Having a Baby Before Marrying a Wicked Husband - Chapter 137

When Qingke turned thirteen, the old Emperor passed away.

When Yan Cai heard the news, he was stunned for a moment, but soon he reacted. He was far away in Qingqu, a long distance from the capital. Therefore, by the time he received the news, it was already a month later, and the Emperor had already been laid to rest in the imperial mausoleum.

Although he hadn’t returned to the capital in these years, gifts from the court always arrived during festivals and holidays. Thinking about his relationship with the Emperor, Yan Cai decided to go to the capital to pay his respects.

“I wonder if I’ll be allowed into the imperial mausoleum? They won’t stop me at the gate, will they?”

Although he said this, he didn’t stop packing. The family’s clothes were neatly sorted, fortunately it was summer, so they could bring fewer clothes. To expedite their journey, they decided to travel light and arrive in the capital as soon as possible.

“I wonder if the new Emperor will hold grudges against me?”

Yan Cai continued to mutter, hearing this, Jiang Manyue turned to look at him.

Jiang Manyue asked, “Do you have a feud with the new Emperor?”

Yan Cai thought for a moment. “Um… no, do you?”

The answer is of course no. After all, they had barely met the fifth prince back then, only remembering him as a quite handsome young man. But after so many years had passed, he would be in his twenties now.

Yan Cai tried to imagine what he might look like as an adult but couldn’t picture it.

After all, they were not familiar with each other.

Perhaps fearing that his elder brothers, who had been adults for a long time, would conspire to seize power, they were sent out of the capital when the fifth prince was made crown prince at the age of fifteen. Each was given a piece of land and made a titled prince. By the time the princes returned to the capital from their respective lands, the new Emperor’s accession to the throne was already unquestionable.

However, since the old Emperor had just passed away, the ascension couldn’t be too grand. The new Emperor did not hold a coronation ceremony. According to custom, the enthronement ceremony could only be held after a year of mourning for the previous Emperor.

When the old Emperor divided the land among his sons, he did not forget Yan Cai. He even allocated an additional piece of land, almost matching what his legitimate sons received.

Yan Cai had also continued to send tribute to the capital over the years. The old Emperor was kind, and he had hoped for his longevity. However, life had its predetermined limit; no one could live forever.

Yan Cai’s physique is special. Allowing him to live a few more years, but Jiang Manyue was just an ordinary human with limited lifespan. In this life, one could only live up to a hundred years.

Yan Cai worried a lot and searched for a solution for many months. Eventually, he found a way for Jiang Manyue to share his lifespan. This way, they could live and die together. However, Yan Cai didn’t think much about the lifespan he would lose as a result.

While their belongings were packed, there was still one issue—they looked too young. Their eldest son was already thirteen, and the two fathers looked like they were only in their early twenties, which was unacceptable. Compared to their peers, even with good maintenance, they were just relatively young and handsome uncles.

“Forget it, let’s just say Qingqu’s environment nurtures people well, and we’ve taken good care of ourselves.”

Yan Cai thought for a moment and decided not to bother. It would take quite some time to travel from Qingqu to the capital, and by the time they arrived, it would be the seventh lunar month.

It seemed as if someone in the palace knew they were coming because as soon as they arrived in the capital, they were summoned by the new Emperor.

The two exchanged a glance, feeling strange but not particularly afraid. At most, they would just be more cautious. As expected, the new Emperor did not trouble them and simply passed on a pardon token given by the late Emperor to Yan Cai.

The new Emperor also had a message for Yan Cai. The late Emperor knew they would come, so he had instructed him early not to trouble Yan Cai. Normally, it would be difficult to enter the imperial mausoleum, but the new Emperor made it convenient and allowed them to enter to pay their respects.

The two children also went in.

Although Qingke might not remember the late Emperor, and Qingzhi had never met him, Yan Cai still felt it was necessary for them to pay their respects together. Unexpectedly, Qingke said he remembered the late Emperor.

Although it was only a memory from when he was two or three years old, Qingke’s memory was different from ordinary people’s, as he had started to remember things at a very young age. Typically, people couldn’t remember things before the age of five.

