Chapter 311 - Food for the Damned (2/2)

He could not simply discard Princess Nalan like that, it would be too cruel and well, he could not bring himself to abandon not abandon Princess Nalan - that was if she wanted him, he owed it to her. More so, if she had his child in her, he could not abandon his own child...he could never.

Moreover, it was not as if Princess Nalan would be a detrimental choice for him. As for the rest, well, he was sure Bao Zhun could understand. After all, it was not as if he was required to have only one woman - Prince Yi frowned as thoughts of the Emperor and Lei Xing flew to his mind again.

He honestly still could not believe that the Emperor had actually done what he did. As much as he loathed to admit it, it was clear now that the Emepror was truly smitten with Lei Xing, why else would he have done what he did? After all, all the Emperor gained from this act was an unnecessary amount of ire from the ministers by cutting a potential path to greatness for them.

Prince Yi inwardly sighed and pushed thoughts of his brother's ”happy” marriage out of his mind. But he then arrived at the garden to find another troublesome scene, one of his concubines was talking to Princess Nalan.

”What is going on here?” Prince Yi irritatedly asked as he walked up to them. Princess Nalan turned to him with a smile, while the concubine almost jumped out of her skin, she quickly bowed and explained, ”I...I was just wondering what this Meimei was doing here-”

”When did it become your duty to question my guests?” Prince Yi coldly interrupted.

”I just thought she might be lost -”

”Lost? Does this look like a marketplace where people wander into when they are lost? Ge - Leave...” Prince Yi ordered with an irritated sigh. The concubine swiftly bowed, glanced at Princess Nalan, and scurried out of the garden.

Princess Nalan, who had awkwardly been standing there watching the short exchange turned to Prince Yi and said, ”That was a little too hard...I could have easily handled myself-”

”If you don't set boundaries then they will only get more unruly with time...You have to use a firm hand at the start to ensure compliance in the future.” Prince Yi simply said. He would not allow his palace to be like his father's, where there was no order or peace and his women did whatever under his blind watch.

”True...” Princess Nalan said, knitting her brows in thought but then remembered why she was here and went, ”Why haven't you responded to my letter?” She asked turning to Prince Yi with a disgruntled pout.

Prince Yi raised his eyebrows and informed, ”...I was actually about to send for you.” This was true, he was actually on the verge of sending for her, once he was done arranging his thoughts.

”Oh...” Princess Nalan said lowering her eyes, feeling a bit foolish now for rushing over here and causing a scene.

”It's of no matter now...Have you eaten?” Prince Yi asked with a smile and Princess Nalan shook her head, ”Time was of the essence...We need to talk about some things, I'll -”

”Good, we'll talk after eating...We have time.” Prince Yi interrupted again still smiling, it would not have mattered if she had eaten or not, this meal she had to eat because it contained a special something he had arranged so they could move forward.

As if on queue, Tian Ji entered the garden with the servants bringing in the food. Princess Nalan pouted, unhappy with the interruption, she really just wanted to get this talk out of the way but she obliged him and followed him sit down for the meal.

Prince Yi glanced at Tian Ji, who nodded at him. Prince Yi then smiled at Princess Nalan and encouraged her to eat. He picked up his own chopsticks and began to eat himself while surreptitiously glancing at Princess Nalan across from him.

He was actually feeling somewhat excited by the prospect of a child. It had never occurred to him to have one before, the timing was never right so he always made sure his concubines took birth control. Moreover, it would not be a good look for him to already have a child before marrying his Princess consort.

After all, for peace and harmony, the first child should naturally come from the Princess consort herself. All that aside, it will be good to have a child. He would be a great father, he thought smiling to himself.

Princess Nalan looked at Prince Yi smiling and also smiled to herself, happy that he was happy with her presence. Even if it did not seem that way, she had for a second or two worried that he would have been angry with her barging her way in here like this.

She was relieved to see him smiling, so she too smiled to herself. Once this meal was over, they would talk about things and then - Princess Nalan suddenly froze and frowned, she lightly scratched her throat, feeling off and then she suddenly jumped up and raced over to the corner holding her stomach in pain and hurling.

Prince Yi hid his smile and quickly shot to his feet and went over to her to play the dutiful host, ”Are you alright?” He asked, patting her back as he waved over for a maid to bring some water.

Princess Nalan took the water and rinsed out her mouth, taking deep breaths but before she could talk, she went back to hurling again.

”Quick, send for a doctor.” Prince Yi ordered and Tian Ji, right on queue again raced off to ”find” the doctor.

After her stomach had calmed down a bit, Prince Yi helped her to her seat, ”I think something here must disagree with me...” She said in a raspy voice.

”Clear the table.” Prince Yi ordered with a frown and then he sat next to Princess Nalan and asked, ”Feeling better?”

”En, better...” She responded with a frown, ”I normally have a strong stomach...”

”I am aware.” Prince Yi said with a snort, remembering her taste for bugs, but then he also remembered Lei Xing and frowned, quickly shoving the memory and the annoying thoughts away before they ruined his mood again.

”Still, let's have you checked by a doctor...just in case.” Prince Yi said as he poured a cup of tea and handed it to her.

Princess Nalan sipped her tea, looking at Prince Yi, who was smiling at her and glancing behind her anxiously waiting for the doctor to arrive to give the verdict.

Princess Nalan smiled to herself again. thinking that It was not such a bad thing to be ill once in a while, it was nice being doted on like this.