The clingy concubine ran away, and the sickly prince lost control.

Pei Shiyuan pulled out a dagger and made a cut on his fingertip.

Fresh blood dripped onto the white silk, spreading out.

"Alright, Madam, you've finished your task."

Luo Qingyan folded the round handkerchief.

"Don't tell anyone, or Kangning Pavilion will never open," Pei Shiyuan warned.

Luo Qingyan nodded and turned back to the side room.

Pei Shiyuan was truly determined not to have children, but thankfully he helped her open Kangning Pavilion, so she has a place to live in the future. He's not a bad person.

When paying her respects in the morning, Luo Qingyan showed the old lady a round handkerchief, and the old lady nodded in satisfaction. Cui Rou, on the other hand, claimed to be ill and did not come.

Luo Qingyan looked at Pei Shiyuan and thought it was a pity that such a handsome man didn't have a child.

Counting the days, there are still ten days until the divine doctor appears at Nanshan Yayuan. May there be no unexpected changes by then.

Right now, Luo Qingyan only wants to make Kangning Pavilion's business successful. She has done her best regarding having a child, and there's nothing else she can do but use drugs.

Pei Shiyuan had been so good to her, she found it hard to bring herself to drug him.

Luo Qingyan was conflicted as she tidied up the account books, knowing she would be going to Kangning Pavilion soon.

Yuan Qing came to fetch her, and after getting into the carriage, Luo Qingyan realized something was wrong: "Your Highness, this isn't the way to Kangning Pavilion. Where are you going?"

"You'll know when you get there," Pei Shiyuan replied abruptly, gazing out the window.

The carriage traveled for a long time, swaying back and forth. Luo Qingyan was sleepy. She had faked consummating the marriage last night and didn't fall asleep until late at night. She didn't sleep well at all, so she decided to take a nap.

"get off."

Luo Qingyan opened her sleepy eyes and looked out the carriage curtain at the fields and villages that stretched before her.

"Young Master." Manager Wu from the estate greeted him.

Luo Qingyan followed them curiously into the manor.

"This is the Duke's estate," Yuan Qing reminded him.

Luo Qingyan nodded, agreeing.

After passing through a long corridor and two rooms, we arrived at a spacious courtyard.

"Little Xingzi," Pei Shiyuan called out to the boys who were huddled together playing in the courtyard.

"Young Master?" A thin, dark-skinned little boy ran over, followed closely by the other children: "Greetings, Young Master."

"Have you been studying and learning to read properly?"

"Did you eat properly?"

"You've grown taller."

Pei Shiyuan was surrounded by a group of children who asked him all sorts of questions.

Yuan Qing shared the snacks he had brought with them.

Eat and chat.

Luo Qingyan stepped in to help.

The courtyard was filled with laughter and cheerful conversation.

Luo Qingyan saw that Pei Shiyuan had never smiled so happily before.

"Go have fun!"

The children, with smiling faces, scattered in all directions, some playing and frolicking in small groups.

"Do you see them? They are all orphans of soldiers who died in battle," Pei Shiyuan said.

Luo Qingyan stood up straight, her expression serious: "Your Highness, it was your kindness that led you to take them in."

"I took them in, and even though I can feed them, clothe them, and teach them to read and write, their lives are still very pitiful without their parents."

A hint of sadness flashed in Pei Shiyuan's usually cold eyes. "Look at the corner on the left."

A small, thin girl was looking at them timidly. When she saw Luo Qingyan looking at her, she immediately hid behind the door.

"Girls have it harder to survive than boys. Her name is Rainbow. Her father died in battle, and later her mother also passed away from illness."

When boys grow up, they can participate in the imperial examinations or join the army.

For girls, marriage is the only option.

Luo Qingyan lowered her eyes. It would be difficult for a girl like this to marry into a good family when she grew up.

"So you still want the child? Giving birth to a child without a father will make things very difficult for him, even though the Duke's mansion may seem glamorous on the surface, it's actually full of treachery and backstabbing."

