Children and marriage

Prince Ping Nersu was the only "adult" foreign man Shujia had met on this trip. Although the rules for going out were not as strict as in the palace, some rules still had to be followed. This made Shujia a little regretful: if she had known earlier, she would have looked more closely at Cao Xueqin's uncle.

Huh? No! Nersu must be fourteen, right? He was an iron-hat prince, so Shujia might not know everything about the affairs of Prince Ping's palace, but she had to do her homework on matters like birthdays, ages, marriages, and funerals. Thinking carefully, it was true. Nersu was born in the twenty-ninth year of the Kangxi Emperor's reign, making him fourteen this year. According to today's calculations, he would be fifteen. In a normal family, the elders would have started looking for a wife for him.

Cao Xueqin's aunt is about to come to Beijing!

The Cao family was a bondservant family, and their daughters were traditionally required to participate in a minor selection, which took place annually. How old was the girl I saw last time? It must have been a few years ago. Although Prince Ping was a county prince, the title was hereditary, and it was logical that Kangxi would decide his marriage.

It seems that Nersu is destined to be the son-in-law of the Cao family.

I just don’t know what the future fate of the Cao family will be.

Shujia pondered for a moment, then recalled the scene she had seen at the Cao family home during her southern tour. It wasn't an exaggeration to say it was a scene of raging fire and flourishing flowers. Thinking back to the subsequent destruction, as a bystander, she felt a pity.

"Master, Prince Jian's wife is here." Xiaoman's appearance disrupted Shujia's wild thoughts.

Ning Hui was also beaming with joy lately. Yarjiang'a didn't have many wives and concubines. According to the current system, a prince could have two concubines, and Yarjiang'a had never petitioned for a title for either. At this point, Ning Hui's only real rival was Irgen Jueluo. It was true that Irgen Jueluo was quite favored by Yarjiang'a, and she had a son and a good reputation. This time, Ning Hui was traveling alone with Yarjiang'a, temporarily escaping these worries. With any luck, she might even bring back a steamed bun to solidify his favor.

Shujia collected her thoughts and asked her, "What good thing happened to you? Why are you smiling like this?"

Ning Hui said angrily, "You are truly forgetful. I didn't believe it at first, but after seeing you today, I believe it for sure! Who said yesterday that the Fourteenth Lady and her family were returning to the capital and that we had to see them off? And who said we had to prepare a welcoming reception for the sisters-in-law who were coming?"

Shujia slapped her forehead and said, "Look at how forgetful I am!"

"I told you, the more important someone is, the quicker they forget." He smiled and blessed Shujia, then sat down on the chair Shujia pointed to. "It's a pity that I came here so excitedly to ask for your advice."

Xiaoman brought the tea and said, "Fujin, please have some tea."

Shujia took the opportunity to point at Ning Hui and said to Xiaoman, "Look, I just forgot something and she encountered it, so I said all these things."

Ning Hui laughed for a moment, then said to Shujia, "This is the only thing I can find you've neglected. If you let this one go, I'm afraid it'll be hard to find anything else. It's really great that you can wait until September to return to the capital with the Emperor. How about we spend another month here happily?"

It was already the end of July. Originally, the princes in Beijing were supposed to come to replace the crown prince, while the accompanying princes were supposed to return to Beijing to work. However, Kangxi refused to let the crown prince and his family leave. After observing them for a while, Kangxi felt that the crown prince and his family had behaved well, so he changed his mind and allowed them to stay and continue their good neighborly activities.

Under the imperial decree, the Third, Fifth, Seventh, Ninth, and Tenth Princes, who were in Beijing, came together to replace the Eighth, Thirteenth, and Fourteenth Princes. The Fourth Prince had family matters to attend to, and the Twelfth Prince was caring for Su Malagu. Kangxi was considerate and gave them time and space to handle their personal affairs.

