“If the head of the family hadn’t reminded you that you would get angry, he would have given you all the profits,” Xiahou Ling said with a smile, patting her back as she saw her glare. “This is between you two siblings, and I wouldn’t dare to say anything. If you don’t want to accept it, just return it to him in person.”
At a time when money is scarce, Luo Cuiwei certainly wouldn't be pretentious enough to reject her brother's sincere offer. She could only smile and casually ask, "Who suggested bringing cash on such a long journey from the capital to Linchuan?"
That's way too arrogant.
Xiahou Ling looked around before whispering, "Someone is secretly plotting something. The patriarch said to avoid Songyuan if possible."
"The Huang family?" Luo Cuiwei frowned.
The Luo family has already given up the northern trade route, what more do they want?
“It’s not the Huang family,” Xiahou Ling shook her head. “We’re not sure yet, but you don’t need to worry about it. The family head and Young Master Fengming have already taken action.”
Hearing that there was a solution at home, Luo Cuiwei stopped asking questions and instructed Tao Yin to find someone to properly store the cartloads of goods. She also arranged accommodations for the two cooks before taking Xiahou Ling back to the house to talk.
Upon learning that Luo Cuiwei was pregnant, Xiahou Ling took a deep breath and smiled, her eyes crinkling. "No wonder I felt something was off about you earlier. I knew you weren't usually so impatient."
Luo Cuiwei rubbed her forehead, her smile a little awkward. "I don't know why, but my temper has been quite unstable these days. I'm always so irritable and prone to...making a scene."
It was quite difficult to restrain myself.
“Now that I’ll do the hard work for you, you don’t have to worry about offending people. Just stay home and do whatever you want.” Xiahou Ling patted her chest, showing great loyalty.
****
With Xiahou Ling by her side, Luo Cuiwei finally became a true hands-off manager, leaving everything else to Xiahou Ling to handle, except for using her brain and her mouth.
Lately, she has been feeling an uncontrollable anger rising in her heart, and she is afraid that she might actually do something outrageous. So she tries to go out less often. Apart from eating, she spends most of her time in her bedroom reading books and counting down the days until Yun Lie will return. At most, she will take a walk in the courtyard occasionally.
Strangely enough, as soon as she had some free time, her morning sickness symptoms became more and more severe, sometimes feeling as if she was about to vomit her heart, liver, spleen, and lungs.
She ate and vomited all day long, and even though the two chefs from the Luo family tried to prepare different nourishing dishes for her, her chin still became pointed at a rapid pace.
These days were already hard to endure, and by October 28th, three days had passed since Yun Lie had said ten days, and he still hadn't returned. Luo Cuiwei became even more restless.
In the past, no matter how worried Luo Cuiwei was, she would have kept quiet in front of others. But now that she is pregnant and has been suffering from severe morning sickness, she can't eat or sleep well, and it seems that her mind is not as sharp as before. At this time, no amount of reasoning will work.
Xiahou Ling handed her a jar of pickled plums in honey, coaxing her like a child, "Go take a nap. Perhaps His Highness will be back when you wake up."
As he spoke, he gave Tao Yin a wink, signaling her to make the bed and dry the blankets.
Luo Cuiwei also felt that her temperament had become much stranger than before. Unable to bear letting Xiahou Ling and Tao Yin suffer innocently any longer, she obediently carried the small white porcelain jar containing the honey-preserved plums back to her room.
Sitting on the tatami mat, he wrapped himself in a quilt, revealing only an uneasy face, staring blankly at the candlelight by the bedside, his heart surging with emotion.
****
At midnight in late autumn, the night in Linchuan was already getting quite cold.
When Yun Lie spurred his horse back, the night dew on his black cloak had already condensed into a thin frost.
Tao Yin was alert. Upon hearing the noise, she quickly put on her clothes and went out to investigate. When she saw that it was Yun Lie returning, she immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
Before she could speak, Yun Lie waved to her from afar, signaling her to go back to sleep, and then hurriedly headed towards his bedroom.
Tao Yin smiled and retreated into the room. Seeing that Xiahou Ling, who was sleeping in the same room, also had her eyes wide open, she whispered to Xiahou Ling, "We agreed to return in ten days. Now that we've stayed for three days, we might be kicked out by the Princess Consort later."
His tone even sounded somewhat gloating.
“I’ve noticed that Cuiwei has been holding back her temper these past few days. She’s probably just waiting for His Highness Prince Zhao to return before she feels comfortable causing trouble,” Xiahou Ling said with a muffled laugh as she lay back on the couch, one hand behind her head. “His Highness Prince Zhao will surely understand that it’s because she’s pregnant, right?”
Tao Yin smiled and shrank into her own bed, yawning, "When His Highness left, His Highness the Princess Consort only found out she was pregnant. Afraid of distracting him, she didn't tell him."
"He didn't know?!" Xiahou Ling exclaimed in surprise, turning over and sitting up, nervously scratching her head with her fingers. "Then I'm afraid I should go and remind His Highness to be more accommodating..."
She hadn't had much interaction with Yun Lie before, but she figured that since he had been on the battlefield for many years and was also a prince, he probably wouldn't be able to be gentle if Luo Cuiwei really treated him badly.
Since Ji Yunlie was unaware that Luo Cuiwei was pregnant, if they couldn't hold back and the two of them started fighting, things would get really bad.
Out of the corner of her eye, Tao Yin saw her about to get out of bed after lifting the covers, and she quickly stopped her in a low voice, "It's alright, you don't need to worry. His Highness always gives in, there won't be any arguments."
Although Tao Yin spoke with certainty, Xiahou Ling still couldn't put her mind at ease and strained her ears to listen intently to the sounds coming from the other side of the bedroom.
Before long, it turned out that her worries were completely unnecessary.
She even felt a little like laughing.
****
As expected, Prince Zhao, who was expected to return late, was kicked out of his bedroom.
The room was brightly lit by long candles, their flickering flames casting warm shadows.
Outside the door, however, lay a different, pitiful scene.
"Weiwei..." Yun Lie didn't bother to brush the frost off his shoulder and kept gently knocking on the door. "If you don't open the door, I'll kick it down."
He spoke forcefully, but his voice was low and mournful, and even his knocking was extremely gentle, as if he was afraid of startling the person inside.
"Try kicking me! I'll smash your dog's head in!"
His usually gentle voice suddenly turned fierce, but Yun Lie showed no anger whatsoever.
He sensed the lingering fear in her trembling voice and guessed how anxious she had been during the three days he had been late.
He thought for a moment, then resorted to a pleading tactic: "I haven't slept for over ten days... It's very cold outside..."
After a long silence inside, a voice rose, its tone tinged with heartache, and cried out, "Go sleep in the side room. Don't you dare knock again, or I'll break your legs!"