At sixteen, it was an age for marriage. If she waited another year, she would be considered an old maiden.
Shen Xiaoyan thought to herself, estimating that Shen Cheng must be worried too. After the incident last time, Xu Xiaoe was neglected at home, and even matchmakers were unwilling to visit.
No matter who it was, no one would be willing to marry a woman who seduced her brother-in-law, right?
As for Xu Xiaoe, Shen Xiaoyan had no plans to deal with her; it was truly unnecessary. Her reputation was already ruined, and she was disliked by Shen Cheng.
What was even more laughable was that she was unaware of this and was desperately trying to lower Shen Cheng's favorability towards her. Her hard times were yet to come.
More than a month after Zheng Wei left, on May 30th, Shen Xiaoyan, along with Shen Xiaoming and Yue Qingxin, went to town.
Upon arriving in town, Shen Xiaoyan asked Huo Si to go directly to the Golden Grass Hall. Yue Qingxin and Shen Xiaoming didn't understand why and wondered if Shen Xiaoyan was feeling unwell, their faces filled with worry and concern.
Seeing their expressions, Shen Xiaoyan reassured them, "Eldest Sister and Xiaoming, don't worry. I just have something I'm not sure about and want a doctor to confirm it."
Upon reaching the entrance of the Golden Grass Hall, Shen Xiaoyan and the other two alighted from the carriage. They asked Huo Si to watch the carriage by the door, and the three of them walked into the Golden Grass Hall.
The business at the Golden Grass Hall was indeed good. Even though it was still early, people were already seeking medical advice.
Shen Xiaoyan and the other two sat on a long bench and waited. It wasn't until an elderly woman who had just received her medicine left that Shen Xiaoyan stepped forward and sat opposite Physician Wang.
"May I ask, madam, what is ailing you?" Physician Wang asked, looking at Shen Xiaoyan's ruddy complexion and healthy physique, somewhat puzzled.
"Please trouble the physician to take my pulse," Shen Xiaoyan said, not specifying what was wrong, and simply extended her hand onto the small pillow on the table.
Physician Wang asked no further questions. Taking a pulse was not a difficult task, so he placed his fingers on Shen Xiaoyan's wrist.
Shen Xiaoming and Yue Qingxin, who were beside her, were full of worry but dared not speak, fearing they would disturb the physician's diagnosis.
After about half a cup of tea's time, Physician Wang withdrew his hand and smiled at Shen Xiaoyan, saying, "Madam, did you guess it yourself?"
Shen Xiaoyan nodded, "I had some suspicion, so I wanted to ask the physician to confirm."
Shen Xiaoming and Yue Qingxin were both bewildered. What riddle were these two playing?
Physician Wang stroked his beard with his hand and said with a smile to Yue Qingxin and the others, "Madam is carrying a happy pulse; she is already more than a month pregnant."
"Really?" Yue Qingxin was stunned for a moment, then asked with surprise, "Sister, you've felt it? That's why you came to town to see a doctor?"
"Yes," Shen Xiaoyan replied with a light smile. Then she looked at Shen Xiaoming, who had remained silent, and said, "Xiaoming, what's wrong with you?"
"Eldest Sister, am I going to have a nephew?" Shen Xiaoming asked blankly.
"Yes, aren't you happy?" Shen Xiaoyan said.
Shen Xiaoming immediately nodded heavily, "Of course I'm happy. It's just, Eldest Brother-in-law isn't here, he..."
Shen Xiaoyan scoffed, "It doesn't matter if he's not here. Is this child not going to be born?"
Hearing this, Yue Qingxin burst out laughing and chided Shen Xiaoyan playfully, "What are you saying?"
Shen Xiaoyan winked playfully at Yue Qingxin, then said to Physician Wang, "Doctor, is this pregnancy healthy? Is there anything I need to be aware of, or anything I shouldn't eat? Please write it down on paper."
Physician Wang nodded in agreement and began to write. After another cup of tea's time, Physician Wang put down his pen. "Madam's pregnancy is healthy. These are the things you need to be aware of. Everything has been written down. Madam, take it back and look at it carefully."
Shen Xiaoyan thanked him and took the paper.
After paying the consultation fee, the three of them left the pharmacy.
Inside the carriage, Yue Qingxin linked arms with Shen Xiaoyan and chided, "Sister, you are too careless. You're bouncing around every day. What if you injure the baby?"
Shen Xiaoyan replied, "When have I been bouncing around? The household chores are done by Aunt Xu and the others. You do all the needlework and sewing. I'm just someone who is idle all day. At most, I move a little when you exercise, but it's not very strenuous."
Yue Qingxin said, "From now on, you are not to do anything. Just stay at home honestly. When I exercise, you just sit and watch."
"How can that be? If I don't accompany you, what if you can't persist?" Shen Xiaoyan disagreed.
