Chapter 89: Joy and sorrow: The Eleventh Prince is born, and the Sixth Prince dies...

The New Year passed quickly, and on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, Tong Jia Zifu brought Yinzhen to the Yikun Palace to celebrate the Lantern Festival. The New Year had many rules, and even though Xiu Yu was pregnant, she couldn't avoid many things. Finally having some free time on the fifteenth, she took out the textbook she had compiled for the children and read it to Kejing, Yinzhen, and Yinqi.

Tong Jia Zi Fu was sitting on the couch beside her drinking tea. When she was at home, she was a little princess who had never done housework. She was too lazy to even learn embroidery. Listening to Xiu Yu talking about addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, astronomy and geography was like listening to a foreign language. She yawned before a quarter of an hour had passed.

By the time the class was finally over, Tong Jia Zifu had already fallen asleep, leaning against the beauty recliner. She was awakened by a bowl of sweet-scented glutinous rice balls served by Yinzhen.

"Mother, it's hot." Yinzhen put the bowl of glutinous rice balls on the tea table, stretched out his little hands in front of Tong Jia Zi Fu, and acted coquettishly.

Tong Jia Zifu smiled and picked up Yinzhen, letting him sit on her lap. She then blew on his small hands and asked, "Are they still hot?"

Yinzhen turned around and smiled at Tong Jia Zifu: "It's not hot anymore."

When Ke Jing came to call Tong Jia, Zi Fu, and Yin Zhen to dinner, she happened to see Yin Zhen acting like a spoiled child and was completely shocked: "So Xiao Si can act like a spoiled child too."

Yinzhen was caught by Kejing, and his ears quickly turned red. Then he jumped off Tong Jia Zifu's legs, and rubbed the Buddhist beads on his wrist with his hands behind his back.

Tong Jia Zifu stood up and said to Ke Jing, "You know Yinzhen is shy."

"Little Four is so shameless?" Ke Jing thought as if she had just heard a joke. "Tong Fei's mother, you haven't seen what Little Four is like in school, have you? He's so aggressive with Master that Master is often speechless."

"Oh?" Tong Jia Zifu took Yinzhen's hand with one hand and Kejing's with the other, and asked Yinzhen, "Is what your fourth sister said true? Did she really confront the teacher in school?"

"Mother..." Yinzhen argued: "Master and Concubine Yi's mother said something different. I thought Concubine Yi's mother was right, so..."

Tong Jia Zifu said, "You're good in every way, except that you're a little impatient. Even if Master made a mistake, couldn't you have gone to Master privately to discuss it? Your Masters also have to save face."

"Oh." Yinzhen responded, "I'll make a note of it, son."

Xiu Yu heard the second half of the conversation between Tong Jia Zi Fu and Yin Zhen, and seeing her daughter's expression, she knew that it was probably the little girl Ke Jing who said something about Yin Zhen in front of Tong Jia Zi Fu. But she was a gentle mother after all, so she only pretended to glare at Ke Jing.

Kejing knew what her mother meant and stuck out her tongue.

Tong Jia Zifu naturally saw all of this. She sat down and said to Xiu Yu, "Why don't you just go to the academy and teach your cousin and the other princes and princesses? That way, Yin Zhen won't have to argue with other teachers because the teachers there teach differently from you."

Xiu Yu looked at Yin Zhen: "Did the Fourth Prince really do this?"

Yinzhen still didn't feel he was wrong: "What Concubine Yi's mother taught me was right, I know that."

"Okay." Xiu Yu didn't know what to say for a moment. "What I taught was right, and what your mother said was also right. Fourth Prince, even when it comes to Aunt Tao and the others, shouldn't you leave some room for them? Not to mention those teachers in the academy."

Yinzhen would act like a spoiled child with Tong Jia Zi Fu, but he showed more respect to Xiu Yu, like a disciple to his master. He stood up and bowed, saying, "Mother Yi Fei is right. I'll take note of this."

Xiao Tao, who was setting out the food, kept her hands and ears busy. With her master's abilities, he was sure to secure his position as the most important person in the harem during this dynasty, but she wasn't sure if the next dynasty would follow the course of history. Now, it seemed there was no need to worry, after all, her master had somehow become Yinzhen's half-master...

Xuanye always remembered the suffering Xiuyu endured when Yin'er was born. So when Xiuyu was pregnant this time, Xuanye was extremely careful. First, he asked the imperial physician to take good care of her. Second, no matter how Xiuyu promised, he would not take her out of the palace to prevent any danger. Of course, Xuanye himself simply stayed in the Forbidden City and relied on reading the memorials to learn about what was happening outside.

In this way, Xiu Yu truly lived the life that a concubine in the harem should have lived, staying indoors, focusing on health, and entertaining the children in her spare time. Whenever she was bored, she would go into the small kitchen and cook some fancy meals for Ke Jing and Yin Qi to feast on, and naturally, she would also send a portion to Cheng Qian Palace.

This went on until May. After the Dragon Boat Festival, Xiu Yu was about to give birth. Xuanye was really scared, so he selected a midwife early and arranged her in the Yikun Palace. The director of the Imperial Medical Bureau also received an imperial decree that when Concubine Yi had a seizure, he would immediately bring the imperial physician on duty from the Imperial Medical Bureau to the Yikun Palace to wait, just in case.

