The baby in her belly seemed to have heard Taoti's prayers, and the subsequent delivery was incredibly smooth.
The midwife was busy and sweating. A palace maid fed Tao Ti water, and another wiped her sweat. Tao Ti grabbed the sheets with both hands and sweated profusely.
"Your Majesty, please try harder. It will be almost done. I have my eyes on the crown prince's head."
"My queen, take a deep breath and concentrate on one thing!"
“…”
Tao Ti wanted to scream, but the midwife said that screaming would drain her strength, so she could only hold her breath.
Fortunately, this torture did not last too long. About an hour later, two crisp cries of babies were heard from the delivery room.
Hearing the powerful cries, the midwife couldn't help but exclaimed in amazement, "Your Majesty is so lucky. This is not only the first child but also twins. The birth was so fast and smooth. This is the first time I have seen such a thing in all my years of midwifery."
Tao Ti smiled weakly and let Linglong feed her ginseng soup.
"Your Majesty, the first baby to come out is a little prince, and the next one will be a little princess." Linglong had tears in her eyes. She watched the birth of the prince and princess with her own eyes, and also saw with her own eyes the suffering of the empress. At this moment, her emotions were very complicated, she was happy and distressed at the same time.
Tao Ti drank a bowl of ginseng soup and regained some strength. She said softly, "Bring the child here for me to see."
Linglong responded and quickly asked someone to hold her.
Outside the palace, when Pei Yan heard the baby crying, he wanted to rush inside, but the palace maid stopped him, saying that there was heavy blood inside and the empress had not yet given birth. He had no choice but to frown, suppress his anxiety, but keep his eyes fixed on the direction of the inner hall.
When the midwife came out to announce the good news, he could not wait to step forward and asked in a deep voice, "How is the queen?"
The midwife smiled and said, "Don't worry, Your Majesty, the Queen is fine, the little prince..."
She wanted to say that "the little prince and the little princess" were also very good, but before she could finish her words, she saw the emperor striding inside, leaving only his hurried back.
This... don't you even ask about the child?
As soon as Pei Yangang stepped into the inner hall, he smelled a bloody odor. Even though the windows were open and incense was burning in the room, the odor was still hard to conceal.
The palace servants had already changed the bed sheets and bedspreads with clean ones, and the blood-stained sheets were placed in a copper basin. Pei Yan took a glance at it and saw the blood stains, and his heart sank.
He pursed his lips and ran to the bed.
Tao Ti was leaning against a large royal blue satin pillow, with a goose yellow satin headband on her forehead, and two little babies in her arms, one on the left and one on the right. She lowered her head, with a smile on her lips, looking at this and that, her eyes full of joy.
The warm yellow candlelight shone on her, making her look hazy, as if she was emitting a gentle light.
Pei Yan's heart, which was filled with anxiety, worry and fear, calmed down unconsciously when he saw this scene.
An unprecedented and extremely strong emotion quickly surged through his body. His eyes were inexplicably sour and his naturally hanging hands could not help but clench. He suppressed the surging hot emotions in his chest, strode forward, and called in a gentle voice, "Ati."
Tao Ti raised her eyes and saw him coming. A smile blossomed on her pale and haggard face. Her misty black eyes were full of light. She said to him excitedly, "Your Majesty, look at our babies. They are so small!"
Pei Yan didn't rush to see the child. Instead, he looked her up and down. Seeing that she was in good condition, his tense heart relaxed.
"Ati, how do you feel now?"
"I'm a little tired and a little uncomfortable down there, but otherwise it's fine."
"Thanks a lot."
He gazed at her deeply, his eyes full of affection and shining with a bright light.
Tao Ti felt embarrassed by his gaze and said hurriedly, "Sit down and look at the children."
Pei Yan then slowly sat down beside her and set his eyes on the two children.
Tao Ti tilted her head and quietly observed his expression. Seeing that he didn't show much expression, she thought he was the same as herself at the beginning. Seeing that the two children had wrinkles, she thought they were ugly and hurriedly added, "Don't think they look like little monkeys now. The midwife said that they will become beautiful after a few days when they grow up."
Pei Yan curled his lips and said, "It looks good."
Taoti: "Huh?"
Not really.
Pei Yan, however, praised them sincerely, "They are very beautiful. The son looks like me, and the daughter looks like you."
Taoti, "......?"
She looked down at the two little monkeys whose eyes were red and couldn't even open.
Uh, how do you see the resemblance? Father filter?
Pei stretched out his hand and touched the two children's faces, and their facial lines became a little gentler.
Their children are the best.
"This is the older brother, and this is the younger sister. They came out one after the other."
"Well, that's good. From now on, the brother can protect his sister."
