Chapter 82: Good Words Are Not Enough for Lao Jiu to Escape
When Xuanye arrived at the Yiku Palace, he happened to hear Xiu Yu and Xiao Tao discussing the name of the Sixth Prince. He entered the warm room, took off his fox fur coat, and waved away Liang Jiugong and Xiao Tao.
Xiu Yu personally handed over the hand warmer and said, "You didn't ask the servants to wait on you. Do you have something to tell me in private?"
"Don't you want to know why I named the Sixth Prince Yinzuo?" Xuanye put his arm around Xiuyu's shoulders and sat down on the couch with her. Then he said, "Ever since the Sixth Prince got the name Yinzuo, have all the gossip about Xiaowu disappeared?"
As expected… Xiu Yu sighed softly, “Your Majesty, Yinqi’s matter is just a rumor. It will last for a month or two, but it will eventually die down. However, the Sixth Prince’s name will be with him forever!”
Xuanye, however, was unconcerned. "Zuo is actually a very good character. They insist on thinking of it in a biased way, and I can't do anything about it. Since there are only so many characters for Shi, and he is the Fourth Prince's half-brother, Yinzuo is indeed the most appropriate name."
Since Xuanye had already said this, Xiu Yu naturally had nothing to say.
"Don't think about it anymore." Xuanye glanced at the chessboard on the table and said, "We haven't played chess for a while. How about another game?"
Xiu Yu calmed down and said, "Okay, as long as the emperor is not afraid of losing."
"Is it so easy for me to lose to you?" Xuanye said, standing up and sitting on the other side, reaching out to grab a handful of chess pieces. "It seems that you have lost to me more often."
"Aren't there more draws?" Xiu Yu thought of the days when she and Xuanye had just met. They played chess a lot. Although not much time had passed, it felt like a lifetime ago.
Xuanye smiled and said, "Yes, ever since we played that draw game of chess in the Cining Palace, it seems that there has been no winner since then."
Xiu Yu looked at the black chess piece on the chessboard and said, "This time, I guess double."
Winter ended, spring arrived, and time flowed by like flowing water. In the blink of an eye, the Fourth Princess and Yinqi were both old enough to attend school. During this time, Xiuyu was promoted from concubine to consort, and Xuanye's harem was complete with four renowned consorts: Hui, Yi, De, and Rong. Princes were added one after another, until the eighth prince was born, yet Xiuyu had made no contribution at all.
At first, Xuanye also complained a lot, but there was nothing he could do. Xiu Yu helped him look at the blueprints of the Hall of Supreme Harmony and helped him modify the firearms blueprint. Xiu Yu also contributed a lot to the construction of Changchun Garden. Xuanye jokingly called her the "Minister of Works" in the harem. Gradually, he stopped joking about the fact that he had no "contributions" after Yinqi.
However, ever since the fourth princess Kejing and Yinqi were sent by Xiu Yu to the royal school specially opened by Xuanye for the princes and princesses, Xiu Yu suddenly felt that it was really not easy to be a child of the royal family in the Qing Dynasty.
"Mother..." After finishing a day of school, Kejing and Yinqi rushed back to Yiku Palace and really rushed to call out "Mother".
"Mom, I want to eat soft cheese." Ke Jing threw the schoolbag she was carrying on the couch, ran to Xiu Yu, held Xiu Yu's arm and shook it.
"Mom, I want to drink milk tea." As the younger brother, Yinqi naturally cannot lose to his sister in acting coquettishly.
Xiu Yu bent her fingers and tapped the two children's foreheads in turn. With a stern face, she asked, "You want to eat soft cheese and drink milk tea. It's not difficult. Have you learned all the lessons for today?"
Kejing and Yinqi looked at each other, and it was Kejing, the older sister, who spoke up, "The multiplication table that mother taught us is so useful. Third brother and the others don't know it."
Having lived through life in the later world, Xiu Yu knew the benefits of early education. Furthermore, the current emperor was very strict in educating his own children, so even a bright bird would be better off flying early than late. She had no desire to change history, to have her child ascend the throne, or for herself to become empress dowager. As a mother, Xiu Yu simply hoped that her child would have some ability, live a healthy and happy life, and that she had no other wishes.
"Well..." Xiu Yu poured a cup of hot milk tea for each of the two children, "You haven't finished learning multiplication yet?"
Yinqi nodded: "Fourth brother and his friends learn slowly, and my fourth sister and I pretend not to know, so the master doesn't speak fast enough."
Xiu Yu touched Yinqi's pigtails. She was very impressed by the low-key nature of this couple. It was a natural habit and she didn't need to teach them.
Ke Jing finished a cup of milk tea, looked at Xiu Yu eagerly, and said, "Mother, is there no cheese to eat today?"
Xiu Yu smiled and said, "No, mother didn't make you any cheese today."
"Hmm..." Ke Jing bit her lower lip lightly, her clear eyes looking at the food box on the table. The corners of her mouth immediately curled up: "Then mother made other food for me and my fifth brother. Am I right?"
Xiu Yu knew her daughter was a foodie, and Yin Qi wasn't that curious about food. Unable to keep her daughter's appetite tantalizing any longer, she stood up, opened the lunch box, and took out the plate of pastries. She said to Ke Jing, "Your fifth brother never likes pastries. It's only you, the little greedy cat, who always cries for pastries after school."
