Immediately they were dismissed, He Yuan headed over to the isolation courtyard. It seemed the plans for having breakfast with Cao Long and Cao Yumei's half siblings had been disrupted by the prince's arrival.
He pretended not to see Cao Luomei walking towards him and walked even faster. He had no time for her childish games. He was quite hungry so he needed to get this meeting with Wan Ruo done with.
Once he reached the isolation courtyard, he was ushered into Wan Ruo's room by a servant. The woman was quite beautiful. Looking at Cao Yuemei, it was to be expected but that beautiful face was currently twisted into an ugly sneer.
As soon as Wan Ruo noticed his presence, she rushed over to hug him tightly and weep. He Yuan resisted the urge to push her away.
"Yuemei, look at what your mother has been reduced to because of that little slut!"
He Yuan remained silent and when Wan Ruo let him go, he took two steps backward.
Wan Ruo rushed forward again and placed his hand on her stomach. "Yuemei, you have a little sibling in here. You don't want your little sibling to get sad do you? How about you get your father to come see us hmm?"
"I can't," He Yuan said immediately. Was this woman crazy? Cao Long did not even like Cao Yuemei so how on earth would he listen and come to see the woman who tried to sell off his beloved daughter?
Wan Ruo glared at him. "What do you mean by you can't?! You're the reason I'm in this situation. If not because I care about you do you think I would have tried to sell off that little slut?!"
"I didn't ask you to."
"You ungrateful child!" Wan Ruo raised her hand to slap him but He Yuan jumped away in time and rushed out of the room.
"CAO YUEMEI!"
He Yuan ignored Wan Ruo's screams as he walked out of the isolation courtyard. He was never going back there until the child was born. The only reason he'd gone there in the first place was to confirm his thoughts.
Wan Ruo kept using Cao Yuemei as her excuse for trying to sell off Cao Luomei but judging from her behaviour, that wasn't true.
Just like others, she really didn't care much for Cao Yuemei. At first, she must have been happy to give birth to a child for Cao Long but seeing that Cao Yuemei failed to win her Cao Long's heart, she paid less and less attention to Cao Yuemei.
The crazy woman had indeed tried to sell Cao Luomei out of jealousy, but she wasn't jealous for her child. Instead, she was jealous of Cao Luomei's mother, who was able to make Cao Long love her wholeheartedly, even after she went missing.
Once He Yuan returned to Cao Yuemei's courtyard, he instructed Wu Bai and Wu Hong to serve his food. As soon as the girls walked out, he sighed.
"Fine. You were right, maybe being sympathetic isn't the wisest thing to be in this situation."
[At least you have the presence of mind to acknowledge that.] 888 said.
He Yuan ignored the jab in 888's words and brought his focus back to reality when the Wu sisters walked in with his meal.
After the meal, he instructed Wu Bai to go over to the book shop to buy books on medicine whilst he sent Wu Hong over to the medicine shop to buy medicine books from the public doctor there.
The doctor did not need to sell his valuable medicine books, just the ones that taught the most basic knowledge on medicine would be good enough for him. He didn't really need the knowledge, It was all just for show.
"Second miss, why do you need so many books on medicine?" Wu Bai asked hesitantly.
He Yuan shrugged. "I've taken a sudden fancy to medicine so I want to satisfy my curiosity."
How could you learn medicine without a teacher? Wu Bai wanted to ask but thinking that her mistress was only intrigued and not serious about it, after all children had short attention spans, she went to carry out her instructions.
As soon as his servants returned with the books, He Yuan sent out word to Cao Long that he was going to be having his meals with Wan Ruo, on the lady's request.
This, of course, was not true. He just did not want to spend time with the rest of them and he wasn't worried about Cao Long going to inquire about this from Wan Ruo as the man avoided the isolation courtyard like a quarantine zone.
Cao Long did not give a response, showing that he couldn't care less what this second daughter of his did.
Every morning, He Yuan went over to pay his respects and after that, he went over to the isolation courtyard. He never informed Wan Ruo of his presence. He just strolled around and left after some time.
This was just so that the servants and guards in the mansion would see that he was indeed 'spending time' with Wan Ruo and then report to their various masters.
Next, he returned to Cao Yuemei's courtyard, took out the medicine books and 'studied' in the garden. Again, this was for people to see. If, in the future, he should display some basic skills in medicine, no one would be surprised.
During evening hours, he took lessons from the proprietress. The stern faced lady taught Cao Luomei first at noon and then him during the evening hours. He'd purposefully arranged this.
He'd also instructed his servants never to give Cao Luomei entrance into his courtyard. When Cao Luomei had come over to trouble him a few days after he had successfully ignored her, she was turned away by the Wu sisters.
The reborn miss had gone over to cry to Cao Long which, in turn, caused He Yuan to receive lectures upon lectures for being hostile to his sister.
Even with all the hate thrown at him, He Yuan didn't budge and still refused Cao Luomei entrance to his courtyard.
The only anomaly in all of this was Yu Ming. The first prince made the Cao mansion his second home and visited whenever he pleased.
He Yuan wasn't surprised by this, after all it was at this time that the prince and Cao Luomei became close and he drugged Wan Ruo on her behalf.
The only problem here was that whenever Yu Ming came over, he had Cao Luomei prepare tea for him and requested that Cao Yuemei be present.
This angered He Yuan to no end but there was nothing he could do. If he dared to disobey the orders of an imperial descendant, he could be beheaded for insubordination.
He really didn't know what used to intrigue him about the ancient times in his origin world. After experiencing it first hand twice, he wanted out. This was a time period that impeded even the most basic human rights.
So He Yuan had to watch as Yu Ming heaped praise upon praise on Cao Luomei whilst he resisted the urge to pluck out the prince's eyes for the weird looks he sent his way.
In all of this, the matriarch's relative's daughter, Chen Bi, got closer and closer to Cao Luomei and took every opportunity to talk down on Cao Yuemei.
She wasn't blind and could see how much Cao Long loved Cao Luomei. If she wanted the man's heart, Cao Luomei was the key! The delusional woman conveniently forgot that others had tried before her without success.
Amidst all these happenings, nine months passed by and it got to the day Wan Ruo was to give birth.
He Yuan woke up abruptly when he heard the cries coming from the isolation courtyard. Looking outside, it could be any time close midnight.
Finally, it was time to get the balls rolling.