Chapter Forty-Six

Yan Shi Ning stared at her stomach.

Yan Shi Ning rubbed her stomach like a fool. ‘I’m pregnant?’

‘It explains why you’ve been tired lately,’ Pei Jin said.

Yan Shi Ning thought she couldn’t be pregnant that soon. She wondered if hers and Pei Jin’s child was inside her.

Yan Shi Ning’s stomach didn’t look like it changed but she felt a strange change. ‘Pei Jin, should I give birth to this child?’

‘What?’ Pei Jin asked.

‘Princess Kang Hua and the empress used Fu Gui to poison me because they hoped I would die pregnant… wait, something’s not right. Pei Jin, I remembered something. Pei Jin, when I was at the Yan Manor I asked Princess Kang Hua about it and her reaction was strange…’

‘Shi Ning, are you saying that someone else poisoned you?’ Pei Jin asked.

Yan Shi Ning nodded her head.

‘Who?’ Pei Jin asked.

‘Yan Shi Ting gave me the incense sticks,’ Yan Shi Ning said. ‘She said the empress gave them to her. It can’t be the empress. Princess Kang Hua and the empress are fishes in the same net. If the empress wanted to kill me then the empress wouldn’t hide it from Princess Kang Hua.’

Yan Shi Ning couldn’t believe there was someone else behind Princess Kang Hua and the empress who wanted to kill her.

Pei Jin held Yan Shi Ning’s hand. But his eyes saddened, he thought of who else would want to kill her.

Pei Jin thought if Princess Kang Hua didn’t try to kill Yan Shi Ning then it could also be possible the empress didn’t kill Consort Chen. But Bei Dou said Fu Gui was rare and hard to make so an ordinary person couldn’t possess Fu Gui.

Pei Jin’s heart constricted, he had followed the wrong suspect for a long time. He wondered who could have such a cruel heart to make him suffer for many years. The cruel hearted person he thought of was his father and his back turned cold.

‘Pei Jin, what are you thinking?’ Yan Shi Ning asked.

‘I think perhaps it’s imperial father who killed Consort Chen and who also tried to kill you,’ Pei Jin said.

Yan Shi Ning’s heart ached for Pei Jin. She had never seen him that sad before. She knew the emperor was cold toward Pei Jin. But if the emperor was the culprit then the emperor wanted Pei Jin to lose his wife and child. It meant the emperor held a big grudge against Pei Jin.

Pei Jin didn’t fight for or requested anything from the emperor. Yan Shi Ning thought if it truly was the emperor then it would be no different from the emperor using a dagger to cut Pei Jin into small pieces. She didn’t care about her chest injury, she sat up, hugged Pei Jin and kissed his lips.

‘Pei Jin, it’s alright,’ Yan Shi Ning said. ‘You don’t need to think about it anymore. You still have your little lion and a little lion cub here with you.’

Pei Jin felt like he was falling into an abyss. But Yan Shi Ning hugged him, kissed him and saved him from the abyss. He buried his head on her neck and greedily stole her warmth.

Pei Jin’s father had been cold toward him since he was a child and in the palace only Consort Chen gave him a little warmth. Consort Chen’s death when he was a twelve-year-old made him felt the world around him darkened. Then his teacher took him out of the palace to Xuan Qing. In his darkest period a little girl entered his dark tunnelled heart and into his world.

Pei Jin remembered clearly the first time he saw Yan Shi Ning. Her hair was messy, her dark eyes, her messy dress and her chubby arms. She clearly was a naive little girl but acted wise and tough. After she knew he was teasing her, her face puffed like a lion’s mane and she widened her eyes like she wanted to jump onto him to bite him. In that moment he thought she looked like a provoked little lion… his little lion. It didn’t matter if she was in Xuan Qing or in the imperial city acting like a gentle lady, she was still his little lion. No one forced him to love his little lion, his heart willingly loved her deeply.

At the beginning Pei Jin thought it was amusing to tease the naive Yan Shi Ning. She was the only one in his life who laughed and ignored him at will. He didn’t know why later his heart slowly changed. After the emperor betrothed him to Lady Yewu, he didn’t feel anything. But after Lady Yewu died, his heart felt relieved and missed the little lion who was living in Xuan Qing. He thought his little lion would have matured.

