Chapter 230: Chapter 230: Can’t Say Exactly What’s Uncomfortable

「The next day.」

Xie Jinbai left early in the morning.

When Cui Lingyao woke up, her belongings had already been moved back, untouched.

Dongzhi and Xiazhi came in to wait on her, their faces full of smiles. "We saw it coming a long time ago. The Prince would never have let you move out."

He couldn’t last a day without her, and couldn’t bear for her to be too far away.

Cui Lingyao was speechless.

She felt an inexplicable shyness.

’He’s so efficient,’ she thought. ’It’s as if he was afraid I’d wake up and forget what I’d promised.’

However, the astonishing extent of Xie Jinbai’s efficiency didn’t stop there.

Without the clamor of gongs and drums, nor the crackle of firecrackers, the plaque for ’Prince Yu’s Mansion’ was taken down and silently replaced with ’Crown Prince Mansion’ before noon had even passed.

Having organized countless banquets at the Prince Mansion, Cui Lingyao was now in her element.

She had just summoned several of the mansion’s stewards and was giving orders for the necessary preparations when Li Yong arrived with several female officials.

"These are all Chief Ladies from the palace with extensive experience," Li Yong said. "His Highness said you may look them over and keep a few that you find pleasing."

As the Crown Princess Consort, she was now qualified to command female officials.

Especially since she had to prepare a palace banquet.

Anyone selected by Xie Jinbai to be sent before her was, without exception, the best of the best.

Organizing a palace banquet was no difficult task for them.

Cui Lingyao asked a few questions and ended up choosing four who looked kind-faced.

There was still over a month until New Year’s Eve, so time was plentiful.

First, she had to focus on the plum blossom viewing banquet in five days.

The necessary preparations had to get underway.

First, the guest list had to be finalized.

For some of the closer families, like Xie Jinbai’s uncles from the Imperial Family, as well as the Cui Family, the Chen Family, and the Zhao Family, she had to write the invitations by hand to show her sincerity.

Next were the food, the wine, and even the personal taboos of each guest.

Although Cui Lingyao didn’t have to attend to every single detail herself, everything ultimately had to be reviewed and approved by her.

She was so busy the entire day that she didn’t even have time to step outside.

The difference between men and women was that Xie Jinbai, who was equally busy, left early and returned late.

It wasn’t until late at night that he returned to the mansion, stepping in with the biting frost.

Reeking of alcohol.

He actually rarely drank. At least, in their several years of marriage, Cui Lingyao had seldom seen him come home smelling of alcohol.

Her brow furrowed slightly as she asked him, "Where did you go?"

Xie Jinbai, who was just about to head to the washroom for a bath, paused and answered truthfully, "The Third Imperial Uncle’s Mansion."

Cui Lingyao just said, "Oh," and didn’t ask anything else.

But when he came out of the washroom and got into bed, wanting to hold her, she quickly shrank back. "You still smell of alcohol."

Xie Jinbai froze. "I’ll go wash again."

"Forget it," Cui Lingyao said, stopping him. "It’s so late and cold out. Don’t trouble yourself."

She said that, but she still wouldn’t let him hold her.

She would even occasionally wrinkle her nose at him, a hint of disdain in her eyes.

Xie Jinbai couldn’t quite stand that look, so in the end, he insisted on taking another bath.

When he returned again, the young woman on the bed was already fast asleep.

’So heartless.’

But she had been busy all day; it was understandable that she was tired.

Xie Jinbai didn’t blame her, nor could he bear to wake her. He meekly watched her sleeping face for a long while before slowly closing his eyes.

In the following days, the two of them grew even busier.

The couple didn’t see each other during the day at all, aside from lying next to each other at night.

Often, he still wasn’t back by the time Cui Lingyao went to sleep, and by the time she woke up, he was already gone.

Only the lingering warmth of his body proved that he had come back during the night.

Unlike the previous few days when he was deliberately avoiding her, this time, Xie Jinbai was genuinely busy.

