Most of the steamed fish went into Wei Luo’s stomach. After they finished eating, Wei Luo licked her lips in perfect satisfaction. “Big brother, make me grilled fish next time.” Eating the fish cooked by Zhao Jie was addictive.

  Zhao Jie carried her back to their room, used a towel to wipe the corners of her mouth, and asked, “Are you full?”


  Wei Luo took the strongly brewed tea that Jin Lu had brought over, rinsed her mouth with it, and spat it out into a celadon bowl that had a flowering lotus pattern. Then, she sucked on a wu xiang pill before smiling and saying, “I’m full.”


  Normally, you would find fish bones when you were eating fish. But, Zhao Jie had taken out all of the bones before feeding the pieces of fish to Wei Luo. Wei Luo hadn’t used the chopsticks during the entire meal. Needless to say, Wei Luo had greatly enjoyed herself. Instead of finding her bothersome, Zhao Jie had also enjoyed feeding Wei Luo.

  Zhao Jie flung the towel into a copper basin and looked at her with a sly smile. “That’s good. It’s my turn to eat now.”


  Wei Luo froze for a moment in surprise. In the next second, Zhao Jie picked her up by the waist and started walking towards the inner room. She smacked Zhao Jie’s shoulder in surprise and anxiously said, “We can’t…. I’m pregnant.” She had heard the words the doctor had told Zhao Jie when they were walking in the verandah! In order to ensure the safety of their baby, they couldn’t copulate during the first three months and last three months.

  Zhao Jie’s steps paused. He also remembered the doctor’s words. This girl hadn’t been good when they were eating fish. Intentionally or otherwise, she kept teasing him. It had already been difficult to restrain himself. He had wanted to strip away her clothes until she was completely bare and throw her onto their bed. So, his face sunk after hearing her words. He put her down on the bed and intently stared at her guilty face without saying a word.

  With Zhao Jie staring at her like this, Wei Luo felt as if she was getting goosebumps. Fine, she would admit that her recent actions had been deliberate. She clearly knew that he could only look and couldn’t eat, but she had stolen kisses from him under the excuse of eating fish. Her teasing had stoked him into a ball of fire. But now, she wouldn’t take responsibility for her actions.

  A short while later, Zhao Jie grabbed the red satin quilt that was embroidered with a pair of mandarin ducks and dropped it over her head. He turned around and went to the side of the room to change his clothes.

  Wei Luo poked her head out of the quilt and peered at Zhao Jie’s wide shoulders and narrow waist. Her gaze went lower and she saw a bulge. With a red face, she said with guilt, “I… I could help you.”


  Zhao Jie had just taken off his sky blue robe that was embroidered with golden threads and was reaching for his sleeping clothes that was hanging on a red sandalwood screen that was inlayed with silver.

  At her current angle, Wei Luo was able to see his lean and strong waist. She saw the muscles on his abdomen stretch taut as he reached for his sleeping clothes. Even thought it was delightful to look at, Wei Luo was the only one that knew how forceful and fierce it was when they were on the bed. When Zhao Jie heard her words, his hands paused. He slanted his head to look at her. His phoenix eyes showed a teasing intent as he asked, “Oh, how are you planning on helping me?”


  Wei Luo retreated back into the quilt so that only her large, dark eyes were exposed. Her invitation couldn’t be more obvious.

  After Zhao Jie finished changing, he lied down on the bed and looked at her sideways. With one hand, he pulled her into his arms, “En?”


  Wei Luo’s cheeks turned red. She had done this for him before, but this was the first time that she was one that suggested this idea, so she felt slightly embarrassed. She gritted her teeth and resolutely retreated further so that her head was underneath the quilt.

  …


  A long time later, Wei Luo came out from the quilt and climbed over Zhao Jie to the inner part of the bed.

  Zhao Jie hugged her and placed his palm by her lips, “You can spit it out.”


  Wei Luo spat everything out. Both of her cheeks were flushed and her large eyes looked seductive. She weakly sunk into Zhao Jie’s embrace and quietly gasped to regain her breath.

