A crown princess who doesn't do infrastructure construction isn't a good doctor.

The next day was another sunny day, and the cool breeze carrying moisture hinted at the weather to come.

Lu Xi got up early and, feeling bored, went to find the maids and servants who had come the day before. Before long, he became friends with them thanks to his superior appearance and eloquence, and also learned about the character of Prince An and his wife from their words.

The Anwang Mansion is not large. The only proper masters are the Anwang couple, the heir Beitang Yan, the princess Beitang Xinyue, and the little prince Beitang Rui, who was born prematurely at just over two months old due to excessive worry after the news of Beitang Yan's serious injury was sent back.

Consort Shu, the birth mother of Prince An, was of humble origin. She was favored for a period of time in her early years because of her beauty. However, she suffered a postpartum hemorrhage during the birth of Prince An and died silently after hearing her child cry.

At that time, the emperor still had some affection for Consort Shu. He posthumously conferred the title of Consort on Consort Shu, who was still Noble Lady Li, and buried her in the imperial mausoleum with great honors. However, in his eyes, this child indirectly caused the death of his woman, so he never liked Prince An. As a result, Prince An was not sent to the palace of other concubines. Instead, he was raised in the prince's residence with the help of Qinghe, Consort Shu's maid.

Without the support of his maternal family and lacking outstanding talent, Prince An remained stable until he sought to marry Hua Yueying, the legitimate daughter of the General of the North.

At that time, everyone thought that Prince An, who was still a prince, was eager to win over the Zhenbei General's Mansion by marriage because he had the intention of vying for the throne. The emperor thought so too, so he refused with a cold face.

However, Prince An knelt outside the imperial study for two whole days without eating or drinking, and eventually fainted. This triggered a rare sense of guilt in the emperor, who then issued an edict to grant the marriage.

Prince An met Hua Yueying during a royal hunting expedition. The Northern Qian Dynasty did not impose strict restrictions on women, which gave the young girl, who was just beginning to experience love, many opportunities to spend time with the gentle young man who saved her. The girl, who had been well-educated since childhood, was very intelligent and rational, but she could not resist her overwhelming love. The two made a promise to stay together for life, and the gentle and kind man did not betray the girl's trust. He took a great risk and stood firm for a while in front of the emperor, whom he had not seen many times in nearly twenty years, and finally married his beloved in a grand procession.

Over the years, the two have remained as loving as ever. When he was young, Prince An was neglected and did not like anyone, so he did not have any concubines. After marrying the princess, he had no intention of taking any concubines, which is why the number of people in the prince's mansion was small.

Under the care of Prince An, Princess An was the undisputed mistress of the mansion. Although she was nearly forty, she remained kind and gentle. Even if she was resentful, she did not take her anger out on Qin Suiyou. The servants she sent were all well-behaved and trained, and they did not do a perfunctory job. Prince An and his wife were of one mind, and this arrangement showed that the two most powerful masters in the mansion would not mistreat Qin Suiyou.

Normally, newlywed couples get up early on the morning of the second day of their wedding to serve tea and then have breakfast together as a family. However, since it was said yesterday that there was no need to pay respects today, Qin Suiyou did not want to disturb people's breakfast early in the morning, so he planned to go over after the designated time.

After Qin Suiyou woke up and washed up, he had breakfast with Lu Xi.

To outsiders, they are said to be master and servant, but now they are considered part of the same family, and Qin Suiyou doesn't want to deliberately lower Lu Xi's status.

After breakfast was finished and the tableware was cleared away, just as Qin Suiyou was sitting in the small hall drinking tea, ten maids and servants entered together to greet him.

Qin Suiyou asked them what they wanted, and when the tallest of the servants replied, he was somewhat surprised; they had come to ask him to bestow a name upon them.

It is common for maids and servants to change their names to show their loyalty when they follow a new master, but these people were arranged by Princess An to follow Qin Suiyou, but they are still people in the palace, so there is no need for them to do so.

"The princess instructed me to serve the emperor wholeheartedly after we arrived at the Wutong Courtyard, to obey his every command, and not to have any disloyalty."

Wutong Courtyard is the courtyard of Beitangyan. In the courtyard, there is a paulownia tree that Prince An planted by his own hands when Beitangyan was born.