The princes took turns traveling, and their families naturally had to accompany them. Shujia and Ninghui did not need to return to the capital, so they acted as hosts here. Shujia knew the princes' return dates, and she and Yinreng were supposed to go back that day, but now that they didn't have to leave, she invited Ninghui, who was also staying, to organize a farewell banquet together.

Both of them had been in charge of the household for many years, so hosting a banquet or two was no problem. Even if the conditions on the grasslands were not as convenient as in Beijing, given their status and position, they could still handle it. Moreover, Kangxi came here to hold a party, so all the conditions such as banquets and wine were already in place.

Soon, all the relevant matters for the two banquets were set. To put it simply, it was just a meal for the sisters-in-law to have together, and there was no need to invite any good-looking guests. Everything went smoothly.

Seeing that Ning Hui didn't express any opinion, Shu Jia asked, "Why are you so silent? What's wrong? Why don't you say something?"

"What are you talking about?" Ning Hui's eyes widened. "I'm Xu Shu, and this isn't Cao's camp! Besides, how self-conscious are you of this arrangement? No one can find fault with it, and yet you're asking me to say that not enough people are praising you? You're asking me to start praising you?"

Shujia said, "Okay, okay, even if my first sentence was wrong, your second sentence is right."

Ning Hui chuckled, "Yes, yes, the Crown Princess is wise." She then looked at it carefully and sighed, "I can't find any fault with it. You've even arranged the rankings properly—that's the most important thing. What else can I say? If you don't believe me, I'll arrange one tomorrow and you can see for yourself. No one can match your thoroughness."

"After so many years, you still have the same temper. You just say whatever you want."

Ning Hui seemed to be thinking of her first meeting with Shujia during the Grand Selection. Her face flushed, "You're making fun of me. Wasn't I ignorant back then?" Without even figuring out who was who, she told a stranger she wanted to watch the future Crown Princess. Now that she thought about it, she was really foolish. She defended herself, "I wouldn't dare say anything else, but I'm good at judging people. If I hadn't seen that you were a kind and harmless person, I wouldn't have said that. I have a straightforward temper, but I'm not completely stupid, am I?"

This is nonsense. If she was really a fool, how could she get along with someone like Yarjiang'a and give birth to several sons? She is not stupid at all, she is very smart.

The two chatted and laughed for a while, and Shujia said, "In that case, I will send out invitations." How to send out invitations is also a science. The Fourteenth Lady is the principal wife, but Wanyan and Guaerjia are not even concubines, so they cannot send out invitations in a unified way.

Shujia's banquet was divided into several levels: she was the host, the Fourteenth Concubine was the guest of honor, Ninghui was invited by the host family to help, and Wanyan and Guaerjia were just accompanying guests. When the Third Concubine and her family arrived in the future, the welcoming banquet would be arranged in the same way.

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Perhaps it was because the Crown Princess herself was very amiable, or perhaps it was because they had developed some feelings for each other after being together for just two months, that the farewell banquet actually revealed a hint of reluctance to part.

Ning Hui said, "Hey, what's wrong with you? In a month and a half, we'll all be seeing each other in the capital again. And you two, you should be seeing each other in Ningshou Palace every day. Why are you acting like this now?"

Shujia was stunned for a moment, and she and Fourteenth Lady laughed at the same time: "Yes."

"I said so, didn't I?"

The farewell party turned into a goodbye meeting and ended in a friendly and harmonious atmosphere.

The next day, the Eighth, Thirteenth, and Fourteenth Princes returned to Beijing with their families. Shujia could not see them off in person, so she sent her maids and eunuchs to say goodbye to the three princes' wives, and then returned to order the preparation of a welcoming banquet.

There were many people at the welcoming banquet, making it quite lively. As the host, Shujia only needed to control the situation at the appropriate time.

Among the wives brought by the Third Prince and his companions, several were frequent visitors and knew the rules, so they quickly integrated in. The Tenth Wife was especially impressed, as this was her home turf. Seeing her here amidst the blue sky and green grass, her features suddenly seemed much brighter.