  Zhao Jie placed on her a soft pillow, then he got up to wash his hands. When he came back, he was holding a moistened towel. He gently wiped away the liquid on Wei Luo’s face. There was a smile on his thin lips as he lowered his head and kissed her lips. “Did it taste good?”


  Wei Luo glared at him for a moment and ignored his question.

  —


  When Wei Luo was two months pregnant, there weren’t any significant symptoms related to her pregnancy. It was probably because there weren’t any obvious changes to her daily life. She was able to eat and sleep well. Liang Yu Rong had said she would be feel as if she was suffering so much that she would want to die, but Wei Luo didn’t feel this way at all.

  But when Wei Luo was three months pregnant, she learned through experience the suffering of morning sickness.

  For example, not only could she not eat fish, she couldn’t even tolerate the smell of it. She still hadn’t been able to eat the grilled fish cooked by Zhao Jie that she had wanted. The cooks in the kitchen made different meals every day in hopes that she would eat a little bit more. But, she really didn’t have an appetite. Even if she did eat a little bit more, she would still throw all of it up before going sleep at night.

  In only a short period of ten days, her little face had lost a lot of weight.

  This was also the period of time when Wei Luo’s temperament was at it’s worst. Not only was she nitpicky and harsh towards the servants, she would also frequently have a short temper with Zhao Jie. She would easily get angry and cry if anything was slightly unsatisfactory. Zhao Jie’s temper was surprisingly good. He would yield to her in every aspect. Whenever she willfully made unreasonable demands, he would always indulge her. He never showed her the slightest sign of impatience.

  For example, when Wei Luo had accidentally broken a pair of red jade bracelets, she directed her rage towards Zhao Jie even though he clearly had nothing to do with the matter. She had incessantly shoved him towards the doors to drive him out of the room.

  Zhao Jie had lowered his head to look at her and stroked her head before he amenably left the room. Two hours later, he returned to the room. He was holding a small, red sandalwood box that was inlayed with a pattern of daffodils. He placed the box down in front of Wei Luo and opened it. There were ten pairs of bracelets made of different materials inside the box. The bracelets were made of various types of jade and agate. All of them were considerably expensive. Wei Luo raised her head to look at him. He asked with a smile, “Are you still angry?”


  Wei Luo wondered why Zhao Jie treated her so well. She felt that she had been deliberately making trouble without any good reasons lately. But, she really couldn’t control her emotions sometimes. Her thoughts were completely different from her actions. She nodded and reached her arms out to hug Zhao Jie’s waist. She silently buried her head in his chest.

  On the same night, Wei Luo wasn’t feeling hungry until she suddenly wanted to eat Yu He’s sweet and sour pickled daikon.

  However, it was already late at night. Yu He was probably already closed. Even if they went there, they probably wouldn’t be able to buy this food.

  Wei Luo weakly sat on the arhat couch and indignantly said, “I don’t care. I want to eat their daikon.”


  Finding the situation laughable, Zhao Jie good-naturedly tapped her forehead and coaxingly said, “Okay, okay. I’ll go over there to buy it for you.”


  Wei Luo blinked and didn’t say a word.

  The autumn night was chilly. Zhao Jie put on a black cloak lined with fox fur and went outside.

  Zhu Geng felt very sympathetic towards his prince and couldn’t resist suggesting, “Your Highness, how about letting this subordinate go there instead?”


  Zhao Jie shook his head. He walked a few more steps before smiling and saying, “What would be the use in you going there? She’s only asking this because she wants to cause trouble for this prince.” Although his tone was helpless, the indulgence in his eyes was very obvious.

  Zhu Geng slightly froze from surprise. This level of pampering towards a wife was really too high-leveled. Even if he spent a lifetime studying, he wouldn’t be able to learn it all.

  Two hours later, Zhao Jie came back with Yu He’s sweet and sour pickled daikon. He placed the daikon and several other small dishes onto a round table and handed Wei Luo a pair of chopsticks. He said, “You should eat now. You didn’t eat much at dinner. If there’s nothing for you to throw up later, you’ll feel even more uncomfortable.”


