The court was dismissed for a day during the Lantern Festival, coinciding with the happy betrothal of Ning Zi Zhuo and Yu Xin Yi.

Yu Ling Xi changed into ordinary attire to leave the palace. Just as she entered the main gate of the Yu residence, she saw Ning Zi Zhuo carrying two flapping wild geese in his hands, stepping lightly amid flying feathers, gleefully coming to propose and set a date.

The young Marquis was two or three years younger than Yu Xin Yi, carefree and without worries all day, so even though he had come of age, he still retained that clean and radiant youthfulness from when they first met at the spring hunt.

Yu Xin Yi, in fiery military attire, strode over amid the squawking of chickens and geese, saying in exasperation: “Ning Zi Zhuo, what are you up to again?”

“Getting engaged,” the young Marquis proudly presented the wild geese tied with red silk flowers. “I caught these geese myself and raised them all winter, just for today. For you!”

Ordinary families had an old custom of presenting wild geese as betrothal gifts, symbolizing lifelong fidelity and never parting.

But families of higher status would usually use gold and silver to craft a pair of goose-patterned vessels, or at worst spend a few silver coins to buy a pair from the market. It was rare to see someone like the young Marquis personally catching geese for a betrothal gift.

“It’s commendable that the young Marquis is so thoughtful. Shouldn’t the future Marchioness quickly accept?” Yu Ling Xi teased from the side with a smile.

Yu Xin Yi had no choice but to take the geese and put them in a cage, whereupon the world suddenly became quiet. Though she complained, the joy in her eyes couldn’t deceive anyone.

In the time it took to eat a meal, the two families happily settled the arrangements, setting the wedding date for the tenth day of the fourth month.

At dusk, a low-key, spacious carriage stopped at the steps of the Yu residence.

Yu Ling Xi heard the commotion and came out, indeed seeing Ning Yin’s cold, pale, handsome face behind the half-raised curtain.

“Have you finished everything?” Ning Yin leaned toward her, asking casually: “Aren’t you afraid of disappointing your father and brother on the Lantern Festival?”

“How could that be? You’re not only the ruler of the country but also my husband,” Yu Ling Xi corrected him.

She knew that Ning Yin had little emotional attachment to “family,” and participating in family banquets, in his view, was merely a waste of time that could be spent alone with her.

After a moment’s hesitation, Yu Ling Xi smiled and said: “Wait for me a moment.”

She returned to the Yu residence and came out shortly with a food box, bending to enter the carriage.

The carriage slowly moved toward the market.

In a slight swaying, Yu Ling Xi placed the food box on the table and opened the top layer: “This is milk custard cake, personally made by Mother.”

Opening another layer revealed black porcelain dishes with six colors of exquisite pastries.

“These are the celebratory fruits given at the betrothal of Ning Zi Zhuo and Sister.”

Yu Ling Xi spoke knowledgeably as she opened the last layer, which contained two steaming bowls of rice balls.

“On the Lantern Festival, one must eat rice balls for reunion and completeness.”

Yu Ling Xi, with eyes full of smiles, gave Ning Yin a bowl.

Even if he couldn’t understand family happiness, she would share her joy with him.

Ning Yin didn’t particularly like sticky foods, but he ate this bowl of osmanthus-sprinkled rice balls methodically and completely.

The carriage drove for about half an hour, and the lights hitting the curtains became increasingly bright and clear.

Looking out, a clamor of fiery light rushed toward them—they had arrived at the wall of the lantern market. As far as the eye could see, ten miles of flowing light illuminated the century-old prosperity of the capital city, unchanged through the years.

Yu Ling Xi and Ning Yin had promised each other a lantern-viewing night tour for two lifetimes; after many hardships, today it was finally realized.

“Wait, the lantern market is crowded with many eyes; put this on first.”

Yu Ling Xi took out a half-Nuo opera mask she had prepared and held it up to Ning Yin’s face.

When the black half-mask covered those beautiful upturned eyebrows and eyes, it seemed to overlap with that boy who had once been forced to be a human stool—the embarrassment before the capital city still vivid in memory.

