In the blink of an eye, a week passed.
Hongwu Emperor had tasked the four princes to help each other in managing court affairs, but the crown prince became too timid to face the criticisms of the officials that he stayed in his estate and did not come out. Even the Empress could not coax him to return, and the Emperor was humiliated he sired such a dog son that he immediately degraded the status of the crown prince from a qin wang to a junwang.
Zhao Cheng immediately became busy. The only time Song Jia saw his face again was when he brought a physician to the zhengfang.
"Furen is simply exhausted from strenuous activities and needs ample rest. His Highness doesn't need to worry, as long as she takes proper meals and some tonics, she'll become healthy again in no time," the old graying physician said with a straight face.
With his age, what kind of thing has he not yet seen? As for strenuous activities...well, the two people concerned should know what he meant by this.
Song Jia blushed. Fortunately, the physician could not see her face from behind the curtain. Zhao Cheng did not care about what this old man thought and just casually waved his hand, permitting him to leave.
"Wang ye, you should take the physician to see sister Bai too..."
As the silk handkerchief was removed, Song Jia's pale wrist retreated from view. Her voice was soft, without any hostility or resentment. Zhao Cheng's hand that was about to lift the curtain which separated them paused.
He would be lying if he said he had not thought of Bai Mei Lien at all. She was carrying his child, and she was the woman he loved. But lately, Zhao Cheng was starting to feel confused about his feelings.
He had not experienced missing Bai Mei Lien as much as he missed his wife. Even when they were still at the phase where they could not see each other enough, he would at most merely visit Bai Mei Lien and then be gone after talking to her for a bit.
It was not like how his heart ached when his wang fei was out of his sight. Just thinking about how she wanted to get away from him through means of divorce made him feel as though ants were gnawing on his heart, eating it away bit by bit.
He could not tolerate her leaving him!
He promised her, he knew he promised her that after a year, they would divorce. But a ridiculous thought had popped up in his mind when he read her letter that told him of Bai Mei Lien's pregnancy.
Pregnancy...
If Li Jia gives birth to his children, then there would be a layer of connection between them, one that would not be easily broken by divorce. If he cared for her, and pampered her, and she was surrounded by their children...at the very least, wouldn't she be reluctant to leave him?
Zhao Cheng smiled and his hand dropped back to his side. The bed curtains remained closed.
"Alright, I'll tell the physician to head over there. Jia'er should follow the physician's advice and get some rest."
Zhao Cheng came back to court after he visited Song Jia, as there were still a lot of important matters to attend to. He did not have the time to see Bai Mei Lien, and only told his manservant to report to him what the physician said about her condition.
In the side courtyard, Bai Mei Lien stared blankly at the empty doorway of her bedchamber long after the old physician had left.
"Mistress..." the servant beside her was alarmed at her expression. She twisted her hands, unsure of what appropriate words were needed to say to reassure her.
She did not think that this kind of situation would happen. Clearly her Mistress was pregnant with wang ye's child, so why is it that he never visited? Could her Mistress have inexplicably fallen out of favor with wang ye?
"As expected, no official wife could tolerate her husband favoring a concubine..." one of the yahuan in the outer rooms whispered to her friend. "That one in the zhengfang must have lied to wang ye so that he would have a bad impression of our Mistress. No wonder she was so kind, she was only disguising as a pig to eat the tiger."
"I heard that wang ye stayed for four days in the zhengfang."
"Four days?! His Highness has not even stayed with our Mistress for that long! Could the war have changed his tastes? But how could that be?"
"What do you know? A man's heart is very fickle."
Bai Mei Lien seemed to be deaf from all the whispered conversations around her. The hands that were caressing her belly a few moments before were now fisting the blankets, the knuckles a ghastly white.
She continued to stare at the doorway, as if the person she wanted to see would soon appear there.
A quarter of shi chen passed, and Bai Mei Lien's eyes lowered to her swollen stomach. She seemed to be struggling in making a decision before heaving a deep sigh. She softly called out to a nearby mama, "Come, help me get out of the bed."
They helped Bai Mei Lien get dressed in an orchid embroidered skirt and styled her hair in a qing hairstyle, making her look sweet and charming, like a begonia flower. With the support of her two personal maidservants, Bai Mei Lien slowly walked towards the direction of the zhengfang.
Song Jia who was reading a book was surprised when she heard about Bai Mei Lien's arrival. Thinking that something might have happened to the fetus, she stood up and gestured at Ruolan who was beside her.
"Quick, let her come in!"
It was only when she saw Bai Mei Lien's healthy appearance did Song Jia's tense expression slightly relaxed. She poured Bai Mei Lien a cup of tea after the other girl said her greetings and took a seat opposite hers.
"To what do I owe the pleasure of sister Bai's visit?"
There were round and lotus cakes laid on the table, along with steamed dumplings filled with minced chicken. Song Jia put some on Bai Mei Lien's plate, observing that she indeed looked lovelier than before because of pregnancy.
What a torment it must be for wang ye, to see but cannot eat, Song Jia understood how terrible he must have felt.
But why did he have to go and torment her? Just because he was unhappy does not mean he had to drag other people in his unhappiness. Song Jia massaged her waist as she grumbled in her mind, cursing him.
Bai Mei Lien saw her involuntary action and the hands that were holding her teacup trembled.
"Wang fei, nu has something to say, hopes wang fei does not take offense and blame nu."
Song Jia glanced up in surprise. Bai Mei Lien's voice was still gentle and soft, but she could hear the determination behind it. Her mind quickly churned as she thought of the various reasons for her words, "Sister Bai, please don't hesitate, just speak your mind."
"Nu..." Bai Mei Lien's lips pressed together, her tone having a hint of a plea, "Nu hopes wang fei will try to stay away from wang ye, at least until before nu's child is born."