ITVCFITB CHAPTER 88

 Chapter 88 – Can’t Keep It Quiet

Shen Mingyun’s rousing opening died in his throat.

Who did the servant say had fainted?

The Third Prince Consort? He hadn’t misheard, had he?

Where there was Luo Shuyu, there was naturally Li Mingjin.

A certain face flashed through Shen Mingyun’s mind, the face of a man who would make him pay “interest” for a lifetime. He dropped his homemade “microphone” with a clatter. “Where is he? Take me there!”

He was genuinely panicked. No one important had ever had an accident at his events. Anyone else could keel over, Luo Shuyu could not.

Qingwang and the nurse-matrons moved even faster. They’d been shadowing Luo Shuyu per Li Mingjin’s strict orders: not a single misstep allowed, or bring your head to him. By the time Shen yelled for people, the area within three paces of Luo Shuyu was already cleared.

“Fetch an imperial physician now!” Qingwang barked. “And send a rider to the drill field. Find His Highness, the Third Prince!”

He’d been with Luo Shuyu the whole time: one small glass of fruit wine, no food yet. If anything caused the collapse, it was that drink.

The machine whirred to life. Servants whisked Luo Shuyu to a side hall to rest and wait for the doctor.

Shen Mingyun could only follow, teeth on edge. Why faint now of all times? Why not on the road or back at the Third Prince’s manor, why right in the middle of his launch? Even if he had a case, it would sound like excuses. Please, let nothing truly be wrong; he did not want to face that terrifying man.

Two groups bolted from the Fourth Prince’s residence: one to the Imperial Infirmary, one to the drill field where Li Mingjin was known to be overseeing training. Now it was a race, which would reach them first?

Li Mingjin had been speaking with his officers when a guard sprinted up, breathless, “Urgent message from home, Your Highness.”

Home? A chill ran down his spine. Luo Shuyu was at the Fourth Prince’s estate today…

“His Highness the Third Prince Consort fainted there. Cause unknown,” the guard reported.

Li Mingjin didn’t bother to respond, he seized a horse and vaulted up. Halfway down the street he hissed, “You sent for the imperial physicians?”

“Yes, just now.”

“Then we swing by the Infirmary and bring one with us,” Li Mingjin snapped.

The capital’s doctors were all old men, their steps as slow as their pulses. If anything happened to his spouse…

As expected, when Li Mingjin stormed into the Infirmary, the summoned physician had only just heaved his medicine chest into a carriage.

Li Mingjin “invited” him down and tossed him onto a guard’s saddle. The old man nearly died of fright.

“Y-Your Highness,” he stammered, clinging to the pommel, “I’m on my way to the Fourth Prince’s estate to treat a patient, where are you taking me?”

“To the Fourth Prince’s estate,” Li Mingjin growled.

They arrived together. The moment Li Mingjin crossed the threshold, he saw Shen Mingyun wringing his hands in the hall.

“If anything happens to him,” Li Mingjin said, voice low and lethal, “I will not spare you.”

Shen Mingyun pointed at his own nose. “I- I didn’t do anything! Maybe he can’t hold his liquor and—”

Li Mingjin didn’t spare him another look. He hauled the physician into the inner room. Familiar faces: all Third Prince’s people, no strangers. Only then did his shoulders loosen a fraction.

“Examine him.”

The old doctor’s bones still rattled from that gallop. He drew a breath, met Li Mingjin’s stare, and decided breathing could wait. He took the pulse, then again, then a third time to be sure. At last he straightened, hands cupped in congratulation.

“Congratulations, Your Highness. Auspicious news. The Third Prince Consort is with child.”

Li Mingjin stared as if he’d heard nonsense. He seized the doctor by the sleeves. “Say that again.”

“Y-Your Highness, the consort is pregnant.”

“…Truly?” The word came out thin. “Then why hasn’t he woken?”

“No great harm,” the physician said. “The wine stimulated the body and brought on a fainting spell. I’ll prescribe some stabilizing decoctions.”

“Wine?” Li Mingjin’s gaze snapped toward the door.

Shen Mingyun wilted. “It was just a little fruit wine. I didn’t know he was pregnant…”

The physician knew Shen Mingyun by sight. On any other day he might have smoothed things over. After nearly being shaken to pieces in a saddle, he wisely held his tongue.