But as luck would have it, after the Dragon Boat Festival, the health of the Sixth Prince Yinzuo, who lived in Yonghe Palace, became increasingly worse. Several imperial physicians could not pinpoint the cause of his illness. Yinzuo had grown up by Concubine De's side, and the bond between mother and son was profound. Concubine De prayed to the gods day and night, hoping her Sixth Prince would recover.

On the night of May 13th, after reviewing memorials in the Yikun Palace study, Xuanye went into the warm room and lay down beside Xiuyu. Sensitively noticing that Xiuyu was still awake, he sat up again and asked, "Are you feeling unwell? Why aren't you sleeping yet?"

Xiu Yu was helped up by Xuanye and said, "My waist is still a little sore. I'll be fine after a rest."

"Is she about to give birth?" Xuanye leaned over and put his ear to Xiuyu's swollen belly: "Is the little prince making a big fuss?"

"No way." Xiu Yu shook her head gently: "It's been like this for the past two days, and it doesn't hurt, so it shouldn't be."

Xuanye didn't dare to sleep anymore. He carefully helped Xiuyu lie down and said, "Take a nap first. I'll watch over you."

Xiu Yu nodded and closed her eyes.

After about an hour, Xuanye saw cold sweat on Xiuyu's forehead and immediately shouted, "Liang Jiugong, go call the midwife and ask the imperial physician to wait behind the screen!"

This time it was the middle of the night, and Xuanye was only wearing his inner garment. He simply stayed by Xiu Yu's side, with no intention of leaving the warm room.

Xiu Yu felt the pain coming quickly. She held Xuanye's hand and started pushing before the midwife was ready.

Xiao Tao was also an old hand. She asked the little maid to fetch hot water and she washed the towel herself. Everything was in order.

After midnight, on May 14th, the midwife, who was kneeling at the foot of the bed, said, "Master Yi, I have seen the little prince's head. Master, please use more strength."

Xiu Yu nodded, but felt his limbs getting cold.

Sun Zhiding, who was kneeling behind the screen, suddenly asked, "Madam Wu, please check and see if Master Yi is having a hemorrhage."

Nanny Wu was still holding the little prince's head with her right hand, and touched the mattress with her left hand, saying, "He's bleeding! It's terrible." She had seen big scenes before, and shouldn't have been so panicked. It was just that she was the one who delivered Yinzhen last time, and she knew how dangerous the process was. This time the time interval was actually not long, and her master was bleeding again, so she was really panicked.

Sun Zhiding immediately ordered another imperial physician to fetch the medicine. Without caring about anything else, he carried the medicine box on his back, walked around the screen, knelt before Xuanye, and said, "Your Majesty, I will immediately give Master Yi acupuncture to stop the bleeding."

Xuanye's eyes were already dark as dark as they could be. He just nodded, still holding Xiuyu's hand tightly, and said, "You can't be in trouble. If you are in trouble, the servants in your palace, as well as these imperial doctors and maids, will all be dead. Their lives depend on you!"

Almost at the same time, in Yonghe Palace, the Sixth Prince Yinzuo developed a fever. Concubine De ordered the servants to call the emperor and the imperial physician. She held Yinzuo in her arms and coaxed him softly, but she could clearly feel that Yinzuo's body was getting hotter and hotter.

When the young eunuch from Yonghe Palace ran to Yikun Palace, the palace was in chaos. The little prince was born, but basins of blood were being brought out. The young eunuch couldn't find anyone in charge to say a word.

Xiu Yu once again felt the chill from the inside out. If she had a thermometer, she'd probably know her armpit temperature was frighteningly low. But she also heard Xuan Ye's words: a threat, yet also a reluctance to let her go. She tried to forcefully grasp Xuan Ye's hand, but she couldn't muster a single ounce of strength.

Sun Zhiding tried his best to save Xiu Yu. He inserted silver needles into Xiu Yu's body one by one. Every time a needle was inserted, a layer of sweat would appear on his back.

As the sun rose, Xiu Yu gradually felt her body warm up. Sun Zhiding pulled out the last silver needle and said to Xuanye, "Your Majesty, Master Yi is safe."

Xuanye placed Xiuyu's hand under the quilt and said, "Thank you for your hard work. Here's a reward. Today is the day when the Eleventh Prince is born, and everyone will get a reward."

When the servants in Yikun Palace heard that their master was safe, they finally felt relieved. When they heard that the emperor had given them a reward, they were naturally happy and knelt down to express their gratitude.

Liang Jiugong was also happy, but he saw a young eunuch from Yonghe Palace rushing in from the gate of Yikun Palace. He ignored Liang Jiugong's attempts to stop him and knelt outside the warm room, shouting, "Your Majesty, the Sixth Prince is gone!"

In Yonghe Palace, Concubine De was hugging Yinzuo and calling him "good boy" softly.

Tong Jia Zi Fu got the news and brought Yinzhen to Yonghe Palace. Seeing the tragic scene, she didn't know what to say to comfort him.

Yinzhen's feelings towards Concubine De were too complicated. He knew that as Concubine De's son, he should go forward to comfort her at this time, but he was actually afraid to meet Concubine De from the bottom of his heart.

"Go." Tong Jia Zi Fu said softly to Yinzhen.

Yinzhen shook his head, and rubbed against Tong Jia Zi Fu instead, holding Tong Jia Zi Fu's hand even tighter with his little hand.

Suddenly, De Fei said, "Is it the Fourth Prince who has arrived? Fourth Prince, why don't you come to see your brother? It was Concubine Yi who usurped the Emperor and the Imperial Physician, and that's why your brother is gone. Will you still go to Yikun Palace every day from now on?"