Doctor Sun thought for a bit and decided it was best for him to leave in order to not be an irksome third wheel, “This old doctor will go concoct some stabilizing pregnancy medicine!” Old man, wasn’t your excuse a bit thin ah? There were so many helpers in the pharmacy, so did you really think that they’d need a grand doctor in his sixties to help them out?

“Does it still hurt?” Zhu Junyang saw that an eyesore had tactfully left, so he hurried to sit next to his wife’s sickbed. He pulled at his wife’s small hand as he gently inquired after her condition.

“Hurts! My bones hurt and my chest hurts! The thing that hurts the most is my heart ah! I hurt for my baby. Baby is so small yet the father spurns it!” Yu Xiaocao wanted to pull her hand out of his, but her husband had a very gentle and firm grip on it. She was upset so she could only pout, like a little frog that was hopping with anger.

Zhu Junyang hurriedly put his right hand on her flat stomach as if he was afraid of startling the child within. He softly said, “Lord Father doesn’t dislike you! On the contrary, when I found out that you were here, the first feeling I had was joy and surprise. However, I was worried that your lady mother’s body was too weak to endure a pregnancy, so I said some hurtful words to your mother. If your lady mother wasn’t injured, then I would definitely have been very excited to see you come because you have the blood of both myself and your mother inside you…”

“Hmph! My little baby isn’t someone who would be easily fooled by sweet and honeyed words ah!” Her husband’s large hand made her stomach feel warm and cozy. She wasn’t sure if she just imagined it but she felt like the displeasure that was inside her stomach had slowly disappeared.

Zhu Junyang sensed that his wife’s attitude towards him was softening and hurriedly added on, “Why do you say I’m saying sweet and honeyed words? Look at my incredibly sincere and honest face! Don’t mention any little threes or illegitimate children anymore. This prince isn’t blind and has no interest in the shallow facade of rouge and powder, so how could they possibly catch my eye? This prince will only have you have my children…”

“I’d be a fool to believe your words! A man’s mouth, when he’s trying to coax a woman, always has a bunch of honey spread on it.” Yu Xiaocao acted as if she was conveying a great favor to him and gave him a look.

“How would you know if this prince has honey on his lips or not? How about you try a taste?” Zhu Junyang perked up and asked in a rascally manner.

“Get lost! Your brains must have been eaten by worms! What the heck do you want to do? I’m severely injured right now and I’m also pregnant with the baby…” Yu Xiaocao almost couldn’t take it anymore. When this man became ‘interested’, he was more relentless than the male protagonists in sexy romance novels.

Zhu Junyang muffled his laughter and lowered his head to kiss the corner of his wife’s mouth, “I only want to kiss you, that’s all. How is that in any way related to your fractured ribs and our unborn child? Your Highness, do you think you’re thinking too much?”

“Get lost!” The little lass’s embarrassment instantly morphed into rage. She twisted her head around and only allowed him to look at the back of her head.

“However, the ‘little three’ you speak of must be referring to an outside woman, right? Why is she called a ‘little three’ ah?” Zhu Junyang was the third son of his family and had been called ‘little three’ by his lady mother many times when he was young. When he thought of this, he panicked even more, ‘Was the little lass doing this deliberately?’

“Little three refers to the third party who has interfered in a married couple’s life. Marriage should only be between two people, so someone who tries to butt in naturally becomes the third party who has destroyed the harmonious and blissful relationship between a couple. Thus, ‘little three’ is a contemptuous way to refer to such a despicable person”.

Zhu Junyang nodded his head furiously, “Don’t worry ah! There will never be a third party appearing in our house. This prince will never allow anyone to destroy the relationship between us two!”

“Men, ah, always say the sweetest things but they all secretly desire to have the happy fate of the man from Qi who had his wife and numerous concubines living in harmony. Words are not enough. It’s the actions that matter! I’m pretty sure that after you were given the title of Imperial Prince Xu there were some people who tried to send some women to your residence or some beautiful maidservants. Am I right?” Yu Xiaocao glanced briefly at her husband. He had money, power, and was physically attractive. This type of ‘Mr. Perfect’ was the most troublesome to live with!

