The Beauties of the Song Dynasty - Chapter 82
"I'll go check on her, you go back to sleep." Carefully laying her down on the rather narrow couch, Zhao Defang got up, opened the carriage door, and leaned out to look at Lan Wen and Xuan'er, who had gotten out of the carriage sometime earlier. He asked, "What happened?"
Lan Wen turned around with a grin and said, "Your Highness, Lan Wu is back."
"So fast?" Zhao Defang raised his eyes to look at Lan Wu, who was leading a horse ahead, and smiled slightly. "Is everything arranged?"
Lan Wu lowered his eyes and bowed to his master, saying, "Your Highness, everything has been arranged according to your instructions."
"That's good, let's go."
"Wait!" Wanlan popped half her body out from beside him, looked up at Lan Wu in surprise, "Lan Wu? I was wondering why I haven't seen you for the past two days, what have you been up to?"
Lan Wu paused for a moment, glanced at her, then looked at Zhao Defang without saying a word.
Zhao Defang put his arm around Wanlan and stepped back into the car, instructing, "Continue on your way." He then closed the car door.
"Zehua, I'm asking Lan Wu a question!" Why did you carry her into the car?
"You'll find out what Lan Wu has been up to these past few days in a few days, no need to rush." Zhao Defang smiled and pressed her down on the couch. "I saw you were sleeping very well just now. You should be able to sleep a little longer after being woken up. It will be almost evening when we reach the next town, so there are still several hours left."
Wanlan tilted her head and looked at him, frowning. "Zehua, you're acting strange today. You seem to want me to rest, and you even want me to approve this stuff..." As she spoke, she tugged at her warm fur coat. She hadn't told him that she wasn't cold, but she was afraid he would worry, so she hadn't taken it off. "Is something wrong? And I suddenly feel that Lanwu seems a bit off too..." She couldn't help but think this way. Since she woke up after two months of slumber, Zehua would often fix his gaze on her and refuse to look away. The undisguised hesitation in his eyes made her sigh helplessly. And Lanwu, who was always as silent as air, seemed to have changed as well. He wasn't as taciturn as before, but why did she feel recently that he seemed to have returned to his old self?
Is she being too sensitive?
Zhao Defang chuckled and said helplessly, "You're overthinking it. The reason I want you to rest is because you weren't feeling well yesterday, and you're not much better today. Resting more is never a bad thing. We'll find a doctor to take a look at you when we reach the next town." He had originally planned to find a doctor for her at home yesterday, but he was afraid that she would worry and the trip would be delayed, so he had been planning since yesterday that he would find a doctor to take a look at her as soon as they left the capital and reached a town where they could stop.
Wanlan's brows furrowed even more. "I'm not sick, why would I see a doctor? I already said it's just that I'm not sleeping well, so don't worry, okay?" Zehua was becoming increasingly... paranoid? It seemed that the slightest disturbance would immediately trigger his heightened alertness. She really didn't know how to calm him down...
"Just to put my mind at ease, okay?" He smiled gently as he tucked the warm fur coat over her. "You said you wanted to go to Chang'an, but we'll be passing through Luoyang along the way. If you don't like that, we can take a detour."
"No," she chuckled, "There's no need to deliberately take a detour. I'm only a little averse to it because of my bad experiences with it before. Wouldn't it be better to take this opportunity to change those bad memories?"
"Then, you go to sleep. I'll wake you up when we get to the city."
It was that same cautious tone again, as if she were a porcelain doll.
Wanlan sighed, closed her eyes, and said no more.
Chapter 83
They arrived at Xingyang, which is under the jurisdiction of Zhengzhou.
Just as Zhao Defang had said, it was several hours later when the carriage entered the city. As dusk fell, Lan Wen found an inn, and the group stayed there that night.
Wanlan had just entered the room with Zhao Defang and hadn't even had a chance to eat or wash up when Lan Wu hurriedly led a doctor in. She glanced at the man beside her in astonishment and almost sighed, thinking, "This is too fast!"
Resigned to his fate, he sat down next to the person next to him, extended his right hand to the doctor with a long beard, and watched him stroke his beard and take his pulse. A smile gradually appeared on his serious face.
A moment later, he released Wanlan's hand and said with a smile, "Congratulations to you both. Madam is pregnant and has been pregnant for almost two months. I will prescribe some medicine to help with the pregnancy. Madam should rest and avoid overexertion."
