Chapter 52 A Life Full of Fulfillment (End of Main Text) The winter sun overcast over Pingnan…

The winters in Pingnan are cold and damp; though the leaves are lush and green, the cold seeps into your bones.

Shen Yunrong seemed to carry a living stove on her body, so she didn't need a hand warmer and her body was always warm.

The renowned physician Xue was also very interested in her pills. He wrote out the prescriptions, and the herbs were often boiled in the backyard of the villa amidst swirling smoke.

Zhao Linzhang didn't want her to be so tired, but Shen Yunrong felt that every little pill that rolled out made all the hardship worthwhile. Besides, Doctor Xue said that these herbs could strengthen the body and bones, and that smelling them for a long time could calm her mind and regulate her breathing.

With many things on her mind, Shen Yunrong wasn't too saddened by her mother's passing, and Zhao Linzhang followed her lead.

On this day, Zhao Linzhang held his daughter, while Shen Yunrong, who rarely had a moment of free time, leaned back in her recliner, feeling drowsy.

My body felt increasingly heavy after six months, and I always felt sleepy in the afternoons.

Little Ruoyu can already say a lot of words. Her father shushed her, signaling her not to disturb her mother.

But she pointed at Shen Yunrong and said, "Mother and brother are sleeping!"

"How did you know it was your brother's?" Zhao Linzhang asked his daughter with a smile in a low voice.

"It's my younger brother!"

Shen Yunrong heard her daughter's voice and struggled to open her eyes: "Where did you go?"

"Ruoyu said you love plum blossoms the most, this is for your mother, did we wake you up?" Zhao Linzhang held a plum blossom branch about the length of a child's arm in one hand, which looked like it was picked by his daughter.

"You've had enough sleep today, what are you whispering about?" Shen Yunrong was half asleep and only heard something about her younger brother.

"My daughter said you and your brother are sleeping!"

"It's my younger brother, I can hear him talking!"

Upon hearing Ruoyu's words, the couple couldn't help but chuckle: "Ruoyu is amazing, she can even hear her little brother talking!"

"Why does Ruoyu want a younger brother? A younger sister is great too! She can play with you!"

"My mother gave me one younger brother after another, just like my brother Siliang!"

"Okay, Mother, give me a little brother!" Shen Yunrong also hoped that she could have a son. It was too difficult for a woman without brothers, just like her, whose parents could not protect her for a lifetime.

Zhao Linzhang laughed and said, "Father wants your mother to have another little sister!"

Daughters are so wonderful, quiet and beautiful.

"I want a younger brother!"

"Alright, Mother wants to pick a few more plum blossoms. Ruoyu, take Mother to see where the plum blossoms are beautiful!" If this topic isn't stopped soon, they could probably go on and on until dark.

Whether a child is a boy or a girl is not something they can decide.

"I know, I know where it is! Mother, Father, come quickly!" Little Ruoyu took off running.

"Slow down, be careful!" Zhao Linzhang shouted anxiously from behind.

Once the pills were made, their effects were even better than those of Jiang Xinyan's. Doctor Xue sealed the pills with insect wax, so they could be carried around and would not lose their medicinal properties even after being stored for a year.

Shen Yunrong was also nearing her due date, but Zhao Linzhang was even more anxious than she was.

He asked her three times a day how she felt, and Doctor Xue also invited her to stay at his residence.

Shen Yunrong had given birth once before and knew what labor felt like, so she laughed at him, "Your Highness is in such a hurry, as if you're the one about to give birth!"

"How could I not be anxious! Everyone says childbirth is like crossing the gates of hell, I even went to ask a master for amulets for protection, why didn't you wear them!" Zhao Linzhang hurriedly pulled out another string from his pocket: "There are more here, yes, I should have hung them all up!"

This way, wherever Shen Yunrong goes, she will be blessed by Buddha!

"Your Highness, people will laugh at you for doing this!"

"I don't care about my own wife and children!" Zhao Linzhang said as he actually hung amulets all over the house.

Shen Yunrong smiled and shook her head. She was just pregnant, but Zhao Linzhang treated her like a fragile porcelain doll, wishing he could hold her in his mouth. He even went to great lengths to get her food and amulets for protection, based on someone's advice that it was good for pregnant women.

She had just finished dinner and felt a little uncomfortable in her stomach. She thought it was because she had eaten too much. Just as she was about to get up and turn around, her stomach started to tighten.

Zhao Linzhang, whose eyes were glued to her, immediately noticed something was wrong: "What's wrong? Are you about to give birth?"

The voice was filled with terror and helplessness!

"It seems so!"

"Don't move, sit down!" Zhao Linzhang's face was flushed with nervousness as he turned around and shouted, "Someone, someone come quick! The princess is about to give birth!"

The midwife and maid rushed over and took Shen Yunrong into the prepared delivery room.

Doctor Xue waited outside just in case.

