The day after confirming her pregnancy, Shen Jin did something no one expected—she slept in until the sun was high overhead. Correction: she slept until the sun was *very* high overhead.
Chun Tao had already called her four times. The first three times, Shen Jin buried her head under the quilt. On the fourth, Chun Tao yanked the quilt away. “Miss! Heir Xiao is here again!”
Shen Jin shot upright. “What?”
“Heir Xiao! He’s at Tianshui Lane! He’s been waiting half an hour!”
Shen Jin scrambled to dress, muttering as she tugged on her robe: “Is he sick? Coming over at the crack of dawn to freeload a meal? Doesn’t he have his own kitchen? Why does he have to come here?”
Chun Tao wisely held back from saying, *because his kitchen can’t make food that tastes like yours*, and simply tied her mistress’s sash. This time, at least, she didn’t tie it backwards.
At the door, Yuanbao meowed at Shen Jin as if to say, *bring back something tasty*.
Shen Jin glared at the cat. “You’re just like your master—always thinking about food.”
Yuanbao shrank back, aggrieved.
When Shen Jin reached Tianshui Lane, Xiao Heng was waiting at the gate, holding two food boxes. He wore a robe of bamboo-green, his hair bound with a jade crown. Standing in the morning light, he looked like a fresh stalk of bamboo.
“Why are you here so early?” Shen Jin snapped.
“It’s not early.” Xiao Heng glanced at the sky. “It’s already the hour of Si.”
The hour of Si—around nine in the morning. Shen Jin had indeed overslept. She opened the door and let him in. Chun Tao followed with yesterday’s prepared ingredients.
Xiao Heng set the food boxes on the stone table and opened them. Shen Jin glanced inside—pork ribs, fish, greens, tofu, a packet of red dates, a packet of goji berries, and a jar of honey.
Red dates and goji berries? Shen Jin’s heart skipped. In modern times, those are common ingredients for nourishing pregnant women. Did Xiao Heng bring them by chance—or on purpose?
“What is it?” Xiao Heng asked, noticing her stare.
“Nothing.” Shen Jin looked away. “What shall we cook today?”
“You decide.”
Shen Jin thought carefully. In early pregnancy, she couldn’t eat greasy food, anything that promoted blood flow, or anything too cold. Red dates and goji berries were fine, but not too much.
“Steamed ribs, braised tofu with scallions, stir-fried vegetables, and a chicken soup with red dates and goji berries.”
Xiao Heng nodded and began washing the vegetables.
Shen Jin tied on her apron and started chopping. After a few cuts, the smell of oil smoke made her stomach churn. She set down the knife, took a deep breath, and forced the nausea down.
“What’s wrong?” Xiao Heng’s voice came from behind.
“Nothing. Just a little stuffy.” Shen Jin picked up the knife again.
Xiao Heng studied her for a moment longer than usual, but said nothing.
She deliberately avoided smoky cooking steps—no caramelizing sugar for the ribs, just steaming; no stir-frying the chicken, just blanching and stewing.
Xiao Heng noticed her cooking was different today, but didn’t ask.
When the dishes were served, Shen Jin sat down and lifted a bowl of chicken soup. The broth was rich, with a faint sweetness from the dates and berries. She drank one bowl, then another.
Xiao Heng’s brows twitched. Normally, she ate whatever was served, never picky, but never fixated. Today she drank three bowls of soup, ate only one rib, and didn’t touch the fish.
“Is the fish not good?” he asked.
“It’s fine. I just don’t feel like fish today.”
He didn’t press further but tucked the detail away in his mind.
After the meal, Chun Tao cleared the dishes. Shen Jin reclined in a lounge chair, basking in the sun. Yuanbao appeared, leaped onto her lap, and curled up. Shen Jin stroked the cat’s head, half-closing her eyes, looking as usual.
But Xiao Heng noticed something different. Today, she placed Yuanbao across her lower belly, her hand resting protectively over the cat—as though shielding something beneath. Watching that scene, a thought suddenly struck him. A thought that made his heart race. Could it be…?
“Shen Jinshu,” he called her name.
Shen Jin cracked one eye open. “Hm?”
“Have you… gotten fatter lately?”
Her face darkened instantly. “Do you even know how to talk?”
“Not that kind of fat,” Xiao Heng chose his words carefully. “More like—rounder.”
Shen Jin snatched up the palm fan beside her and hurled it at him. He tilted his head; the fan skimmed past his ear and landed in the flowerbed behind him.
From the kitchen, Chun Tao peeked out, saw the scene, and quickly ducked back inside.
