Chapter 85 Chapter 85 [VIP]
Her expression was too calm, only her hands were shaking. Emperor Yuan Shuo was also slightly surprised. He stretched out his arm to lift the person beside him, stuffed a soft pillow that had been prepared earlier to support her waist, and then ordered someone to come in.
His Majesty likes quietness, and the Imperial Concubine is about to give birth, so the Purple Palace has already prepared the delivery room and the corresponding staff. Although it is still as quiet as usual, the eunuchs and palace maids are on edge all the time. As long as there is the slightest noise, they will immediately move in an orderly manner.
Although the Empress Dowager did not approve of a woman giving birth in the Emperor's bedroom, since her son had done so, she could not say much. She just instructed Chen Rongshou in advance not to let the Emperor see the bloody scene, and to invite her to the Jiade Hall no matter how late it was.
The emperor only has two princes, and neither of them can inherit the throne. The empress dowager is a little anxious. She hopes that Shen Youyi can give birth to a prince this time so that the position of the Eastern Palace can be decided as soon as possible.
However, the Queen Mother never imagined that she would be born so early, and as soon as she got the news she immediately ordered the palace maids to prepare for the birth.
By the time the sedan chair arrived at the Purple Palace, the imperial concubine had already been moved to the delivery room. The emperor and Bai were having a midnight snack with her. It was very peaceful and calm.
After the intense contraction, only a little blood was seen. Shen Youyi almost thought she had misjudged the situation. She was filled with shame and complained to Emperor Yuan Shuo in a low voice for a while, then ate her soup noodles in a depressed mood.
Emperor Yuan Shuo comforted her for a moment, and asked the female doctor and midwife to go in and check. Only then did they realize that this was a sign of impending labor, but the actual delivery was still five or six hours away.
The Song court envoy checked the imperial concubine's recent diet. The food the noble lady eats is exquisite, but sometimes it can be too novel and there will be problems that ordinary people would not see.
For example, if the imperial concubine ate the fruits that came from across the ocean for three or four days in a row, there might be a risk of premature birth. However, these tributes have always been rare and precious, and they are just fruits that cannot be poisoned. The royal family will not randomly select a few women who are about to give birth to test the poison for the imperial concubine. Fortunately, the fetus is mature, the imperial concubine is young, and her body is flexible and strong, so it is not a big problem.
The Queen Mother breathed a sigh of relief, glanced at her son, and put aside her thoughts of looking down on him. With a gentle voice, she advised, "The Emperor, please go to bed for a couple of hours. It's still too early for the child to be born, and there's no point in you staying here. It would be better to write a few orders and have the eunuchs at Tianming deliver them to the prime ministers, so that he can skip the court meetings for the next few days."
The delivery of concubines has always been a very important matter. In the past, Emperor Yuan Shuo would personally attend the delivery of the baby, no matter if it was a prince or princess, to show his importance to the royal heir. However, when he went to the inner palace, there would usually be sharp and shrill screams coming from the delivery room, or the sounds would have been blocked. However, there would be palace servants coming in and out from time to time, following the midwife's instructions to bring some refreshing soup, food, or hot towels to the concubines giving birth.
In this tense atmosphere, time would drag on for an unusually long time. He had to do these things, but Emperor Yuan Shuo gave a wry smile: "How can my son sleep tonight while Yi Niang suffers?"
Although the empress dowager was also worried about the child, she couldn't help but look at the emperor a few more times when she saw his distraught look.
The emperor's attire was always formal. Although he was frugal, he would never wear his clothes, whether casual or everyday, more than three times, without letting anyone notice a wrinkle or dust. His thick, long, black hair was meticulously combed by the eunuchs, and his hair crown matched his clothes, without half an inch of nightgown material showing through the cuffs. His hair was slightly messy at his temples. When he spoke to her, he would glance at the occasionally lifted curtain, as if expecting the expressionless female doctors to come and report something important.
In the pitch-black night, only the calmness on his face remained, and he still wrote in one go.
She couldn't remember the last time she saw the emperor in such a miserable state. It might have been because he fell ill a few months ago that he looked so miserable.
But at that time, apart from being furious, the emperor's haggard look was mostly feigned. The empress dowager looked at the faint blue mark under his eye and guessed that he must have had a hard time these days. She couldn't help but laugh: "Usually, the concubines only invite Your Majesty when they are about to go into labor. It is only because the imperial concubine lives with you that it is so difficult. Your Majesty has to wait now, and I'm afraid you will have to wait for seven or eight hours."
She heard from the palace physician that in the past few months, the emperor often felt nauseous and dizzy and had dry heaving several times, but the imperial concubine did not vomit very badly during her pregnancy.
