As winter arrived once more, Hua Manman’s morning sickness finally began to subside.
Her appetite returned to normal, and she could once again indulge in food and drink every day.
"Prince, look! Don’t you think I’ve gotten fatter lately?"
Li Ji studied her carefully. "No, you’re not fat."
Hua Manman touched her belly. "Look at my stomach. It’s a little bigger than before. I’ve definitely gotten fatter."
Li Ji also reached out to touch her belly and said helplessly,
"You’re already five months pregnant. Isn’t it perfectly normal to have a bit of a belly?"
Hua Manman slapped her forehead in realization. "Oh, right! I almost forgot I was pregnant."
Li Ji chuckled lightly. "They say pregnancy brain lasts for three years. It seems to be true."
Hua Manman pinched his waist and snapped,
"Who are you calling dumb?"
Li Ji quickly dodged backward. "I didn’t say anything."
’He was genuinely scared now. He had no idea when Manman had picked up this habit of pinching his waist whenever she was unhappy.’
He couldn’t help but complain, "You were never like this before."
Hua Manman sat down on the couch, picked up the fruit platter, and asked while eating, "What was I like before?"
"You used to be so gentle with me. You agreed with everything I said, never contradicted me, and certainly never hit or scolded me."
Li Ji’s tone was filled with nostalgia.
’He truly missed the Manman from back then. She was a complete sweetheart.’
Hua Manman said, "That was all an act."
Li Ji asked, "Then why did you stop pretending?"
Hua Manman replied, "Well, you have the Mind Reading Technique. No matter how I act, I can’t fool you, so why should I even bother pretending? It’s a waste of effort."
Li Ji was speechless. "..."
’He suddenly regretted telling her about the Mind Reading Technique.’
’He should have kept the secret of his Mind Reading for his entire life!’
「As Shangjing welcomed its first snow of the year, an urgent secret dispatch was delivered to the Emperor.」
Wu Shufeng, who had been sent south by Holy Decree to suppress the rebellion, was dead!
The Emperor quickly scanned the contents of the secret dispatch.
The dispatch contained only a few short sentences, stating that Wu Shufeng had died by the enemy’s sword.
The Emperor slammed the letter onto his desk and asked in a low voice,
"How did Wu Shufeng die?"
The scout responsible for delivering the letter knelt on the floor and reported every detail.
"When Mr. Wu first arrived in Lingnan, he fell gravely ill because he couldn’t acclimate to the new environment."
"He was eager to prove his merit and was unwilling to rest and recuperate peacefully."
"He insisted on commanding battles while ill, causing his condition to fluctuate, never fully healing."
"During one battle, Mr. Wu was separated from the main army."
"The enemy took advantage of the opportunity, captured Mr. Wu, and tried to use his life to force our army to retreat."
"Mr. Wu would rather die than submit, and ultimately chose to take his own life."
The Emperor took a deep breath, suppressed the rage in his chest, and continued to question him.
"As the commander-in-chief, how could Wu Shufeng get separated from the main army?"
The scout bowed his head even lower. "It was because Mr. Wu had a dispute with several of the deputy commanders."
The Emperor asked, "What kind of dispute?"
The scout told him everything he knew.
It turned out that ever since Wu Shufeng took command of the army by Holy Decree, the soldiers and officers had been insubordinate.
In their eyes, Wu Shufeng was a weakling who lacked the strength to even truss a chicken. Why should they have to obey the orders of a wimp like him?!
Although Wu Shufeng was well-read in the art of war, he had the typical faults of a scholar—he was arrogant and looked down on the brutish warriors who only knew how to use force.
The two sides couldn’t stand each other, and neither was willing to back down.
The army’s leadership became completely disorganized, like a tray of loose sand.
During battles, they practically acted on their own, leaving Wu Shufeng as a commander-in-chief in name only.
Later, Wu Shufeng took drastic measures and ordered the execution of a deputy commander, finally seizing control.
But this also caused the other deputy commanders’ resentment toward Wu Shufeng to peak.
The reason Wu Shufeng got separated from the army was precisely because several deputy commanders had conspired to ostracize him.
Originally, those deputy commanders had only wanted to teach Wu Shufeng a lesson, to show him that he couldn’t just act invincible because he had a Holy Decree.
But who would have known that Wu Shufeng’s luck would be so terrible?
After getting separated, instead of staying put and waiting for rescue, he roamed around with a squad of his personal guards and, as ill luck would have it, ran right into the enemy’s hands.
Wu Shufeng had a host of terrible flaws, but his loyalty to the Emperor and his country was genuine.
He withstood the enemy’s flattery and bribes and died for his country.
The Emperor was so enraged that his heart condition flared up.
The palace was thrown into another bout of chaos.
「It was the afternoon of the next day when Li Ji learned of the matter.」
He had long predicted that Wu Shufeng’s expedition would not end well, so he didn’t have much of a reaction to the news.
The men in the army were the type who only respected strength.
To them, only the strong were worthy of leading them.
Wu Shufeng clearly did not fit their definition of "strong."
He couldn’t command their respect or win them over, so defeat was inevitable.
Hua Manman held up a small cloth doll and said excitedly,
"I finally finished it!"
With nothing better to do lately, she had suddenly taken up her needle and thread again, wanting to make a stuffed doll for her unborn child as a baby gift.
Li Ji praised it without thinking. "This little dog is so cute. The baby will definitely love it."
The smile on Hua Manman’s face vanished instantly. She said grimly,
"It’s a little tiger."
Li Ji took a closer look at the little toy.
’The only thing it had in common with a tiger was, perhaps, that they both had four legs.’
Li Ji suggested, "Why don’t you embroider the character for ’king’ on its forehead? That would make it more recognizable."
Hua Manman spread her hands. "But I don’t know how to embroider."
Li Ji said, "Have Si Yun embroider it for you."
Hua Manman refused. "This is a baby gift I’m making for our child with my own hands. How could I let someone else do it?"
Her eyes darted, and a mischievous idea involving her husband popped into her head.
"You’re not doing anything anyway. Why don’t you help me embroider the character for ’king’ on the little tiger’s forehead?"
Li Ji wanted to refuse.
’How could a grown man like him do something like embroidery?!’
’How embarrassing would it be if word got out!’
However, Hua Manman didn’t even give him a chance to refuse.
She directly stuffed the sewing basket and the little tiger doll into his arms, coaxing him.
"Go on, embroider it. Once you’re done, this little tiger will be a baby gift from both of us. When the baby finds out we made this little tiger together, they’ll surely be very happy."
Li Ji imagined the scene—
His precious daughter, holding up the little tiger doll, cheering happily, "Daddy, I love the doll you and Mommy made!"
’Damn it! He was actually, damnably moved!’
Li Ji looked left and right, made sure there was no one else in the room, and only then did he hesitantly pick up the needle and thread.
Hua Manman leaned in, enthusiastically giving directions.
"Start the needle here. Yes, right there."
The fingers Li Ji used to hold the embroidery needle were very stiff, and his movements in threading it were clumsy.
His hands had once held reins and sword hilts, and had killed countless enemies.
But they had never held an embroidery needle.
He was really giving it his all today for the sake of preparing a gift for his unborn child.