That should be a memory Ning Yin wouldn’t want to touch upon. Yu Ling Xi suddenly hesitated for a moment and said imperceptibly: “I’ll have someone exchange it for a different one…”

Before she could finish, Ning Yin grasped her hand and said: “What are you afraid of?”

Yu Ling Xi said frankly: “Afraid you won’t like it.”

Ning Yin laughed and reached out to pinch the side of her neck. He had always been cold-hearted and wasn’t so fragile.

Moreover, whatever Sui Sui gave him, even if it were a red-hot branding iron, he would wear it.

Seeing that Ning Yin truly didn’t mind, Yu Ling Xi straightened up and helped him secure the mask.

To make it easier when tying the string, she leaned in slightly, the soft warmth of her chest pressing against Ning Yin’s nose.

The corner of his lips moved as he nuzzled the area around her collarbone with his straight, noble nose.

The contrast between warm breath and cool nose tip was distinct and ticklish. Yu Ling Xi’s hand trembled, almost tying a dead knot. She hurriedly tied it haphazardly and stepped back to glare at him.

Ning Yin acted as if nothing had happened, extending his long, strong fingers to straighten the half-crooked mask.

The streets and markets were densely packed, with various lanterns hung in strings, from fruits to animals, everything imaginable. There were also lantern boats breaking the water’s surface, shuttling between the rivers and canals of the capital, extraordinarily gorgeous.

Yu Ling Xi carried an orange lantern in one hand and held a newly bought candied haw in the other, taking a bite and frowning at the sourness.

Indeed, the night market was chaotic, and these snacks were deceptive.

She suppressed her mischievous thoughts, glanced at the man walking beside her with his hands behind his back, and smiled as she offered him the candied haw: “Would you like some? It’s very sweet.”

Ning Yin’s gaze fell on the translucent, crimson hawthorn, and he tilted his head, bent down, and took a bite from her hand, chewing it thoroughly.

His eyes below the mask holes were half-closed, looking quite pleased.

Strange, could it be that the one he ate wasn’t sour?

Yu Ling Xi, not giving up, also took another bite, immediately shuddering from the sourness.

Then she realized that Ning Yin couldn’t handle spicy food, but his tolerance for sourness was particularly strong.

As Ning Yin was about to bend down for another bite, Yu Ling Xi held the candied haw further away: “Don’t eat anymore; I tricked you. This thing is so sour it makes your teeth ache.”

Ning Yin looked quite unconcerned: “It’s acceptable, much better than those poisoned ones.”

She remembered Ning Yin saying that when he was young, confined in the Cold Palace, he had been lured with meat and maliciously fed poison.

“Perhaps if Sui Sui fed me with her mouth, it would be sweeter,” Ning Yin pointed at his lips, his suggestion very obvious.

He was devoted to smearing things like cherry sauce and hawthorn jam on Yu Ling Xi’s lips, then slowly and deeply savoring them clean.

Yu Ling Xi was still concerned about his childhood poisoning, looked around, and hooked his finger, lowering her voice: “I’ll feed you when we get back.”

So Ning Yin smiled with satisfaction, taking the candied haw from her hand and crunching it.

He was not a person who liked to reminisce; acting pitiful and playing the victim was only because he liked the softness and sympathy she inadvertently revealed.

How could Yu Ling Xi not know his little thoughts?

She secretly glanced at Ning Yin’s upturned lips, her eyes also dancing with scattered smiles.

The two walked shoulder to shoulder slowly until the end of the long street.

After returning to the palace, it was already midnight. The orange-yellow lantern was placed on the low cabinet by the bed, dimly illuminating two silhouettes within the bed curtains.

With a clang, a jade-green porcelain dish was knocked over, and hawthorn jam stained the gauzy clothing by the bed.

…

Not long after returning from the Lantern Festival, Yu Ling Xi’s body began to feel somewhat strange.

There were no major symptoms, just sensitivity to cold, drowsiness, and a lack of energy for anything.

