Two days after Yun Jiangli returned to Prince An’s mansion, the other generals who had returned to the capital with him also entered the capital. The army temporarily camped not far outside the city, waiting for the return of the soldiers who returned in triumph.
Prince Cheng has been busy searching for the remaining secret agents of Xianglan, Xiqi, and other places in the capital. It was not until two or three days after Yun Jiangli returned to the capital that he had time to visit Prince An’s mansion.
“I haven’t been here today, and you’re looking much better.”
When Prince Cheng came, Yan Muning happened to be sitting in the small garden eating a cantaloupe and basking in the sun. He smiled and greeted him from a distance.
Prince Cheng casually lifted the hem of his clothes, sat on the stone bench opposite Yan Muning, pinched a piece of cantaloupe from his plate, and tasted it: “Hmm, so sweet.”
The little prince smiled and pushed the plate forward and took the initiative to pinch a piece of meat and feed it to Yun Jiangli, who was beside him.
Prince Cheng pointed at his youngest brother and asked Yun Jiangli, “When I came a few days ago, the Old Hall Master said that his fetus was unstable and he was not allowed to move around.”
There is a lot to say about this little prince.
He felt that this kid was a bully who only bullied the weak and feared the strong. He had been so fierce before and almost rushed out back then.
But ever since Yun Jiangli came back, the kid has been well behaved and seems to listen to his father especially. Or maybe he is afraid of his father and has become extremely honest.
Yesterday morning the old hall master came to check his pulse and said that he was in good health, so he did not restrict him. When the weather is good, he also asked the young prince to go out in the sun more often and just not tire himself.
Listening to Yan Muning’s complaints, Prince Cheng smiled and said, “That’s good, maybe that brat Yuchi can catch up with your child delivery.”
“Is Ah Zhao coming back?”
The little prince was very excited. He really missed the days when his good friend was around.
“Yes, he has submitted a memorial and will return to the capital soon.”
Prince Cheng rubbed the little prince’s head and continued, “I still have to go to the palace later. I won’t stay here for long. I feel relieved to see that you are doing well.”
Prince Cheng stood up, and just as he stepped down the steps, he suddenly remembered something and turned back: “By the way, your sister-in-law asked me to tell you that a nanny has been chosen for you and will come to your mansion with the two maids in a few days.”
After saying this, he strode towards the front yard.
The little prince withdrew his gaze, suddenly blinked, tilted his head, and asked Yun Jiangli, “Ah Li, have you chosen a nickname for the child?”
Yun Jiangli smiled and nodded.
He dipped his finger in some water from the teacup beside him and wrote the word “Can” on the stone table.
Yan Muning stared at the word and whispered, “Can… Ah Can?”
“En, does Xiao Qi like it?”
Yun Jiangli explained in a gentle voice, “The word ‘Can’ means beautiful jade. The fate between you and me also started from that pair of jade pendants.”
The little prince listened to his words, his eyes curved and his lips pursed to reveal a pair of shallow dimples. His smile was soft and sweet, which made Yun Jiangli’s heart itch. He raised his hand and poked the youth’s dimples with his fingertips: “The stars in the north are particularly bright at night, just like your eyes. Sometimes I miss you and can’t sleep, so I sit at the door of the tent and look at the sky. One day, I suddenly thought of this word.”
After being praised by his lover, the little prince smiled even more proudly, patted his belly, and said to the baby, “You’re called Ah Can, do you remember it?”
.
As the days passed, Yan Muning began to feel that his kid was not only a bully who feared the strong but was also born to be rebellious.
The previous commotion almost broke out early, but now that April was over and the weather was getting hotter, the kid was completely calm, and there was no movement at all.
Even the maids and nanny chosen for him by Princess Cheng, and a cook who was good at preparing meals after childbirth, had already moved into the small courtyard specially prepared in the palace under the arrangement of Old Steward Zhou.
Only this kid wouldn’t move.
That afternoon, when the little prince woke up from his nap, he saw Yun Jiangli, the old hall master, and Physician Zhang from the palace all sitting in his room, and he was completely sober from his sleep instantly.
“Ah Li…”
The little prince called Yun Jiangli in a sticky and low voice.
Yun Jiangli turned around when he heard the noise and saw the youth frowning and looking a little helpless in his round eyes. He quickly sat down beside the bed and smoothed his hair, saying softly, “Are you awake? Why did you wake up so fast?”
The youth glanced behind him fiercely. Yun Jiangli reacted and said with a smile, “Don’t think too much. Isn’t it because Ah Can is too lazy? My father and Physician Zhang came over to discuss it. It’s fine.”
The little prince finally let go of his worries. He sighed deeply and complained softly, “I’m so tired. When will Ah Can come out?”
Yun Jiangli felt sorry for the youth’s hard work, but he didn’t have the temper to deal with the rebellious child either. He could only coax him patiently, “Be good, it’s just a few more days.”
