Chapter 19 Chapter 19 Long Er is born weak
But the child was lucky and survived tenaciously. However, due to premature birth, he was weak in childhood and was often sick before the age of three. His thin physique made him seem like he was a year younger than his brother.
The imperial physician once told the prince that the child was born weak and often suffered from illness. He was at risk of dying at any time and might not live beyond the age of coming of age.
After giving birth to the twins, Bai was confined to her own backyard. The princess ordered her not to approach the two children, and no one in the palace was allowed to mention that the twins' biological mother was Bai. Therefore, the Yin Jinglong brothers believed that they were born by the princess ever since they could remember, and had no idea of Bai's existence.
In order to survive in the palace, Bai had to obey the princess's arrangements and was not allowed to step out of the backyard unless summoned. Although she was not given any status because she helped the prince to have children, she was not asked to do any work either.
Bai, who had always been law-abiding, was deeply worried when she heard that the child might be in danger of dying. For the first time, she disobeyed the princess's order and went to the prince privately to beg him to give the frail and sick child to her to raise personally.
"You're just a woman. You don't know how to raise a child, nor do you know how to treat illnesses. Wouldn't it be a waste of Long'er's time if I gave him to you?"
"Your Highness, the child chosen by the princess is the strong and healthy Heng'er. She knows that Long'er may die at any time and has long planned to abandon him. As their biological mother, I have never spent a single day with them since I gave birth to them. I am thinking that since the princess has made her choice, why not fulfill my wish as a mother and let me accompany Long'er for as long as I can. Furthermore, if the princess is worried that I will cause trouble, please show mercy and allow me to take Long'er away from the palace and stay away from Shangjing. I will never compete with Heng'er for the title!"
Seeing Bai's desperate plea, tears streaming down her face, Prince Xian felt a pang of pity. He was just debating whether to grant her the favor when the Princess arrived and quickly scolded Bai, "You shameless slave! I've given you the best food and drink for bearing twins for the Prince, and I've allocated you double the monthly salary of my servants. You don't need to do anything, just stay in your own place and don't have any contact with the children. What else are you dissatisfied with? Why are you complaining to the Prince now? Perhaps you've pointed out my faults? The issue of the children's ownership was already discussed with you and your father before you even married into the palace. You and your father took advantage of it, and now you're plotting against the children. You're truly a servile businessman, unable to change your nature of forsaking loyalty when seeking profit."
Faced with the princess's direct accusation, Bai did not retreat out of fear as she had done before, because she knew that this was her only chance to see her son again.
She knelt before the princess, tugging at her skirt and pleading, "I beg Your Majesty to show mercy and understand my feelings as a mother. Long'er is born with a weak constitution and is frail. He is not the prince's eldest son, so he is not the first choice to inherit the title. I also heard from the imperial physician that he may not live long, so I come to beg the prince to let Long'er return to my side."
She glanced at the frowning Prince Xian who seemed to be about to speak but hesitated several times, as if he was trying to speak for her. So she turned around again, knelt before the Prince Xian, kowtowed several times, and cried, "Your Highness, do not despise my humble merchant status and took me into your family. This is the blessing that my Bai family has cultivated for generations. I, Bai Ru'en, am deeply grateful to you and the princess. If you can return Long'er to me, I will live up to your expectations and do my best to raise him. If he is really dying as the imperial physician said, then as a mother, I only want to accompany him through this short last life. I hope that Your Highness will fulfill my mother's request!"
Seeing that Prince Xian's stubborn figure seemed to be about to be pried open, the princess slammed the table and angrily said, "Ridiculous! Heng'er and Long'er are twins born on the same day. Their faces are exactly the same. If you take Long'er away and let him know that you are his biological mother, what will Heng'er think? Will she still be willing to recognize me as her mother? Your Highness, please do not be soft-hearted. All this is for the future of the two children. They are obviously two brothers, but you insist on taking one back. What kind of children can she raise? Heng'er is raised by my side as my legitimate son, while Long'er is raised by a lowly little woman. Don't your Highness feel unfair for Long'er? Aren't you afraid that Long'er will blame you in the future?"
Prince Xian paced back and forth with his hands behind his back, looking embarrassed. It was indeed unfair to deprive Bai of her right to be a mother, but if he gave Long'er to Bai to raise, it would be unfair to both children, especially Long'er.
Under pressure from Chunyu, he ultimately failed to agree to Bai's request.
The princess was worried that Bai might do something out of line, so she placed her under house arrest and assigned more people to watch her, not allowing her to get close to the two children.
Yin Jinglong vaguely remembered that when he was about four or five years old, his wet nurse often took him to fly kites in the palace. One time, the kite broke its string and fell on a tree in the backyard. The wet nurse told him, "Little Master, stay here and don't move. Mother Mo will help you pick up the kite."
