Empress Xin’s pregnancy made the Jiang Family less sorrowful and more rejuvenated after the exhaustion of holding the funeral, except for the first branch. At a time when Beijiang was needing more soldiers to reinforce the border, any pregnancy or giving birth to a child of the imperial family had always been considered as an auspicious omen since ancient times, not to mention the Empress’s pregnancy.

Marquess Qin decided right away to send this piece of good news to the frontline at a speed of great urgency to boost morale!

Regrettably, the whole Jiang Family was now wearing mourning dresses. For fear of bringing bad luck to the imperial heir, they were unable to go to the palace to visit Empress Xin.

However, Jiang Tianhe decided right away to send her trusted subordinate to congratulate her daughter and to secretly ask about the gender of the imperial heir.

“Now I’m in the early period of pregnancy and the imperial doctor is unable to identify the gender yet!” It seemed that Empress Xin was now in good mood, on the contrary to her low spirits a few months ago. Her expression was filled with joy and satisfaction. She softly stroked her still flat belly and said with her lips pursed, “It doesn’t matter whether it is a boy or a girl. It’s my child. I only wish him healthy and intelligent.”

The trusted subordinate laughed, “Her Majesty is so blessed to get pregnant after only six months of officially becoming Empress. The imperial heir will be strong and intelligent, and as handsome and lovely as Her Majesty and His Majesty!”

Empress Xin smiled demurely, “All thanks to your lucky words!”

The trusted subordinate came back to Xin’s Mansion and told Jiang Tianhe everything that had happened. But Jiang Tianhe got a little anxious and said, “Is the imperial doctor unable to tell whether it’s a boy or a girl? Ok, then. We will wait for some days to check it again… That will be better if it’s a boy. This time my second uncle will send the news of Fubing’s pregnancy to the frontline to boost morale. If Fubing gives birth to a male heir this time, we could take advantage of the war in the northern border and request Emperor to declare him as the crown prince!”

As long as the child was brought up, what else could the first branch possibly do?

It was approaching the New Year. The whole Jiang Family were wearing mourning dresses because of the death of Sir Jibei. Some officials were also wearing mourning dresses to lament the death of Sir Jibei or avoid amusement in order to please the Jiang Family. The New Year’s Eve banquet, luxurious as usual, appeared be cold and with no fun, which bored Empress Dowager Jiang very much.

The good thing was that Emperor and Empress were in high spirits and were quite active at New Year’s Eve banquet because they would welcome their first child soon, which made the banquet much less awkward.

The Lantern Festival was approaching without notice after being busy visiting relatives during the New Year.

The Lantern Festival marked the end of the celebration of the New Year. Madame Zhuang remembered what her husband said before his leaving. So, she called her trusted subordinate to come to her and wrote a letter, “I haven’t seen our daughter since we parted two decades ago. Now she and her husband are in Shazhou. It’s a good opportunity for me to stay in Jing City to meet her. If she can move, let her come back to me for our reunion. And besides, I could use the opportunity to talk to our son-in-law.”

Worrying that Jiang Qizheng would hurry on with her journey for their reunion, she added, “No hurries on the road. Please take your health as the top priority!”

Madame Zhuang was looking forward to the reunion with her daughter and her son-in-law. And Qiu Yelan was bathing in the sunshine in the courtyard.

With three babies around her, she couldn’t enjoy the sunshine wholeheartedly.

She was holding a bowl of egg custard in her hand, while Jiang Jingkun, Jiang Jinglang, and Fu’er were sitting side by side on a soft couch moved to the middle of the courtyard, with screens on all sides to keep out the wind, and soft cushions placing behind them to lean on, and small quilts wrapped around their bodies to keep them warm. They were all staring at the egg custard and waiting anxiously for Qiu Yelan to feed them a small spoonful in turn.

With a spoonful holding before the one, he was so happy to grip it with his teeth. If it was offered a little later, Jiang Jingkun and Fu’er who knew how to speak would anxiously cry, “Quick… Be quick.”

