Chapter Nineteen

  On the short, intricately carved wooden cabinet stood a vase with green bamboo shoots inserted into it. The four-legged incense burner in the shape of an elephant's trunk was burning a new type of incense made from green bamboo, which was considered a luxury item. On the kang was spread a light-colored woolen blanket that had been tribute-brought from Holland. A woman leaned against a large, purple peony-patterned Shu brocade pillow, with her hair styled in a half-bun and adorned with a suite of hairpins featuring kingfisher feathers and pearls, as well as a headpiece shaped like the "Three Friends of Winter" made of jade. Her ears sparkled with bright red gemstone earrings that refracted dazzling lights as she smiled and chatted. On her wrist, which was exposed from under the covers, she wore a gold-mounted nine-dragon-plays-with-pearl bracelet, which shone with a soft, elegant glow as it moved.

  The people below held their breath and gazed at the side, following Guan Pei, the elder sister of the Emperor, who was sitting on the kang with a big red bundle wrapped around her. The little prince, who was not crying or making a fuss, lay beside his elder sister. Aro Khoro exclaimed with joy: "The young prince already knows how to be affectionate, he is so well-behaved!"

  Her eyebrows and eyes were filled with a joyful smile, like a peony in full bloom, and she seemed to be in a daze for a moment.

  A woman in a bright yellow dress walked in, and everyone was busy bowing and calling her the Crown Princess. Behind her, the three consorts followed, and the rooms suddenly lit up, with hardly any space for ordinary people to stand. Ruyi stood carefully to one side, afraid of making a mistake.

  The crown princess looked down at the child in the swaddle and asked: "What's his name?"

  "Calling out 'Bao Ge' casually."

  She gazed at the gifts given to Xiaoge, feeling that they were really valuable, some of which she couldn't even name. As someone who rarely went out, she had come for the first time to a place where the most noble women of the Qing dynasty gathered, and suddenly felt humble and insignificant.

  The girl outside came in with a message: "The auspicious hour has arrived!" Everyone then got up and followed the nanny, who was holding the child, out of the house.

  Outside the delivery room, a hall is set up with an incense table to worship thirteen deities including Bixia Yuanjun, Qiongxiao Niangniang, Yunxiao Niangniang, Cuisheng Niangniang, Songsun Niangniang, Douzhen Niangniang and Yangguang Niangniang. The servants will prepare a soup made from the branches of the pagoda tree and mugwort leaves in a copper basin, adding gold and silver ingots and auspicious fruits. The relatives surrounding the hall then come forward one by one to add to the basin.

  When the slippery newborn baby was put into the basin, the midwife took up the spoon and stirred it in the basin, while saying some auspicious words. Fortunately, it was hot weather, even if he was naked and put into the water, nothing would happen, only the child slept soundly, suddenly changed environment, and cried out loudly, everyone laughed and said: "Crying so loud!" This is a good omen.

  Who doesn't love a chubby son? Even when he's wailing loudly, the childless women present can't help but feel envious. San Fu Jun secretly rubbed her own belly and prayed to the gods that she would definitely have a son!

  The empress's eyes dimmed, and she turned her head to look elsewhere. Not far away, on the steps stood Yongzheng's several concubines. It was said that Li Shi, who was pregnant, also touched her belly, and in the scorching summer sun, there was a full expectation. The empress sneered with a smile.

  The child was carried in, and Quan Pei took a look: "Carry him into the house to wash and change his clothes."

  The wet nurse responded with a busy tone and led several maids into the inner room to give Bao Ge another bath. With so many people and things around, who knows what's good or bad?

  The small courtyard was filled with women, both inside and out. Li Shi found it inconvenient to serve them, but occasionally caught a glimpse of a young girl following behind A-Ruo-Shi. The girl was not very old and seemed timid and reserved, yet she was well-behaved and didn't say or look at anything excessive. Her ordinary appearance didn't reveal that she was the younger sister of Fu Jin. Li Shi only thought about this briefly before putting it aside, unaware of the various grudges and entanglements that would arise between them in the years to come.

