At dawn, there was no incense, no paper offerings, only wine.

Mo Zi buried Wang Yang on a mountain covered with blooming peonies, separated from her parents’ graves by a sea of flowers. She feared he would feel ashamed to face them, and also feared they might not yet forgive him. This way, neither too close nor too far, maintaining some distance, they might get along better in the future.

In the end, she did kowtow, but the word “grandfather” still couldn’t come out. “Dou Lu is kinder. I’ll tell her about your deathbed repentance, and she’ll come to call you.

At that time, it’ll be as if I called you. In another two years, if I slowly forget, I’ll call you too.”

Zan Jin looked at her and passed over a wine pouch.

Mo Zi made an offering, pouring it into the earth.

Flower petals trembled lightly with the sound of galloping hooves—seemingly quite a few people.

Zan Jin flew to the treetop to look from on high, then came down smiling. “They’re our own people.”

“We’ve only been out two days—such little confidence in me.” Most likely A’Hao and A’Yue couldn’t hold it in and confessed everything. Mo Zi smiled faintly. “Zan Jin, do you still remember before? You told me to simply break away from Qiu Sanniang and roam the martial world with you. These two days could be considered fulfilling that.”

Zan Jin nodded. “More thrilling and exciting than any martial world adventure.”

Mo Zi began digging earth to plant flowers. She transplanted some wild peonies from not far away, planning to fill the grave mound with them. “Wang Yang must also have loved flowers—otherwise he wouldn’t have given my mother a flower name.”

Zan Jin hastily tried to grab the hoe. “Let me do it.”

“Go quickly circulate your qi and tend to your injury. You don’t know how to plant flowers anyway—don’t help by making things worse.” She had learned the basics from Dou Lu, after all.

“They’re here.” Zan Jin said.

Mo Zi was unconcerned. “Let them come. Even if they’re urgently pressing, they’ll have to wait for me to finish planting the flowers before leaving.” The things that needed doing were all done well, the enemies all dealt with cleanly—no more cockroaches would appear. She discovered she was becoming increasingly calm these days.

After waiting a good while, with no movement behind her, she turned her head. Dark gold swept before her eyes, and the next second she fell into a warm, familiar embrace.

“Yuan Cheng?” Completely unexpected, yet her reaction was extremely quick. She sighed. “Ming Nian reported to you. How can that boy not distinguish between urgent and trivial matters? I’ll teach him properly when I get back.”

Yuan Cheng said nothing, only tightened his arms, mixed with a bit of fierce retaliation.

“That hurts.”

As soon as she cried out in pain, his heart softened. He let out a long sigh. “Mo Zi, the one who needs teaching is you, not Ming Nian.”

Mo Zi made a sound of surprise and looked up at him from within his embrace. “Why?”

“Taking only Zan Jin and running out to search for treasure. Since I didn’t bring you to the Nande capital, you found yourself a special task to do?” After receiving Ming Nian’s urgent report, he rushed to Song County in a burning hurry. “I didn’t even know where the treasure was. If something happened to you in that godforsaken place and I couldn’t find you, what would you have me do?” Just thinking about it made his heart tear with anxiety.

“I had it under control.” Although she encountered very small accidents, weren’t they all in hand? “Besides, there was also Lanyi.” Even if just guarding the goal, he was still a member of the soccer team.

Yuan Cheng released her and saw her carefree, unconcerned expression. Both angry and amused, he said, “I know.”

“Just trust me.” In her independent space, she’d always done quite well.

“I’m taking you with me.” However, Yuan Cheng’s knowing didn’t mean letting her do as she pleased.

“Huh?” What?

“I’m taking you to the Nande capital.” He didn’t want to win the battle in the end only to lose her. He’d thought that becoming husband and wife would reduce the torment of anxiety over gains and losses, but who knew it would be even worse? All along the way, visions of her lying stiff somewhere flashed before his eyes—it was even more unbearable than death.

