Chapter 474: Joke

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

Everyone turned to look at Qi Haoran instantly. Qi Haoran swallowed his saliva imperceptibly and replied after some deliberation, “Since the new year is approaching, I can’t be too lazy, so I canceled my leave and came back.”

The Emperor said very gently, “I understand that something happened to your family. Actually, there’s no need to be in such a hurry to come back.”

Qi Haoran widened his eyes and swallowed his saliva. Still, he asked carefully, “Your Majesty, what’s the matter with my family?”

“Aren’t you waiting for your wife’s diagnosis at home?” The Emperor said gloomily, “After all, this is your first child. It’s fine to take it seriously.”

Unable to hide his surprise, Qi Haoran widened his eyes and asked, “How did Your Majesty find out?”

Frowning, the Emperor replied in a displeased tone, “Didn’t you write it in the memorial when you applied for leave?”

Qi Haoran immediately shrunk his neck and asked, “I wrote it in the memorial? That’s impossible, right?” Mu Yangling had repeatedly asked him to promise not to tell anyone.

Seeing him like this, the Emperor thought of the joke sent back by the secret guards and knew that Qi Haoran must not have used his brains when he wrote the memorial. Hence, he ignored him and waved for him to return to his seat. Then, he continued to ask about the court matters.

Although the Emperor stopped his questioning with Qi Haoran, the ministers still witnessed the joke.

Because the Emperor urgently needed people to keep an eye on Minister Qin and his cronies, he transferred more than half of the people who were keeping an eye on the Qi family back. There was insufficient manpower, so he naturally did not get the news about Qi Haoran’s inner residence immediately.

However, Qi Haoran first invited two doctors into the residence in a row, then suddenly asked for leave from the Ministry of War. The secret guards naturally felt that something was wrong, so the young doctor who was chased out was contacted by the secret guards.

The young doctor was furious because of Qi Haoran’s attitude, so he naturally told the secret guards everything he knew. Hence, the Emperor quickly found out that Qi Haoran was certain that Mu Yangling was pregnant before the doctor confirmed it.

Regarding this, he only treated it as a joke and was not in the mood to share it with the ministers. He would not do such a thing as shooting himself in the foot.

However, Qi Haoran, whose leave application was rejected by the Ministry of War in the afternoon, personally applied for leave from the Emperor subsequently. Because the Emperor valued Qi Haoran after he returned to the capital, his memorial had always appeared in front of the Emperor’s desk at the first moment.

Seeing that the memorial was a little incoherent, the Emperor was overjoyed. He simply approved his request before sending it out as an open reply.

When the subordinates checked and recorded the contents of the memorial, they all watched this joke. The next day, the joke of Madam Mu anxiously inviting a doctor to ask if she was pregnant after simply missing her period for a few days spread among the officials.

On the other hand, the officials laughed at Qi Haoran for being henpecked. Not to mention that his wife was not confirmed to be pregnant, even if she was really pregnant, he did not specially take leave to accompany her at home. This was the first case of a Great Zhou Dynasty official being so brazenly afraid of his wife. It was even written in a memorial for the Emperor. That was why everyone saw Qi Haoran as a joke.

Qi Haoran stood in the middle of the team with his head drooping, clearly in an awful mood. He did not expect the news to spread so widely. If Ah Ling knew, she would be so furious that she would affect her fetal qi.

After the morning court assembly, Qi Haoran walked out, ignoring everyone. Everyone smiled when they saw him and bade him farewell before leaving. However, a few young and mischievous officials ran over to congratulate him. “Little Lord Qi, congratulations in advance. When the doctor confirms the diagnosis, don’t forget to treat us to a drink.”

Qi Haoran’s face became even more stern. An eunuch rushed over and stopped him with a smile. “Little Lord Qi, His Majesty wants to see you in the study.”

Qi Haoran pursed his lips and followed him to see the Emperor.

