After Disguising As A Woman To Marry The Foolish Prince, I Became Pregnant - Chapter 8

Zhu Man was startled by the sudden thought that had popped into his head. After all, He Tianyun’s foolishness was a well-known fact. Yet, upon closer reflection, the idea didn’t seem entirely baseless, causing him to look at He Tianyun with a hint of hesitation.

“He Tianyun,” Zhu Man called out softly.

He Tianyun replied with a cheerful chuckle: “Princess Consort.”

In the darkness, Zhu Man reached out and touched his face, asking, “Did you do that on purpose tonight?”

He could feel the person in front of him seem to smile, though no sound escaped. He only asked back: “What?”

His tone remained the same—imbued with that slight air of idiocy and confusion, no different from usual.

Zhu Man pushed the thought back down. A four or five-year-old child might already be sensible, but He Tianyun’s current mind was likely only that of a one or two-year-old. He could understand simple words and express basic desires, but anything beyond that was probably beyond his reach.

“It’s nothing.” Zhu Man curled his fingers and pinched his cheek. It wasn’t as soft as he had imagined, but it felt good to the touch, so he pinched it again.

He Tianyun immediately pushed his hand away, displeased.

Zhu Man raised an eyebrow. “What? It’s okay for you to touch me, but I can’t touch you? Your hands were dirty when you touched me today, and I didn’t even get angry.”

But there was no reasoning with He Tianyun. He grabbed Zhu Man’s wrist with one hand and groped around in the dark for a moment before accurately pinching Zhu Man’s face in return.

Zhu Man reached out with his other hand, but before he could land a touch, He Tianyun caught it.

He Tianyun gathered both of Zhu Man’s hands together, restraining him with just one hand.

Only then did he realize how thin Zhu Man’s wrists were—as slender as two newly sprouted shoots.

Zhu Man struggled for a moment, broke free from his grasp, and gave him a kick under the covers. “Go to sleep!”

In response, He Tianyun hugged him again with a chuckle, nuzzling into his chest like a small animal or a child, saying: “Princess Consort, sleep.”

Zhu Man’s eyes crinkled into a smile as he said, “When I was little… I was very cowardly. I was terrified of the dark and afraid of ghosts.”

He Tianyun made no sound, listening quietly.

Zhu Man continued, “My mother passed away early, my stepmother wasn’t close to me, and my father didn’t like me. When I was scared at night, I could only go find my grandmother. Later, when Grandmother wasn’t at home anymore, I could only go to my brother. I loved leaning against him like this to sleep. I must have been just like you are now.”

Adorable and endearing.

It was just that as they grew up, it was no longer appropriate for them to be so close. Thus, when his younger sister was scared at night, she no longer sought him out but let Hua Jian sleep with her instead.

Hua Jian’s mouth never stopped; even lying in bed, she would chatter incessantly to Zhu Man about trivial matters. It was so boring that she forgot to be afraid, became drowsy, and fell asleep quickly—only to complain to him the next day.

“I wonder how she is doing now.” Zhu Man sighed. His sister’s temperament was too soft; he couldn’t help but worry when he couldn’t see her, fearing she might be bullied outside. Yet, he didn’t know when he would be able to leave.

Hearing this, He Tianyun squeezed his hand and repeated in a very low voice: “Brother?”

“Yes, he looks very, very much like me,” Zhu Man laughed. “If the two of us dress up a bit, we could even fool my father.”

“Father?”

“Yes, a very unpleasant person. I’ll point him out to you tomorrow, and you can help me hit him,” Zhu Man said, unable to help laughing at himself.

What was he doing, talking to a fool like this?

But it seemed these were things he could only say to this fool.

“Go to sleep,” Zhu Man said. “We have to go out tomorrow.”

Having said that, he stopped speaking. He expected He Tianyun to fuss for a while longer, but surprisingly, he truly grew quiet. After a while, Zhu Man felt sleepy, closed his eyes, and drifted off.

