Chapter 86: Raising a child for a hundred years is hard, and worrying about him for ninety-nine.
On February 25th, after forty days of being watched by the Du family, Gu Youan was finally released from prison. He woke up early in the morning and asked for water to be brought to him. He washed himself from head to toe, dried his hair, and changed into new clothes. The moment he walked out the door, he felt a sense of relief and joy permeating every pore.
"Hey, it's a sunny day today!"
"It snowed last night, and we cleaned it up this morning. Everyone has worked hard. Xiaoyue, give everyone in the mansion a monthly salary reward."
"Zhou Qi, you haven't been out for a long time. Shall we go out for a walk later?"
"Where's Yuan? Where's my precious son?"
Gu Youan was so happy at this moment that he liked everything he saw.
Zhou Qi was reading in the east wing, holding Yuan in his arms. When he heard the princess call him, he chuckled and said to his son, "Your mother complained about you disturbing her rest last night, and this morning she complained about you bothering her changing clothes. Now that she's in a better mood, she's thinking about you."
The little boy, who had just come out of confinement, couldn't understand anything being said. He stared with his phoenix eyes inherited from his father and tried hard to twist his chubby little face, but the swaddling clothes were too tight and he couldn't turn. The little boy was angry and wanted to fight back, but he couldn't. He whimpered and was about to cry. Zhou Qi put down his book and hurried to comfort him.
"Baby, mommy is here."
Gu Youan heard the maid report that the father and son were in the east wing. He walked in with a smile and said, "Your Highness Prince Qi, are you hearing poorly? I called you and you pretended not to hear?"
Prince Qi smiled and said, "Princess, please forgive me, I didn't even have time to respond before you came in."
Gu Youan walked up to the father and son with a smile and said, "Okay, I forgive you."
She clapped her hands and reached out: "Yuan, can you hold me?"
A Yuan showed an aggrieved expression, but Gu Youan didn't feel sorry for his son but smiled.
Zhou Qi spoke up for his son: "Why are you laughing at him?"
"Looking at Yuan's aggrieved look, I can imagine how you felt when you were a child."
Liu Ling has been serving Zhou Qi since he was a child. A few days ago, Liu Ling came to pay his respects, and the first thing he said was that the young master looked exactly like the prince when he was a child.
Gu Youan looked at his son and smiled, "Tell me, am I unlucky? I worked so hard to give birth to a child, but he doesn't look like me in any way. I want to have another child who looks like my daughter in the future."
Zhou Qi shook his head: "Let's not do that."
"What's the meaning?"
"No, I can't bear to see you suffer the pain of childbirth. We have Yuan and that's enough for us."
Gu Youan was surprised. Regardless of whether she wanted a child or not, why did Zhou Qi have such an idea?
Not to mention that he might really inherit the throne in the future, even ordinary families in the Zhou Dynasty hoped to have many children and good fortune. Why wouldn't he want it?
Zhou Qi reaffirmed, "Having Yuan is enough. Raise him well. Everything we have will be his in the future, and he won't have to fight with his brothers and sisters for anything."
"Are you sure you won't have a concubine in the future?"
"No."
"No illegitimate sons or daughters?"
“No!”
Zhou Qi smiled and said, "You've been wanting to ask this for a long time, right?"
Gu Youan sat down next to him and said, "I didn't really want to ask, but since you brought it up today, I wanted to know your attitude."
Since she had agreed to marry him and have children, she had made all the preparations. She believed that she would not let herself and her children suffer under any circumstances.
However, since he was willing to explain clearly, she was still very grateful to him. She held his hand and said, "If you don't let me down, I will share life and death with you."
"Let's not talk about the future for now. Yuan is about to cry, hurry up and comfort him." Seeing her son pouting, Zhou Qi knew she couldn't comfort him, so she quickly put her son in her arms.
Gu Youan took the child and sat him aside. He touched the child's mouth, and the little tongue wrapped around it neatly. As he undressed himself, Gu Youan asked, "You haven't eaten since this morning?"
"No, I just fed him a few spoonfuls of water."
Zhou Qi leaned over, and the couple leaned their heads together to watch the baby feeding. Everything was fine, but Gu Youan suddenly felt that there was something wrong with his eyes, and her cheeks suddenly became hot and she pushed him away.
