Year 31 of the Yuanfeng Era, Fifth Month.

My belly was starting to show, and though it was hidden beneath the official robes, it couldn’t be concealed for much longer.

Lady Liang then used the pretext that I needed to concentrate on studying medicine and couldn’t spare the energy to stop having me treat people in the Crown Prince’s residence.

Of course, she and the Crown Prince were exceptions.

I only left the courtyard twice a month on the first and fifteenth, and always in the dead of night, to avoid detection.

The fetal movements were already very obvious.

They were most concentrated during two time periods—one in the early morning and one before sleep.

I lay in bed, stroking my lower abdomen, with a joy welling up from deep in my heart.

I couldn’t suppress this joy.

Lady Liang came as regularly as clockwork.

Since the time she tearfully confided in me, our relationship had become very subtle.

She seemed to begin accommodating me. As soon as my face showed the slightest impatience, she would tactfully shut her mouth or leave.

For the lofty Crown Princess, this was incredible!

I also tried my best to control my disgust toward her. After all, my child would call her mother in the future and live under her watchful eye.

For the child’s sake, no matter how insincere, I had to be somewhat courteous to her.

For someone as proud and aloof as me, this was equally incredible.

……

Year 31 of the Yuanfeng Era, Sixth Month.

The official robes could no longer hide my belly. I no longer needed to check the pulses on the first and fifteenth either.

Starting this month, Suzhi moved in under Lady Liang’s orders and stayed by my side constantly.

Besides attending to my three meals a day, she did needlework in her spare time.

One day, she made a pair of infant shoes embroidered with two tigers, symbolizing mighty vigor.

When she showed them to me, I nodded and said, “They’re nice.”

These two words seemed to give Suzhi confidence, and she began making little garments and little trousers.

On the surface I was indifferent, but my eyes couldn’t help glancing over from time to time.

She caught me looking a few times. She smiled with pursed lips and told stories about the heir apparent when he was small.

She said when the heir apparent was born, he looked like a little old man, his skin all wrinkled, his crying voice clear and bright…

She rambled on, and I listened sporadically.

After listening, I fell into deep thought.

What would my child look like when born?

A little old man or a little old woman?

Would her first cry be clear and bright, or hoarse?

Mid-month, Bai Zhenshan came to the Crown Prince’s residence looking for me and told the gatekeeper he must see me no matter what.

Uncle Bai’s arrival was within my expectations.

I hadn’t been seen for three or four months. Aunt Bai had made trip after trip in vain—the couple must be worried.

I had a letter I had written beforehand sent out.

After reading the letter, Uncle Bai left reassured.

……

Year 31 of the Yuanfeng Era, First Day of the Seventh Month.

This morning, Lady Liang suddenly came, holding a peachwood sword in her hand.

Without asking my permission, she hung the peachwood sword in the bedroom.

I asked, “What’s that for?”

She said, “The seventh month is the ghost month. This peachwood sword was blessed by a master to ward off evil spirits.”

Those who practice medicine don’t believe in such superstitions about ghosts and spirits.

But Lady Liang meant well, so I couldn’t reject her gesture.

After Lady Liang learned I was determined to leave, she treated me even better.

Not only would I not threaten her position, on the contrary, with the child raised at her side in the future, the Crown Prince would often visit her chambers.

In this world, there truly are no permanent enemies, only permanent interests.

She and I now guarded a secret together.

For this secret, Lady Liang had already planned her follow-up strategy.

The child was born to Suzhi.

Suzhi took advantage of Lady Liang’s inattention and climbed into the Crown Prince’s bed.

Lady Liang hated Suzhi terribly, so she deliberately raised the child under her own name, controlling Suzhi’s lifeline, making Suzhi docile and obedient to her for life.

I said, “There’s something unreasonable about your backup plan. If you truly hate Suzhi so much, why not feed her a bowl of abortifacient medicine? Why would you raise the child under your own name?”

“This you don’t understand. As the dignified Crown Princess from a prestigious family, gentle and virtuous, I would never bear the crime of plotting to harm a dragon son or dragon grandson.”

Lady Liang sneered coldly. “Raising the child under my name, having the child call me mother every day—this is the best punishment for someone who betrayed me.”

My heart spasmed slightly.

Lady Liang looked at me triumphantly. “You don’t count as a woman, so you don’t know that when a woman becomes ruthless, there’s nothing she won’t do.”

That night, I suffered rare insomnia, my mind repeating only one sentence of Lady Liang’s over and over—

“Having the child call me mother every day.”

……

Year 31 of the Yuanfeng Era, Fifth Day of the Seventh Month.

My belly felt somewhat heavy, but my limbs remained slender. Suzhi said from behind, you couldn’t tell I was pregnant.

Having entered the seventh month, the weather was still very hot. Suzhi knew I liked coolness and placed two ice basins in the room every night.

This night I slept until midnight and suddenly awoke. Opening my eyes, I saw someone sitting by my bed.

It was Zhao Lin.

His gaze was deep and indifferent.

This was his first time coming to see me.

Just as I was about to put on clothes and sit up, he suddenly lifted my thin blanket and slid in.

I froze, not daring to move.

Midsummer clothing was just a thin layer of fabric. The temperature of his body was a bit cooler than mine.

He turned over, propping his head up with his hand to look at me.

I smelled the faint scent of wine on him, and my heart grew faintly hot.

In the silence.

He reached out his hand and slowly touched my bulging belly.

“In a flash, it’s already this big. Have you checked your own pulse to see if it’s a boy or girl?”

“I don’t check pulses. I leave it to heaven’s arrangement.”

“I rather hope it’s a daughter who looks more like me.”

His large hand slowly caressed my belly. “In the future when I have time, I’ll teach her music, chess, calligraphy, and painting.”

My hands gripped the hem of my clothes tightly.

Why did he come?

What for?

Had something changed?

Zhao Lin sensed my tension and gently curved his lips. “Don’t be afraid. Nothing has changed. I just wanted to come see you.”

My whole body relaxed. After a long while, I said, “Give him a name.”

Zhao Lin slowly blinked. “How about Jiang Li?”

Jiang Li?

I was very familiar with it—a common medicinal herb, also called mibu, commonly used for promoting blood circulation and moving qi, dispelling wind and stopping pain.

“Zhao Jiang Li?”

I repeated it several times. “If it’s a boy, this name is suitable. If it’s a daughter, this name is somewhat…”

“Jiang is water. The character lin in my name also has water above it. Your name is a medicinal herb name. Her name is also a medicinal herb name.”

He spoke matter-of-factly. “Tell me, what’s unsuitable about it?”

I couldn’t say.

Jiang Li.

“Will leave.”

He was implying something.

My heart turned over a hundred times. Finally, I took a deep breath and said:

“Your Highness, if it’s a boy, please tell him in the future not to have so many women around him. One who understands his heart, who is considerate, who cherishes him—that’s enough.

If it’s a girl, also please tell her that what women should learn most is not virtue, not pleasing others, and certainly not music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, but rather to live according to their own heart’s desires.”

Just as I finished speaking, the child moved in my belly.

He sensed it, his face both pleasantly surprised and saddened.

After a long while, he sneered coldly and said:

“Shen Duruo, how many people in this world can live according to their own heart’s desires?”