Chapter 67

Though he hadn’t escaped from the mansion, Zixiu felt less worried with two senior brothers who were adept at martial arts by his side and he slept soundly during the night.

The next morning after he woke up, Zixiu put on his clothes and neatly combed hair in disarray on his own before asking Tinglan in. He told Tinglan that during the process of praying for Prince Mu, he was not going to wear makeup. Actually, he was worried that Tinglan would find out his secret when she got too close. Thankfully, as he was only 16 years old, Zixiu had a fair, tender complexion. Moreover, he was even more beautiful than a girl. Therefore, when he wore his hair in a bun with bead flower on it and put on a woman’s attire, even though without makeup, people could tell that he was a man if they didn’t look closely.

As the chief maidservant of the empress dowager, Tinglan knew very well what a servant should do, so even though she was suspicious that the princess was always making excuses to keep her away, she didn’t dare say anything except for bringing ‘her’ the water for freshening up and breakfast.

After breakfast, Zixiu went to see Prince Mu as usual.

Coincidentally, the empress dowager came to see her son from the imperial palace as well.

When the ‘mother and daughter-in-law’ met at the door of Prince Mu’s bedroom, instead of putting on a melancholy look on their faces as usual, they all looked overjoyed. As it had nothing to do with him whether Nangong Du was in a coma or awake, Zixiu thought that he himself was just faking it. However, people’s emotions were really complex, and sometimes they didn’t even know what was going on inside of them. When Zixiu stepped into the inner room and saw Nangong Du, who had been lying in bed still for a dozen days, looking at him with his eyes slightly narrowed, leaning against the bedhead, he couldn’t help but curve his lips up. Though the smile only lingered a few seconds on his lips, Zixiu felt much relieved, as if he suddenly saw sunshine after days of rain.

“It must be because I’m too kind!” Zixiu thought while walking to the bed following behind the empress dowager. Though he was smiling, there was a gleam of sorrow in his eyes, which made him look a mixture of joy and sorrow.

The empress dowager was very emotional when she saw Nangong Du. She walked over and wrapped her son in her arms silently with tears streaming down her face.

Standing behind her, Zixiu was so moved that he almost burst into tears. In spite of her distinguished identity, like all mothers in the world, this old lady loved her son dearly. If Nangong Du died at such a young age, she would definitely be devastated.

Seeing the sorrow and pity in Zixiu’s eyes, though Nangong Du was still as feeble as the withered leaves in the autumn wind, there was a trace of gleam crossing his gem-like dark eyes, which made his lifeless face suddenly become vivacious. He had been fully revived now as if a gork had suddenly woken up.

After quite a while, as if she was tired of crying, or felt that it would impair the majesty of the royal family, the empress dowager let go of her son reluctantly and turned to wipe tears off her face.

When he saw that the handkerchief in the empress dowager’s hand had been wet with tears, Zixiu handed his handkerchief over to her considerately. “Mother-in-law, don’t cry. Prince Mu is already awake! When he’s fully recovered, he’ll be able to enjoy flowers and drink tea in the imperial place with you in a few days!” he said, trying to comfort this old lady.

As Nangong Du made no objection when he had addressed the empress dowager this way the first time he met her, Zixiu still addressed her as ‘mother-in-law’.

The empress dowager froze for a while before she took the handkerchief and wiped the corner of her eyes. When she looked up at her tall, slim ‘daughter-in-law’, there was a complicated look in her eyes.

However, Zixiu didn’t sense anything wrong. To make this old lady feel assured, he grinned from ear to ear, which made him look a little silly and a little cute.

As soon as she saw a big smile booming on his face, the empress dowager felt much better. When she looked back at her son, she found that the latter was staring at her ‘daughter-in-law’ without blinking.

Knowing what was on her son’s mind, the empress dowager shook her head slightly and then pulled Zixiu to the bed and put his beautiful hand into her son’s. “Liuxu, come here and let Du take a look at you.”

Zixiu grew tension with his heart pounding and he couldn’t smile as naturally as he had just done. “Your Highness, I’m glad you’re finally awake!” he said, managing to force a smile.

Nangong Du still looked weak. He tried to say something but failed to utter a sound.

