pavilion flipping through the books. By the time He Tianyun had played enough to return, it was already noon. With hands full of mud, He Tianyun hugged Zhu Man, leaving two large handprints on his skirt.

Zhu Man was helpless. He pulled him up and said, “Let’s go back, wash your hands, and eat.”

He Tianyun happily followed behind him back to the Eastern Courtyard for lunch.

After eating, it was time for a nap.

But He Tianyun was a bit excited and refused to sleep, lying on the bed talking to Zhu Man.

It was called “talking,” but really, He Tianyun just said whatever came to mind without any logic, and Zhu Man would answer him randomly. Back and forth they went until both became drowsy.

Zhu Man soon fell asleep. Only then did He Tianyun close his mouth, smiling as he leaned down to nuzzle against Zhu Man’s hairline.

Zhu Man gave a muffled response and turned over, falling right into He Tianyun’s embrace.

He Tianyun wrapped an arm around him, using the other hand to gently stroke his hair. Then he lowered his head and placed a very light kiss on his hairline.

In the future, this person would not be able to run away.