After this incident, the madam’s side remained quiet, and as summer arrived, Wei Lin felt depressed, becoming weak and unwilling to speak.
“Why is it so hot these days? You must be sick. I’ll call a doctor tomorrow,” Xi Linxuan said, touching her forehead.
“I just didn’t expect the Rong lands’ summer to be so hot. It’ll pass in a few days.” Wei Lin removed his hand and tucked herself in, saying, “Wouldn’t it be uncomfortable to sit in a wheelchair in this heat?”
Xi Linxuan smiled, “Don’t worry, I know what to do. You just need to eat well, sleep well, and plan your grasslands. Leave the rest to me.”
“My grasslands will have a flock of white sheep, a big tent, a man who can ride horses, a few children, and a few dogs.” Wei Lin said, imagining this scene many times, which left her feeling melancholy upon waking.
“Okay, okay. As you wish.”
Xi Linxuan sent Feng Shou early to fetch a doctor, making him nervous. Breathless, he led the doctor in. Wei Lin had just risen, with a palace maid helping her comb her hair.
The doctor congratulated them—the lady was pregnant.
This news left Wei Lin both shocked and delighted.
“If that’s the case, I’ll buy several new sets of clothes, lots of paper money, paper houses, and servants. The houses should be modeled after the Eastern Palace, and the servants according to its standards. I’ll prepare many infant toys and beautiful clothes. What else is missing?” Xi Linxuan asked.
Wei Linxia nodded silently: “Very glamorous.”
“Fool, what’s missing? A coffin. For people of our status, it should be made of gold-threaded nanmu wood with embroidered dragons and phoenixes. It must be wide; otherwise, we’d be cramped inside…”
“Stop talking nonsense!” Wei Linxia kicked his calf and glared at him. “Xi Shui, why are you so eager for my death? Master Xu Zhen said I could live to ninety-nine. Don’t talk to me, I want to sleep.”
She turned her face, secretly rubbing tears on the pillow. What husband could ask for more?
Preparing for childbirth, even the goose feather snow in the frontier seemed romantic to her.
Just after the New Year, Wei Linxia was about to give birth. She could barely lie down, and Xi Linxuan sat by her bedside every night, softly talking to her. On the fifteenth day, the sound of firecrackers startled the child in Wei Linxia’s belly, prompting the midwife to suggest the birth might be a few days early. After struggling until early morning on the sixteenth, the child was finally born safely.
Xi Linxuan wanted to approach the birthing bed, but Wei Linxia refused, only allowing him near after the midwives and palace maids had changed her into clean clothes and fixed her hair.
“Finally saved a coffin’s worth of money,” Wei Linxia smiled, her lips slightly sore.
Xi Linxuan took out a silk handkerchief to wipe her lips: “Yes, saved the palace’s burial expenses. Don’t laugh foolishly, the midwife said…” He leaned close and whispered something in her ear.
“You go out, don’t look,” Wei Linxia blushed and pushed him away.
Xi Linxuan shrugged, full of mischievous intentions, whispering: “I’ve seen it before, I ate earlier than the women.”
“Xi Shui, get out,” Wei Linxia said annoyed.
The daughter’s birth made Wei Linxia forget the worries hanging over her head. She focused all her thoughts on her daughter, eating oily, salty foods to ensure good milk, which sometimes irritated her. However, seeing her daughter suckling earnestly made her feel satisfied, and she would willingly eat the oily food again.
To find a name for her daughter, Wei Linxia forced Xi Linxuan to search through classics and historical books, often rejecting his suggestions, feeling they didn’t suit her delicate daughter.
Before the name was decided and before Wei Linxia completed her postpartum month, her greatest fear came true.
What should have been an ordinary winter morning was suddenly interrupted by a group of armored soldiers who took Xi Linxuan away without explanation. Wei Linxia had just finished feeding her daughter and, shocked by the news, dropped her handkerchief and choked on her breath. Feng Shou beside her cried anxiously.
Wei Linxia caught her breath and hurriedly asked Feng Shou to inquire if the officials were also arrested. The palace maids were in panic. Wei Linxia sent them away and held her sleeping daughter, whispering, “Don’t be afraid, mother won’t let you get hurt.”
Harvest cried as she dressed Lin in complicated court attire, applied her makeup, and wrapped Xi Lin’s court clothes, following behind her.
“Harvest, you don’t need to follow me. There are so many people in the mansion.”
If something happens to me and **, you will take them back to Yan Chao; do not let them be stranded in this foreign land,” Lin instructed, holding the court clothes and opening the door, only to see Wang* standing outside.
“Elder Brother Mu has already taken the young princess away. Madam, please be at ease. I should protect your safety and dare not disobey,” Wang* said.
“Wang, why must you risk your life?” Lin asked.
“A promise is worth a thousand pieces of gold,” Wang* replied casually.
The Rong monarch seemed to keep his word, with no soldiers inside or outside the mansion. Lin* hesitated at the gate and asked Wang* if he knew how to meet the monarch in Rong. Wang* confirmed he did. Just as Lin* was about to board the carriage, someone rushed from the alley and quickly stuffed something into Wang*’s arms before fleeing.
Wang* took out the item and said: “A message from the Fourth *. The Rong monarch is leading troops to the border day and night. The *** is also in the team. I’m afraid their fate is grim.”
“The Fourth *?”
“Yes, the Fourth * is accompanying the expedition,” Wang* confirmed.
“Wang, do we still have good horses in our mansion? If we travel day and night, can we catch up?” Lin asked.
“Perhaps we can,” Wang* replied.
The February wind was cold and harsh, cutting painfully across faces. Lin* and Wang* traveled without stopping, only resting for a couple of hours when truly exhausted. Wang* would gather wood to light a fire, and they would warm themselves by it. When thirsty, they’d grab a handful of hard snow; when hungry, they’d eat cold, hard rations.
Lin*, who had just given birth, felt exhausted and worried about her daughter, even as she sat by the fire.
“Madam, you shouldn’t have come,” Wang* said.
“I’ve already come,” she replied, the flickering firelight reflecting her unpredictable future.
“You should honor your promise to **, but for your and the young princess’s safety…” Wang was speaking when Lin* suddenly collapsed to the ground, her brow furrowed.
In her dream, she saw Xi Lin holding their daughter in a pavilion, smiling at her.
“Sheng Bi, come quickly. The child is hungry,” he said.
She walked forward, but as she approached, he stepped back, and by the time she reached the pavilion, they had vanished. Looking around, only a white snow-covered grassland remained.
“Autumn Water, daughter!” Reaching out, she touched a warm face, struggling to open her eyes. It was Xi Lin, standing in the snow and smiling at her.
Lin* suppressed her emotions and struck his chest. “Xi Autumn Water, you bastard! Why didn’t you wait for me?”
Urgent voices called, “Madam! Madam!”
Opening her eyes, Lin* saw a campfire and an angelically handsome face, concerned but not her husband’s. “Wang*?” she struggled to sit up, noticing a black cloak draped over her.
“You fainted from exhaustion. I suggest we find an inn tomorrow for you to rest,” Wang*, wearing a cotton robe, sat nearby in the cold winter night.
Lin* took back the cloak, forcing a painful smile with cracked lips. “No need. I can hold on. Rest a moment, then continue traveling.” She feared they wouldn’t catch up to the Rong army, dreading to find only Xi Lin’s cold corpse.
