accident
There was nothing special about the Mid-Autumn Festival in the palace. Li Qingping felt that it would be better to spend a comfortable time in the palace.
Princess Xuan knew that they would stay in the Chengde Palace for a while for some reason, so she sent someone to bring over a few letters from home, and Li Qingping naturally had one as well.
The letter didn't contain any trivial matters at the palace, only some information about Princess Xuan, Concubine Li, and their two children. Princess Xuan and Concubine Li were all well, and it added that Erlang Jun and Zhao, seven months old, were already able to sit up on their own, and Concubine Li's Sanlang Jun and Xian, three months old, could also lift their heads. Li Qingping was told not to forget to bring gifts for the two children when he returned.
Li Qingping put the letter away carefully. No matter how much fun he had been away for so long, he was now looking forward to returning to Beijing.
Princess Xuan's letter to Prince Xuan also included other details: The palace, which checks everyone in the backyard monthly, reports that Concubine Zhang is pregnant and healthy. Furthermore, Concubine Yang was diagnosed as one month pregnant in July, but the previous diagnosis was too premature. However, Concubine Yang had been ill and taking medication, which had caused her pregnancy to look awful. She had been taking medication for months, and fortunately, she hadn't accompanied him to the temporary palace. Otherwise, the child might have died from the long journey. Concubine Xuan, worried that the young women in Concubine Yang's backyard wouldn't be able to control the situation, went to the palace and asked Concubine Xian to assign a nanny to Concubine Yang.
Prince Xuan read it and replied to express that he understood it. It would be up to Princess Xuan to make the decision on these matters.
In October, the emperor returned to Beijing.
Everyone who could go out to greet him in the backyard of Prince Xuan's mansion went, except Concubine Yang, who had to stay in bed to rest for her pregnancy and was unable to go.
However, Concubine Yang didn't care about these things. The most important thing now was the baby in her belly.
Gently stroking her slightly bulging belly, Concubine Yang looked proud and satisfied.
So what if she's not favored? Prince Xuan comes to her courtyard once or twice a month, and she still got pregnant! Princess Xuan and Concubine Li had a hard time conceiving after so many years, which shows that she is fertile and will not have difficulty in having children in the future. In this world, having many children means more blessings, and her good days are still to come! Moreover, she has a taste for sour food at only four months, so sour boys and spicy girls, so this baby will definitely be a son. Aunt Xianfei is on her side, so this child may not be worse than Concubine Li's third son. Even Concubine Yang, the legitimate son of Princess Xuan, dared to touch him!
Thinking of this, Concubine Yang no longer paid attention to anything else, and even drank the bowl of bitter pregnancy-maintaining medicine in one gulp with her eyes closed.
Li Qingping had just returned, completely exhausted. Not only her, but also the eldest daughter and Liu were also exhausted. Prince Xuan asked them to rest first and not rush to pay their respects the next day. The Princess of Xuan naturally agreed and accepted the request.
Li Qingping slept soundly and felt dizzy when he got up. After a while, he asked Yun Lian to check if the eldest girl had woken up and asked the kitchen to send a table of delicious food.
The doctor from the Fan Mansion came to check Li Qingping's pulse on the order of Princess Xuan.
Hearing that Princess Xuan had also asked for her pulse, Li Qingping did not think much about it. It was understandable that Princess Xuan was worried after the long journey, so she stretched out her hand and asked the court physician to take her pulse.
The court physician stroked his goatee and nodded with a smile, saying, "Madam's pulse is steady and strong, and she is in excellent health."
"Thank you, Mr. Huang." Li Qingping asked Yunsu to give him a tip and respectfully escorted the old man out of the yard.
After the court physician left Li Qingping's courtyard, he reported to Princess Xuan, "Madam Li, Madam Consort, and Princess Pingyang are all well. Please rest assured, Your Majesty."
Upon hearing this result, Princess Xuan felt relieved but also a little regretful.
Everything was fine, but there was no good news. Princess Xuan knew that Li Qingping had slept with her more often than Liu, and she might have taken advantage of this opportunity to get pregnant. But the result was not what she had expected. Although she felt regretful, she also knew that children were a matter of fate, and perhaps Qingping's fate had not yet arrived.
