Feeling the little kick on her belly, Gu Tingye was completely astonished and lost. Minglan told him right away that this was a normal fetal movement. The man fell into a daze for a moment, then stood up all of a sudden and went out, not even realizing that he had knocked down two stools.

The old imperial doctor who had been invited to check Minglan’s status thought that something serious might have happened to her. However, after he had taken her pulse, he found Minglan was in a great condition and so was the baby. Then he was informed with the details. Hearing Gu Tingye’s ceaseless questions, the doctor only felt a headache.

“Why does the child kick her belly? Does he or she feel bad?”

“That’s a human being. He or she supposed to move, like twisting the waist, turning over or moving hands and legs.”

“So my child doesn’t feel uncomfortable, right?”

The old doctor felt quite awkward, thinking, ‘How could a baby in the belly feel uncomfortable?” Then he answered perfunctorily, “If the children feel comfortable, sleep enough or eat well, they tend to kick.”

Gu Tingye didn’t lose all his sanity after all and stopped firing questions at last. Then he said thanks to the doctor with a calm look while Minglan kept apologizing to the old imperial doctor. She knew that this doctor favored Mao Jian Tea the most, so she presented a lavish gift as well as two pounds of the Mao Jian Tea of the top class from the Lion Mountain to the doctor. The old doctor had lived through lots of things and knew that Gu Tingye only cared about his child too much. Then the doctor shook his head and left with a wry smile.

On the other side, Old Madam Qin flew to a rage as she heard about that. ‘Why the hell did you invite a doctor on my daughter’s wedding day?!’

There was no such thing as the pregnancy check-ups in the hospital in this age. Although the imperial doctors would visit Minglan from time to time, she was still on tenterhooks every day. The only thing she could do was praying for her safety. From this day, the little bastard in her belly seemed to have stretched out his limbs Minglan recorded the frequency of the quickening according to the method that the doctor had told her. As she found the quickening very regular and vigorous, she got more relaxed. Three days later, Tingcan went back to Marquis Ningyuan’s mansion. Old Madam Qin who had missed her daughter a lot ordered someone to redecorate the whole mansion in order to welcome Tingcan.

“My dear, come here, let me look at you!” Old Madam Qin, with the rims of her eyes turning red with crying, couldn’t keep her eyes off her daughter. The man who accompanied Tingcan here also took a step forward to give obeisance to his mother-in-law and two sisters-in-law.

Tingcan’s husband’s name was Han Cheng. Although he was not as handsome as Qi Heng, or as elegant as Changfeng, he still was a gracious young master. He and Gu Tingcan, the pretty and proud girl beside him, looked like a perfect couple. The gifts from the Princess’s family were truly magnificent, which gave a big smile on the face of Old Madam Qin whose eyes were nearly squinted to a line. As Shao shi saw the newly married couple, she thought about her miserable life of being a widow, so her smiling face seemed a bit depressed.

Gu Tingcan also didn’t feel very satisfied. She had planned to assume an air of superiority before the everyone in Marquis Ningyuan’s family, in order to let them see how happy her marriage was. Tingcan would feel much better if Minglan could be jealous of her and put on a long face. However, her second sister-in-law didn’t take the hint and was grinning happily. Minglan even touched her belly while saying like an elder, “You two should treat each other nice and give birth to lots of children.”

Because Tingcan failed to upset Minglan, she felt both embarrassed and angry.

Han Cheng didn’t talk too much and only smiled bashfully. Old Madam Qin didn’t dare to lecture such a noble son-in-law right away. Such being the case, Minglan said something to continue the conversation. Han Cheng listened to her with his head lowered. Then he turned around and said respectfully, “I heard that second sister-in-law was from a scholar’s family. My teacher always praised about Brother Changbai, my senior fellow apprentice.”

Minglan gathered her wits together at once. After she pondered for a short while, she said confusedly, “Brother-in-law, are you learning from Sir Wang Shen now?” Hadn’t that old man been saying that he wanted to retire and travel around the country?

“That’s right.” Han Cheng cupped one hand in the other and said, “Most of Old Grand Preceptor’s students have become officials. Only Sir Wang is willing to give lectures.”

Minglan, with a lot of things coming to her mind, still smiled and said, “Sir Wang is an erudite man. It’s such a shame that he couldn’t engage in politics because of his body condition. However, that also made him better in scholarly attainments. Brother-in-law, you are a lucky man. I think you’ll soon pass the imperial exam.” Sir Wang truly was a weird old man. Changbai had only been able to learn from him because of the Hai family. Changfeng, on the contrary, didn’t have that honor to be Sir Wang’s student.

Hearing that Minglan was quite familiar with Sir Wang’s experience, Han Cheng realized that she was an expert. As cheerful as he felt, he still answered with a reverent voice, “Thank you for your sweet words, Second Sister-in-law.” He paused for a second and then added, “I’ve heard a lot about the talent in literature of Brother Changfeng, your second brother. For a long time I have been far away from the capital. Now I am looking forward to get to know Brother Changfeng as well as other scholars in the capital and have a heart-to-heart conversation with them.”

Although he said those words respectfully, his pride as a young talented man was hard to hide. That was a reasonable thing. Only few noble young masters would be so aspirant like him. Minglan’s smile seemed too ‘gracious’, which dazzled Tingcan’s eyes.

“Brother-in-law, there’s no need of the courtesy. We are all families.” Minglan said with a smile, “My Third Brother’s wedding day is the day after tomorrow. His friends will all attend the wedding. After the feast, they will all be great friends with you.” ‘I should send a message to my parents’ family and tell them not to forget second a wedding invitation card to the Princess family. Well, the message better goes to my father straightly. Wang shi must want there to be fewer noble guests.’

Han Cheng was fond of literature since his childhood. It was his favorite thing to associate with the scholars. However, most of his relatives as his age were rich idlers. Hearing Minglan’s words, he got excited at once. As he and Minglan chatted with each other, Shao shi only smiled the whole time, Old Madam Qin felt glad and showed a look of appreciation in her eyes. Meanwhile, Gu Tingcan turned around and faced the window without saying anything.

Minglan glanced at the mother and daughter and thought, ‘The mother probably is thinking, ‘Such an ambitious man, what a great husband he will be.’ The daughter perhaps is feeling annoyed and thinking, ‘Why is my husband so philistine? All the things he talks about are about his career. He’s not high-minded at all.’ It’s such a shame that the couple isn’t a great match. If Old Madam Qin is dozens of years younger and marries Han Cheng, they would be a great couple.’