“There were ah!” Zhu Junyang noticed that the lass’s eyes had widened in fury and hurriedly continued to explain himself, “However, the people who tried to use crafty plots and machinations to destroy our relationship were all beaten to a pulp by this prince! Furthermore, I also put out the story that whoever tried to send people to this prince in the future, this prince would make sure to break their legs for them. After that came out, it became much more peaceful. Just look, you’ve been married to me for so long but have you ever seen any maidservants trying to sidle over to this prince? Before you married me, I only had male servants take care of me. If you don’t believe me, go ask Chief Steward Liu.”

“Hmph! Stop trying to fool me. I see the orioles and swallows fluttering around in the courtyard. Do you think I’m blind and can’t see them ah?” Yu Xiaocao coldly huffed and felt that this fellow wasn’t being obedient.

“Orioles and swallows? Where?” Zhu Junyang was perplexed. Was there someone who was trying to plot and destroy the relationship between him and his princess consort? In a moment, he realized what had happened, “Are you talking about the two maidservants named Ying’er and Yan’er[1]?”

When he saw Xiaocao lightly nod in reply, he hurriedly tried to explain, “You’re misunderstood ah! These two maidservants were especially brought over for you. They are similar to Chunhua and Qiushi and were sent there to protect you. I picked them out personally. When did you ever see them sidle over to my side?”

Now that she thought about it, she didn't think she ever saw them make any moves towards her husband. In addition, even when her husband wasn't around, those two maidservants didn’t try to hover around her either. She was right in that these two maids didn’t look like maids who knew how to serve people normally. Apparently, her husband had sent them over to protect her.

“Uh...I’m tired and I want to sleep for a bit.” Yu Xiaocao was a bit upset about her misunderstanding and decided to shamelessly close her eyes, pretending to sleep.

Zhu Junyang didn’t try to expose her trick and stroked her deathly pale little face as he gently said, “Go sleep ah, this prince will stay by your side.”

She had been imprisoned by the remnants of the previous dynasty and forced to refine the Prolonging Life Pills continuously. Thus, she hadn’t been able to rest well that entire time. Although the little divine stone’s elixir had pulled her back from the gates of hell, her body had been weakened for too long. The warmth from her husband’s palm and his familiar scent made her feel safe again. Before long, Xiaocao, who had been pretending to sleep, had actually fallen into dreamland.

Zhu Junyang looked at his wife’s dark circles, wan face, and almost colorless lips with a bit of distress. The desire to kill Eunuch Yuan rose again. However, killing the man would be too quick of an ending for that bastard. He needed to make sure the eunuch ‘fully enjoyed’ the endless pain and fright to come. Even the hope of death would become a fleeting dream for Eunuch Yuan. Only then would his hate be quenched.

Yu Xiaocao wasn’t allowed to sleep for very long before she was lightly roused. The preserving pregnancy medicine had just come off of the stove and if she didn’t drink it immediately, the medicine would lose its efficacy after it cooled down. Although Zhu Junyang didn’t want to wake her from her much needed sleep, he knew just how much she viewed their unborn child with importance. Thus, he reluctantly woke her and helped her take her medicine.

Hou Xiaoliang had come along with the horse carriage. Doctor Sun once again felt Xiaocao’s pulse and proclaimed that the pregnancy was now stable. Other than the fact that her body was on the weak side, he couldn’t sense any symptoms of the severe internal injury that the prince had talked about. The facilities at the medicinal hall were limited. If the princess consort was up to it, she could go back to the guest residence to recuperate.

Therefore, Yu Xiaocao began her life as a ‘pig getting fat’. Every day, she drank tonics and soups that were meant to nourish her body and replenish her blood. All sorts of precious medicinal soups went into her belly and she had taken the preserving pregnancy medicine for a full seven days. Zhu Junyang was worried about her condition and especially sent Hou Xiaoliang on horseback to speed back to the capital to bring a chef from the Medicinal Cuisine House over. That way, Xiaocao would have someone making nutritious foods for her everyday.