He leaned back and lay on the soft pillow, looking at her back with a smile, feeling satisfied in his heart.
Today is Yuan's full moon. We told everyone that we would not hold a full moon banquet. Only the Gu family came today. The family did not sit at separate tables. While the adults were eating, the two children's cribs were placed aside. The little girl Ningning was crying there. The family was talking and laughing, and it was quite lively.
In the evening, the Gu family returned home. Gu Youan asked people to set up a sacrificial table in the yard. The three of them offered sacrifices to Queen Meng from afar, and the day was finally over.
Zhou Qi held A Yuan in his arms throughout the whole process. After the worship, he quickly took the child into the house and uncovered the cloth covering the swaddling clothes to block the wind. A Yuan smiled at him.
Zhou Qi couldn't help but laugh along with his son.
She took off her son's swaddling clothes, held him in her arms and coaxed him softly: "It's time to go to bed. If you don't go to bed now, your mother will come over and nag you again."
A Yuan couldn't speak, he just smiled at him. Zhou Qi smiled and sighed: "Okay, if your mother chases you out later, Dad will speak for you."
It was originally agreed that the child would be left with the couple during the day and with the wet nurse at night. Zhou Qi was reluctant to leave the child, so he left the child in their bedroom for seven or eight nights out of ten.
The princess was still washing up when Xiaoju stood at the door of the bedroom and called softly, "My lord, the nurse is here to hold the young master."
"Tell her to leave. We don't need her tonight."
"yes."
After a while, Gu Youan came in after changing into pajamas and glanced at him: "You left it for yourself, take it with you, don't disturb my sleep."
"I won't bother you. Yuan is very well behaved."
"Do you think I've never seen Yuan cry?" Gu Youan walked over and touched his son's warm little feet, saying, "You're being unconscionable."
Zhou Qi placed the child on a specially separated spot on the kang bed and said with a smile, "I'll sleep next to Yuan, don't worry."
It was impossible for her to not take care of it, the granary was still on her. In the middle of the night, she felt the familiar feeling of being nudged by the little pig. She didn't even open her sleepy eyes, but just let the little piglet nudged her.
Half asleep and half awake, she vaguely heard Zhou Qi's voice coaxing the child, felt him pulling her clothes and covering her with the quilt, and she fell asleep peacefully.
Zhou Qi is willing to take the trouble to look after the child. Gu Youan supports her in his heart although he doesn't say it. Anyway, he just needs her to cooperate with breastfeeding. If he wants to sleep with A Yuan at night, then he can do it.
As a result, the relationship between the three members of the family became better and better. The only bad thing was that after more than three months, Gu Youan gradually ran out of milk. A Yuan only recognized her and cried and refused to drink the wet nurse's milk.
The child cried loudly even though he was hungry. When he cried, his belly bulged like a frog, and his mouth opened so wide that you could see his throat.
After two days of trying, the baby still refused to drink anyone's milk except hers. It was definitely not possible to feed him with rice soup. The couple looked at each other and sighed helplessly.
Zhou Qi frowned and said, "Why not try a different wet nurse?"
"We've already changed three wet nurses, how can we try again? Your son is picky, no one else will do."
There were still two cans of infant formula in the space, but she didn't dare give them to Yuan. First, she was afraid that it would be bad after being left for so long, and second, it was inconvenient to take them out.
A Yuan was crying so hard that there was really no other way, so Gu Youan asked Liu Zhong to go and ask if there were any dairy sheep or cows in the backyard.
Liu Zhong immediately said, "Both. They were originally raised to extract milk for making snacks."
Zhou Qi asked him to quickly get a bowl of milk, but Gu Youan hurriedly said that he would cook it first before sending it over.
Liu Zhong personally went over and brought the milk. Zhou Qi held the child while Gu Youan fed him. He tested the temperature before feeding him and threatened through gritted teeth, "You'd better eat it obediently. If you make trouble again, you'll get a beating."
A Yuan was tired of crying and probably hungry. The spoon was placed to his mouth and he obediently opened his mouth and swallowed it. The couple breathed a sigh of relief at the same time.
It was already the beginning of May, and every family in the village was busy with spring planting. Mrs. Du had returned to the village a few days ago, and only then heard that A Yuan was making a fuss and refusing to eat, so she hurried back to the city.