"A...a positive pregnancy pulse?" Wanlan was dumbfounded. Although she had given birth to a son, she wasn't the one who got pregnant that time. Turning to look at the man beside her, she saw him smiling faintly as he instructed Lan Wu to follow the doctor to get the medicine. His calm expression made it seem as if he already knew she was pregnant.
"You knew all along?" she asked with a sigh. Why didn't she, the person involved, know? She really thought that her recent excessive sleepiness and frequent fatigue were entirely due to poor sleep.
Zhao Defang couldn't hide the bright light in his dark eyes, and his smile deepened. "I only had doubts, but now I'm certain." He pulled her into his arms and whispered earnestly in her ear, "Thank you, Wanlan." He didn't know that the arrival of this child would completely soothe her anxious heart, which had been filled with unease since she regained consciousness. In any case, with this child, he believed that Wanlan wouldn't risk doing anything that might change history. He finally had a legitimate reason to keep her by his side.
Thank God, since you are so merciful, you have entrusted Wanlan to me completely and will not take her away again.
“No wonder you kept saying you wanted to see a doctor before we left,” Wanlan said suddenly, leaning against him. Then she punched him in frustration. “Why didn’t you tell me? If you suspected I was pregnant, why did you bring me out?” She thought he would lock her at home until she safely gave birth.
Just as Zhao Defang was about to reply, Xuan'er knocked on the door and came in carrying a bowl of medicine, followed by a waiter carrying several side dishes.
"Sir, Madam."
"Okay, put it down and go back to rest." Zhao Defang responded casually, watching the waiter place the side dishes on the table. As the waiter turned to leave with a bow, he spoke up at the opportune moment, "Come back to clean up tomorrow, don't let anyone bother us."
"Yes, yes, please enjoy your meal, sir. I'll take my leave now."
After the room quieted down again, Zhao Defang pulled the woman in his arms, whose eyes were already closed, and walked her to the table. "If you want to sleep, eat something first."
She obediently sat down at the table, holding his hand tightly but refusing to let go, her curious eyes fixed on him. "Why did you bring me out after knowing I was pregnant? Do you know... uh, do you know what I'm going to do?" Did he know she was going to elope with him? Is that why he entrusted Xu'er to his mother so readily?
No, they were already husband and wife, so there's no question of them eloping.
Zhao Defang glanced at her with a half-smile, took the medicine and handed it to her. "I don't know what you want, but since you're leaving the capital, I'm bound to follow you. Taking you out for a walk was a promise I made long ago, and I don't intend to break it." He brought the medicine bowl to her slightly parted lips, successfully forcing her to take her words back. He smiled and said, "Drink the medicine first."
Wanlan frowned and gulped down the medicine in one go. Then she shivered violently and stuck out her tongue, exclaiming, "So bitter!" Is this really a pregnancy-preserving medicine? Will I have to drink this stuff every day from now on?
The bitter taste of the medicine filled Wanlan's mouth, making her feel nauseous. Zhao Defang, who was next to her, quickly picked up some vegetables and fed them to her. "Eating some vegetables will make it less bitter."
She chewed the food in her mouth until it was swallowed down with a bitter taste, then raised her head and looked at him seriously, asking, "Zehua, aren't we being selfish? Will you... miss Xu'er?" Xu'er was also her son, even though another woman had helped her conceive, he was the son she had endured so much pain to give birth to.
"He has his own path to follow, don't overthink it."
She had always thought so, but now—now that she was pregnant again—she suddenly felt guilty. Xu'er had been separated from his parents since birth, and now they had even abandoned him in the capital. Even if they couldn't be a part of his future, it was really...unfortunate that they had given him away to be raised by others when he was still so young.
"If one day we can settle down, let's bring Xu'er back to live with us and raise her, okay?"
They could dream of retiring smoothly from the court and finding a quiet place to live together in peace. In that time, there would be no royal family, no strife, no separation, and no death. They would never have to worry about these worldly matters.
Zhao Defang hugged her tightly without a sound.
They did desire stability, but... stability and freedom became increasingly distant for them after their uncle ascended to the throne...
Xingyang is located in north-central Henan Province and belongs to Zhengzhou. It has a strategic geographical location and is known as the "gateway between the two capitals and the throat of Shaanxi". It is a famous military stronghold.
Wanlan vaguely remembered seeing somewhere that Xingyang was the birthplace of the "Chu River and Han Border" in Chinese chess. However, what she cared more about was that Xingyang was the hometown of the famous poet Li Shangyin.
Wanlan loves history and classical poetry, and one of her favorite poets is Li Shangyin.