Nanny Yue, who was beside Princess Xuan, said, "Madam has always been in good health. Now that the prince has shown more favor towards her, she might be pregnant soon."
"Then I'll take advantage of your good wishes, Madam." Princess Xuan said with a smile.
Autumn turned to spring, and the days passed one by one. The mansion was originally peaceful and harmonious, but in the second year, a storm arose.
At this time, Zhang was about to give birth, so Princess Xuan asked her mother to come to the mansion to accompany her. Thinking that she couldn't favor one over the other, there was another pregnant woman in the mansion. Even if she didn't like Concubine Yang, she had to consider the pregnant woman's feelings to avoid Concubine Yang's quarrel and anger. Princess Xuan also allowed Concubine Yang's mother, Luo, to visit the mansion.
Zhang's water happened to break on the day her mother entered the mansion. Luo, who was listening to the noise in Concubine Yang's courtyard, felt that Zhang would not be able to give birth for a while.
Because Zhang had no useful maids around her, only young and inexperienced servants, and fearing any disturbance, Princess Xuan had been waiting in Zhang's courtyard long beforehand. With the princess in charge, despite the initial panic, everything proceeded in an orderly manner.
But when the news reached Concubine Yang's courtyard, everyone was saying that Princess Xuan valued Zhang's pregnancy.
"Zhang is so hot-tempered. This baby is most likely a daughter, which is no match for my son. It's a good thing that the main courtyard is so nervous." Concubine Yang curled her lips and didn't care.
Concubine Yang is now almost seven months pregnant and her belly is bulging.
Mrs. Luo was also a little unhappy: "Concubine, your pregnancy was difficult, and it was a son, but I didn't see the family ask much. Before I came here, I went to see the princess, and she wanted to send me away as soon as possible. I don't know what she is so proud of!"
Concubine Yang sneered and said, "Wait until I give birth to a son, and then we'll see if she can still act so arrogantly."
Perhaps it was because Princess Xuan suffered from severe morning sickness and couldn't eat anything when she was in her mother's womb, Erlangjun and Luo are weaker than their two brothers. Although they are not seriously ill and are relatively healthy, they need to be cared for more carefully than their brothers.
The prince of the palace wouldn't be so anxious to appoint a crown prince, and it wasn't necessarily the eldest son who could be crowned the crown prince; any of the princes in the palace could be considered. So, seeing that the legitimate son of Princess Xuan was so weak, and that he might die from a serious illness, others couldn't help but have that thought.
But Concubine Yang was so upset that she had forgotten how much medication she had taken to preserve her pregnancy. She had taken even more than the Princess of Xuan had. It was uncertain whether her baby would reach full term.
Zhang was in poor health and this was her first child, so she was sweating profusely during the birth. After several hours, she finally gave birth to a boy weighing six pounds, who became Prince Xuan's fourth son.
Prince Xuan named Silangjun Heyun.
After taking Zhang's pulse, the court doctor said that Zhang's physical condition was very weak and she might not be able to conceive in the next few years, so she needed to be well taken care of.
Zhang Shi would be lying if she said she wasn't disappointed and anxious. After all, what woman in this mansion didn't want more children? Fortunately, her mother, Lin Shi, was there to comfort her: "Now that you have Si Langjun, it's better than having no children at all. Besides, if you don't take good care of yourself, giving birth will be dangerous."
Zhang thought so too. Were there not many cases of death from dystocia at that time? Her face turned pale and she said she would follow the doctor's advice on how to take care of herself.
Upon hearing this, Princess Xuan nodded, pleased with Zhang's understanding. After all, Zhang had given birth to the Fourth Prince, so she couldn't be treated lightly. Whether or not she had another child wasn't so pressing. She immediately sent Huixin over a large quantity of fine medicinal herbs.
When Concubine Yang heard that Zhang had given birth to a son, her face turned grim. Then, she heard that Zhang hadn't been able to conceive in recent years, and she immediately laughed, "Great! Zhang is also unlucky!"