At the same time, more and more Mongolian princes and nobles came to report, the party continued to expand, and the Crown Princess's performance was still worthy of praise.

At this time, the Eighth Prince's Mansion in the capital was shrouded in dark clouds.

Wang has been living in fear recently.

In other families, if a couple had been married for so many years and still had no children, most people around them would suspect that there was something wrong with the woman. However, Wang Shi had a complicated feeling. She had been with the Eighth Prince even before the Eighth Lady, and she hadn't had any children in all these years, had she?

Now that she's pregnant, does that seem to confirm that the problem lies with the Eighth Concubine? The mere thought of this sends chills down one's spine. Under different circumstances, the pregnant concubine would have straightened her back long ago—if the mistress is barren, whoever gives birth to the eldest son would be the future heir. Wang Shi was Kangxi's concubine, appointed to Yinsi, even before the Eighth Concubine, and she wasn't some lowly concubine to be beaten to death or sold off at will.

But Wang Shi didn't dare. Her mistress was the Eighth Concubine. That woman, the one who dared to enter the front house, had been controlled by her for so many years that she dared not even step out of line. Newcomers thought the Eighth Concubine was just a little blunt, but she had been through a lot. Back then, when the Eighth Concubine first married, who could even touch the Eighth Prince?

It's true that Fu Jin has relaxed in recent years, but who knows when she will get angry again? She has the Prince An's Mansion at her back and the Beile Mansion in her hands. Even if you give birth to a son and inherit the title, she is still the legitimate mother!

Even after the tiger dies, its might remains, and what’s more, the tiger is still alive and well!

Wang wished that it was someone else who was pregnant now, so that she could get pregnant again after a while!

But the Eighth Lady was really good to her!

She didn't have to make any rules or be allowed to do needlework. She was provided with two meals a day, soup and snacks all the time. Two experienced old maids were assigned to take care of her, and two imperial doctors were specially brought in to prepare for any emergency.

The better the Eighth Concubine treated her, the more afraid Wang became. The stories outside of her about how powerful the Eighth Concubine was were all lies; only those who had worked under her understood the key. The distinction between legitimate and illegitimate children! While Wang was indeed Kangxi's concubine, without a formal designation, the Eighth Concubine couldn't kill or sell her, and she still couldn't raise her own children.

If you give birth to a child and then it's taken away, you won't even have a place to cry! Because that's a compliment. If you wail and wail, you're ungrateful.

Pregnant women are inherently vulnerable, and a woman who feels her own child is being snatched away from her will be even more anxious. Wang lost her appetite, becoming increasingly thinner, her belly slightly protruding. The Eighth Lady was both angry and amused: "This woman who is going to be your mother doesn't even take care of herself, and I, an outsider, amuse myself here. Are you trying to control me?"

Wang Shi didn't dare to say a word in defense, but she was a little more energetic. The baby in her belly was her own flesh and blood, and the child who was taken away was still her own. [I was also married by the emperor, and I was listed in the imperial genealogy and included in the family tree. Even if the son was taken away, it must be written in black and white that I am the biological mother.] She ate and slept seriously, but it happened to be a day when the reaction was severe, and she vomited everything she ate. The Eighth Lady was extremely anxious: "What are the people in the Imperial Hospital doing? They can't even cure such a small problem!"

She genuinely wanted this child. From a selfish perspective, at least it would help the palace pay less attention to the Eighth Prince's affairs, right? Furthermore, there were similar examples outside: women who had been unable to conceive adopted children, perhaps as a lead-in. Finally, if the Eighth Prince was away, and Wang Shi had something going on, even if the Eighth Concubine had eight mouths, she wouldn't be able to explain it.

The imperial physician was also very upset by her. Pregnancy reactions vary from person to person, and some are more intense than others. What good solution can they have? If there really is such a method, it would have been spread long ago!