Mrs. Du was in no hurry to go home. She went to Prince Qi's mansion first and asked anxiously as soon as she entered, "Has Yuan eaten yet? He refuses to drink from his three wet nurses."
Gu Youan just woke up from his nap and sighed, "He won't eat anything but mine. He makes a fuss when I don't have any."
"Your milk stopped flowing so early? Weren't you fine before I returned to the village? Have you asked Doctor Zhang to come and see you?"
"I don't know either. I asked Uncle Zhang to come and see me. He took two doses of medicine but nothing happened. It must be completely gone."
Mrs. Du went to see her grandson first. Seeing that he was sleeping soundly, she pulled her daughter out and said, "It's your fault too. Yuan has been drinking your milk all the time and has only had a few sips of his wet nurse's milk. Naturally, he's not used to it."
Gu Youan is innocent, why are you blaming her?
"Don't worry, Mom. Yuan is almost four months old now. He'll be able to eat more food when he grows up. He has a strong appetite and will be easy to feed."
Mrs. Du sighed, this was all she could do.
"Where is Prince Qi?"
"He went out to do some errands while my mother and I were taking a nap."
Spring has arrived, the snow has melted, and Songjiang City, which had been frozen for a whole winter, has woken up. The Northeast Army, Yanzhou Army and other places, which had rarely seen any contact all winter, all have things waiting for him to deal with.
In addition to the military affairs that he had to deal with, the couple had previously agreed to build a military medical institute to train military doctors and an agricultural research institute to study seeds, fertilizers, and agricultural tools.
After the spring plowing is completed, in another half month, the official road that has been closed for a winter will be reopened. We are very busy.
Madam Du whispered, "Prince Qi is busy, so you should take care of Yuan more and let him rest for a while."
"Hey, Mom, don't worry about us. I know what's going on."
"It's good that you know. It's useless for mother to say it."
After a while, A Yuan woke up. Mrs. Du teased A Yuan for a while and then fed him milk herself. Seeing that her grandson was eating well, she felt relieved.
Mrs. Du stayed in Prince Qi's mansion until mid-afternoon and was about to leave. Gu Youan said there was no rush and that she could go back after having dinner.
Mrs. Du hurried back and said, "I'm very busy at home, so I won't stay. I'll come visit you two after the spring plowing is done."
Gu Youan carried A Yuan to see her mother out, but Mrs. Du told her not to do so: "Although it's spring, the wind is still cold. Don't carry the child outside in the morning or at night."
"Okay, I know."
After seeing her mother off, Gu Youan carried the child to the study and told Xiaoyue as he walked, "Go call Liu Zhong."
Xiaoyue bowed and hurried to invite someone over.
Liu Zhong will be going to Wuchang Prefecture with the Hu family in a few days. Before leaving, he and his godfather Liu Ling will go over the forces in Jiangnan. Some arrangements have to be made under the surface. It would be best to win over the people who should be won over and send the people who should be promoted to high positions without being noticed.
Gu Youan was very confident in Liu Zhong's ability to do things. He was sure that he could handle the affairs of the Cao and Hu families. What Gu Youan cared about was asking him to go to the south to find boatmen.
"As long as people are determined to come, their families can be accommodated. Once the official road is built, Dongshan Port will become a prosperous place for commerce like Ningbo Prefecture."
"In addition to the boatmen, it would be even better if we could attract craftsmen from the shipyard. We have no shortage of good wood in Songjiang City. If we have craftsmen, we can build a shipyard at the port."
They have their own shipyards, their own craftsmen, and skilled boatmen. Everything from top to bottom is under the control of Songjiang City, so they are not afraid that the court will refuse to sell large ships and control them.
Liu Zhong understood the princess's intention and said, "The navy of the Great Zhou Dynasty all came from Yingtian Prefecture, and the warships they used were all built in Yingtian Prefecture's Treasure Ship Workshop. The craftsmen in Treasure Ship Workshop are the best in shipbuilding, but they are registered as artisans and under the control of the imperial court, and they do not accept business from outside merchants."
Gu Youan: "The imperial court stipulated that craftsmen were not allowed to change their professions for generations and had to accept imperial conscription. The descendants of craftsmen could not escape their status, so many of them must have fled in the past."
