Chapter 197 Mi Zhu's gratitude, beauty fades It is a great joy for a force when a monarch has an heir. It was naturally not Mr. Liu's fault that both wives were pregnant at the same time. In fact, Mrs. Gan was pregnant long before Liu Bei went on the expedition. When Hua Tuo discovered it, Mrs. Gan was already three months pregnant. Mrs. Gan herself knew about this, and after she discovered that she was having morning sickness, she was ready to tell Liu Bei. As a result, as soon as Liu Bei came back, Qin Zhen brought Hua Tuo over to see the patient, and he found out what was wrong with Mrs. Mi. Although Mrs. Gan and Mrs. Mi called each other sisters, there was actually a huge difference between a wife and a concubine. Even though Liu Bei married Gan first and Mi later, based on their status, Gan had to call Mi "Madam". Seeing that Madam Mi was infertile, even though Gan knew that she might be pregnant, she did not dare to say it out loud at this moment. So it was delayed until July, when Liu Bei discovered that Mrs. Gan was unwell and sought treatment from Hua Tuo, who then discovered that Mrs. Gan was more than three months pregnant.

After this incident, Liu Bei felt happy but also sad. She was happy because her concubine was pregnant, but she was sad because of her special circumstances, which made Gan afraid to even tell others about her pregnancy. For a moment, he felt distressed and emotional. He loved Gan even more and put all his heart on her. But Mrs. Gan saw this and persuaded Liu Bei: "Although I am pregnant, which is a happy event, my wife is in poor health and is in a sad mood." "How can a husband love his concubine alone and neglect his wife?" "I have my own maids to serve me, so I don't need my husband to look after me. Now that the miracle doctor is here, I should spend more time with my wife." "Don't let your wife think that your husband favors me because I am your favorite!" Mrs. Gan is virtuous, and that is something that everyone in the world knows. When Liu Bei first married Gan, he often praised her as a jade lady because of her beauty and skin as white as jade. At this time, a merchant from the Central Plains gave Liu Bei a jade figure. Upon seeing this, Liu Bei placed the jade woman in Madam Gan's boudoir and played with her every time he favored her. If other concubines saw this, they would surely be delighted that their master loved them. But Madam Gan was different. Upon seeing this, she intended to destroy the jade figurine and advised Liu Bei that this was a ridiculous thing and a gentleman should not do such a thing. When Liu Bei heard this, he felt very ashamed, so he moved the beautiful lady away and no longer indulged in this matter. The same was true for Mrs. Gan at this time because she was pregnant. The reason she concealed it was that she hoped to live in harmony with Mrs. Mi. Now Liu Bei's behavior seems to be favoring her, but in fact it is harming her! After hearing these words, Liu Bei couldn't help but sigh: "What a pity, Madam, that you are not a daughter of a rich family!" In fact, in his opinion, Mrs. Gan was the kind of woman who should be the legal wife, but it was a pity that she came from a poor family.

Otherwise, with Madam Gan as his wife, he would have much less trouble in the backyard. After expressing his feelings in this way, he no longer showed partiality and turned his attention to Madam Mi. At this time, good news came from Mrs. Mi. It turned out that under Liu Bei's hard work, Mrs. Mi had become pregnant. Although it was only a month, Hua Tuo still found it out. When the news came out, everyone was naturally happy. Mrs. Gan knew that she could finally get pregnant, so she went to visit Mrs. Mi. Mrs. Mi was also a lady from a prominent family. Knowing how hard Mrs. Gan endured humiliation, she respected her even more. This led to the news that both wives were pregnant at the same time being spread. People who didn't know the inside story all secretly thought that Hua Tuo was a miracle doctor. For a time, a large number of dignitaries, both near and far, came to Hua Tuo to seek treatment for their illnesses. Those who know the inside story can't help but lament that royal families have no freedom. Only Mi Zhu, after knowing this, personally selected a pair of jade bi and a pearl worth a thousand gold and went to Qin Zhen's house to express his gratitude. The reason for thanking him was very straightforward. Qin Zhen saved the lives of his entire family! Because although he funded Liu Bei and married his sister to Liu Bei, he did not know that his sister was infertile! If it weren't for Qin Zhen, they would probably not have discovered this until many years later. If Lady Gan gave birth to one or two more children during this period, even a kind-hearted Liu Bei would still be suspicious of the matter. If Mrs. Mi's illness were to be discovered by then, even if Liu Bei did not say anything, some people would suspect that Mi Zhu did it on purpose. He married his sister to Liu Bei because he knew that his sister was infertile. In this way, all his previous good intentions and determination would turn into a conspiracy. The seriousness of the matter will become more serious as Liu Bei's status becomes higher. If Liu Bei proclaimed himself king or emperor, then this would be a crime of deceiving the emperor, and he would be held accountable sooner or later! Qin Zhen's current action has exposed this problem in advance. Not only did he cure his sister's illness, but she also successfully became pregnant with Liu Bei's child. Even if Mrs. Mi