"I'm not that kind of person. Do you look down on your sister-in-law so much?" Yue Qingxin said, looking at Shen Xiaoyan.
Shen Xiaoyan smiled and said nothing more, but internally she complained that it was she who had been saying she couldn't go on every time she exercised in the past month.
Yue Qingxin was ultimately not a thick-skinned person and explained, "Sister, don't worry. Since I said I want to learn from you, I will definitely listen to you. From now on, when I exercise, you will watch from the side, and I will absolutely not be lazy."
Shen Xiaoming also spoke up at this time, "Eldest Sister, as long as I have time, I will definitely accompany Sister Yue Qingxin in exercising."
Shen Xiaoyan smiled, "Good."
The three of them chatted and laughed as the carriage made its way back home.
Upon arriving home and entering the house, Yue Qingxin called over Madam Qu and her two daughters. "Madam Shen has been pregnant for over a month. Aunt Xu, I will have to trouble you to take extra care of her. After all, you have given birth to three children, so you must know more than us."
When Madam Qu heard that Shen Xiaoyan was pregnant, she was also overjoyed. First, she congratulated Shen Xiaoyan along with her two daughters, and then said, "I have given birth to three children, so I know a bit about pregnancy and childbirth. If Madam trusts me, I will take more care in the future."
Shen Xiaoyan nodded, "Of course. Then I'll trouble Aunt Xu."
When Zheng Wei informed her of his departure, Shen Xiaoyan had already planned to have a child.
Although she had not planned to have children so early, since Zheng Wei was leaving, she thought life would be dull. It would be better to have a child then.
Having made up her mind, Shen Xiaoyan stopped taking contraceptive medicine and drank some immortal spring water to regulate her body. She successfully conceived half a month before Zheng Wei left.
However, the pregnancy was too early, and the physicians here could not feel the pulse, nor were there any symptoms, so Shen Xiaoyan did not reveal it.
Now that it had been more than a month and a half, Shen Xiaoyan thought it was time to let Shen Xiaoming and Yue Qingxin know, so she took the two of them to town to see a doctor.
Since Zheng Wei left, Shen Xiaoyan spent most of her evenings in the space.
The space contained many books about pregnancy, such as foods during pregnancy, exercise, prenatal education, precautions, the baby's growth and changes in the womb, and postnatal care, all of which were comprehensive.
In the past month, Shen Xiaoyan had read almost all of these books. She was confident that she could ensure this child was born safely and that he would be healthy and intelligent.
However, as a sixteen-year-old girl, she shouldn't know all this. Therefore, asking Physician Wang to write down those precautions was inevitable.
Furthermore, with Madam Qu at home, the mother of three children, she didn't have to worry about anything, except for doing some prenatal education for the child.
Reality was just as Shen Xiaoyan had expected. From that day on, everyone in the household treated her like a panda. Except when sleeping, she was always accompanied by someone.
Every day, various meals were served in rotation. Within a month, Shen Xiaoyan felt she had gained several pounds.
At the same time, Yue Qingxin was not idle either. She asked Huo Si to drive them, along with Huo Ying, to town. They bought a lot of fine cotton cloth, saying it was to make clothes for the baby.
Shen Xiaoyan was very touched by Yue Qingxin's actions. So, when she had nothing else to do, she would also help make small clothes and imagine what the child in her womb would look like when it was born and how it would look wearing these clothes.
As she thought about what the baby would look like, Shen Xiaoyan would think of the baby's father, Zheng Wei.
Time seemed to fly by. In the blink of an eye, Zheng Wei and Sima Han had been gone for more than two months. She had not received any news from the two of them, but she heard the news that Yue Qingxin was also pregnant.
The reason was that Shen Xiaoyan craved fish that day. So, Madam Qu specially made steamed fresh fish for lunch. Unexpectedly, Yue Qingxin felt nauseous after just one bite and immediately stood up and ran outside to vomit.
Madam Qu initially thought there was a problem with her cooking, but seeing that Shen Xiaoyan had eaten a few bites without any issues, she suspected that Yue Qingxin might also be pregnant.
When Shen Xiaoyan saw Yue Qingxin vomiting, that thought flashed through her mind.
"I don't know what's wrong. I thought I wanted to eat it, but as soon as it entered my mouth, I felt nauseous?" Yue Qingxin walked in from outside and smiled apologetically at Shen Xiaoyan.
"Eldest Sister, shall we ask Uncle Huo to invite Physician Ji over later?" Shen Xiaoyan suggested.
"What? Xiaoyan, are you feeling unwell? Where do you feel unwell? Is it serious? Shall we go to town quickly to see?" Yue Qingxin was startled when she heard Shen Xiaoyan wanted to call a doctor. She quickly walked to Shen Xiaoyan's side, asking with concern.