Pei Jin wasn’t certain if he volunteered to go help prevent serious flooding in Xuan Qing to avoid the palace battles or if he only wanted to see Yan Shi Ning. He could have stayed at a villa in Xuan Qing but he ran to his teacher’s house that was next to Yan Shi Ning’s house and during the nights he would wake her up and force her to pour tea for him. He thought it would be good if she was always by his side even if she gritted her teeth and glared at him, he was willing for her to become an adult then he would marry her.

Pei Jin first thought about marrying Yan Shi Ning six years ago, but he buried that thought. He was a prince and his father wouldn’t allow him to marry her as his official wife. He didn’t want her to lower herself and be his second wife and her personality didn’t suit the palace.

After Pei Jin travelled to Southern Jiang, he found out Yan Shi Ning’s mother died and she moved to the Yan Manor. He sent some of his guards to secretly gather news about Yan Shi Ning at the Yan Manor. His guards reported to him that Yan Shi Ning’s status in her family prevented her from finding a suitable husband and it made him happy. He planned after he finished his duties in Southern Jiang he would return to the imperial city and marry her. But before he finished his duties he received news about the crown prince and Yan Shi Ting and he immediately ran back to the imperial city… he wasn’t going to allow seventh brother to marry his little lion as a concubine.

Pei Jin knew Yan Shi Ning only showed her real self to him like how he only took off his mask in front of her.

Pei Jin nibbled Yan Shi Ning’s earlobe and whispered in her ear. ‘Wife, it’s the middle of the day but you miss your husband this much? Perhaps you want to do it with your husband.’

Yan Shi Ning wanted to console Pei Jin but after he whispered nonsense in her ear, she pushed him away from her. ‘MF Pei Jin!’

Yan Shi Ning forgot about her chest injury, overexerted herself and her face whitened.

‘Shi Ning, are you alright?’ Pei Jin asked.

‘My chest hurts,’ Yan Shi Ning said. ‘My stomach hurts. My whole body hurts.’

Pei Jin ran outside to call Bei Dou.

Bei Dou gave Pei Jin a bottle of pain relief cream. Pei Jin ran to the bed and gently rubbed the cream on Yan Shi Ning’s chest wound. After she fell asleep, Pei Jin ran outside to ask Bei Dou about her pregnancy.

‘When will my wife’s chest wound heal?’ Pei Jin asked.

‘Two months,’ Bei Dou said.

‘Do I need to refrain from doing it with my wife while she’s pregnant?’ Pei Jin asked.

Bei Dou nodded his head.

‘When is it safe for me to do it with my wife?’ Pei Jin asked.

Bei Dou blushed but he realised it was a good opportunity to take a little revenge on Pei Jin. It was Pei Jin’s fault for turning into someone with a missing brain.

‘Fu Qing is a good place,’ Bei Dou provoked. ‘After your wife gives birth, her body needs time to recover. You can either choose to endure for a year or…’

Pei Jin angrily strode back to the bed while Bei Dou smiled… indeed ten years wasn’t too late for a gentleman to take revenge. Bei Dou knew it was safe for a husband and wife to do it together after the first three months of pregnancy but he wasn’t a fool to tell Pei Jin the truth.

Bei Dou was about to return to his chamber, but he bumped into the ‘calm’ maid.

‘Gentleman Bei, have you been to Fu Qing?’ Xiao Tu asked.

‘No!’ Bei Dou lied.

‘Then why did you say Fu Qing is a good place?’ Xiao Tu asked.

‘I heard it was a good place,’ Bei Dou lied.

Xiao Tu nodded her head. ‘I knew Gentleman Bei wouldn’t go to a place like Fu Qing.’

‘That’s right,’ Bei Dou said.

Bei Dou wouldn’t have gone to Fu Qing if Pei Jin didn’t force him.

‘I heard the food there is expensive,’ Xiao Tu said. ‘Gentleman Bei is a frugal person. Of course Gentleman Bei wouldn’t go there to eat expensive food.’

‘How am I frugal?’ Bei Dou asked.

Xiao Tu’s hand gestured at Bei Dou’s clothes. ‘Gentleman Bei, you wear the same black clothes every day throughout a year.’

Bei Dou was speechless. Who said he wore the same black clothes? He bought new clothes every year except it was the same colour and design.

***

Short Side Story Two

Gentleman Su: Is that you Bei Dou? Why are you free to visit me today?

Bei Dou looked at the ceiling.

Gentleman Su: Did you come to buy the same black clothes?

Bei Dou: I… want to choose a different colour and design.

***

End of Chapter Forty-Six

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