The Glory After Rebirth

355 - 357

C355: Fu Caiwei’s Pregnancy

With Fang shi and Liu shi keeping her company, Fu Caiwei appeared to be in much better spirits.

On being informed of this, Ling Zhang felt a great sense of relief, but unexpectedly, a message from outside the palace took him aback that very night.

Fu Caiwei didn’t feel very well, and his family asked him to go back.

At that time, Ling Zhang and Yuwen Tong were about to have dinner. After hearing the message, they mistakenly believed that something serious had happened, and hurriedly left the palace.

When they arrived at the Ling Mansion, Ling Zhang found that his family all seemed relaxed and fairly delighted. Astonished, he hastily asked someone about it and was told that Fu Caiwei was not ill but pregnant.

Fortunately Mr Mu was present, and Fu Caiwei’s constitution was not weak, so aside from some minor discomfort, she was okay.

Ling Zhang was sent into a half-stupor. This came as such a surprise to him.

Yuwen Tong also reacted quickly. He sent someone to Yuwen You’s place, requested Fang shi and Liu shi to help hire some reliable and experienced midwives and send them to the Ling Mansion to wait upon Fu Caiwei, but what with the lateness of the hour and the short notice, those midwives wouldn’t be able to move into the Ling Mansion until at least the next day.

After getting over the astonishment caused by the news, Ling Zhang went to confer with Ling Xingzhong and some others. “Grandfather, I want to give up my courtyard house to my uncle and aunt. It’s more spacious and could accommodate more handmaids and midwives.”

In addition to more spare rooms that could accommodate more people, that courtyard house also had a small garden, which meant Fu Caiwei would have a better living environment and a wider area to walk around for relaxation if she moved there. On top of that, because of the relatively special location of that courtyard house, people living in there were less likely to be disturbed.

“You can’t do that. If you give up your courtyard house to them, you yourself would have nowhere to live. Besides, your identity is different now–”

“Uncle,” Ling Zhang interrupted Ling Zhaowen who tried to decline the offer, “I could settle myself in any of the other houses. After you and my aunt move over there, you may let Maomao stay in the courtyard house you’re now living in and have them transfer my stuff to that house. I’ll live with Maomao.”

“Brother Zhang has a point. Right now there are many things in the imperial palace that Brother Zhang has to deal with, and there’s also the wedding ceremony. After we get married, Brother Zhang will naturally live in the palace. Right now Aunt Ling’s health is of the greatest importance. That courtyard house is unoccupied most of the time. You might as well move into it and put it to good use.” Yuwen Tong expressed similar opinions.

Since he had put it this way, Ling Zhaowen naturally couldn’t bring himself to decline again, but he didn’t agree to the suggestion either.

Ling Xingzhong and Ling Zhaowu also didn’t say anything immediately. It was not that they didn’t care much about Fu Caiwei, but that they were still worried about Ling Zhang.

Ling Zhang was a member of the Ling family. How could he not have a decent courtyard house of his own at home? Although he was going to marry Yuwen Tong, there was still some days before the wedding. Furthermore, according to the rules, after the nuptials, nobody but Ling Zhang could live in that courtyard house of his.

Among all these people, Yuwen Tong was the one who wanted the most for them to agree, because in that case, Ling Zhang would have no reason to spend another night in the Ling Mansion. There had been several occasions when Ling Zhang called the Ling Mansion ‘home’. He regarded the Ling Mansion as his home, but privately Yuwen Tong preferred Ling Zhang to call the place the two of them stayed together ‘home’.