From when the Crown Prince discovered his legs could move until today, over three months had already passed. The Crown Prince wouldn’t proactively mention his leg exercise progress. Although Yao Huang was curious, she didn’t dare ask much, fearing it would pressure him. Especially before Imperial Physician Liao gave his definite assurance of complete recovery, Yao Huang was even more afraid the Crown Prince’s legs wouldn’t recover well enough. So when the couple was together, they deliberately avoided the topic of “legs.”

Who would have thought that in the time it took to serve tea, the Crown Prince would suddenly give her this huge surprise!

Without any preparation at all, Yao Huang’s shock even surpassed her joy. She was so shocked that the Crown Prince walking toward her to serve tea seemed to have become a different person.

Slowly drinking the entire bowl of tea, Yao Huang wrapped the quilt tightly around herself while turning around. Looking at the Crown Prince sitting there holding the empty bowl, Yao Huang wanted to laugh yet inexplicably felt somewhat embarrassed. Lowering her eyes, she asked: “When was Your Highness able to walk?”

Zhao Sui looked at the Crown Princess like this and explained: “The day before Imperial Physician Liao came to report the good news. At that time I could only walk two or three steps after releasing the support bars.”

Yao Huang looked at him pointedly: “Then why didn’t Your Highness tell me?”

Zhao Sui lowered his eyes: “I’ve told you now.”

Naturally he wanted to give the Crown Princess a surprise, and also wanted to be able to persist for more steps before showing her, to look more like a normal person.

Yao Huang wrapped herself in the quilt and moved closer, leaning on his shoulder: “Your Highness can walk now. I don’t even know how to describe how happy I am in my heart. But Your Highness should have chosen a different time to tell me. For instance, when I’m sitting on the outside platform playing with Jun’er, you could suddenly walk to show me and I could immediately throw myself into your embrace. Instead, Your Highness specifically chose when I was lying naked in bed…”

And it was when she was most powerless and her mind was turning slowest!

Zhao Sui: “…Can’t stand steady yet. You can’t throw yourself.”

If the Crown Princess threw herself over, the couple would fall to the ground together.

Yao Huang didn’t care anymore. She pressed the Crown Prince down to lie on the platform and threw herself into his embrace while pulling the quilt.

Zhao Sui placed the empty bowl aside, brought his whole body onto the bed, and held the Crown Princess with both hands.

Yao Huang propped up her head and smiled at the Crown Prince beneath her: “Happy as I am, I’m still more accustomed to Your Highness right now. Standing so tall all of a sudden—you don’t quite seem like yourself anymore.”

Zhao Sui touched her shoulder: “Talking nonsense again.”

The face was the same—how could it reach the point of not seeming like himself?

Yao Huang: “Where’s the nonsense? Like Qing Ai, Fei Quan, Eunuch Cao, Nanny Liu, and also Father Emperor, Mother Empress, including some palace servants throughout the palace—they’ve all seen Your Highness’s former graceful and distinguished bearing. But I’ve never seen it even once. Now that Your Highness has recovered, don’t I need to readjust for a while?”

Zhao Sui: “No rush. I also can’t walk immediately. I’ll still sit in the wheelchair for a while longer.”

Imperial Physician Liao had suggested that when moving about the Eastern Palace’s front and rear halls, he could use a crutch to assist walking, then sit down to rest once inside a room. Zhao Sui had refused.

Sitting in the wheelchair, he could at least maintain proper sitting posture. Using crutches…

Zhao Sui would rather sit in the wheelchair a while longer.

Yao Huang: “Then if Your Highness doesn’t walk, just standing—how long can you stand?”

Zhao Sui had tested it: “About forty counts.”

So Yao Huang had the Crown Prince turn over. She sat up to put on her clothes. After dressing, she stood by the bed and had the Crown Prince stand up.

The Crown Princess’s eyes were sparkling bright, full of encouragement and anticipation—just like when she watched Jun’er when he was first learning to crawl.

Jun’er wasn’t afraid of Mother Consort watching. Zhao Sui would be unable to remain composed under such a gaze.

He looked at the Crown Princess’s hem and said: “You turn around first.”

