During these days, Jiang Li knew nothing of what was happening at the Li household. She was not particularly attentive to it either, probably because she knew everything was proceeding according to her plan, unhurried and steady. Princess Yongning would eventually arrive at the ending that had been set for her from the very beginning. Therefore, whatever happened before that did not require urgency.

She preferred spending her time at the Ye residence now.

Perhaps because Jiang Yuanbai had many matters of his own lately, he turned a blind eye to Jiang Li’s almost daily trips to the Ye residence. Jiang Li went to the Ye residence naturally to see Xue Huaiyuan. Each day she visited him, she did not do much—occasionally she would chat with Xue Huaiyuan, but more often she simply accompanied him in silence. When Xue Huaiyuan read, Jiang Li would also take a book and read nearby. In Xue Huaiyuan’s eyes, Jiang Li was Second Miss Jiang. But in Jiang Li’s eyes, Xue Huaiyuan would forever be her father. Just having her father by her side gave her endless strength and courage.

Xue Huaiyuan would occasionally ask about details of the Tong County case and evidence concerning Xue Fangfei. Haitang told Jiang Li that Xue Huaiyuan often asked what kind of life Xue Fangfei had lived at the Shen residence, and what had happened to Xue Fangfei before Haitang left the household. After listening, Xue Huaiyuan would hunch over alone, staring at the ground and silently weeping—a heartbreaking sight.

Whenever she thought of this scene, Jiang Li’s heart felt as if it were being cut by knives. Moreover, while Xue Huaiyuan had ostensibly been persuaded by Jiang Li and no longer decided to take the spring examination, privately he had begun secretly inquiring about the case of Xue Zhao encountering bandits back then. He could not leave the residence himself—otherwise he might be spotted by people from Princess Yongning or Shen Yurun’s side—so he relied on Ye Mingyu’s people to investigate. Or he would learn things from casual conversations with servants. Jiang Li instructed Ye Mingyu that under no circumstances should Xue Huaiyuan be allowed to go out alone. She knew clearly how many people in Yanjing wanted Xue Huaiyuan dead.

Princess Yongning alone was enough. She had harmed Xue Huaiyuan once—Jiang Li would never allow her to harm him a second time.

Ye Mingyu said to Jiang Li, “This Master Xue’s temperament is truly too stubborn. Not many people knew about Xue Zhao’s case to begin with, and it happened so long ago, yet he’s incredibly obstinate. Don’t be fooled by how this old gentleman smiles amiably and appears refined on normal days—deep down, he’s very strong-willed, and no one can persuade him otherwise.” He glanced at Jiang Li again. “If people didn’t know better, they’d think Ah Li learned your temperament from this old gentleman.”

Jiang Li smiled. “Is that so?”

“Yes, yes, yes.” Ye Mingyu complained. “Now I don’t even dare speak loudly to the old gentleman. I always feel afraid he’ll come out with a whole string of grand principles. It’s really strange—your father is also a scholar, so why am I not afraid of him?”

Jiang Li smiled and did not answer. When evening came and she returned to the Jiang residence, just as she reached Fangfei Courtyard, Baixue, who had remained at the residence, came up to her and said, “Miss, there’s movement at the Right Chancellor’s residence.”

“Oh? What happened?” Jiang Li asked.

“A physician entered the main gate of the Right Chancellor’s residence,” Baixue replied.

A physician? Jiang Li understood immediately. It seemed Princess Yongning could no longer contain herself, or perhaps she simply had no patience to continue the charade with the Li family. She was so impatient to give her pregnancy a proper and legitimate beginning.

Such a beginning was good. This way, the show would soon commence.

……

At the Right Chancellor’s residence, a physician was taking Princess Yongning’s pulse.

It was evening, and Princess Yongning had deliberately chosen a time when all three Li family men were at the residence before suddenly falling “seriously ill,” claiming severe nausea and inability to eat anything.

