"Uncle."

  Zhang Yan let out a loud cry, and sat up with her quilt. Her mind was still somewhat dizzy, but she still remembered the voice that had been echoing in her mind before she fell asleep, and it terrified her.

  "The princess finally woke up." A familiar hand beside her helped her sit up, and she saw the smiling face of Tong Hua, "The princess fainted, which scared the crown prince's wife and the maids half to death."

  "Sister," said Mulan to the maid in the hall, bowing her head, "please go and inform the Crown Prince's wife that my daughter has woken up."

  Zhang Yan raised her eyes and looked around, finding herself lying on a spacious huai wood lacquer bed, with crimson silk curtains like smoke and mist surrounding the four corners of the canopy, embroidered with auspicious cloud patterns. The brocade quilt on her body was soft and warm.

  This is the Eastern Palace of the Crown Prince.

  "Ah Yan," Chen Hu suddenly lifted the curtain and came in, her voice as clear as a spring. She sat down on her own bed, smiling as she wiped her nose, "You just fell over like that, it scared people to death."

  Zhang Yan finally let out a mouthful of air that had been stuck in her chest and smiled, "Maybe it's because my headache from the day before yesterday hasn't fully recovered yet."

  "Good Ah Yan," Chen Hu exclaimed with a big hug, his face beaming with excitement. "The latest battle report just arrived, Ying Bu led his men to attack the Crown Prince's camp, but the Crown Prince led the soldiers in a fierce counterattack until reinforcements from the border city arrived and captured Ying Bu alive. Your uncle is safe and sound."

  "Is it?" A heart fell back into place, and Zhang Yan said with a smile, "This is good."

  She soon felt that her own Chen Hu's mood was cheerful and couldn't be suppressed, seemingly not entirely due to the good news of her husband's survival from thousands of miles away.

  "Aunt?" Zhang Yan ventured.

  "Hmm?" Chen Hu was still smiling, her voice gentle. "A Yan, you said... your hand slowly stroking her abdomen... you're going to be a maternal aunt, are you happy about it?"

  "Ah?" Zhang Yan was stunned for a moment, then suddenly realized. "Auntie, you're pregnant with a little baby?"

  "Uh-huh." Chen Hu sat up straight, her smile radiant like sunshine, happy and contented, as if at this moment, she had already obtained all the happiness. "Just now, Ah Yan fainted, the imperial physician treated you. And also took the opportunity to take my pulse. I wondered why these days I've been unable to enjoy tea or food. I thought it was because of worrying about the crown prince. But unexpectedly..." Her face gradually turned red.

  Zhang Yan was stunned for a moment, then quickly reacted and smiled, "Then I should congratulate Uncle."

  "Hey," Chen Hu put down her hand and said, "Obviously I'm the one who's pregnant, so why are you only congratulating the Crown Prince?"

  "Congratulations to him for the double happiness!" Zhang Yan said, "He has achieved military merit and also got a new son. Shouldn't we celebrate properly?"

  On the twentieth day of the tenth month, the Crown Prince returned to Chang'an. He left the army from Beidi at the camp in Baoxian and entered Chang'an with his personal guards after receiving rewards. From a distance, he saw two black palace carriages parked beside the Ba Bridge. The attendants were all dressed as eunuchs, led by a woman in a black dress who stood tall despite the wind and sand, looking up to greet him. As they drew closer, he could see her dignified face and the fine lines at the corners of her eyes. "Mother Empress."

  It turned out that Empress Lü personally welcomed the Crown Prince at the banks of the Wei River.

  Liu Yingqi dismounted from his horse and bowed down in front of his mother. "Your son pays his respects to the empress dowager."

  "Good boy, get up quickly." Lü Zhi hurriedly smiled and helped him up, Liu Ying raised his head, revealing a face that was already slightly resolute under his armor.

  Lü Zhi carefully looked at her son, confirming that he was unharmed, and only then did she truly put her mind at ease. Suddenly, she collected her smile and sternly scolded, "Yinger, you are also too reckless. A gentleman knows not to stand under a precarious wall. As the crown prince of Great Han, if something were to happen to you, wouldn't it throw the imperial court into turmoil?"

  "The child knows he's wrong." Liu Ying admitted her mistake.