The past two months in the Eighth Prince's Mansion have been a chaotic mess. Not only has the master suffered, but the servants have also suffered as well.

At Wang's place, a pregnant woman's pregnancy can be very stressful, and it's only been four months. There are still more than five months to go, and the tension gets more and more intense as time goes by. Everyone wishes she could just fall asleep and wake up to find that she'll give birth in five months.

Not to mention the Eighth Lady going up to the room. It's true that she wanted the child to be born, but her heart was filled with sorrow and bitterness. With low pressure hovering overhead, who dared to take it lightly?

The maids and eunuchs in the upper room complained bitterly, counting the days for the Eighth Master to come back: Master, please come back soon to comfort the Lady!

The eighth prince they had been waiting for finally arrived.

The Eighth Lady welcomed him and provided him with a bath, new clothes, hot meals, and everything else.

The Eighth Prince washed off his tiredness, changed into brand new clothes, and sat down at the table: "Please sit down!" The Eighth Lady was not polite and sat down next to him: "Master, you have worked hard on the journey."

Yinsi waved away the maid, personally took the pot and poured wine for himself and his wife, raised the wine cup and said: "You are the one who works hard at home, toast to you."

The Eighth Lady's nose felt sore, and she raised her hand to clink glasses with the Eighth Prince, tilting her head back to reveal the bottom of the cup.

Yinsi sighed and said, "I'm sorry for wronging you."

Tears were streaming down the Eighth Concubine's face. Yinsi embraced her and said, "I'm fine. I'm back. Why are you crying?" He comforted her with warm words and told her many interesting stories from the journey, which made the Eighth Concubine stop crying.

Yinsi hesitated for a while, then said, "Don't worry. Among my brothers, many of them had children from concubines before. Perhaps the birth of this child will bring good luck to our family, and it will be easier to have children later."

"After all these years, I..."

Yinsi said decisively, "She lived with me before you, and she's been childless for even longer. It's only today that she's had the good news, which means she's destined to have children. You're so much younger than she is, so don't let your imagination run wild. Perhaps fate is just around the corner." The more he thought about it, the more this seemed to be the case. Family members know their own business. For the first two years, the Eighth Concubine was a bit alone, and in the last two years, she's relaxed, only to have this joyous event. It's clear that there's nothing wrong with him, or with the woman's body, but simply that fate hasn't arrived yet.

The Eighth Lady's tears turned into a thunderstorm, and Yinsi patiently patted her back. After a while, the Eighth Lady embarrassedly stopped crying and smiled: "Look at me, I cried as soon as you came back, and you haven't eaten yet." He earnestly urged her to eat.

Yinsi ate very happily.

After eating, washing hands and rinsing mouth, the Eighth Lady said generously: "Wang is vomiting badly. I have brought two imperial doctors from the Imperial Hospital and have them kept at our house to monitor her all the time, but she is still not doing well. You go and see her, maybe she will feel better." She pushed Yinsi to go to Wang.

Yinsi also wanted to go, but was a bit reluctant. The Eighth Lady said, "You should go soon. It's your destiny. She's very thin now. The imperial physician says she's too worried. I can't do anything about her. If you come, there must be a way."

When Yinsi arrived at Wang's place, she was already in bed. The Eighth Concubine had ordered that Wang Gege not be bothered with anything; her only job was to ensure a safe pregnancy. Lately, her symptoms had been severe, with vomiting and drowsiness during the day and at night, making it difficult for her to sleep soundly.

Yinsi's arrival startled Wang Shi. She woke up from her sleep and got up in a hurry.

Yinsi came in and saw under the light that her face looked very bad, with sunken cheeks and dull eyes. Even under the light, he could still see the marks on her face. "What's wrong?"

The nanny quickly replied, "This is common among pregnant women. It disappears after giving birth."

"Get up and sit down. Take care of yourself," Yinsi said to Wang in a gentle tone. "Then he asked again..."