Only now did Mo Zi realize his anxious and somewhat annoyed expression was real. Infected by this feeling, she felt somewhat apologetic. “I scared you?”

“Mo Zi, husband and wife are one body. As long as you think of me before putting yourself in danger next time, is that acceptable?” He bent down to kiss her tenderly, then bit her ear and whispered something.

Mo Zi unconsciously nodded. The blazing flames in his eyes were high temperature—she still compromised. “Rest assured, there won’t be a next time. Anyway, the treasure has already been found. From now on I’ll just stay at the shipyard or home or by your side and other such places.”

“…Other such places?” Yuan Cheng couldn’t help but laugh aloud. “What other places are there? Do you want to make me a list?”

Mo Zi also laughed. “You know what kind of person I am—a temperament that can’t stay put. Actually, when coming here I originally wanted to bring more people, but Luo Ying is pregnant, A’Yue and A’Hao’s martial arts aren’t high enough, and the treasure matter is secret—I couldn’t just tell anyone casually.” She wasn’t acting impulsively.

“Then just wait until I return.” A temperament that made him both love and worry. As soon as he turned around, she could disappear.

She agreed very readily.

“Whose grave is this?” With his heart at ease, he noticed the new grave before him.

Mo Zi was thinking whether to tell him or hide it from him. He’d just gotten angry because she took risks—if he knew what happened below—

She cleared her throat. “You must have delayed your schedule to find me. We should hurry and get on the road.” Sorry, Old Master Wang, planting flowers can only be delegated to someone else.

Yuan Cheng’s eyes narrowed slightly, but he quickly returned to normal and called for two horses. “We do need to hurry. You’ll have to endure the hardship.” Having found the treasure meant she might well come back again. He wouldn’t give himself reason to worry—he was determined to take her along.

“Don’t worry. Although I haven’t slept for two days, my spirits are still good. Or if you think I’ll be too slow, I’ll go back to Hengcheng first to rest for a night, then catch up with you.” She actually—wanted to sleep.

Yuan Cheng heard her meaning but pretended not to understand. “When we reach Hengcheng, we’ll board the ship. Whether sleeping or reading, rest as you please.”

Mo Zi’s smile was stiff.

Upon reaching Hengcheng, sure enough she wasn’t allowed to enter the mansion. A’Yue and A’Hao had received instructions beforehand and had already prepared the luggage, boarding the ship with her. But strangely, two days later, the person who usually found sitting on ships as comfortable as a cradle actually began to feel seasick—not only vomiting until the world spun, but also developing a fever.

Yuan Cheng received the news and hurried to see her, his heart aching at her pale complexion. “How about I send you back?”

“Don’t make unnecessary trouble. Going back and forth, the morale on your side will become unstable.” Another wave of nausea hit. Mo Zi thought, could it be that the heart-blocking events she witnessed in the treasure cave produced aftereffects? She kept feeling nauseous even then.

“We still need to travel three more days to catch up with the military fleet. There’s no physician on this ship, and seeing you like this, I really can’t feel at ease.” He’d seen her injured before, but never seen her sick, especially on a ship. Even with all his wisdom and strategy, he felt somewhat at a loss.

“Then let’s wait three days. It’s not a big deal—most likely I caught a chill.” She wasn’t that delicate.

Yuan Cheng felt somewhat guilty. “If I’d known, I should have listened to you. And I thought you could rest on the ship.” She’d always been more comfortable on ships than on land.

“It’s just a small cold—it’ll be better in about seven days.” Seeing A’Yue bringing soup again, Mo Zi’s face turned bitter. “You absolutely cannot let those brothers know I’m seasick.” She’d definitely be laughed to death.

Yuan Cheng personally fed her. “Even if you vomit, you can’t not eat.”

Mo Zi smelled a strange odor and asked A’Yue, “What soup is this?”

“Fish soup, just caught—very fresh.”

Before A’Yue finished speaking, Mo Zi was already leaning over the bedside vomiting. What she’d eaten had basically been cleared out, so she was only dry heaving.