  The sunlight shone on the young man's face, and Lv Wei was both proud and joyful. Proud that his son had made a name for himself, exceeding his expectations, and joyful that he had returned safely from this campaign, securing his position as heir. He couldn't help but smile again, pretending to be angry, "The Marquis of Wuyang is reckless, Mother will have to scold him properly later. I entrusted you to him with a thousand reminders and warnings, yet he still managed to cause such a huge mess. Fortunately, you're alright, fortunately."

  "Mother," Liu Ying said with a gentle smile, "isn't our child standing right here?"

  "Ying'er, you've gotten darker and more robust." Her voice was soft and gentle as she reached out to stroke the shallow scab on his cheek, "Does it hurt?"

  "It doesn't hurt." Liu Ying stretched out her right hand and carelessly wiped it, smiling in response, "It's just a scrape, once these scabs fall off, it'll be fine."

  "Hmm." Lv Liu nodded and said, "That's good. Doesn't your left shoulder hurt either?"

  Liu Ying's left shoulder stiffened slightly.

  "Is the Crown Prince's left shoulder injured?" Behind Lü Zhi, Chen Hu hastily stepped forward and exclaimed.

  "It turns out that Mother knew." Liu Ying said in a low voice, "It's my fault for not telling Mother." She then glanced at her wife behind her mother, intending to comfort her.

  Chen Hu was taken aback for a moment, and his hand, which had been about to reach out, fell back down.

  "The Empress Dowager knows that you, Ying'er, are filial and doesn't want the Empress Dowager to worry about you." Lü Zhi smiled and brushed away the hair from Liu Ying's temples, "However, Ying'er, the more you hide it, the more the Empress Dowager will worry."

  She withdrew her hand and said with a hint of a smile, "Alright. Mother knows you have many things to discuss with your wife, I won't stop you. Mother will wait for you in the front carriage."

  Liu Ying's face turned slightly red, but she didn't refuse. After watching her mother help Su Mo into the carriage, he turned back and asked his wife, "Huer, have you been well lately?"

  Chen Hu looked up at her husband with a smile on her face, but all she could say was "good".

  "The Crown Prince has lost weight? When he returns to the palace, I'll have someone cook nourishing soups for the Crown Prince to regain his strength. Can the Crown Prince return to the East Palace today?"

  "Nature."

  She couldn't help but reach out and hold his hand, unable to contain her smile. "Wait for the prince to return. Many things have happened during these days when the prince was not around. I'll tell you all about it tonight, okay?"

  "Good."

  Then entered Xuanping Gate, from Changping turned Huangtang Street, removed armor. Hand over the troops, from Beigong entered Changle Palace, in the front hall met with parents.

  Retrieve the tiger tally, in the grand hall, Liu Bang looked at his eldest son kneeling on the green mat. Unconsciously, this son had already grown to be sixteen years old. According to Zhou Li, a man is considered an adult at twenty and wears a crown, but in reality, in rural areas, a sixteen-year-old boy can already take on farm work and is considered a grown-up.

  Liu Bang shifted his gaze, remained silent for a moment, and then burst out laughing, "Ying Er has done well on this trip, after all." He waved off the panicked attendants, covered his mouth to cough, and suddenly felt a hand reach over to gently pat his back. Startled, he slightly raised the corner of his lips.

  "Your Majesty," Liu Ying took over the hot soup handed over by the attendant, served him to drink, and put it back on the case, "Before I left, Your Majesty's body was not comfortable. How many months have passed, but there is no improvement?"

  "Getting old." He chuckled and patted his son on the back, "At least you didn't fall from the great reputation of your father's heyday."

  "Your Majesty." From the eastern wing, Qi Yi lifted the curtain and came out with a smile, saying, "The Crown Prince has just returned from his expedition and is still tired. How can Your Majesty bear to restrain him? Why not let him return to the Eastern Palace to rest for a while?"

  "That's right." Liu Bang said with a gentle voice, "Ying Er, you go back and rest for a while."

  Liu Ying had no choice but to step back and bid farewell, "Your child servant takes his leave."

  Liu Bang gazed at the distant back of his son and smiled, saying to Qi Yi, "Yi'er, look, Ying'er has grown up. This time he has achieved another military merit."

