Qin said decisively, “Of course it’s possible!”
Gu Ying thought for a moment and said, “That man is called Shen Munian. He should now be a beggar around forty years old, wandering on the outskirts of Bianjing. Auntie, help me find him in secret and bring him to the Ye manor to hide him. Then spread the word that the Censorate wants to find a martial arts teacher with a big reputation and average skills for A Ning.”
Qin didn’t ask further. Whatever Gu Ying asked her to do, she would do it. She sent people to find Shen Munian that very day, and also urgently prepared the Qinghe Garden from top to bottom.
Ye Zhuohua was holding a book, “happened to pass by” the Qinghe Garden, and craned his neck to look inside. “What’s going on here? It’s so noisy.”
Qin pushed him away in disgust. “Don’t get in the way here. Can’t you see I’m preparing the yard for A Ning?”
Ye Zhuohua frowned. “A Ning?”
“That’s right! A Ning is coming to live here soon! What do you think, are you happy?”
“Wife, you’re not daydreaming, are you?”
“Damn old fogey!”
Ye Zhuohua could no longer focus on reading. He found a rattan chair in the corridor and sat down, watching the servants coming and going busily. The usually composed Ye Imperial Censor became anxious, standing up several times. “Wife, is A Ning really coming? When is he coming? Did he say he wanted to come himself? Or is he coming with A Ying?”
Qin glared at him. “Ye Imperial Censor, use your brain to think carefully. A Ying is the Eldest Prince’s wife, and she’s pregnant. How could she possibly come live in our Qinghe Garden? Of course it’s only A Ning coming.”
Ye Zhuohua's face lit up with joy. “Then I’ll move my bookshelves over now and prepare them for A Ning.”
Qin snorted angrily. “What kind of uncle are you? Your nephew is coming to live here, not to read your crappy books. He’s still a child. Just spoil him and let him eat, drink, and have fun. Don’t move your crappy books here, it's inauspicious.”
“How can you call them crappy books? Those were passed down by my father, and some were read by his mother! And you, what kind of aunt puts all the knives and axes from your stockade here in this yard?”
“Damn you!”
What answered Ye Zhuohua was the big chopper that Qin had brought with her from the mountain stockade when she married out.
Ye Zhuohua touched his black hair that had almost been shaved off. “Thanks wife for going easy on me.”
Qin snorted lightly and turned back to continue busying herself in the yard.
After everything was ready, the couple drank happily that night out of joy, then went back to their room for deep conversation many times.
...
Gu Ying took care of a big issue pressing on her mind, then went back to Wanli Pavilion to tell A Ning.
A Ning didn’t say it was not good, he just looked at her very calmly. “Will you come to see me?”
“Of course.”
“Okay.”
The boy of few words sat quietly on a wheelchair made of wood, flipping through the Four Books and Five Classics.
His unexpressive manner was like he had learned it from the Eldest Prince.
Gu Ying bent down and rubbed his head, wanting to tease him to make him behave more like a boy his age, but A Ning only turned his face and looked at her gently and calmly.
Gu Ying’s fingers stiffened slightly. Only then did she realize it would probably not be so easy for her brother’s disposition to become cheerful again.
She sighed softly in her heart. In her previous life, her brother had died quietly buried in the snow on the winter day she married out. Now that he was alive and could grow up safe and sound, what more could she ask for?
“Keep reading your books. I’ll have delicious food made for you.”
“Okay.”
After Gu Ying left, A Ning stared at his sister’s back, his tightly clenched five fingers slowly relaxing.
He thought there was nothing bad about going to live at uncle Ye Zhuohua’s place.
At uncle's home, at least no one would look down on him for being a cripple.
...
Once everything was ready, the sun set in the west, and all the noise settled into darkness.
Gu Ying asked Baiyan to wait at the drooping flower gate in the front yard to see when the Eldest Prince came back.
Today at court, His Majesty held a discussion of merits to grant rewards. The Eldest Prince Yueyang and his party deserved credit for providing disaster relief, but they would probably only come back after socializing since the banquet to honor merits. Cousin doesn’t like socializing, so he had declined attendance on the excuse of illness. But as the foremost contributor of merit, His Majesty had summoned the Eldest Prince by name, so he couldn’t decline.
Zhou Yan should also have received a promotion this time. I wonder if he has discussed the marriage with his family?
When we were in Yueyang, Ning Si had directly revealed her pregnancy to Ning Grandpa. Ning Grandpa was furious on the spot and almost fainted from anger. He questioned her harshly on the identity of the man responsible.
At that time, Zhou Yan very responsibly admitted he was the father of Ning Si’s child.
He only said that the two of them had met once before the plague fully erupted in Yueyang. They thought Yueyang City would be completely destroyed by the plague, so that night, they couldn’t help but secretly taste the forbidden fruit...
They didn’t expect that one night would lead to her bearing his child.
After listening, Ning family grandfather stared furiously at the kneeling pair of man and woman for a long time before he finally calmed down. The child was already conceived in Ning Si’s belly. She was a delicate girl. If they forcibly terminated the child, she might not even survive. So for the moment, as grandfather, he could only protect his granddaughter.
Zhou Yan was also stubbornly unwilling to let Ning Si suffer.
In the end, Ning grandfather had no choice but to explicitly order that no one in the Ning family who knew about this could speak of the matter.
He personally wrote a letter to be sent to Ning Si’s parents in Bianjing, telling them to find a way to facilitate the imperial family annulling the marriage no matter what. As for Ning Si’s pregnancy, it could only be concealed for the time being.
After Prince Duan annulled the engagement, they should quickly marry Ning Si to Zhou Yan.
Gu Ying was worried about too many things. Han Lin still hadn’t been captured and would inevitably become a hidden danger sooner or later. She also had to worry about Gu Shuang and Fu Xunzhi, as well as Zhou Yan and Ning Si.
Most importantly, when she woke up this morning, she had a flash of inspiration and suddenly remembered a book she saw in Jiang Yin’s study in her previous life. He had protected it very carefully, specially storing it in a hidden compartment in the study. She had only accidentally caught a glimpse of it once, but remembered that the book cover showed several medicinal herbs and was titled Miscellany of Medicine.
As someone burdened with affairs of state day and night, Jiang Yin was not someone who had time to study medicine, much less delve deeply into medical principles.
Previously she hadn’t thought too much of it, but this morning, she finally realized Jiang Yin’s proficiency with poisons was probably thanks that book.
Moreover, she would occasionally get headaches after getting pregnant. Ordinary doctors also couldn’t provide any diagnosis. It made her somewhat worried that Jiang Yin had already secretly poisoned her.
As she caressed her belly, she thought it more and more likely the more she pondered it, and her headache grew worse.
Yin Lan came in carrying hot water, and upon seeing her sitting at the edge of the luohan bed massaging her forehead, came over worriedly. “Wife, your head hurts again?”
“Mm...” Gu Ying pressed both hands to her temples. When not thinking about Jiang Yin she felt fine, but once she did, she couldn’t stop the incessant throbbing pain that also made the area around her eyes tense up painfully.
“Let this slave first apply hot compresses for wife, then call over Yu Gu later to take a look.”
“Forget it, no need for Yu Gu to come look. Call another doctor over instead...”
