On the 16th day of the fifth month of the ninth year of the Jade Dragon era, at the beginning of the Si hour.

At the docks and restaurants, newspaper boys happily hawked their wares.

"Newspapers for sale! Newspapers for sale! His Majesty the Emperor An is celebrating his thirtieth birthday! A general amnesty has been granted."

"Your Majesty has implemented a nine-year free academy education program throughout the country. Those who excel in their studies can directly enter various workshops of the imperial court for employment and receive a monthly stipend."

"Newspapers for sale! Newspapers for sale! Get a free gift at Royal Square!"

The sun is shining brightly today. Daming Prefecture is a northern city, and the weather is neither too hot nor too cold. It's the most beautiful May day.

People bought a newspaper and called out to each other, "Let's go to the square to get our gifts and share in the joy!"

Not only the local people of Daming Prefecture who were traveling, but also foreigners who came to do business happily brought their children to the Royal Square of Daming Prefecture.

Royal Square is a large garden-style square with artificial hills, lakes, small bridges, trees, grass, flower beds, a covered walkway over the lake, pavilions for rest, and countless stone tables and benches for leisure and entertainment.

The square has four gates, and long queues have already formed at the gift distribution area.

The gift is both practical and impressive; the current imperial court is not short of money.

The gifts were all packed in a bag, including candy, wedding eggs, fruit, and even hair ties and beaded flowers for girls.

The imperial court prepared the gifts two months in advance, with the Ministry of Revenue allocating silver and entrusting local governments to handle and distribute them.

"It must be distributed to the people by May 16th, so that all the people in the world can celebrate Emperor An's birthday."

Two months ago, Zhou Shaoyu said in court, "If anyone dares to embezzle, even if it's just an egg, I will take their head."

Zhou Lingyin, the Minister of the Comprehensive Department, stepped forward and said: "The population of Yulong Kingdom was 166,669,999 last year's census. Therefore, we have prepared 200 million gifts this time, so that every citizen in the country can receive one."

Officials from other departments: ......

Goodness, when the two countries merged, Da Gan only had 35 million people. It's increased several times over now.

Why don't the neighboring countries come looking for trouble? We could easily take on one of them with a dozen of us!

The Imperial Palace.

Outside Emperor An's bedroom, Zhou Shaoyu sat on the steps, with a child sitting on his left and right.

The father and his two sons remained silent.

The curtains of the bedchamber were hanging, and old women kept going in and out, a familiar scene of carrying a basin of blood was recreated.

The three of them had the same expression.

Zhou Qiyuan was four and a half years old. He asked cautiously, "Father, Mother won't die, will she?"

"Won't!"

"Won't!"

The two people standing nearby, one big and one small, replied, "They will definitely be safe and sound."

Zhou Qiyuan looked at his father and elder brother, his little mouth pursed for a while, and his eyes were still red as he said, "Father, Mother lost so much blood, don't ask Mother to give birth to younger brothers and sisters in the future!"

Zhou Qiheng remained silent; he couldn't make the decision on this matter.

Zhou Shaoyu replied solemnly, "Alright, Father will no longer ask your Mother to take risks."

Actually, he didn't want to have this child at all. He had been secretly taking star anise thorns, but Zhao Zhao secretly changed his medicine.

After she became pregnant, he was quite angry and beat up the maid who was in charge of preparing the medicine and the imperial physician. Xie Zhaozhao said, "I asked them to switch. We should have more children. Brothers fight tigers together, and fathers and sons go to war together. Only brothers can support each other without any disloyalty."

Not even a little distance is acceptable!

Even cousins ​​from distant places are not acceptable.

This pregnancy was more difficult than the previous two; his belly was unusually large, so large that it alarmed him.

When Xie Zhaozhao was five months pregnant, the imperial physician said it was twins.

Zhou Shaoyu's face was scrunched up in pain.

For some reason, Xie Zhaozhao became pregnant, and her appearance became more and more beautiful and younger.

Zhang Yanyan exclaimed in surprise, "Other people look older as they get older, but Your Majesty looks younger and more radiant. Your appearance and complexion are like those of a sixteen or seventeen-year-old girl."

Xie Zhaozhao and Zhou Shaoyu sat together, looking more like father and daughter than husband and wife.

After finally making it to the point of giving birth, Xie Zhaozhao has been so exhausted in the past month that she has been unable to sleep day and night because of her large belly.

Since they got married, except for the time when Zhou Shaoyu went to fight in the Northwest, they had never slept in separate beds. Therefore, Xie Zhaozhao didn't sleep well, and neither did Zhou Shaoyu.

He goes to court every day with dark circles under his eyes.

He already looked older than Xie Zhaozhao, and now he looks even older.

Both twins were premature, with due dates in June, but they started labor more than half a month early, and they're about to be born today.

Zhou Shaoyu refused to wait in the house, nor did he go to the court.

He sat on the steps by the door.

He glanced at the water clock. At this time, the people of the whole country should be joyfully receiving gifts. If each of them offered a blessing, Zhaozhao should receive good fortune.

At 10:00 AM, a sudden gale arose, so strong that people couldn't even stand up.

With the wind blowing, a series of "heavy rains" poured down from the clear sky!

This rain wasn't really "falling," it was "pouring."

It's like that feeling when a wave suddenly washes over you.

Those who can't dodge in time will get soaked to the bone!

The rainstorm did not affect the entire Yulong Kingdom, but rather two large prefectures in eastern Yulong, including Daming Prefecture.

Even the imperial palace was not spared.

The three royal fathers and sons were first blown about on the steps by the wind, their robes billowing and their eyes unable to open, and then they were soaked to the bone by the sudden downpour.

Then the heavy rain came down in waves, pouring down.

Xiu Ning hurriedly brought over an umbrella, and the three of them, father and sons, reacted and ran into the house, when they heard two "snap" sounds.

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