The new bride had been at the residence for less than two months and was still at the stage requiring careful attention and service. Moreover, since Princess Yongning had entered the household, her health had been poor. She had been continuously taking medicine for recuperation without any problems, yet today she suddenly became severely ill. Li Zhongnan dared not be negligent. Seeing Princess Yongning’s maidservant carrying an invitation to request an imperial physician to the residence, he personally came to see what was happening.

The two brothers Li Xian and Li Lian also waited at the door. If Princess Yongning truly suffered some misfortune at the Li residence, they would have difficulty explaining themselves to Prince Cheng. Moreover, though Princess Yongning had been somewhat willful these days, she had not caused any real trouble and appeared to get along reasonably well with the Li family on the surface. Therefore, there was truly no reason not to treat her well.

After the imperial physician finished taking Princess Yongning’s pulse, he was momentarily stunned, then suddenly stood up and bowed to Princess Yongning, saying, “Congratulations to Your Highness the Princess! Congratulations to Lord Li!”

Both Li Xian and Li Zhongnan were startled. Princess Yongning frowned. “What is there to congratulate?”

The imperial physician smiled. “Your Highness is with child!”

“With child?” Li Xian’s expression was strange, and Li Zhongnan was also stunned.

“Yes, judging by Her Highness’s pulse, she appears to be less than a month pregnant.” The imperial physician turned to Li Zhongnan with a smile. “Congratulations to Lord Li on gaining a grandchild!”

Princess Yongning exclaimed with both surprise and delight, “I’m pregnant?”

The imperial physician replied, “Indeed!”

All the maidservants in the room knelt down, calling out congratulations. From this alone, it truly seemed like a tremendously joyous occasion. Princess Yongning looked toward Li Xian, but saw his expression was peculiar, without a trace of happiness. Her heart skipped a beat—could it be that Li Xian suspected this child was not his? But thinking about it, precisely to make Li Xian believe this child was indeed of Li family blood, since marrying into the household over a month ago, she had not left the residence gates even once. Naturally, it was impossible for her to have been intimate with an outside man. Moreover, this imperial physician had already been bought off by her. Saying it was one month meant the child was conceived on the wedding night—there should be no mistake, right?

Li Xian should not be able to see through it, should he?

“Husband?” Princess Yongning called to him, her heart full of uneasy probing.

Li Xian seemed to be called back to his senses by this address. He said “Good,” walked several steps to Princess Yongning’s side, supported her shoulder, and smiled as he said, “I did not expect the Princess to receive such joyful news just after marrying into the household. This is the Li family’s blessing and my blessing as well.” He had the imperial physician rewarded. The physician, clutching the silver, left happily. Only then did Princess Yongning breathe a huge sigh of relief.

Li Lian said, “Does elder sister-in-law still feel unwell?”

“No longer.” Yongning smiled and shook her head. “I felt so uncomfortable before and could not find the reason. I did not expect it was because of the pregnancy. Speaking of which, some days ago I caught a chill. Fortunately, it did not harm the child. The imperial physician said my child is very healthy, which is truly reassuring.”

“The Princess should now take good care of herself and keep the child healthy and safe—that is what matters,” Li Xian said with a smile. “Later, have someone prepare fetal-stabilizing medicine. The lady’s food, clothing, and daily needs must also be carefully attended to from now on.”

What he said could be considered quite tender, but for some reason, hearing it in Princess Yongning’s ears, she felt Li Xian’s words contained not a trace of true affection. Instead, it was as if he were speaking to a stranger. His words also held no anticipation for the child’s birth—rather, they carried a sense of falseness.

Princess Yongning did not like this feeling. On the faces of Li Zhongnan and Li Lian, she also could not see any excitement. Apart from their moment of surprise when the imperial physician announced the pregnancy, they showed no further reaction. Could all Li family members be like this? Or did the Li family simply not hope for descendants? Large households all hoped for branches and leaves to flourish early, did they not?

Princess Yongning found she did not quite understand the Li family.

She used the excuse of being tired and needing rest to have the other Li family members leave, keeping only Meixiang by her side. After confirming the Li family had left the courtyard, Princess Yongning asked Meixiang, “Why do I feel they are not particularly looking forward to this child? I’ve heard that blood relatives have feelings for each other—could it be that Li Xian sensed this is not his biological child, and that’s why he’s like this? If this continues, will they discover that I married into the Li family already pregnant?”

