Chapter 490: Happy News

Early the next morning, Cheng Feng was woken up by the chirping of birds outside the window.

The sky was not yet fully bright, and the eastern horizon had just begun to flush with a crab-shell green.

Cheng Feng rolled out of bed and walked into the courtyard; the late autumn morning dew had dampened the bluestone ground, and the chill creeping up from the soles of his feet made him completely awake.

He practiced a set of punches as usual to loosen his muscles and bones; after his Dragon Snake Nine Transformations broke through, the speed at which his Blood Qi circulated within his body was significantly faster.

Finishing the same set of punches took nearly a third less time than before, yet the force of his punches was more condensed than before.

Just as he was finishing his form, the steward of the residence stood far away outside the moon gate, craning his neck to peer over, looking as if he wanted to come in but dared not.

Cheng Feng finished his form, picked up the cloth towel hanging from a tree branch to wipe the sweat from his face, and beckoned to him.

The steward trotted over, bowed, and said, "Master, Miss Shang and the two young ladies of the Hua family sent someone over early this morning, saying... saying they have happy news to report to the Young Master, and they are all waiting in the front hall."

Cheng Feng's heart stirred slightly, though he did not show it on his face, and he simply nodded: "Understood, I will go over after I change my clothes."

When he arrived at the front hall, Shang Yan and the sisters Hua Chao and Hua Mu were indeed all there.

None of the three were heavily adorned, wearing simple, plain everyday clothes, yet their complexions were more rosy than usual, and a joy that could not be concealed shone between their brows and eyes.

Shang Yan sat on a grandmaster chair, her hand resting unconsciously on her lower abdomen; seeing Cheng Feng enter, her gaze softened until it almost melted.

The sisters Hua Chao and Hua Mu stood to the left and right of her right hand, each with a thin layer of shyness on their cheeks, and even the way they looked at Cheng Feng held more tenderness than usual.

Cheng Feng swept his gaze around and already understood the situation.

He walked over and sat in the chair next to Shang Yan, his tone carrying a composure that feigned ignorance: "Coming over so early, what happened?"

Shang Yan gave him a light, reproachful look and took a folded piece of paper from her sleeve to hand to him: "Still pretending. This is the prescription the doctor just wrote yesterday, see for yourself."

Cheng Feng took it and unfolded it to look; the paper was filled with medicinal herbs for calming the fetus and nourishing Qi, such as Baikal skullcap, largehead atractylodes rhizome, and dodder seed, with a line of small notes below, the gist of which was that the pulse was slippery and strong, the fetal Qi was stable, and one only needed to follow the prescription to recuperate.

After reading it, he looked up; Shang Yan, Hua Chao, and Hua Mu were all looking at him, their six eyes filled with anticipation and a hint of unease, as if waiting for his attitude.

Cheng Feng folded the paper and placed it on the table, then suddenly laughed.

This laugh made all three of them breathe a sigh of relief at the same time.

He stood up, walked in front of Shang Yan, looked down at her still-flat lower abdomen, and reached out to gently cover it; his palm was warm, and he pressed very lightly, as if afraid of startling something.

"How long has it been?" he asked.

"The doctor said it's almost two months," Shang Yan's voice trembled slightly, whether from excitement or nervousness.

"I felt something was wrong with my body a while ago; I was always sleepy and felt nauseous, and I kept thinking it was just catching a cold from the autumn chill, so I didn't think in that direction.

The two Hua sisters had symptoms around the same time, and after asking the doctor to come over and check last night, all three of us are pregnant."

Cheng Feng nodded, withdrew his hand, and turned to look at Hua Chao and Hua Mu.

The two sisters blushed even more under his gaze; the elder sister, Hua Chao, kept her head down, twisting the corner of her clothes, while the younger sister, Hua Mu, simply hid behind her sister, revealing only half her face, her eyes shining as she stared at Cheng Feng.

The previous air of the cold, aloof Fairy was completely gone.

"Sit down, all of you, don't stand," Cheng Feng returned to his chair and sat down, his tone carrying a rare gentleness.

"Since you are with child, the rules of the house will be more relaxed from now on; there is no need to run back and forth every day. If you lack anything, just tell the steward."

Hearing this, Shang Yan rolled her eyes at him: "It's not that delicate. It's only been two months, there's still a long way to go.

Besides, if you don't let us go out and walk around, and keep us locked in the courtyard every day, wouldn't we be bored sick?"

Cheng Feng thought about it and realized this was true, so he did not insist.

Still worried, Cheng Feng reached out to check their pulses himself.

He asked about the doctor's instructions, and Shang Yan recounted them one by one; it was nothing more than the first three months being the most critical, avoiding fatigue, avoiding raw and cold foods, and avoiding sexual intercourse.

When she mentioned those last two words, Shang Yan's voice dropped significantly, and the tips of her ears turned a light red.

Hua Chao and Hua Mu were even more embarrassed, their heads almost buried in their chests, yet they couldn't help but peek at Cheng Feng's reaction.

Cheng Feng remained calm, picked up his teacup for a sip, and said indifferently: "Understood, I will keep these in mind."

Just as they were talking, someone came to report from outside that the Zhou Fu had sent word that the joint training time today was to be moved up by half an hour, and they requested Young Master Cheng to go over early.

Cheng Feng acknowledged this and stood up to leave. When he reached the door, he paused and looked back at the three of them: "Stay in my courtyard tonight, don't go back to the West Wing. It's warmer if we squeeze together."

Shang Yan was stunned for a moment, then understood his meaning; two red clouds flew onto her cheeks, and she spat lightly: "You have no decency. We are with child, what else do you want?"

Cheng Feng looked innocent: "I told you to rest early and take good care of the pregnancy, where did your thoughts go?"

Shang Yan was left speechless, grabbing the teacup on the table as if to throw it at him, but Cheng Feng had already turned and walked away with a laugh.

Behind him came the muffled giggles of Hua Chao and Hua Mu, and Shang Yan's shy, angry scolding; in the autumn morning light, the whole courtyard was full of vitality.

When he arrived at the Zhou Fu, Huo Luan was squatting by the edge of the Martial Arts Arena, gnawing on a steamed bun; seeing Cheng Feng arrive, he raised his chin to greet him and said indistinctly: "You're here? Liu Ge is in a bad mood today, you're on your own."