Pei Shiyuan gazed into the distance and began to speak slowly and deliberately.

Luo Qingyan fell silent: "Your Highness, is this the reason you refuse to have offspring?"

"Yes, if you insist on having the child, you and your child or mother and daughter will have a very hard time after I'm gone, so don't drug me again." Pei Shiyuan turned his face and stared at Luo Qingyan.

He had been suspicious ever since he uncontrollably kissed Luo Qingyan's face for the first time.

Until Luo Qingyan drugged him again, he pretended to be sleepwalking.

Thinking they had done something discreet was incredibly naive; the imperial physician could easily find out with a single examination.

"Your Highness, I, I..." Luo Qingyan's face flushed red instantly, and those embarrassing images flashed through her mind.

Pei Shiyuan knew she had drugged him.

"I didn't know you were thinking so much. You don't blame me, and you even helped me open Kangning Pavilion. I was ungrateful." Luo Qingyan lowered her head.

"You should thank these children, otherwise I wouldn't have helped you." Pei Shiyuan rolled away in his wheelchair.

It turns out that Pei Shiyuan helped her because he felt sorry for her because her experience was similar to that of these children.

"Your Highness, may I have a rainbow?" Luo Qingyan caught up with Pei Shiyuan in a few steps.

"Can."

The way Rainbow hid behind the door reminded me of myself when I was a child.

When I was a child, I was bullied by Luo Haitang and was so afraid that I often hid behind the door.

On the way back, there was a small, thin rainbow in the carriage.

"Rainbow is the name my mother gave me. Master, if you don't like it, please give me a new name."

Although Rainbow is small and her skin is tanned to a wheat color, she has a loud voice and a pair of bright, large eyes.

"Rainbow, a good name, no need to change it." Luo Qingyan smiled. Rainbow is a name that carries hope and is also a mother's wish.

Kangning Pavilion.

Luo Qingyan and Granny Liu washed and dressed Caihong in new clothes.

Rainbow was only eleven years old, still a child. Wearing her new dress, she happily twirled around, saying, "Thank you, Sister Luo."

"From now on, you'll stay in Kangning Pavilion with Granny Liu and the others," Luo Qingyan said with a smile, as if looking at her younger self.

At lunchtime, Kangning Pavilion prepared a table full of dishes, and everyone ate while chatting and laughing. Even Pei Shiyuan ate more than usual.

"Young Master, shall we return to the Duke's Mansion?" Yuan Qing asked, seeing that nothing was amiss in Kangning Pavilion. He wondered if Pei Shiyuan might have forgotten something since he hadn't been handling official business for the past few days.

Pei Shiyuan glared at Yuan Qing, who immediately shut up and dared not speak.

In the afternoon, Pei Shiyuan took a nap in Kangning Pavilion.

The Duke's Mansion, Meteor Residence.

"Did Brother Yuan go out with that vixen again?"

Cui Rou leaned against the couch, her face pale.

"Yes, Miss. The young master and Consort Luo went out after breakfast and haven't returned yet." Ginkgo looked out the window; the sun had already set.

The young master really dotes on Consort Luo; he's gone out for a whole day and doesn't come back.

"I haven't broken off the engagement yet, I'm still Yuan-gege's fiancée, how can he treat me so disrespectfully, parading around with a concubine like that?"

Cui Rou kept wiping away her tears.

"If word gets out, it will make Aunt Luo's reputation bad; she's always clinging to men." Ginkgo said sinisterly. "Miss, don't cry. We can't just sit here and wait to die. The young master is really disregarding your relationship."

"Yes, I can't just sit here and wait to die, letting Luo Qingyan live a carefree life." Cui Rou wiped away her tears, clenching the handkerchief in her hand. "Last time Luo Haitang came to the Duke's mansion, didn't he say that Luo Qingyan used to have a fiancé named Ye Hui? Now that his ex-fiancée is doing so well, shouldn't he go and see her?"

"Pretend to accidentally reveal it to Ye Hui..."