“Rongrong, why aren’t you asleep yet?” Zhenzhen yawned.

She had already gone to bed, but her body felt uncomfortable, and her mind was preoccupied, so she couldn’t fall asleep.

She turned her head and saw that Rongrong hadn’t laid down either, so she decided to start a conversation.

“Did I wake you?” Rongrong turned around and reached out to tuck Zhenzhen’s blanket in more snugly.

Even though it was early summer, the nights were still cool, and it was best to avoid drafts.

“You haven’t even spoken, how could you wake me? Is something bothering you?”

Rongrong shook her head and gave a soft smile. “Just thinking about random things.”

“What kind of things? Tell me, maybe I can give you some advice,” Zhenzhen asked curiously.

“It’s about someone else,” Rongrong sighed deeply. “I’m just idle and worrying about someone else’s business.”

“Who is this ‘someone else’?”

Rongrong yawned as well, then turned off the lamp before pulling the blanket over herself and laying down. “I’m worried about a young girl. She’s getting married tonight.”

“Getting married? Could it be that you’re… thinking about romance?” Zhenzhen suddenly perked up. “The Crown Prince has been away from the capital for so long, you must miss him, right?”

“Ugh, you’re the one who’s thinking about romance! With the prince gone, you must be terribly lonely,” Rongrong shot back.

“That’s nonsense! I’m not the one sitting up in the middle of the night, daydreaming. If you’re not thinking about a man, what are you thinking about?”

“Really, I’m not. I’m just worried that her wedding night might not go well.”

Zhenzhen couldn’t help but laugh. “You’re really worrying for no reason. It’s her wedding night—she has her husband to take care of things. What is there for you to worry about? Are you going to step in for her?”

“It’s because of her husband that I’m worried!”

Seeing how Rongrong kept sighing, Zhenzhen began to believe that she wasn’t thinking about the Crown Prince. “Are you talking about something related to Prince Qing’s household?” Zhenzhen knew that Rongrong had attended a banquet at Prince Qing’s residence earlier in the day.

“Yes, it’s about Prince Qing’s household.”

“Then you really don’t need to worry. I’ve heard that the palace prepares the princes well before their weddings. They receive special training to ensure they’re knowledgeable about such matters. By the time they get married, they’re far from inexperienced.”

Hearing this, Rongrong suddenly felt a bit dazed as she remembered her own past.

After a moment, she came back to her senses and explained in a muffled voice, “Prince Qing has been married before. Today, he was marrying a concubine.”

“Then what are you worried about?” Zhenzhen was puzzled.

“That young girl was originally supposed to be the Crown Prince’s wife, but after some unforeseen events, she was reassigned to marry Prince Qing as a concubine.”

Zhenzhen’s eyes widened in surprise. “You’re… you’re really worrying too much! She’s your rival in love—shouldn’t you be glad if she’s having a hard time?”

“I’m just thinking about it, not planning to intervene. There’s nothing I can do about it anyway. It’s just that the young girl isn’t a bad person. She seems quite pitiful.”

Zhenzhen didn’t think it was a big deal. “Why would someone like the eldest daughter of the Hou family, marrying into the Wang family, need us to worry about her?”

“True. I was just thinking about it,” Rongrong said, knowing Zhenzhen was feeling sentimental about her own situation.

She reached out from under the covers to hold Zhenzhen’s hand. “Don’t worry too much. The heir… if he promised you something, he will keep his word.”

Rongrong didn’t like Xie Yuanchu, but he wasn’t a bad person, especially as a friend. He was quite reliable.

“I know. The heir originally wanted to take me to see the Hou madam early that morning, but he was so tired from the night before that he didn’t get up until someone from the Ministry of War came to wake him. I don’t know when he’ll be back. I really want to tell him that I…”

Zhenzhen’s voice trailed off.

The scene from that night flashed before Zhenzhen’s eyes, making her heart race like a fawn.

Rongrong often blamed her for being reckless, but she didn’t regret what happened that night.

She liked Xie Yuanchu from that evening; he was completely different from his usual self.

She liked how he looked sweating, how he breathed heavily, and how he kept saying he liked her, as if they were one.

But, thinking about the days… Zhenzhen nervously pressed her stomach.

“What’s wrong?” Seeing Zhenzhen silent, Rongrong thought she was worried again and quickly reassured her, “Don’t overthink. If the heir really doesn’t keep his word, I’ll go talk to him.”

