Kangxi still watched the folding screen attentively and only instructed Liang Jiugong, “Go pick up some top-quality herbs and have the Imperial Medical Institute be extra careful.”
“Also, investigate the Eldest Prince’s premature birth!”
Liang Jiugong bowed and left.
Only when he reached the courtyard did he suddenly hear Fang He’s painful scream—
“Ah—!! It hurts to death!”
Liang Jiugong thought, though not entirely unexpected.
Inside, Kangxi’s head hurt, his heart ached, and he couldn’t sit still.
He paced before the screen, but no one dared stop him.
Fang He felt as if someone was stabbing her lower body with knives.
Seeing something moving behind the screen, she could no longer suppress her pain and frustration—
“Palace lady, breathe in—”
“Hiss… What’s the point of moving around? If my legs don’t want to, just cut them off!”
“Palace lady, breathe out—”
“Ahh… it hurts so much, it’s all your fault, you bastard!!”
“Palace lady, push! The head is visible!”
“Ahhh! Bastard! I’m never having children again, wuwu…”
Kangxi, frozen behind the screen, thought: ‘So all that silence earlier was just to save up curses for now?’
Luckily, Guoguo hadn’t lost her mind in pain and hadn’t said anything inappropriate.
Kangxi helplessly pressed his thumb against his forehead, glaring at the palace maids inside, especially Li Dequan, telling them clearly what they could and couldn’t say.
Li Dequan immediately understood and hurried out to warn the other palace maids and eunuchs outside.
Inside, Fang He began a new round of painful cries.
She was delivering full-term this time, not as easy as last time.
She had eaten quite a bit, and the midwife could tell from her head that the baby was large.
The baby seemed stuck for a moment, making the midwife anxious and fearful something might be wrong.
Gritting her teeth, she stepped forward.
“Palace lady, we can’t delay any longer. Forgive me, your servant!”
Fang He was about to break.
She glanced at Fule, who quickly stuffed a wooden gag into Fang He’s mouth.
The midwife placed both hands on Fang He’s belly, sliding downward and exerting strong force.
“Ugh! Ugh ugh ugh ugh ugh ugh ugh! (Damn it, this hurts like hell)!”
Suddenly, Kangxi sneezed.
Inside, a loud baby’s cry rang out.
He suddenly recalled a joke the Imperial Consort’s Wet Nurse once told—that some women give birth just by sneezing.
Kangxi thought, ‘Well, that’s a coincidence, just like the one I saw…’
Because of this coincidence, when the midwife wrapped the swaddled baby and brought the child out, Kangxi’s eyes unconsciously softened.
“Congratulations, Your Majesty! Congratulations, Your Majesty! The palace lady has given birth to a little prince!”
Everyone knelt in congratulation.
Kangxi swiftly took the baby and looked at the child’s features.
Though slightly red, the baby had hardly any wrinkles, looking as if born several days ago, and Kangxi was very pleased.
“Good! Quickly hang the Golden Arrow outside and issue an imperial edict: all personnel of Yanxi Palace will receive three months’ salary!”
Imperial Physician Zhang came over to take the little prince’s pulse, smiling broadly.
“Your Majesty, the little prince is strong and healthy, no weaker than a full-month-old baby!”
Fule reported from the door, “Your Majesty, the palace lady is exhausted and asleep. There is no major issue with her health.”
Kangxi nodded happily again and again.
If he weren’t restrained by some sense of reason, he might have rewarded the entire palace three months’ salary.
But the child had just been born, and Kangxi worried that too much reward might bring bad luck to the baby.
He secretly planned to celebrate the baby’s hundredth and first birthday with double the honors, taking Guoguo and the baby together to mark the occasions privately.
Since the baby was born in March, it was surely his and Guoguo’s child.
From then on, the four of them could pick a special day each year to celebrate together.
Kangxi handed the baby to the Imperial Consort’s Wet Nurse.
Hearing that Fang He had been cleaned and was to be sent back to her chamber, Kangxi did not hesitate to enter the delivery room again.
He gently lifted Fang He, wrapped her in a blanket and a cloak, covering her so not even a strand of hair showed, then carried her back to the sleeping chamber.
Though it was somewhat against protocol, neither the midwives nor the palace staff at Yanxi Palace dared stop him, only feeling joy and envy.
Meeting a man who didn’t mind the mess of childbirth, cared only about his beloved, and disregarded worldly rules was rarer than a gift from heaven for women in this world.