  "So Your Majesty has forgotten the promise you made to me, is that right?" Qi Yicong's face turned cold as he stood up. He scolded, "What you said about caring for me and Ruyi was all false."

  Met Liu Ying again. It was at a family banquet in the Pepper Chamber three days later.

  The warm candlelight danced, illuminating the youth's tanned skin. Zhang Yan leaned against his cheek and thought to himself: Indeed, war is what tempers a man best. In just a few months, he seemed to have undergone a transformation, as if reborn. A certain kind of unyielding spirit had grown within him.

  "Sister, sister"

  Someone pulled her sleeve, but it was her brother Zhang Yan.

  Zhang Wan is now four years old, and at the most active age, with a pair of bright black and white eyes, looking at Chen Hu's belly, curiously turning her head, and asking her own sister in a soft voice, "Can Auntie's tummy really hold a little baby?"

  "Yes." Last year's brewed wine was clear and refreshing, Zhang Yan took a sip, the taste was sweet and mellow. Beside her, Zhang Wan pulled at his own hem, his beautiful eyes sparkling with excitement, "Then after a while, there will be a little brother to play with Wan'er?"

  Zhang Yan glanced around, her parents were congratulating the crown prince's wife, and for a moment no one noticed. She couldn't hold back the evil thoughts in her heart, "Little brother still needs to grow up for a few more years before he can play with you," she raised her own cup and swayed it back and forth, tempting her younger brother like the wolf grandma enticing Little White Rabbit, "Sister has some good wine here, do you want to take a sip?" Her voice was soft.

  Zhang Wan hesitated for a moment, "But Mother said that I'm too young to drink wine." Although he said so, the little boy was naturally curious about unfamiliar things. As Zhang Yan's cup moved to the left, his gaze followed it to the left. When it moved to the right, his gaze also followed it to the right.

  Zhang Yan bit her lip and smiled secretly, with a shallow dimple on her left cheek. "It's okay, let's sneak a little drink, don't tell Mother."

  After a while, Lu Yuan returned to the seat, only to see his own son sitting at the desk, swaying back and forth, with a pink face as red as a camellia.

  "Yan'er, what's wrong?" she exclaimed.

  All of a sudden, there was a loud crash, and Zhang Yan fell to the ground with a thud, sliding under the table.

  Zhang Yan secretly glared at the maid standing behind her younger brother, then jumped down to help him up, suppressing a smile. "Mother, it's nothing, just that my little brother thought the wine in my cup looked pretty and kept asking me to give some to him. In the end, he only had a small sip and got drunk."

  "You're so mischievous," Lu Yuan glared at Zhang Yan and ordered, "Help the young master go in and rest for a while." He also instructed Zhang Yan, "This wine is strong, you shouldn't drink it either, Ah Yan." "Okay," Zhang Yan nodded obediently.

  Her face flushed with wave after wave of heat, the wine taking effect, although not to the point of falling down drunk like Yan'er, she was also somewhat tipsy. The air in the palace was dull and stifling, she said a word to her mother, got up unsteadily, and went out of the palace to get some fresh air.

  A cold gust of wind blew over, and she woke up with a start. She leaned against the pillar and sat on the railing, gazing at the vermilion walls of the hall, listening to the clinking of cups and saucers from behind the wall, and unknowingly fell fast asleep.

  It was unknown how long it had been when he suddenly felt a quilt covering his body. He opened his eyes dazedly and saw Zhang Shun, as well as the person standing behind him.

  "Uncle."

  She smiled slightly.

  How did you find me again?

  Liu Ying bent down and touched her forehead, asking, "Is your headache better?"

  "It's all good now." She smiled and said, "Congratulations, Uncle, you've achieved great things outside and have a precious son, double happiness has arrived!"

  "Thank you, Aunt Yan," Liu Ying said with a smile. "When the news of the rebellion in Huainan reached Chang'an, you were very worried about me. Uncle thanks you for your kindness."

  She asked herself if she was worthy of his gratitude, so she didn't decline and smiled, calling out "Uncle?"

  "Huh?"

  "It doesn't matter, I'm happy, you can return safely."

  A sweet chapter?