“No, Rongrong,” Zhenzhen’s voice trembled. “I… I’m not talking about the heir.”

“Then what are you talking about?” Rongrong asked curiously.

Zhenzhen remained silent.

Rongrong, pulling the covers closer, asked, “Come on, tell me what you’re worried about.”

“I… I’m late for my monthly period…”

Before Zhenzhen could finish, Rongrong interrupted urgently, “You’re late? How long?”

“About ten days,” Zhenzhen said quietly.

“Ten days? Is your period usually on time?”

“Always on time, usually within a day or two.”

Indeed, Zhenzhen was usually healthy, with her period arriving on schedule and rarely getting sick.

“Tell me honestly, did he stay inside you that night?” Rongrong asked, pointing out the crucial detail.

Shy, Zhenzhen hesitated before saying, “He stayed inside three times. I think I might be pregnant.”

Xie Yuanchu was young and impulsive that night, likely not thinking much about it, only focused on immediate pleasure.

Rongrong was extremely anxious and almost jumped out of bed.

Hearing Zhenzhen’s tone, she was perplexed. “Why aren’t you worried? Could it be that you… you’re actually happy about this?”

Zhenzhen fell silent.

The heir had been married for years without children.

When he returned from his expedition and learned about her pregnancy, he would surely be thrilled.

Rongrong was furious, not knowing what kind of spell Xie Yuanchu had cast on Zhenzhen to make her so infatuated.

She wanted to scold her but decided it was pointless and kept quiet.

“I’m going to the palace tomorrow. When I come back, I’ll find a doctor to check on you.”

She then turned over and went to sleep, leaving Zhenzhen behind.

Rongrong couldn’t sleep, not wanting to deal with Zhenzhen.

She wanted to give her a lesson.

As she lay there awake, she increasingly thought that Zhenzhen might be pregnant.

Lately, Zhenzhen had been sleeping until late, eating poorly, and only eating pickles with rice, similar to Rongrong’s own pregnancy symptoms.

Zhenzhen occasionally turned over beside her, likely unable to sleep too.

Rongrong worried and began planning for Zhenzhen until she finally fell asleep late into the night.

The next morning, when Su Xin woke Rongrong up, she couldn’t even open her eyes.

“Why didn’t you listen to me again? You have to go to the palace today, and you stayed up late last night. Just look at yourself in the mirror!” Su Xin saw the dark circles under Rongrong’s eyes and couldn’t help but scold her several times.

Su Xin didn’t usually stay here, but whenever Rongrong needed to go to the palace, she would come over the day before in a carriage.

This way, Rongrong could finish her morning grooming and head straight to the palace from Wutong Lane, saving a lot of time.

Rongrong rubbed her eyes, waking up a little, and smiled to comfort Su Xin. “It’s fine. I’ve been to the palace so many times that everyone knows what I look like. There’s no need to dress up too much.”

It was only when Rongrong lifted her head that Su Xin noticed not only the dark circles under her eyes but also that her eyelids were puffy.

Just then, Feicui came in with warm water for washing her face.

Seeing this, Su Xin took the basin outside, dumped it, and brought back a fresh basin of cold water.

Rongrong obediently lay down as Su Xin instructed, letting her dip a cloth in the cold water and place it over her eyes.

The sudden chill made her shiver, waking her up completely.

After about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, Su Xin finally allowed Rongrong to get up and change clothes.

Today’s reason for going to the palace was to attend a flower-viewing banquet.

Liang Muchen was not the Main wife, so even though the Empress favored her, she couldn’t openly treat her like the main wife.

Therefore, the Empress had come up with the idea of a flower-viewing banquet to subtly bring Liang Muchen to the palace the day after she entered Prince Qing’s household to pay her respects to the Emperor and Empress.

“The Empress is hosting this banquet today for Prince Qing’s concubine, so please don’t let me steal the spotlight.”

“Even if I wanted you to steal the spotlight, with your eyes looking like that, it wouldn’t be possible,” Su Xin remarked.

Rongrong wasn’t upset at all by Su Xin’s comment.

After spending so much time with Su Xin, Rongrong understood her personality well.

Su Xin loved beauty—not necessarily making herself look beautiful, but she appreciated beautiful people and things.