The two of them looked at the children for a while. Pei Yan noticed the fatigue on Tao Ti's face and waved to the wet nurse to take the two children away.
He turned around, helped her lie down, and tucked the corner of the quilt for her carefully. Then, he leaned over and kissed her eyes, his deep voice full of tenderness, "Ati, have a good sleep."
"Well, then I'll go to sleep." Tao Ti was really tired. She held his hand, closed her eyes, and quickly fell asleep.
………
Early the next morning, the news that the empress had given birth to a baby boy spread throughout the court and the harem.
Upon hearing the good news, Zhang, Princess Jingyang, Qinghe, Xu Wenchan and others brought a bunch of gifts to the palace to visit Tao Ti.
When the retired emperor of Xingqing Palace heard the news, he also presented a large number of gifts.
At the morning court session, Pei Yan happily shared his joy with the court officials. At the same time, he announced a general amnesty, reduced taxes for three years, benefited the people, and accumulated blessings for the princes and princesses.
All officials congratulated and shouted, "May God bless you and long live your majesty."
When the little prince and princess were one month old, Pei Yan and Tao Ti took the two children to Xingqing Palace to visit the emperor.
This was the first time that the retired emperor saw his grandchildren. His health had been deteriorating over the past year, and he was aging at a speed visible to the naked eye. His originally dark hair had now turned mostly white, and he looked haggard.
I heard from Li Gui that the retired emperor often went to Fengyi Palace and sat in front of the tablets of Empress Gu and the eldest prince for the entire day.
Sometimes he smiles foolishly, and sometimes he is silent and depressed. His emotions are hard to tell and he is unpredictable.
Doctor Yu only said that the emperor had a heart disease, and heart disease needs to be treated with heart medicine. Ordinary medicine, no matter how precious it is, will be of no use.
Pei Yan and Tao Ti both knew what the emperor's heart medicine was.
There is no medicine for his heart in this world anymore. He can only continue to suffer from this illness until he dies.
Back to the topic, the retired emperor looked at the fair and tender little prince and princess, and was afraid that they would be sick, so he did not hug them, but just squinted his eyes and looked at them.
The two children were as cute as snow balls. They were not afraid of the white-haired and bearded emperor. They stared at him with their clear big eyes.
Seeing the curious and innocent eyes of his grandchildren, the emperor's stern face softened a lot and he stuffed two thick red envelopes into the two children as a meeting gift.
That night, a grand full-moon banquet was held in the palace for the prince and princess.
All the guests who came to the palace banquet said that the little prince and princess were adorable.
——
Another month passed and winter arrived.
On this day, Pei Yan went to court as usual.
Some officials in the court also advised the emperor to select beautiful concubines to fill his harem.
They thought to themselves that when the Queen was pregnant, His Majesty did not take a concubine in order not to affect her mood. Now that the Queen has safely given birth to a prince and a princess and has passed the confinement period, His Majesty should have no other reason to refuse to take a concubine, right?
However, facing the advice of the court officials, Pei Yan once again refused, his tone calm but loud -
"I already have a crown prince, and the country has a successor, so why do I need to take concubines? Moreover, for the royal family, having many offspring is not necessarily a good thing. I think that in order to avoid further chaos in ten or twenty years, you should not mention the matter of selecting talents anymore."
His words had a hidden meaning.
The smart ones could tell that His Majesty was talking about the incident two years ago when the Third Prince Pei Changzhou forced the emperor to abdicate. This matter was taboo, so they dared not respond.
Moreover, His Majesty's attitude has been so clear. After more than a year in power, the court officials have also come to understand that the new emperor is not as gentle as he appears. His tough methods are even more forceful than those of the retired emperor.
However, one is a dagger hidden in his smile, and the other is decisive and quick to kill. Anyway, both father and son are not easy to deal with.
After the court session was dismissed, Fu Xirui noticed that His Majesty was in a bad mood, and was obviously annoyed by those inconsiderate court officials.
He smiled and suggested, "Your Majesty, why don't you go to Weiyang Palace? Didn't the Empress say yesterday that she had specially ordered a stone pot to make stone pot chicken..."
As expected, when the Empress was mentioned, the coldness in His Majesty's handsome features dissipated a lot.
He twirled the jade ring on his thumb for a while, then uttered a low "hmm".
Fu Xirui immediately shouted happily, "Your Majesty is driving the Weiyang Palace——"
When Pei Yan arrived at the Weiyang Palace, Tao Ti was sitting cross-legged on the couch opening gifts, while the eldest prince and the little princess were sleeping soundly in the golden cradle.
After more than a month of feeding, the two children were no longer as wrinkled and red as when they were just born. Their skin gradually became white, tender and plump, like shelled egg whites. Their eyebrows and eyes gradually grew. Just as Pei Yan said before, the little prince was indeed more like him, with a pair of beautiful peach blossom eyes, while the little princess was more like Tao Ti, with big round eyes and deep eyelid wrinkles, as delicate as a doll.
