People from my hometown came, and it was their first time visiting Beijing. Over the next few days, Brother Fu and his friends will take everyone around the city to see the sights and sample the local delicacies.
Having just arrived in a strange yet bustling prefecture, everyone was naturally curious and eager to get to know the place. Especially since this was the imperial capital, if it weren't for the fact that they had climbed up to Emperor Xingxing, these commoners might never have had the chance to come to the capital in their entire lives.
When you come here, you should visit as many places as possible and buy some trinkets to take back with you. You can give some to your relatives and keep some souvenirs for your own family.
Sifu and Wufu's future father-in-law were considered well-off and held a high position in the town of Nanyang Prefecture. However, once they arrived in the capital, a place where even a brick could hit a fifth-rank official, they would be nothing. Even scholars and candidates for the imperial examinations would be ignored in the capital, let alone small merchants like them.
After spending two days in the capital, both families felt more and more that marrying into the Zhou family was a great deal. Before coming to the capital, they had all thought that the father of the Zhou family's adopted daughter was a high-ranking official in the capital. Only after arriving in the capital did they realize that the daughter was the emperor and her father was the late emperor.
It was like a golden egg suddenly falling from the sky and hitting them on the head, knocking both families unconscious. They had suddenly become relatives of royalty, something they never even dreamed of before.
Of course, if things hadn't already been settled, they wouldn't have dared to dream of it. Hmm, it seems the dowry needs to be increased, otherwise the bride's family will look poor and it won't be presentable.
"Don't overthink it, Father-in-law and Mother-in-law. Just treat them with normalcy." This is how Sifu and Wufu comforted their future father-in-law and mother-in-law. They were engaged but not yet married, but they already called each other "Father-in-law and Mother-in-law" very naturally.
Neither family felt that Sifu and Wufu were getting the better deal. They felt that they were marrying above their station with the Zhou family. They had been feeling uneasy just now, but after Sifu and Wufu reassured them, they were finally able to relax.
Ten days after everyone arrived in Beijing, Chun Chun went into labor that night. She was in labor for a day and a night, and finally gave birth to the child the following evening.
Dafu stood guard outside the door for a day and a night. Only when he heard the baby crying did he wipe the sweat from his forehead. When the midwife told him that Chun Chun was fine and even had the energy to talk, he felt much more at ease.
"By the way, how many did you have?" Dafu asked.
The midwife was taken aback, then grinned and said, "It's a big, healthy boy, Young Master Zhou, please take a look."
"Is it all gone?" Dafu asked again.
"Of course not, they've all been brought out, haven't they?" The midwife was both amused and annoyed. Did she think that since Madam Zhou had given birth to two, she could hide one of them?
There are two midwives in total. Even if one of them wanted to cause trouble, they couldn't. Besides, Madam Zhou's own mother and mother-in-law are also inside guarding the place. Moreover, no one has bribed them to do anything.
When Chun Chun gave birth, Zhao Xiu, as her biological mother, stayed by her side the whole time. When Qiu Qiu gave birth, because her in-laws only informed her after the child was born, she couldn't stay by her side. Now that she happened to be in the capital, how could she not stay by her side?
Dafu realized what he had asked and scratched his head a little embarrassedly. It was all because Xingxing kept brainwashing them brothers, making him suspect that his wife was carrying several babies after Chun Chun got pregnant. Now that she had given birth to only one, he had gotten a little carried away and asked a few more questions.
Sigh, this whole thing is a mess, I can't even figure it out.
Zhao Guihua was also in the delivery room with her. Now that she came out, she quickly told the kitchen to prepare some food. Chun Chun was in good health; she hadn't fallen asleep after giving birth and was still talking to her mother.
"Quickly go to the kitchen and bring over the chicken soup. Also, send someone to deliver a message to the palace, saying that my sister-in-law has given birth to a chubby nephew, who weighs a good seven pounds!" Zhao Guihua shouted anxiously.
"Oh, Madam Zhou, don't worry, I'll go back to the palace and report to His Majesty right away." The speaker was a young eunuch. Last night, when Xingxing learned that Chun Chun had gone into labor, she sent the young eunuch to keep watch and wait for news. She also sent a lot of tonics with her.
Zhao Guihua then realized that the eunuch had come last night, so she didn't give any more instructions to the servants and directly asked the eunuch to deliver the message.
Soon, Xingxing learned from the eunuch that Chun Chun had successfully given birth to a baby boy. With a wave of his hand, he bestowed many gifts upon her, saying, "I will personally visit the Zhou residence when the child is on his third-day celebration."
"Ah, look, Yu, look." Yu'er is now seven months old, but the child can already vaguely utter monosyllables from time to time, which is really precocious.
Zhu Lin was very satisfied with this. The more intelligent Yu'er was, the more certain it was that the Wang family's empire would have a successor. In another ten years or so, he and Long'er could confidently hand over the reins.
Little Yu'er, who was babbling away, suddenly felt a chill run down his spine. The little boy was stunned for a moment, but soon he burst into laughter and reached out for his father to hug him. Little did he know the sinister intentions his father had in mind.
Zhu Lin held his soft, fragrant son high in the air for a while, then suddenly put the child in Xingxing's arms. Xingxing noticed his strange expression and looked at him questioningly.
"That palace maid was problematic," Zhu Lin replied with a look.
Um?
Xingxing was puzzled. Which palace maid hadn't looked carefully enough and therefore hadn't noticed anything unusual?
Zhu Lin finished exchanging glances with her, then suddenly moved and in a few breaths threw a palace maid over. Judging from her clothes, she was a third-class palace maid. Third-class palace maids worked in the outer palace and were not qualified to enter the inner palace. So, had she just entered the inner palace?
She didn't enter the inner hall, but Zhu Lin noticed her after she glanced inside a few times. Before she could decide whether to leave immediately or stay, she was suddenly dragged inside.
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