Physician Zhang followed the late emperor before he entered Prince An’s mansion and was a well-known physician in Dasheng. With the old hall master and Yun Jiangli, two world-famous physicians, the little prince naturally felt at ease.
But…
Little Ah Can really didn’t give face to the top medical team of Dasheng. Day after day, he didn’t seem to have the slightest intention of coming out for a walk at all.
In May, even the usually calm Yun Jiangli was a little anxious. He checked the pulse and touched the little prince’s belly three times a day, morning, noon, and evening, but the kid was very patient.
In Yuchi Zhao’s words, this child will definitely do great things in the future!
Yes, even though Yuchi Zhao has returned to the capital from the northern border, the child who was in his father’s belly was still as stable as a mountain.
Although the old prince is no longer in the capital, but Yuchi still went to live in Prince An’s mansion, just to watch his eldest nephew being born.
While everyone was waiting anxiously, Yan Muning seemed to have gotten over the anxiety. He was the calmest person in the whole mansion. He ate well, drank well, and slept well every day. Apart from feeling too heavy and extremely tired, he really had no other worries.
Yun Jiangli was holding the youth and feeding him a bowl of milk and egg custard. He could see the youth’s bulging belly when he lowered his eyes. He said with some heartache, “You eat a lot, but none of it grows on you. It’s all eaten by this kid.”
The little prince’s belly is now so big that he can no longer wear any robes. He can only wear the big beauty’s middle robe and a wider short coat with a front opening.
His arms and legs look even thinner against his round belly, and even from behind one can hardly see his pregnant belly.
“What should we do then?”
The little prince took a bite of the egg custard and said vaguely, “Will Ah Can be a fat boy when he is born!”
As if he was finally dissatisfied with the words of the two fathers, Ah Can turned over vigorously.
“Ai…”
The little prince’s face turned pale in pain, and he bent over and clenched the cloth around his waist.
Yun Jiangli, who was holding him, naturally felt the child’s movements clearly and immediately put down the bowl in his hand, held the little prince, and gently placed him on the bed.
“Ah, Ah Li…”
The little prince gasped in pain, looked at the big beauty with tears in his eyes, and asked, “Is he, he coming out?”
Yun Jiangli comforted the youth while holding his wrist to check his pulse and then touched his stomach several times and said helplessly, “Not yet.”
“Umm.”
When the little prince heard this, he immediately lost his temper, pouted his lips, and started crying.
…
In the next five or six days, the annoying kid would scare the little prince from time to time, but he never really came out.
At first, the little prince was a little nervous, but later he was no longer nervous. If the big beauty told him that the kid was bluffing again, the little prince would poke his belly and scolding for half an hour.
By now, the little prince was so angry that he didn’t even want to scold. When he was in great pain, he would bite Yun Jiangli to vent his anger.
This process lasted until mid-May. The entire Prince An’s mansion was on edge. All preparations were made, waiting for the birth of the little prince.
Not to mention Yuchi Zhao, who lived in the mansion, was anxious. The first thing Prince Cheng did after the morning court was to go straight to Prince An’s mansion to take a look as well. Even the person in the palace couldn’t sit still. One night, he came to Prince An’s mansion in disguise with a few personal guards.
After so much anticipation, little Ah Chan finally decided to come out and meet his two fathers.
Not long after he fell asleep on the night of the ninth day of the first lunar month, Yan Muning felt a severe backache. He closed his eyes and hunched his back in a daze, preparing to continue sleeping.
But he felt his back aching more and more, and his entire spine began to numb with pain.
“Xiao Qi?”
Yun Jiangli was quick to notice that the youth in his arms seemed to be moving around uncomfortably, so he quickly raised himself up on the bed and asked, “What’s wrong?”
“Ah Li, my waist hurts, can you rub it for me…”
The little prince frowned, and his voice was a little trembling.
Upon hearing the youth’s voice, Yun Jiangli immediately did not dare to be careless, stood up, lit the lamp, and gently rubbed the little prince’s waist and back.
“Hey, don’t, don’t…”
The little prince’s voice suddenly rose. He grabbed Yun Jiangli’s hand on his waist and stopped him from touching it. His eyes were red from the pain.
Yun Jiangli pinched his wrist and took his pulse, then turned around and called out, “Chen Mo, Lao Qi!”
The two people who were on duty outside tonight immediately responded and came in. They turned around the screen and were about to ask when they heard Yun Jiangli’s anxious instructions, “Get ready quickly. Xiao Wangye is about to deliver.”
Now it was Yan Muning’s turn to be dumbfounded.
He didn’t care about the pain anymore. He held the big beauty’s hand and asked stutteringly, “No, no way? My waist hurts, not my stomach… Ah Li, are you mistaken?”
“Stupid.”
Yun Jiangli seemed a little nervous. He leaned over and kissed the little prince’s forehead: “Are you stupid because of the pain? It’s a labor pulse, there’s no mistake.”
The little prince was still confusedly wondering why he had a backache when he had a stomach ache several times before and didn’t deliver.
