Due to her foot injury, the estate’s accounting was postponed after just one day. The next morning, Ming Tan sat in a spacious carriage to return to the prince’s mansion, with Jiang Xu riding alongside, carefully avoiding bumpy roads with pebbles.
When they arrived, Uncle Fu was quite surprised. He thought to himself, “The princess is so easily coaxed. The prince managed to bring her back!”
Watching Jiang Xu carry Ming Tan horizontally towards Qi’an Hall, Uncle Fu’s face wrinkled with a smile, his eyes narrowing to slits.
Lü’e reminded him, “Uncle Fu, please arrange for someone to send the vegetables in the back to Anji Ward.”
Uncle Fu snapped back to reality and looked back, exclaiming, “Oh my, why did they bring back so many vegetables this time?”
“It’s because of those tenant farmers on the estate. They foolishly set traps for wild boars, which caused the princess’s injury. Now they feel guilty and insist on sending us vegetables.”
Uncle Fu nodded in understanding. “All right, I’ll arrange for someone to send them to Anji Ward right away.”
Anji Ward was established by the government to aid the poor and care for orphans, widows, and the weak. It had existed since the beginning of the Daxian dynasty, but in previous reigns, it was often poorly maintained and practically non-functional.
Now, during the prosperous Chengkang era, when the epidemic broke out in Lingzhou due to flooding, Empress Zhang reopened Anji Ward to accommodate disaster victims at the suggestion of Ming Tan and other noble ladies in the capital.
After the epidemic, Anji Ward remained in use. Currently, there was one in each cardinal direction of the capital, and other provinces were gradually establishing their own. Ming Tan would visit occasionally, and most of the elderly there now recognized her.
…
After resting in the mansion for a few days, Ming Tan’s foot injury noticeably improved. Perhaps knowing Jiang Xu was in the mansion, no one dared to disturb them during this time. Even Suxin and Lü’e seldom appeared in the room, with Jiang Xu taking care of her medication and dressing her wound.
When the wound on her foot healed, two faint scars remained, but they weren’t as severe as the estate doctor had predicted. It seemed they would naturally fade over time.
One night after bathing, Jiang Xu sat on the edge of the bed in his nightclothes and glanced at Ming Tan’s delicate little foot. He asked, “Do you want to use the Shuanghua Ointment?”
“Of course,” Ming Tan replied, then added, “Turn around for a moment.”
Jiang Xu obediently turned his back to her.
She lifted his clothes to take a look and her eyes widened suddenly. “It is that effective!”
She couldn’t help but touch the area. The scars had indeed disappeared, with only a few deep ones still faintly visible. She thought that after using it a couple more times, they would be completely gone.
Jiang Xu was silent for a moment before saying, “The Shuanghua Ointment is rare. You should keep it for yourself. Don’t waste it on me.”
Ming Tan paused, lowered his clothes, and began applying the ointment to her wound. Feeling guilty, she said, “Don’t flatter yourself. I was just… just using your back wounds as an experiment. Although Imperial Physician Feng has seen it, it’s still something to be applied to the body. How could I carelessly put it on myself without confirming its effectiveness? Now that I’ve confirmed it, you needn’t imagine you’ll be using it again.”
Jiang Xu didn’t expose her lie, merely responding with a “Mm.” He took the ointment and patiently applied it to her foot.
There were scars on both the top and bottom of her foot. When he applied the ointment to the sole, Ming Tan tried to hold back but couldn’t help laughing, involuntarily curling her toes.
“Hurry up… it tickles!”
Hearing this, Jiang Xu had a mischievous thought. He deliberately slowed his movements and held her foot so she couldn’t escape. Ming Tan laughed so hard she rolled on the bed, tears forming in her eyes. Her feet kicked wildly, but she couldn’t break free from Jiang Xu’s grasp.