Li Mingjin didn’t waste breath assigning blame. Even he hadn’t known; how could others? Priority was to take Luo Shuyu home.

No one stopped him from carrying his sleeping spouse straight back to their carriage.

At the threshold he tossed over his shoulder, “Not a word of this leaves this house.”

Guests had been barred from the side hall; once Li Mingjin left with his consort, Shen Mingyun told himself to keep his mouth shut. The Third Prince was terrifying.

…The problem was, Shen Mingyun could not keep a secret to save his life. The more he was told not to, the more it itched. When a servant breathlessly reported that the Fourth Prince had rushed back upon hearing the news, Shen lit up and hurried to find him. If anyone should be told, it was him, they could leverage the Imperial Infirmary’s records and inform the emperor before the Third Prince did.

The Fourth Prince actually praised Shen for once. “Finally, you’re thinking.”

---

The Third Prince’s Manor

Luo Shuyu woke feeling more clear-headed than not. He opened his eyes to find Li Mingjin perched on the bed’s edge, staring as if to keep him tethered by will alone.

“What happened?” he asked. He remembered the flicker of black at the edge of his vision, then nothing, now he was home.

Given that look on Li Mingjin’s face, he must have scared him badly.

Li Mingjin touched his forehead and exhaled. “You’re awake. Thank heaven.”

Luo Shuyu tried to sit up. Li Mingjin’s hands were there in an instant, steady and firm.

“You’re acting very strange,” Luo Shuyu said, searching his face. “What’s wrong with me? Why are you overreacting to me sitting up? Did the doctor say I have some illness?”

“No illness,” Li Mingjin said. “Guess. It’s good news. But you can’t be drinking like that again.”

Luo Shuyu thought for a beat, then said lightly, “If it isn’t illness… then what, I’m pregnant?”

Li Mingjin had meant to hold it in a while longer. He gave up, a helpless huff escaping him. “Mm. You’re pregnant.”

Luo Shuyu blinked. Pregnant?

After so many years, he’d stopped hoping, letting fate decide.

“Truly?” he asked, softer.

“Truly.” Li Mingjin’s hands rested on his shoulders, eyes steady.

Luo Shuyu cupped his face between his palms. “Then why do you look so grim?”

“I’m happy,” Li Mingjin said at once, pressing Luo Shuyu’s hands to his cheeks. “I just… when you collapsed, I thought—” He cut himself off. The fear had been knife-sharp: a collapse, at the Fourth Prince’s estate of all places. It had nearly unmanned him.

“It was probably the wine,” Luo Shuyu said. “What did the doctor say?”

Li Mingjin relayed the diagnosis, no serious problem, the wine had triggered the fainting fit, a few doses of calming medicine were prescribed.

Luo Shuyu guided Li Mingjin’s hand to his abdomen. “Don’t worry. He’ll arrive safely in this world.”

The tension running through Li Mingjin was palpable, first-time father nerves. In another life, had Luo Shuyu ever seen him this way? Had he hovered, afraid to touch too hard? He pushed the thought aside and smiled.

“I’ll see to it,” Li Mingjin said quietly.

Practical as ever, Luo Shuyu moved on. “How did you get me back? Did Shen Mingyun make a fuss?”

“No. Looked scared out of his wits, actually. The physician checked you, and I left with you.”

“Then they all know?” Luo Shuyu asked.

“Likely. The Infirmary keeps records. If Shen knows, Fourth Brother will know.”

“Then we can’t dawdle,” Luo Shuyu said. “You should inform Father Emperor and Mother Consort now. We can’t let the Fourth Prince present this to them first.”

“Why?”

“Because they should hear it from us. If someone else brings the news, it cheapens the bond we’ve built. Don’t hand the leverage to them.”

“You’re thinking about that now?” Li Mingjin couldn’t help a sigh.

“Of course.” Luo Shuyu’s smile was quick and calm. “Go on. I’m fine. I’ll stay put and rest.”

Li Mingjin gave him a long look, then nodded. “All right.” Shoved out of the room to “go work,” he sent swift notices to Emperor Tiansheng and Consort Mei.

---

That evening the Fourth Prince happened to have business at court. He had planned to “casually” mention the pregnancy, only to find the emperor already beaming.