Hearing what her mother said, Kejing stuck out her tongue at Yinqi, and Yinqi squeezed his nose at Kejing.
Xiu Yu had been feeling tired lately, which she attributed to the fact that she'd been studying firearms blueprints day and night. It was also just the Lunar New Year, and she'd been dealing with a ton of etiquette, so it was natural for her to be tired. Seeing Ke Jing pinching a cake in his left hand and rubbing his eyes with his other, she asked, "Did you get up too early? Didn't you get enough sleep?"
Ke Jing nodded vigorously, "Mother, being Khan Ama's child is so tiring. Are children from ordinary families like us?"
"Mother doesn't know either." Xiu Yu shook her head: "However, you were born in the royal family. Children of the royal family have to shoulder the mission of making the children of common people live a good life. Mother doesn't want my children to..." Xiu Yu didn't finish her words. She felt dizzy and lay on the table for a long time before she recovered.
"Mother, what's wrong with you?" Yinqi held Xiuyu's hand: "Are you feeling unwell?"
Xiu Yu straightened up and smiled at Yin Qi, "Mother is fine. Maybe she didn't sleep enough last night."
Ke Jing was also very anxious: "Mother, let's call the imperial physician. Khan Ama said that we can't hide our illness and avoid seeing a doctor. We can't endure the illness."
"You two go to the warm room and rest. Mother is really fine." Xiu Yu stood up and took a deep breath. Holding her daughter's left hand and her son's right hand, she sent the two children into the warm room. She didn't get up and walk to the outer room until they both fell asleep.
Xiao Tao was also a little anxious: "Master, why don't you call the imperial physician to take a look? You always say that you stayed up late to edit the pictures, but I always feel that it's not right. You haven't had your period for two months?"
"You mean?" Xiu Yu finally realized what was going on. She was a little skeptical. "No way? I've been very careful lately. Besides, our son and daughter are doing fine."
Xiao Tao sighed, "Have you forgotten? You still have the Ninth Prince and the Eleventh Prince. Now the Emperor's princes have reached the Eighth Prince, so it's your turn now."
"No way." Xiu Yu raised his hand to support his chin, with a look of sorrow on his face: "I originally thought that if I was more careful, I could avoid the Ninth Prince and the Eleventh Prince..."
Xiao Tao poured Xiu Yu a glass of warm water and said, "Let alone during the Qing Dynasty, even back then, it wasn't 100% possible to avoid it. Don't harbor such a lucky mentality."
At night, when Xuanye came to Yiku Palace, Xiu Yu was sitting on the bed with her legs hugged, wearing a light pink quilt.
"What are you doing?" Xuanye climbed onto the bed in his bright yellow shirt and pulled Xiuyu into his arms. "Is there something you haven't figured out?"
Xiu Yu glared at Xuanye and moved a little further into the bed: "It's not a big deal. I won't be able to solve any problems in the future."
This is obviously a temper tantrum. Xuanye wondered what had happened recently that made Xiu Yu angry, and found that everything was going smoothly recently, and even the latest firearms were about to enter the trial stage.
"Did someone come to Yiku Palace to bother you today?" Xuanye asked tentatively.
Xiu Yu's lips formed a line, "I guess we went too far that night when we finished the improved blueprints for the bird gun."
Xuanye was such a seasoned driver that he immediately realized what Xiuyu was talking about: "You mean, you're pregnant?"
"Probably." Xiu Yu rubbed her scattered hair and said, "A few days ago, she said that having a son and a daughter was already very good."
Xuanye's mouth curled up: "In the entire harem, you are probably the only one who thinks this way."
Xiu Yu turned her head and looked at Xuan Ye: "You said you would take me with you in a few months to see the range of the newly made firearms. Now, how can we go?"
"Is the Minister of Works in the Harem really angry?" Xuanye lifted the quilt that Xiu Yu was wearing and wrapped himself in it. "Take good care of yourself first. I promise I will take you to watch the test firing. What do you think?"
"Don't regret it." Xiu Yu leaned on Xuanye's shoulder: "You don't know, giving birth to a child is really like going through the gates of hell. Before Kejing and Yinqi, I didn't think it was a big deal. Now that I have them, I'm really afraid that if I step into it, I'll never get out, so..."
"How could that be!" Xuanye disagreed with Xiuyu's idea: "There are the best doctors and midwives in the palace. Even if you give birth to ten more princes for me, the doctors will ensure that you and the children are safe. Otherwise..." Xuanye's eyes darkened: "I will take the lives of all nine of their clans."
"Pooh, pooh, pooh, no way." Xiu Yu had been with Xuanye for a long time and knew very well that Emperor Xuanye actually had the majesty of an emperor. If he had the intention to kill, he would definitely not show mercy.
Xuanye's eyes softened, and he lowered his head to kiss Xiuyu's forehead, saying, "In order to prevent me from killing you, you must take care of yourself and our child. This is my bottom line."
The date for the test firing had been set long ago. Ever since Xuanye opened the Royal School, under the recruitment system that did not distinguish between Manchus and Han people but only looked at talent, he did recruit some very qualified students. The new batch of firearms were based on the design drawings brought out by the students in the school.
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