Liu Zhong nodded in agreement. "It's not just the shipbuilding craftsmen. Many registered craftsmen from other trades have fled throughout the dynasties."
Gu Youan smiled and said, "We in Songjiang City treat craftsmen well. The descendants of craftsmen can study and become officials, learn martial arts and become generals, or engage in business."
Liu Zhong immediately said, "I will do my best to invite a craftsman."
"Um."
Gu Youan attached great importance to Liu Zhong's trip to the south, and sent him a guard. In order to conceal his identity, there were both men and women in the guard, so that if he encountered trouble outside, he could pretend to be someone else.
In mid-May, the Du family arrived. Gu Youan instructed Zhou Chen to settle the Du family members who came to settle in Songjiang City. After she took the time to meet Uncle Du and the Hu family, Uncle Du and his family spent a few days buying medicinal herbs and hurried into the country in late May.
Liu Zhong and his guards accompanied the caravan.
After Liu Zhong left, Gu Youan lacked a steward to take charge of the overall affairs, so Xiaoyue was promoted to temporarily take over Liu Zhong's position, and all affairs in the main courtyard remained the same.
At this time, the spring plowing outside the city was completed, and the people who had free time followed the head of the village to repair the official road. Zhou Qi had not yet visited the future Dongshan Port. After he gave some instructions, he led his people along the official road that had just been built a short distance to the east estuary.
Zhou Qi is not around, and Gu Youan is in charge of Songjiang City. Important matters are inevitably sent to her for her decision. Gu Youan can no longer keep A Yuan with her every day like when Zhou Qi was around, so she can only ask Mrs. Wei to bring people to look after A Yuan first.
Mrs. Du knew that she was busy, so she would occasionally come to the mansion to help take care of her for a day.
Gu Youan had some free time. In addition to handling various affairs in the mansion, she would also go back to the yamen and inspect the granary in the suburbs when she had time.
At the end of May, the weather quickly became hot. Gu Youan finally returned to the city by carriage in the evening. As soon as he entered the mansion, he casually asked, "Has your prince returned? Calculating the time, it seems like it's time for him to come back."
Zhou Chen hurriedly said: "The prince hasn't come back yet."
Gu Youan asked casually. The distance from Songjiang City to the eastern seaport is not short, and the road is difficult to travel. It takes some time to go back and forth.
After sending Zhou Chen away, Gu Youan went back to the yard to wash up and change into clean clothes before going to the east wing to see the child. When she went in, Mrs. Du was also there.
"Mom, what's wrong?"
When Gu Youan entered the room, he saw Mrs. Wei standing outside the door with a bad look on her face. When he entered the room, he saw her mother frowning, as if she was unhappy.
Mrs. Du: "The little girl left the window open during lunch break, and when I came, I saw Yuan sneezing."
Gu Youan's face suddenly turned cold, and she hurried forward to look at her son. The little boy's mouth was slightly open and his nose was wrinkled, as if he wanted to sneeze but couldn't. She hurriedly touched his forehead.
Mrs. Du said, "I touched it just now, and there's no fever."
Gu Youan held her son in her arms and patted him. Her son kept trying to get closer to her, and his little nose rubbed against her clothes, irritating her nose. He sneezed loudly with an "Ahhh".
Gu Youan hurriedly patted him. A Yuan didn't cry, but smiled at her. Gu Youan couldn't help but laugh too.
"Mom, hold Yuan."
Gu Youan looked up and saw the half-closed window. The smile on her face fell. She handed the child to her mother and walked out the door. Sister Wei and several servants were waiting outside the door with their heads down.
After walking a few steps into the adjacent room, Gu Youan suddenly turned around with a cold face: "Sister-in-law Wei, tell me what's going on."
Sister-in-law Wei, who had followed with her head lowered, knelt down and apologized: "Princess, it's all my fault. I went out at noon, and when I came back, the young master fell asleep on the couch and caught a cold."
"What have you been doing?"
"A batch of things arrived at the warehouse, so I went to sort out the account books." These were originally her jobs, and Mrs. Wei couldn't shirk them.
Gu Youan glanced at the little girls and asked, "Who among you is serving in the room today?"