Princess Yongning was somewhat afraid. After becoming pregnant, her courage had actually diminished considerably compared to before—probably because she now had a weakness. Yet she did not want anything untoward to happen to this child.

Meixiang comforted her, “No, Your Highness is overthinking. Your Highness’s pregnancy was executed flawlessly, and the imperial physician will not leak even half a word. Even if the Li family wants to find evidence, they are destined to find nothing. This servant believes it may be because Your Highness became pregnant so soon after marrying into the Li family that they are temporarily unaccustomed to it. In a few more days, it will be fine.”

“Moreover, that Young Master Li spoke correctly—Your Highness’s primary concern now is to take good care of yourself and the little highness in your belly,” Meixiang said.

Princess Yongning slowly moved her hand to her lower abdomen. “What else can be done? Right now at the Li family, I am isolated and weak, yet must protect such a small one. I must always be careful.”

She actually felt somewhat melancholy.

……

After Li Zhongnan and his sons left Princess Yongning’s bedchamber, the three of them went directly to Li Zhongnan’s study. Li Zhongnan had everyone leave, with trusted subordinates guarding the main door. Once the door was closed, he immediately questioned Li Xian directly, “What is going on? How could she be pregnant?!”

“Yes, elder brother,” Li Lian also said. “Didn’t you say you never touched her? Could it be…” He showed an expression full of interest.

Seeing his expression, Li Xian knew what he was thinking and said with disgust, “I truly did not touch her. On the wedding night, I had someone else take my place.”

Li Xian had no interest in women. Even if a celestial beauty stood before him wanting physical intimacy, he would feel disgusted. Let alone Princess Yongning. Li Zhongnan and Li Lian both knew this, so when they learned of this marriage arrangement, the Li family was hardly happier than Princess Yongning herself.

On the wedding night, Li Xian had someone else take his place to consummate the marriage with Princess Yongning. That servant who substituted had naturally already been put to death.

“How did you let her get pregnant?” Li Zhongnan raged. He truly loved and hated this son. Li Xian was unlike Li Lian—he was capable and talented, which originally made Li Zhongnan very proud. But Li Xian did not love women, which meant he was destined not to produce heirs for the Li family. Li Zhongnan had once tried to change this, but every attempt ended in failure. As time passed, Li Zhongnan himself gave up. At least he still had another son—Li Lian certainly did not lack women.

“After entering the household, pregnancy was impossible,” Li Xian said. “That person took medicine before going in. It was impossible for him to make her pregnant.”

“Then where did something go wrong?” Li Lian asked. “Problem with the medicine?”

Li Xian smiled meaningfully. “Father, second brother, don’t you find it very strange? I heard this bestowed marriage came about because Concubine Liu petitioned the Empress Dowager, who then spoke to the Emperor. Even if Concubine Liu wanted to find Princess Yongning a consort, to have the wedding just one month after the bestowed marriage—isn’t that too rushed? Ordinary daughters getting married would wait at least half a year. What about someone of imperial blood? Shouldn’t they raise their value a bit more?”

“That is…” Li Zhongnan was astonished.

“I think we need to go find that imperial physician who examined her and ask clearly—for instance… is the child in this Princess’s belly truly less than a month old? Or has it already been several months?”

At these words, both Li Zhongnan and Li Lian were shocked. Li Lian said, “You mean she was already pregnant secretly long ago, and deliberately married into our Li family, using you as a cover!”

“That whore!” Li Zhongnan could not help but curse angrily. “To put a cuckold’s horns on the Li family! Once this old man finds out who the adulterer is, I’ll flay his skin!”

“The ‘adulterer’ who could catch the eye of someone as haughty as Princess Yongning is naturally no ordinary person. Moreover, she could have aborted the bastard in her belly, waited half a year, then married into the Li family, and no one would have known. Yet she insisted on rushing through the marriage, clearly wanting to keep this bastard, which shows Princess Yongning loves this ‘adulterer’ very deeply.” Li Xian’s tone held none of a cuckolded husband’s rage and desperation. Instead, he was rational to a chilling degree.