Before he could figure it out, the kid suddenly attacked him. The sudden stomachache made the little prince almost scream out.
A quarter of an hour later.
The entire Prince An’s mansion was brightly lit, and the servants who came in and out quietly and orderly delivered the things that had been prepared early in the morning to the small courtyard where the little prince lived.
Yuchi Zhao, who heard the noise, had already put on an outer robe and ran over in casual shoes.
Old Hall Master Yun was sitting by the bed, palpating the little prince’s abdomen, and Yun Jiangli squatted beside him, holding the little prince’s hand tightly and comforting him.
An hour later.
The little prince, who was already in a state of pain, looked like he had just been pulled out of the water. He hummed in a hoarse voice and acted coquettishly with Yun Jiangli.
Yun Jiangli kept wiping the sweat from his forehead. His heart was so distressed that it was twisted together. He held the youth’s hand and put it to his lips, kissing the fingertips that were trembling slightly because of the pain.
“Ah, Ah Li?”
The little prince spoke pitifully with a nasal tone: “I, why do I seem to not feel any pain?”
Yun Jiangli: “???”
The usually calm young hall master was stunned by the question.
The old hall master, who was standing by, stood up after hearing what was said, patted Yun Jiangli on the shoulder, and asked him to feel his pulse while he checked the little prince again.
After a while, the old hall master said to the little prince with a face full of incomprehension, “Are you hungry? Eat something and take a nap.”
The little prince was dumbfounded again. What did he mean? Is he teasing him again? Not delivered again today?
“Of course, deliver.” The old hall master touched his chin. “But this kid is a little annoying, too annoying, we have to wait a while.”
“Ugh!”
The little prince was so angry that he almost pouted. He looked at Yun Jiangli with tears in his eyes: “I want to beat him, will you feel bad?”
Yun Jiangli gritted his teeth and said, “I feel bad for you. I’m afraid you won’t be able to bear to beat him, so I’ll also have to beat him up.”
So, the unborn little boy Ah Can received two blows overnight.
Perhaps Ah Can felt that the beatings should not be in vain, so he completely let himself be and slowly bullied his little father.
Yan Muning slept in pain for a while until the morning. He could see a faint light coming through the window, but the kid hadn’t come out yet.
The little prince, who was gradually losing his mind, gritted his teeth and said, “Ah Li, if you help me stand up, will he fall out?”
Yun Jiangli felt distressed and also anxious, but he had to force himself to stay rational and sober. His voice was a little hoarse, and he gently hugged the youth, “Nonsense, you are the only one who can think of such weird things.”
Soon, the little prince really didn’t have the heart to think about these things anymore.
Half a minute later, the pain came even more violently, his belly was tense and twitching, and his waist and back hurt as if they were split in half.
The little prince soon couldn’t even control his voice due to the pain, and his unbearable crying made everyone waiting outside sweat.
The pain was so severe that the little prince struggled to get up by holding onto the bed, as if he was eager to find a posture that could relieve the excruciating pain.
Yun Jiangli was even more distressed. But he could only watch helplessly and could do nothing to help the youth except kiss and comfort him.
“Come, let me check it out.”
The old hall master touched the little prince’s stomach, took his pulse, turned around, and ordered, “Du Zhong, go and bring the medicine prepared earlier. Tell the kitchen to prepare some soup to boost energy!”
“Good child, you’ve worked hard. Just bear with it, and it will be over soon.”
As the old hall master spoke, he felt around the little prince’s stomach to help him push.
After Yun Jiangli fed the little prince the medicine Du Zhong brought, he was in so much pain that his consciousness began to blur. He pulled Yun Jiangli’s hand and muttered, “Ah Li, the next child must be carried by you no matter what.”
Old Master Yun looked at his son with hesitation.
After a while, the little prince continued what he had just said, “You, you see… the child I give birth to will have my surname, and the child you give birth to will have your surname… it’s much, much better.”
Yun Jiangli was so distressed that he almost cried with the little prince, but he was amused by the youth’s strange train of thought and felt like laughing. He truly experienced what it felt like to be in a dilemma.
The little prince was probably numb from the pain, his eyes were blurry, and he was sobbing and babbling non-stop.
He drank the invigorating soup, and the little boy Ah Can, who had tormented the little prince all night, was finally born in Prince An’s mansion at the exact time of the 10th day of the fifth month, stretching his lazy back.
He was a healthy little prince.
Yun Jiangli personally took out his and the little prince’s son, and holding the little one, his eyes, which were always cold and clear, were covered with a layer of mist.
“Ah Li…”
The little prince tilted his head and looked at Yun Jiangli.
“Xiao Qi, you’ve worked hard.” Yun Jiangli choked up and held Ah Can in front of the little prince to show him.
Yan Muning looked over expectantly but saw a wrinkled little man.
The little prince sobbed in disbelief.
“Huhu… How can he be so ugly!”
Poor boy, nobody told him new born babies looks like little monkeys 😆