The maids had never seen the princess look so sullenly at them before, and they were immediately terrified. They quickly knelt down and kowtowed. The leading maid, holding back her tears, said, "It was hot at noon, and the young master kept pulling at her clothes. Steward Wei told us not to take her clothes off this morning, so we thought we'd open the window to let some fresh air in, to prevent her from getting too hot."
Mrs. Wei said with a guilty look on her face, "They are young and ignorant. It's my fault for not taking good care of the young master."
Gu Youan held his forehead and sighed. The baby was too fragile, so she had to find someone trustworthy and experienced to watch over him. Otherwise, she would not feel safe when going out to do things.
Mrs. Wei and her companions failed to take good care of the young master. Although it was not intentional, they should still be punished, and the perpetrators still need to be found.
Gu Youan said to Xiaoyue, "Go to the Du family in person and ask Aunt Qian if she has settled her family. If she is not busy, ask her to come to the mansion today."
"Yes, I'll go right away."
Gu Youan went to the east wing to see his son. The little boy was still sneezing and had clear nasal discharge.
Mrs. Du said, "I just asked someone to call Doctor Zhang. Don't worry. Children are weak. No matter how carefully you take care of them, they will get sick. You went through the same thing when you were a child."
Gu Youan nodded with a numb face. Seeing A Yuan's frowning face, her heart also felt uneasy.
Zhang Shinan was on duty at the military medical clinic today. When he arrived, it was already an hour later. A Yuan was sneezing one after another. The child felt uncomfortable and cried at the top of his lungs.
Seeing Zhang Shinan rushing over, Madam Du hurriedly said, "The court doctor just came to see me and gave me a prescription. Do you think it's safe to use?"
Zhang Shinan said, "Don't panic. Let me take Yuan's pulse first."
After listening carefully to the patient's pulse, Zhang Shinan took the prescription written by the court physician and changed a few of the ingredients. He said, "It's best not to give a child this age medicine. Even if you must take medicine, you should use it with caution. The court physician is inexperienced and gave too strong a medicine. The child can't handle it. Take this prescription from me and boil it quickly."
He sent the maid to boil some medicine. Zhang Shinan took out some golden needles from the medicine box and said, "Close all the doors and windows. Undress the child and hold him down. Don't let him move. I'll give him two injections."
Gu Youan frowned when he saw the golden needle in Zhang Shinan's hand, but his hands did not stop unbuttoning his son's clothes.
Mrs. Du stood up and closed the door herself. When she turned around, she saw the golden needle piercing her grandson's body, and her eyes suddenly turned red.
The child cried loudly. Gu Youan held him down to prevent him from moving. After inserting the needle, Zhang Shinan said, "Don't be afraid. Yuan has the symptoms of a cold. Take good care of him. He might be better tomorrow morning."
"I hope so."
The child cried for a while after the injection and drank medicine after a while. He was so tired that he fell asleep sickly without even drinking milk.
Gu Youan stared at his son and didn't dare to leave, while Mrs. Du was also watching beside him.
Zhang Shinan said, "Tell Yuan to sleep for a while and wait for the medicine to take effect. I won't leave either. I'll stay tonight."
"Sorry to bother Uncle Zhang."
Zhang Shinan shook his head and said, "What trouble are you talking about?"
Zhang Shinan had not had dinner yet, so Gu Youan asked him to stay in the guest room in the front yard first and arranged for someone to bring him dinner. If there was anything, he would ask him to come over.
Mrs. Du said, "Let's not both stay here. Go have dinner first and I'll take over later."
"Mom, you go eat, I can't eat."
Mrs. Du had no appetite either. She just said, "I'll send a message to your father. I won't be going back tonight."
Gu Youan no longer cared about what her mother was saying and was focused on taking care of the child. After a while, someone pushed the door open. It was Mrs. Du and Aunt Qian.
Aunt Qian had obviously rushed over, having just changed into clean clothes in the side room. After looking at the child, she said, "Don't worry, Princess. The prince will be fine."
Gu Youan also expected this, but it didn't go as she expected. An hour later, the child suddenly woke up, burped, and spit out a few mouthfuls of medicine. Gu Youan was frightened.
"Quick, go get Uncle Zhang."
Zhang Shinan hurried over, took the child's pulse and gave him an acupuncture. The child vomited the medicine twice. Gu Youan touched his forehead and it seemed that he had a fever.
