The Emperor Reads Storybooks Hidden in His Official Reports 25

Chapter 25: The Little Bun

Li Jianyu slowly opened his eyes.

Seeing the unfamiliar red silk canopy above him, Li Jianyu was stunned for a moment.

Only after a pause did he remember that he was now in the North-South Manor, in an unfamiliar room. The day after Zhao Linxu had granted the marriage, Zhao Zhanqi had brought him to the North-South Manor. This was his second day here.

Outside the window, it was dusk, and it looked like night was about to fall.

Li Jianyu couldn’t help but smile. He had always been a sleepyhead, and now that he was pregnant, it had gotten worse. He had originally intended to take a short nap, but he had slept past the time.

As soon as Li Jianyu woke up, a maid came in to serve him, greeting him with a “Your Highness the Princess” with every other word. Li Jianyu was still not used to it. In this wild dynasty, even Zhao Linxu didn’t have anyone to serve him, and he had never been served by anyone since he was a child.

And Li Jianyu had noticed yesterday that Zhao Zhanqi didn’t have many people around him either. These maids, on the surface, seemed to show Zhao Zhanqi’s love and respect for his princess, but in reality, they were just spies.

“Your Highness, the wedding gown for today has arrived.” The head maid, Ruo’er, said softly as she prepared water for Li Jianyu to wash up. “Would Your Highness like to go and see it?”

“Mm.” Li Jianyu pondered this.

The North-South Manor was vast. If he had a chance to leave the courtyard and get a feel for the layout, he had to take it.

He had heard from the servants yesterday that one of Zhao Zhanqi’s deputy generals from the border had returned. He didn’t know what they had discussed, but they had stayed in the study for half a day.

After washing up, Li Jianyu, accompanied by Ruo’er and a group of maids, went to the Cangmei Pavilion. The Cangmei Pavilion was filled with jewelry and all sorts of items for the grand wedding. In the center, on a raised platform, was a grand red wedding gown. The robe was sewn from the finest silk and brocade, with intricate patterns and a smooth texture.

Li Jianyu couldn’t help but reach out and touch the gown.

“This was bought by His Highness from Lianzhou in the Great Fan at a high price,” Ruo’er said with a lowered head and a smile. “It shows how much His Highness values Your Highness.”

Li Jianyu rolled his eyes internally. Your prince doesn’t value me; he’s just putting on a full show and not skimping on the cost.

Li Jianyu didn’t even know if he would have a chance to wear this gown. After all, he couldn’t predict if Zhao Linxu had the patience to wait for Zhao Zhanqi to make his move, let alone when Zhao Zhanqi planned to strike.

Li Jianyu was admiring the jewelry in the room and discovered that Zhao Zhanqi was a fraud. Only the clothes were expensive; the jewelry was very ordinary. Just then, he heard the sound of footsteps from outside.

He turned his head and met Xue Ni’s eyes.

Xue Ni was stunned for a moment, then bowed slightly to greet Li Jianyu.

“Why are you here?” Li Jianyu had a strong impression of Xue Ni. Firstly, Xue Ni was handsome, with gentle eyes and brows, dressed in a white robe. Secondly, Xue Ni was the only person who was always by Zhao Zhanqi’s side. So, he thought about it and decided to strike up a conversation.

Xue Ni was definitely the second master in this North-South Manor.

“Replying to Your Highness, Xue Ni comes to the main courtyard at this time every day to water the flowers. Today, on my way here, I wanted to come in and see if the new gown has been properly arranged.”

A flash of inspiration struck Li Jianyu.

“Since I’m idle anyway, I’ll accompany you.”

Xue Ni lowered his eyes and smiled lightly, his tone calm. “Tending to flowers and plants is a tedious task. It’s a coincidence that Your Highness is here, which saves me the trouble of having a servant inform you. Would Your Highness be willing to try on this gown? If there’s anything that doesn’t fit, there’s still time to alter it.”

Li Jianyu raised an eyebrow slightly.

