The Empress was busy with state affairs and, after letting Jiang Wu stand there for only a short while, ordered her to return to her thatched hut.
Starving and dizzy, Jiang Wu stumbled her way back, her vision going completely black as she collapsed right at the doorway.
By evening, she was picked up by Zhang Lingzhou, who had been out for a stroll to aid her digestion.
Waking up once more, Jiang Wu sniffed the air, and before she even turned her head, her hand had already grabbed a steamed bun from the table, stuffing it into her mouth a half-at-a-time.
The person outside the door walked in with a bowl of water, standing in place and looking at her with astonishment.
“Did Her Majesty not give you anything to eat?”
The pretty little puppy was eating with hot tears streaming down her face, looking over tearfully and shaking her head while chewing.
“No, nothing. This is so good, Zhang Lingzhou, I like you so much!”
Zhang Lingzhou handed the water to the person still devouring the bun, her fingers unconsciously brushing against her ear, unsurprisingly coming away with a burning heat.
Waiting quietly for the person in front of her to finish eating and drink the water to wash the food down, meeting that pair of bright obsidian pupils once more, she finally heard Jiang Wu’s very low voice.
“Zhang Lingzhou, I think I’m going to be a mom.”
This matter had already spread all over the palace, but strangely enough, the Empress had not given Jiang Wu a higher rank. Associating this with the fact that Zhang Lingzhou, who was handpicked by the late Emperor, was also merely a kept man, more and more people were waiting to watch a joke unfold.
Everyone knew full well that Pei Yu refused to acknowledge Jiang Wu’s status.
It seemed she was completely determined to get rid of the old officials left behind by the late Emperor.
The Minister of Works was doing better, having already learned to keep a low profile; it was said he was gradually preparing to retire and return home to the countryside. Only the Prime Minister still ran to Her Majesty’s quarters every single day, impeaching someone or submitting a memorial every chance she got.
She looked entirely like someone who no longer wanted to live.
Looking at Zhang Lingzhou’s pitiful and complicated expression, Jiang Wu guessed what she was thinking. She easily curved her eyes and smiled as she spoke.
“It’s fine, Zhang Lingzhou. As long as we keep living, that’s enough.”
Anyway, she had muddled through all these years.
Jiang Wu had been unconscious for a whole day. Once she was fully fed the next day, she first went to the system to redeem some folic acid, leaving her with six merit points.
Ancient times lacked prenatal checkup machinery, and everything relied on feeling the pulse. In the television dramas she used to watch with her grandmother when she was little, those imperial concubines carrying one or two babies wouldn’t find out until after they gave birth.
She scrolled through the shop a few times, her fingertip landing at the very bottom on the spiritual power prenatal checkup, which cost ten merit points.
“What is a spiritual power prenatal checkup?”
Ever since Jiang Wu met Pei Yu, the light sphere had glowed with a scorching brightness every single day, and by now it could practically double as a lightbulb. Unfortunately, it seemed only she could see it.
“It means the host can use spiritual power to probe into the mission target’s womb to check whether the child is developing normally, among other things.”
Although it sounded like a legitimate item, it truly sounded a little inexplicably shameful.
Probe into, the womb?
Two extremely rule-breaking words combined to form a particularly perverted sentence.
“Will Pei Yu notice when I probe?”
If she did, what kind of feeling would it be? She was actually a little curious.
“Of course she will. The mission target’s sensation will be very distinct, since it is, after all, the most fragile part of the human body. There is a whole string of usage guidelines for this kind of spiritual power, which the host will automatically unlock after purchasing.”
Whether for Pei Yu’s health or her own curiosity, this item really seemed quite necessary.
She flipped through the shop carefully once more, discovering many pregnancy-related items.
For instance, anti-morning-sickness potions, labor-inducing agents, milk-secreting agents, painless childbirth, and so on.
Aside from painless childbirth, which cost twenty points, all the other potions were five points per bottle.
There were also cannons, high-yield crop seeds, production methods for various crafts, and even novels and collections of poetry, literally everything from the modern world was available in the system store.
“So, how do you acquire merit points? Do you have to be intimate with the mission target and increase favorability?”
She had seen that written this way in other novels.
The light sphere flickered a few times, looking somewhat dissatisfied.
“Host, we are a redemption system, not a romance simulator. You have to help the mission target in order to earn merit points.”