“Lord Heir,” Shen Jin sat up straight, “if you don’t know how to speak, then don’t.”
Xiao Heng laughed, but beneath the smile was seriousness. He hadn’t been teasing her—he was probing.
She *had* grown a little fuller. Not fat, but her face carried more softness, her complexion was brighter, her skin more luminous. On anyone else, it might mean good food and restful sleep. On her—combined with today’s refusal to touch fish, drinking three bowls of chicken soup, and placing the cat across her belly—he couldn’t help but think in a certain direction.
But he had no proof.
Maybe he was imagining things. Maybe she really had just been eating and sleeping well.
Xiao Heng pushed the thought down, stood, and brushed the dust from his robe. “I’ll come again tomorrow.”
Shen Jin rolled her eyes. “What, you think this is a canteen?”
“Not a canteen.” At the doorway, he turned back to look at her. “It’s something else.” He didn’t say what, and left.
Shen Jin sat in the lounge chair, watching the gate close behind him. Her heartbeat suddenly quickened.
He said ‘something else’. What place? She didn’t dare think.
Dingyuan Residence.
When Xiao Heng returned, he didn’t go to the study. Instead, he headed straight for a secluded courtyard in the back.
There lived one man—Imperial Physician Li. A senior doctor from the Imperial Medical Bureau, now serving as Xiao Heng’s private physician. Li was in his fifties, renowned not only for his remedies but for his skill in *testing substances*.
“Physician Li,” Xiao Heng pushed open the door. “I need you to examine something.”
Physician Li was sun-drying herbs in the yard. He rose and bowed. “What does the Heir wish to test?”
Xiao Heng drew out a small cloth pouch. Inside were several strands of fur—orange, long. Clearly Yuanbao’s.
“This is cat fur,” Physician Li said, puzzled.
“Yes. I want to know what this cat has been eating lately.”
Physician Li blinked. “Heir, I am a physician, not a veterinarian.”
“Cats are like people. What they eat shows in their fur. Tell me if it’s eaten anything unusual.”
Though skeptical, Physician Li took the fur and went into the inner room. Half an hour later, he returned, his expression complicated. “Heir, this cat has eaten a wide variety—fish, rice, goat’s milk, dried fish, chicken liver. All normal for a cat. But there is one thing that should never appear in a cat’s bowl.”
Xiao Heng’s heart tightened. “What?”
“Red dates. And not ordinary ones—these were specially prepared, infused with *ejiao*.”
Xiao Heng’s mind buzzed. Ejiao red dates. For nourishing blood and replenishing qi.
For the cat to eat. No—that wasn’t meant for the cat. Someone had been preparing *ejiao* red dates in the kitchen, and the cat either brushed against them or stole a bite. And that someone wasn’t making *ejiao* red dates for herself—because she didn’t know how to prepare them. Unless she had eaten them before.
Xiao Heng closed his eyes. Shen Jinshu, are you truly pregnant? If so, whose child could it be? Other than him—who else?
A sudden image flashed through his mind—the night they were together. The next morning, her words: “Anyway, it was just a dream.” “I won’t get pregnant.” “In real life, I’ve never even held a boy’s hand.”
She thought it was a dream. But when she said “I won’t get pregnant”—that meant she knew that night could lead to pregnancy. She didn’t care because she believed it wasn’t real. Now, if she truly were pregnant, what would she do? With her temperament, she wouldn’t tell him. She would shoulder it alone and find her own way. Face Madam Zhou, face the General’s Manor, face everyone—by herself.
At that thought, something inside Xiao Heng twisted sharply. “Steward Chen.”
Steward Chen entered from outside. “Young Lord.”
“Investigate whether Miss Shen has asked Physician Li to take her pulse recently. And whether anyone around her has purchased unusual medicinal ingredients.”
“Yes.”
Steward Chen withdrew.
Xiao Heng sat in the study, clutching a small porcelain vial. He debated whether to ask Shen Jinshu directly. But with her nature, she would never admit it. She would say “You’re overthinking,” change the subject, tell a clumsy lie—and then blink her left eye.
The thought made him smile bitterly. When had he come to know her so well? Since when could he read every little gesture, every hidden meaning in her words, every subtle shift in her expression? Perhaps from the very beginning. From that morning when she opened her eyes and said, “Wrong person.” From then on, he had been reading her—her eyes, her lips, every lie and every truth. And now, he had read too deeply. Read into his heart, where it could no longer be pulled out.
General’s Manor, Jinse Pavilion.
Shen Jin lay on her bed, hand resting on her lower belly, speaking softly to the tiny life not yet formed. “Your father came today,” she whispered. “He brought lots of food—ribs, fish, greens, tofu, and even red dates and goji berries.”