As he spoke, the tall servant took out a small stack of papers. "These are the contracts of our servants."

Qin Suiyou didn't stand on ceremony. He said "Thank you for your trouble, Princess Consort" and accepted the gift. Although he didn't know why Princess Consort An had made these arrangements, he would find out soon.

After a moment's thought, Qin Suiyou decided on their new name, which was very simple.

They were arranged in order of age from oldest to youngest. The maids were Jinzhu, Liujia, Luoxian, Zhuyi, and Lanya, while the attendants were Jinwen, Liuyao, Luosen, Zhuyu, and Lanfeng.

They were pleasantly surprised to hear their names called.

Normally, the names of maids and servants are relatively casual, but the names Qin Suiyou gave them not only don't sound like servants' names, but also sound much better than ordinary names.

Perhaps Princess An didn't want people to think she sent people to monitor Qin Suiyou, because none of these people were born into the family; they were all people who had been brought back from outside after a group of elderly people in the Prince's mansion were released to their homes more than a year ago due to a shortage of manpower.

Most of those who sell themselves into slavery have suffered hardships in the past. These days in the mansion, even if the masters treat their servants well, they will not treat them well for no reason. After all, this is a royal mansion, with few masters but a large number of servants. Under such circumstances, there is an unspeakable food chain, and they are at the bottom of the food chain.

Qin Suiyou's gentle and thoughtful name gave them a long-lost sense of warmth, prompting them to secretly tell themselves to do their best.

Qin Suiyou hadn't yet realized that the name he had chosen had already won the loyalty of most of the maids and servants in front of him. When asked why he had chosen such a good name, he replied, "Don't ask, it just sounds classy."

After Lu Xi put away the indenture, they packed up several gifts and asked the maids Jinzhu and Liujia and the servant Jinwen to help Lu Xi carry the things. The group of five then headed towards the largest courtyard in the mansion, which was the Shi'an Courtyard where Prince An and his wife lived with their young prince Beitang Rui.

Compared to other princely mansions, the Prince An's mansion was not large, but it was not small either. When Beitang Yan became independent at a young age, he chose to live in Wutong Courtyard, which was a bit far from Shi'an Courtyard but right next to the martial arts field, so that it would be convenient for him to train at the martial arts field next to the mansion.

When the battle with the Northern Region came to a halt and Beitang Yan returned home seriously injured, he was taken to Wutong Courtyard by his personal guards. Princess An originally wanted to have him stay in the side room of Shi'an Courtyard so that she could take care of him personally, but she was still in her postpartum period and her recovery was particularly slow due to premature birth. Moreover, Beitang Yan's injuries were not suitable for further movement, so she had to give up the idea. This also made it easier for Qin Suiyou to carry out his plans.

The winding corridors of the Prince's Mansion greatly extended the journey. Qin Suiyou and his party walked for almost a quarter of an hour before finally arriving at their destination as they stepped through an archway.

However, Qin Suiyou thought he had arrived rather late, but he didn't expect that Prince An and his wife, along with Princess Xinyue, were still having breakfast.

A maid from Shian Courtyard led Qin Suiyou to a small hall, made him a cup of tea, and then went to the dining hall.

Prince An loved tea, and the tea at Shian Courtyard was quite good. Qin Suiyou took a sip and the maid who had gone to the dining hall returned.

The maidservant curtsied and said, "My lord, the princess has not been feeling well lately. She sleeps lightly and goes to bed late, so she has been having breakfast late. The royal physician said that breakfast cannot be delayed, so please wait a little while, my lord."

"Okay, don't worry."

Princess An's pregnancy was unstable due to her advanced age, so she didn't publicize it much to the outside world. Most of the people who knew about it were members of the royal family. So Lu Yu, who was out inquiring about news, didn't know that Princess An had given birth to a little prince. He only found out when he chatted with Jinzhu and the others on the road.

In the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, footsteps approached.

Prince An, Princess An, Beitang Xinyue, the nanny carrying Beitang Rui, and several personal maids and servants entered the small hall.

Upon hearing the sound, Qin Suiyou stood up and waited until Prince An and his wife were seated in the main seats and Beitang Xinyue was seated in the first seat on the right. Then he led Lu Xi and the others to pay their respects and offered tea to Prince An and his wife.

