At this moment, Su Yuanyuan was like a rabbit whose tail had been stepped on, extremely flustered.
"I won't listen! I just won't listen!"
Cang Xuan held back his laughter. "Although the moonlight tonight is not as good as last night's, you can still occasionally see a few stars. Since you don't want to listen to stories, how about watching the stars with me?"
Watch the stars? Remembering what her second elder brother had said about the ways of courtship between men and women in the northern desert, Su Yuanyuan felt both shy and annoyed. This man neither made his intentions clear nor hesitated to invite her to watch the stars. Did he think she was so easy to deceive?!
"I won't watch!" the young girl said angrily. Then she turned around and headed towards the Mo Yi Pavilion again.
Just as she was about to step into the Mo Yi Pavilion, she finally turned around and spared Cang Xuan a glance.
"My mother is pregnant. I will stay in her room until she gives birth to my younger brother or sister." The implication was that he should behave himself and not try anything inappropriate, so as not to disturb her mother's sleep.
Cang Xuan naturally understood. He was stunned for a moment. As she turned to leave, he instinctively grabbed her wrist and pulled her in front of him.
Bending slightly, he looked seriously into the young girl's eyes. The hair scattered behind him slid down from his shoulders and was blown by the gentle breeze onto Su Yuanyuan's face. The tickling sensation on her face spread all the way to her heart.
"I don't know about others, but I will only have one wife in my life," Cang Xuan said.
"What... what does it matter to me?" Su Yuanyuan stammered. Then she stomped on his foot, broke free from his grasp, rushed into Mo's room, and slammed the door shut.
Outside the courtyard gate, Cang Xuan watched as the young girl's figure disappeared before his eyes. He couldn't help but let out a silent laugh and whispered, "She has quite a temper."
Inside the room, after closing the door, Su Yuanyuan stood still in front of the door. She could still feel the warmth of the man's palm on her wrist. She didn't notice that the corners of her lips were turned up, her heart was fluttering, and her eyebrows and eyes were relaxed.
"Yuanbao? Are you back?" came Mo's voice from behind. Su Yuanyuan quickly composed herself and turned around. Looking around the room, Su Yuanyuan found that Wei Linlang was no longer there. Presumably, her sister - in - law had already gone back.
Su Yuanyuan skipped forward and took Mo's elbow. She smiled and said, "Mother, it's getting late. Let's go to bed quickly."
As the saying goes, no one knows a daughter better than her mother. Seeing Su Yuanyuan so happy, like a rabbit that had just eaten a fresh carrot, Mo also couldn't help but smile. "What good thing have you encountered to be so happy?"
"If we talk about good things, there are plenty. Sister - in - law and mother are pregnant. Father has been made a prince, and I have been made a princess. In the city of Shengjing today, who can be more glorious than us?"
"Indeed!" Mo was successfully distracted by Su Yuanyuan. Just thinking about how angry and regretful those forces that had tried to suppress them would be when they learned about all this, Mo couldn't help but want to laugh.
This was like someone forcing even greater glory and wealth into their hands.
"Our Princess Fubao can walk sideways when she goes out in the future. You are the adopted daughter of the Emperor. I'd like to see who would dare to bully you in the future!" Mo said proudly.
Su Yuanyuan quietly let out a sigh of relief.
Mo said, "Now that your sister - in - law is pregnant, there will be another happy event in the family soon. Next, mother should start arranging marriages for your second and third elder brothers, as well as for you."
Su Yuanyuan followed up and said, "Didn't mother say at the banquet just now that we can decide our own marriages?"
"We still need to prepare properly. If your second and third elder brothers come to mother tomorrow and say that they have taken a fancy to a girl from a certain family, mother will have to take people to propose marriage. Without some family assets, would others be willing to marry their daughters to your second and third elder brothers?" Mo showed a look of disdain when talking about her two sons.
Su Yuanyuan remembered her second elder brother's unusual behavior at the piano - appreciation banquet and covered her mouth and laughed. "Mother is right. We really need to prepare properly."