  Wei Luo picked up a piece of sweet and sour pickled daikon with her chopsticks. Yu He’s daikon was crisp and sour with a slightly sweet taste. She used to think this taste was very strange, but recently she especially liked this flavor combination. She ate two pieces of the daikon and a few crystal dumplings with Chinese squash filling. She also drank half a bowl of snow fungus and egg soup. This was a lot more than what she had eaten during the previous days.

  Surprisingly, she didn’t throw up after eating this late dinner.

  After Wei Luo finished washing up, she put on her sleeping clothes that were decorated with a pattern of scattered flowers. She saw Zhao Jie sitting on a rosewood chair and reading a book. She suddenly dismissed all of the servant girls in the room. Her expression showed that there was something she wanted to say to him.

  Zhao Jie lowered the book that he was holding and calmly raised his head. He jokingly said with a smile, “Are you going to kick me out of the room again?”


  Wei Luo said, “No.” Then, she threw herself into his arms without any warning. She tightly hugged hum and sulkily asked, “Am I really annoying?”


  Zhao Jie put down his book and placed her onto his leg. He held her small face and asked, “Why are you asking this? My Ah Luo is naturally the most likable person.”


  But, Wei Luo didn’t feel the slightest bit comforted. She feebly said, “I feel I’m been very unreasonable lately.”


  Zhao Jie chuckled.

  “I’ve been an annoying troublemaker, who constantly gets angry at you. I keep insisting that you do things that put you in a difficult position. Actually, this isn’t my intention. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I feel like I can’t control myself.” She lowered her head and remorsefully held Zhao Jie’s fingers. A while later, she slowly said, “I’m sorry.”


  Zhao Jie’s heart felt touched by her words. He pressed her head against his heart and said after sighing, “Silly girl, why are you apologizing to me? No matter what you ask me to do, I’ll always be willing and happy to do it.” He thought of the words he had recently read and added, “Besides, this isn’t your fault. The majority of women will become impatient and prickly when they’re pregnant. Compared to other women, my Ah Luo is much more lovable.”


  Wei Luo raised her head and asked, “Why do you know this?”


  Zhao Jie raised his eyebrows and picked up the nearby book to give to her. He pointed at a certain page and said, “It’s written here.”


  Wei Luo stared at those words. On the page, it was written that, “During pregnancy, women will suffer from constant moodiness and irritation.” The rest of the page continued with similar words. She flipped to the front cover of the book and saw the words, Tested Treasures in Obstetrics. Wei Luo froze for a moment. She hadn’t expected that Zhao Jie would read this type of book. She asked, “Where did you get this book?”


  (Note: Tested Treasures in Obstetrics is a book written by Zan Yin, a Tang Dynasty doctor. This book details the treatment of pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum.)

  Zhao Jie said, “I had Zhu Geng find this book in a bookstore. It has surprisingly detailed information.” He thought of something else and added, “So, you don’t need to feel bad. Right now, you’re this household’s little ancestor and imperial mother’s beloved treasure. If I don’t go along with your wishes, who else would I obey?”


  Wei Luo’s lips flattened. She seemed as if she was about to immediately start crying.

  Zhao Jie didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. He scratched her nose and said, “The book also mentioned that women will cry the most when they’re pregnant. En, it seems like the book wasn’t wrong.”


  Wei Luo embraced his neck. She pressed her cheek against the side of his face and murmured, “Will you still cherish me this much after I give birth to our child?” She felt both touched and uneasily fearful by how well he treated her.

  Zhao Jie said with a smile, “Ah Luo, I like this child because of you. It’s not the other way around. It’s not because of this child that I like you.”


  Wei Luo hugged Zhao Jie for a long time without moving. There probably wasn’t a person who was better at saying words of love than Zhao Jie in this world. She felt as if there had been a jar of honey hidden in her heart. Zhao Jie had knocked the jar over and the honey had flowed into all four of her limbs. Silky strands of sweetness penetrated every pore.