Jiang Jinglang who couldn’t talk yet was babbling and pouncing hard towards her. Qiu Yelan felt like being surrounded by three fledglings. Their constant chattering made her dizzy. She was so busy with feeding this one or that one while saying with a smile, “Take it easy. We have a lot of egg custard. Take it slowly. Do not get yourself choked!”

Amid the bustle, one of the screens was moved away and Jiang Yashuang dodged in. But he immediately put the screen in its original place.

“Uncle!” The oldest Jiang Jingkun already recognized people because his nanny kept teaching him to recognize people. At a time when Jiang Yashuang entered, he shouted in a cute voice, stretched out his short arms, kicked off the quilt, and stood up shakily to beg for a hug.

“Be careful not to catch cold!” Jiang Yashuang said with a smile, quickened his steps to the edge of the couch, and carried Jiang Jingkun in one hand and Fu’er in another. He weighed them masterly and then said, “It seems to be a little heavier than yesterday.”

Jiang Jinglang, who was left behind, was not annoyed at all and was gleefully staring at the silver spoon in his mother’s hand. It seemed that he was much happier without the two brothers’ competition for the food.

Qiu Yelan said while she was digging the egg custard for her son, “They are growing fastest at this age. You may not feel apparent that they are growing because you’re with them every day. But they are actually different in just a few days. You can feel the big difference when you dress them up.”

“You are ungrateful, Lang’er. Don’t you even cast a look at me? Could it be that your own father is not on a par with the less half of egg custard?” After hugging his nephews for a moment, Jiang Yashuang put them back under the quilt and wrapped them up for fear that they might get cold, and then stroked their little heads to soothe them while Qiu Yelan was holding the spoonful of the egg custard up high to draw their attention back.

Jiang Yashuang took the opportunity to take his son into his arms and kissed his chubby cheeks, “Yeah! My baby weights heavier!”

He showed great affection for his son but Jiang Jinglang did not appreciate it. He was about to cry when he saw that the delicious egg custard was gone. He bit the tasteless corner of the clothes instead!

“Hurry up and bring me another bowl of egg custard!” Jiang Yashuang had no choice but to call out to Su He.

It was only when Jiang Yashuang raised the extra bowl of egg custard from the kitchen that Jiang Jinglang stopped crying and babbled for food.

“Be careful!” Now with her husband’s help, Qiu Yelan only needed to take care of her two nephews, which was much easier for her. When she took time to look at her husband and son, she saw her husband holding her son in his lap and circling him in his arm to feed him. So, she reminded him.

Jiang Yashuang knew that his wife thought it was unsafe and said carelessly, “Don’t worry, Lang’er is so light that it’s a piece of cake for me to hold him.” He was able to brandish weapons of several dozen Jin for hours without taking a breath, let alone his son who was now less than 20 Jin.

Before he finished his talking, he felt a sense of hotness on his leg…

“I’m trying to warn that he just refused to pad his diaper…” Before Qiu Yelan finished her talking, she saw her husband’s speechless look. She couldn’t help but laugh, “It seems that he is just waiting for you to hug him.”

“You little ungrateful brat!” Jiang Yashuang shook his head, and kissed his son’s forehead while scolding him, and handed the egg custard to Su He, and said to his wife, “I take him back to the room for the change and I need a change too.”

He had been helping his wife since Jiang Jingkun was entrusted to their care. As of now, he was peed many times by his nephews. Although he got a little depressed, he calmly went back to the room and handed Jiang Jinglang over to Mrs. Qu to clean him up, and he took a quick shower and changed into clean clothes. When he came out, Qiu Yelan had already returned to the room and the screens and couch in the courtyard had been also moved back to the room. He asked, “Where are the children?”

“They have taken enough sunshine. So, I asked the wet nurses to take them back.” Looking after children was not an easy job. Though healthy as she was, Qiu Yelan felt exhausted after only accompanying the three children bathing in the sunshine and feeding them egg custard. At the moment, Su He was giving her a massage to relax her.