  She fiddled with the gifts given by the various ladies, picked up a crimson gold long-life lock engraved with "Prosperity and Wealth", examined it carefully, and found that the auspicious cloud pattern was only visible under sunlight, with the words "Peace and Longevity" faintly visible in the middle. The workmanship was indeed top-notch, this was given by the Eldest Lady, but looking at it, it seemed like it had just been blasted or something. She carefully held it in her hand to feel it, and found that the edges were slightly uneven, as if it had been damaged.

  What does "Da Furen" mean?

  The crown princess gave a five-colored jade pendant, very eye-catching, heavy in her hand, and also matched the identity of the crown princess. The Li Ce Fujun in the Crown Prince's palace was pregnant, and the Crown Princess looked at it with fear that she would not feel comfortable either. The Emperor's eldest grandson was just a nominal title, but the Crown Prince probably wanted to take advantage of this nominal title more, and if he didn't pay attention, his treasure brother would become a public figure, and many people had ideas about him.

  It's better for Empress Li to give birth to a son.

  Quan Pei put everything aside, and the maids naturally picked them up. Outside, a banquet was opened, and Quan Pei also brought rice and dishes over. The maids served Quan Pei to wash her hands and eat.

  After everyone finished their meal, the rewards from the emperor arrived one after another. They were all glittering golden or yellow things, or exquisite fabrics that dazzled people's eyes. After all, he was the eldest son born to the empress, and he was somewhat different from others.

  The girls were registered one by one and entered into the ledger, then stored in the warehouse.

  It was about time, the guests sat and chatted for a while before getting up to bid farewell. Jueluo's family left a bit later, and she said a few more words of family talk to Quan Pei: "If you didn't insist on me bringing it over, I'm afraid it would be embarrassing for you..."

  "Take a look at Ruyi standing beside you, and smile: "Don't be angry about this, Ama is right, she's just a girl after all."

  The girl said so, and Jueluo felt much more at ease. She also reminded Quan Pei: "Take good care of yourself, after the month is over, grab the fourth brother-in-law in your hands, and two more will enter your backyard, don't relax!"

  Quan Pei nodded in agreement.

  The lady of the Zhao family had many years of successful experience in fighting with her concubines, but in this small courtyard, she didn't dare to say much, and finally only turned into one sentence: "Listen to your mother's words, that is, no matter what, you must get along well with the fourth prince, grasping a man's heart is the most important thing!"

  Ruan Yu had a moment of daze, if her mother were here, would she also be like Jueluo Shi, painstakingly advising her?

  Yin Zan was drunk with a lot of wine, carrying a body full of wine smell into the house, and didn't know to avoid suspicion like usual. He rushed into Quan Pei's room, squeezed into her arms: ".......Today I drank a lot! Third brother was drunk by me, but I'm not drunk yet!"

  His eyes were bright and excited, twisting in Quan Pei's arms: "They all don't have sons, only I do, they're all enviable!"

  Indeed like a child, Quan Pei smiled and took the handkerchief from Ya Tou to wipe his face: "Didn't you eat dinner, only drinking?"

  "Yum! I ate it all! The chicken leg and the pig's trotter... I ate a lot of things!"

  Wei Juan then stroked his back: "Does it feel uncomfortable anywhere?"

  "It doesn't matter, just give me a kiss and it'll be alright!" He said with a sly smile.

  Quan Pei was also amused and gave him a massage on his temples for a while: "Go take a bath."

  "You come too."

  "You know I'm not convenient."

  Finally, after coaxing and deceiving her into letting Yun Yan serve her in the bathhouse, Quan Pei felt much cleaner, but also ended up with a strong smell of wine on her body, so she had to have the maid help her change into another set of clothes.

  On the bright red kang, several types of pastries and dried fruits were placed. Mingyue leaned against her sister, Princess Chun's consort, Nalan, and coughed up a melon seed, pinching her sister's silver-embroidered sleeve with envy: "You say why is it just an Ah Ge?"

  Nalan knew what his sister was saying, and smiled as he tapped her smooth forehead: "What are you thinking about?"

  Nalan Mingyue straightened her back: "I also want to be like my sister, a glorious Ce Furen!"

  The pure king's wife had no children and was not favored, Nalan gave birth to two sons, one is five years old and the other is three years old, also got the pure king's liking, it can be said that the main wife is not excessive.

