The Little King

41 | Back To The Palace

Translator: PastTimer

Editor: PastTimer

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The intense symptoms of Xia Xi's pregnancy might've been caused by too much worry as his body's condition began to get even worse. More than ten days after the diagnosis of a pearl pulse¹, his lower body turned slightly red. Fortunately, the female doctor's skills were very good, she prescribed some medication and ordered him to stay in bed. After more than a month of supplementing soups and being medicated, the fetus in his stomach was finally stabilized, and his morning sickness gradually disappeared.

There was no sign of any end to the civil war until spring, the two sides were locked in a stalemate. Things didn't turn around until early summer.

One of Zaha's confidants rebelled and stabbed him while he was unguarded. Although Zaha didn't die at the time, the battle finally came to an end. After half a month, he left. As soon as he left, his subordinates became loose sand; undisciplined and unmotivated. The half-year-long civil war finally ended.

From then on, the young King finally managed to rid of the two biggest threats around him and firmly held all the power in his hands. Chu Lan was praised for his merits for a while, and he sent a large number of honour guards to welcome Xia Xi back from the temple.

His movements were very fast, Xia Xi's news lagged behind, he had only just heard of Zaha being stabbed when the honour guards finally arrived at the temple, and the one leading them was the Prime Minister Sang Sangmu. Xia Xi was shocked, although he saw him beaming and knew that nothing bad should've happened, there was still a blade hanging over his heart. After hearing the news of victory personally from him, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Xia Xi's belly was six months old, but his figure was thin and his robe was wide, Sang Sangmu actually didn't notice. Xia Xi didn't say. As the maids packed everything up, he took Xia Chun's hand and boarded the carriage.

Xia Chun was a little curious after the carriage started moving, he wanted to open the curtain and look out. Lan Duo'er quickly stopped his movements and said, "The honourable guards of the Palace aren't allowed to be gazed at by ordinary people." Xia Xi was in a good mood, with a smile on his face. He smiled and said warmly after hearing the words: "Chun'er can open it a little, it doesn't matter." He changed into the language that Xia Chun could understand more easily and said: "We're going to the palace, Chun'er, wait. Once you get there, I'll find you a better master to teach you martial arts, alright?"

Xia Chun's eyes lit up and he nodded vigorously. He looked outside, but their carriage was surrounded by guards and nothing could be seen, so he quickly lost interest and began touching Xia Xi's belly again. Ever since he knew that Xia Xi had a baby in his belly, he began to especially like touching his belly. The movements of his hands were always gentle, fearing that Xia Xi would be hurt or that he'd hurt the baby inside. While being touched by him, his stomach suddenly moved, Xia Xi smiled lightly, "Chun'er, my baby's responding to you."

Xia Chun was very happy as well. He took a piece of candy, peeled off the package, and shook it in front of Xia Xi's belly. Xia Xi smiled and said, "Are you going to give the baby sugar? You have to eat less, because your teeth will break." The child was missing a few teeth but it was mainly because he was changing teeth, Xia Xi now restricted his sugar intake.

The carriage drove steadily to the Palace, Xia Xi suddenly thought of something, he said with a bit of annoyance: "I came out in a hurry, so I forgot to say goodbye to mother, Yaya², and the others..." Lan Duo'er persuaded him with a few words and they chatted, their group entered the city and then soon the Palace.

When he arrived in the Palace, there were fewer guards accompanying him. The guards who had guarded Xia Xi for the past three years had also left, only the twelve maids were still with him. When he got here, Xia Xi couldn't help but open the curtain a little to peek out. A familiar scene appeared in front of him, not very different from his memory. He haven't seen it for a few years, which made him lament a little bit.