This man was so fearless that after knowing that she had to marry him, he became even more fearless.
But he always did it just right, making her feel something was wrong but unable to criticize him harshly. He was also very eloquent and could refute even the unreasonable things with some logic.
In fact, Xiao Huayong quite liked Shen Xihe's look of being obviously unhappy but helpless towards him, which always made him feel inexplicably happy, and this joy came from her silent indulgence of him.
Therefore, he always tested her bottom line step by step, even though he knew she might be unhappy, he couldn't help but do so.
"I've asked the dining room to prepare food. I'd like to have dinner with Youyou?" Xiao Huayong said in time to give Shen Xihe a way out.
Shen Xihe didn't want to continue entangled with him, so he turned around and left the room without saying a word. Xiao Huayong followed him with a smile.
Everything was calm and peaceful after that. Shen Xihe lived a very comfortable life every day. If Xiao Huayong could get angry with her less often, it would be even better. After the end of July, the palace welcomed early autumn. The early autumn here was colder than in Kyoto. It was a good time to go out for fun during the day, but it was a bit chilly at night.
Shen Xihe still lived a peaceful and happy life, and there was a rare harmony in the court, unlike last year when there were so many bad things happening one after another.
The emperor was in a particularly good mood. In autumn, the game was plump and rich, so Emperor Youning would go out early and come back late, hunting with a group of princes and ministers. If there was a good harvest of game, an open-air night banquet would be held. The ministers would roast their own game around a pile of fires, with singing and dancing to entertain them.
When the busy farming season arrived, Emperor Youning took two days off, dressed as an ordinary citizen, and left the palace with Xiao Huayong and the princes to the nearest village to experience the harvest.
Our dynasty has always attached great importance to agriculture, and the emperor is by no means ignorant of grains. Farming the fields personally is a virtue passed down from our ancestors.
It's just that several generations of emperors lost it, and the previous emperor sneered at it, but Emperor Youning picked it up again. This is because when Emperor Youning was young in the northwest, he farmed and mined with the queen mother and King Qian, and this was the punishment from the previous emperor.
After not seeing Xiao Huayong for several days, Shen Xihe was happy and at ease during the first two days. Finally, she could hear nothing and no one bothered her anymore.
But after two days, she actually started to lose focus while reading, and always felt like something was missing every day. This was probably the terrible power of habit.
He used his persistence, rain or shine, to make her get used to him, and when he was suddenly gone, she felt like something was missing.
"Princess, the wife of Duke Xie is pregnant." Zhenzhu also noticed that Shen Xihe was not interested, so she tried to tell her something that could arouse her interest as soon as possible.
Shen Xihe, who was lazily lying on the railing and staring at a lost figure, raised his eyebrows and said, "Duke Xie has been here with His Majesty for more than two months, hasn't he?"
Now it was August, and they had come to the palace in June. Xie Ji came with the emperor, but he did not bring his family with him because Yuan was not in good health.
Shen Xihe occasionally heard these when Zi Yu and Zhen Zhu were chatting.
"The Duke's wife is three months pregnant." Pearl nodded. "This good news has just been announced. Now everyone is congratulating Duke Xie. Duke Xie is in high spirits and has gone to ask for leave from His Majesty. He plans to return to Kyoto early."
Duke Xie was already over 40 years old, and he had only one child, Xie Yun, who was pregnant. He himself was also an only child, and the Xie family had a weak direct line. In order to continue his offspring, Duke Xie had taken a concubine at the beginning of the year. Now that Yuan was pregnant, regardless of whether it was a boy or a girl, he would be less oppressed by the Xie family.