Seeing Rongrong’s pretty eyes puffed up from lack of sleep and her fair cheeks marked with dark circles made Su Xin want to cry out in despair at the waste.

So, when Su Xin grumbled a bit, instead of getting angry, Rongrong found it amusing.

Today, Su Xin had prepared a pale moon-white robe with delicate flower patterns on the edges and a butterfly-patterned skirt in a similar shade.

The cool tone and simple embroidery made Rongrong look ethereal and elegant.

“Your complexion isn’t great today, so you shouldn’t wear warm colors,” Su Xin said, still feeling a bit regretful.

After all, a flower-viewing banquet was an occasion to dress as beautifully as the flowers themselves.

But here she was, dressing Rongrong in cool, understated colors, like she was just a background leaf to highlight others.

Rongrong, however, was quite satisfied and urged Su Xin to quickly do her hair.

Su Xin frowned as she studied Rongrong’s face, then quickly came up with an idea.

She styled Rongrong’s hair into a graceful and unique “Flying Immortal” bun and adorned it with a gold hairpin featuring a design of flowers and pearls.

Rongrong was wearing a “buxiao” (a type of decorative hairpin) for the first time and felt both excited and anxious.

She worried that wearing such an eye-catching accessory might be too flashy for her position.

“Su Xin, maybe use the gold half-moon hairpin instead. It looks nice too,” she suggested.

“If you like it, I’ll let you wear the gold half-moon hairpin next time,” Su Xin replied.

Hearing this, Rongrong didn’t say anything more.

Although she didn’t want to be too conspicuous, she was pleased to see that Su Xin had made her look refreshed and neat, especially compared to her previous tired appearance.

After getting ready, Rongrong quickly ate a little and headed to the palace.

The weather was getting warmer, and days were getting longer, so everyone was rising earlier.

By the time Rongrong arrived at the Imperial Garden, most of the concubines, princesses, and royal relatives had already gathered.

“Rongrong, why are you so late?” Princess Zhaoyang, with her sharp eyes, noticed Rongrong’s arrival and warmly took her hand.

Rongrong, feeling embarrassed about waking up late, explained that there were too many people on the street and the carriage was slow.

Zhaoyang was just making small talk and quickly led Rongrong to greet the Empress.

The pavilion in the center of the garden was always where the Empress rested.

At the moment, the Empress was accompanied by the Princess of Qing and Liang Muchen.

“Mother, Rongrong and I have come to greet you,” Zhaoyang said, leading Rongrong forward with a tone of intimacy that was more than that of cousins, even more than sisters.

In the past, Zhaoyang wouldn’t have dared to be so familiar in front of everyone, especially not in front of the Empress.

But ever since someone from the Eastern Palace had delivered a precious Jin Gold Bo Shan Furnace to her, she knew she had made the right gamble.

The Bo Shan Furnace was an antique beloved by Liu Sheng, the King of Zhongshan during the Han Dynasty.

It looked like a mountain from afar, with intricate carvings of birds and animals symbolizing a mythical mountain at sea, hence the name Bo Shan Furnace.

Such a treasure would typically be kept by the Emperor or the Crown Prince.

Zhaoyang understood that the Crown Prince had sent this grand gift to show favor to Rongrong in the Su Wang Mansion.

She realized that the Crown Prince was extremely attentive to Rongrong.

Since An Yang wanted to compete with her, she decided to make a big impression in the Imperial Garden, especially when everyone was gathered.

Even if it meant displeasing the Empress… it didn’t matter.

In fact, it might be better to upset the Empress, so the Crown Prince would understand her loyalty.

“Miss Xue Rongrong greets the Empress.”

The Empress looked at Zhaoyang and Rongrong in turn, showing no visible signs of pleasure or anger, and finally focused on Rongrong. “Sit down and chat with me for a while.”

The pavilion had only four stone benches.

The Empress sat in the middle, with the Princess of Qing and Liang Muchen on either side.

Naturally, Zhaoyang took the remaining spot.

The palace servants quickly brought over a cushion, and Rongrong placed it between Zhaoyang and Liang Muchen.

“The palace is getting busier every day. Each time we have a flower viewing, this garden alone can’t accommodate everyone…”

The Empress was talking to Zhaoyang, while Rongrong quietly glanced at Liang Muchen, who also happened to turn his head and look at her.