Jiang Yashuang signaled Su He to allow himself to massage his wife and said, “Today, Ou Bicheng came over.”

“Is it about Xing and my brother?” Qiu Yelan asked.

“Yes!” Jiang Yashuang nodded and said, “It’s about their wedding which has been set in April. They are both now in Jing City and their parents are also living healthy. And it’s not the first time they are holding such a big event. So, there is nothing to worry about.”

Qiu Yelan mused for a moment and said, “Though my maiden family couldn’t help much. Mr. Ruan, who followed my grandfather for many years, wouldn’t embarrass the Ou Family and would deal with it properly.”

“Not about that.” Jiang Yashuang explained, “The Ou Family understands that as long as your elder brother treats Xing well, they won’t care about the gifts. The thing is that the northern border is going into war. Sir Jingbo has sent back news that the western savages seem to have movements. If so, your brother has to grab this opportunity to render meritorious service. I’m afraid they have to put off their wedding.”

“So…” Qiu Yelan frowned, “It’s hard to say. After all, my brother is young. If he wants to win respect, rendering meritorious service is the easiest and fastest way. But it’s also a tough decision to put off the wedding!”

The couple discussed for a while but there was nothing they could do about it for this force majeure. Couldn’t they let Qiu Jinglan leave everything behind and go back to Jing City to just get married on time? Even if they were willing, Qiu Jinglan wouldn’t do that.

“The good news is that their wedding has been set in August. And then they will talk about it if they need to put it off.” At last, they ended their discussion.

Jiang Yashuang started talking about Emperor and Empress, “Since Empress married Emperor, His Majesty sleeps every night in the Beique Hall. My aunt said they were very affectionate. Even if His Majesty is just doing this for the sake of my aunt, they will bond together after getting along for a long time.”

Qiu Yelan hummed, “Empress has suffered enough. It’s time for her to have a few days of a good life!”

“If Empress could give birth to a prince, it could save a lot of trouble.” Jiang Yashuang mused, “But if it is a princess this time, and if she has a prince next time, her son will still be the first choice to be the crown prince. However, if it is a princess this time, next year when Jiang Huizhi gets married to Emperor, she may have the idea of trying to make her son to be the crown prince.”

“Even if she has the thought, she has to get pregnant first.” Qiu Yelan calmly said, “It may by then Empress also gets pregnant again?”

Jiang Yashuang smiled, “That will be nice!” He lowered his voice and continued, “When departing, our father told us that the first branch reaped what they have sown. We needn’t punish them again for the sake of the old age and health of our grandfather. If they don’t do something terribly wrong, just spare them in case our grandfather may get sad. If Empress could get a male heir this time and the heir could become the crown prince, that is the best!”

Qiu Yelan narrowed his eyes, “Yes. I won’t urge Empress to take the initiative to deal with Huizhi when I visit Empress after the mourning is over.”

She suddenly thought of something here, “Did our father say this to you for just telling you to be merciful to the first branch? Or does he mean something else?”

For example, “Before our mother beat all the concubines of Jiang Yadan to death because they stole the dowry of my former eighth sister-in-law. Should our father think that we provoked this?”

So, she advised the youngest son to be merciful to the first branch to make Marquess Qin feel better. His original intention was to warn us, “Don’t be so overbearing. Don’t meddle in your brother’s family stuff!”

“This really wronged us! There is nothing to do with us.” Qiu Yelan said angrily, “This is obviously your wife’s own intention! You and your wife have lived together for most of your life. You’ve known quite well your wife’s temper. Not to mention Jiang Yashuang wasn’t absent at that time. Was I capable to persuade my mother-in-law after my knowing her for only a few days? Besides, it was natural that I didn’t persuade her. Those concubines were bullying the weak and fearing the strong. They tortured An and the former eighth sister-in-law as she was good-natured and An’er was young. Anyway, they were bad people themselves.”