Hearing the familiar footsteps approaching from afar, Tao Ti did not raise his head, but continued to open the gift with his head down, saying hello, "Your Majesty, you are leaving the court."
"Yes." Pei Yan walked over slowly and glanced at the gifts on the table. "Is this sent by Rongdi?"
Tao Ti nodded in response. These gifts were all prepared by Qiong Qi. They included fine furs, gems, spices, and two exquisitely polished wolf tooth pendants.
Qiongqi said in the letter that in the customs of the Rongdi people, wolf teeth represent protection, and wearing wolf teeth on one's body can ward off evil and avoid disasters, ensuring safety and success. These two pendants are made from the teeth of the wolf that she hunted herself, as a gift from her as a godmother to the two little kids.
Tao Ti planned to wait until the children were one year old before hanging them up. At the moment, the children were still young and she was afraid that they would stuff food into their mouths if she hung them up.
After opening the gifts, she asked the palace servants to clean them up.
Pei Yan walked to the side of the cradle, lowered his head, and looked at the two children quietly, feeling that he could never look enough.
It was winter, and the little prince was wrapped in a royal blue satin swaddling cloth embroidered with a jewel-shaped flower, while the little princess was wrapped in a lotus pink swaddling cloth embroidered with lotus flowers. The two colors made their skin look as white and tender as snow. They slept peacefully, with soft black hair, long eyelashes, and a rosy little mouth, which made them very adorable.
Tao Ti got down from the couch and walked to Pei Yan's side. Her eyes fell on the two children, and she raised the corners of her lips, a little proud, "They are so well-behaved. They sleep right after eating and don't make any noise at all."
Pei Yan glanced to the side and saw the corners of her lips slightly raised, and his eyes softened.
After more than a month of recuperation, she has returned to her previous state, with a rosy complexion and a slim figure. If there is any difference before and after giving birth, it is probably her temperament. Unlike before, she is not as lively and innocent, but has a more charming and gentle temperament.
After looking at the child for a while, Tao Ti turned around and looked up at Pei Yan and said, "I heard that the court officials are urging you to select the concubines again?"
Speaking of this, Pei Yan frowned slightly, snorted coldly, and said, "They are just full and pretending to be rich. They can't even handle the trivial matters in their own backyard, and they still want to interfere in the affairs of the harem."
As he spoke, he pulled Tao Ti to the warm couch and sat her down on his lap, wrapping his arms around her slender waist.
Tao Ti leaned in his arms and touched his chin. The stubble made her fingertips itch slightly. She smiled and said softly, "A beauty is like a flower. Isn't your majesty moved?"
Pei Yan raised his eyebrows and looked down at her.
She was wearing a moon-shadow white double-breasted jacket today, with three buttons on the collar not fully fastened. From Pei Yan's perspective, he could see her fair skin and her autumn-scented inner garment. Her thick black hair was tied into a low bun behind her head, with two strands of hair hanging by her ears, adding a bit of lazy charm.
It looks like a full and ripe peach hanging on a branch, making you salivate.
Pei Yan felt his throat was a little dry, and his eyes darkened.
"My queen is the best in the world." He held down her restless little hand, placed it on his lips and bit it gently, "Since I already have the best, why do I need others? You are enough for me."
As he said this, he leaned very close to her, and his warm breath gently brushed her earlobe.
Tao Ti's face couldn't help but get hot, and her thick eyelashes trembled slightly.
Pei Yan's throat rolled up and down when he saw her shy look.
He has been single for almost a year. He can see, hug and kiss, but he cannot eat and wipe clean happily. God knows how torturous that feeling is.
Pei Yan tightened his hands on her waist, his dark eyes glowing with a deep and dangerous light, and he said in a hoarse voice, "If Atiruo doesn't believe in my feelings, I don't mind proving it with my own body."
Tao Ti was startled and was about to say "I mind", but the next moment she felt her body lighten and she was directly hugged by the man.
"Your Majesty, it's only noon and the sky is still bright..."
"It's OK."
"But, but we haven't had lunch yet." Her stone pot chicken was still simmering on the stove!
Pei Yan held her in his arms and strode to the bedside. He bent down and put her down. His eyes narrowed and his breathing became heavier. "I'll eat you first."
Having said that, he leaned over and kissed her lips deeply.
The red gauze curtains slowly dropped down, covering the beautiful room.
Outside, magpies are chirping on the branches. The bright winter sunshine casts a shadow over the brilliant double-petaled crabapples in the yard. Time seems long and pleasant.
The house is filled with passion and lovers are doing happy things.
==(End of text)==