He Tianyun stayed there listening. Only when the breathing of the person beside him became long and steady did he reach out and give him a very light poke. Seeing that Zhu Man only turned over, He Tianyun got out of bed, walked to the table, lit a piece of calming incense, and dropped it into the burner.

Soon, Zhu Man was the only one left in the room.

The next day, when Zhu Man woke up, He Tianyun was already gone. He sat up in confusion only to see He Tianyun sitting at the table in formal attire, playing with a Lu Ban lock (wooden puzzle). He didn’t know how long the Prince had been at it; he hadn’t managed to take a single piece apart and was currently trying to solve it with brute force.

Zhu Man said amusedly, “Stop that for a moment. I’ll help you in a bit.”

Hearing his voice, He Tianyun looked up, immediately stood up with a smile, and walked over to hand him the lock.

Zhu Man had no choice but to help him take the lock apart first.

It was the simplest kind of lock with only a few pieces. He had played with them before, so he took it apart in a few moves and handed it back to He Tianyun, saying, “There, go put it back together.”

Seeing it disassembled, He Tianyun happily cradled the wooden blocks and returned to the table to piece them together.

Only then did Zhu Man get up to wash. Halfway through washing his face, Hua Jian rushed over, her face full of guilt: “Miss, I… I…”

“Why are you here?” Zhu Man frowned and glanced at her foot. “Are you alright?”

Hua Jian nodded. “It was just a sprain. Dr. Xu set it for me and applied medicine. It’s fine now.”

“If you’re fine, then rest properly. Don’t let a minor issue turn into something serious,” Zhu Man said. “Either go back to your room or wait in the carriage.”

Hua Jian was still reluctant, but after a glare from Zhu Man, she left unwillingly.

After washing his face and changing clothes, Zhu Man sat before the mirror and began his grooming. Just as he picked up a brush, He Tianyun came over, leaning down to watch him curiously from the side.

Zhu Man naturally possessed feminine features, and in women’s clothing, he was truly androgynous—which was why he looked so much like his sister. Therefore, he wasn’t worried about being exposed. While drawing his eyebrows, he asked, “What is it?”

He Tianyun stared at him for a while. It wasn’t until Zhu Man began applying lip rouge that He Tianyun suddenly said: “I want it too.”

Zhu Man: ?

He looked at He Tianyun in confusion. “What do you want?”

He Tianyun immediately reached out, swiped a finger through the rouge in his hand, and tried to smear it on Zhu Man’s face.

Zhu Man dodged and frowned. “No.”

He Tianyun immediately became unhappy.

Zhu Man had no choice but to say: “How about I help you?”

He Tianyun shook his head. He leaned over, shoved Zhu Man aside with his backside, and sat down in front of the mirror. He rummaged through the table, found a box of rouge, took a dab, and imitated Zhu Man by trying to smear it on his own lips.

Zhu Man was instantly amused. He reached out to stop him and used the color remaining on his own fingertip to rub it onto He Tianyun’s upper lip.

Warm fingers brushed against soft lips, leaving behind a thin layer of color.

He Tianyun couldn’t help but press his lips together lightly, as if momentarily catching Zhu Man’s finger. But it was only for a fleeting second before he pulled back—so brief that Zhu Man didn’t have time to react, nor did he take it to heart, as he was focused on the color on the other’s lips.

He Tianyun’s features were sharp; a full application of bright red rouge would have looked feminine, but this slight, subtle hint of color actually brightened his complexion.

Zhu Man looked at him and nodded. “That’s good enough.”

He Tianyun turned to look into the mirror. He frowned for a while, looked at Zhu Man, then looked back at the mirror. In the end, he was still unsatisfied and still wanted to take the rouge from Zhu Man’s hand.

Zhu Man said helplessly, “Be good. It won’t look good if you put more on.”

He Tianyun remained displeased, grabbing Zhu Man’s hand and pulling it toward his lips.

Caught between laughter and tears, Zhu Man finally said, “Then how about I draw something else for you?”

Only then did He Tianyun stop and look at him.