The nanny sent by the Eighth Concubine said, "Replying to the Eighth Master, the Eighth Concubine has specially invited the old lady to come and see you." The 'old lady' they were referring to was Yinsi's wet nurse, Yaqibu's wife. When Yinsi was appointed as the head of the family, the couple came together to serve him.

The rules in the prince's mansion were much more relaxed than those in the palace. When the crown prince grew up, his wet nurse wasn't allowed to live in the Eastern Palace. But the eighth prince brought his wet nurse and her husband with him to his separate residence. The eighth concubine knew she had a reputation for being strong-willed, so after sending a nanny, she simply asked the Buddha to act as a guarantor: "This one has seen it and said it's all right, so I don't have bad intentions, do I?"

The maids were originally sent by the Eighth Lady, so naturally they spoke well of her, saying things like, "I invited the imperial physician, who is still living in the front yard, and I assigned them to serve her, and I added maids and increased the allowance..."

In the end, it seemed as if Wang Shi was deliberately trying to be tough on her own body, using her pregnancy as leverage to control her mistress. At least, in Yinsi's eyes, Wang Shi was being naive. The child hadn't even been born yet, and the gender wasn't even known, yet she was acting so delicate.

Yinsi felt that Wang Shi needed a scolding, so his tone became three points heavier: "You are pregnant now, how can you be so hard on your child?! The imperial physician said that you are too worried? What are you thinking about all day long?! I tell you, don't think about anything!"

Wang Shi had originally intended to give birth to the child safely, so she endured it when the Eighth Concubine took the child away! This endurance was very difficult, as she had to suppress her anxiety. Unable to bear the Eighth Prince's words, she began to have her period not long after Yinsi left.

The Eighth Lady detained the Imperial Physician, who was staying in the guest room of their house, and sent eunuchs to knock on the door. The weather in July was not too cold, and the Imperial Physician had few clothes, so he hurriedly put on his clothes and rushed over. Upon his arrival, he saw that the Eighth Prince and the Eighth Lady had both arrived. He stepped forward to pay his respects, and the Eighth Prince personally pulled the man up, while the Eighth Lady had already stepped aside.

Yinsi held his breath in his chest, not knowing who he was angry at, and said in a bad tone: "Go in and take a look."

The two went in and felt the baby's pulse, but both shook their heads. Seeing the two maids standing nearby, who were also old acquaintances over the past two months and knowledgeable people hired by the Eighth Lady, they also shook their heads. Well, even the maids could see that something was wrong. This pregnancy...

The two imperial doctors exchanged a glance, their thoughts racing, and they both retreated. The Eighth Prince had been childless for years, so this child was certainly different from the usual illegitimate children in the royal palace. No royal palace would have imperial doctors detained from the third month of a concubine's pregnancy! Judging from the fact that the emperor turned a blind eye, this child was truly important.

The two imperial physicians had long served the nobles of the palace and were well versed in their own methods. They began by saying, "This fetus is already weak, and with careful care it will be fine. Unfortunately, the mother is not in good health and cannot take any nourishing food, so she is unable to take care of the fetus."

The Eighth Lady reappeared, her pretty face pale beyond belief, her already sharp eyes now gleaming even more frighteningly. "Who cares if she lives or dies? Even if she has to die, she'll give birth to my son first!"

The Eighth Prince paced restlessly and said, "You have done your best! I will reward you handsomely." After saying that, regardless of his status as a prince, he actually bowed deeply to the imperial physician.

The two imperial doctors were startled and rushed back in desperately. In the Qing Dynasty, especially within the Imperial Hospital, Traditional Chinese Medicine methods for emergency treatment were limited. All they could do was constantly feel the patient's pulse and adjust the prescription.

This was actually just a pretense, as they both knew that the child could not be saved.

The reason was clear: this fetus was already weak. As doctors, they really wanted to give the Eighth Prince a full-body checkup. His wives and concubines were childless, and rumors were circulating about the Eighth Concubine's misfortunes. But they had already lived in the mansion for nearly two months and knew a little bit about the goings-on, like… the Eighth Prince actually had quite a few concubines. Even if the Eighth Concubine couldn't have children, what about these other concubines?