There was no logic in finding a wife while making money on the side, taking everything coming and going.
Although Jiang Wu currently had a very poor impression of the Empress, as a responsible female, she decided to save up her points to buy the painless childbirth potion for Pei Yu.
As for the anti-nausea medicine, she was only a month along, so she probably wouldn’t start vomiting so early. She would check first whether earning points was difficult and buy it accordingly.
She was very thrifty and good at managing a household.
Sneaking quietly into the kitchen, Jiang Wu prepared to simmer a pot of dried tangerine peel and red date porridge. Tangerine peel regulated vital energy and harmonized the stomach, while red dates nourished the blood and calmed the fetus, making it very suitable for early pregnancy.
She washed the white rice clean and soaked it in clean water for half an hour. She softened the tangerine peel in warm water, scraped away the white pith on the inner layer, sliced the peel into fine strips, and put them in the pot along with the rice, adding water. She brought it to a boil over high heat, then turned it down to a low simmer.
Simmering porridge took a long time. She moved a small wooden stool and sat in front of the stove, watching the fire while adding firewood to the hearth. Holding a long-handled wooden spoon, she stirred it every once in a while.
After half an hour, the fragrance of rice and the subtle bitterness intertwined, which didn’t smell overly heavy amidst the aroma of the porridge. Smudged black by the firewood smoke in front of the stove, the person hastily extinguished the fire, scooped the porridge out, and placed it in a food box.
Porridge needed to be eaten hot. The dilapidated thatched hut where she lived was far from Pei Yu’s sleeping quarters. She quickened her pace all the way, sweat dampening her temples. Filthy and damp all over, looking as though she had just been caught in a rainstorm, she finally arrived in front of Pei Yu’s palace just before dark.
There were no guards standing outside. She carefully pushed open a tiny crack in the palace doors. The sound of shattering porcelain pierced her eardrums, and through the gap, she caught sight of a pair of gloomy eyes.
Pei Yu was supporting herself against the dragon throne, the stray hairs at her temples dampened by sweat and stuck to her cheeks. Her complexion was very pale, one hand clutching her lower abdomen as she was curled up into almost a tight ball.
A whole crowd of imperial physicians was kneeling on the floor of the hall.
“Your Majesty, morning sickness is expected during early pregnancy, but you must eat a little something to preserve the dragon’s body!”
Pregnancy sickness?!
Was Pei Yu reacting that early, and that violently?
Clutching the food box, Jiang Wu forgot how to move for a moment, right until those peach-blossom eyes looked over.
The woman seemed to be suppressing some kind of emotion, forcing a few words out from between her lips: “Just how long are you planning to keep peeking?”
“Lord Jiang certainly has a fine mood.”
Yesterday, after letting her go back for a bit, she hadn’t come over for the entire night. Not only that, but this morning she had even walked out of Zhang Lingzhou’s room.
So deeply affectionate, indeed.
It would be better if she just killed Jiang Wu right now, sparing her from feeling such a craving for the pheromones of an Alpha who had someone else in her heart.
Jiang Wu shrank back, trembling as she nimbly redeemed a bottle of anti-nausea potion. When she walked in carrying the food box, she even remembered to close the door behind her.
Hesitating for a moment, when she reached the steps below, she obediently knelt down right beside that row of imperial physicians, lining up neatly.
The woman beside her, wearing the uniform of a third-rank imperial physician, glanced at her with an expression that seemed to hold words left unsaid.
“Your Majesty, this subject has brewed some tangerine peel and red date porridge. It is very suitable to eat during early pregnancy.”
Her voice was clear and moist; aside from trembling slightly, she sounded entirely like an immature child.
In this era where people underwent their primary transformation at eighteen, married and had children at twenty-six, and lived to an average age of over two hundred, saying you were going to do anything at this age was considered far too early.
“You know how to cook?” Pei Yu suppressed her simmering irritation and spoke in a low voice.
The filthy little puppy’s lips curved upward, looking slightly smug: “A little.”
Actually, she was very good at it, but she decided to be a little modest.
The person of high status narrowed her eyelids. “You dare to bring it straight to Us knowing only a little? Who gave you the gall?”
“Drag her out and behead her.”
Oh, come on!
She completely forgot that this was a place where one had to hide one’s talents.