If he continued to endure this, he would not be in the mood to be happy when the imperial concubine really gave birth to a child.
The Empress Dowager was a woman of considerable experience. Even Yi Niang's biological mother, Lady Bai, had advised her in the same way. The child had not really been born yet, and both parents should conserve their energy. There were also many palace maids serving here. However, logic was logic, and when the moment of her delivery came, Emperor Yuan Shuo was still inevitably terrified, and even his heart was pounding like a drum.
The Imperial Concubine was giving birth for the first time. Although the first child was considered late compared to most women, the two of them had very different body shapes. Envoy Song had also subtly reminded the Imperial Concubine that although there was no need to be too strict on diet during pregnancy, except for necessary tonics, she still had to restrain herself to avoid suffering during delivery.
That is, during the month when her due date was approaching, Yiniang couldn't eat much to begin with, so she started to eat as she pleased.
A delicate beauty was about to give birth to a baby weighing several kilograms. Even so, he couldn't help but feel terrified.
In this matter, he even
After eating, Shen Youyi fell into another restless sleep. It was rare that she could see Emperor Yuan Shuo sitting beside her bed in the early morning. She felt a little relieved. She touched the shallow wrinkles at the corners of his eyes and whispered, "What are you afraid of? Your Majesty doesn't want to give birth by himself. I can get through it myself."
Emperor Yuan Shuo held her arm and lifted it up, trying to teach her to use as little force as possible, letting her skin play with him. He put it down when he had enough fun, lowered his eyes and said, "If I were to be reborn, I would probably have more control, my love."
Shen Youyi smiled. She wasn't the only one suffering during her pregnancy these past few months. If anything goes wrong, my husband shouldn't scare people and make the imperial doctors die with him.
Things hadn't reached their most dangerous stage yet, and Emperor Yuan Shuo didn't even want to think about it. He was so angry that he clenched her arm, but he couldn't vent any anger. He could only kiss her cheek helplessly and coax her, "If you want to be angry, Yi Niang, you can wait a few days to anger me. When you recover, I will do whatever you want."
However, he had to stay here today, even though Yi Niang was a little reluctant to be seen in such an ugly state by him.
He is a very tough person. He has even cut open his heart with his own hands, but he is not afraid of seeing a little blood. Yi Niang is extremely dependent on him. At this time, besides her mother, he should also be by her side.
Perhaps this child was indeed sensible, and she had managed her pregnancy well. She went into labor after noon, and less than half an hour later, she heard crying in the delivery room. The empress dowager was overjoyed and didn't care why the emperor didn't bring the child out to see her. She hurriedly stood up and asked, "Did the imperial concubine give birth to a prince or a princess?"
Several midwives also had joyful expressions on their faces. Taking advantage of the good weather, they brought out the thick swaddling clothes and examined them with the Empress Dowager, repeatedly congratulating them: "The Imperial Concubine has given birth to the Third Prince. His Majesty has just seen him and has specially ordered this servant to come out and announce the good news to the old empress."
The Empress Dowager had a few more smile lines on her face. The last happy event in the palace was the birth of a baby boy in the Crown Princess. Now, she must make the Imperial Concubine the queen with this son. With this prince, there will be fewer disturbances in the future.
She reached out and picked up the child. Although his face was red and wrinkled, the grandmother could still recognize his resemblance to the emperor and the imperial concubine. She smiled and said, "He's even more handsome than the emperor when he was a child. Although he's light in my arms, his voice is incredibly loud."
Shen Youyi could not hear the baby's cry. She still had some strength after giving birth. She only knew that her hand was held tightly and she heard her mother's voice in her ear, saying that she had given birth to a little prince.
When she woke up again, it was already night.
In the past, when there was a happy event in the palace, there would be fireworks and fireworks for three consecutive nights, but now it is quiet.
However, at this moment, the emperor who should be holding his child, playing with him, having meals with his ministers, and sharing his joy, instead propped himself up and lay on his side beside her, only occasionally kissing her quietly between the eyebrows.
Although she felt weak all over, she could still feel the touch between her eyebrows. The warmth and softness reminded her of the second day after they first reconciled.
She was tormented all night by a strong man whom she had only met twice. Although she was satisfied, she was always frightened and would wake up at the slightest noise. She pretended to be asleep in the tent, vigilantly watching his every move, trying to get familiar with his daily habits.
However, at that time, he turned back and, separated by only a curtain, almost in front of the palace maids, impressed a fleeting tenderness on her brow.
What was he thinking at that time?
She wasn't quite sure, she just knew that she was thinking that the prince's father was even more absurd than she thought... But their marriage might not last forever. She didn't know when her true identity would be guessed and the emperor would turn against her again.