"Yuanbao, what do you think of your adopted brother?" Mo suddenly asked this question when Su Yuanyuan wasn't paying attention.
Su Yuanyuan didn't react immediately and subconsciously said, "Adopted brother is very good."
Mo murmured, "Such a good man. I'm sure there are many girls in Shengjing vying to marry him."
After saying this, Mo didn't bring up this topic anymore. Instead, she changed into her clothes under the service of the maids, lay down on the bed, and was about to go to sleep.
Su Yuanyuan stayed in Mo's room. She didn't sleep in the same bed as Mo but had another small bed separated by a screen.
Perhaps because of what Mo had said before going to bed, Su Yuanyuan tossed and turned in bed and couldn't fall asleep. It was already the second half of the night when she finally lost consciousness in a daze.
The next day, before dawn, her daily habit of practicing martial arts made her wake up early.
Without disturbing Mo, Su Yuanyuan got up carefully. Without waiting for anyone to help her, she skillfully put on her tight - fitting clothes and then walked out lightly.
As soon as she left the courtyard, a cold wind blew towards her. Looking around, she didn't see her second elder brother's figure. So Su Yuanyuan started to exercise in the courtyard to warm herself up.
The black dog, Hei Ying, had been watching Su Yuanyuan. Seeing her practicing boxing in the courtyard, it wagged its tail and came forward to play with her.
Hearing Hei Ying's thoughts, Su Yuanyuan found it extremely funny.
She never thought that such a terrifying and majestic black dog on the outside would have a personality like that of a three - year - old child.
However, after she finished a simple set of boxing and played a little game of throwing and fetching a stick with Hei Ying, the sky was starting to brighten, but her second elder brother still didn't show up.
What was going on?
They had clearly made an appointment yesterday to practice martial arts at a quarter past the Chen hour today. Now it was already three quarters past the Chen hour. Why hadn't her second elder brother come yet?
Could it be that he was still drunk?
Concerned about Su Huaiyuan, Su Yuanyuan trotted out of the Mo Yi Pavilion towards Su Huaiyuan's courtyard. Hei Ying wanted to chase after her, but remembering its duty to guard the Mo Yi Pavilion, it had to slink back to its doghouse.
Just as she had run a short distance, Su Yuanyuan saw the servant beside Su Huaiyuan walking towards her in a hurry. Seeing the serious look on the servant's face, Su Yuanyuan knew that her guess was right. Something must have happened to her second elder brother.
The servant also saw Su Yuanyuan from afar. After approaching her, he said, "Princess, the Second Young Master asked this servant to come and apologize to you. He may not be able to accompany the Princess to practice martial arts today."
"What's wrong with Second Brother? Why did he suddenly break his promise?" Su Yuanyuan asked.
The servant looked worried. "After the Second Young Master woke up just now, he has been complaining about a stomachache and has run to the toilet several times. Now he can hardly stand up."
So this was the reason for his broken promise?
Su Yuanyuan immediately walked towards Su Huaiyuan's Lin Yuan Pavilion. As she walked, she asked, "Has a doctor been invited?"
The servant quickly replied, "Someone has been sent to invite a doctor."
When Su Yuanyuan arrived at the Lin Yuan Pavilion, she happened to meet Chef Liao who had been invited by the servant. Su Yuanyuan's eyes curved into a smile, and she stepped forward and greeted, "Master Liao!"
Chef Liao also smiled. "The Princess is here too. Coincidentally, then let's start learning medicine from now on."
When Su Yuanyuan followed Chef Liao into Su Huaiyuan's room, Su Huaiyuan was lying in bed, covering his stomach and groaning. Looking up and seeing Chef Liao, before Su Huaiyuan could even ask for help, he saw Su Yuanyuan following behind Chef Liao.
At that moment, the expression on this big man's face could be described as "horrified".
"Yuan... Yuanbao, why are you here?" Su Huaiyuan stammered.