Concubine Yang was so happy that she wanted to get up and go "visit" Zhang. Luo had to persuade her to stop.
However, when Zhang returned to the main courtyard to pay her respects for the first time after completing her confinement, Concubine Yang made fun of Zhang in both open and covert ways for not having any good news for several years.
Zhang was now content with having a son, so she pretended not to understand and just kept smiling.
Li Qingping sat in his seat eating snacks. He looked up at Zhang, who looked pale but in a good mood, and then looked at Concubine Yang, whose cheeks had become much thinner. He felt that Concubine Yang's gloating was a bit ridiculous.
Concubine Yang's pregnancy was unstable, so how could she still have the heart to mock Zhang? At least she gave birth safely.
Li Qingping glanced at it casually and continued to drink tea with his head down.
Concubine Yang was about to say something, but the Princess of Xuan, who was sitting at the top of the table, was drinking tea and said calmly, "Mrs. Yang, your most important task right now is to take good care of your pregnancy and have children for the royal family. You don't need to worry about anything else."
Concubine Yang was so angry that she gritted her teeth, greeted him perfunctorily, and then threw her handkerchief and left.
Princess Xuan frowned. She was originally talking to Zhao about arranging enlightenment for the second girl, but now she didn't have the heart to talk about it.
Concubine Li's expression immediately turned bad, and she angrily said, "Who does she think she is? How dare she show disrespect to the Empress? She has no manners at all! If she didn't have something in her belly, she would have to teach her a lesson!"
The others who had not had time to leave saw her angry, especially the concubines, who were so scared that they dared not leave and could only ask the concubine to calm down.
Concubine Li in the backyard was also terrifying when she got angry. Her innocent nature was only shown to Prince Xuan, the Princess, and Li Qingping. To everyone else, she was a fiery hot-tempered little pepper. She didn't torment anyone when she was angry, nor did she use shady tactics behind their backs. She would just openly dislike you, speaking frankly, and if she caught you making a mistake, she would have plenty of ways to punish you.
Before, Concubine Li disliked Zhao, but Zhao had seen how good her eloquence was.
"There are no rules. It's a shame for the Yang family, a wealthy family, to have so many unruly and extremely confused daughters. If I were the ancestors of the Yang family, I would be pissed to death." Concubine Li spat.
No one dared to say a word. This was also insulting the Concubine Xian in the palace. Who dared to respond?
Princess Xuan coughed, and Concubine Li snorted coldly, but she stopped herself in time and said, "You should behave yourself. If you dare to disrespect me like this, I will make you suffer."
Madam Wan took the lead and said, "I and the others have all remembered it."
Concubine Li sat there with a sullen look on her face, while Madam Wan and the others stood up and bowed to take their leave.
"Fortunately, everyone else knows the rules, otherwise I would have been pissed off to death by them one by one." After everyone had gone far away, Concubine Li said angrily.
Princess Xuan said, "You are already a mother, don't keep saying those unlucky things."
Concubine Li smiled and moved closer to her sister, "Okay, okay, I understand."
"Why isn't Qingping speaking today?" Princess Xuan tapped Concubine Li's nose and asked her other sister.
Li Qingping, who had been in a daze, came back to his senses and said, "Nothing. I was just thinking about making clothes for Yujin. Yujin has grown taller recently, so it's better to make clothes bigger. Besides, the little girl now knows how to dress and be beautiful, and has her own ideas. I have to choose some materials that she likes."
Princess Xuan sighed, "A mother's joy is worrying about her children. Now He Zhao can call out to others. I thought he was born only a short time ago, but how come he's growing up so fast? In a few years he'll start his education at the clan school, and in a few more he'll be a man."
Concubine Li also said, "Isn't it true? He Xian will soon be one year old. It's amazing that he was so small back then and now he has grown up to be plump and white."
Just as the three sisters were talking about the child, Huixin, who was waiting outside, came in anxiously to report, "My Lord, something bad has happened! Concubine Yang fell on her way home and is bleeding!"
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