On this day, the imperial physician came to check her pulse as usual, and from behind the gauze screen made a small “oh,” then asked: “Forgive this old minister’s offense, but is Your Majesty’s monthly cycle regular?”

With the physician’s reminder, Yu Ling Xi remembered that her monthly flow hadn’t come this month and was delayed by several days.

“Your Majesty’s pulse moves like a pearl rolling on a plate, it’s unmistakably a pregnancy pulse!”

The old physician confirmed several times before lifting his robe to kneel, saying, “Congratulations to Your Majesty on this great joy!”

Truly a tremendous joy!

Hu Tao’s eyebrows nearly flew to the sky as she and the palace maids hurriedly knelt together, saying in unison: “Congratulations to Your Majesty on this great joy!”

Yu Ling Xi instinctively placed her palm over her belly, thinking in bewilderment: She was going to be a mother?

Ning Yin would always clean up very thoroughly each time, and she would fall asleep with peace of mind, not knowing which time had a flaw, allowing this little life to find an opportunity.

It was somewhat unexpected but mostly joyful.

This was her child with Ning Yin, a continuation of their bloodline.

“I have just conceived; wait until the pregnancy is stable before announcing it to the world,” Yu Ling Xi said with a smile, instructing Hu Tao, “Go get some yearly allowance for snacks; everyone will be rewarded.”

When Ning Yin rushed back from Floating Light Palace, Yu Ling Xi was reclining on a beauty couch, ordering attendants to report the happy news to the Yu residence.

Seeing Ning Yin enter, she immediately sat up, expectantly asking: “You already know?”

Ning Yin’s great cloak was dusted with frost and snow. He looked at her abdomen for a long time before giving a deep “Mm.”

Yu Ling Xi finally noticed that something was wrong with him. In those dark, deep eyes, there wasn’t a trace of anything resembling joy or surprise.

Although Ning Yin was always like this, making it impossible to guess his inner thoughts, at a time, showing no emotion on his face made one worry.

“What’s wrong, Ning Yin?”

Yu Ling Xi took Ning Yin’s hand, looking up and saying, “You and I are going to be parents; it’s a joyous occasion, you should smile.”

His finger joints were strong and slightly cool, with handsome blue veins slightly protruding on the back of his hand, demonstrating his power of life and death.

Ning Yin removed his cloak and tossed it aside, sat beside Yu Ling Xi, and then very slowly, very slowly embraced her.

He held her so tightly, as if afraid of losing something.

Feeling his silent, surging emotions, after a while, Yu Ling Xi turned around lightly but firmly, looking directly into Ning Yin’s deep eyes: “What are you worried about, Ning Yin?”

Ning Yin’s thin lips parted slightly, saying languidly: “It carries my blood.”

“Yes,” Yu Ling Xi nodded. “It is the union of us, naturally carrying our blood.”

“It will torment you.”

Before birth, it would consume blood essence; after birth, it would demand milk. If it were like the Ning family, carrying the dirty blood of beasts, then when grown, it would continue to torment her.

Yu Ling Xi was stunned, then understood: Ning Yin was worried that this child would inherit his coldness and madness, fearing that this child, like him, would not feel any gratitude or reverence for its birth mother.

In Ning Yin’s heart, father-son and mother-son relationships were never symbols of light and greatness. He had never experienced warmth and could not generate parental affection; no one had taught him these things.

In a sense, he despised his bloodline more than anything else. Not to mention, this bloodline would be sustained by consuming the nourishment of the person he loved…

Yu Ling Xi didn’t know such heavy thoughts were buried in Ning Yin’s heart.

“It’s not like that, Ning Yin. A child is the continuation of hope, not suffering.”

Yu Ling Xi raised her hand to touch Ning Yin’s cold, pale cheek, saying earnestly word by word: “You should think positively. It might have my facial features and temperament, your intelligence and strength. Our strengths will be continued in this child. Perhaps it will have some minor flaws and might be mischievous, but that’s alright—we will teach it how to behave in the world. I am not Concubine Li, and you are not the late Emperor. It will have a completely different temperament and life, won’t it?”

