"Host, Lou Qing is pregnant. The children's prank caused her to lose the baby," Little Spoon suddenly said to Qiao Ci.
"It was to be expected," Qiao Ci replied faintly. "In the original plot, Lou Qing would only marry Shen Si a year later and get pregnant then. She would have had personal maids to look after her, and although the siblings were jealous of the child in her womb, they could do nothing. Now that she married Shen Si earlier and became pregnant naturally without restraint, without the halo of a princess, could those scheming siblings tolerate her having another child?"
"Alas, it's a shame about the child," Little Spoon sighed, for the child was innocent.
Qiao Ci smiled slightly, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.
In the Shen Residence,
Lou Qing, weeping profusely, pointed at the children with venomous eyes, wishing she could kill them. "Shen Si, you must give me an explanation today! Ever since you knew I was carrying your child, these siblings have been looking at me strangely. Today, they deliberately pushed me, causing the loss of our poor child! They are a bunch of demons!!"
Shen Si, who was initially heartbroken by her loss, became impatient with her constant aggression. "They didn't do it on purpose. They are just children. Can you not be so sensitive?"
"I'm sensitive? Who pushed me and caused the miscarriage? It was Shen Wu! I won't say anything about the other children, but she was the one who pushed me. You must give me an explanation, or we can't go on living like this!" Lou Qing finally understood Qiao Ci's helplessness back then. The Shen children were indeed ungrateful devils!
"Xiao Wu didn't do it on purpose. We can have another child, so you should rest well." Shen Si gestured for the siblings to leave.
Lou Qing's suppressed feelings instantly erupted. She glared at Shen Wu, her eyes red, and cursed, "Shen Wu, you personally killed your unborn brother. Aren't you afraid his vengeful spirit will come to claim your life?!"
"Slap!"
Lou Qing covered her swollen red face and looked at Shen Si in disbelief, then wildly clutched his clothes and beat him. "Shen Si, how dare you hit me, you ungrateful dog!"
Shen Si directly broke free and said coldly, "If you continue to make a scene, I'll divorce you!"
Lou Qing suddenly burst into loud laughter. "I was truly blind to follow such an ungrateful man. You want to divorce me? I'll divorce you first!!!"
Shen Si ignored her and turned to leave with the children.
Shen Sisi glanced back at Lou Qing with a half-smile. Enraged, Lou Qing could only vent her anger by pounding on the bed.
From then on, she began a life of wits and struggles with the children in the manor.
When Qiao Ci and Lu Li's wedding day arrived, the entire capital was bustling with excitement.
The Grand Tutor was getting married. Every household displayed lanterns and streamers to celebrate the Grand Tutor marrying a handsome young man.
Since the Grand Tutor, who held a high position, could not marry into an ordinary family, Lu Li would move into the Grand Tutor's mansion after the wedding.
Elder Lu looked at his younger son, dressed in a splendid wedding gown, and couldn't help but exclaim, "I finally get to experience the feeling of an old father marrying off his daughter. When your brother marries a wife in the future, we'll have both sides of the wedding, and both sons and daughters."
Lu Li smiled cheekily, "Father, I'll visit you and Mother often."
Seeing his son still joking, Elder Lu's heart finally settled. It was a good marriage, and if Lu Li felt a sense of disparity from moving into the Grand Tutor's mansion as the groom, then it would have been better not to marry.
"You'll have a wife from now on. Be more mature. The Grand Tutor is a good girl. You must treat her well and not be fickle. Otherwise, don't think the Emperor will spare you; your father will be the first to punish you!" Elder Lu said, then affectionately adjusted his son's collar. He had originally wanted him to abandon martial arts for civil studies so that he could grow up safely and live a peaceful life. Now that he had followed the powerful Grand Tutor, he was finally settled!
Lu Li rode a tall horse, followed by a grand procession with eight bearers carrying the sedan chair, heading towards the Grand Tutor's mansion. Wherever they went, the streets were lined with cheering crowds, and people shouted blessings.
After escorting Qiao Ci to the sedan chair, they made a circuit around the Imperial City and returned to the Grand Tutor's mansion. No one dared to disrupt the wedding night of the Grand Tutor. Everyone, with beaming faces, ate the banquet and left.
Inside the bridal chamber,
Qiao Ci, dressed in a red wedding gown, wore a translucent veil of the same color. Her lustrous eyes held an indescribable beauty and purity. Even at this moment, Lu Li still found it hard to believe that he had actually married her.
He slowly walked forward, gently lifted the veil from her face, and asked shyly yet boldly, "Wife, wife, cough, cough, are you hungry?"
"I'm not hungry. Your mother already brought me some food," Qiao Ci said with a smile.
Lu Li inwardly blamed his mother, wondering why she always took his thunder. So, what was he supposed to do next?
Guided by the clever girl, the innocent youth gradually entered an unknown realm, finding it endlessly fascinating and repeating the process...
Meanwhile, Shen Si had been in a low mood all day, drinking heavily. Lou Qing sneered at this. Did he know regret now? What had he been doing before?
Because the rain relieved the drought in various regions, including among the Di people, the Di people signed a compensation clause and vowed to maintain friendly relations with the Chuyun Kingdom and cease further incursions. In the original plot, Shen Si, who had been re-employed by the Emperor due to the war, lost his opportunity. Facing the trivial matters of his household and the resentment of his ex-wife living better than him, Shen Si decided to join the army from the lowest rank, as he had done before, and climb his way back to the position of general.
Thus, after instructing Lou Qing to take good care of the children at home, he resolutely left for the border.
Lou Qing idled around at home, not cooking or washing clothes. The children had to learn to fend for themselves, and they increasingly missed the good treatment they had received from Qiao Ci when she was their stepmother.
Later, Lou Qing, tired of serving them, disguised herself as a man and joined the army as a military doctor!
Little Spoon diligently reported Lou Qing's actions to Qiao Ci. Qiao Ci was surprised by Lou Qing's many unconventional moves and exclaimed in amusement.
Lu Li, who had recently learned some new massage techniques and was currently massaging Qiao Ci, noticed her momentary pause. He thought he had hurt her and quickly rubbed the spot he had just massaged, asking pitifully, "Was I too rough?"
Qiao Ci, not yet fully comprehending, looked at him with confusion. They weren't in bed, so why would he ask that?
Although they had not been together for a long time, Qiao Ci could understand some of his expressions. He then dotingly flicked her nose. "What are you thinking about? I was referring to your shoulder. Did I hurt you?"
"No," Qiao Ci said, wrinkling her nose, which had tickled from his flick, and shook her head.
"Then why did you pause just now? Did you think of something fun? Do you want to share it with your husband?" Lu Li sat down and let her rest her head on his chest.