Shen Yuning didn't know how she left the Xue family's old mansion. She was still staggering.
There were two people at the door. One was Yin Zidu, and the other, bowing with an obsequious smile, was Xue Yuxuan.
Yin Zidu strode forward, supported Shen Yuning, and casually held her hand. In the warm spring season, Shen Yuning's hand was still cold. His big warm palm helped to calm her chaotic thoughts a little.
Xue Yuxuan hurriedly followed up. However, before he could say a word, Yin Zidu had already picked Shen Yuning up in his arms and sent her into the carriage.
Shen Yuning didn't care about Xue Yuxuan outside. She just leaned against Yin Zidu's arms. Yes, Xuanzhi had always been by her side.
At the beginning, she didn't know Xuanzhi. She just gave a piece of cake to that little beggar. Then the little beggar saved her and helped her avoid being sold for the time being. Later, when she opened a shop and encountered so many things, Xuanzhi always stood behind her to shield her from the wind and rain.
Others said that the Regent loved and respected his princess because he wanted to repay the kindness of being saved and raised in the past.
In fact, Xuanzhi had never belonged to her. Instead, it was she who had always been relying on him.
In the past, she relied on this younger brother, and now she relied on this husband.
Yin Zidu stroked her hand and said, "I'm here. Don't be afraid."
He could always appear at the first moment, making her feel at ease and happy.
...
As Shen Yuning's belly grew bigger, Nanny Shuang became more anxious than before. She looked at Liuzhi and Liutiao. Obviously, they didn't do anything wrong. Instead, they did everything properly. But Nanny Shuang still nitpicked and thought there were problems everywhere with them.
Nanny Shuang took the opportunity to run to Shen Yuning and said, "Princess, this servant thinks there must be something wrong with them. We should be more careful about this matter. How about dismissing them earlier?"
Shen Yuning shook her head with a faint smile. The rumors in the court that were unfavorable to the Regent and her had already spread. If she dismissed the maids sent by the queen at this time, wouldn't it confirm the accusation of being arrogant because of the Regent's favor and disrespecting the king as a subject? That would be a great crime.
Nanny Shuang asked anxiously again, "Then, Princess, why don't you tell the Regent? It's better to talk to the Regent at this time than to bear everything by yourself, right?"
Shen Yuning lowered her eyes and said, "Forget it. It's just a baseless rumor. He is so busy. Since I can handle it, why should I bother him?"
Nanny Shuang was a little unhappy. She thought that a husband and wife shouldn't talk about bothering each other. But seeing that the Regent got up before dawn and returned late at night, she didn't want the princess to go to the Regent to complain about the queen.
However, in the past few days, it seemed that the Regent returned even later.
Shen Yuning asked several times, and Yin Zidu only said that the emperor's illness had become worse. Now the emperor couldn't get out of bed. Besides dealing with the government affairs, he also had to often go to visit the emperor. He was really too busy.
In this case, Shen Yuning was even less likely to bother him.
However, in the middle of the night one day, Shen Yuning didn't know why, but her heart was pounding. She couldn't sleep well. She got up and asked, "What time is it?"
Liutiao replied, "Princess, it's almost the end of the Zi hour."
Shen Yuning took a deep breath, put on her clothes, and got up.
Liutiao was extremely nervous. She quickly lit all the candles and carefully put an outer cloak on her. "Princess, the night dew is heavy. You must take good care of your body."
Shen Yuning nodded and casually asked, "Liutiao, what did you do before you served the queen?"
Liutiao smiled stupidly. "This servant doesn't remember very clearly. It seems that I was the daughter of a good family before. My family committed a crime, so I was confiscated and became a servant. But I was very young at that time, so I don't remember much."
Shen Yuning laughed. "So that's the case. It shows that the queen is kind-hearted."
Liutiao also echoed, "Yes. According to my status as a criminal slave, I shouldn't have been able to serve the queen. But the queen is kind. She even invited a teaching nanny to train us."
Shen Yuning raised her eyebrows. "You? There are many of you?"
Liutiao thought for a while. "There are many, but not many of us serve the queen. This servant is lucky. I met the queen first, and now I can serve the princess."
Shen Yuning didn't say anything. She walked outside to get some fresh air.
Seeing that Shen Yuning was depressed, Liutiao told a few interesting things to relieve the princess's melancholy.
Bihuan, who was standing beside them, watched coldly. Her heart was pounding. Could it be that the princess was wrong? In terms of details, Liutiao was even more careful than her. Liutiao took care of every detail of the princess's affairs, for fear of making the slightest mistake. How could this be like a spy sent by the queen?
Which spy would talk about the former master in such a familiar way?
Hearing Liutiao talk about the criminal slaves, Shen Yuning asked, "Are all the confiscated criminal slaves trained uniformly?"
Liutiao shook her head. "No. It depends on where they are confiscated to. Generally, they are assigned by the government, and some good families will also choose. For example, when the traitorous king rebelled, many of his family members were confiscated and became servants. Those people were distributed to various places. Only a few of them stayed in the capital, and it was even more impossible for them to be sent to the palace to serve."
The traitorous king she mentioned was the former second prince, Yin Yifei. They didn't stay in the capital because they were worried that they hadn't been completely dealt with.
Shen Yuning asked, "What kind of people stayed in the capital?"
Liutiao replied, "They were people from low-ranking families. Probably they had kind relatives who provided a little relief so that they wouldn't fall into a bitter and cold place. It seems that the Regent once took in a criminal slave and kept her in the palace."
Shen Yuning looked up at her in confusion and saw that her eyes were full of innocence, as if she was just telling an ordinary thing.
But this little maid knew clearly about something that even she didn't know?
