Chapter 96. Giving birth.
Snow was falling from the sky, but Chu Heng was sweating profusely with anxiety. Zhao Qing followed behind him, pacing back and forth, constantly advising, "Your Highness, please wait in this room for a while. This matter cannot be rushed."
Chu Heng couldn't hear anything; his eyes were fixed on the tightly closed door, wishing he could see through these barriers and see Daiyu suffering from childbirth inside.
The imperial physicians waiting nearby were also sweating profusely. They were terrified. Early that morning, someone from the Prince Duan's residence came and said that the princess had gone into labor, and the prince had summoned them to come, just in case.
From the moment Princess Duan became pregnant, taking her pulse at their residence was a grueling task for the Imperial Hospital. Now that the princess was finally about to give birth, they thought they could finally get through it, but no one dared to breathe a sigh of relief.
Giving birth is like stepping into the gates of hell for a woman. If Princess Duan does not have a safe delivery, the imperial physicians all feel that their heads are about to fall off.
"Why can't I hear the Princess's voice?" Chu Heng suddenly stopped and looked at the trembling imperial physicians.
The leading imperial physician hurriedly replied, "First births are usually slower, and shouting will deplete your energy, which is not conducive to delivery."
Chu Heng frowned even more deeply and asked again, "How slow is it? It's been so long, why hasn't the child been born yet?"
"This..." The imperial physicians dared not answer. When they arrived, they had asked the princess about the time of her labor, and it had only been an hour since then, which was hardly a long time. However, Prince Duan clearly did not want to hear such an answer.
Just as he was filled with fear, a cry suddenly came from inside the room. The imperial physician's eyes lit up: "Your Highness, the child has been born!"
Chu Heng immediately clenched his hands, his eyes returning to the door. In his view, it was a long time before the tightly closed door was finally opened from the inside. The midwife closed the door first, then smiled broadly at Chu Heng and said, "Congratulations, Your Highness, on the birth of your son!"
Chu Heng immediately asked, "How is the Princess?"
The midwife was taken aback for a moment, then replied, "The boy is a filial son. The princess didn't suffer any serious injuries and is in good spirits right now."
Chu Heng breathed a sigh of relief, then asked, "When can I go see the Princess?"
The midwife said, "Your Highness, please wait a moment. I'll go inside and see if everything is ready."
Chu Heng nodded: "Go quickly."
As the midwife turned around, she clicked her tongue in amazement. She had seen many noble people, from empresses and princesses in the palace to princesses and royal consorts outside, but she had never heard of anyone asking the mother first when they had a son.
The princess is truly blessed.
"Wait a minute," Chu Heng called to her again, "You just said that the Princess gave birth to a boy, is that right? How is the child?"
Midwife: "..."
The child doesn't seem to be very fortunate.
The midwife turned around and forced a smile: "The boy's cry is loud; he sounds like a strong and healthy person."
"That's good."
Seeing that his master's eyes and heart could not accommodate anything else, Zhao Qing had no choice but to arrange the reward money first, so that the midwife, the imperial physician, and everyone in the family could share in the joy.
After everything in the room was tidied up, Chu Heng was invited inside. He first warmed himself in the outer room to ward off the chill before carefully turning around the screen to look at Daiyu and the child on the bed.
There was still a faint smell of blood in the room. Although Daiyu's eyes were bright, her complexion was not good and her lips were a little pale. Chu Heng looked at her and his eyes reddened.
Daiyu also saw him, and smiled with her eyes crinkling, saying, "Look at our child, his eyes look a lot like yours."
Chu Heng wiped his eyes, squatted down in front of the bed, held Daiyu's hand, and looked at her without blinking: "Yes, you've suffered. Take a good rest. We'll talk again when you're better."
"Go look at the child first," Daiyu said, her eyes darting around, gesturing for him to go see the child.
Chu Heng then looked at the tiny swaddled baby beside Daiyu. The little one was clenching her tiny fists and fast asleep.
To be honest, the newborn baby wasn't very good-looking; his skin was rosy and he didn't have much hair. But in Chu Heng and Daiyu's eyes, he was the most beautiful child in the world.
"That's nice." Chu Heng didn't dare touch him, only gently stroking him through the swaddling clothes. He then looked at Daiyu, "You rest for a while, I'll stay with you."
"Mmm." Daiyu closed her eyes with a smile. Although the delivery went smoothly, it still took a lot of effort on her, and she really didn't have much energy left.
Chu Heng stared intently at Daiyu, finally letting out the breath he had been holding.
He felt he could never get enough of the person in front of him, and he didn't know how much time had passed when the baby in the swaddling clothes suddenly started crying.
Chu Heng was startled. He glanced at the child, then quickly looked at Daiyu, fearing that she would be woken up.
The wet nurse came over and whispered, "Your Highness, the boy is hungry."
"Oh... I'm hungry." Chu Heng paused for a moment before realizing what he meant. "Oh!"
Chu Heng wanted to give up his seat to the wet nurse so she could easily carry the baby out, but he didn't expect that he had been squatting for too long and his legs were numb. When he moved, he fell to the ground.
The wet nurse was startled, unsure whether she should help the prince first. Chu Heng waved his hand, "You go and take him, don't wake the princess."
“…Oh.” The wet nurse carefully picked up the little master.
But Daiyu was still startled awake: "...What's wrong?"
"He's hungry, the wet nurse will take him to nurse him." Chu Heng moved over and tucked the blanket around Daiyu.
Daiyu hesitated for a moment before understanding Chu Heng's meaning. She smiled and said, "He...should also be given a name."
