“Young Master, Young Master, please don’t frighten me!” Taosheng was scared to tears.
Chi Can wiped the corner of his mouth and chuckled softly: “I won’t die.”
“Young Master, let me fetch a physician for you.”
“No need.” Chi Can stood up, grabbed the cloak hanging on the screen, and walked outside.
“Young Master, where are you going?”
Chi Can ignored Taosheng and strode outside with large steps.
Taosheng hurriedly followed.
“Prepare my horse.”
Soon, Taosheng brought the horse over. Chi Can took the reins, mounted the horse with a flip, and instructed: “I’ll return later.”
Quickly, the date-red steed carried its master away in a cloud of dust, leaving Taosheng to sigh heavily.
On the sixth day of the first lunar month, the shops on both sides of the street had not yet opened, but there were quite a few pedestrians, all visiting relatives to pay New Year respects.
Chi Can rode his horse to the front of Chunfeng Tavern, squinting his eyes as he looked at the wine flag fluttering in the wind.
The scene of drinking and chatting merrily with several good friends seemed still before his eyes, yet in the blink of an eye, Yang Houcheng had gone south, Zhu Yàn and Shao Mingyuan had successively married, and now only he remained with nowhere to go.
“Open the door.” Chi Can dismounted and came to the back door of Chunfeng Tavern, pounding forcefully on the door panel.
“Who is it?” Soon, the door creaked open, and when the servant inside saw it was Chi Can, his face immediately filled with smiles: “New Year greetings to Young Master Chi.”
Chi Can tossed a piece of broken silver to the servant and stepped inside: “Bring me two jars of wine and prepare some drinking snacks.”
“Right away.” The servant hurried to make arrangements.
Although Chunfeng Tavern was closed during the New Year period, several homeless people still had to live here, so naturally, they had prepared sufficient ingredients.
Soon, wine and food were set on the table. Chi Can dismissed the servant and began drinking alone.
The servant thought for a moment, then quietly hurried to the Marquis Guanjun’s residence.
Chunfeng Tavern was Shao Mingyuan’s property, and many of the servants in the tavern were those who had been injured in battle and retired, so their loyalty was naturally beyond question.
After hearing the servant’s report, Shao Mingyuan was somewhat surprised and returned to his room to tell Qiao Zhao, “I’m going to Chunfeng Tavern.”
“Isn’t Chunfeng Tavern closed at this time?”
“Shixi went there and is drinking alone in melancholy. I’ll go take a look. Don’t wait for me for lunch.” Shao Mingyuan lowered his head and placed a kiss on Qiao Zhao’s forehead.
Seeing him hurrying to leave, Qiao Zhao called out: “Tingquan, I think I know what’s going on.”
Shao Mingyuan paused in his steps and turned back, embracing Qiao Zhao and asking: “What’s going on?”
“On New Year’s Day, when we entered the palace to pay respects, I noticed that the Eldest Princess Changrong was pregnant.”
Shao Mingyuan’s expression instantly became somewhat interesting.
“Originally, I thought this wasn’t something that could be publicized, so I didn’t tell you. I assumed the Empress Dowager and the Eldest Princess certainly wouldn’t keep this child. Now it seems Big Brother Chi must have found out.”
“Mm, I’ll go check on Shixi first.” With understanding in his heart, Shao Mingyuan’s mood was quite heavy as he headed to Chunfeng Tavern.
The harm from those closest to oneself—he understood this deeply.
When Shao Mingyuan arrived, Chi Can had already finished an entire jar of wine.
The half-drunk man’s cheeks were red as fire, but his eyes were crystal bright. Seeing Shao Mingyuan, he smiled: “How did you come?”
Shao Mingyuan walked over and snatched the wine bowl from Chi Can’s hand, placing it aside.
Chi Can raised his eyebrows at him: “What are you doing?”
“Drinking alone is boring.” Shao Mingyuan picked up the wine bowl, drained it in one gulp, then grabbed the wine jar to fill it again.
Chi Can squinted at Shao Mingyuan, and after a long while, laughed: “You know? Third Miss Li told you?”
After thinking about it, he became a bit angry.