He was busy with court affairs, and there were also many invitations to banquets.

He turned down all the ones he could.

For those he couldn’t, he made time to attend.

Sometimes it was at someone else’s mansion, other times at a restaurant. Every time he came back, he carried the reek of alcohol.

This was actually normal. After all, even the Emperor had people he needed to treat with courtesy. No matter how noble Xie Jinbai’s status or how cold and aloof his temperament, he still had close friends and worthy ministers he needed to rely on.

Especially with such a joyous event at hand, an increase in social obligations was inevitable.

Cui Lingyao had nothing to complain about.

And yet, she still felt somewhat irritated.

Not seeing him for days on end was irritating.

Being held in his arms at night, half-asleep and half-awake, was also irritating.

That feeling of irritation, like a fishbone stuck in her throat, reached its peak when she woke in the morning and smelled his lingering scent on the bedding.

She summoned a servant and ordered, "Change them."

Dongzhi was taken aback and, for once, spoke out of turn. "But we just changed them yesterday. There hasn’t been any sun these past few days, so I’m afraid they’ll be difficult to dry."

’She didn’t call for water during the night, so... isn’t changing them a bit too frequent?’

They had served Cui Lingyao since childhood and knew her habits.

Although she was fastidious, she had never been this particular.

However, upon hearing this, Cui Lingyao hesitated for a moment before saying, "Change them anyway. I don’t feel comfortable sleeping on them."

She couldn’t say exactly what was uncomfortable, but using them simply felt wrong.

Dongzhi didn’t try to persuade her further.

It was only because of the closeness between master and servant that she would even mention such a small matter; otherwise, she wouldn’t have dared to speak up.

Once Cui Lingyao was properly dressed, she looked out the window.

Today was the day of the banquet at the mansion.

Yet Xie Jinbai had still gone out early in the morning.

He only returned when the sun was high in the sky and most of the guests had already arrived.

He entertained the male guests in the front courtyard, while Cui Lingyao entertained the female guests in the rear courtyard.

Her mother had also come.

Cui Lingyao hadn’t had a chance to visit her family home these past few days, so as soon as mother and daughter met, they caught up on family matters.

Perhaps her fate with children had truly arrived. The pregnancy of Xie Anning had been perilous—the Imperial Physicians had shaken their heads several times, saying they feared the child could not be saved—but in the end, after many stumbles, the baby had proven to be surprisingly resilient.

Counting the days, she was almost three months pregnant.

"Doctor Chen said that if she can make it past the first three months, the pregnancy will be a bit more stable. We can then add a few appropriate medicines to regulate your sister-in-law’s body. At that point, we might really be able to fight for the safe delivery of both mother and child."

Xie Anning had fallen from a horse, and out of concern for the fetus, her internal injuries had not yet been fully treated.

Once the pregnancy stabilized and she could stop taking the fetus-protecting medication, the Imperial Physicians would have a freer hand to treat her internal injuries.

Over the ten months of pregnancy, once her internal injuries were healed, she could then have a natural birth.

Although the situation was still difficult, having survived several dangerous periods, her current condition was much better than when she had just been injured.

Hearing this, Cui Lingyao let out a long sigh of relief, a visible smile spreading across her face. "That’s wonderful. If the baby can be born safely, it will truly be a blessing from the heavens."

A chubby little baby—one couldn’t imagine anything cuter.

She was greatly looking forward to her unborn nephew or niece.

Amid her happiness, her mother also felt a touch of worry. Her gaze fell to her daughter’s stomach. "As long as you and your brother solve the issue of heirs, my life will be complete."

Even though it was a topic she was used to hearing, Cui Lingyao felt a little annoyed this time.

Seeing the look on her daughter’s face, her mother lowered her voice. "Your father’s opinion is still to find a few honest and well-behaved young men from good families to enter the household and bear you an heir."

For her, not for Xie Jinbai.

Cui Lingyao understood the implication.

In this world, the pressure to produce an heir had always fallen solely on the woman.

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