She said many things in one breath, smiling slightly: “I like this child. Because it is the child of Ning Yin and me.”

Ning Yin looked at the light in her eyes, a sweet hope that had never been there before.

He tried to understand her words.

“You will be uncomfortable,” Ning Yin handed her a cup of water.

Yu Ling Xi drank it all from his hand, saying contentedly: “It won’t be uncomfortable with you by my side.”

Only then did Ning Yin put down the cup and take her into his arms.

Ning Yin was a clever person with more thoughts than a beehive and only needed a moment to understand Yu Ling Xi’s meaning.

But he was still slightly displeased that Sui Sui’s wholehearted love for him would be divided in half by this little thing.

Perhaps it would even be something that looked very similar to him.

So when Yu Ling Xi asked him whether he hoped for a little princess or a little prince, he answered without hesitation: “A daughter, a little Sui Sui.”

Such forceful words made Yu Ling Xi burst into laughter.

If it were a little Wei Qi, could they push it back and remake it?

Yu Ling Xi began experiencing morning sickness and couldn’t eat.

Others would become plumper during pregnancy, but she became thinner, her jawline considerably sharper.

“Can I not drink that black medicine today?” Yu Ling Xi sat on the edge of the couch, watching the young emperor crouching to put shoes on her feet.

“No.” The refusal was swift.

Smelling the familiar bitter medicine, Yu Ling Xi slumped her shoulders, instinctively resistant.

Ning Yin wiped his fingers clean, took the medicine bowl from the palace maid’s hand, blew on it, and said flatly: “But today’s medicine isn’t bitter.”

“Really?”

Yu Ling Xi took a spoonful from his hand, indeed finding a sweet aftertaste; the flavor was much better.

It was much later that she learned this pregnancy-stabilizing prescription had been improved overnight by Ning Yin working with the entire Imperial Medical Academy, just to make it more palatable for her.

At seven months of pregnancy, just as the summer heat was retreating in early autumn, the movements in Yu Ling Xi’s womb were quite frequent.

Because she was taken care of extremely well, her figure hadn’t changed much, her complexion was healthy and fair, her limbs proportionate, with only her abdomen prominently raised. Under the warm yellow lamplight, with her black hair spread out, she had an indescribably sacred beauty.

Before bedtime, Ning Yin would use lotus and jade dew cream to patiently apply to her belly, so her belly skin was clean and smooth, without fearsome stretch marks.

He now did these things very skillfully, without any of the coldness and dominance he showed on the imperial court.

While applying the cream this time, suddenly a small lump rose under Yu Ling Xi’s belly skin, protruding to about the size of a fist.

Yu Ling Xi’s stomach tightened, and she hurriedly held her breath, smiling: “Look, it’s moving again.”

Sensing her joy, Ning Yin lowered his gaze, as if curious, and placed his long, wide palm over the moving spot.

Through the thin belly skin, that small thing slid across his palm, creating an indescribable sensation, as if something had passed through his palm and connected to his heart in that instant.

“It’s greeting its Imperial Father,” Yu Ling Xi curved her eyes, saying softly, “Isn’t that interesting?”

Ning Yin leaned on the edge of the couch, moving closer, his nose almost touching her belly, staring for a long while before asking: “Does it hurt when it kicks?”

A person as cold as him, who could even disregard his own body, couldn’t bear her to suffer even a little pain.

“It doesn’t hurt,” Yu Ling Xi smiled. “It just feels a bit strange.”

As she spoke, that little thing kicked again.

“Little monster,” Ning Yin snorted with slight disdain, and when that little thing calmed down, he lowered his head and kissed Yu Ling Xi’s smooth belly.

As her belly grew day by day, sleeping at night became an issue.

Yu Ling Xi didn’t sleep very soundly, and several times when she woke in the middle of the night, she discovered Ning Yin quietly massaging her lower back, relieving the soreness.

In mid-October, the little life in her womb finally reached the time for the melon to ripen and fall.

Before giving birth, Yu Ling Xi made only one request: the Emperor was not allowed to be present at the birth, not even one step closer.

He would go mad.