“What’s most important now is not finding out who the ‘adulterer’ is. Princess Yongning is so devoted—if we truly touch her ‘adulterer,’ who knows what desperate acts she might commit? What’s most important now is that this bastard cannot remain. If we keep it, the Li family will become a laughingstock,” Li Xian said.

“Correct! This bastard cannot remain! The Li family will not raise another man’s child!” Li Zhongnan raged. “If it’s born a son and inherits the Li family estate, that would be benefiting an outsider! That loose woman Yongning actually schemes to seize family property—truly shameless!”

“I didn’t think much of it before, but thinking about it now, it really does seem very strange,” Li Lian also said. “This Princess claimed illness as soon as she entered the household and would not share a room with elder brother. Elder brother stayed in the outer courtyard, and she paid no attention. What other woman would be like this? Turns out she has goods in her belly. She was afraid elder brother would discover it, and probably wished elder brother would stay far away so he couldn’t see her secret!”

Li Xian shook his head without speaking. If this were any other family, nine out of ten would truly have been deceived by Princess Yongning. Because of joy over new life, people often do not notice these details. Especially who could imagine, who would dare imagine, that a dignified princess would marry someone while already pregnant?

But the Li family was different. The Li family father and sons all knew Li Xian would not touch women, and knew that on that wedding night, Yongning could not possibly have conceived a child. Thus Yongning’s plan was seen through from the very beginning.

“But how should this child be dealt with?” Li Lian asked. “As you said, since she has deep affection for that ‘adulterer,’ she naturally cares greatly about this child as well. To eliminate this bastard will probably drive her mad.”

“Naturally we cannot act now,” Li Xian said. “Otherwise, having just announced the joyful news only to suddenly miscarry—even if not her, Prince Cheng would also blame us. Let’s wait a bit longer. During this time, act as if we know nothing. Fetal-stabilizing medicine and food cannot be lacking in the slightest. When the time is ripe, let her ‘accidentally’ miscarry herself. Then we cannot be blamed.”

“Even so, we just let her deceive us like this?” Li Lian was unwilling. “Anyone who dares do such things to the Li family would long ago have lost their life. This woman is still doing just fine, treating our Li family like a joke.”

“What can be done?” Li Xian smiled bitterly. “She is Prince Cheng’s younger sister.”

“Speaking of which, does Prince Cheng know about this matter or not? If he knows, wouldn’t that be repaying kindness with enmity? We loyally follow him, yet he secretly has us take responsibility for his sister—that’s rather unkind.”

“Prince Cheng…” Before he could finish, Li Zhongnan said in a heavy voice, his eyes surging with fury, “This is too much!”

……

News of Princess Yongning’s pregnancy spread throughout Yanjing overnight.

When Jiang Li learned of this news, she only found it extremely laughable.

“But isn’t it not even a full month yet…” Baixue wondered. “In our hometown, there’s a saying that if noble families are having a child, for the first three months after learning the joyful news, they cannot tell others. Only after the first three months can they announce it widely, otherwise the child will easily be taken by the King of Hell.”

“Right, right, right,” Tong’er said. “I’ve also heard this saying. This Princess Yongning truly does not fear danger to her child, proclaiming it to the world so impatiently. She couldn’t even wait a month or two.”

“Of course she cannot wait,” Jiang Li smiled slightly. “She wants all under heaven to know her joyful news, to know that just after entering the Li family’s gates, she has a Li family child.”

The more one lacks something, the more anxious one is to prove something—human nature has always been thus. Princess Yongning was deathly afraid others would discover this child was the bastard she secretly conceived with Shen Yurun, so she proclaimed to the world, proving this child was undoubtedly a Li family member. It was actually protesting too much, making those who knew the inside story find it laughable.

Jiang Li understood the inside story. Of course, Li Xian also understood the inside story. The more Princess Yongning made such grand proclamations to the world, the more the Li family felt cuckold’s horns weighing on them, making their chests tight with anger.

