Pei Qianhao held her hand gently before cradling her in his arms.
He had asked the physician about symptoms of pregnancy ever since he found out from Su Xi-er. Knowing that women in pregnancy could have mood swings and feel ill easily, he was primarily concerned with taking good care of her. Despite this, he couldn’t help but feel guilty.
Xi-er is independent and strong, but she is fragile on the inside. I need to do better.
Four hours later, Su Xi-er woke up and extricated herself from Pei Qianhao’s arms, waking the latter in the process. “Are you hungry, Xi-er? I’ll take you out for some food.”
“A-Jing, don’t let me sleep on your arm next time. You’re going to get a cramp for sure.” Su Xi-er helped to massage his arm as she spoke.
Pei Qianhao said, “Silly girl. They say that pregnancy will cause one to become silly for three years. Are you already turning silly now?”
Su Xi-er laughed. “Yes. I might even forget about you next time.”
Pei Qianhao regarded her with a deep gaze. “Xi-er, you’re getting naughtier.”
Just as the two began to banter, the sound of glass being knocked on alerted them to something at the window.
Su Xi-er said, “A-Jing, it’s Yu Xiao’s pigeon.”
“En.” Pei Qianhao nodded.
This wasn’t the first time that Yu Xiao had passed on a message via carrier pigeon. Pei Qianhao could recognise that beady-eyed, featherless, gray pigeon anywhere.
Pei Qianhao opened the window to let the pigeon in, and it wriggled around for a moment before a tiny bamboo container dropped to the floor with a thud. The pigeon then circled around on the floor twice before flying away.
Concerned, Su Xi-er walked up to pick up the container. “It seems that Yu Xiao is in quite a bit of trouble too, or else he wouldn’t use this method.”
She took out a hairpin to open up the message, only to find a blood red piece of cloth inside.
She passed the cloth to Pei Qianhao.
Pei Qianhao’s gaze turned cold as he looked at it.
“Xi-er, rest here in the posthouse. I’ll make a trip to the palace at night with Wu Ling.”
Su Xi-er would have insisted on following him if she wasn’t pregnant, but she knew that it would not be wise for her to do so at this point.
“A-Jing, be careful,” Su Xi-er reminded him.
Pei Qianhao patted her on the head and smiled. “Be good and wait for me here.”
He then left the room shortly after.
Wu Ling had already bandaged his injury and was waiting in the guest reception area.
“Wu Ling, we got a message from Yu Xiao. He and the Western Region King are being kept in the palace. We’ll go take a look tonight and check on their exact position. Let the others protect Xi-er.” Pei Qianhao instructed.
Wu Ling nodded and asked, “Your Highness, Yun Ruofeng’s subordinate has been keeping tabs on us from the outside. Do we get rid of him?”
“No need to mind him. There’s nothing he can do for now.” Pei Qianhao answered with a cold glint in his eyes.
Yun Ruofeng’s subordinate thought that he had hidden himself well, woefully unaware that his cover had already been blown.
