Chapter 22: A Hard Decision

Things have been quiet but everyone knew that the emperor was fuming with rage. They held the weddings even after he said no, it just showed that they had no respect for him at all and the disrespect was appalling.

The emperor and his wife, Consort Shu, made their way to Qinghe's residence. Qinghe was waiting for them at the doors, "Welcome." He said respectfully and bowed.

Wu Yong looked at him and nodded, "How have you been?"

"Well, thank you," Qinghe answered and let them in. He held his arm out saying, "Please, this way, Mei Yuan is still in the kitchen preparing lunch."

They followed him inside the home and could smell the delicious aroma in the air. Consort Shu looked at her husband surprised and saw that he was surprised too. She looked back at Qinghe who sat down after them and asked, "I've been trying to teach her how to cook all these years, but she was never successful, how did your sister teach her?"

"Well, she taught her all my favourite dishes and I think Mei wanted to impress me so she learnt hard and well." He answered.

Mei Yuan walked in not long after holding a tray in hand with a teapot on it and cups. She smiled at her parents after she placed it down on the table between the two couches, "Good afternoon," she said happily.

Consort Shu stood up and hugged her daughter, "Mei Mei, you made tea for us?"

"Of course," she answered after ending the hug and looked at her father. He didn't have a smile and he was looking at her with a gaze she didn't recognise.

She turned to him saying, "Thank you for coming all this way, your majesty."

Wu Yong sighed, he stood up and opened his arms and said, "I'm not a stranger Mei Mei." She hugged her father and they could hear her sniffling.

Qinghe rubbed his temples annoyed. He was so tired of listening to her cry, it has been ongoing ever since he told her the truth, worse since their wedding.

They all sat down with Mei Yuan by her husband's side opposite her parents. Wiping her tears away she asked, "Would you like a cup of tea?"

They nodded their heads and she moved forward and poured the tea in the four cups. Consort Shu took one for her husband while Mei Yuan took one for her husband. Handing them the cups, they took theirs. Mei Yuan watched her parents take cautious sips while Qinghe beside her blew on it then gulped it all down and placed it on the table.

Her parents seemed surprised after they took a sip. Their eyes flew over to her and Consort Shu said, "I take it that getting married worked out for you."

Wu Yong held his tongue while Qinghe smiled. Mei Yuan poured for her husband a second cup and handed it to him. "I think it's just that I had more time to myself when I moved in with Qinghe. While it was just me, I had other lessons to attend to."

Consort Shu nodded her head asking, "So how is marriage life? I'll assume that you've consumated the wedding?"

They both looked at her then Mei Yuan nodded her head awkwardly.

"Well you are at the age to get married." She looked at Qinghe asking, "But what I cannot understand is why your mother never got you married?"

Qinghe placed the cup down again and when Mei Yuan wanted to pour for him another cup he stopped her and instead poured for her. He looked at her as she finally relaxed and answered, "You can say that I am the one they wanted to send to school, which they did. I got my education but it did not stop there especially when my talents were recognised."

"I'm sure you have a career you wish to pursue," Wu Yong said.

He nodded his head, "Yes and no. Changling is stuck running the family business and the business we started together is on hold with us being here."

"May I ask which business?" He questioned.

Qinghe nodded his head as he took Mei Yuan's hand in his, "Our brother wants to be a physician and we're slowly building a foundation for him. We send people into the different kingdoms to learn what medicines they use and teach it to him. Eventually when we can send him to school, he'll have enough knowledge. In order to keep them safe on foreign lands, we find what the people around them need and like and send it over to keep them happy but at a cost, I mean, we cannot give them our stuff for free."

"Do you have a permit for foreign trading?" He asked.

"We do," he answered. Mei Yuan turned to her husband confused but didn't let it show. She knew he was lying, the things they were doing were sketchy and it had something to do with how strong both men were.

Wu Yong nodded his head but he didn't believe him. He turned to his daughter and said, "I heard that you went to visit the royal physician, are you not well?"

"How about we eat first," she said and got up. Qinghe looked at his wife for a moment then got up and said to them, "Well, you heard my wife."

He followed her out to the table where they waited for them then she went into the kitchen and prepared all the dishes.

Qinghe was silent, naturally he was and it made the couple feel awkward, especially when it looked like he didn't want to look at them.

"How is marriage for you?" His mother-in-law asked.

Qinghe looked up at her surprised, then thought about it, "Normal? I'm used to having a woman around me and seeing as she is similar in age to my sisters, she is like them."

"So it feels like you are married to your sister?" She questioned him.

Qinghe shook his head with a smile, "I wouldn't sleep with my sister but yes and she speaks so much that it is somewhat annoying but I leave her be."

Mei Yuan walked in with two dishes in her hand and placed it on the table. She looked at her husband and said, "I need help."

"I told you," he answered her but never got up and she didn't seem bothered because she just went in and brought out bowls and plates with contents in them. When she was finally done, she sat down and looked at everything, then she looked at her parents and asked, "What do you think?"

Wu Yong was blown away. There was a variety of dishes and he could tell that there was one main ingredient.

He looked at her and asked, "What are we having?"

"Pork in seven ways and a bowl of mushroom soup. I know how you love mushroom soup and lucky for me, my husband loves it too," she answered happily and started dishing up for Qinghe.

Consort Shu followed soon, dishing up for her husband. After tasting the dishes she got so many compliments from her parents but that didn't make her feel any better.

Halfway into the meal, she interrupted them saying, "I'm pregnant."

They looked at her surprised and Wu Yong said, "That is what happens after you get married."

She nodded her head slowly as she wiped her mouth and looked at her husband. Turning back to her father she said, "I'm three months along."

The spoon in Consort Shu's hand dropped as she looked at her daughter. She became furious and said, "How could you do this? So while you were living under the same roof, you, you, you…"

Wu Yong's eyes trailed over to his son-in-law and he saw that Qinghe wasn't bothered by his wife's reaction. Would it even bother to show his anger? Truthfully he didn't care. They went against everything he said and it was as clear as day why they got married so soon.

He sat up straight and said to Mei Yuan, "You are not ready to raise a child. You've done so many childish things that yo…"

"Father, if you are disappointed in me just say so. I was happy with being with Qinghe and I'm happy about the child I am carrying and I want many more. I know we've been going about everything wrongly but please I do not need any more stress in my life. I was already told that my pregnancy is risky and that I have to take things one step at a time!" She said and burst out in tears.

Qinghe sighed and rubbed his hand up and down her back. He wished she could take things easily like he did but the expectations she needed to meet, she was failing at. He turned to his in-laws and said, "We invited you both here to tell you about her pregnancy and let you know that because she is at risk of losing the baby or me losing her after she gives birth, we'll be moving to a stress free environment where she'll be looked after by a nurse and you cannot tell us otherwise. This whole situation has brought so much stress into her life and given her medical conditions she's never had before."

"What do you mean?" Consort Shu asked.

"She's short of breath, has heart palpitations and cries so much that we both can't sleep and just brings her great exhaustion." He answered.

"Have you ever taken a second to stop and think that you are the reason why she has become like this?" She asked him.

Qinghe shook his head, "She was perfectly fine until you all threatened to kill me. Mei Yuan and I love each other and always have but being here is testing my patience. Worse, how can I stay here by her side not knowing if we'll even have a future? Changling is a case that still needs to be solved too and who knows what his antics might do to my wife and child?"

Wu Yong saw the anger in his eyes and looked over at his daughter. She had hiccups from all the crying and now, it all seemed that him finding out about Qinghe was the problem – Qinghe's worries weren't nothing.