Zhao Linzhang paced back and forth hurriedly. He had heard his subordinates say that some of their wives' labors lasted one or two days. How could his Yunrong endure that?

"Dr. Xue, we've been inside for so long and there's been no sound. Should we go in and check?" The subordinates said their wives were practically screaming themselves hoarse, but when it came to his wife, there wasn't a sound at all!

"Your Highness, please calm down! The Princess Consort may not have started labor yet!" Doctor Xue, mindful of the supreme authority of the Emperor, managed to suppress a curse. They had only been inside for less than the time it takes to brew a cup of tea; even a hen doesn't lay an egg this quickly!

"The miracle doctor is right!" Doctor Xue's words made him sit down quietly.

Shen Yunrong's faint cries came from inside the house. Zhao Linzhang jumped up: "Divine Doctor, she's crying out in great pain! What should we do!"

Doctor Xue opened his lifeless eyes, suppressing his anger, and said, "Your Highness, as long as the baby is not in the wrong position, there is generally no danger during childbirth. I have examined the baby, and the princess's baby is in the correct position!"

Although Zhao Linzhang was extremely anxious, he knew that he couldn't help at this time, and the old doctor remained calm.

I forced myself to sit down and silently prayed to every Buddha, Bodhisattva, and deity I knew.

Suddenly a woman screamed, and Zhao Linzhang immediately sprang to his feet, about to rush into the delivery room, but Steward Tan stopped him in time: "Your Highness, you cannot go in!"

"Why is she screaming so loudly!" Zhao Linzhang felt like he was going crazy. He couldn't bear the anxiety of waiting outside for his beloved woman to cross the threshold of death. He had to go in and see her.

"Your Highness, please wait a little longer!"

"I'll go in and check on her!"

Just as the group was arguing, a loud baby's cry echoed throughout the entire mansion.

"She's given birth! Your Highness, the Princess has given birth!"

The midwife quickly ran out to announce the good news: "Congratulations, Your Highness! Congratulations! The Princess Consort has given birth to a baby boy! Mother and child are safe and sound!"

In that instant, Zhao Linzhang felt his eyes welling up with tears, and his heart felt as if it were filled with something. He cautiously asked, "May I go in and see her?"

"Yes, Your Highness, please come in!" The midwife helped Zhao Linzhang lift the curtain.

Doctor Xue followed behind, intending to go in and check on the mother and child.

"You've worked so hard!" Zhao Linzhang glanced at his son, who was covered in red blood and crying his heart out, before turning his gaze back to his wife.

"Your Highness, Ruoyu is right, it's a boy!" Shen Yunrong's delivery wasn't too difficult, and she looked as energetic as usual.

"Oh, right, go and bring Miss over quickly, let her see her little brother!" Afraid that Ruoyu would be frightened and make a fuss, the nanny carried her to play in the garden.

"How are you feeling? Is there anything wrong? Doctor Xue, please take a look at my wife!" Zhao Linzhang quickly stepped aside.

After taking her pulse, Physician Xue replied, "The Princess Consort is weak after giving birth. She just needs more rest and everything else is fine!"

You can tell from Shen Yunrong's complexion that she is in great spirits.

"Mmm, you've worked hard, take a good rest!" Zhao Linzhang gently kissed her forehead.

Shen Yunrong was completely exhausted and fell into a deep, drowsy sleep.

When she opened her eyes again, the candlelight was already on, and two heads, one big and one small, were leaning together in front of the bed.

"Father, he's moving!"

"Keep your voice down, don't disturb your mother!"

"Father, he looks like he's about to cry!"

"Go quickly and call the wet nurse! This kid's crying is too noisy!"

"What are you doing? Let me see the baby!" Shen Yunrong glanced at the baby and felt that he was much bigger than when Ruoyu was born.

"You're awake!" Zhao Linzhang carefully and awkwardly carried his son to her.

The tiny child waved his arms and legs, pouting, and then let out a deafening cry!

Shen Yunrong opened her clothes, and the child finally stopped crying and began to nurse loudly.

Zhao Linzhang held his daughter and watched his son nurse. Shen Yunrong felt embarrassed by the stares of the two pairs of eyes, so she turned away and said, "Aren't you going to take Ruoyu to sleep?"

"No, I want to sleep with my little brother!" Ruoyu couldn't bear to part with her little brother, who could move and cry, and was much more fun than her dolls.

"Ruoyu, be good. Daddy will sleep with you on that little couch. Your little brother needs to nurse. We'll play with him when he wakes up tomorrow!" Zhao Linzhang carried his daughter to the couch opposite Shen Yunrong. Later, her belly got too big, and he was afraid of pressing on her, so Zhao Linzhang had someone move a low couch into the room.

Shen Yunrong held her son, who had fallen asleep while nursing. Across from her, her husband and daughter whispered to each other. A bright moon shone high outside the window. She felt her life was complete! (End of text)