He read the room. “Your Majesty seems in very fine spirits today?”

“The Third Prince’s household finally has good news,” the emperor said, positively glowing. “It hasn’t been easy. All these years, and at last the first child. I’m told the consort fainted at your residence?”

The Fourth Prince inclined his head. “Yes. Mingyun was hosting a small gathering and invited my sister-in-law. No one knew he was with child, including himself. Fortunately, mother and child are well.”

“Fortunately,” the emperor echoed, thoughtful and pleased.

The Fourth Prince swallowed his discomfort. His father looked delighted, as if this were his first grandchild. Was the emperor… over-invested in Third Brother?

He told himself he was being jumpy. In a month or two the Third Prince would return to Guzhou and stop hovering in front of their father. It would be fine.

With his expression smooth as water, he reported on the investigation he’d come to discuss.

---

Pregnancy changed plans.

They’d intended to find a reason to remain in the capital; now the reason had come to them. The road to Guzhou was long and risk-laden, Li Mingjin would not let his spouse take it, not for their first, long-awaited child. He’d taken no concubines all these years; if he asked to remain for the baby’s safety, who could fault him?

Even so, he wouldn’t press yet. He still had over a month on imperial leave. Better to let the physician later declare that long travel was inadvisable; at barely a month along now, even three months would still be unstable. In that case, the emperor himself would suggest that Luo Shuyu remain in the capital to carry to term and Li Mingjin would, naturally, “reluctantly” stay as well. Guzhou was secure; the Ghost-Yan raiders dared not stir. His absence would not topple it.

The decision was made; thus, Li Mingjin carried on as usual: court each morning, duties each day.

The emperor asked after Luo Shuyu more than once. Each time, Li Mingjin put on a pained face and insisted all was “manageable.” It had exactly the intended effect: the emperor began to fret that the baby might not be viable. Carts of tonics poured into the Third Prince’s manor. He’d waited years for news from that household; he wanted to hold this child in his lifetime.

He even sent Consort Mei to visit.

Consort Mei’s first step into the Third Prince’s manor felt like a breath of free air. She could see at a glance that aside from the first few days of discomfort, Luo Shuyu was healthy and eating very well.

Still, Luo Shuyu kept up appearances, staying quietly at home. Even when Shen Mingyun came personally to sniff around, he learned nothing. In truth, Shen was too careless to read nuances; if Luo Shuyu acted the part, Shen believed what he saw.

Buoyed by those reports, the Fourth Prince relaxed further. Perfect, if his sister-in-law “couldn’t keep” this child, all the better. They’d return to Guzhou sooner.

Half a month later, as the Fourth Prince and Shen Mingyun were sitting down to supper, a watcher raced in.

“Urgent news, Your Highness!”

“Speak.” If it concerned the Third Prince’s manor, Shen could listen.

“Word is the Third Prince Consort’s condition has taken a bad turn. The child may not survive.”

Shen Mingyun, mid-bite, swallowed a mouthful of steamed bun. “How? Isn’t their household airtight? Luo Shuyu hasn’t set foot past his threshold. He has people on him in shifts around the clock.”

“What I’ve heard is too hot today. He drank a bowl of mung bean soup to cool off. After that, abdominal pain came. They say there’s bleeding. The Third Prince dragged an imperial physician over again and the manor’s sealed tight. My guess is someone slipped abortifacient into it.”

A slow smile tugged at the Fourth Prince’s mouth. “Sounds like the child won’t be kept after all. Day after day of tonics, too much is as bad as too little. Mingyun, go have a look tomorrow.”

Shen Mingyun nodded, eyes bright. “On it.”

Reconnaissance was his specialty, after all.

---

Author’s Note
Third Prince: Sweetheart, today I’m the Grand Celestial Master, and you’re a vengeful ghost who won’t stop haunting me. I’ve decided to exorcise you!

Luo Shuyu: You saintly Master exorcised me, then tried to purify me. But I am a vengeful ghost. I used your saintliness to seize your body. From then on, I was you—and your soul stayed suppressed inside. When your flesh finally rotted, I ditched it, took your soul with me, and swapped for a fresh body. This time I even gave you a body: I stuffed your soul into a black cat. You became my pet. We lived happily ever after.

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