After Disguising As A Woman To Marry The Foolish Prince, I Became Pregnant - Chapter 16

Zhu Man actually didn’t have the habit of taking afternoon naps; he could only blame the beds in the Prince’s mansion for being too soft and the quilts for being too warm. He would fall asleep almost as soon as he lay down.

After his nap, when he woke up, He Tianyun was already awake and was sitting on the bed fiddling with a box.

“What are you doing?” Zhu Man leaned over blearily to take a look, catching sight of He Tianyun knocking the box against the bedframe. “Trying to open it?”

He Tianyun nodded and handed the box to him.

Zhu Man examined it; it was just an ordinary locked box. He asked, “Where is the key?”

He Tianyun pursed his lips. “It’s gone.”

Zhu Man said helplessly, “You lost it?”

He Tianyun kept his lips pursed and remained silent.

Zhu Man had no choice but to call out toward the exterior room, “Jingxin, bring me a sturdy hairpin.”

Hearing this, Jingxin lifted the bed curtain to take a look and said understandingly, “Why don’t I do it?”

Zhu Man gave him the box. By the time he had gotten up and dressed, Jingxin had already pried the box open and returned it to He Tianyun.

Zhu Man walked over to take a look.

Given He Tianyun’s condition, he had previously guessed that there might be things like stones inside, but he hadn’t expected it to be full of gemstones. They came in all shapes and colors and were worth a fortune, yet they were kept in such an inconspicuous little box.

He said helplessly, “Things like this should be put away—”

Before he could finish, He Tianyun took a stone out and gave it to him. The dark red gemstone held crushed light within it, flickering and shimmering; it was very beautiful.

Zhu Man liked it at first sight and his eyes curved into a smile. “Thank you.”

He Tianyun turned back to the box to continue picking, looking at them one by one, selecting very seriously.

Zhu Man was somewhat puzzled. “What are you looking for?”

He Tianyun said slowly, “Gifts.”

Zhu Man raised an eyebrow. “You’re giving gifts? To whom?”

He Tianyun replied, “For Xiuxin, and… and Tianye.”

Zhu Man understood. He Tianyun had a pair of twin siblings; he had known this before, though the reason he knew wasn’t because of this marriage, but because he and Zhu Man were also twins.

Back then, when the Imperial Concubine gave birth to this pair of dragon-and-phoenix twins, it caused quite a stir for a long time. Everyone said that dragon-and-phoenix twins were an auspicious omen, proving that the current Emperor was a benevolent and virtuous monarch and that there would be favorable weather in the future.

The same dragon-and-phoenix twins—the ones born to the Imperial Concubine were a heaven-sent auspicious omen, while he and his sister were “jinxes” fallen from the sky.

Zhu Man sighed with a complicated mood and asked, “Are their birthdays coming up?”

He Tianyun didn’t answer, preoccupied with picking out stones for himself.

Zhu Man had no choice but to wait for Nanny Du to arrive and ask her. To his surprise, Nanny Du shook her head and smiled. “The Princess and the Prince are coming over in a while.”

Zhu Man’s expression stiffened. “Why didn’t anyone tell me?”

Nanny Du explained, “They are just coming to visit the Prince. They have done so before; it isn’t anything of great importance.”

“But this is my first time meeting them. I should at least change my clothes,” Zhu Man said resentfully. “And I need to prepare gifts.”

“The Princess Consort is fine as is,” Nanny Du smiled. “Gifts have already been prepared on your behalf.”

Zhu Man was instantly relieved. He asked again, “What kind of people are they?”

Nanny Du thought for a moment and said, “The Princess is steady, and the Prince is lively. They are not the same as the rumors suggest.”

With the Imperial Concubine’s precedent, Zhu Man believed Nanny Du’s words.

While the two were talking, He Tianyun finally finished picking the gifts. They were two gemstones that looked similar but were different in color; they were indeed very suitable for twins.

Zhu Man smiled immediately.

Although He Tianyun was a bit simple-minded, he was quite thoughtful toward his siblings.

Just as this thought occurred to him, He Tianyun gave him another one. It was the same kind of stone as the one he had given him earlier, though the first one was clearly a bit larger.

He pointed to the smaller one and said, “Sister.”

Zhu Man understood and laughed, reaching out to pat his head. “Thank you. I’ll have someone send it over right away.”

As he spoke, he beckoned Jingxin over, telling him to make sure to tell Zhu Man that this was a gift from He Tianyun, and that he had a matching one.

Jingxin ran off with the stone, and only then did Zhu Man go to change his clothes.

The two arrived in the afternoon. Upon hearing the announcement, He Tianyun immediately grabbed Zhu Man and ran to the front hall, where a man and a woman were already waiting.

Both were equally good-looking, but they didn’t resemble He Tianyun, nor did they possess the kind of stunning beauty He Tianyun had. Was it perhaps because He Tianyun took after his mother? After all, although the Emperor was not bad-looking, he was not a “beautiful man.”

The two had been talking, but upon seeing them, they immediately stood up to pay their respects. “Greetings to Imperial Brother and Imperial Sister-in-law.”

Zhu Man’s footsteps faltered. It was too formal; for a moment, he didn’t know how to react. However, judging by He Tianyun, who had stopped beside him with a look of confusion, this scene was clearly one he hadn’t seen before either.

Was it because it was their first meeting?

Zhu Man hesitated for a moment, then walked over to help them up, saying, “We are family, there’s no need to be so pol—”

Before he could finish, He Tianyun ran up from behind and hugged them both. “Xiuxin! Tianye!” After saying that, he stuffed the gemstones he had picked into their hands. “For you.”

He Xiuxin smiled and pushed her eldest brother back a little, saying, “Big brother, it’s been a long time. We brought gifts for you both.”