"After much thought, Suiyou realized that it would be somewhat impolite of him not to come and pay his respects on the first day, so he brought a few small gifts instead. He did not expect that he would disturb the Prince, Princess and the Princess's meal. He hoped that the Prince, Princess and the Princess would not blame Suiyou."

When you're under someone's roof, you have to bow your head. Besides, the person sitting in front of you today is an elder. Qin Suiyou spoke very politely and his words were quite elegant.

Prince An resembled his birth mother in appearance, handsome yet mature with the passage of time, and his love of poetry and painting gave him an air of scholarly refinement.

"Sigh~" With a soft sigh, Prince An drank the tea offered by Qin Suiyou, and the scrutiny in his eyes lessened slightly. "It was originally our fault for not letting you come, but now that I think about it, we were indeed short-sighted."

Qin Suiyou remained noncommittal. He hadn't thought that much about it, but according to Prince An's idea, if he hadn't come today and word got out, outsiders would definitely say that his son-in-law was arrogant and unreasonable, or that Prince An and his wife disliked or despised him. No matter what they said, it wouldn't be good, and it would damage the reputation of the Prince's mansion. Strictly speaking, Consort Chu was, after all, a concubine, with a slightly lower rank and relatively lower demands. Moreover, the focus of public opinion was currently on him, and no one would care whether Chu Yuyou had come to pay her respects.

Thinking of this, Qin Suiyou didn't refute anything, but just smiled and presented the gift.

"These Wushan white tea and Huzhou brushes were sent by my aunt through her family in the south. I hope Your Highness will like them."

"Both of these headdresses were made by famous masters from the South; one was for the Princess Consort, and the other for the Princess."

"These little trinkets are for the little prince. I thought he had everything he needed, so I found some toys that are unique to the South and suitable for children. This jade safety buckle is one that I wore when I was a child. It's of good quality. If you don't mind, you can tie it to his swaddling clothes now."

The aunt Qin Suiyou mentioned was actually Qin Yong's wife, Lady Yun. She had prepared the items in advance and handed them to him one by one.

These gifts aren't expensive, but their appeal lies in their novelty for the recipients: Wushan white tea is a specialty of the South, with limited production, and ensuring its quality isn't compromised during its transport to Yejing requires considerable effort, making it all the more precious; the Huzhou brushes made by Southern masters are valuable for their exquisite craftsmanship, and also for the extraordinary significance they hold for those who love calligraphy and painting; the headdress is the latest style from the South, far ahead of its time for Yejing, which isn't as developed in this area as the South; and the toys for the little prince are straightforward—who wouldn't want their child to have more toys, especially when they are so detailed and rarely seen before?

After helping her fasten the safety buckle, Princess An instructed her maid, You Tan, who had delivered the message the night before, to take the rest of the items with a few other maids. Bei Tang Xin Yue also thanked them and then asked her personal maid, Yun Ying, to keep the jewelry for her.

After instructing You Tan, Princess An looked at Qin Suiyou and said, "Sit down."

Qin Suiyou agreed. Since Beitang Yan was not present, he sat in the first seat on the left.

Princess An: "It's kind of you to come today. These gifts are a thoughtful gesture from the wife of the Vice Minister. I'll have Granny Ye prepare some as well, so you can take them with you when you return to your parents' home tomorrow."

Granny Ye is Qinghe, who accompanied Prince An as he grew up. Her maiden name is Ye Qinghe. She has never been married. When Prince An left the palace to establish his own residence, he took her with him and made her the female steward of the residence. She also has a very good relationship with Princess An. She is currently holding Beitang Rui next to Princess An.

Qin Suiyou was about to get up to express his gratitude, but seeing Princess An's gentle expression indicating that it was not necessary, he sat down and then nodded slightly, "I still want to thank Princess An."

Upon hearing this, Princess An said softly, "It's time to change how you address me. You should call the Prince 'Father' and me 'Mother' so that we can take care of you like a child."

Her tone was slightly playful, like that of an innocent young girl who hadn't yet married, and paired with her well-maintained and beautiful face, it didn't seem out of place at all.

"Father, Mother."