Soon, Ming Tan’s clothes became loose, revealing most of her shoulders. The scent of green pear from her bath mixed with the faint medicinal aroma of the Shuanghua Ointment, stirring Jiang Xu’s senses. Somehow, by the time the tickling subsided, Jiang Xu was already leaning over her, one hand propped beside her ear.
His Adam’s apple bobbed up and down, his eyes dark with obvious desire.
Ming Tan’s smile froze for a moment, her heart inexplicably nervous, along with a strange, lingering… longing.
She avoided Jiang Xu’s gaze and swallowed hard.
Then, cool kisses fell on her neck, slowly moving upwards to her cheeks, eyes, and cherry lips…
His kisses were still familiar, seeming to instantly evoke long-forgotten memories. Ming Tan became somewhat lost in the passion, unconsciously responding to him.
As their clothes gradually fell away and they drew closer, Ming Tan clung to him, secretly hoping for deeper intimacy. However, Jiang Xu stopped at the crucial moment and whispered hoarsely in her ear, “Ah Tan, may I?”
Ming Tan regained some clarity, but her body still ached with the need for his closeness.
However, she was still upset with him, and her pride wouldn’t allow her to shamelessly give verbal consent. She could only hold back her broken voice, glaring at him without much threat, and lightly punching his shoulder with her small fist.
Jiang Xu didn’t press her further. Kissing her earlobe, he said in a husky voice, “Then I’ll take that as a yes.”
Ming Tan tightly wrapped her arms around his neck and suddenly let out a heavy muffled groan.
…
After a sleepless night, Ming Tan refused to acknowledge anything the next morning, but she unconsciously became more affectionate towards Jiang Xu.
As autumn turned to winter and spring approached, the capital experienced unusually heavy snowfall that winter. When the green trees began to sprout new buds and the ice and snow melted, the Northern Frontier Prince’s Mansion finally showed signs of spring’s renewal.
In the half-year since Jiang Xu’s return from the northwest, Ming Tan had shown signs of softening and forgiveness early on. However, she continued to play hard to get, occasionally putting on coy airs. Seeing Jiang Xu’s patient indulgence, she became even more willful.
It wasn’t until the heavy snow on New Year’s Eve when the usually iron-like Jiang Xu caught a severe cold and was bedridden for half a month with a high fever and delirium, that Ming Tan could no longer keep up the act. With tears in her eyes, she sat by his sickbed, tending to him day and night, finally saying she forgave him.
“Now I’m starting to feel… like I’ve been tricked,” Ming Tan mused, chattering away as she invited Bai Minmin and Zhou Jingwan to the mansion to view the flowers. “Imperial Physician Feng clearly said that after taking one more bottle of medicine, the cold poison would be eliminated. I wasn’t at ease, so I even asked for an extra bottle later. He’s finished two bottles of medicine, so how could he still catch a cold due to the residual poison?”
“You’re overthinking it. Many people caught colds during that time. What’s wrong with your husband getting a cold? He’s not a god,” Bai Minmin replied nonchalantly.
“But I’ve never seen him catch a cold before.”
“Well, now you have, haven’t you?”
Ming Tan hesitated, still feeling something was off. “But this time, others recovered from their colds in five or six days at most. His body is strong, far beyond ordinary people. How could it drag on for half a month?”
Zhou Jingwan, who had received many rare calligraphy works and paintings from Jiang Xu in the past half year (ostensibly gifted to Lu Ting but meant for her), subtly spoke in his defense. “Do you think the prince was faking his illness or prolonging it to trick you? If that were true, think about it. Why would the prince go to such lengths, even at the cost of his health? It was just so you would soften your heart and forgive him. This alone shows that the prince’s feelings for you are genuine.”
“…”
Although something still felt off, it seemed to make some sense.
Jiang Xu had specifically found an idle job for Zhang Huaiyu to inspect the Jiangnan region, perfect for taking Bai Minmin along for sightseeing. With Bai Minmin’s wish to travel out of the capital fulfilled, she naturally chimed in with her eyes closed: “Jingwan is right. You’ve been quite demanding these past months. One day you want to soak in the hot springs of Wujin Mountain, the next day you want to see the epiphyllum bloom. Hasn’t your prince indulged your every whim? Besides, the imperial physician said one bottle would be enough, but you insisted on two. Maybe that made things worse.”
