Chapter 299: Chapter 300 - Return Home

On the way back to the Eastern Palace yesterday, the crown princess had told somebody to send a message to the mansion of Duke of Yan, so early in the morning, the carriage of the mansion was waiting at the gate of the imperial palace.

As soon as Jian Xubai came out, Yu Shiheng who came to pick him up under the mistress’s order walked to him. “Your Highness!”

“How is my wife these days?” Jian Xubai nodded at him and asked with concern before getting into the carriage. “Does everything go well in the mansion recently?”

Yu Shiheng lifted the curtain on the carriage for him and answered, “Everything is normal in the mansion. I heard her maid Jinxun say that Aunt Yun came to the Keshao Hall to check Her Highness’s pulse every day and said that the mother and baby were well.”

Judging from the period of Song Yixiao’s pregnancy, the gender of the baby could be guessed, but the couple weren’t curious, and Grand Princess Jinguo didn’t ask, so the others didn’t qualify to mention this matter. Aunt Yun who took care of Song Yixiao’s health all the time was distant and always quiet, so she wouldn’t say anything.

So till now, nobody knew whether Song Yixiao’s baby was a boy or girl.

The servants were afraid that they would say something auspicious if they called the baby young master rashly, yet if it was a girl after it was born, it would be disappointing, so they just mentioned the baby.

Hearing that everything was fine at home, Jian Xubai stopped frowning and was more anxious to return home. He nodded and ordered, “Let’s hurry up and go back.”

The mansion of Duke of Yan was not far away from the imperial palace. The guards cleared the way in the front, and the carriage moved rapidly all the way, so they arrived soon.

As soon as the carriage entered the mansion, Jian Xubai lifted his robe and got out before it stopped steadily. He strode to the Keshao Hall without a stop all the way. He came back in a hurry and arrived before the guard who came to report, so Song Yixiao didn’t know that her husband had returned. She was instructing the maids to do needlework. Seeing that a figure flashed at the door, she asked randomly, “Has my husband come back?…Xubai?”

Seeing that it was Jian Xubai, Song Yixiao looked surprised and overjoyed, getting up subconsciously.

“Be careful!” Seeing that, Jian Xubai walked quickly to support her. Looking at his nervous expression, Song Yixiao couldn’t help but laugh. She covered her mouth and asked, “Why are you so nervous? If I can’t stand when I am pregnant for only several months, what should I do when I am going to give birth?”

“All of you, go out!” Jian Xubai looked her up and down carefully and got relieved after seeing that she was energetic. He waved away the servants and suddenly lowered his head to kiss her lips before she spoke.

After kissing for a long time, Jian Xubai considered that his wife was pregnant, so he let go of her unwillingly, gasping slightly. “Were you afraid when you were alone in the mansion in the past two days?”

“No matter if I was afraid, you were not here, right?” Song Yixiao adjusted her breaths and beat him with her fist while smiling faintly. “What’s the point of asking?”

Guilt flashed in Jian Xubai’s eyes, and he put his chin on her shoulder, asking with a smile, “Aren’t I back?”

“How is His Majesty?” Song Yixiao pursed her lips and smiled, letting him lean against her for a while. Then she thought of the important thing and patted her husband’s hands on her waist, looking serious. “Yesterday, when the person sent by the crown princess came to tell me that you would come back today, he said that His Majesty hadn’t woken up, but there was news this morning from the imperial palace that he had woken up. So is he awake or not?”

“Of course he has woken up.” Jian Xubai tilted his head and nibbled her smooth and clean neck, saying with a smile, “He woke up last night. The crown princess had left the imperial palace then, so she might not know it. Didn’t I tell you that His Majesty probably pretended to be ill before I entered the imperial palace to serve him? I said that I wouldn’t be in danger after I went there this time. I was not in danger, and I couldn’t be safer under His Majesty’s protection, but I worried about you as you were in the mansion alone.”

Song Yixiao tilted her head and raised her hand to push him, pretending to be angry. “It’s easy for you to say so, yet you didn’t have evidence then, and you just suspected. If you guess wrong, what should our baby and I do in the future? I couldn’t stop you indeed. Otherwise, I would learn from the crown princess and keep you anyway.”

“You learn from the crown princess?” Hearing that, Jian Xubai craned his neck and kissed his wife’s earlobe, joking, “How would you learn from the crown princess? Not to mention Cui Jianlian and Han Ji who was dealt with lately, after these two passed away, there are several concubines in the Eastern Palace, and some of them have given birth to daughters. I just misunderstood you and thought that you wanted to give Zhiqin to me in the past, but you were so angry. Will you learn from the crown princess?”

Song Yixiao smiled at him. “You have never told me what kind of woman you like. How can I find concubines for you? If I choose a concubine for you yet you don’t like her, won’t I tire myself for nothing? Won’t it waste the girl’s youth? How about you tell me your standards? Then I can do it for you.”

While speaking, she caressed her belly. Then she continued meaningfully, “Speaking of which, I got pregnant at a wrong time. It happened that we found it on the Cuihua Mountain, and it was inconvenient to do anything there, so I didn’t find several beautiful ladies to accompany you in time. After we came back to the capital, you entered the imperial palace to serve His Majesty in only a few days. I couldn’t tell you to take two concubines to the Palace of Xuanming. Fortunately, you finally came back home today. Don’t worry. We have so many empty houses in the mansion, so we should make them full, right?”