Shen Yuning didn't say anything anymore. She walked along the path in the yard and headed outside.
Liutiao felt a little uneasy. "Princess, it's already very late at night. If the princess can't sleep, how about we servants accompany the princess to play in the room?"
Shen Yuning stopped. The stuffy air in her chest didn't seem to disperse at all. She felt that she couldn't stay in the room, and she also couldn't stay in the yard. She wanted to go out.
She also wanted to wait for Xuanzhi to come back quickly.
It seemed that Xuanzhi came back even later than before tonight. But she didn't remember. Every day when Xuanzhi came back, she was already sleeping soundly. When she woke up in the morning, he was gone. Only occasionally, when she was half asleep and half awake, did she feel that Xuanzhi had come back.
She walked outside the yard and looked back. Along the main road from the mansion gate to the courtyard gate, there were lights lit to prevent Xuanzhi from not being able to see when he came back at night. Looking along the road like this, there was no sign of Xuanzhi.
He hadn't come back yet.
But there was a rustling sound beside her. Shen Yuning turned around and saw a woman in a black cloak supporting Yin Zidu standing not far away.
Shen Yuning's heart started pounding.
They were in the dark. She couldn't see the woman's face clearly. She just felt that the black cloak was a bit familiar. It wasn't a woman's cloak. It was Xuanzhi's.
Who was she?
The woman didn't say a word. She let Yin Zidu lean against a tree beside them, wrapped the cloak around herself, saluted Shen Yuning, and then turned around and left.
Shen Yuning took a deep breath and stepped forward to support Yin Zidu. Only then did she find that he had drunk too much and was very drunk.
Why did he drink for no reason?
Shen Yuning suppressed the uneasiness in her heart and called Bihuan and Liutiao to help her carry Yin Zidu into the room together.
Nanny Shuang came over soon and whispered in Shen Yuning's ear, "She is the flower-serving maid who has always lived in the northernmost courtyard. We don't know her name or her origin. We heard that she was arranged by the Regent, but she hasn't been given any status. The servants in the mansion have always regarded her as the Regent's concubine. She only has a rough maid by her side. It seems that she does everything by herself."
Was it like hiding a beauty in a golden house? But it didn't seem so. Xuanzhi came back every day, but he had never been to the northern courtyard.
Shen Yuning frowned slightly. If he hadn't been there, why were they together tonight? And the woman's gestures clearly showed that she was very familiar with Xuanzhi.
Afraid that Shen Yuning would think too much, Nanny Shuang quickly added, "But Princess, don't worry. Even if she is a concubine, she is not favored. We servants can all see the Regent's love and respect for the princess."
Shen Yuning stared at the unconscious Xuanzhi and felt that there seemed to be a knot in her heart that she couldn't untie. Except on the day of their wedding, she had never seen Xuanzhi drunk.
Because she didn't sleep well, Shen Yuning woke up late the next day. She got up in a hurry and found that Xuanzhi didn't go to the palace today.
Bihuan said that the Regent was not feeling well. Although he stayed in the mansion, he was still very busy. He was discussing matters with Lord Jiang in the outer study.
Shen Yuning was full of doubts, but she couldn't ask. It was already time for her to be on duty, so she could only quickly have breakfast and go to the Ministry of Justice early.
When she came back at night, Xuanzhi had gone to the palace again. He also left a message for Shen Yuning, saying that the emperor was very ill. He would stay in the palace for the next few days.
Shen Yuning was a little confused. Was he really going to serve the emperor during his illness? Or was Xuanzhi deliberately avoiding her?
Was Xuanzhi afraid that she would know that he was hiding a beauty in the mansion? But if there was such a beauty hidden in the house, Xuanzhi not only hadn't been there, but also hadn't even mentioned it, let alone provided her with daily necessities and rewards.
Maybe she thought too much. That night, Shen Yuning felt a sharp pain in her abdomen. This frightened everyone.
When Yin Zidu led the imperial physician back from the palace in a hurry, Shen Yuning had already drunk the medicinal soup and was out of danger.
The doctor commonly used by the Xue family stood aside, bowed, and said, "Regent, the princess has been thinking too much recently and hasn't had a good rest, which has led to the restlessness of the fetus and continuous uterine contractions. She may not be able to go on duty for the next few days and needs to rest well."
Yin Zidu nodded and asked the imperial physician to examine Shen Yuning. The imperial physician said almost the same thing.
The imperial physician's eyes showed a look of joy. "The princess is usually in good health. There is no serious problem. But in the future, she still needs to be more careful. She shouldn't be too excited. Neither great joy nor great anger is acceptable. The little prince in the princess's belly is connected with the princess's heart. If the princess is in a bad mood, how can the little prince be in a good mood?"
Yin Zidu was stunned for a moment and asked, "Do you mean that there is a little prince in the princess's belly?"
The imperial physician quickly knelt down to congratulate him. "Yes, Your Highness. This subject is good at diagnosing and treating women's diseases. I have diagnosed that the baby in the princess's belly will be the future heir."
Shen Yuning stared at him with open eyes. There was no look of joy on her face. She only asked, "This princess has indeed heard that a highly skilled doctor can diagnose whether it is a male or female fetus when the pregnant woman is about to give birth. But this princess is only six months pregnant now. How did the imperial physician diagnose it so early?"
The imperial physician's face tightened. Then he changed his words. "Regent, Princess, please forgive this subject's crime. This subject was too happy for a moment, so my words were a bit exaggerated. This subject diagnosed that there is a little prince in the princess's belly and couldn't wait to say it. But this kind of thing is based entirely on the doctor's experience and cannot be certain. However, this subject thinks that there is a nine out of ten chance that it is the young heir in the princess's belly."