Chapter 87 The Secret That Cannot Be Hidden: Little Eleven is Coming
The incident of the Ninth Prince in the Yikun Palace finding a little trick on an abacus during his one-year-old birthday celebration was always a topic of conversation among the concubines in the harem when they were bored for the next two months. Of course, some praised Xiu Yu while others criticized her. However, these things were not a big deal to the busy Xiu Yu.
More than the gossip, what truly troubled Xiuyu was that not long after Yin'er's first birthday, she felt a wave of lethargy. Having already given birth to three children, she understood this feeling all too well. The ripping pain of giving birth to Xiaojiu still lingered in her mind, and Xiuyu, like a child, tried to cover her ears and steal the bell. From that moment on, Yikun Palace refused to call in the imperial physician, deceiving herself for as long as she could.
Xiao Tao, a girl who has followed Xiu Yu for many years, can naturally feel the recent changes in her master, both physically and mentally. However, since her master didn't say anything, it was not easy for her to ask. She just had to be smarter and more vigilant and not let anything that shouldn't happen happen in Yikun Palace.
Of course, Xuanye's life wasn't quite as comfortable these days. He'd come to Xiuyu again and again, excited, ready to go to Wushan together, only to be rejected for one reason or another. They'd played chess a few times, read a few books together, and even sketched together. But the worst part was Xiuyu actually dragging him to look at the moon with a telescope in the middle of winter, saying that maybe one day they could see a crater on the moon through it! Xuanye, preoccupied with driving, didn't even want to see a crater.
Liang Jiugong, a servant who treated the emperor's affairs as his own at this moment, could of course understand the emperor's distress. However, he did not dare to ask Master Yi in person, but he could ask Xiao Tao, his sworn sister.
"Is your master unhappy recently?" Liang Jiugong pondered and decided to consider Master Yi's mood.
Xiao Tao and Liang Jiugong sat side by side under the corridor and replied, "No."
"Then..." Liang Jiugong gestured towards the warm room: "Why doesn't your master always tell our emperor..." When he said this, he stretched out his two thumbs and nodded to each other.
Xiao Tao was amused by Liang Jiugong and raised an eyebrow: "Why did the emperor even tell you, the chief steward, about this?"
"Am I your personal servant?" Liang Jiugong lowered his eyelids. "I know what it's like when the master does that, and what it's like when he doesn't. I know it well."
Xiao Tao snorted: "Shameless."
"Hey!" Liang Jiugong gently poked Xiao Tao's forehead. "Don't blame your brother for not reminding you. If Master Yi continues to be so perfunctory with the Emperor, be careful not to push the Emperor to someone else. In this harem, Master Huanggui is the Emperor's cousin and has the Fourth Prince as her child. Master Hui is the eldest prince's biological mother. Master De is the most docile. Only your Master is always confronting the Emperor."
"Then let me ask you." Xiao Tao crossed his arms, "Has the emperor been visiting Yikun Palace less often recently?"
"Just because there hasn't been any recently doesn't mean there won't be any in the future." Liang Jiugong said earnestly, "Sister, we servants are one with our masters. If the master is favored, then you will be able to walk with ease among the servants in the harem. It will be easy for you to get anything you want wherever you go. If one day, your master is no longer favored..."
"Pah, pah, pah!" Xiao Tao glared at Liang Jiugong: "Shut your crow mouth! My master will be favored for the rest of her life!"
"Okay, okay." Liang Jiugong looked at Xiao Tao with a hint of pity in his eyes. "You said it would have been great for you to be with the emperor back then, with your brother protecting you. But you insisted on following Master Yi. I don't know what's wrong with you."
"I'm happy to!" Xiao Tao glared at Liang Jiugong: "Actually... my master didn't intend to go against the emperor's wishes. I guess my master is..." She hesitated to speak.
"What is it?"
"Come here." Xiao Tao asked Liang Jiugong to come closer. She leaned close to Liang Jiugong's ear and whispered, "My master is here..."
"Is this true?" Liang Jiugong's eyes widened. "I didn't hear what the master said."
"My master hasn't even summoned the imperial physician, but I'm his personal physician, so I can tell."
"This..." Liang Jiugong found it unbelievable. "If you saw it wrong, it's not a big deal. But if you didn't see it wrong, this is a big deal!"
Xiao Tao disagreed: "Isn't this a good thing?"
"Of course it's a good thing." Liang Jiugong said with a bitter face: "But you said you told me, should I tell the emperor or not?"
"You tell? Why would you tell?" Xiao Tao quickly gave Liang Jiugong an answer: "Our master can't keep this a secret for much longer. Even though he's wearing thick winter clothes, the emperor will definitely notice it in a few days, even if he can't figure it out in the next two days. Maybe this is a New Year's gift from my master to the emperor."
Liang Jiugong smiled bitterly: "Then this gift is really big."
Inside the warm room, Xuanye was playing chess with Xiuyu. He looked at her carefully and after placing a move, he said, "Yu'er, have you been feeling unwell lately?"
Xiu Yu was immediately nervous when Xuanye asked her this. She lowered her head slightly and looked at her waist. It seemed fine. She was wearing enough thick clothes. So she smiled and said, "No, why do you ask?"
