Chai Shao, husband of Princess Pingyang and brother-in-law of Li Shimin, froze for a full second after grasping Sun Simiao’s hints and explicit statements, his mind going blank as if his display screen had burned out.
“Impossible, right? The princess was in a special situation back then. Before the uprising, I knew she was a woman…” Chai Shao stammered incoherently. “His Highness the Prince of Qin… Erlang… there’s no need for him to… I mean, I’ve known him for a long time…”
Of course, Chai Shao had known Li Shimin for a long time. He had married Li Shimin’s sister two years before the Taiyuan uprising, participated in the rebellion when it began, and was deeply bound to the Li family.
Rationally, he was certain of Li Shimin’s gender, but in his confusion, he, like Duan Zhixuan, turned a dazed gaze toward the person in question.
Li Shimin was momentarily taken aback but didn’t react as strongly as the other two.
With such a peculiar little one in his arms, nothing strange should come as a surprise.
He had even seen the Yaoshou Fei from the Shan Hai Jing and the divine Dragon that could obliterate Fei in an instant!
“Two pulses?” Li Shimin focused on this point. “Aside from mine, is the other pulse healthy?”
Chai Shao gasped sharply.
“Very healthy, with a strong foundation and vitality. The pulse is clear and smooth, much more stable than Your Highness’s,” Sun Simiao replied calmly.
He remained composed, but Chai Shao felt as if his world were collapsing. Duan Zhixuan, though still standing nearby, seemed to have lost his soul for quite some time.
Zheng Zai listened quietly, not moving or arousing anyone’s suspicion. He was precocious to an excessive degree, adept at lying low even in such a complex environment.
He was well aware that he was born from his mother, only residing within his father due to her frail health. Perhaps it was because Li Shimin had fed him his essence blood, and he, in turn, had been healing Li Shimin, their Spiritual Awareness connected, which led Sun Simiao, a Daoist practitioner, to detect him.
What a remarkable divine physician.
What if he severed his connection with his father now?
With such a skilled physician nearby and no enemies around, it might be worth a try.
Carefully, Zheng Zai withdrew the tendrils of his Spiritual Awareness, ceasing to heal and share sensations with his father.
Bluetooth disconnected.
“Huh?” Sun Simiao exclaimed in surprise.
Chai Shao’s heart nearly stopped beating.
“It’s gone.”
“What’s gone?” Li Shimin asked, puzzled.
“I can no longer detect that small pulse.”
The physician and his patient exchanged a subtle glance, as if a thousand unspoken words passed between them in that moment, all omitted, reaching a strange consensus.
Sun Simiao smiled. “I heard the Princess Consort is with child. That is likely the reason.”
“Huh?” Chai Shao’s jaw dropped, and he hurriedly asked, “What reason? I don’t understand.”
“Because the Princess Consort is with child, Your Highness may have sensed it and been preoccupied, which led to my misdiagnosis during the pulse reading. Such strange occurrences, though rare, do happen.”
Sun Simiao readily admitted his misdiagnosis, but no one present blamed him for it.
Before they could even react, Sun Simiao had already written out the prescription.
“Your Highness’s condition is improving, but do not forget to take the medicine—twice daily, brewed and taken at dawn and dusk. Also, continue drinking the artemisia juice to clear heat and combat malaria. And this—”
The experienced physician handed another prescription to Li Shimin, saying gravely, “If needed, please take a few doses of this as well.”
Li Shimin took it and looked it over. "Although I don't understand medicine, this looks similar to the medicine my wife once took."
Scutellaria baicalensis, Chinese angelica, ginseng, poria cocos… they all seemed to be for replenishing qi and blood.
Sun Simiao openly admitted, "That's right."
"Do I need to take this?"
"This old man cannot be certain." Sun Simiao looked at him. "It can also be made into pills, which Your Highness can take at any time."
"Would that be too troublesome?"
"Gaozhi City relies entirely on Your Highness, the Prince of Qin. As long as the city remains unbroken, it is no trouble at all."
"Your noble righteousness is deeply appreciated by Shimin." Li Shimin clasped his hands in salute, bowing slightly.
"I dare not accept such praise. As a physician, this is my duty." Sun Simiao stroked his beard, smiling warmly.
While the two of them were enjoying this harmonious exchange, a storm was already raging in Chai Shao's mind.