As she spoke, she raised her hand, and people began carrying in chest after chest of gifts.

Zhu Man fell into silence once again.

Before entering the Prince’s mansion, his concept of a “gift” was a single item placed in a box. But after coming here, the gifts he saw were almost always counted by the chest. Was this a habit of the imperial family or the financial power of Jiangnan’s wealthy merchants?

Only after He Xiuxin explained did Zhu Man realize it was the latter.

He Tianyun’s great-grandmother had fallen ill this summer, and her condition had been fluctuating ever since. Imperial Concubine Yu was extremely worried in the palace but could not return, so she could only beg the Emperor to let the two younger ones go back on her behalf.

The two had stayed there for a while. Later, hearing about their eldest brother’s marriage, they rushed back. These items were things that relatives who couldn’t come had asked them to bring along.

They were supposed to have returned half a month ago, but they encountered an earthquake, the roads were blocked, and they were delayed until now, missing his brother’s grand wedding.

Zhu Man frowned upon hearing this. “An earthquake? Was it serious?”

He Tianye’s face crumpled as soon as he heard this, and he couldn’t help complaining, “That place is extremely remote. Forget people, there weren’t even a few ghosts. If it weren’t for the sake of making time, we wouldn’t have gone that way, and yet we were still delayed.”

He Xiuxin glared at him. Seeing him shut his mouth obediently, she explained, “It was just a tremor that caused a landslide, which blocked the road. It took a long time to dig through. Areas further away were slightly affected, but the local officials have already handled it.”

Zhu Man understood and smiled. “A delay is just a delay. Regardless, that wedding feast wasn’t pleasant to eat anyway.”

“That wouldn’t have happened.” He Tianye clicked his tongue with a frown. “If I were there, I guarantee they wouldn’t have dared to say a single unpleasant word.”

Previously, he had the temperament of an inexperienced youth, and Zhu Man thought that was just his personality. but now, seeing him speak those words with a darkened face, he finally got a sense of the reality that matched the rumors.

Currently, the Emperor had not yet appointed a Crown Prince. The ones with the most support were the Second Prince, Prince Duan, born of the Empress, and the Fifth Prince, Prince Cheng, born of the Imperial Concubine.

Prince Duan’s maternal family was powerful, and he had no shortage of supporters in court. However, it couldn’t compete with the Emperor’s exclusive favor for the Imperial Concubine. Since He Tianyun was in his current state, everyone naturally placed their bets on Prince Cheng.

Zhu Man didn’t have much interest in these struggles. He only knew of them because he had heard people mention them outside, and his father would occasionally speak of them to Zhu Tianxi.

The Prince Cheng of legend was a steady and deeply calculating person. Despite his young age, he acted with thunderous efficiency and had an excellent reputation.

Logically, he should have been like that.

But as Zhu Man sat in the seat of honor sipping tea, he listened to them chat with He Tianyun—mostly listening to He Tianye tell his brother about interesting things from the journey. He gestured wildly as he spoke, and when he reached a happy part, he would even jump up like a restless monkey. He didn’t resemble the person in the rumors at all, but he was very much like what Nanny Du had described.

Sure enough, folk rumors have no credibility.

Zhu Man shook his head inwardly. Just as he set down his teacup, he saw He Xiuxin walk over and begin chatting with him softly.

By the time they saw the two off, it was already evening. He Tianyun actually didn’t say much; most of the time, he was happily listening while munching on pastries. He Xiuxin and He Tianye didn’t talk to him about complex or obscure things; they only spoke of light and fun matters.

Seeing how happy He Tianyun was because of their visit, Zhu Man couldn’t help but smile as well. “Are you very happy?”

He Tianyun nodded with a smile. In his arms, he held a small casket, which reportedly also contained gemstones given by He Tianyun’s uncle. Because he liked these pretty stones, the Qin family would pay attention to them in their daily lives, buying them whenever they saw them and sending them to the capital for him once they had gathered enough.

Though he was simple, he was showered with a thousand forms of affection. One couldn’t say whether it was a blessing or a misfortune.

“Tell me, if you weren’t simple-minded, what would you be like now?” Zhu Man reached out and poked He Tianyun. “Like Prince Duan?”

He Tianyun glanced at him. He clearly didn’t like Prince Duan much and curled his lip unhappily.

Zhu Man was instantly amused. He said, “Prince Duan isn’t as good-looking as you; you still win. But… if you weren’t simple, it wouldn’t be my turn to be your Princess Consort.”

He was just reflecting aloud and didn’t care whether He Tianyun understood. He reached out, took his hand, and led him back to the East Courtyard.

When night fell, Zhu Man had already gone to bed, but He Tianyun was still sitting at the table looking at his casket of gemstones, refusing to go back. Zhu Man called him several times without a response, so he had to get up to light some soothing incense.

He tossed the incense into the burner and said, “I’ll see if you don’t come up once you get sleepy.”

After saying that, he went back to lie down. Before long, he was made drowsy by the incense. In his blurred state, he saw He Tianyun seem to walk over and call his name indistinctly, and then his eyelids could no longer stay open.

He Tianyun stood by the bed, amusedly tapping his nose. He turned to extinguish the incense in the burner, then picked up the hairpin Zhu Man had left on the table before heading back. However, he did not get into bed. Instead, he returned to the table, poured the gemstones from the casket onto the table with a “clatter,” and used the hairpin to poke at the bottom several times. Finally, finding the right spot, he gently pried it open, revealing a letter hidden beneath a secret compartment.

The letter was not long. He had intended to finish reading it and go to sleep, but he hadn’t expected that Zhu Man behind him had not fallen into a deep sleep. Hearing the sound of things being poured out, Zhu Man forced his eyes open and sat up, calling out indistinctly, “He Tianyun, why are you still playing? Weren’t you about to sleep just now?”