Yao Huang: “…”

Just standing for a moment—those who didn’t know would think she was asking His Highness the Crown Prince to undress!

Quickly touching the Crown Prince’s face, Yao Huang cooperated with a smile.

Zhao Sui glanced at the Crown Princess’s mischievous right hand and continued sitting for a while before standing up. After standing steady, he reminded the Crown Princess who was nearly a head shorter than him: “You can look, but don’t throw yourself.”

The familiar voice came from above. Yao Huang knew the Crown Prince had already stood properly. How strange—just now she had laughed at the Crown Prince for being thin-skinned, but now when she should openly and generously turn around to look at her own husband, Yao Huang actually became nervous. It was as if, as if she hadn’t yet married the Crown Prince and this was only their first meeting.

Yao Huang subconsciously looked toward the dressing table on the right.

When the Crown Prince had come from the front, his hair was bound with a jade hairpin. Just now on the bed, though he had turned her over and over, thoroughly messing up her long hair, the Crown Prince’s hair bun had remained impeccable throughout. Wearing only a set of white silk inner robes, he was still as clear and handsome as an immortal.

Yao Huang asked the Crown Prince to wait a moment and quickly walked around to the front of the dressing table, grabbing a comb to brush her hair with her back to the Crown Prince.

Zhao Sui didn’t know why the Crown Princess wanted to brush her hair at this moment. Since the Crown Princess had walked away, Zhao Sui took four steps to stop behind the Crown Princess, one hand supporting the chair back beside him, one hand resting on the Crown Princess’s shoulder.

Yao Huang lowered her head, continuing to brush her hair while saying quietly: “My hair is all messy—it doesn’t look good at all.”

Now Zhao Sui understood, but he still turned the Crown Princess around, looking at her shy appearance with lowered eyes, looking at her face as brilliant as peonies.

Taking away the comb from her hands, Zhao Sui lifted the Crown Princess’s chin and said: “You look good no matter what.”

Under the Crown Prince’s hand, Yao Huang slowly raised her face and finally met those eyes of the Crown Prince looking down at her.

The Crown Prince with crippled legs could only intimidate people with his status as an imperial prince and the aura of death that initially permeated his entire body. When Yao Huang gradually became familiar with him, especially when the Crown Prince was willing to push his wheelchair to serve her in turn, Yao Huang stopped fearing him. So in her eyes, the Crown Prince sitting in the wheelchair was weak and easy to bully. At least outside the bed, Yao Huang appeared to be the more formidable one in the couple.

But the Crown Prince before her eyes was standing. He was so much taller than her—it should be Yao Huang looking up at him. When the Crown Prince’s dignity merged with the natural imposing aura of a man over eight feet tall, Yao Huang felt an unfamiliar sense of pressure from the Crown Prince. And the Crown Prince in the wheelchair also rarely looked at her directly for such a long time like this.

Yao Huang was the first to avoid the Crown Prince’s gaze, moving her feet forward slightly to embrace his waist.

Zhao Sui gripped the back of the dressing chair tightly.

Yao Huang closed her eyes, satisfied: “This is wonderful.”

Although she still wasn’t used to it, she liked the Crown Prince who could stand up, because he should have been standing all along, because a Crown Prince who could stand up would live better.

The twenty-third day of the twelfth month—the common people of the capital all celebrated Little New Year, and officials also began this year’s holiday.

Emperor Yongchang, finally able to set aside state affairs, wandered in a circle around the palace. Wandering along, he arrived outside the Eastern Palace.

Yao Huang quickly pushed the Crown Prince out to receive the Emperor.

Arriving at the hall, Yao Huang had father and son sit briefly while she went to the rear courtyard to get Jun’er. In winter, Jun’er wore thick cotton clothing, making the pushcart increasingly useful.

Emperor Yongchang lifted the little imperial grandson from the cart to hold on his lap and asked the young couple opposite: “Having rested so long, what are your plans?”

Zhao Sui said: “Your son wishes to pick a few clear days to go outside the city to ride horses.”

Emperor Yongchang looked toward his daughter-in-law.

