the lady is expecting

Chapter 9: The Crown Prince's Little Secrets Are All Here!

After Shen Sangning severed ties with the Bo family, she had hoped that the Weisheng family would support her. However, in the end, they weighed the pros and cons and chose to side with Earl Cheng'an and Shen Miaoyi.

Even though Shen Sangning was the Weisheng family’s own granddaughter, her husband, Pei Che, was a useless spendthrift. On the other hand, Shen Miaoyi was the wife of the heir to the Duke of Ningguo.

At that moment, Shen Sangning realized that perhaps her grandmother and uncle and aunt had some genuine affection for her, but it was nothing compared to**. After all, they could even abandon their own daughter; what was a granddaughter in comparison?

This time, however, Shen Sangning was the wife of the heir, with both status and bloodline. She thought that the Weisheng family's choice might be different this time.

Regardless of the Weisheng family's past choices, Shen Sangning would not forget how well her grandmother had treated her. Moreover, during her most difficult times, the shops and remaining cash in her name had all been given by the Weisheng family.

Thus, after gaining power, she still extended help to the Weisheng family.

"Please write a letter to the Weisheng family for me, saying that the heir treats me very well, so my grandmother need not worry, and to extend my regards to her."

After giving the instructions, Shen Sangning sat down at the dining table to have breakfast. The breakfast had already gone cold, and upon seeing that Zisu had left, Yufei knew their conversation was over and came in.

"Young Mistress, would you like to heat it up before eating?"

Shen Sangning glanced at her and recognized her as someone from Qingyun Courtyard. She had a vague impression of Yufei.

In her previous life, Shen Miaoyi did not value Yufei and even suspected Yufei of attempting to become a concubine, sending her outside to do menial work. Unexpectedly, Yufei’s mother was Pei Ruyan’s wet nurse, and in the end, Pei Ruyan had sent Yufei to be with Lady Yu.

"No need. Since you’re now in charge of Qingyun Courtyard, please tell me about its situation."

As Shen Sangning spoke, she picked up a cold crystal dumpling.

"Yes, Young Mistress."

Yufei stood by, her tone calm and soothing. "Qingyun Courtyard has eighteen servants in total, excluding your dowry maid. There are two second-rank maids, four third-rank maids, six rough work maids and servant women, and three in the small kitchen. The guards at the gate are not counted."

She added, "Originally, this courtyard mostly had young servants, but the heir thought it would be inconvenient for you, so he replaced them all with maids and servant women. The heir maintains his chastity and has never had a concubine or a mistress."

Shen Sangning did not understand why she was explaining this specifically. She looked at Yufei and noticed a certain aura about her—talent.

Shen Sangning understood where Shen Miaoyi’s sense of crisis might have come from. Shen Miaoyi, with her heart-shaped face and upturned eyes, pretending to be weak, was strikingly similar to a courtesan. Meanwhile, Yufei, despite being a maid, seemed more like a proper young lady than Shen Miaoyi.

"Yufei," Shen Sangning set aside her thoughts and asked about the main issue, "Did the heir often stay in the study? Did he also dine there?"

Yufei shook her head. "The heir mostly returned to his rooms to sleep. He dined in the study more frequently."

"If he doesn’t dine in the courtyard, why build a small kitchen?" Shen Sangning was puzzled.

The small kitchen had been present in her previous life too, but only Lady Yu and Pei Ruyan’s courtyards had this privilege.

Yufei’s lips curled into a smile. "Young Mistress, you may not know this, but this small kitchen was specially built by the heir for you and was only completed last month."

Shen Sangning did not believe this at all; she suspected Yufei was making assumptions. He did not seem like a man who would pamper his wife. The small kitchen was likely built by Lady Yu to ensure Pei Ruyan wouldn’t go hungry.

"Young Mistress," Yufei suddenly whispered, "I think the heir was just speaking out of anger earlier. It’s clear to anyone that the heir is looking forward to marrying you."

Shen Sangning reasonably doubted that Yufei was just trying to cheer her up. Nevertheless, she couldn’t help but ask, "How do you figure that?"

"Three days before the wedding, the heir reduced his food intake." Yufei thought that the sudden strict management of his figure was likely because he was about to marry his beloved.

Shen Sangning frowned slightly. Wasn’t a reduced appetite more likely due to worry? How could that indicate happiness and anticipation? Clearly, Yufei was reading too much into it.

Shen Sangning sighed and decided not to dwell on such expectations. "Did you overhear what he and I talked about in the room last night?"

She wanted to know if Pei Ruyan’s anger had partly stemmed from her forgetting what he had said. She hoped Yufei had eavesdropped.

Yufei shook her head. "Young Mistress, don’t worry. We maidservants would never dare eavesdrop on the heir’s private conversations with you."

……

In the front courtyard, when Pei Ruyan returned to his study, his clothes were stained with fine dirt, and he looked down with some distaste. Rainy days were troublesome.

He sat down at his desk and picked up the Dao De Jing he had read last night, flipping through it as usual.

As the heir to the Duke's residence, he had been burdened with expectations from a young age. His grandfather had demanded that he meet the standards of a successor, requiring him to be stable, fast, and perceptive. He needed to be strict with his subordinates and avoid mistakes. Desires such as love, appetite, greed, and killing had to be suppressed to avoid vulnerabilities.

From childhood to adulthood, he had read the Dao De Jing and the Qingxin Sutra hundreds of times, memorizing them thoroughly. Normally, he could focus on such tasks, but today he felt restless.

Pei Ruyan took a deep breath, unable to concentrate. The book seemed useless.

He set the book aside and looked at the silver butterfly earring on the desk. Alone and solitary, it was like him.

His gaze was drawn to it as he picked up the earring, gently stroking the green gem with his finger.

After a while, he took a handkerchief from a cabinet behind him, carefully wrapped the earring, placed it in a delicate sandalwood box, and then put it back in the cabinet.

"Chen Shu," Pei Ruyan called out.

When his attendant, Chen Shu, entered the study, the cabinet was still open. Chen Shu saw that the cabinet contained another old set of clothes, which had been Pei Ruyan’s favorite when he was young. The visible part was embroidered with a crow using Su embroidery.