After settling Fang He, Kangxi carefully examined her.
She looked pale and there was a faint but unmistakable scent of blood.
He grasped her hand, feeling it cool to the touch.
Even though the Imperial Physicians and Fule had already checked her, Kangxi was still uneasy.
“This time, she will sit the month properly. Take great care of her all of you. If done well, I will reward you. If not, none of you will keep your heads!”
Everyone hurriedly knelt and responded.
Though threatened, the smiles on Cui Wei and the others’ faces deepened.
The Emperor entering the delivery room and giving such orders could not be hidden.
From then on, everyone would know how dearly the Emperor treasured the palace lady, and who would dare to mistreat her?
With everything settled, Kangxi stayed with Fang He for over two hours, coaxing her to drink a bowl of porridge when she was groggy, watching over her until she fell into a deep sleep, then returned to Qianqing Palace to review the remaining memorials.
During these few hours, news of Fuqin’s delivery and Noble Consort Zhaoyuan’s childbirth spread throughout the palace.
The officials at the previous dynasty’s quarters had heard about it.
Yu Qing Palace was the first to know.
After all, the joyful noises from Yanxi Palace and the Golden Arrow hung above the palace gate couldn’t be concealed.
Just a quick glance along the narrow alley and the news was everywhere.
Yinreng learned he had yet another half-legitimate younger brother and silently brooded in the hall, causing his attendant Xu Bao to be nervous and unable to speak much.
After dinner, seeing no sign that his master would eat, Xu Bao braced himself to approach.
“Your Highness… it’s almost the end of the You hour. Shouldn’t you—”
Yinreng slammed the table, a cruel smile flashing across his handsome face, interrupting Xu Bao.
“It’s my turn to act now!”
Xu Bao’s eyelids twitched, face pale.
He trembled as he warned, “Your Highness, please don’t act rashly! The Emperor is in a joyous mood, and Gu Wenxing is guarding Yanxi Palace like an iron fortress. If you make a move now… what would become of you? We slaves wouldn’t survive either!”
The Crown Prince sneered, “I’m not rash. Why would I be rash? What is there to be rash about?”
Xu Bao: “…” (You know what ‘hide the silver here’ means, right?)
Ignoring Xu Bao’s warnings, the Crown Prince loudly ordered—
“Send someone to the Zaoban Office to find me the biggest possible palm fans!”
“And have Ling Pu bring me a chef skilled in red cases—I want it today!”
Xu Bao was stunned.
What was the master planning… to poison the little prince?
After the Crown Prince’s repeated orders, he looked considerably happier.
He also instructed, “Go to my private treasury and pick out suitable jewelry for a little girl. Take the best and send it to my elder brother to congratulate him on his noble daughter. Tell him I am happy to have a niece!”
“Also, take out the bow and Jinlu Ball I used in childhood and send them to Yanxi Palace to congratulate Noble Consort Zhaoyuan on her noble son. Tell them I am happy to have a younger brother, and share joy with Father!”
Xu Bao: “…”
‘Did you not even bother to think of a new congratulatory phrase?’
But strangely, seeing his master’s eager excitement was more reassuring than the Crown Prince sitting gloomily lost in thought.
Xu Bao thought for a moment, gave up on stopping him, and hurried to carry out the orders.
During the two months when Fang He and Fuqin were sitting the month, quite a bit of lively drama unfolded inside and outside the palace.
First, the Crown Prince openly sent congratulatory gifts to the princes’ residences.
Upon seeing this, the rest of the harem followed suit, flooding the Eldest Prince’s residence with gifts, making the Eldest Prince suddenly wealthy.
He even got into a fight with the Crown Prince at the training grounds.
They fought until both were bruised and battered, enraging Kangxi to give them both a beating, ordering them to behave and quietly recover behind closed doors.
Next, the Supervisory Division of the Imperial Household Department discovered that one of the nine clans responsible for the department’s rotation, the Wanyan clan, smuggled medicinal herbs into the palace.
The entire Wanyan clan was sent to the Office of Punishment and Investigation, stripped of all positions in the Imperial Household Department, and banned for three generations from serving in the palace.
Several servants in Changchun Palace also quietly disappeared.
Consort Hui, reportedly worried excessively about Fuqin’s health, fell ill and was bedridden in Changchun Palace.