The Emperor was practicing calligraphy when he saw Qi Haoran with his head drooped. He asked in amusement, “What’s wrong? Why did I hear that you’ve been happy as a lark these past two days?”

Qi Haoran bowed to the Emperor and stood up. “Your Majesty, why did you openly send out a reply for my leave of absence? Previously, my wife forbade me from telling anyone about this. Now…”

Now that the Emperor had a better understanding of Qi Haoran’s fear of his wife, he did not suspect anything and only scolded jokingly, “Who did you see sending a secret memorial in the application for leave? Dream on.”

The Emperor thought for a moment and said, “Since you’ve applied for leave, stay at home. While there’s still time, spend time with your family.”

Stunned, Qi Haoran asked carefully, “Your Majesty, do I not have much time left?”

The Emperor was so angry that he threw him a memorial, but it was not accurate enough, so the memorial simply flew over his head. “What nonsense are you spouting? I have an errand for you. After this new year, you will leave the capital in spring. Therefore, you should stay at home for the next few days and avoid the limelight.”

Qi Haoran’s lowered eyes lit up, and a huge smile appeared on his face. He knelt down to thank the Emperor at the thought that he could return to Jingzhao Prefecture in spring. But when he thought of Mu Yangling’s pregnancy, he became worried again.

The Emperor watched as his back disappeared. Only then did he look down at the memorial. After flipping through a few memorials, he didn’t have the patience to continue reading. So, he asked the emissary to carry the memorials to the old ministers and let them review them with red pens.

Used to this, the emissary went forward to clear the table. The Emperor thought for a moment and said, “Keep the urgent ones.”

The emissary’s hand paused for a moment before he bowed and agreed. He carried the memorials down, leaving just ten-odd memorials on the table.

As soon as Qi Haoran left the palace, he went to look for Fan Zijin angrily. On the way, he had already figured it out. Others hadn’t informed him because they wanted to see him make a fool of himself. But then again, they did not have a deep relationship and were not obligated to inform him. However, there was no reason for Zijin not to tell him either. As a result, he had suffered a scare for nothing. This matter could not end like this.

When Qi Haoran ran to look for Fan Zijin, the latter was locked up at home studying hard, preparing for the examination next year. When he saw Qi Haoran, he was at a loss for a moment and asked, “Aren’t you about to become a father? Why are you still here?”

When Qi Haoran knew that he was going to be a father, he immediately called Fei Bai to inform Fan Zijin (in his mind, Fan Zijin was not an outsider). At that time, Fan Zijin was still wondering if he should find a time to treat Qi Haoran to a meal to celebrate, but Fei Bai hinted that there was a doctor in the residence and Qi Haoran wanted to take care of Mu Yangling.

At first, Fan Zijin thought that Mu Yangling’s pregnancy was unstable and wanted to go to the Qi Manor to take a look. However, Fei Bai repeatedly said that Mu Yangling was in good health, and Qi Haoran was just worried…

At the thought that Qi Haoran had always doted on Mu Yangling, Fan Zijin just accepted the explanation and was happy to have some time to himself. Coupled with the fact that he had recently read a few hard-to-understand test papers, he felt anxious and did not have the energy to ask.

At this moment, when he saw Qi Haoran running over angrily, he thought that something serious had happened. Qi Haoran angrily denounced and despised Fan Zijin for standing by to watch a joke instead of reminding him beforehand.

Exasperated, Fan Zijin looked at him and said faintly, “So it’s not confirmed yet…”

Qi Haoran said confidently, “Although it hasn’t been diagnosed yet, I know for sure that Ah Ling is pregnant. In nine months, I will have a son. Hahaha…”

After staring at him speechlessly for a moment, Fan Zijin said, “I didn’t know about this. You don’t have to denounce me. I haven’t even left my room for the past few days.”

Qi Haoran retracted his smile and asked, “Didn’t Uncle tell you? This is a big deal to me, but he didn’t even remind me..”