“…”
That seemed to make some sense too.
Ming Tan pondered for a while, then slowly nodded. She didn’t think further about it, just coughed twice, and couldn’t help but show off her snow-white wrist.
Bai Minmin and Zhou Jingwan exchanged a glance, then very supportively praised her:
“How beautiful this bracelet is! The jade color is special, so pure and translucent!”
“I noticed it earlier. Is this the cyan lotus jade from Yuncheng? I’ve heard it’s very rare, and yours is even polished into uniform beads, making it even more precious.”
“Your prince went to Yuncheng on official business last month and found this for you, right?”
Ming Tan smiled, half-exasperated and half-boastful in front of her friends: “He found it when he went to Yuncheng on business with Sister Li’s husband last month. He didn’t tell me, and it took half a month for Cuojin Pavilion to finish making it. A few days ago, when Cousin Hua came to the mansion and saw this bracelet, she mentioned in passing that he had gone to great lengths to find this cyan lotus jade in Yuncheng, not sleeping for several nights.”
Bai Minmin and Zhou Jingwan tacitly took a sip of tea, thinking to themselves: When has Shen Hua ever casually mentioned anything? Don’t you remember how Li’s second son entered the Ministry of Revenue?
Seeing them drink tea, Ming Tan also picked up the butter tea made by the mansion’s new chef from the Northwest and took a small sip.
However, as soon as she swallowed the butter tea, Ming Tan inexplicably felt nauseous.
Suxin, seeing this, quickly came forward to help her spit it out, then brought her some clear tea to rinse her mouth.
Ming Tan looked disgusted. “This butter tea is too greasy. Take it away quickly.”
Bai Minmin and Zhou Jingwan looked at their teacups, feeling puzzled. It was a bit greasy, but not enough to cause such a strong reaction after just half a sip.
Bai Minmin, suddenly having an epiphany, casually said, “Your prince isn’t coming back for dinner today, right? Then I’ll stay at the prince’s mansion for dinner. Oh, Suxin, I like the steamed fish your chef makes. Quickly tell the kitchen to prepare one.”
“Yes, I’ll go right away,” Suxin replied.
…
At dusk, a sumptuous dinner was laid out in the side hall of Qi’an Hall. Bai Minmin had asked for steamed fish, but she also had a variety of other dishes placed in front of her. As a result, the steamed fish ended up in front of Ming Tan.
Ming Tan, for some reason, felt that the fish smelled particularly fishy today, making her want to vomit just from the scent.
But Bai Minmin was eating happily, and not content with just eating herself, she picked up a piece with her chopsticks and insisted on feeding it to Ming Tan.
Ming Tan had no choice but to accept it, but as soon as it entered her mouth, she couldn’t bear it. She spat out the fish and bent over the basin that Suxin had quickly brought, vomiting profusely.
Bai Minmin hadn’t expected such a strong reaction from her. While panicking, she also felt a hint of joy in her heart. She quickly ordered, “Quickly, go find an imperial physician. What’s the name of the one who regularly checks the princess’s pulse for safety? Imperial Physician Feng, right? Yes, that’s correct, Imperial Physician Feng!”
Ming Tan, her face pale from vomiting, had also vaguely guessed something. She rinsed her mouth and, still weak, glanced at Bai Minmin. “Were you deliberately trying to torment me to death?”
Soon after, Imperial Physician Feng hurriedly arrived with his medicine box.
He skillfully felt Ming Tan’s pulse, then, as if unsure, withdrew his hand and checked again.
The pulse remained the same.
He quickly stood up and respectfully congratulated her, “Your pulse is smooth, like pearls rolling on a jade plate. This is a slippery pulse. Congratulations, Your Highness, you are pregnant!”