Mrs. Du asked anxiously, "Is the prescription ineffective?"
"The dosage is too low, so it won't work that quickly. Let's wait a little longer." Zhang Shinan said, "The child is still young and has a weak stomach. The medicine soup will irritate his stomach, so he might vomit a few times."
Mrs. Du was anxious when she saw the child vomiting the medicine. She was afraid that the child would feel uncomfortable, and she was also afraid that taking too much medicine would damage the child's foundation.
Gu Youan calmed down now. She asked, "What if acupuncture and herbal medicine don't work?"
Zhang Shinan said: "Then we can only use strong medicine."
As they were talking, Gu Wen came hurriedly. When he entered the room, he first looked at his grandson in his daughter's arms. The child's face was red, and it was obvious that he had a fever.
Gu Wen then asked Zhang Shinan how the child was doing. Zhang Shinan explained, and Gu Wen said, "It will be fine. We believe in Brother Zhang's medical skills."
Zhang Shinan sighed and said, "Wait a moment. I'll come back to see the child in an hour."
After Zhang Shinan left, Gu Wen asked the maids and servants to go out, closed the door, and left only their family in the room.
Gu Wen lowered his voice and said, "An An, Dad remember you have medicine for the child?"
There are medicines for infants and young children, both for colds and heat. She stores them all on the first floor. The fruits and vegetables on the first floor will not go bad, which shows that they are fresh and the medicines should still be usable.
Mrs. Du hesitated and said, "After all, it's been stored for several years. They say it can be used, but is it..."
Gu Wen said decisively: "An An, go get the medicine. If Yuan doesn't get better in half an hour, I'll give him the medicine you gave me."
Gu Youan made a decision and thought about the space in her mind. In a blink of an eye, she appeared in the space, and A Yuan was still in her arms.
Gu Youan was shocked. Could A Yuan follow her into the space?
Why? Is it because Yuan is her blood?
In a blink of an eye, Gu Youan came out of the space, and her parents were shocked.
Mrs. Du was so stuttered that she couldn't speak. Gu Wen smiled and said, "That's good. If you ever face a life-or-death situation in the future, you and your son will have a place to take refuge."
The fact that his grandson could enter his daughter's space made Gu Wen believe that his grandson was also destined to be alive and it was impossible for him to die from a cold.
Gu Youan calmed himself down, carried A Yuan to the space, and found medicine to treat the child's cold.
Gu Wen and Mrs. Du got together to look at the instructions for the cold medicine. The words on the instructions were small and incomplete. Gu Wen knew all the words from his experience, but he didn't know the meaning of many of the words in the instructions and only had a vague understanding of them.
Gu Youan read the instructions again and again, making sure that it was suitable for A Yuan. He waited for another quarter of an hour, but A Yuan was crying in discomfort, and his condition seemed to have worsened.
Gu Youan looked at her parents, and Gu Wen nodded and said, "Use the medicine. Your medicine is better and will be effective."
Gu Youan made up his mind and made a packet of medicine for A Yuan to drink.
Then, just wait.
I waited and waited, time passed quickly and slowly. After an unknown amount of time, Zhang Shinan came in. After taking my pulse, he smiled and said, "The medicine is working."
A smile appeared on Gu Wen's serious face: "As long as it works."
Mrs. Du and her daughter looked at each other, and she looked at her grandson and felt relieved.
Hearing her daughter say that she and her husband did not plan to have any more children, Mrs. Du looked at her grandson and sighed, "This is Prince Qi's only son, so there can't be any problems."
The child's condition improved. When he woke up in the middle of the night, he was no longer feverish, but his stomach was rumbling with hunger and he wanted to eat. Gu Youan and Mrs. Du fed the child.
Gu Wen didn't leave either. The family of three stayed here, checking and touching the child every once in a while to see if he was still warm. Before they knew it, it was dawn.
It was daybreak outside. Gu Wen wiped his face and stood up, saying, "A Yuan is fine now. An An has been up all night. Don't go out today. Just rest at home."
"Well, thank you for accompanying me, Mom and Dad."
Mrs. Du said distressedly, "Why are you saying these things? Are you being polite to your parents?"