Yao Huang immediately cried out her grievance: “Your Highness wants to ride horses—why does Father Emperor look at me like this? Your daughter-in-law does like to play, but this time it’s purely Your Highness’s own idea. Imperial Physician Liao told him to exercise his legs more. Your Highness thinks up various methods to exercise his legs every day.” During the day secretly practicing in the front courtyard and deer park, at night pulling her along to practice together.

The Crown Prince silently lowered his eyes.

Emperor Yongchang: “…I’m looking at you to mean I want you to accompany the Crown Prince outside the city.”

Whether his son wanted to exercise his legs or wanted to take the Crown Princess outside the palace to relax, he definitely wanted to go with the Crown Princess.

Yao Huang said quietly: “Your daughter-in-law needs to look after Jun’er. It would be better for Father Emperor to accompany Your Highness. Father Emperor has labored over state affairs for a year—you really should take advantage of this time to stretch your muscles and bones more. Besides, Your Highness sees your daughter-in-law every day and has probably long since tired of looking at me. How can that compare with traveling with Father Emperor for freshness?”

Riding horses in spring was fine, but in the twelfth month in such cold weather, Yao Huang didn’t want to blow cold wind on horseback.

Emperor Yongchang: “You’ve only been married three years. If the Crown Prince is already tired of looking at you, I’ve been his father emperor for twenty-five years—wouldn’t he be even more tired of looking at me?”

Yao Huang: “The calculation isn’t like that. Although I’ve only been married to Your Highness for three years, during these three years Your Highness and I have been together morning and night. Just riding horses alone, I’ve accompanied Your Highness no less than thirty times. Three meals a day I’ve accompanied Your Highness for over a thousand days. Does Father Emperor remember how many times you’ve taken Your Highness to ride horses, or how many times you’ve dined together with Your Highness?”

Emperor Yongchang: “…”

Yao Huang smiled: “So compared to your daughter-in-law, Your Highness is more looking forward to Father Emperor spending more time with him.”

Zhao Sui: “…”

Father and son looked at each other. The older one immediately looked away, the younger one lowered his eyes again.

At this moment, Jun’er sitting in his imperial grandfather’s embrace suddenly raised his little face, opening a pair of clear phoenix eyes to gaze at his imperial grandfather.

Emperor Yongchang looked at his innocent and unknowing grandson and suddenly remembered when his several princes and princesses were small.

Back then he was too busy and didn’t have much time to accompany his children. Now he was also busy, only finding time to play with the well-behaved and adorable little imperial grandson occasionally. He had even less time for his already grown children.

Thinking of this, Emperor Yongchang said to the Crown Prince: “It’s true I haven’t ridden horses in a long time. If you really don’t need your wife to accompany you, tomorrow morning I’ll take you and Prince Kang to ride horses together?”

Zhao Sui immediately said: “Your son is willing to accompany Father Emperor outside the city.”

Emperor Yongchang nodded, played with Jun’er for a while, and left.

After seeing off Emperor Yongchang, the Crown Prince’s family returned to the heated platform in the rear courtyard. Several small playthings were placed on the platform. Jun’er crawled back and forth, playing very happily by himself.

Yao Huang saw the Crown Prince had been looking at her. She returned his gaze and guessed: “What is it? Your Highness doesn’t want to accompany Father Emperor outside the city?”

Zhao Sui shook his head.

Yao Huang’s heart stirred: “Does Your Highness want me to accompany you outside the city more?”

Zhao Sui thought for a moment and said: “When the weather is warmer, I’ll take you.”

The Crown Princess who had guessed wrong felt embarrassed and glared at him: “If it’s neither of those, why is Your Highness looking at me like that?”

Zhao Sui lowered his eyes.

Yao Huang couldn’t stand his evasive appearance. She knelt and moved to his side. Before she could make any moves, the Crown Prince suddenly reached out to pull her into his embrace, saying above her head: “I’ll never tire of looking at you.”

No matter how long the Crown Princess had been married to him—three years or thirty years—he would never tire of looking at her.

Yao Huang was stunned for a while before understanding the Crown Prince’s meaning.

Her heart soft, Yao Huang hugged him back: “Tomorrow Father Emperor will accompany you riding horses. In a couple days if Your Highness still wants to ride horses, I’ll accompany you.”

Cold was cold—who told the Crown Prince to be handsome and sweet-tongued?