Half a month later, as the expected delivery date drew closer, Jiang Yang became increasingly worried about Chi Mei’s safety during childbirth. She even went to consult experienced midwives about common problems during delivery. What if there were complications? Would someone ask her the brain-dead question of whether to save the mother or the child during delivery?

Chi Mei, on the other hand, didn’t care at all. He ate and drank as usual every day, with a great attitude, and had even considered post-partum recovery issues.

Jiang Yang was helpless.

“A’Yang, you don’t need to worry about me. We merpeople don’t give birth as difficultly as humans do. We all give birth in water. My brother told me that mermen’s skeletons are naturally different from humans. Even though we’ve given up our fish tails, our pelvic area is still somewhat different from humans, so giving birth won’t be particularly strenuous, really,” Chi Mei stuffed a sour plum into his mouth, his mouth full of sour and sweet flavors.

“Really?” Jiang Yang was half-believing, half-doubting.

“Of course it’s true,” Chi Mei said. “A’Yang, you haven’t seen what my brother looked like when he gave birth back then. It was much easier than for human males. Besides, have you forgotten? We merpeople have mermaid pearls. Even if there really are complications, the mermaid pearl will save my life. It won’t be like what you’re worried about.” Chi Mei picked up a sour plum and put it into Jiang Yang’s mouth, his eyes curving slightly, rippling like water waves. “But seeing A’Yang worry about me like this makes me very happy. The female fish in our tribe all think it’s natural for male fish to give birth, and don’t understand our hardships at all, unlike A’Yang… There’s no better woman in the world than A’Yang.”

Hearing Chi Mei say this, Jiang Yang’s anxious heart gradually calmed down.

“By the way, I’ve brought two old friends to see you,” Jiang Yang said.

“Old friends? What old friends?” Chi Mei thought for a long time but couldn’t think of who it could be. Could it be Douhu? But how could Douhu come ashore?

“Come in,” Jiang Yang said.

The door opened in response, and the now eight-year-old, graceful Winter and Summer walked in, excited yet reserved, happily calling out, “Sister Jiang Yang! Brother Chi Mei!”

“It’s actually you?” Chi Mei was greatly surprised.

“Didn’t we say before that it was too pitiful to leave the two children guarding the lonely island? Taking advantage of the current stable situation, I sent people to bring them over from the lonely island.”

At first, Jiang Yang wasn’t sure if bringing Winter and Summer from the lonely island far from the troubles of the world was the right thing to do. So when she sent Lan Qian to pick them up, she specifically told Lan Qian to respect the two children’s opinions. If they didn’t want to leave the lonely island, just give them some candies, clothes, toys, and various grain and vegetable seeds brought from the mainland, letting them be self-reliant.

But these two simple-minded silly children, as soon as they heard that Jiang Yang had sent someone to pick them up, left the lonely island without a second thought and followed Lan Qian. Perhaps it was because the lonely island was really too far from human habitation. Even though the brothers depended on each other for survival, they must have felt lonely.

Anyway, Jiang Yang didn’t lack money. Raising these two little children could be companions for her daughter in the future. When Winter and Summer grew up and had their own judgment, if they still wanted to return to the lonely island, Jiang Yang would send people to take them back.

The two children had just arrived and found everything very novel, just like the silly fish back then.

Originally, the silly fish would always argue with the two children when they were together, but now, perhaps because of Spring’s dying wish, or perhaps because Chi Mei himself was about to become a father, he was much gentler to Winter and Summer than before. When he had something delicious, he would bring it for Winter and Summer to eat together, quite like a competent good father.

Seven days later, in the dead of night, Chi Mei’s water broke. It happened suddenly, and Jiang Yang hurriedly put him into the water barrel that had been prepared long ago.

The labor pains during childbirth made Chi Mei’s face turn pale. Jiang Yang watched with cold hands and feet. It was only then that Jiang Yang realized that all those words the silly fish had said before about merpeople giving birth much easier than humans were lies, just to reassure her and make her stop worrying.

His healthy merman body had long been depleted due to the use of forbidden techniques, so as the fetal position grew larger, he became more lethargic and drowsy. The forbidden techniques had already made his body no different from a human male’s, and his body, damaged by the forbidden techniques, along with the two twins inside him absorbing nutrients from his body, had long made his childbirth difficult.

The silly fish was in so much pain in the water that his whole body turned pale, his fingers convulsing, his teeth biting his lips desperately trying not to cry out.

Winter and Summer were in a panic beside them, not knowing what to do. Jiang Yang could only use the skills she had temporarily learned from the midwife to help him deliver while helplessly and self-reproachfully comforting him, “It’s okay, it’ll be over soon, push a little harder!”

Blood dripped down from his torn lips, his cries and blood dropping into the cold water, painful and helpless, “A’Yang…”

Jiang Yang gripped his hand tightly, “I’m here, I’m here.”