Gu Wen's face was gentle, and he said softly, "It wasn't easy for your parents. When you were little, you were weaker than most children. Your mother and I also endured day by day, year by year."
Gu Youan's nose felt sore, and she threw herself into her mother's arms with tears in her eyes. Mrs. Du also cried and patted her: "It's okay, it's okay, mom and dad are here."
Alas, raising a son for a hundred years means worrying for ninety-nine years.
I used to think I understood, but in fact I only understood it intellectually. It was only when I became a parent myself that I could better understand emotionally the love my parents had for me when I was young.
Gu Wen stayed up all night with his daughter. He had to go to the government office at dawn, so he had a quick breakfast and left.
Gu Youan persuaded her mother to rest, saying that she was young and could still endure it, and she would take care of the child by herself.
After Madam Du left, Aunt Qian stepped forward and advised, "Doctor Zhang came over to see the prince just now. He's doing very well. Don't worry about it. Leave him to me."
"Wait a little longer. I'll go to rest after Yuan wakes up and feeds me."
After waiting for another half an hour, it was the time when A Yuan usually woke up in the morning. Just as A Yuan woke up, Zhou Qi came back on horseback.
Zhou Qi rushed in with a dark face and a fierce look on his face. When he saw A Yuan with his round eyes wide open and his mouth open asking for milk, all the anger in his body suddenly dissipated.
Gu Youan looked at him and said, "Go change and come back in."
Zhou Qi went to their room to wash up, changed his clothes, and came to the east wing. Yuan was still eating, so he said, "I'll feed him."
Gu Youan gave him the spoon and she leaned against the soft pillow on the low couch to rest.
The couple didn't say anything, just looked at the child. Zhou Qi fed the child, then looked at him carefully, and put his forehead against the child's forehead. A Yuan felt itchy, so he pushed him with his hand, looking very energetic.
Gu Youan said weakly: "I was scared last night."
Not only was she terrified, Zhou Qi wanted to fly back when he received the news in the middle of the night.
Gu Youan said, "I'm tired. I'm going to rest for a while. You look after Yuan."
"Go to the bedroom and rest."
After handing the child to Zhou Qi, Gu Youan went back to his bedroom and had a good sleep. He didn't wake up until the afternoon, and his head was still a little dizzy when he woke up.
Xiaoju came in to serve and whispered, "When you left this morning, the prince was furious and replaced all the maids and servants serving the young master."
"Where did you change to?"
"I don't know. I heard they were sent somewhere else. Luckily, Xu Zhi persuaded them to do it to accumulate merit for the young master. Those maids who were destined to die were spared."
Considering Zhou Qi's background, his temper, and the importance he attached to A Yuan, being able to do this to his servant was already a special favor, so Gu Youan didn't mention it.
Somehow the news of A Yuan's illness spread, and the families in Songjiang City knew about it but didn't say anything. It was common for weak children to get sick, so it wasn't surprising.
When the news reached Luoyang, Zhou Xuan laughed and said to his personal servant, "Zhou Qi was born again after his body was broken. His only child is so weak. It seems that God is not helping him."
The eunuchs in the Imperial Palace naturally agreed with his words. After Zhou Xuan had laughed enough, he said, "Well, since he's pitiful, I'll show some mercy and let the Minister of War decide the rations and wages for the Northeast Army. I won't withhold them."
"Your Majesty is wise and magnanimous!"
Zhou Xuan laughed out loud. Since he was the emperor, he must be wise!
The first time Yuan fell ill, the two new parents were frightened. The couple stopped going out and only asked others to do things for them. They stayed at home all day to take care of their son.
One day, after coaxing his son to take a nap, Zhou Qi received a secret letter from Luoyang.
After reading the letter, Zhou Qi sneered. A complacent fool like Zhou Xuan would only realize what kind of person he is when he is driven off the throne!
That night, Gu Youan also read the secret letter. She said, "He has many sons, and his sons' mothers are all plotting against his offspring. When the truth comes out, he will be helpless and bark."
Gu Youan asked Zhou Qi: "Do you regret it?"
“No regrets.”
Gu Youan asked him without any context, but he knew what she was asking.
Yuan will grow up safely, and he doesn't need her to risk her life to have another child just in case.
His A Yuan will surely live a long and prosperous life.
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