gave birth to only a daughter this time, it would eliminate the hidden danger for his Mi family! And more importantly, if both ladies gave birth to boys this time, the two-month gap would not shake Mrs. Mi's position. Otherwise, if Madam Gan gave birth to a child first and Madam Mi gave birth to a child later, the gap between the two would be too big, and a dispute over the legitimate wife would arise. It is very likely that Liu Bei promoted Lady Gan to be his principal wife in order to establish his eldest son as the heir. These things may seem like small things now, but they will become big problems in the future. After realizing what was happening, Mi Zhu became more and more frightened the more he thought about it. He went straight to Qin Zhen's house to thank him. His original words were: "I heard about this matter of Mr. Qin a month ago, and I thought that Mr. Qin had harmed my family!" "Now that I think about it, I realize how great Qin Jun's kindness is. This small gift is just to express my gratitude. I hope you will accept it with a smile!" Qin Zhen naturally refused to accept this gift, as it would cause big problems. After all, this matter concerned Liu Bei's family affairs. If he accepted Mi Zhu's gift, it would mean interfering with Liu Bei's harem, and even if Liu Bei would not say anything, he would be annoyed.

So he wanted to show that he was dedicated to the public and was not trying to fight for power or profit at all. So after talking with Mi Zhu for a while, he told Mi Zhu righteously: "Now that my wife is pregnant, this is a matter of great joy. I am not doing this for personal gain, but for the public good!" "I am friends with Zi Zhong. I have no intention of harming the Mi family, nor do I want to help them. Why should I receive rewards if I have not done anything good?" "I hope you can bring this thing back and don't ruin my good reputation!" Seeing how righteous he was, Mi Zhu admired him in his heart, and said, "Since I have brought the gifts, it can't be considered a thank-you gift, but it can be considered a share of money, right?" The news that Qin Zhen was going to get married actually came out earlier than the news that his two wives were pregnant. Before going on the expedition, Cai Yan knew about the existence of Erqiao, so she asked Qin Zhen to take her to see him. When they met, he saw that Erqiao was well-educated, well-mannered, and extremely handsome, so he knew what Qin Zhen was thinking. So when Qin Zhen was on his way to the battle, she asked someone to prepare gifts and went to the Qiao family to propose marriage. In fact, in this era, taking a concubine is just like buying a wife. Once the gift is delivered and both parties sign a contract, it's done. In comparison, getting married required signing a marriage certificate and reporting to the government, which was similar to later generations. However, Cai Yan still had to marry a younger sister after all, so she could not let go of the big and small bridges, but she could not let her younger sister suffer any loss. Qin Zhen's marriage to Cai Yao was not considered a concubine in a sense, because before the Qin and Han dynasties, there was a saying that "in ancient times, when marrying a daughter, the younger sister and nephew must follow her, and they are called concubines." The status of a concubine is higher than that of a concubine, but lower than that of a wife. After the wife's death, she can inherit the wife's status. After the Qin Dynasty enacted monogamy, the status of concubine gradually disappeared, but the practice of sisters marrying the same man still existed. This gave rise to a kind of aristocratic privilege, where the lower classes had to abide by monogamy, while the aristocrats had the exception of being able to marry multiple women. Therefore, Cai Yan had an extra thought in mind when proposing marriage. She did not define the matter as taking a concubine, but was prepared to wait until Qin Zhen returned before making a decision. After Qin Zhen came back, Cai Yan was overjoyed to know that she was pregnant with a boy. She advised Qin Zhen: "My husband, please don't worry about your family affairs all day long. This is what a ruler should avoid!" "Now that I am about to give birth to a son, the matter between Zhenji and the Qiao sisters should also be settled!" "When my husband went to war a few days ago, I had already sent the betrothal gifts, but we have not yet set a wedding date, nor a name. I wonder what my husband thinks?" After hearing this, Qin Zhen said that there was no rush and he would talk about it later. At that time, he was busy with the establishment of an intelligence organization and naturally had no time to take care of this matter. But when Cai Yan heard this, she began to reason with Qin Zhen again, saying that she knew he was busy, but the betrothal gifts had been given and Erqiao was waiting! Xiaoqiao and Caiyao are still young indeed, but Daqiao is not young anymore, and we can’t let the two younger ones drag down the older one. Beauty fades with time. If the bridge is delayed for another two years she will become an old maid. You can't hold back a girl, can you? Qin Zhen thought this made sense. In fact, he wanted to wait until the battle of Jiangdong was over before making any decision. After all, he didn't have time to take care of his wife now that he had married. But the bridge is indeed not small anymore. He can drag it, but the bridge cannot. After thinking for a while, he told Cai Yan that he might marry Daqiao first, and then Xiaoqiao and Cai Yao.

