Chapter 285 Extra: We Meet Again Every Year
Ever since Jiang Fei became pregnant, many ministers and officials who wanted Pei Jing to choose a concubine began to make moves.
Among these people, some were thinking of sending their daughters to the palace, while others were planning to push their relatives of marriageable age in front of the emperor. Each of them was thinking of using the royal family's courtesy to consolidate the power of their family.
There is a reason why they are so active nowadays.
Previously, Pei Jing had an unpredictable temperament and would kill and set fires at will. When he was still the Prince of Zhaoning, there were people who wanted to send him a partner, but they would just be used as firewood.
Now the Emperor has restrained himself and is even more considerate to the Empress. Moreover, the Empress is pregnant, so now is the perfect time.
The Queen is not in good health and cannot sleep with the Emperor. If someone can share the Emperor's favor now, he or she may be able to share equal favor with the Queen in the future.
Jiang Fei had been pregnant for less than four months, but someone couldn't hold back anymore.
During the morning court session that day, the Grand Herald stepped forward and said respectfully, "Your Majesty, the Empress's pregnancy is truly a blessing for the nation. However, an empty harem is contrary to etiquette..."
Pei Jing was massaging his solar plexus. He had vomited three times this morning because of Jiang Fei's morning sickness.
Hearing this, he raised his eyes lazily: "What do you think?"
"We believe..." Several ministers exchanged glances, "We should select virtuous women to fill the harem and help relieve the Queen's worries."
The hall suddenly fell silent. Pei Jing's lips curled up into a half-smile: "Sharing your worries?"
"Exactly."
"Good news." Pei Jing slowly sat up straight. "I haven't been feeling well lately, and I've been feeling very irritable. When I get irritated, my hands start to itch badly. I'm just worrying about how to solve this problem, but..."
He paused, the curve of his lips deepening. "Since my dear minister wants to share my worries, then send her to the palace. I'll select some beautiful women with good looks."
Someone below was already sweating profusely, "Your Majesty, what is this..."
"What are you afraid of? I promised the Queen not to kill people at will, so I will naturally spare their lives. I will peel their skins, apply herbs to them, and feed them carefully. They will live for many years."
Pei Jing continued, "Besides, the selection of concubines should be based on ability. When the human skin is tanned and made into drumheads, the concubines will be given titles based on the loudness of the drums. The loudest one will be named 'Drum Concubine', and her name and drumming will spread throughout the palace. Isn't this more respectable than entering the palace based on family background?"
All the civil and military officials in the court turned pale in an instant.
Several old ministers were shaking so much that they could not stand steadily, and the Grand Herald collapsed directly to the ground, and his tablet hit the ground with a clang.
Pei Jing slowly stroked the armrests of the dragon throne, his tone becoming increasingly gentle: "Why are you kneeling, my dear? Didn't you just say you wanted to share my worries?"
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty..." The Grand Herald was sweating profusely and his teeth were chattering so much that he couldn't utter a complete sentence.
Jiang Fei heard about this this morning. She was so angry that she stomped the plum jar on the table and said, "You are scaring me again!"
Pei Jing immediately put away his smile, and leaned over to pull her sleeve with grievance, "They were the ones who provoked me first, and they insisted on forcing women on me. I get annoyed just by looking at them. If I don't teach them a lesson, they think I can control them easily."
Fortunately, the ministers could not enter the harem, otherwise if they saw the emperor who said he would peel off people's skin burying his face in the queen's shoulder and acting coquettishly, they would be shocked.
"My stomach is upset."
Jiang Fei rubbed his stomach and glared at him, "Are you still vomiting?"
Pei Jing said confidently, "The imperial physician said I might have to vomit for five months."
Jiang Fei even suspected that Pei Jing was pretending, because he vomited during morning sickness when Jiang Fei was giving birth, and he really couldn't pretend anymore.
Jiang Fei gave birth to a boy at the end of March, and he was named the crown prince at birth.
The prince's surname was Pei and his given name was Zhao, which means "bright and harmonious, noble and bright until the end".
When the child was first born, his crying could have overturned half the palace. It was obvious that he was restless, just like Pei Jing.
At night, he would wake up every hour. He liked the smell of Jiang Fei very much and could only sleep well by sticking close to her.
Jiang Fei was like a sandwich, with Pei Jing on the left and the child on the right. It was not until seven or eight months that Pei Zhao finally became more obedient and stopped worrying about everything. At night, he was taken care of by the wet nurse.
Pei Jing opened Jiang Fei's booklet as usual before going to bed.