“Don’t you know medicine?” Yuan Cheng, panicked and confused, only just remembered.

“I’ve taken her pulse. It doesn’t seem like a serious illness—appears to be something like a cold. She’ll be better after resting for a few days.” A’Yue’s medical skills were self-taught, and mainly developed through researching poisons to find antidotes.

“She’s not an ordinary physician—she specializes in detoxification. Don’t make things difficult for her with my minor ailment.” The nauseous feeling passed. Mo Zi raised herself up and lay down weakly, looking pitifully at Yuan Cheng. “Husband, dear husband, be a good person and please take that soup bowl far away.”

“How about having the kitchen stew chicken soup?” Her acting coquettish was quite to his liking. Yuan Cheng had A’Yue take the soup away.

“For now I won’t eat anything—just let me lie here and read for a while, is that not acceptable?” Her stomach had finally settled down—she wanted to enjoy some time without vomiting.

Yuan Cheng compromised. “You must eat dinner.”

Mo Zi perfunctorily agreed.

Three days later, catching up with the main force, Yuan Cheng requested Physician Ji to take her pulse.

“The fever’s gone, and my body feels much lighter too. Physician Ji, quickly tell this nervously tense husband beside you that his wife is fine.” Mo Zi was already unwilling to lie in bed and sat upright in a chair, pointing at blueprints with her left hand.

Physician Ji smiled and said to Yuan Cheng, “Madam is indeed well, and I must congratulate Prime Minister Yuan and Madam—it’s a pregnancy pulse.”

Pregnancy pulse?! Mo Zi’s hand trembled and she ruined the drawing. “Physician Ji, you mean I’m pregnant?”

Yuan Cheng had originally been overjoyed, but her incredulous tone made him pause. “Physician Ji, could you confirm once more?”

Physician Ji patiently took Mo Zi’s pulse again. “It is indeed a pregnancy pulse.”

“But just a few days ago I went underwater and got in a fight with someone, jumping around so much.” If she was really pregnant, she would have miscarried, which is why Mo Zi didn’t dare believe it. However, calculating the days, it seemed Aunt Flow indeed hadn’t visited her for quite some time.

Yuan Cheng’s face darkened. “Going in water in spring? Fighting with people? Madam seems to have hidden quite a bit from this husband.”

Mo Zi silently groaned in dismay, but then heard someone speaking outside the door.

“Madam is used to being lively and active. This child must also know mother’s temperament, so compared to ordinary little ones, they’re more robust—no matter how much Madam jumps around, they hold on tight. Haha.” Elder Physician Hua entered. “I heard Madam was uncomfortable for several days, so I came to take a look. I didn’t expect to hear joyful news as soon as I entered. Congratulations and felicitations.”

Physician Ji greatly respected Elder Hua and hurriedly bowed. “Elder Hua, please help take the pulse once more.”

“For a pregnancy pulse, do we need two good physicians?” Though he said this, Elder Hua had always treated Mo Zi’s injuries and was essentially her private physician. Naturally he extended his hand to rest on her pulse, contemplating briefly. “Prime Minister Yuan, you can laugh out loud now.”

After receiving triple confirmation, Yuan Cheng tightly gripped Mo Zi’s hand, so excited he trembled slightly.

“However, the fetus seems somewhat unstable, which is why the fever and seasickness symptoms appeared. It seems Madam’s previous jumping around had some effect on the child. I’ll discuss with Physician Ji and prescribe a formula to stabilize the pregnancy along with a diet plan—careful nurturing is needed. For the child’s sake, Madam must also rein in her temperament. We’ll talk again after the first three months pass.” Elder Hua pulled Physician Ji outside.

Mo Zi didn’t know what to say. She gripped Yuan Cheng’s hand in return and gently caressed her lower abdomen, where a tenacious life was growing.

“This little one seems to really like treasure hunting. Won’t they be just like me in the future?” She smiled.

Just like her, fearing neither heaven nor earth? Yuan Cheng suddenly felt he’d been happy too soon.