"Just show your sincerity to her wholeheartedly without expecting anything in return. Treat her well for a few more months, then take another look. If by then she still has no interest in you, I will rearrange a marriage for you," Zhao Changdu said.
Huai An was determined not to give up on Yin Lan. "I understand!"
So what if she had a child and married a scumbag? As long as he was here, he would never let her live such a bitter life again.
He would learn from the Crown Prince and devote himself to treating his wife well, so Yin Lan could also taste what it was like to marry a reliable man!
Zhao Changdu's expression was indifferent as he prepared to return home. "Mmm."
Huai An blinked. "Sir, that's all?"
"That's all," Zhao Changdu said.
"The exclusive tips and tricks to wooing your wife. That's all there is?" Huai An asked.
The corner of Zhao Changdu's mouth hooked up slightly. Naturally there were other bedroom techniques, but it wasn't appropriate to tell this brat.
"I'll be going now."
"Hey, wait up, sir! Tell me more—" Huai An called out.
"Get lost!" Zhao Changdu yelled back.
Gu Ying and the kids were still waiting for him. He didn't have the patience to teach Huai An all that stuff.
Huai An pressed his lips into a line as he watched his master’s tall, straight back recede into the distance. He started to silently ponder how to treat Yin Lan well.
...
Inside the tent, Zhao Changdu took off his outer robe and long shirt, hanging them casually on a clothes rack. Although it was still early spring, he had specially arranged for charcoal to be brought in, worried that she would be cold.
Glancing at the little girl bundled under the quilt, he felt somewhat amused.
"Asleep?" he asked.
Gu Ying wasn't actually asleep at all. She had heard him come in and was just pretending, mumbling from under the covers, "Mmm, asleep."
"You can still talk in your sleep?"
"It's all sleep talk," she claimed.
Zhao Changdu chuckled softly, choosing not to expose her lie.
Gu Ying waited in bed for a while without hearing any movement from him getting in. She wondered if the Crown Prince had gone back out, but when she flipped open the quilt, she saw the man walking bare-chested towards the bed.
He wasn't wearing clothes...
She swallowed subconsciously, her gaze involuntarily falling on those firm, well-proportioned muscles. Her eyes slid lower to take in his powerful, sturdy waist and long legs, and...
He usually preferred to wear black robes that concealed what lay beneath. Even in the residence, he would wear plain white underclothes to bed at night. But here in the military camp, it turned out he had discarded those niceties.
His physique... was sculpted to perfection by supernatural forces, arresting her gaze so she couldn't look away.
Gu Ying felt her face grow hot, two patches of red rising to her ears.
She averted her eyes. "The spring chill remains. Ah Du, why aren't you wearing clothes?"
Zhao Changdu's features were sharp and dark, but his expression was calm and tranquil. He got into bed, lifting up the quilt. "My blood runs hot. I just took a bath, so I don't need clothes for now."
Back at the Duke's estate, he had been more restrained.
Now in the camp, the already not-so-big bed seemed even more cramped with him on it.
Gu Ying truly didn't know where to put her eyes. Her body was swiftly pulled into his embrace, pressed tightly against his chest.
His searing breath warmed the back of her neck. His large palms reached around her waist from behind, gently kneading her lower abdomen.
Gu Ying felt itchy. She grasped his wandering fingers in her small hand. "Hehe, Ah Du, don't touch there. It tickles."
"Gu Ying," the man's voice was low and somewhat hoarse. "How is your body feeling now?"
Gu Ying's cheeks burned. "Much better. I drank Yin Lan's medicinal soup, and my stomach doesn't hurt as much either. On the way here, I kept taking the nourishing pills Granny Yu gave me. They must have protected my baby, so even though my stomach felt uncomfortable the whole journey, I didn't miscarry."
Zhao Changdu nestled his face into the crook of her neck, satisfied as he kissed her snow-white nape that gave off a delicate fragrance.
"Mm. That's good. If anything feels off with your stomach, you must tell me. Don't try to endure on your own if something comes up. You're a married woman now. I'm not just here for show—I am your pillar of support."
His words warmed her heart sweetly, like swallowing honey. Although Gu Ying didn't fully see him as her pillar yet, hearing that still made her feel blissful.
She blinked her eyes and asked, "Ah Du, do you want our child to be a boy or a girl?"
Zhao Changdu said gently, "Boy or girl, as long as you birth the child, I will like it."
He had once been someone who lost his mother early on and never enjoyed a father's protection. Now with a child of his own on the way, it felt like he was slowly gaining a family of his own.
In the future, with him here, he would never let Gu Ying and their children suffer hardships alongside him.
He wanted Gu Ying to become the luckiest little girl in all of Dongli.
The camp couldn’t compare to the Duke’s estate. The charcoal in the brazier crackled and popped.
Gu Ying quietly nestled in the man's arms, reminded of her past life where, no matter what, she had not managed to keep this child. That horrifying blood pouring from inside her body, her despair, helplessness, and fear...
In Jiang Yin's coldness, she lost the first and last child of her life.
Gu Ying's heart ached unbearably. Thinking of that child made her heart sting sharply. The harder it was to obtain something, the more fearful she became of losing it...
She shuddered lightly, one hand clutching her abdomen protectively. In her mind, she chanted to herself—There’s still seven or eight months. You must survive, little one. Mother wants to meet you...
Zhao Changdu no longer jostled her. Hearing her muffled sobs, he turned her around to face him. His large hand propped up her little face as his sword-like eyebrows drew together, troubled at seeing the teary mist in her eyes. "Why are you crying?"
Gu Ying gave a teary laugh and buried her face in his embrace, circling both arms around his waist. "Just feeling emotional for this child, thinking how hard it's been just to keep it alive."
Zhao Changdu stroked her slender back with some exasperation. "In the future, with me here, no one will dare harm a single hair on you mother and child."
With tears glittering in her eyes, Gu Ying's lips quirked up at the corners. She knew the Crown Prince would protect her and their baby wholeheartedly.
She was incredibly grateful for this second chance at life, and even more grateful that she had not chosen the wrong man again.
She wanted Jiang Yin to regret it, and she wanted him to watch with his own eyes as she protected this child!
Gu Ying circled the man’s firm waist and back. Her hand accidentally brushed over a scar, making her heart tighten. "Ah Du, is this that arrow wound?"
Zhao Changdu glanced indifferently at it. "Mm. But it has healed now, so Gu Ying needn't worry."
How could she not worry? This was Jiang Yin's doing!
Gu Ying flipped the quilt off regretfully and sat up, squinting to inspect the scar on his lower abdomen in the dim lamp light. Her small hand gently traced its edges as she murmured, "So the wound was here. The intelligence from court said you were shot in the chest. I was so scared back then... terrified that something might happen to you..."
Zhao Changdu said lazily, "Silly girl, don't underestimate your husband so easily."