Qin Suiyou didn't refuse. To be honest, Beitang Yan's face and figure were exactly to his liking. If there were no major problems in their future interactions, they would inevitably end up making their fake relationship real.

Based on our interactions with Prince An and his wife, and considering his secret weapon, it's clear they are decent people. I don't feel too guilty about calling them Father and Mother now, and I'm sure his biological parents wouldn't mind (slightly guilty).

After Prince An and Princess An agreed, Beitang Xinyue, who was secretly admiring her beautiful face, spoke up, "Since you have both changed how you address your father and mother, sister-in-law should also call me sister."

Beitang Xinyue is twelve years old this year, still young, but as a royal daughter, she is old enough to start considering marriage. However, due to the insistence of her father, Prince An, who does not want his daughter to marry off too early, she remains innocent and pure, and is still a looks-obsessed person.

He already had a good first impression of Qin Suiyou because of his excellent appearance, gentle temperament and the nice gift. Seeing his parents' attitude, he quickly wanted to get closer to them, but unexpectedly, he was scolded by his mother.

"Moon, stop fooling around. Your brother-in-law is a man, so he shouldn't call you sister-in-law."

Just as Beitang Xinyue was pouting and about to retort, Qin Suiyou said, "The form of address is just an external thing. As long as I recognize that I am being called, Xinyue will not be confused. Besides, calling him brother-in-law is a bit of a tongue twister. There is no need to make our Xinyue uncomfortable because of the form of address."

When Qin Suiyou was in Zhongzhou, most of the people he knew around him were boys, and the few he did have were his loyal subordinates. He had never had the chance to experience what it was like to raise a younger sister. This Princess Xinyue was only twelve years old. Don't tell him that he should be looking for a wife. In modern times, she would only be in junior high school. He should be able to experience the joy of raising a younger sister for a long time. He really wasn't too concerned about what to call her.

Upon hearing Qin Suiyou's words, Beitang Xinyue's eyes lit up.

"That's right, that's right. Brother-in-law is too difficult to pronounce. Sister-in-law is much better."

She didn't mean to feminize Qin Suiyou by calling her "sister-in-law," but when she heard her mother's words, she was worried that Qin Suiyou might misunderstand. However, after hearing Qin Suiyou's words, she felt relieved.

After a relaxed conversation, Qin Suiyou prepared to bring up another important matter of his trip.

"Father, Mother, I have some questions I would like to ask you."

Seeing Qin Suiyou's calm expression, Prince An understood and waved for the servants to leave, including Granny Ye, who was holding Beitang Rui, who also left with the baby.

Beitang Xinyue told Yunying to go out as well, and then walked to her mother's side. "Sister-in-law, is there something you need? Can I listen to you?"

Just as Princess An was about to call her daughter out, Qin Suiyou said, "Of course she can hear me."

Upon hearing this, Beitang Xinyue tilted her chin slightly and smugly showed off to her mother. Qin Suiyou found this behavior somewhat familiar.

Seeing the mother and daughter still locked in a silent battle of wits, Prince An asked helplessly, "Suiyou, what is it you want to ask?"

Qin Suiyou cleared his throat. "Do you wish to cure the Crown Prince?"

These words immediately silenced the atmosphere in the room. Prince An lowered his eyes and sighed, and even the two women closest to Beitang Yan unconsciously reddened their eyes.

Princess An said first, "Of course I want to. I think about it all the time, when my son will wake up and call me 'Mother' again."

Thinking of her son who was still lying unconscious, her voice choked with sobs.

Prince An: "When the Emperor bestowed the marriage upon you and Yan'er, he sent an imperial physician to examine Yan'er. The physician said that Yan'er was only temporarily unconscious, and even went along with the Emperor's wishes by saying that a marriage to bring good luck would be effective—it's utterly ridiculous! The physician of Prince An's residence is a highly skilled doctor whom I met by chance; his medical skills are comparable to those of the head of the Imperial Medical Academy! But even he couldn't do anything..."

Qin Suiyou remained remarkably calm as he listened to Prince An's increasingly agitated yet ultimately dejected tone.

After Prince An finished speaking, Qin Suiyou's soft words were like a thunderclap, shaking the hearts of the three.

"I can heal the prince's injuries."