The words were difficult to articulate, truly leaving Zhao Jiaqi stunned.
When her husband returned, Zhao Jiaqi recounted the conversation. To her surprise, he was even more direct: "If Yu Meng doesn't have a problem with it, then I have no objections. At worst, we'll just have one more son!"
Gaining a grown son for free, what's not to be happy about? So, it seemed Yu Meng's marriage was truly not in their hands as parents.
Zhao Jiaqi felt this was indeed the case. As the saying goes, a grown son is no longer under his mother's control, and a grown daughter is no longer under her mother's control either!
Deep in autumn, Zhao Jiaqi felt the cold more acutely. The doctor said it was due to a deficiency in both qi and blood, mainly a lack of qi and blood. Now, Fan Zehao took this matter to heart.
At every meal, there were tonics, all nourishing foods. He knew his wife disliked taking medicine, so he opted for dietary supplementation.
As time went by, Bai Li Fengge also sent news. The mother worm was still missing, but it was definitely not dead, because if the mother worm died, the child worm would not survive either.
As for where it was hidden, he still had no clue.
The first snow of winter covered the inner city.
In the morning, Zhao Jiaqi woke up to find a strange man lying beside her. She frowned and immediately kicked him off the bed.
With a shy yet annoyed expression, she glared at the dazed man on the floor and reprimanded, "Who are you? Why are you sleeping in my bed?"
Fan Zehao: ...
His wife... had she completely forgotten him?
Although he had mentally prepared himself, her sudden amnesia still caught him off guard.
"Jiaqi, I am your husband. Don't you remember me?" Fan Zehao said as he got up, explaining his identity!
Zhao Jiaqi knitted her brows, studying him closely. She truly had no memory of him, but his face looked somewhat familiar, as if she had seen him in a dream.
Her confused look still saddened Fan Zehao.
He continued, "We have a daughter and two sons. Do you remember that?"
Upon hearing about her children, Zhao Jiaqi's eyes immediately brightened. She nodded repeatedly, "I gave birth to them, how could I not know? Where are Sen Sen and Yao Yao?"
She knew Yu Meng was in the military camp, so she didn't ask about her daughter. However, her two sons should be home by now!
Seeing that his wife recognized the children was a good sign. At least she hadn't forgotten them all. He stepped forward to comfort her, but Zhao Jiaqi slapped his hand away and warned him indignantly, "I am a married woman. Do not touch me!"
Seeing her so wary, Fan Zehao smiled and asked, "Then who is your husband?"
"And where is he?"
Zhao Jiaqi began to seriously recall who her husband was, but after sifting through everyone in her mind, she found no one who fit the description of her husband.
At this point, she herself panicked. Stunned, she replied, "Who is my husband? Why can't I remember him?"
As a modern person, she was completely unfamiliar with her condition.
If it was amnesia, she still had many memories, about her sons and daughter, but the picture of her husband seemed to have been erased, she couldn't recall it.
Did this mean she had only lost a portion of her memory related to her husband? Why was this happening? Why couldn't she remember?
The more she couldn't remember, the more she tried, her head growing increasingly painful. She curled up on the bed, clutching her head, sweat beading on her forehead.
Fan Zehao sat by the bed, embracing her gently, "Your husband is me. My name is Fan Zehao. We got married in the village!"
Zhao Jiaqi raised her tear-filled eyes and looked at the stranger before her, feeling utterly at a loss. Despite her suspicion, she withdrew from his warm embrace, "I'm not sure if you are my husband, so during this period, do not touch me!"
Fan Zehao spread his arms and quickly moved away from her, "Alright, I'll listen to you. I'll listen to whatever you say!"
As long as she didn't cause trouble or run away, he would go along with anything. Fortunately, she was relatively stable and not causing a scene, just occasionally glancing at him, which made him uneasy.
"Shall we get up, wash up, and have some breakfast?"
Zhao Jiaqi felt a little uncomfortable with his tone, as if he were coaxing a child.
"Okay!" Zhao Jiaqi replied, then asked him again, "Where are my sons?"
"They've gone to the military camp to learn from our daughter. They're more focused now than before!"
So the sons had gone to the military camp. But that was good too. Learning a little was better than nothing. It wasn't that she expected them to defend the country, but at least they could train themselves to be strong and healthy.
Learning from their daughter... Zhao Jiaqi's lips couldn't help but curl upwards. Their daughter had a temper. If they didn't learn well, they would likely be hit or spanked.
They say men mature late, but her sons were starting to mature now. In her opinion, it wasn't too late.
Getting up, washing, and eating, Fan Zehao did everything himself. News of Zhao Jiaqi's condition quickly spread throughout the princely estate. Everyone knew it was caused by the implanted parasitic worm. Visitors flocked to the estate all morning.
The result was that she didn't recognize Fan Zehao, but she recognized everyone else, even Fan Chen, whom she hadn't seen in two years, was clearly recognized by her. This made Fan Zehao very jealous.
Fan Chen saw that his aunt looked perfectly healthy, not like a sick person at all, which was completely different from what his father, mother, and uncle had said. This made him very curious.
However, being clever, he didn't ask. He simply spoke about his future plans.
Seeing how steady her great-nephew was, Zhao Jiaqi was very pleased. In him, she seemed to see a reflection of her future son.
"You should make your own decisions in life. As long as you don't go astray, your aunt will still support you!"
With his aunt's support, Fan Chen now had much more confidence when speaking in front of his parents. He stayed for a while longer, originally planning to have lunch there before leaving, but seeing his uncle's face as dark as ink, he thought better of it, lest he get angry and fall ill!
After speaking, Fan Chen said goodbye to her and his uncle before leaving.
From beginning to end, his wife hadn't said a word to him, nor had she even asked a question. This made him very dejected.
As winter approached, the ice was about to freeze. Helian Zhicheng had finished dealing with matters in Dingbei Liao and handed over the state affairs to the Prime Minister. He and Duan Yao returned to the inner city.
Not for any other reason, but mainly because the inner city had kang stoves and heated walls, making it not cold even when gnawing on ice blocks indoors during winter.
Fan Zehao asked him, "Aren't you afraid the Prime Minister will claim the throne, and when you return, you won't be able to grasp anything?"
Unexpectedly, Helian Zhicheng was not alarmed at all. He glanced sideways at Duan Yao, "The Prime Minister is Duan Yao's brother, my brother-in-law. If he were to claim the throne, so be it. I would have nothing to say. After all, the emperor's position is for family!"
The main reason was that the Prime Minister was even lazier than he was. He wasn't the least bit afraid of the Prime Minister rebelling.
Hearing this, Fan Zehao genuinely wished he could slap himself. Look at how ill-timed his words were!