The handwriting is messy at the beginning, barely neat in the middle, and very smooth at the end.
Pei Jing picked up the pen and wrote a line of words on the blank page. After finishing, he put the pen down and waited for the ink to dry.
Jiang Fei leaned over to take a look and saw that it said:
"November 22, the third year of Zhaoning. Today, Zhao'er called out 'Dad' for the first time. Xiao Cui didn't hear it."
Jiang Fei was startled, "Zhao'er called you?"
"Yeah." Pei Jing smiled gently, "He just yelled once. I taught him to yell 'mom,' and he started drooling."
When the ink dried, Pei Jing put the book away and carefully placed it in the drawer. He blew out the light and lay down with Jiang Fei in his arms.
"Why did you want to write this?" Pei Jing asked.
Jiang Fei lazily nestled in his arms, "I'm afraid I'll forget it. It would be great if we can look it up when we're old."
Pei Jing's hand unconsciously stroked her back. He had a vague guess in his mind, but he didn't point it out.
Now that she is still by his side, the original intention of writing this booklet has lost its meaning. Its future meaning is to fill this booklet with the warmth of ordinary days.
"From now on, I'll be the one writing this book. I'll remember everything about you, Zhao'er, and our family. I won't miss a single word, and I'll never forget it in my next life."
In the middle of the night, Jiang Fei woke up in a daze and vaguely heard a soft cry, which was soft and a little aggrieved.
Previously, because they were afraid that the child would be too far away and not be able to hear any noise at night, they let the wet nurse live with the child not far away.
Jiang Fei supported herself with her arms and tried to get up, but Pei Jing beside her was one step faster than her and held her down to prevent her from getting up.
"I'll go take a look."
As he said this, he got out of bed quietly, put on his coat and walked out quickly.
After a while, Pei Jing came in holding the child.
The little guy lay on Pei Jing's chest, grabbing Pei Jing's clothes with one hand and stuffing his other hand into his mouth to eat his fingers, still sobbing.
Seeing that Jiang Fei didn't continue to sleep, Pei Jing said: "The nurse said that she must have been startled by a nightmare. It's okay, you can go back to sleep."
He patted the child's back gently and coaxed him in a low voice: "Our Zhao'er is scared. How pitiful! Daddy, give him a hug..."
Jiang Fei lay on her side on the bed, watching him walk around the room.
Gradually, the child stopped sobbing, his little head tilted on his shoulder, and his breathing became steady.
Pei Jing lowered his head to look at his son sleeping peacefully in his arms, then turned to look at the bed. Perhaps he had tossed and turned too much before going to bed, Jiang Fei's eyelids, which had been held open just now, had already closed, and he was breathing evenly and sleeping soundly.
He walked over lightly, reached out to pull the corner of the quilt for Jiang Fei, and tucked the quilt that had slipped off around her neck.
Pei Jing stood by the bed, his heart suddenly filled with an indescribable warmth.
At this moment, he suddenly forgave the whole world.
All the hardships and sufferings of the past seemed to have meaning, as if all the previous sufferings were for this moment.
Well, he is willing.
He suddenly remembered the afternoon when he was holding Jiang Fei and reviewing memorials while Jiang Fei nestled in his arms and flipping through storybooks.
At that time, he had one arm around her waist and the other hand was writing memorials, his cinnabar handwriting still sharp and neat.
"This is so sweet." Jiang Fei suddenly held up the storybook in front of him. "A scholar wrote this love poem for the young lady. I wish it were the southwest wind, flowing into your arms forever. Even if our meeting is short, my thoughts will never change."
Pei Jing paused his pen and glanced at the page. "Is it sweet? The allusions are acceptable, but the parallelism isn't well-crafted."
"Oh." She put the book away in disappointment and muttered softly, "I think it sounds pretty good..."
Later, Jiang Fei dozed off in his arms, and the script slipped from her hands and fell on the unfolded memorial.
Pei Jing gently took the storybook away and found that the page was rubbed with a red mark by the red pen, which happened to fall next to the poem "I wish to be the southwest wind".
Pei Jing gently placed the child next to Jiang Fei. He looked down at the two sleeping people, and the corners of his lips raised slightly.
He took a piece of plain paper, picked up the pen and dipped it in ink:
"More than the southwest wind, I wish to be transformed into the smoke in the furnace. Day by day, I wish to be by your side, and to see you year after year."
The ink is not dry yet, and snowflakes are falling outside the window.
The rustling sound of the red pen scratching across the paper, mixed with her even breathing, was the most moving tranquility in this deep winter.
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