Chapter 225 Bo Qiaohui 37
Soon, women from Chang'an and surrounding areas entered the palace. Many women hoping to enter the palace for a better future found that, in addition to following palace rules, they were taught techniques to please others. They were also forbidden to go anywhere except the Yongxiang, and were not even allowed to enter or leave their rooms at will. They were accompanied by palace servants every time they left.
Before they could even begin to complain, the family members discovered something even more terrifying was waiting for them. Several girls who had enrolled in the course but were slacking off were dragged straight to the torture chamber and never seen again.
"You are kind-hearted. You even come to me to plead for those women." Liu Qi carefully supported Qiaohui. After she sat down safely, he waved his clothes as if he was relieved and sat down beside her.
Qiaohui's belly did look a bit scary. After all, she was pregnant with twins. Recently, aside from the few imperial physicians caring for the Grand Empress Dowager, almost all the other palace staff were stationed around her. Whenever Qiaohui started to get pregnant, the entire harem would gather around her.
"This is also Your Majesty's kindness. Besides, our child is about to be born. Just consider it as accumulating blessings for them." Qiao Hui's words softened Liu Qi's heart. "Okay, for the sake of our unborn child and the Queen, I will arrange for those who are not selected to be sent away."
"By the way, didn't your sister say she was going to visit you in the palace today? How come you still have time to come to my place?"
"Mother stopped her from coming, fearing she wouldn't know anything and would cause trouble." Qiaohui smiled and shook her head. "She's actually always been well-behaved and sensible. Mother gave her the token, but I've never seen her use it. I guess she's been pressed hard by her family and has nowhere to hide."
"Why, she hasn't found anyone yet? She has quite high standards."
Liu Qi's remark was casual, but Qiao Hui could hear a displeasure that he himself hadn't noticed. After all, the Queen Mother had helped her look at quite a few candidates, including some of the highest rank and nobles, but her nephew had turned them all down, inevitably leaving Liu Qi with the impression of being aloof and overly arrogant.
"Actually, I don't have many requests, just one."
Liu Qi became interested after hearing this. "There's only one, but you can't find another one? Could it be that my little sister wants the moon in the sky?"
"Not really. Your Majesty, just look at you and my brothers and you'll know what the conditions are." Qiao Hui smiled mysteriously. Liu Qi was stunned for a moment, then realized what was going on and laughed. "This matter...is indeed not difficult, but it can also be called extremely difficult."
After all, asking these young men who grew up surrounded by wealthy slaves and maids to live with only one person was simply a fantasy. Unless, like him, he was willing to do so.
But how many women in this world are like Aqiao?
However, after knowing the reason, Liu Qi's original dissatisfaction with Bo Ji disappeared.
When night fell, the queen suddenly took action. Liu Qi put everything behind his mind, waited outside the Pepper Room, and directly canceled the court meeting for the next day.
From late night to early morning, even the palace maids in the Pepper Room were beginning to feel the strain. However, Liu Qi remained energetic, pacing back and forth around the gate of the Pepper Room. The occasional cries of pain from within the room always made him tremble all over.
"It's born—it's born—"
Liu Qi's somewhat slow brain didn't react at all to the midwife's smiling face. He kept a blank face and asked subconsciously, "Where's the queen?"
The originally cheerful midwife was startled by the other's expression and replied tremblingly: "Mother, the queen was too exhausted from giving birth for the first time and fell asleep after giving birth."
Only then did Liu Qi react.
He trembled, holding onto the palace maid, and walked straight into the main hall, passing the midwife holding the two children.
As he entered the room, the lingering stench of blood nearly made him faint. It wasn't that he couldn't stand the smell; for once, when he was twelve and had smashed that idiot's head with a chessboard, the smell was far stronger. But now, the smell only filled him with a wave of dread.
He had a very rebellious idea in his mind. If just now... he would rather the child died, or he should not have let Aqiao get pregnant.
Of course, now that mother and child are safe, all his thoughts have naturally disappeared without leaving any trace in his heart.
Looking at the queen lying on the bed, whose elegance remained even in a dishevel, Liu Qi sat beside the bed for a long time, and finally fell asleep with his head propped up.
When Qiao Hui woke up, the first person she saw was Liu Qi, who was a little disheveled. She didn't know how long he had been sleeping like this. Before she could wake him up, she saw Le Chi walk in.
"My lady, are you awake?"
Le Chi glanced at the emperor, walked lightly and poured a cup of warm water, but still woke up the alert Liu Qi.
"Aqiao, you're finally awake. Are you feeling unwell? I'll call the imperial physician right now—"
Liu Qi only realized that half of his right arm was numb after the movement was a little bigger, and it almost took him away when he moved it.
After hurriedly tidying herself up, Le Chi had already led A'man to put the pillow in place for Qiaohui, and then brought a bowl of warm rice porridge and carefully fed it to the queen's mouth.
Qiaohui glanced at Liu Qi and saw that his eyes were bloodshot and his lips were chapped. She knew that he probably had not eaten or drunk anything during the whole night, so she asked the palace servants to bring him a bowl of porridge and rice that had been prepared earlier, along with some appetizers. Liu Qi ate until he was full.
The couple then remembered their child. Seeing Qiaohui looking at him with inquiring eyes, Liu Qi felt a panic in his heart.
Oh no, did Aqiao give birth to two boys or two girls?
"The little prince and the little princess have been fed and are awake now."
Coincidentally, Xue Yuan knew that the queen had woken up, and guessed that she must want to see the children, so she hurriedly ordered someone to bring the children to her.
"They are twins, a boy and a girl."
"Are they twins?"
The couple said it in unison, but Qiaohui already knew about it so she wasn't too surprised. But Liu Qi, the wet nurse must have brought the baby out to congratulate him yesterday, right? Why was he so surprised?
Seeing everyone looking at him, Liu Qi finally realized what he had just said. "Ahem, I forgot to ask yesterday, who is the older and who is the younger?"
"The eldest prince was born a moment earlier, but His Royal Highness the Princess looks stronger."
Xue Yuan ordered the wet nurse to bring the child over. Sure enough, the child in the red swaddle was a little bigger. The wet nurse immediately whimpered in protest if her movements were slightly wrong. It was obvious that she had a domineering temper.
Liu Qi, however, smiled with a smug look on his face.
He touched the two children's faces. Even though they were rosy now, they were much more delicate than the other children. Liu Qi, with a sense of pride in his heart, held Qiao Hui's hands and said, "Qiao, I'm going to be a father."
He couldn't wait to give his children the names he had already prepared. "I had thought about it before. I thought Rong was a good choice, and Che was also good. But since it's a boy and a girl, how about naming the prince Che and the princess Rong?"
ah?
She didn't mind Emperor Wu of Han being her son, but what about Liu Rong in the drama being her daughter?
I glanced at the ignorant little girl and thought about Liu Rong's arrogant and domineering appearance in the play.
Oh, another Guantao, that’s okay.
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