The silly fish was shaking all over with pain, as if in the cold winter night, his consciousness blurry. Jiang Yang tried hard to hold his hand, her voice trembling, “Chi Mei, push, push harder, have you forgotten what you told me before? Didn’t you say you wanted to have many, many little fish with me? How can you not even deliver the first child? The little fish is about to come out, silly fish, be good, push a little harder, okay?”

“I remember, I remember, I…” Chi Mei finally regained some strength, hugging Jiang Yang tightly with both hands, using his last bit of strength. With a cry of a newborn baby, the child was finally born.

With the birth of the first child, the second birth went much smoother. However, unlike what the doctor had said, it was a pair of dragon-phoenix twins, and neither was a merman.

Jiang Yang looked at the children for a moment, then handed them to Winter and Summer to help hold, while she pulled Chi Mei out of the water and gently wiped his body.

“How are the children? Are they little fish?” Chi Mei was already exhausted, but still struggled to ask weakly with his last breath.

Jiang Yang gently kissed his forehead: “They’re not merpeople, but a pair of healthy babies. You’re tired, rest for a while.”

Chi Mei’s eyes showed no trace of disappointment. In his eyes, whether merpeople or humans, they were all the same – they were his children.

*

After the children were born, Jiang Yang had someone send a letter to the imperial city, stating in the letter that Chi Mei had made meritorious contributions to the Jiang family by bearing children, as they were Jiang Shuiping’s eldest granddaughter and grandson, requesting Jiang Shuiping to bestow favor and elevate Chi Mei to the status of primary husband.

After seeing the contents of the letter, Jiang Qingzhou had someone send an urgent letter back, asking if she had really thought it through? Did she really want to elevate Chi Mei, a man with no family background, to the status of primary husband?

Jiang Yang said she didn’t regret it. If Chi Mei remained a secondary husband, then in the future, Liu would certainly find her a husband with a strong family background, which would inevitably cause resentment in the heart of the current crown princess and future emperor.

By making Chi Mei her primary husband, she was fulfilling Jiang Qingzhou’s wishes. Jiang Yang also knew that even if Liu disagreed, Jiang Qingzhou had ways to make him agree.

Sure enough, soon after, an imperial edict came down. In addition to appointing Chi Mei as her primary husband, it also conferred upon Jiang Yang the title of King of Lingnan, with a title and salary, but no real power, and as the future emperor’s only full-blooded sister.

Local officials respected her, Jiang Qingzhou trusted her, and she didn’t have to go to work to handle government affairs. With the emperor far away, she was the local despot of Lingnan. No matter what she did, as long as it wasn’t absurd or tyrannical, no official would denounce her.

During festivals and holidays, Jiang Qingzhou, the crown princess’s husband, and the crown princess’s secondary husband would all send her various silks and silver as rewards. She had so much money she couldn’t spend it all, living even more carefree than a real emperor.

Two years later, Chi Mei was pregnant again. Under Jiang Yang’s careful nourishment over these two years, this birth was much easier for Chi Mei than the previous one. As Chi Mei had predicted, this time it really was a little fish, with a tail showing a sacred and ethereal blue-white color, and a pair of watery eyes, even more lovable than Ponyo from the animated film.

For this little fish, Jiang Yang specially built a villa on a cliff by the sea. When the little fish grew up, she had already blossomed into a cold and sacred, exceptionally beautiful mermaid. As soon as she entered the sea, she easily captured the hearts of many male merpeople in the South Sea. Moreover, the little fish was born intelligent, had the bloodline of the merman king, and was exceptionally powerful. Before long, she made the merman tribe submit to her and smoothly inherited the throne.

*

Eighteen years later, Jiang Shuiping passed away, and Jiang Qingzhou ascended to the throne. She appointed Qin as empress and the secondary husband Fu Yue as imperial noble husband. During her reign, the politics were clear and the country was peaceful. She specially promulgated a law prohibiting the hunting and killing of merpeople, and at the same time ordered the market to ban the circulation and sale of all goods related to merpeople. Merchants wailed, but for the merman tribe, it was undoubtedly great news.

It was only then that the merman tribe learned that their two princes, one had married the human emperor, and one had married the emperor’s sister, which led to this news favorable to the merman tribe.

“I used to think that the two princes were blinded by love, disregarding the interests of the tribe, only caring about small love affairs, short-sighted. Now I know that I was the short-sighted one, the two princes have such a grand vision!” Elder Left covered his face and wept.

Chi Mei and Fu Yue’s reputations thus inexplicably improved. In her leisure time, Jiang Yang would take Chi Mei out to sea to see their little daughter and incidentally accept the worship of the merman tribe. Chi Mei was so proud that the corners of his mouth almost curled up to the sky.

After experiencing a whole day of the merman tribe’s respectful welcome, in the evening, Jiang Yang took Chi Mei to rest on the once lonely island. The phoenix flower tree that had always been in full bloom years ago still stood tall. Jiang Yang climbed up, picked a flower, and placed it in the old banyan tree hollow. The water’s reflection illuminated the vibrant phoenix flower. Chi Mei snuggled affectionately by Jiang Yang’s side: “A’Yang, it’s so good to have met you.”