I am the champion of palace intrigue, and even the proud prince bows his head in submission.

Chapter 491 What do you know?

From then on, Granny Zhao prepared spicy dishes in different ways every day, specially adjusting the flavors for Qin Jiuwei.

Seeing her enjoying her meals every day made Xie Yanli feel much more at ease.

Even when he was busy with official duties, he would often sneak away to come back and have a hot bowl of spicy noodles with her.

Since then, the dining table at Qinglan Courtyard has always had a strong smell of chili peppers.

Qin Jiuwei didn't have everyone eat spicy food with her; only the dishes in front of her were spicy.

Xie Yanli sat beside her again today, occasionally serving her food and soup.

As usual, Xie Jue leaned against Qin Jiuwei, biting into a soup dumpling while watching Qin Jiuwei eat chopped chili fish with an admiring look on his face.

My mom is amazing! She can even eat this spicy food!

Xie Jingchun sat directly opposite her, and frowned as he looked at the patches of bright red, dripping chili peppers.

But seeing Qin Jiuwei eating without changing her expression, he couldn't help but feel suspicious.

Doesn't your mother find it spicy?

Thinking this, he asked the question aloud.

"Not spicy," Qin Jiuwei replied.

He then picked up a piece of stir-fried tofu, dipped it in chili oil, put it in his mouth, and took a couple of light bites, his expression completely unchanged.

Xie Jingchun was stunned for a moment, wondering if he had misheard.

Xie Jue, who was standing nearby, tugged at Xie Jingchun's sleeve and said, "Big brother, you can try it. You'll know if it's spicy or not once you taste it."

Xie Jingchun glanced at him suspiciously, but still picked up her chopsticks, hesitated for a moment, and then also picked up a small piece of red oil tofu.

He carefully blew on it, put it in his mouth, and chewed it.

"Cough, cough, cough, cough!"

Xie Jingchun choked on the very first sip, her face turning bright red.

Tears welled up in her eyes, and she suddenly pulled up her sleeve to cover her mouth, her shoulders trembling.

"This...how can you say this isn't spicy?!"

His voice was hoarse, and he quickly picked up the teacup and took two big gulps.

Xie Jing glanced at him. "Aren't you usually quite good at handling spicy food?"

Xie Jingchun blushed crimson, fanning herself with one hand and wiping away tears with the other, gritting her teeth as she said, "This isn't spicy...this is murder!"

Qin Jiuwei finally couldn't help but chuckle and reached out to pick up a piece of non-spicy osmanthus lotus root for Xie Jingchun.

"Alright, stop teasing your older brother. Eat something light to calm him down."

Xie Jingchun ate the osmanthus-flavored lotus root and drank a lot of water, which finally helped to suppress the symptoms.

But he didn't let the culprit off the hook either.

He reached out and grabbed Xie Jue, his tone dangerous, "Third brother, did you do that on purpose?"

Xie Jue chuckled.

Xie Jingchun immediately increased the force in his movements.

“Ahhh! Murder! Murder!”

Xie Jue immediately started squeaking and yelling.

Helpless, Qin Jiuwei had no choice but to speak up and smooth things over.

The house was incredibly lively.

Another three months passed.

Qin Jiuwei sat in a rattan chair, with a pot of freshly brewed spring tea and several plates of delicate snacks beside her.

Her body grew heavier and heavier, and her belly grew bigger and bigger.

These days I'm becoming increasingly inactive.

A maid's voice came from outside the courtyard gate, "Madam, the Eldest Princess and the Princess have arrived."

"Please come in quickly."

Before long, Gao Yunzhi, dressed in a light blue brocade palace dress, walked in slowly, holding a round little dumpling in her arms.

The little girl, wearing a pale yellow jacket, with delicate features, soft hair styled into two small buns, and rosy cheeks, was none other than Gao Wanzhi.

She is now two and a half years old and has grown into a lively and clever girl. As soon as she saw Qin Jiuwei, she called out in her childish voice, "Godmother!"

Upon hearing this, Qin Jiuwei's smile deepened, and she quickly got up to take the child.

"Oh my, our little Wanzhi is getting prettier and smarter every day."

Gao Wanzhi leaned against her with a smile, her little hands expertly peeling off a piece of osmanthus cake to eat.

Gao Yunzhi slowly sat down, a smile in her eyes.

"She kept insisting on coming to see you this morning, saying that the pastries here are even better than those in the palace."

"Eat more if you like, your godmother has plenty."

Qin Jiuwei reached out and poked Gao Wanzhi's little face.

Gao Wanzhi held the osmanthus cake with a sweet smile.

"I heard your appetite has been much better lately than in the past few months? Your complexion is also much better than last time," Gao Yunzhi said.

Qin Jiuwei nodded slightly.

"The first few months were really tough, but now I can eat a bit more and I'm not so sleepy anymore."

As the two were chatting, Xie Jue heard that Gao Wanzhi had arrived, so he immediately slipped over and carried her away.

The two were playing on the carpet.

Xie Jue played the simplest game with her: throwing embroidered balls into a small basket.

Gao Wanzhi wasn't very strong; before she could even throw the embroidered ball, she laughed herself to the ground.

Xie Jue clapped encouragingly from the side, "Try again! This time you need to aim at the basket!"

Gao Wanzhi responded in a childish voice.

With a wave of her hand, the embroidered ball still landed crookedly outside the basket.

But she laughed even harder, staggering as she lunged forward to grab the ball.

Xie Jue looked at her and initially smiled along.

But as he was laughing, he suddenly became lost in thought.

He didn't say much until Gao Yunzhi took Gao Wanzhi's hand and left.

Without saying a word, he walked back to the corner of the yard, sat down on the small stone bench by the flower bed, and silently looked at the petals at his feet.

Xie Jing didn't notice until sunset.

Xie Jing stood in front of him, looking down at him. "What's wrong?"

Xie Jue looked up at the sound, her eyes red, but she tried hard to keep her mouth shut and not cry.

He looked up at Xie Jing, "Second brother... what if it wasn't my sister this time?"

Xie Jing paused for a moment, then understood what he meant.

"This is not something we can decide. Whether it's a younger brother or a younger sister is not something you, me, or even the mother can control."

"Then...who can control it?"

"We can only leave it to fate." After saying this, Xie Jing casually plucked a flower petal from Xie Jue's hair.

Xie Jue murmured softly, "Destiny..."

Suddenly, as if he had understood something, his eyes lit up.

He jumped down from the stone pier with a "whoosh".

He ran while shouting, "Thank you, second brother! I understand!!"

Xie Jing: ...

What do you know?

Xie Jue jogged along the way.

As I ran to the corner of the corridor, I didn't notice the bend ahead and bumped straight into someone's arms.

"Ouch!"

He took a step back, rubbing his forehead, about to complain, when he looked up and saw Xie Jingchun.

Xie Jingchun had just returned from the outer courtyard when he was jolted by the bump. Looking down, he saw Xie Jue in a hurry.

"Third brother, where are you going?"

"I'm sorry, brother, but I have something urgent to attend to. We'll talk later."

Xie Jue ignored the pain and rubbed his temples as he spoke.

After saying that, he bypassed Xie Jingchun and continued jogging forward.

Xie Jingchun stood there, stunned, his lips twitching.

Just then, light footsteps sounded from behind, and Xie Jing slowly walked over.

Xie Jingchun turned to look at him, "Second brother, do you know what happened to third brother?"

"He couldn't even say a word, he just ran away."

Xie Jing stopped. "I don't know. Let's go and see."