Upon returning to the inner city, they heard that Huangfu Xi had suffered a defeat.
Zhao Jiaqi rubbed her brows. It had only been a little over ten days, and they had already experienced an initial setback. Fan Zehao merely let out a cold chuckle upon hearing the news, laced with mockery, "He's no good as an emperor, and he's no good at fighting. What is he good at?"
"Good or not, he's still been emperor for all these years," Zhao Jiaqi immediately retorted to her husband.
He didn't argue. The statement was true; good or not, he had been emperor for many years. He was just indignant. Those soldiers on the battlefield were living, breathing human lives. Couldn't they stop treating lives like child's play?
As they were talking, Xiao Mi walked in, smiling cheerfully, "Your Highness, Your Highness, the Old Madam requests your presence."
The couple had only just sat down and hadn't even had a sip of water to relax before being summoned by their mother. They exchanged a glance, both breaking into smiles.
Zhao Jiaqi: "Let's go, we'll go see Father and Mother together."
Fan Zehao helped her up and added, "And while we're there, we can share the good news of your pregnancy. We'll be like an old clam producing a pearl."
The phrase sounded jarring. Zhao Jiaqi shot him a look, "What do you mean, 'an old clam producing a pearl'? Am I very old?"
Realizing he had misspoke, Fan Zehao immediately shook his head, "No, no, absolutely not. You know my mouth isn't good with words, and I don't have much knowledge. What good things can I say? I just learned that phrase from someone else and used it in the wrong context. You're magnanimous, don't take it to heart."
It was true he wasn't very cultured, but she wouldn't admit his mouth was clumsy.
"You should learn something better than that. Next time, learn some sweeter words to coax me."
After Zhao Jiaqi finished speaking, Fan Zehao nodded repeatedly. Forget learning; he would willingly copy them out a hundred, a thousand times.
"No problem, I'll start learning right away. I guarantee I won't repeat myself in the words I use to coax you every day."
This made her laugh. Regardless of anything else, this man was acceptable.
They walked along the paths in the princely estate. The flowers blooming in the courtyard were so vibrant they made her stop in her tracks. A premonition stirred within her, and she placed a hand on her stomach.
"Husband, I suspect this baby I'm carrying is a girl."
Her words hit the mark perfectly. However, he dared not appear too pleased, fearing it was a test from his wife. So, he feigned confusion and asked, "Oh? How do you know?"
"This little one hasn't even been born yet, and she's only just two months old. Even the doctor can't feel her pulse, and you know?"
Zhao Jiaqi nodded as if it were the most natural thing in the world and widened her eyes, replying with absolute certainty, "The child is in my belly, of course, I know her gender."
Her wife's words left Fan Zehao speechless. Fine, he wouldn't argue with her. After so many years of marriage, he had learned a valuable lesson: arguing with a woman never ended well.
"You say so, and so it is. Whether it's a boy or a girl, it's still my seed, and I'll love and dote on them all."
With this, his wife should have no fault to find, right? Whether her words were a test or not, he certainly wouldn't fall into the trap.
He was thinking this with a happy heart when, unexpectedly, his ear was immediately grabbed. Zhao Jiaqi, with a furrowed brow, growled at him, "What do you mean, 'it's still my seed'?"
Did... did she misunderstand that?
"If it's not your seed, whose else could it be?"
This man, if left unchecked for three days, would dare to pull down the roof tiles. How dare he question the child in her belly?
Fan Zehao wasn't bothered by his ear being twisted as much as he was distressed. When had he ever doubted that the child in his wife's belly was his?
How had his wife become so neurotic this pregnancy?
The two continued to bicker playfully as they made their way to Songhe Yuan. Seeing their mother radiant with health, her mouth couldn't stop smiling upon seeing them return.
Supporting each other, they knelt down to pay their respects to the Old Madam. "Son, daughter-in-law pay respects to Mother."
Zhang Cuihua, seated on a soft couch, extended her hands to wave them up. "You're all grown up, why bother with formalities? Come, sit, let me see if you've lost any weight."
Just as Fan Zehao was about to share the good news with his mother, two more people arrived. Both were unexpected guests.
Before anyone had entered, their voices preceded them: "I heard my sister-in-law is back? Where is she? Let me see!"
As the voice spoke, two people walked in through the doorway. Zhao Jiaqi and Fan Zehao turned their heads in unison and saw a familiar couple.
"Brother, Sister-in-law."
Helian Zhicheng walked up to Fan Zehao and playfully punched his chest a couple of times, with a hint of complaint, "Next time you leave, remember to bring us along. Otherwise, leaving us here is too lonely."
Fan Zehao chuckled sheepishly, "I'm afraid you'll be greatly disappointed. We have no plans to go out for the next year or two."
His words caused everyone present to be quite perplexed. Zhang Cuihua knew her son and daughter-in-law like the back of her hand.
She didn't believe him and asked, "Why?"
"Mother, my wife is pregnant again. She's only two months along, so we won't be going out for the time being."
After Fan Zehao finished speaking, a brief silence fell over the room, followed by happy cheers. The most overjoyed was the Old Madam.
Leaning on a maidservant, she got up and walked over to Zhao Jiaqi. Looking at her still flat stomach, she was overjoyed and said, "Wonderful! For contributing to the prosperity of my Fan family, you have worked hard."
Zhao Jiaqi demurely shook her head. It was her child; how could she say it was hard work? If anyone should say that, it should be Fan Zehao.
Seizing the moment of joy, Helian Zhicheng and Duan Yao, the couple, seized the opportunity. They exchanged a look, and Duan Yao initiated the conversation.
She helped Zhao Jiaqi to sit down and smiled, "You have one good thing, and I have one too. Why don't we just have a double dose of good fortune?"
Zhang Cuihua also nodded with a smile, agreeing with Duan Yao's suggestion, "I think that's a good idea."
The two of them working in tandem left Fan Zehao and Zhao Jiaqi utterly bewildered. She asked, "What good thing?"
This time, Duan Yao didn't keep it a secret and directly said, "My son has finally captured Yu Meng's heart. I was thinking of arranging their marriage immediately after Yu Meng comes of age."
This was undoubtedly huge news that stunned the couple. It caught them completely off guard, like a fine cabbage that had been snatched away by someone while they were away.
Instinctively, both husband and wife outright refused: "We disagree."
As soon as the words left their mouths, the smiles on everyone in the room froze. They didn't know whether to cry or force a smile.
Duan Yao asked Zhao Jiaqi, "These two children, one loves the other, what a perfect pair. And not just their families, but their talents, and their character, my son is impeccable."
Helian Zhicheng also felt his son was quite good. He had inherited his father's trait of being devoted and chimed in, "Yes, sister-in-law. Furthermore, I can guarantee you that if Jinli dares to harm Yu Meng even a single hair, I will not let him off."