  Nalan's sister said patiently, "I heard that the Fourth Imperial Concubine is not a simple person. You were chosen by her to enter the palace, which shows that she has both dignity and power. In the future, even if the Fourth Prince becomes a king or a prince, it's unlikely that he will only have one imperial concubine. If you can also give birth to a son early and make the Fourth Prince happy, he may ask for another imperial concubine for you too. But remember, when you first enter the palace, you must learn to be patient and humble!"

  Nalan thought back to when she first entered the Prince of Jing's estate, a fleeting shadow crossing her eyes.

  Nalan Mingyue was very convinced by her sister, nodding obediently, but soon became worried again: "But I've already offended Wu Ruoxi, what should I do?"

  Nalan's eyes shone with a fierce light: "Don't worry, with sister here, I'll make sure Wu Ruoxi has no grievances to speak of!"

  On the second day, Yinzhen woke up to find himself sleeping on a small couch in front of Quanpei, vaguely remembering his behavior at night, feeling both shy and embarrassed, waiting for Quanpei to wake up, but he had already disappeared early.

  The imperial concubines had bestowed a large quantity of fabrics, which were piled up in the warehouse and would eventually go bad. Quan Pei was generous to her maidservants and ordered Xiaoyue to lead Songshi and Lishi to select fabrics to make clothes.

  Song only picked a piece of unassuming light blue damask with subtle patterns and refused to take more, while Li usually liked peach-red chrysanthemum-patterned damask, and it just so happened that there was a batch available, so she naturally chose some.

  Xiao Yue entered the house and saw Quan Pei reading a book. She stood aside for a while, then smelled that the fragrance in the incense burner had faded a lot. She quietly picked up an incense stick, lit it, and put it back in.

  The light coming from the pale green gauze window shines on the celadon pen holder on the small stove, casting a bright and moist glow. Quan Pei's slender fingers move slightly, then stop for half a beat. Xiao Yue hurries forward to take the book from Quan Pei's hand, inserts the red leaf bookmark inside, and places it in a conspicuous position on the bookshelf. Seeing that Quan Pei has turned her gaze to her, she hastily says: "Song Gege is a batch of cyan-colored dark-patterned satin, Li Gege is peach-red chrysanthemum-patterned satin."

  Wei Xiang used her fingers to support her forehead, with a faint smile at the corner of her mouth, as if she was leisurely admiring the small-leafed sea buckthorn flowers blooming on the windowsill. The bright sea buckthorn flowers were piled up and opened, as if they were beckoning their master for pampering.

  Although she knew that something was going to happen, Fugui still seemed so carefree. Was it because everything was under control or because she simply didn't care?

  The gentle and soft voice of the imperial concubine came through from above: "Tell the servants in the courtyard to open their eyes wide, watch those who should be watched, let's just see who is loyal and who is treacherous..."

  "I understand!" She looked around and saw that no one was paying attention, then knelt down beside Quan Pei's feet and began to massage her legs.

  Quan Pei leaned against the pillow with a pattern of peonies, her eyes slightly closed, listening to Xiao Yue's soft voice: "......it turns out that Da Furen had given birth to a young master, but he passed away after only two days. Since she hadn't gone through the ritual of washing three times, not many outsiders knew about it, but it was still something that could be found out with some inquiry."

  Ruan Yu thought of the long-life lock, could it be that this lock was prepared for this young master who died prematurely last year, and even the marks on it were caused by Madame Fu's anger? Was she thinking that this inauspicious thing had disturbed her mind?

  The sound of Bao Ge's loud crying came from the room, and it quieted down after a moment. Xiao Yaotou came out and replied, "Little A'ge was just hungry."

  Jian Fu Jin hadn't opened her eyes yet. Xiao Yue waved at her from the side and she quietly retreated.

  Xiao Rong brought in a newly made cherry pie from outside, and Quan Pei just opened her eyes. Xiao Yue felt that compared to what might happen next, Fugui was more interested in the food in front of her.

  Yun You had taken her to eat the famous Han Dynasty cherry pie in Chang'an City, why couldn't she taste the slight acidity here at that time, and see the sadness and expectation in Yun You's eyes? Did she really not have a single thread of concern and kindness for Yun You...