Zhu Man took a handkerchief to wipe the color off the Prince’s hand, then rubbed a bit of rouge onto his own finger and pressed a red dot between He Tianyun’s brows.

He Tianyun turned to look in the mirror again and was finally happy. He stood up and ran outside, shouting as he went: “Nanny! Nanny!”

Like a child showing off.

Zhu Man smiled, packed up his things, washed his hands, and followed him out.

Du Pingniang was currently checking the items on the gift list. Her expression wasn’t very pleasant, but her tone remained gentle toward He Tianyun. Seeing him point to the red dot between his brows, she praised him with a smile: “It looks very nice.”

He Tianyun said happily: “The Princess Consort gave it to me.”

Du Pingniang could likely guess the reason, and her smile deepened. It wasn’t until Zhu Man approached that the smile at the corners of her eyes and brows faded slightly.

Seeing her strange expression, Zhu Man asked, “What’s wrong?”

Du Pingniang lowered her head and said softly, “A few items on the gift list don’t match. I’m ordering someone to replace them.”

Zhu Man took the gift list she handed him, looked at it, and smiled.

Likely because he had mentioned adding them to the betrothal gifts, Du Pingniang had selected many items that weren’t necessarily rare but held good symbolic meanings. It wasn’t hard to guess why such items—which were easy to sell and difficult to trace—would go missing.

Zhu Man glanced at Du Pingniang again. Seeing the embarrassment on her face, he understood.

He Tianyun was a fool; he couldn’t manage affairs and wouldn’t hold anyone accountable. Looking at the gold and silver treasures in the treasury, it was normal for the servants in the manor to feel greedy. While the Imperial Consort loved him, she couldn’t manage every single detail personally. These matters ultimately fell to Du Pingniang and Pan Fu. If they had truly managed things strictly, such things wouldn’t have happened.

But these matters were not for Zhu Man to manage—more accurately, he didn’t want to manage them. He only wanted to return home quickly.

He smiled. “Let’s just go like this.”

Du Pingniang hesitated. “But…”

“If we delay any longer, I’m afraid it will be past noon.” Zhu Man paused, glanced hesitantly at the smiling He Tianyun, and then sighed. “Take the Prince back.”

Du Pingniang was stunned. “Take the Prince back?”

Zhu Man nodded. “I can go by myself.”

Du Pingniang’s eyes dimmed, and she gave a very light sigh. “This servant understands.”

Zhu Man often saw this kind of expression on Zhu Man’s (sister) face. His heart felt a sudden sting, and he quickly added: “I didn’t mean it that way.”

Du Pingniang blinked in surprise.

Zhu Man sighed and explained, “My home is a bit of a mess. If he goes there, the Prince will likely be unhappy.”

Only then did Du Pingniang’s expression soften. She smiled and said, “When the Princess Consort returns to her maiden home, the Prince should naturally accompany her. You needn’t worry.” She saw that Zhu Man was still hesitant and added, “How about we ask the Prince’s…”

Before she could finish, He Tianyun, who had been standing beside her, had already scrambled onto the carriage. He poked his head out of the window and smiled at Zhu Man: “Princess Consort! Go out to play!”

Zhu Man: “…”

Looking at the smiling Du Pingniang and then at the excited He Tianyun, he sighed in resignation and followed them up.

Hua Jian had been waiting in the carriage for a long time. She looked very happy to see him, but since He Tianyun was present, she didn’t dare speak recklessly and only urged the driver.

The driver acknowledged the command and slowly drove the carriage away from the gates of the Prince’s Manor.

He Tianyun looked around excitedly, as if he truly believed they were going out to play.

Zhu Man explained to him: “We are going to my home today.”

“Home?”

Zhu Man nodded. “To see my father and my brother.” As he spoke, he suddenly let out a soft laugh. “I look very much like my brother. When you see him, you probably won’t be able to tell us apart.”

He Tianyun looked at him. “Brother?”

Zhu Man nodded. Just as he was about to say more, He Tianyun poked him in the face.

He chuckled and repeated once more: “Brother.”