But after listening to this, Cai Yan said that if they were going to marry, they could just marry them all at once. There was no point in marrying them in three times! While her great merit has not yet been rewarded, she can apply to Liu Bei to marry three of them at the same time. This way, the three will have the same status, and it will not be unfair to her sister or the big and small bridges. Qin Zhen thought about it and realized that this was indeed the case. He secretly praised his wife for being very thoughtful. Afterwards, he formally submitted a letter to Liu Bei, the content of which was just one thing: requesting that he marry the two daughters of his younger sisters, Cai and Qiao! When Liu Bei received this letter, he felt it was quite interesting. After all, this was the first time that Qin Zhen had taken the initiative to ask for something from him. However, he could not understand Qin Zhen's letter, because the "Nine Laws of the Han Dynasty" stipulated that it was a crime to mess with one's wife or concubine. As a military advisor, Qin Zhen was well-versed in laws and would not be unaware of this matter. Could it be that Qin Zhen's marriage with Cai Yan could no longer continue and he was planning to divorce her and remarry? Afterwards, he called Qin Zhen into the mansion for questioning and asked Qin Zhen directly what he meant. Didn't he already have a wife at home? Why did he want to marry again? Marrying one is not enough, but marrying three! Isn't this a contempt for the laws of the Han Dynasty? Qin Zhen was naturally prepared for this, and immediately explained to Liu Bei: "You have misunderstood, my lord. This is not the same thing as that. My wife is only Zhaoji." "But now that I have no children, Zhao Ji wants to marry my wife's sister to him. But my wife's sister is the daughter of Lord Cai, how can she be a concubine?" "So I want to follow the ancient practice of marrying a wife as a concubine and grant her the position of a co-wife." "In this way, I won't be considered a concubine, nor will I be insulting the Cai family. I can also respectfully inform my father-in-law." "Also, when I went south to Lujiang, General Qiao heard about this and promised him two daughters. I was concerned that the Qiao family was a great clan, so I should not humiliate them." "So I submit this petition to marry three equal wives, rather than marrying another wife!" Although his words were roundabout, Liu Bei still understood them. In the final analysis, Qin Zhen's third marriage was for the sake of his father-in-law and Qiao Rui. It was not to break the law, but to give himself a good reputation! After hearing this, he thought to himself that intellectuals are intellectuals, and even taking concubines is so complicated. However, seeing Qin Zhen like this, Old Liu was happy to watch it. He was not afraid of Qin Zhen's troubles, but was afraid that Qin Zhen had no desires or demands. Now that he asked him for help, it proved that Qin Zhen had a sense of belonging here. He immediately assured Qin Zhen that it was no problem and said, "I will do it for you!" As a result, Lao Liu not only agreed to this matter, but also personally arranged a marriage for Qin Zhen. But Qin Zhen doesn't accept gifts, and a bunch of noble families are waiting to curry favor with him. When they heard that Qin Zhen wanted to take a concubine, these people saw an opportunity and spread the news more and more widely, until almost everyone in the army knew about it. Then the current scene appeared. Qin Zhen refused to accept Mi Zhu's gift, and Mi Zhu said that this was not a gift, but it could be considered a share of money, right? As soon as he said this, Qin Zhen hesitated. It seemed that he had to accept this gift! (End of this chapter)