Only then did Zixiu notice that the pervert was in bad shape. His ashen cheeks were sunken, his lips were dry, and even peeling, which made him look so gaunt that anyone who saw him couldn’t help but feel sorry for him. It was no wonder that the empress dowager kept on weeping bitterly!

Though he knew it would make him look petty, Zixiu couldn’t help but curse inwardly, “You damn pervert, you’ve never thought this would happen to you, have you? Humph! You deserve it…”

When he was venting his anger secretly, he felt a sudden squeeze on his hand. Zixiu looked up in surprise and saw Nangong Du looking at him with a faint smile. Feeling his heart skip a beat, Zixiu turned his head in haste and couldn’t help but feel guilty.

Sure enough, he was too kind!

“Your Grace, Your Highness, it’s time for Prince Mu to take medicine!” Physician Ling’s voice suddenly rang outside.

Zixiu heaved a sigh of relief. Now that his companion had come, he no longer needed to deal with those people alone.

“Bring the medicine in,” The empress dowager said in a hoarse voice, sounding a little tired. She had been worrying so much about her son recently.

Lingxiao walked in with a maidservant following behind him. There was a bowl of steaming hot medicine soup on the tray the maidservant was holding.

The empress dowager was about to feed her son with the medicine in person, so she gestured the maidservant to give it to her. Maybe Zixiu was too eager to get rid of the grip of Nangong Du, he withdrew his hands from the latter’s instantly and grabbed the bowl from the maidservant before the empress dowager could take it. “Mother-in-law, take a rest and let me do it!” he said as if he were a very dutiful daughter-in-law.

After pausing for a few seconds, the empress dowager nodded with a gentle smile. At this moment, she suddenly understood why her son had taken a fancy to this kid. She didn’t know whether to bless them or feel sorry for them.

As soon as he took the bowl, Zixiu began to regret it. With the steam of the brown decoction rising from the bowl, a terrible smell rushed into his nostrils. The smell was far more disgusting than what he had smelled the other day in the yard, and soon, Zixiu couldn’t stand it any longer. He not only felt dizzy, but felt sick to his stomach, and next his gastric acid rush to his throat. “Urgh—” He retched loudly, covering his mouth with his hand.

“Liuxu!” “Your Highness!” the empress dowager, the maidservant, and even Lingxiao cried out in surprise synchronously.

Thankfully, the bowl remained on the tray, not knocked over.

“I’m alright. No worries! Haha!” Zixiu put the bowl back in its place and chuckled, trying to cover up for his tension. However, when he sensed someone glaring at him coldly from behind, he was seized with panic. “The medicine is really disgusting! Don’t other people think so?”

“Liuxu, what’s up? Do you feel sick?” The empress dowager came back to her senses first and she immediately asked with concern.

“I’m fine!” Zixiu shook his head with a smile. However, as soon as he finished his words, he felt like vomiting again. “Urgh—” “Urgh—”

“How come your hands are so cold?” The empress dowager suddenly grabbed him by the hands, looking surprised.

Before she could give the order, Physician Ling had moved closer in a hurry.

“Your Majesty, relax! I’m feeling Princess Liuxu’s pulse right now.”

With his eyes rolling about and his brows knitted from time to time, Lingxiao never took his gaze off the fan near Zixiu’s fair wrist. Though Zixiu had stopped retching and felt much better now, when he saw the solemn look on Lingxiao’s face, he couldn’t help but feel nervous. “Lingxiao is so skilled in medicine, but he hasn’t diagnosed what’s wrong with me for so long. Am I suffering from some incurable disease?”

After feeding Nangong Du with the decoction, the empress dowager walked over in haste and asked with a worried look, “Physician Ling, what’s wrong with Princess Liuxu?”

“Congratulations, Your Grace! Congratulations, Prince Mu! Congratulations, Princess Liuxu!” Lingxiao suddenly rose to his feet and shouted his congratulations.

Hearing the three ‘congratulations’ in a row, Zixiu couldn’t help but feel creepy. His intuition told him that what Lingxiao was going to say must be jaw-dropping!

Sure enough, after pausing for a few seconds, Lingxiao said with great certainty, “Princess Liuxu is pregnant!”