But Qingke had memories even from when he was still a seed in Yan Cai’s stomach.

After paying homage to the late Emperor, the family of four moved into the house they had originally purchased. Since they had traveled all the way to the capital, they didn’t plan to return immediately; they considered it a break from their usual routine.

The house was made of good materials, so it wasn’t dilapidated, but it was a bit old. It took some time for the hired help to clean it up. Dust filled the air when they swept and dusted, making it extremely choking. Yan Cai chased the two sons out of the house.

“It’s too dusty in here. You two go out and play.”

“Oh! Then I’ll go out and play with my little brother.” Qingke, who was already a handsome young lad, waved to his two fathers and took his little brother out to play.

Outside, there were many children playing, all around the ages of seven or eight to ten. Hide and seek? Hmph, Qingke wasn’t interested; he was already thirteen, a big kid, and wouldn’t play such childish games.

However, his little brother looked envious. He loved playing hide and seek the most.

The two of them, being newcomers and even more attractive than the other, had long attracted attention. Especially a few little girls who had been staring at them for quite a while.

Seeing the little brother’s eager eyes, those girls with braided hair came over to talk, nudging each other.

In the end, a boy about the same age as his little brother walked up to them with his hands on his hips.

“New here? Wanna play?”

Qingzhi didn’t know whether to join in or not, so he glanced up at his elder brother. Seeing that his elder brother didn’t stop him, he nodded hesitantly.

“What about him? Does he want to play?” The boy pointed at Qingke. He probably thought Qingke was several years older than them and might not want to play with them. But he didn’t reject the idea of having an older kid join in. After all, boys of this age actually admired older kids who were a few years older than them!

Seeing his little brother looking at him expectantly, Qingke nodded.

“Alright, I’ll be the ghost this round, you guys go find a place to hide. Hurry up, whoever loses the most today will go buy candied hawthorns for everyone.” The boy pointed ahead, where an uncle was shouting with a bunch of bright red candied hawthorns in his hand.

He had been craving them for a long time. Unfortunately, he didn’t have any money on him. It was obvious that the boy was planning to mooch off others without considering what would happen if he lost.

Qingke nodded. “Okay, no problem.”

So, the boy lost – he searched his pockets for a long time, but only found a copper coin. In the capital, the price of things was such that you needed two copper coins for a bunch of candied hawthorns, and he couldn’t even afford half a bunch.

Qingke glanced at his empty pockets, snorted twice, and then took out some silver coins from his pocket.

“Forget it, forget it, I’ll treat.” What a bunch of little brats!

Each of them looked on longingly, regardless of boys or girls, all eagerly eyeing the candied hawthorns, and the uncle selling them was scared away by their hungry looks.

His little brother had a great time playing with them today, so he considered it a small gift for accompanying his brother to play. Qingke’s silver coins were too big for the candied hawthorn uncle to change, so in the end, he gave Qingke all the straw sticks used to hold the candied hawthorns.

Qingke returned home with a full load, and the group cheered. Each person got two sticks, and the leftovers were all for him and his little brother.

Well, mainly because he wanted to eat them too.

Qingke was quite proud and felt that he was already a big kid and shouldn’t be eating kids’ stuff, especially in front of so many kids.

Losing face!

But seeing everyone else nibbling on them, Qingke was really craving them.

When the boy who suggested betting on the candied hawthorns saw Qingke’s expression, he generously offered, “Have some!”

Qingke lifted his chin in disdain. “I’m a big kid now, I don’t eat candy. That’s stuff for little kids.”

“Wow!” A chorus of admiration erupted from the group of kids, making Qingke feel proud inside, but he really did want to take a bite.

But in front of so many people, he couldn’t lose face. So, he coughed twice and said with a straight face, “Let’s play another round later.”

The soft-hearted crowd agreed. It was the same boy who suggested it last time who would be the ghost this time, and Qingke took his little brother and ran down a small alley. With just the two of them, he could openly eat the candied hawthorns!

Afraid that the taggers would come looking for them, Qingke deliberately ran far away and discovered a somewhat dilapidated temple. The two of them hid inside, and just as Qingke was about to eat his candied hawthorns, something unexpected happened.