The daily life of a cold and aloof general raising his wife

Li Shu wrote two letters in total; one reached Jiang Shuwan, and the other reached the palace.

After reading Li Shu's letter, the Empress couldn't help but feel worried. Others might not know the current situation of the Northern Qi royal family, but she did.

Although the Empress had been married off to a distant place for many years, she still had people in the Northern Qi palace. Since marrying into the Daqing, the Empress had lost contact with these spies. Now that Li Shu was going to Northern Qi for a political marriage, the spies passed on the information from the Northern Qi palace.

Seeing the Empress's worried expression, her personal maid, Granny Fang, comforted her, saying, "Your Highness, the princess is a blessed child. She will surely turn misfortune into good fortune this time."

The Empress's communications with the Northern Qi's secret agents were all handled by Granny Fang.

"hope so."

The master and servant then fell silent.

The official accompanying Li Shu handed over a memorial, which Emperor Mingde quickly read before heading to Kunning Palace.

The palace maids and eunuchs outside were about to pay their respects when Emperor Mingde waved them off and quickly walked into the hall, just in time to see the Empress looking worried.

When Granny Fang saw Emperor Mingde and Empress Mingde, she quickly bowed.

"Greetings, Your Majesty."

The Empress looked up when she heard the sound and saw Emperor Mingde. She then composed herself, stood up, and bowed.

"bye……"

Just as the Empress was about to perform her rites, Emperor Mingde walked to her side and helped her up.

There's no need for such formalities between us.

The Empress didn't take Emperor Mingde's words seriously, forcing a smile. "Thank you, Your Majesty."

Seeing this, Granny Fang silently withdrew.

Emperor Mingde glanced at the letter on the table. "Shu'er has written a letter."

"Yes, Your Majesty. I was just thinking of going to see you later."

The Empress handed the letter on the table to Emperor Mingde.

After reading Li Shu's letter, Emperor Mingde remarked, "This girl has really grown up."

The Empress thought to herself that the child couldn't stay in the palace forever; things couldn't be the same when they were out in the palace.

No matter how much he resented it in his heart, he didn't show it on his face. "Your Majesty is right, the child has grown up."

Emperor Mingde took the Empress's hand and patted it a few times.

"I know you are worried about Shu'er, and so am I. She is my only princess, and I can't bear to send her away for a political marriage."

The Empress lowered her eyes and said softly, "Your Majesty, I understand."

Emperor Mingde felt much better seeing how sensible the Empress was.

"By the way, there have been some rumors circulating in the palace recently. I wonder if the Empress has heard about them."

"Rumors?"

So many rumors circulated in the palace every day that the Empress didn't know which one Emperor Mingde was referring to.

"I heard that Xie Huai'an's mother is a girl from the Pei family."

The Empress, quick-witted, replied, "I asked Shu Wan about this matter. It is confirmed that General Xie's mother was a girl from a collateral branch of the Pei family, but she severed ties with her family more than twenty years ago."

"I see." Emperor Mingde said thoughtfully.

The Empress observed Emperor Mingde discreetly before speaking, "I heard from Shu Wan that General Xie doesn't seem to want to acknowledge such a close relationship."

Emperor Mingde raised an eyebrow. "Is that so?"

The Empress continued, "General Xie went into battle alone, fighting his way up from an unknown soldier to his current position. You can imagine how difficult it was for him. If he really wanted to rely on the Pei family, he wouldn't have risked his life to fight for fame and fortune."

Emperor Mingde's expression remained unchanged, and he said in a low voice, "The Empress's words make sense. I still have memorials to review, and I will come to accompany you another day."

The Empress rose and bowed, saying, "Respectfully seeing off Your Majesty."

After watching Emperor Mingde leave, the Empress got up and carefully put away the letter that Li Shu had written to her.

Recalling what Emperor Mingde had just said, he was definitely not just saying it casually.

The Empress had long seen through the Crown Prince's mediocre nature, and so had Emperor Mingde. Yet this time, she arranged for the Crown Prince to marry a daughter of a prestigious family, which was nothing more than an attempt to increase the Crown Prince's power.

However, the Empress saw today that Emperor Mingde did not want Xie Huai'an to be too close to the Pei family, which means that Emperor Mingde did not want the eldest prince to have too much power.

Although Emperor Mingde was in good health, he was getting on in years. Now that his daughter was going to marry a foreign ruler, she had to make plans for herself and her daughter as soon as possible.

The Empress was contemplating her future.

Jiang Shuwan and Xie Huai'an were unaware of Emperor Mingde's thoughts at this time.

Du Siyu came to the General's Mansion today.

Jiang Shuwan was shocked when she saw Du Siyu's belly. Du Siyu was already seven months pregnant, and her belly was much bigger than others.

Du Siyu hadn't gained much weight, but her belly was a bit big.

"Big Cousin, don't be nervous, my children and I are all fine."

Du Siyu is very casual.

"children?"

"My older cousin didn't have a chance to tell you, but I'm pregnant with twins this time," Du Siyu said, smiling as she touched her belly.

Jiang Shuwan was a little surprised when she heard this, then smiled and said, "Congratulations, cousin."

"It's all thanks to my older cousin." Du Siyu realized her mistake after saying that and quickly corrected herself, "What I mean is, the doctor you found is incredibly skilled. He took very good care of me and the children."

Du Siyu has been living a very comfortable life these past few months, especially after she found out she was pregnant with twins. When Huianbo and Ye Shi learned that Du Siyu was pregnant with twins, their attitudes changed a lot. At first, they were just going through the motions, but now they are taking it much more seriously.

In particular, Huianbo felt that the past two years had not been very smooth, but when he learned that Du Siyu was pregnant with twins, he felt that this was finally a good thing.

Jiang Shuwan smiled and asked, "Have you found a midwife and a wet nurse yet?"

"I've found it. I started looking a long time ago." Du Siyu had a happy smile on her face.

"That's good. Now that you're more pregnant, it's best to stay home as much as possible."

Du Siyu knew that she was doing this for her own good.

"I know, it's been several months since I last saw you, so I wanted to come and see you."

Du Siyu doesn't have many close female friends; in the past two years, she's gotten along better with Jiang Shuwan.

Jiang Shuwan said with concern, "Pregnancy is not easy for a woman, and you are carrying twins, so you need to be extra careful."

"I know my older cousin."

After exchanging only a few pleasant words, Du Siyu's mood suddenly turned somewhat depressed.

"What's wrong with you?"

Seeing her like this, Jiang Shuwan wondered if she had said anything wrong.

"My older cousin hit the nail on the head; I was scared," Du Siyu said, her eyes welling up with tears.

Jiang Shuwan panicked when she saw her like this. "Don't cry, what are you afraid of?"

The main concern is that Du Siyu is heavily pregnant and something might happen to her.

"I'm afraid that when I give birth, the He family will only care about the baby and ignore me... Waaaaah..."

“…It shouldn’t be that bad…”

Jiang Shuwan's words sounded unconvincing even to herself.

Jiang Shuwan handed her a handkerchief, "In that case, it's better to go with Aunt Renhui."

Du Siyu took the handkerchief and wiped her tears. "This isn't a good idea."

"Or you could ask Aunt Hui to speak to your eldest aunt and ask her to go. She is the legal mother of the Marquis's household, and the people in the Marquis of Huian's household will be much more obedient."

"Thank you very much, cousin."

Du Siyu thought Jiang Shuwan's idea was excellent.