How could a young child be so obedient and stay still? Yin Jinglong had never been to the backyard of the palace and was curious about what fun things were happening there. So, while the wet nurse was away, he quietly entered the backyard through an unattended side door.
The backyard was where the palace's servants lived. He came in but didn't find anything new and wanted to leave, but then he heard a woman's voice calling his nickname from behind him.
"Long'er~"
Yin Jinglong looked in the direction of the voice and saw a young woman in a plain silk dress waving at him with a smile. Although she was dressed simply, she was different from the other maids in dirty clothes. Later he learned that the woman was his biological mother, Bai.
He imitated his mother, the princess, scolding the servants and scolded her: "You are so bold and shameless! How dare you disrespect me and call me by my nickname? I will definitely tell my mother and punish you with a flogging!"
He thought Bai would be so scared that she would kneel down and beg for mercy, but she didn't. Instead, she couldn't help but laugh. This action made him even more angry. It made him, who had been shorter and thinner than his brother since childhood, feel even more inferior, and he felt that he was being laughed at by a maid.
So, he strode towards Bai, waved his hand, and was about to slap the man, but he lost his footing and fell uncontrollably into her arms.
He smelled a soothing fragrance in Bai's arms, as well as an inexplicable sense of intimacy, which was warmer than the arms of the princess' mother.
At that moment, his anger completely vanished, and he stared blankly at the face in front of him that was somewhat strange yet naturally familiar: "Who... are you?"
He accidentally caught a glimpse of a thumb-sized gold locket around Bai's neck. The locket emitted a dazzling light under the sunlight, and he knew at a glance that it was not a fake.
As if he had guessed something, he immediately broke free from her embrace and said, "You daring servant, you actually stole things from the mansion? I'm going to tell my father!"
Bai took off the gold lock and explained, "My family has been in business for three generations, so we have no shortage of money to forge a gold lock. This lock is mine. If you don't believe me, you can see that my name, 'Bai Ruen', is engraved on it."
Yin Jinglong took a closer look and realized that it was just as she said. He had wrongly accused her without any evidence. However, as the son of a prince, he could not lose his dignity and prestige. So he snatched Bai's gold locket and said, "Even if this is yours, how can a servant like you, who only washes clothes and collects firewood, wear gold and silver jewelry? This is against the rules. I will confiscate it for now. When you redeem your indenture and leave the palace one day, I will return it to you."
Bai's curved brows were filled with a smile. "I'm different from them. I didn't sell myself to the palace, nor did I ever think of leaving. As for this golden locket, if Long'er likes it, I'm willing to give it to you. But you must remember that this is the only thing I can leave you. If you never have the chance to see me again, at least you'll have this thing to remember you by."
Yin Jinglong didn't understand the deeper meaning of this at the time. Just as he was about to ask, his wet nurse, Mo Niang, came over with the kite. Seeing Bai holding his hand and talking, Mo Niang angrily scolded Bai, "You shameless slave! How dare you touch the young master's noble body? Leave now and do your business!"
After she drove Bai away, she immediately took Yin Jinglong out of the backyard.
"Mo Niang, who is she?"
"My dear young master, she is the lowest-ranking maid in the mansion. No matter what she says, you don't have to pay attention to her. Didn't Mo Niang tell you to stay where you are? If the princess finds out, you will never see Mo Niang again."
In order to prevent his wet nurse from being implicated, Yin Jinglong never mentioned the meeting with Bai that day to anyone else, and he also hid the gold locket.
After sending the young master back, Mo Niang secretly went to the backyard to find Bai Shi and explained calmly, "Just now, I was afraid that the young master would doubt your identity, so I was disrespectful to Bai Xiao Niang. Mo Niang apologizes to you. I also hope that you will not tell anyone about what happened today. In the future, do not approach the two young masters again. Even if you accidentally see them, you must stay away from them. Do you understand?"
"I understand. Please help me take good care of the two children, especially Long'er. He is frail, sensitive, and strong-willed. Please take good care of him..."
"Alright, alright, taking care of the young master is my job. I will do it without you telling me."
Although Mo Niang said so, Bai was still worried and took her to her room and took out a few banknotes from the box under the bed and gave them to her.
"Mrs. Bai, what are you doing?"
"You helped me take care of the child. This is my reward for you. It's just a small token of my appreciation. Please accept it, Mo Niang."
"No way! No way!" Mo Niang took the banknotes and quickly stuffed them back to Bai as if she had picked up a hot potato.
"It's enough if you're grateful to me. I don't dare accept your things. If the princess gets to know, Mo Niang's life will be in danger!"
Bai knew Princess Chunyu's methods very well and understood Mo Niang's difficulties, so she didn't force it on her anymore.
Since then, Mo Niang never dared to appear near the backyard again. Since no one witnessed what happened that day, no one mentioned it later.
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