"Then I will not disturb your consultation any further." Li Shimin, refreshed and composed, walked out as if nothing had happened, heading off for his daily inspections and handling of official duties.
Chai Shao: "Did you understand any of that?"
Duan Zhixuan: "I understood that the Princess Consort is with child and His Highness's illness is nearly cured. Both are good news."
"…Put that way, it's not wrong."
Once he saw the physician had moved away, Zheng Zai quietly extended his Spiritual Awareness toward his father, continuing to channel Spiritual Power.
He silently watched Li Shimin as he moved about the military camp, writing reports, reviewing documents, inquiring after injured soldiers, handling compensation for the bereaved, dispatching scouts and lookouts, consolidating intelligence, deploying troops, and assigning additional personnel to manage provisions…
Warfare is not merely about clashes on the battlefield. Beyond the battlefield, there are countless trivial matters that must be dealt with.
Li Shimin handled it all with great proficiency, showing no sign that he was only twenty years old.
"Should we move to the prefectural office? It would be more convenient there," Chai Shao suggested. "You said our current task is to defend the city."
"Let's wait a little longer." Li Shimin was always patient. "Xue Ju is the one on the offensive. He has come from afar, and his provisions are gradually running short. He is more anxious than we are."
When the candlelight illuminated the Prince of Qin's eyes, the little one, who had been well-behaved all day, finally pried open Li Shimin's collar and took a deep breath.
So well-behaved. How could there be such a well-behaved child?
Li Shimin's heart softened. With one hand, he could completely cover the little one, instinctively moving gently as he nuzzled the child's cheek.
"Are you hungry? What do you need to eat?"
Zheng Zai patted his little belly, not feeling hungry at all, and then huffed and puffed as he climbed onto Li Shimin's arm, sliding down along the sleeve as if on a swing.
He swung onto the map spread out on the desk, tilting his head as he sat down.
Afraid the child might not sit steadily, Li Shimin supported him with his hand, gazing at him with a smile.
"What are you looking at?"
Zheng Zai examined the locations on the map. Those vaguely familiar names danced like clusters of flames in his eyes.
He saw Xianyang and also Li Mountain.
On the vast map, they were merely two small dots, entirely inconspicuous.
Zheng Zai stared gloomily for a long time, unsure what he was even looking at.
Li Shimin leaned down and asked curiously, "You can understand what I'm saying, right?"
Zheng Zai looked at him seriously and nodded.
"Can you retract your horns and tail?"
Zheng Zai stared at him blankly, slowly reaching up to touch his own horns.
Does he not like them? So he doesn't like them either…
But…
The little one hung his head dejectedly, visibly disheartened.
Li Shimin felt an inexplicable pang of sorrow and quickly added, "If you can't retract them, it's fine."
Just let it go? Zheng Zai was stunned.
"You're so little, yet you risked danger to save me. If I were to harshly criticize you for not being human, then I would be the one who isn't human."
Li Shimin naturally wished for his child to be "human," as this concerned worldly opinions.
He could control the Qinwangfu, but he could never silence the endless gossip of the world.
Stopping the mouths of the people is harder than damming a river.
But this was his and Wuyou's first child, not some parasitic spawn of demons and monsters.
This child carried his and Wuyou's blood, born into this world with their love and hope.
This chaotic era was terrible, but the child was well-behaved.
He didn't cry, fuss, or complain, never causing trouble along the way, so sensible it was heartbreaking.
"Ah… did I forget to give you water? I heard babies need to drink water too."
Li Shimin suddenly remembered this, poured a bowl of warm water for the child, tasted it with a spoon to ensure it wasn't too hot, and then brought it to the little one.
Zheng Zai didn't feel thirsty, but he looked up at his father, obligingly held the spoon, and took a few sips.
"There's goat milk in the city. I'll have someone bring some tomorrow, alright?" He was actually discussing it with the child.
Zheng Zai smiled and nodded, already looking forward to tomorrow.
He was still too naive, too naive to understand what "liking" meant, but he had already grown accustomed to being close to Li Shimin.
When Li Shimin handled documents, he would stay by his side, never moving around. Sometimes, when his mischievous father picked him up to use as a paperweight, he would lie there and watch him write.
When the elegant brushstrokes came to an end, Zheng Zai's face and bottom were about to suffer.
Even if he ran off to put on clothes, he couldn't stop Li Shimin from sneaking attacks at any moment.