“You know red dates and goji berries, right? Red and sweet. He brought those two things, and I suspect he might know something.”
“But he didn’t ask. He just looked at me a few times, said a few careless words, and left.”
“Do you think he knows?”
At the foot of the bed, Yuanbao perked its ears, listening with a puzzled look. “Meow?” *Who are you talking to?*
“Not you.” Shen Jin glanced at it. “Go back to sleep.”
Yuanbao huffed in protest and buried its head under its paws.
Shen Jin continued speaking to the little one inside her. “Your father… how should I put it? He’s handsome, comes from a good family, is capable, and treats me well. But he’s too sharp—nothing escapes him. Today I drank two extra bowls of chicken soup, and he kept watching me. I didn’t eat fish, and he kept watching me. I put you on my belly, and again, he kept watching me.”
“Do you think he’s part monkey? How are his eyes so sharp?”
“And another thing—today he said I was fat. Isn’t that infuriating? I’ve only been pregnant for a month; how could I possibly be fat? He did it on purpose, just to test me.”
“But I won’t fall for it. I simply won’t say a word. Let’s see what he can do.”
At this point, Shen Jin suddenly laughed. “Actually, telling him wouldn’t be such a big deal. If he knew, he’d definitely marry me. The heir of Dingyuan Marquis marrying the legitimate daughter of the General’s Manor—perfectly matched, no one could object.”
“But I just don’t want to marry him *because* I’m pregnant.”
“I want to marry him because I like him.”
“Though I do like him a little now—but not enough. Not enough to want to spend a lifetime with him.”
“Do you understand?”
Yuanbao was already asleep, purring softly.
The little one in her belly, of course, gave no answer.
Shen Jin sighed, rolled over, and pulled the quilt over herself. “Forget it. You wouldn’t understand even if I told you. When you grow up, I’ll explain. No—if your father really marries me, by the time you grow up, you’ll see for yourself.”
“Your father… he can’t hide things.” She closed her eyes.
Tomorrow, Xiao Heng will come again. She needed to think of a way to keep him from noticing. But deep down, she knew—with his sharp eyes, she couldn’t hide it for long. She could only hope he wouldn’t discover it before she was ready. What she didn’t know was that Xiao Heng had already sent someone to investigate. And—he already had the answer.
The next morning, Steward Chen placed a secret report on Xiao Heng’s desk.
Only a few lines: “Miss Shen has consulted Physician Li twice. The first time, during her confinement, she asked about contraceptive remedies. The second time, yesterday, she asked about pregnancy testing. Physician Li provided a solution. Her maid Chun Tao recently purchased red dates, goji berries, and ejiao at the market—small amounts, enough for one person.”
Xiao Heng stared at those lines for a long time. Then he folded the report, tucked it into his sleeve, and stood.
“Steward Chen.”
“Here.”
“We’re not going to Tianshui Lane today.”
Steward Chen blinked. “Heir won’t be freeloading a meal?”
“No.” Xiao Heng walked to the window and pushed it open. “There’s something else today.”
“What matter?”
Xiao Heng gazed at the sky in silence for a long while. “Thinking.”
Steward Chen dared not ask further and withdrew.
Standing at the window, the wind stirred Xiao Heng’s robe.
Shen Jinshu was pregnant with his child. She knew but hadn’t told him. She chose concealment. Why? Because she didn’t want to marry him? Or because—she didn’t want to marry him *just* because of the pregnancy?
At that thought, something inside Xiao Heng softened. She was that kind of person. She wouldn’t use pregnancy to bind a man. If she wanted to marry, it was because she wanted to. If she didn’t, it was because she didn’t. The child was the child; feelings were feelings. She wouldn’t confuse the two.
Xiao Heng smiled. Not bitterly—truly smiled.
“Shen Jinshu,” he murmured to the sky, “do you know? The more you are like this, the less I can let you go.”
“You don’t want to marry me because of the child—then what if I say I want to marry you, not because of the child?”
“Would you believe me?”
The wind gave no answer.
Xiao Heng stood at the window for a long time. Then he returned to his desk, spread out paper, and wrote a few words. He stared at them, shook his head, and crumpled the sheet.
Wrote another. Crumpled it again.
Wrote a third.
This time, he was satisfied. He folded the letter and sealed it in an envelope.
“Steward Chen.”
Steward Chen pushed the door open.
“Deliver this letter to Miss Shen.”
Steward Chen accepted the envelope and glanced down.
On the front were five bold characters— “Tomorrow I’ll come to marry.”