Xuanye's eyes were sharp, and he could clearly see every little change in Xiuyu's expression. So, he stood up, walked over to Xiuyu, pulled her up, and then put his arms around her waist, using a little force, "Lately, you won't let me touch you, and you always cover yourself up tightly when you sleep. Why is that?"
Xiu Yu felt Xuanye's belt pressing against her lower abdomen. She knew that she couldn't keep this secret for much longer, so she stood on tiptoe and whispered in Xuanye's ear, "Because I'm pregnant."
Upon hearing this, Xuanye immediately picked Xiuyu up horizontally, still with a stern face: "Why didn't you tell me earlier? Why didn't you call the imperial physician to check your pulse? I see your waist, you are four months pregnant, right?"
Xiu Yu's cheeks were a little hot, and she stared at Xuan Ye with a pair of eyes: "When I gave birth to Xiao Jiu, it almost killed me. I didn't want this child, but..."
"You can't bear to leave, right?" Xuanye rubbed Xiuyu's cheek. "If you hadn't been hit before giving birth to Xiaojiu, you wouldn't have suffered that. Not this time. This time, stay in the Forbidden City until the child is born safely."
Xiu Yu smiled, though she was still a little afraid. It wasn't because she was afraid of another near-death experience, but because she knew the child she carried hadn't survived the orthodox tradition. After all, they'd been pregnant for ten months, and they were still connected by blood. While she knew her current life deviated significantly from the orthodox tradition, she still felt just as worried.
"You look bad. What are you thinking about?" Xuanye patted Xiu Yu's back gently.
"Nothing." Xiu Yu couldn't say that she was thinking about how to keep the child alive, so she simply stood up and sat across from Xuanye again: "How about finishing this game of chess?"
"No more." Xuanye said, and then he ordered loudly: "Liang Jiugong, summon Liu Shengfang to Yikun Palace!" Then he said to Xiuyu: "It's been so long, and you haven't asked the imperial physician to see you."
Outside the warm room, Liang Jiugong received his errand and whispered to Xiao Tao, "Your master's secret can no longer be hidden this time."
Xiao Tao said, "The Emperor specifically summoned Imperial Physician Liu. I'm afraid he already knows."
The news spread extremely quickly in the palace. As soon as Liang Jiugong went to summon Liu Shengfang to the Yikun Palace, the ladies in the harem started to spread the news that Concubine Yi was ill. When Liu Shengfang prescribed a prescription for Xiu Yu to nourish the fetus, those well-informed ladies naturally got the news that Concubine Yikun was pregnant again.
Thus, the Yikun Palace, which had been quiet for a long time, became lively again. First, the Grand Empress Dowager and the Empress Dowager sent supplements, followed by the Imperial Noble Consort Tong Jia Zifu of Chengqian Palace.
Because Xiaosi and Xiaowu were of similar age and both studied Western learning in school, and Xiaowu liked Xiaosi very much, he would share with Xiaosi the snacks that his mother brought to school for him and his fourth sister, so the two little guys could at least be playmates of similar age.
In addition, Tong Jia Zi Fu also liked Xiu Yu very much, and she really hoped that her fourth prince could become a prince who was both civil and martial. So she brought the fourth prince to Yikun Palace from time to time. If she happened to see Xiu Yu teaching Kejing and Yinqi, she would send Yinzhen to study together.
As time went by, it became a situation where whenever Xiu Yu wanted to open a primary school for Kejing and Yinqi, Yinqi would run to Chengqian Palace to ask Yinzhen to come and study with him.
This time Tong Jia Zi Fu came to deliver supplements to Xiu Yu, and naturally brought Yinzhen with her.
"You're really patient. It was your cousin who found out first, wasn't it?" Tong Jia Zifu and Xiu Yu sat on the couch together, drinking tea and chatting. "It's not your first time being a mother, why are you acting like this?"
Xiu Yu smiled and said, "At first I didn't want this to be true, but later on, I just stopped talking about it."
"You're quite good at hiding your illness and avoiding doctors." Tong Jia Zifu saw Yinzhen and Yinqi playing with a telescope together and said, "Yinzhen often learns arithmetic in your palace. In a sense, you are his teacher."
Xiu Yu said, "I didn't expect that the Fourth Prince would have such a compatible temperament with our Little Fifth."
"Don't be fooled by Yinzhen's quiet appearance. He is a caring child." Tong Jia Zifu lowered her eyelids, touched the hand warmer, and suddenly said, "If you treat him sincerely, he will know it, and he will definitely treat you sincerely in the future."
Xiu Yu Yanran: "The Imperial Concubine treats the Fourth Prince as her own daughter. When the Fourth Prince grows up, he will definitely treat you well."
Tong Jia Zifu smiled, but then sighed softly: "When I took Yinzhen to my palace to raise him, I had selfish motives, but I didn't intend to sever the mother-son relationship between him and Defei. It just so happens that Defei is not like you. Now, Yinzhen goes to pay his respects to Defei when she is still asleep, because he doesn't want to see her."
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