Touching the golden little dragon horns, pinching the round little face, stealing a moment to pat the little one's bottom, and casually stroking his tail.
If Zheng Zai were a cat, he would probably want to write "don't touch here" and "don't touch there" all over his body, but unfortunately, it wouldn't help.
Li Shimin touched him however he pleased, and even if he got swatted by the tail a few times, he would hug the little one and shower him with kisses.
Zheng Zai had no choice but to wait until he was done.
"Your Highness…"
Li Shimin released the child in his arms and composed his expression. He had only been titled Prince of Qin for a few months, yet he had already grown accustomed to the address "Your Highness."
Those around him used it so often that he had no choice but to get used to it.
But this voice belonged to Sun Simiao, so he wasn't as casual as he was with Chai Shao. Instead, he hid the child and welcomed the physician inside.
"Does the Divine Physician have something to discuss with me?"
"I dare not accept the praise of 'Divine Physician.' There are as many people I cannot save as there are grains of sand."
"Even immortals may not be able to save everyone. With your compassionate heart and skillful hands, you can already be called 'divine.'"
Sun Simiao showed no pride, speaking calmly as he reminded, "I only came to tell Your Highness that after sunset today, it would be best not to go out."
"Why?"
"Has Your Highness forgotten? Today is the fifteenth day of the seventh month."
This day felt incredibly long, so long that one could forget there were still two hours of night before it truly ended.
"The fifteenth day of the seventh month—there's no rule against going out, is there? We even went out of the city to fight in the early morning."
The curfew in Gaozhi City didn't start as early as sunset, and besides, this was wartime. The enemy wouldn't care about curfews.
"Tonight is different." Beyond his role as a physician, Sun Simiao revealed a hint of Daoist mystery, but unlike Yuan Tiangang's strong Fang Shi aura, he was gentle and balanced.
"The Netherworld has been quite busy these past few years, so tonight the Ghost Gate will open wide, and the Yin soldiers will pass through. The Yin energy at night is too heavy. Your Highness, you are still ill, so it would be best to avoid it if possible."
For some reason, when such supernatural matters came from Sun Simiao's mouth, they sounded as ordinary as saying it might rain at night, losing all sense of mystery, yet their credibility felt high.
Li Shimin mostly believed him and smiled in agreement, "Thank you for your advice, sir."
Sun Simiao did not linger and soon took his leave.
Li Shimin looked up at the setting Golden Crow and murmured to himself, "The Netherworld…"
Just as Sun Simiao had said, after sunset, a strange chill followed the mist, lingering between heaven and earth.
Li Shimin did not dwell on it. The living have their lives, and the dead have their place.
Once the war was over, he would gather the scattered bones and send them on their way.
For now, it was not appropriate to make a big fuss, as it would disturb the morale of the troops.
He understood the reasoning, but lying in bed at night, he still tossed and turned, unable to sleep.
If the Netherworld truly existed, would the fallen soldiers from Shallow Water Plain come home to visit at night?
Then…
Zheng Zai followed him, tossing and turning until his head was nearly dizzy. He simply climbed up and sat on Li Shimin's chest, staring at him.
His soft little hand patted Li Shimin's chest, as if comforting him, yet also urging him.
Li Shimin ruffled the child's jet-black hair, cupped his fair and tender little face, and planted frantic kisses, as if finding some kind of healing in the child's presence, gaining a brief peace.
Enemies, illness, the Netherworld, and the words of future people—let them all go to hell. At least for this moment, his heart was as calm as still water.
Never mind, sleep first. Tomorrow's matters can wait until tomorrow.
Li Shimin told himself this, extinguished the candlelight, wrapped the child's cotton-like little hand, held him tightly in his arms—not even sparing the tail—forced his eyes shut, and compelled himself to sleep.
Zheng Zai yawned, feeling a bit sleepy too.
His father was warm like a stove, and when his heartbeat steadied, it was quite hypnotic.
But Zheng Zai could not sleep.
A cold, Yin-like presence appeared in his perception, gradually drawing closer.
The Blood Moon hung high in the sky, and ghostly energy loomed thickly.
Zheng Zai opened his eyes in the night, his pupils instantly narrowing into slits as he warily looked toward the approaching figure.
He saw a face somewhat similar to Li Shimin's.
A Ghost Soul hovered a few steps away from him.