Consequently, when Yangliu found out that her mistress was pregnant and had also become hurt, she arranged to have her assistants take over the shops under her, gave her just weaned child to her husband and in-laws to take care of, and traveled to Jinling with Hou Xiaoliang.

When Yangliu arrived in Jinling and saw her mistress, who had become thinner, tears poured down her face. After she settled in and heard the harrowing story from Wutong, Yangliu immediately became gung ho and raring to get started. Her mistress had been so badly injured that she threw up blood, yet she still did her best to save a negligible maidservant's life at the brink of her own death. How could she not do her utmost best in serving her mistress with her heart and soul?

Although her mistress had almost completely recovered from her internal injury, she had still vomited up blood and her body had been hurt tremendously. The most dangerous part was that when her mistress had gotten injured, she was also pregnant with the future young master or miss...Yangliu became energetic and took out everything she knew about medicinal cuisine. Every day she made new dishes and tonics for her mistress to eat.

In actuality, with the elixirs that the little divine stone had brought back from the otherworld, it’d be as simple as snapping one’s fingers to bring Xiaocao back to full and complete health. In fact, Xiaocao had to ask it to not heal her completely. Instead, she was willing to slowly nurse her fractured ribs and weakened body with time and regular medicines.

After all, when she got injured, both Wutong and Chunhua had seen it happen. If she came back to health without a single thing wrong with her, it’d be hard to explain to others. However, she would have never expected that she had been pregnant at that time. Fortunately, her unborn child was safe and sound. Otherwise, she’d feel guilty for the rest of her life.

With Yangliu and Wutong carefully taking care of her and the addition of the elixirs and medicines, Xiaocao’s body recovered very quickly. Her previously thin face became full and bright again. After nourishing her weak body, her tender and fair cheeks became bright and rosy again.

As for her fractured ribs, it only took her a month of convalescence to have them fully heal. However, in order not to arouse the doubts of outsiders, she had been firmly forced by Zhu Junyang to lie in bed another month before she was finally allowed to leave.

The unborn child in her belly had been praised by his or her father for being obedient and sensible. Ever since the pregnancy had stabilized, Xiaocao didn’t feel the least bit indisposed by it. She didn’t have any of the symptoms that most pregnant women experienced. She was able to eat and drink whatever she wanted and sleep without any issues. If she had to point out something that changed, it mostly seemed like she had a larger appetite and was more sleepy than usual.

Yu Xiaocao and her husband waited until they were past the three month mark of her pregnancy, which meant she was out of the period of greatest danger, to pack their luggage and head back to the capital. By this time, the northern part of the country had already entered the season of snow.

They had left at the start of spring in the third month and were coming back during the start of winter at the twelfth month. After thinking things through, the two of them had actually been away from home for nine months. As the Clerk of the Capital of Grain, Xiaocao had accomplished what she set out to do. Fortunately, the research on the hybrid rice paddies in Jinling were well underway, so she could bring a promising report back to the emperor.

As an important minister at court, Imperial Prince Xu was in charge of the Xishan Barracks and Firearms Barracks. However, he had been gone for such a long time, so some of the officials at court were unhappy about this. This was because the leadership post at both the Xishan Barracks and Firearms Barracks were something that many people were eyeing covetously. Unfortunately, because of his incredible skill and strategy, no one had ever dared to try to snatch these positions away from the prince.

Incidentally, Imperial Prince Xu had ‘used official authority for his own private interest’ and had gone off to Jiangnan to travel with his princess consort for over half a year. Some people used the excuse that the Xishan Barracks and Firearms Barracks shouldn’t be without a leader to start causing trouble for him at court.

[1] Ying’er and Yan’er - These two maidservant's names mean oriole and swallow respectively.