Then Kangxi issued an edict reinstating Suo’etu as Chief Eunuch of the Qianqing Palace and appointed him as Prefect of the Provincial Administration Commission.
Though this was only a second-rank official post, because of the presence of golden grain and supplies, it was clearly a reward for the Crown Prince’s faction.
Everyone saw that the Emperor intended to restore Suo’etu, making them pay more attention to the Crown Prince.
At the same time, Kangxi reappointed Nalan Mingzhu as Grand Secretary of Wuying Hall, putting him in charge of the Ministry of War, and appointed the Eldest Prince Yinzhi to a position in the Ministry as well.
Suddenly, Suo’etu and Nalan Mingzhu clashed fiercely in court.
The Eldest Prince and the Crown Prince were also constantly at odds.
Today the Eldest Prince gathered the Third Prince; tomorrow the Crown Prince taught the Fourth Prince to write by hand.
One day the Crown Prince requested Father to send a Heavenly Horse; the next day the Eldest Prince requested, via Nalan Mingzhu, to inspect the Jingjiao Daying.
Aside from the fifteen-year-old Yinsi, fourteen-year-old Yinzhen, and thirteen-year-old Yin Qi, the Eldest Prince and Crown Prince didn’t spare even the younger brothers.
Whenever they had free time, they went to the Imperial Study to teach their younger siblings.
Yinsi, raised by Consort Hui, naturally became the Eldest Prince’s little follower, even dragging Yin Long, Yin E, and the surprisingly included Yinzhiang to play.
They blindly followed the brothers , forming the Eldest Prince’s faction.
The Crown Prince gathered the sulky Yini, Yin’e, Yin You, and cautious Yin Tao, quietly taking on clerical duties and working hard.
When Kangxi led the princes on a southern inspection tour, they nearly caused a horse-riding accident fighting for guard duty beside the imperial carriage.
Yin Long and Yin E, who had begged to join, were caught up and almost fell, risking injury.
Kangxi was furious at the palace gate, ordering all princes to ride in carriages until boarding the ship, forbidding anyone from going out, eating, or relieving themselves outside.
When Fang He heard this, sipping weak millet porridge while gossiping, she almost spat out her food in disbelief.
“You’re telling me… the Thirteenth Prince is so close with the Eldest Prince?”
Cui Wei, confident in her information, nodded firmly.
“I heard that as soon as the Thirteenth Prince entered the Imperial Study, the Eldest Prince personally tutored him in writing. Even on the training grounds, the Eldest Prince stole Anda’s duties to teach the Thirteenth Prince to ride horses.”
“The Thirteenth Prince respects the Eldest Prince a lot, even more so than the Ninth and Tenth Princes.”
“This time, the Emperor only brought a few of the older princes. The Eleventh and Twelfth Princes showed no reaction at not being allowed to go. But the Thirteenth Prince cried clinging to the Eldest Prince’s leg at the city gate. It was quite a spectacle. According to palace gossip, even when their parents died, they might not have cried that hard.”
The Eldest Prince was sweating profusely, finally carrying the bawling Thirteenth Prince away.
Fang He: “…..”
Did a couple just form?
Well, that had nothing to do with her.
Fang He pursed her lips with regret.
“So it looks like there will be plenty of lively moments on the southern trip. Too bad we won’t be able to see them.”
Cui Wei covered her mouth to laugh, “Luckily you’re not going. At least the Crown Prince went, so you can finally rest peacefully during your confinement.”
Fang He: “…That’s true.”
Earlier, when the Crown Prince followed Suo’etu’s advice and acted against her in the Imperial Garden, his plan was quite meticulous.
If she hadn’t been skilled in the chaotic fighting style of ‘killing the master with wild punches,’ she might have suffered silently in the palace’s rules.
Even if she miscarried, she would only silently swallow the loss.
She had thought the Crown Prince was shrewd and had prepared for his private retaliation, discussing many countermeasures with Gu Wenxing.
Unexpectedly, he did retaliate, but the method… was complicated to say the least.
Fang He was lost in thought when suddenly the hurried footsteps of eunuchs outside reached her ears.
They hurriedly shut all the open windows for ventilation but a few familiar strands of pungent sour-spicy smell still fluttered inside.
Fang He’s small face drooped instantly.
‘Damn, here we go again!’
Truly, the Emperor’s sons are even more narrow-minded than needles.
The man was gone, yet the revenge still hadn’t stopped!
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