However, Princess Yongning was perhaps not only trying to prove the child was Li family—perhaps she was also performing for Shen Yurun to see. Making Shen Yurun feel troubled that his own child would call another man father and bear another’s surname—Shen Yurun would certainly feel uncomfortable. This was Princess Yongning’s counterattack.

Only Jiang Li knew even more clearly than Princess Yongning that Shen Yurun would be completely unmoved by this. When he was being affectionate with her, he had been so cold toward the child she lost. Toward Princess Yongning, whom he had harbored exploitative intentions toward from the start—Shen Yurun would care even less about her child.

Perhaps one day when Princess Yongning’s child was gone, Shen Yurun would clap with joy and breathe a sigh of relief. That way, the threat to him would be gone. There would no longer be any leverage that could threaten him.

Jiang Li walked to the dressing mirror and picked up pearl earrings from the box, carefully putting them on. Tong’er belatedly poked her head over and asked, “Is Miss planning to go to the Ye residence? Don’t you usually go after noon?”

“No,” Jiang Li said. “Going to another place.”

Last night she had told Zhao Ke that today she wanted to visit the Duke’s residence. There were some things she needed to tell Ji Heng about—regarding this play between Princess Yongning and Li Xian—and one thing she hoped Ji Heng could help with. But she truly did not know what she could give to repay Ji Heng. Ji Heng could cook himself, so pastries and such were unnecessary. Thus from the little trinkets Ye Mingyu had given her, she selected a piece of jade stone without much shape. That jade stone was oddly shaped and indistinct, but what was special was its color—presenting a translucent red that shifted from deep to pale from center to edges, with the most intense vivid color in the middle and faint red at the periphery.

These past days, Jiang Li had spent from dawn to dusk with fine tweezers and delicate brush depicting and carving, finally sculpting it into the shape of a butterfly.

He had a golden silk folding fan that was a killing weapon, with blooming peonies depicted on it. When not used for killing, the fan was an extremely beautiful object, yet it seemed to lack something. Jiang Li made a butterfly fan tassel, thinking that hung at the bottom of his fan, it would also make a fine sight. A butterfly dancing around peonies, like the dancing hem of his robes when he killed—both beautiful and terrifying.

Jiang Li placed the butterfly fan tassel in a small box and had Baixue hold it carefully. In her heart, she was uncertain whether Ji Heng would use this tassel after receiving it. Perhaps he would not, but it at least represented her sincere intention. Otherwise, constantly having Ji Heng help for nothing made her feel truly bad.

The route Zhao Ke indicated was not the usual main road but a small path. Jiang Li did not take the Jiang family carriage either—she found another carriage outside. Along the way, no one discovered them. When they arrived at the Duke’s residence, Jiang Li and her maidservants jumped down from the carriage, and the gatekeeper opened the main gate.

How familiar this was becoming.

Following the Duke’s residence’s main gate inside, having just walked into the garden, she heard a series of raucous “stinky horse, stinky horse” calls mixed with horse neighing. Drawing closer, Jiang Li saw Little Red perched on Little Blue’s back, happily pecking at Little Blue’s mane. Seeing Jiang Li arrive, that mass of black feathers spread its wings and charged straight at her, frightening Tong’er into screaming. Little Red landed on Tong’er’s head, tilted its head toward Jiang Li, and shouted, “Fangfei! Fangfei!”

Jiang Li: “…You shut up.”

This mynah bird was a big mouth. Fortunately, when she was at the Shen residence, she had not kept this mynah in her room, otherwise all her secrets would have been revealed by it, wouldn’t they? Jiang Li thought further—if back at the Shen residence, if the mynah had not been kept in a cage, perhaps it would have already witnessed the secret affair between Princess Yongning and Shen Yurun. Shouting so loudly, Jiang Li would have discovered it. What a pity.

Lost in wild thoughts, Jiang Li suddenly came to her senses. What was wrong with her? She was actually pinning her hopes on a bird? Even feeling regret about it? Jiang Li shook her head. Probably she had been too focused on making the fan tassel, causing her mind to become unclear.