“So you will have a reason to divorce me and then find another perfect husband?” Jian Xubai smiled disdainfully. “Nice try!”

Song Yixiao was speechless.

“At this time, shouldn’t you swear to God that you are loyal to me?” she thought.

However, Jian Xubai hadn’t finished recriminating. “It was fine that you were double-minded and wanted to get a divorce in the past, but we have a baby now, while you don’t give up. You still want to abandon your official husband!”

He sighed. “I am so miserable. I am still young yet my wife doesn’t love me anymore…”

Song Yixiao couldn’t control herself but kicked him, cursing him with a smile, “Shut up! Who is the wife? Who is the husband? It sounds like I am a fickle man.”

“If I don’t say that, you will say that I am fickle, cruel and conscienceless!” Jian Xubai stopped sighing and looked at her playfully. “How can I not forestall you by saying that in advance?”

“What?” Song Yixiao reached out her fingers to pinch the soft flesh under his rib and twisted it, saying with a snort, “You just file the suit first even though you are guilty.”

When Jian Xubai was begging for mercy, there was a knock at the door suddenly, and then Jinxun reported cautiously, “Your Highnesses, some guests have come, and the one in the front is Marquis Boling. Er…”

“They must have come to see you,” Song Yixiao said to her husband. “His Majesty woke up last night, and the crown prince and the others are gathering in the Palace of Xuanming to serve him. Only you left the imperial palace. Won’t they come to ask you about the details?”

“They don’t need to be so anxious to inquire. Why are they so inconsiderate?” Jian Xubai stated lazily. “Tell them to wait…”

Song Yixiao didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “You’d better go and tell them. Who isn’t nervous about something so significant? You just need to say a few words. Why do you keep them waiting restlessly?”

While speaking, she craned her neck to kiss his face. Then Jian Xubai said unwillingly, “I will be right back.”

After he left, Song Yixiao told Jinxun and the others to come in. “Is the hot water prepared in the kitchen? My husband went to see the guests, and he will take a bath after coming back later.”

Then she told somebody to go to the kitchen. “Perhaps he will tell Marquis Yuan to stay and have lunch with us. Prepare family dinner at noon.”

Jinxun kept everything in mind and went out, telling a young maid to go on errands. After she came in again, she asked, “Ji Su has brought His Highness’s belonging from the imperial palace. Shall we put them in order now?”

Seeing that Song Yixiao nodded, the maids got busy on the spot, yet after a while, they reported in surprise, “His Highness took a jade hairpin to the imperial palace, but it is missing.”

Yuedeng asked, “His Highness has just come back and hasn’t got changed. Is he wearing it now?”

“His Highness has a round hairpin on his head.” Jinxun shook her head. “It’s the hairpin with bamboo joints that is missing.”

Song Yixiao ordered, “Go and ask Ji Su whether it was left in the imperial palace. If so, he has to go there and bring it back.”

Jinxun agreed and left, but soon she returned in frustration. “Ji Su and His Highness are greeting the guests in the front hall. I saw that the atmosphere was tense, so I didn’t dare to disturb them.”

“Let’s talk about it later.” Song Yixiao muttered, “The atmosphere was tense…What were they talking about? Did you hear anything?”

Seeing that Jinxun shook her head, she didn’t care. Then she just ordered, “Keep an eye on the front hall. Don’t neglect the guests.”

Although Jian Xubai didn’t tell her about what happened in the Palace of Xuanming these days, since he wanted to keep Yuan Xuepei and the others waiting, obviously the current situation was not severe to the crown prince, and it might be favorable to him. Otherwise, Jian Xubai wouldn’t be in the mood to neglect the visitors.

So Song Yixiao didn’t worry even though she was curious.

It was almost at noon, and Song Yixiao was about to tell somebody to ask where the banquet would be held, but Jian Xubai returned alone. She asked in astonishment, “Didn’t you invite the guests to dinner?”

“Why should I invite them?” Jian Xubai received the handkerchief from her and wiped his face, saying with a smile, “They have enough food to eat. Why would they stay and disturb us?”

Song Yixiao didn’t plan to entertain the guests hospitably, either. She goggled at him and talked about the jade hairpin with bamboo joints. “Did you leave it in the imperial palace when you packed up?”

Jian Xubai glanced at her with a faint smile, replying, “I broke it by accident, so I threw it away.”

“I thought that you left it in the imperial palace.” Song Yixiao didn’t understand what he meant. She nodded and then didn’t ask more. Afterward, she glanced at the sand clock in the corner and asked, “Should they serve food?”

The couple had lunch together, and then Jian Xubai took a bath. He changed into an azurite silk robe and his black hair was loose. He walked back to the room on wooden shoes and dismissed the servants before he complacently talked about how he had caused Consort Cui’s death. “I have removed the future trouble for you. How will you thank me?”

He had totally forgotten Beautiful Lady Nuan, but Song Yixiao didn’t think so after hearing that. Since Emperor Xianjia had the plan to kill Consort Cui, Jian Xubai did that just to make her die earlier at most, and he mainly saved Beautiful Lady Nuan.

So she just smiled. “I am not the only person who is benefited, so you can’t ask only me to thank you. How about this? After Beautiful Lady Nuan thanks you, I will learn from her. Okay?”

Jian Xubai was in high spirits, yet his face stiffened at once. It seemed that his wife was really jealous this time.

What should he do?