How long had the Eighth Prince been married? N concubines multiplied by N years, and now he's finally had a child this sizeable. It's likely that the Eighth Prince has some health issues, and the seeds have been infested with insects, so even in fertile soil, they're unlikely to germinate.

I thought to myself, but I didn't dare to say a word. What a joke! Calling the prince "incompetent"? Are you looking for death?

I had no choice but to look for the second reason. Wang was indeed overthinking and had damaged her mind. Pregnant women are the most vulnerable to damage. Okay, now that I've found the reason, I can report back.

The child was still not saved!

The imperial physician reported the problem as concisely as possible, avoiding the important issues.

The Eighth Prince's face was as gloomy as the bottom of a pot, and the Eighth Lady's mind was as complicated as a system of N-dimensional N-order equations.

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When the news reached the imperial court, Kangxi was so angry that he threw his pen!

It's weird no matter how you think about it that a father is staring at his son's backyard and is concerned about whether his son's concubine has had a miscarriage!

Bah! What father would be so bored as to dwell on his son's affairs? That's just old-fashioned! As long as things look good on the surface, who cares? Kangxi was like that too. As long as his sons could have decent offspring, he wouldn't bother with the concubines. He'd rather focus on raising his grandchildren.

The Eighth Prince was struggling to have children, forcing Kangxi to pay attention to which of his concubines was pregnant. Even a sage emperor would have to be cautious when it comes to children. Could he really bear to see his son die without an heir? Kangxi could only act like an unreasonable mother-in-law, forcing concubines on his son and causing trouble for his daughter-in-law whenever he had the chance.

Kangxi really didn't care that much about the legitimate and illegitimate sons of these princes. If the wife couldn't have children, then it didn't matter. She just had to take care of the family and do her duty. The fifth wife also had no children, but the fifth prince's concubines gave birth to children one after another, and Kangxi didn't complain at all.

It's different for the Eighth Prince. Your Eighth Prince wife doesn't give birth herself, and she doesn't let any of his concubines give birth. If someone gets pregnant, she's gone in the blink of an eye.

If it weren't for the Eighth Concubine's personality, and if the Eighth Prince hadn't had no children in his family for so many years, what's the big deal about a concubine's miscarriage?! These days, medical care is poor, and women in wealthy families' inner chambers are not in good health, so miscarriages are common. However, when all these things come together, it's hard not to think too much!

Who wouldn’t think so?!

Kangxi had a hidden worry in his heart. He did not think that there was something wrong with the Eighth Prince. As an emperor and a father, he subconsciously suppressed this idea. Now that Wang's incident had happened, he was even more convinced of his idea: the Eighth Prince's wife was not virtuous!

But he couldn't find any evidence, and Kangxi was not idle enough to investigate everything in the Eighth Prince's mansion, so he could only sulk.

A few days later, news came from the capital that even the imprisoned eldest prince had given birth to a son. It goes without saying that Kangxi was extremely angry.

No father-in-law would lecture his daughter-in-law unless absolutely necessary. Kangxi, a man of propriety, had no choice but to swallow his anger. The proper course would be to have the Empress Dowager, Consort Hui, or Consort Liang scold the Eighth Prince's wife. After all, the facts have proven it wasn't his son's fault, so what's the rush? I'll have the Imperial Observatory calculate the date for Yinsi's marriage to a concubine when I get back!

The author has something to say: I smoked it again. I have already given up hope on it, even though the official has repeatedly said that it has been cured...

BUT, the number of times the official says it "returns to normal" means how many times it has been smoked, right?

TT people squatting in Jinjiang really can't afford to be hurt~

February 14th is coming again, and as someone who is still single, I really want to write a sequel about revenge against society. I have already imagined it in my head... I really want to code it out...