Red Envelopes

"Princess Consort, the Prince is in the room."

Hearing this, Yan Wanning hurried inside. Worried that she might fall, Xiao He called out, "Slow down, Princess Consort!"

After she went in, Yun Yin had the servants of the Duke's Household drag Chen Shi and her daughter out of Clear Autumn Pavilion. Duke Yan and his son could only follow helplessly.

Inside, Yan Wanning found Si Yunqi in the Bathing Room, where he was suffering the effects of a drug. He was soaking in a Bathing Tub filled with cold water, veins bulging on his forehead as he struggled to hold something back. As soon as she entered, he opened his bloodshot eyes, desire surging in them.

"Husband?"

Yan Wanning had just started toward him when his restrained voice came. "Wife, would you wait outside first? I'll be out in a little while."

"Be good, A Ning. Go outside first."

It had been all right when he couldn't see her, but now that he could, he was almost unable to control himself. She was pregnant and couldn't endure him in his drugged state.

Yan Wanning also knew the situation didn't permit her to stay long, but she couldn't bear to see him in such pain. She heard herself say in a trembling voice, "Let... let me help you, Husband. It should be all right if we're gentle."

"No!!"

Si Yunqi realized his tone had been a little harsh and softened his voice. "If you want to, Wife, we can do it another day. But no matter what, we can't today."

"Be good and wait outside for me."

Seeing that he was firmly opposed, and hearing what he said, Yan Wanning turned and walked out, embarrassed and annoyed. "I didn't want to!"

Si Yunqi watched her obediently leave, a smile curling the corners of his lips.

A quarter of an hour later, the physician arrived at Clear Autumn Pavilion in a great rush, dragging his medicine chest along to examine Si Yunqi.

Another quarter of an hour later, the physician left a prescription and departed. Yan Wanning had someone prepare the medicine and bring it to Si Yunqi. Not long after he took it, he returned to normal.

"Husband, let's go home. This place isn't nice at all."

Si Yunqi pulled her close and kissed her to his heart's content, only letting her go when her body had gone limp and her eyes were brimming with tears. Then he answered, "Mm, let's go home."

Having made their decision, the couple took their people and boarded the carriage back to the Prince's Residence. Afterward, Yun Yin brought them a piece of news.

Yan Wanwen was pregnant, and had been for two months.

It turned out that when the Duke's Household was about to carry out Yan Wanwen's punishment, she had inexplicably begun bleeding from between her legs. As luck would have it, the physician who had come to see Si Yunqi was passing by, so he went over and took her pulse. "This young lady is pregnant," he said.

At the time, Duke Yan and his wife looked terrible, but they weren't surprised. It seemed they had known all along.

"I didn't expect her to really get pregnant before marriage. I wonder who the child's father is." Yan Wanning lay in Si Yunqi's warm embrace, eating the Millet Cake he fed her and drinking hot tea. She was utterly at ease.

The thought that Yan Wanwen had tried to seduce her husband made Yan Wanning furious. Waving a little hand, she said, "No wonder they dared risk drugging you. If they'd succeeded, the child in her belly would naturally have become yours."

"Then they could have used it to force you to acknowledge the child and take Yan Wanwen as a concubine." Yan Wanning puffed out her cheeks and pinched his handsome face. "Luckily, she didn't get her way. Otherwise... hmph!"

Si Yunqi let her little hands wreak havoc on his face. He leaned over and stole a kiss from her puffed-out cheek, his large hand supporting her soft waist and protecting her slightly rounded pregnant belly. "Don't worry, Wife. That will never happen. I only like you."

Yan Wanning took another bite of chestnut cake, its sweet taste making her eyes curve with a smile. "Husband, I want Peach Blossom Cake."

Si Yunqi raised his brows slightly. Lately, the young Princess Consort seemed to be eating rather a lot. She had gone from throwing up everything she ate at the start of her pregnancy to having a much better appetite. Perhaps because she was pregnant, she was especially fond of sour and spicy foods.

"Wife, how about we have some later?"

"Why?" Yan Wanning looked at him in confusion. She wanted to eat it now.

"You've eaten so much. Can your little belly hold any more?" His large hand gently stroked her belly.

"I... have I eaten a lot?"

Surely she hadn't. She had only eaten two bowls of rice and gnawed on two chicken legs at the Duke's Household, then eaten a small plate of chestnut cake and drunk two cups of hot tea after boarding the carriage.

When she finished counting, Yan Wanning was stunned. Ordinarily, she couldn't eat nearly so much, yet now she had eaten all that in one meal.

"Husband, you mustn't misunderstand me. It was clearly the baby who was hungry and wanted to eat," she argued unreasonably, sticking out her little pregnant belly.

"Mm, you're right, Wife. It was the baby who was craving food. It had nothing to do with you." Si Yunqi humored her, then reached into a hidden pocket and took out two Red Envelopes, placing them in her hands. "Wife, may you have peace and happiness in the new year."

Delighted, Yan Wanning looked at the two Red Envelopes in her hands and opened them to find a thick stack of Thousand-Tael Banknotes inside. She leaned over and planted a kiss on his handsome face. "Thank you, Husband," she said sweetly. "But I'm not a child anymore."

Si Yunqi smiled gently. "Can't you have Red Envelopes just because you're not a child?"

"Then why are there two?"

He pointed at her little pregnant belly. "The other one is for the child."

Yan Wanning touched her belly. "Then I'll keep it for him and give it to him when he comes out."