But now she probably understands a little bit.
He liked her very much, but he was too proud to think it was not right. He felt a little awkward as if he was being teased by her, and like a thief, he wanted to take one more look at the treasure he had lost and found.
Shen Youyi couldn't help but smile slightly, but in fact only the corners of her mouth moved.
Emperor Yuan Shuo noticed her slight change and whispered, "Yi Niang?"
Shen Youyi hummed, half-opened her heavy eyes, and felt the stuffiness in front of her body. She asked softly, "Where's the child?"
Emperor Yuan Shuo reviewed the memorials and had just gone to see their newborn prince half an hour ago. Although he couldn't tell whether his appearance was good or bad, he was still deeply in love with him. He said gently, "Let me hold him and test the wet nurse. He just had a full meal and is sleeping soundly."
Those wet nurses were selected from the best, but whether they could succeed depended on who the prince chose. In the end, only eight were left to be replaced at any time.
Shen Youyi was unwilling to damage her beauty in order to feed the child. She wanted to feed the child for half a month at most. Seeing that the child did not necessarily look for her, she felt relieved and said softly, "My dear, won't you go to celebrate the birth of our child?"
Emperor Yuan Shuo had high hopes for this child. He had been delighted since the child took root in his beloved woman's womb. However, at this moment, he just wanted to spend more time with the woman beside him. He smiled and said, "His future success will not depend on this one night, but Yi Niang has suffered a lot. I don't want to disturb you. I will reward you generously tomorrow and let everyone know that Yi Niang has given birth to a prince for me."
Shen Youyi half raised her head. She looked really miserable now, but Emperor Yuan Shuo was slightly more energetic than her. She snuggled in his arms and talked for a while. Then she said weakly, "It's just been born. Your Majesty can wait a few more months."
Emperor Yuan Shuo was delighted. His expression was gentle as he gently embraced her, his eyes full of tenderness. "Of course. I have to focus on the ceremony of conferring the title of Empress Yi Niang first. How can I let my child go before you?"
He knew that it was not convenient for Yi Niang to say much at the moment, so he just followed Bai's instructions and fed her some rice oil and water. He waited until she fell asleep again before getting up to check her wounds which were still bleeding.
The next morning, Emperor Yuanshuo put on sacrificial robes and went to the Taimiao in person to report to the ancestors of heaven and earth. He sent officials to report to the gods and Buddhas of mountains and rivers everywhere, added the Tailao ceremony, lifted the one-month curfew in the capital, reduced taxes for one year in Guanzhong, the hometown of the imperial concubine and other prefectures, and held a ten-day banquet in the palace with bright lights.
The Queen Mother carefully selected the woman to perform the third bath for the prince. Now there are almost no concubines in the palace. Even if she does not give birth to a child, the imperial concubine will already be an uncrowned queen. Shen Youyi has to hide in the Purple Palace to take good care of herself, but the gifts for the new basin still have to be approved by her.
The strangest ones among them were the jade flute that the Queen asked Prince Chen to send from the foot of Zhongnan Mountain, and the dagger that Xiao Che sent.
She rejected her deceased husband who had come back from the dead. To Emperor Yuan Shuo, Xiao Che was just a young man whose family was destroyed by the deposed crown prince. He had no intention of making things difficult for him. Emperor Yuan Shuo asked her whether she wanted the current Marquis of Lingyang to return to his original family, issue an order to the King of Meng to summon Xiao Che to the capital, or ask him to return with the Nanzhao delegation.
Although Xiao Che was willing to return to Nanzhao, he wrote a letter requesting to stay in the capital for a longer period of time.
The emperor had a prince and would soon be crowned a queen. As the chief envoy, it was understandable that he wanted to stay for a few more months. However, Shen Youyi couldn't help but lose his mind as he looked at the dagger that could cut through iron like mud.
This dagger was neither inlaid with gold or jade, nor was it a family heirloom, but its meaning was clear.
He didn't want to embarrass her, so he judged people by their actions rather than their hearts. Even if he still had feelings for her in his heart, he still managed to keep it up on the surface.
As for her father's gift, it was delivered a little late. The newly harvested early rice from Yongzhou and the summer tax money were sent to Chang'an together, arriving around the same time as Chen Huaian's gift, just in time for the Third Prince's full moon banquet.
Emperor Yuan Shuo had shown her her father's congratulatory letter, but her brother's gift was a little unusual. She only heard that Emperor Yuan Shuo took it and showed it to all the ministers.
——The head of that great praiser was pickled in salt and sent all the way to the capital, and is now hanging high above the city gate.
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