“You’ve come.” Just as she was thinking this, she heard someone speak ahead. Jiang Li looked in that direction to see Ji Heng had approached at some point and was stroking Little Blue’s head. Little Blue docilely allowed him to touch it, but Jiang Li suspected it was her illusion—Little Blue seemed to be trembling?

She looked at Ji Heng suspiciously. Could it be that Ji Heng had been tormenting Little Blue behind everyone’s back? Or had she been seeing things from the beginning—this was not some ferghana horse at all, just an ordinary timid foal?

Ji Heng finished stroking the horse’s head, took out a handkerchief to carefully wipe his hands clean, handed the handkerchief to Wen Ji, and walked before Jiang Li.

“Duke.”

“What matter do you have again?” he asked.

Jiang Li had Baixue take out the small box and hand it to Ji Heng, saying, “Previously I saw a very beautiful piece of jade stone and felt it was suitable for making a fan tassel. The Duke’s golden silk folding fan is very beautiful—I thought perhaps it could use a fan tassel added. So I made this. I hope you will not disdain it.” She looked at Ji Heng with smiling eyes.

Wen Ji and Zhao Ke stood behind Ji Heng like wooden figures. Even if they had thoughts in their hearts at this moment, they dared not show them on their faces.

Ji Heng took the box, opened it to glance inside, then closed it. He handed it to Wen Ji, who put it away. Ji Heng looked at Jiang Li again and said, “Thank you. So what matter do you have?”

Jiang Li deflated. The tone in which Ji Heng said this made it sound like she was the type who never visited without reason, who came to find Ji Heng whenever something happened, and Ji Heng would clean up her messes. So much so that all the smooth, natural ways of making requests she had prepared in her mind could not be spoken.

She looked up dejectedly at Ji Heng. Ji Heng was looking at her with perfect composure, the corners of his mouth slightly upturned, as if smiling.

Jiang Li’s heart skipped a beat. She said, “I truly do have a matter for which I hope the Duke will help.”

“Good,” Ji Heng said lazily. “Speak.”

Jiang Li forcibly suppressed her inner embarrassment and said with feigned calm, “News of Princess Yongning’s pregnancy has already spread throughout Yanjing in an uproar. I suspect Li Xian has also guessed that the child in Yongning’s belly is not the Li family’s. Next, Li Xian will definitely find ways to make Princess Yongning ‘accidentally’ miscarry.”

Ji Heng said, “So what?”

“If we truly let Yongning ‘accidentally’ miscarry herself, this matter will have no good resolution. I think perhaps when Princess Yongning learns the truth of her miscarriage—that it was the Li family’s deliberate doing—the matter will not end well. Given Princess Yongning’s temperament, she will definitely fight to the death and ruthlessly take revenge on the Li family.”

“Thinking it over, what could the Li family have that invites revenge? Only Li Xian’s disgusting proclivities that differ from others.”

“If Li Xian’s proclivities are revealed, the Li family will become the laughingstock of all. The Li family are not forbearing people either. No matter how much Li Zhongnan relies on Prince Cheng, he will not let this go and will inevitably reveal the truth about Princess Yongning’s pregnancy.”

Ji Heng: “So?”

“So, of course we must find the child’s true father. Shen Yurun has been hiding behind the scenes all along. This time, he should also step forward.”

“So you want to exchange a single fan tassel for the key to victory in this grand play?” Ji Heng smiled. “You truly know how to do business, Ah Li.”

Jiang Li was startled by his address of “Ah Li.” Ji Heng’s voice was already clear and moving, like fine wine that intoxicated. When he gently called your name, even the plainest name became vivid and enchanting.

Jiang Li came back to her senses, her eyes curving as she smiled. “Then will the Duke do this business or not?”

“Very well.” Ji Heng agreed extremely readily. Looking at Jiang Li, his smile was captivating. “I agree.”

Author’s Note:

Does anyone think the phrase “What matter do you have again?” is super doting and super charming!