Was Xue Ni unwilling to let him go to the main courtyard?

When Li Jianyu first entered the manor, he had been instructed by Ruo’er that he could go anywhere except Zhao Zhanqi’s living quarters, because Zhao Zhanqi hated people entering his domain and interfering with his privacy. Xue Ni was an exception. Ruo’er said they had grown up together.

After the gown was taken down, Xue Ni had the other maids leave. Ruo’er took Li Jianyu behind a screen and helped him put on the layers of the grand red gown.

“After Your Highness has tried on the clothes, this subject will take you to see the jewelry and explain the wedding procedures one by one.”

It seemed that Xue Ni was in charge of preparing this grand wedding.

Li Jianyu pondered this. He had originally thought that there was a romantic element between Xue Ni and Zhao Zhanqi, but from the looks of it, that was probably impossible? If it were him, he would not have been able to get along so calmly with his beloved’s fiancée, let alone work so hard to prepare his beloved’s grand wedding when the bride was not him.

But it didn’t look like a simple relationship between a sovereign and a subject either…

While Li Jianyu was lost in thought, Ruo’er had already helped him put on the last layer and was squatting down to tie his sash.

“…Ugh!”

Almost at the instant Ruo’er applied force, Li Jianyu felt a sharp pain in his abdomen.

“Y-Your Highness!”

Li Jianyu clutched his stomach and bent over. Fortunately, it was just a faint, throbbing pain, and the tattoo didn’t appear. Otherwise, it would have caused more trouble.

“Your Highness! Your Highness, what’s wrong!” Although it wasn’t serious, Li Jianyu was suddenly clutching his stomach and looking very uncomfortable, which naturally frightened Ruo’er.

“What’s wrong?”

Perhaps because Ruo’er’s cry was loud, Xue Ni disregarded etiquette and went around the screen. Seeing Li Jianyu like this, he immediately had Ruo’er go and call a doctor.

After Ruo’er stumbled out, Xue Ni knelt down in front of Li Jianyu, took his wrist, and felt his pulse.

Although Xue Ni was not a doctor, he had studied some medicine.

Huh…?

This…

Xue Ni’s eyes widened slightly.

Before he could investigate further, he was kicked in the head.

Li Jianyu neatly pushed Xue Ni to the ground, straddled him, took the hairpin from his head, and pressed it against Xue Ni’s neck, saying coldly, “Tell the doctor to leave, and you are not allowed to say anything either.”

Xue Ni frowned. “His Highness must know about Your Highness’s pregnancy.”

“You won’t live to tell him.” Li Jianyu gently pressed the sharp edge of the hairpin down. “If you don’t want to die, pretend this never happened.”

Li Jianyu gritted his teeth.

That night, outside the city, were all Zhao Zhanqi’s men, who were chasing and trying to kill Zhao Linxu. Zhao Linxu couldn’t find anything, but Zhao Zhanqi was very likely to discover that he was the person Zhao Linxu had been looking for. It wasn’t that Li Jianyu was trying to hide it out of pride or selfishness, but if it was exposed at this critical juncture, the plan would likely have to change again.

Xue Ni lowered his eyes. “Xue Ni was born for His Highness and will die for His Highness. This subject’s life is insignificant compared to His Highness’s great cause. If I die, I die. Even if you kill me, the secret in your belly will not be kept.”

Li Jianyu looked at Xue Ni.

The person before him was as calm and composed as usual, without a trace of fear. An ordinary person would have thought of their own safety first and thus could be controlled by Li Jianyu. But Xue Ni thought of Zhao Zhanqi first. Li Jianyu had no way to deal with him.

Li Jianyu said, “It’s just a small secret. It’s not worth risking your life over.”

“Anything concerning His Highness’s plan is not small.”

Xue Ni smiled faintly. “The doctor is here.”

Li Jianyu couldn’t really kill Xue Ni. He could only release his hold on him and stand up, enduring the abdominal pain.

Damn it.