Chu Heng sat down on the footstool, thought for a moment, and said, "It's snowing today, so why don't we use the word 'snow' for the theme? What do you think?"
Daiyu shook her head without hesitation: "No, that's too perfunctory."
Chu Heng had no choice but to think again: "Xie Daoyun said that it would be better to have willow catkins rising with the wind. You happen to have a talent for writing about willow catkins. How about the word 'catkin'?"
Daiyu shook her head again: "Snow and catkins are rootless things, not good."
Chu Heng scratched his head in distress: "Only snow is readily available, right in front of me. I can't think of anything else right now."
Daiyu glanced at him and said, "Sigh, we made all those preparations, but we didn't prepare a few good names. It was a real mistake."
Chu Heng smiled gently and said, "It's not a bad move. The name isn't urgent. Your well-being is the most important thing."
Upon hearing this, Daiyu felt a warmth in her heart and reached out her hand, saying, "I'm fine, don't worry."
Chu Heng quickly shoved her hand back: "You can't be exposed to the wind right now!"
He had already consulted the imperial physicians and midwives, and Chu Heng could recite by heart all the things that needed to be paid attention to during postpartum confinement.
Daiyu chuckled, "Alright." She tilted her head again, looking around, "Why haven't they brought the child back yet?"
No sooner had she finished speaking than the wet nurse lifted the curtain at the small door next to her and brought back the little guy who had eaten and drunk his fill and fallen asleep.
Daiyu looked at him with tender eyes: "He's asleep again."
Chu Heng said softly, "Right now, he sleeps most of the day. As he gets older, he'll sleep less."
"They're just good at causing trouble for people," Daiyu said with a smile.
“We can worry about that later. You should get some sleep now.” Chu Heng placed his hand over Daiyu’s eyes. “What would you like to eat? I’ll have someone make it for you, and you can eat it when you wake up.”
Daiyu pondered for a moment: "I don't want anything too greasy, I want something light."
"Okay," Chu Heng replied softly.
...
When the people from Prince Duan's residence came to deliver the good news, the Empress Dowager was discussing the eldest prince with the Empress. It was now confirmed that the Emperor's change in attitude was not an act; he had indeed begun to place his hopes on the eldest prince.
The Empress Dowager believed that the Emperor was disappointed in the Second Prince, and they should seize the opportunity to have the ministers submit a memorial to push the First Prince to the throne in one fell swoop.
The Empress said that the eldest prince had returned and said that his teachers and his supporters did not agree with submitting a memorial at this time. They believed that as long as the emperor had the eldest prince in mind, they did not need to rush things and should not make the emperor feel that he was being forced to establish a crown prince.
The Empress Dowager was very displeased. What did she mean by coercion? The emperor should establish an heir early in order to secure the country. The eldest prince was the legitimate eldest son, and it was only right and proper to establish him as the heir, just like the emperor had done back then.
There was another reason why the Empress Dowager was in a hurry to establish an heir: her previous serious illness had made her worry about her lifespan. Before she closed her eyes, she had to see the person she had chosen ascend to the throne, otherwise she could not rest easy.
Fortunately, there were still people supporting the Empress Dowager, namely her maternal family.
Because the emperor didn't want to anger the Empress Dowager and be branded as unfilial, and hadn't yet found a suitable opportunity to make the Fang family bring about their own demise, he let them go for the time being.
The Fang family believed that having a reliable backer was the key to surviving this calamity. They needed a continuous source of support. Now it was the Empress Dowager, and in the future... the Fang family would have an Empress and an Empress Dowager! Therefore, the Fang family was just as eager as the Empress Dowager to help the eldest prince ascend the throne.
The eldest prince's faction is currently deadlocked, and the Empress Dowager is very dissatisfied because she has been turned down, and her attitude towards the Empress is not very good.
The Empress never dared to show her temper in front of the Empress Dowager, and could only force a smile. The people from Prince Duan's residence helped ease her embarrassment.
"What a joyous occasion!" the Empress exclaimed with a smile. "Congratulations, Empress Dowager, on the addition of another grandson!"
The Empress Dowager remained expressionless, and she only said one sentence: "Shuangyun, reward her as usual."
Shuangyun accepted the order and left. The Empress was a little confused. Prince Duan was the Empress Dowager's most beloved youngest son. Shouldn't she be overjoyed to have a new grandson? Why was she so indifferent?
"It's almost the end of the year, and I'd like some peace and quiet." The Empress Dowager's words drew the Empress's attention back. "Have Jie'er tell his people that I want to see their decision after the New Year."
The Empress smiled wryly: "Yes."
Her son now trusts those people from the previous dynasty more, and the Empress Dowager is urging her on like this. The Empress has been caught in the middle between the Empress Dowager and the Emperor for years, but she never expected to be caught in the middle between her son and the Empress Dowager as well.
well.
The Empress sighed and left Renshou Palace. Her personal maid asked her again whether the reward given to Prince Duan's residence should be the usual amount or more.
The Empress was immediately troubled again. In the past, the Emperor and Empress Dowager would double the rewards during the New Year, so she would naturally have to double them as well. This time, the Empress Dowager was following the same rule, so should she double the rewards as well?
His Majesty will surely dote on him even more; he now dotes on Prince Duan even more than the Empress Dowager.
Empress: "..."
This is really a headache.
However, Chu Heng and Daiyu did not care whether the palace's rewards were plentiful or small, or rather, they had no time to care, as their minds were occupied by their newborn child.
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