“She told you but didn’t tell me.”
It was his mother who was pregnant, not Shao Mingyuan’s mother!
Shao Mingyuan consoled: “She didn’t originally tell me either. Only when she guessed you knew did she tell me.”
“Then why didn’t she tell me earlier? Was she waiting to see me make a fool of myself?”
Shao Mingyuan smiled helplessly: “Shixi, you’ve had too much to drink. How could she want to see you make a fool of yourself? She originally thought—”
“Thought I didn’t know?” Chi Can’s smile became increasingly bitter. “Yes, I should have remained ignorant and unquestioning, but I perversely went to inquire!”
Seeing him about to reach for the wine bowl again, Shao Mingyuan grasped his wrist: “Shixi, don’t drink anymore.”
Chi Can struggled to keep his hazy eyes open, tears glinting at the corners: “My mother is going to give birth to the child.”
Shao Mingyuan opened his mouth, feeling tongue-tied for the first time, and carefully advised: “Since the elder has made this decision, you should try to accept it.”
Having spent many years in the Northern Territories, he had seen people do unimaginable things just to survive in peaceful times. The Eldest Princess Changrong’s decision to give birth wouldn’t shock him too much.
“Do you think I’m upset because she’s going to give birth to the child?” Chi Can’s lips carried a mocking smile. As the wine took effect, he could barely support himself, pressing both hands on the table and burying his head without making a sound for a long while.
Shao Mingyuan silently kept him company.
“How could she think of me this way? Would I ignore her safety for some inexplicable matter of face?” A muffled voice came through. Shao Mingyuan couldn’t see Chi Can’s expression but could hear the desolate self-mockery in his voice.
“What am I in her heart? What am I?” Chi Can finally raise his head, tears streaming down his face.
His eyes were red, cold tears dripping onto his slender fingers, the fingertips equally cold, yet none of this was as cold as his heart.
“Shixi—” Shao Mingyuan heavily patted Chi Can’s shoulder.
“Tingquan, when you were young, wholeheartedly believing that the Marquis Jing’an’s wife was your birth mother, did you ever think it would be better if you didn’t exist?”
Shao Mingyuan was silent for a moment, then answered: “I never thought that.”
Chi Can silently looked at him.
Shao Mingyuan smiled: “At that time, I only wanted to figure out what I had done wrong, whether mother would like me if I tried harder. Then, working hard and working hard, I grew up.”
Chi Can picked up the wine bowl and took another large gulp, coughing as he covered his mouth because he drank too quickly.
“I hope she gives birth to a son. That way I’ll be completely liberated.”
That would be good too. In the future, he could just be himself, no longer having expectations or constraints.
In Cining Palace, after hearing the imperial physician’s report, Empress Dowager Yang’s heart was devastated.
“Really can’t induce a miscarriage?” After asking three times in succession, Empress Dowager Yang finally accepted this cruel reality.
Seeing Empress Dowager Yang’s deathly pale appearance, Imperial Physician Yang carefully said: “Perhaps if we request a consultation with all the imperial physicians, we could think of a proper solution…”
Among the Imperial Medical Bureau, he wasn’t the most skilled in gynecology. He had become the physician who checked the Empress Dowager’s pulse most often only because he was from the Empress Dowager’s maternal family.
“How could that work?” Empress Dowager Yang immediately rejected Imperial Physician Yang’s suggestion.
Requesting a consultation with imperial physicians—wouldn’t that make Changrong’s pregnancy known to everyone?
“You may withdraw first. Let this dowager think about it.”
Imperial Physician Yang felt greatly relieved and hurriedly withdrew.
Empress Dowager Yang closed her eyes with a splitting headache.
The bastard child in Changrong’s belly absolutely could not be kept. Otherwise, once born, it would become a disgrace to the imperial family and might even be recorded in the historical records.
“Laixi.” Empress Dowager Yang suddenly opened her eyes. “Summon the wife of Marquis Guanjun, Lady Li, to enter the palace.”
When Qiao Zhao received the oral decree transmitted by Laixi, she wasn’t surprised at all and calmly said: “Please wait a moment, Eunuch. Let me change clothes.”