Li Chenjiao gave birth to a princess, and the news of the addition of a second princess to the household quickly spread throughout the inner courtyard.
Madam Song was too busy to worry about such things; it was already May, and the Fourth Prince's birthday was in October.
Neither Wu nor Consort Li, who gave birth to a prince, became a secondary consort, while Consort Li of the East Courtyard gave birth to a princess. Who knows how righteous Consort Wu might be in the South Courtyard right now.
Thinking of this, Song felt a sense of satisfaction.
Everyone in the inner palace knew that Lady Li was favored. So why should Lady Wu, who came later, dare to dream of becoming a concubine just because she gave birth to the first prince in the household?
Pooh.
Madam Song's idea was simple: she had given birth to a princess, and Consort Li of the East Courtyard had also given birth to a princess—
In truth, she and Consort Li were both pitiful people.
Adding to Song's rage was the fact that her long-time rival, the Fujin, had given birth to a prince.
But she heard that the Fujin (Prince Consort) had damaged her health after giving birth to the Second Prince—Songshi couldn't help but think maliciously that it would be best if the Fujin could never give birth again.
When she first gave birth to the eldest princess, she was often criticized by the Fujin (principal wife) for the princess's frail health and birth defects.
Now look, the second prince of the Fujin is also weak, and I heard that his cries are even weaker than when the eldest princess was born.
This is called retribution.
As Song thought about it, she smiled.
As for Wu Gege, she naturally hated her.
If the child born to Lady Li in the East Courtyard was also a prince, then she could be more at ease saying that Lady Li had only become a concubine because of her offspring and because she entered the mansion earlier than her.
However, Li only gave birth to a princess, which Wu could not accept.
Li's favor with the emperor was like a scimitar stabbing into Wu's heart.
However, Wu was always cautious and calm. No matter how much resentment she felt, she swallowed it all in her own courtyard and never showed it to her confidants.
As usual, Lady Wu went to check on the eldest prince and gently stroked his cheek.
“You are your mother’s only hope. Now that you have a younger brother, you must try even harder to please your father.”
The eldest prince was held in the arms of the wet nurse. He naturally couldn't understand what she was saying, but he just stayed obediently in her arms.
Wu was very patient and waited for the wet nurse to coax the eldest prince to sleep.
Then he let his confidant watch over the eldest prince sleeping in the inner room, and called the wet nurse to the outer room.
Wu said slowly, "Why can't the eldest prince walk yet?"
The wet nurse was taken aback, sensing the impatience in Wu's words. Helpless, she could only carefully choose her tone.
"The eldest prince is only eight months old and can already crawl and sit, which is already quite remarkable. To expect him to learn to walk at this age is too much—"
Before the wet nurse could finish speaking, she was silenced by a look from Madam Wu.
Wu has been preoccupied with the eldest prince lately and has spent less time on dressing up and grooming herself.
Today, I only dabbed some brightly colored rouge from the vanity on my lips.
At this moment, Wu glanced lightly at the wet nurse, pressed her index finger to her lips, and spoke in a slightly harsher tone.
“The eldest prince is the eldest son of the Fourth Prince’s household, and he will be responsible for sharing the Fourth Prince’s burdens in the future. As the eldest prince’s wet nurse, you should also be clear about what is truly for the eldest prince’s good.”
"It is precisely because the eldest prince is young that we have to pay more attention to him from a young age. Now that the second prince has been born in the main courtyard, I, as his mother, can't help the eldest prince much. I can only try my best to hope that the eldest prince will be intelligent and considerate, and that he will be more favored by the fourth prince in the future."
As Wu Shi spoke, her tone softened, which somewhat alleviated the helplessness in the wet nurse's heart.
The wet nurse then said some kind words, praising the eldest prince for his intelligence, and adding that some things should not be rushed.
Wu simply smiled as she spoke.
When the wet nurse returned to the inner room to check on the eldest prince, the confidante noticed the red rouge marks on Wu's knuckles and skillfully stepped forward to hand her a handkerchief.
Wu looked down at the lipstick stain on her finger bones, and when she took the handkerchief handed to her by her confidante, she first gently rubbed it with the pad of her thumb.
The voice was very soft.
"Was the blood from Li's delivery in the east courtyard red?"
The confidant didn't hear clearly, so he asked.
When Wu raised her eyes again, she had regained her composure. She remained seated dignified, and the loss of color in her lips did not diminish her calmness.
"It's nothing, I just thought the color was pretty."
Crimson is close to vermilion, and the next color above that is one that only the princess consort can use; it is indeed beautiful.
The confidant naturally thought of the Fujin (primary wife) and the Consort, and then whispered words of comfort to Wu.
As for Bai Jiashi, she has little hope for her right now.
She had given up many wishful thinkings and now only hoped for generous rewards from the mansion during various festivals, plus the monthly allowance due to the princess, so that she could get by.
At this moment, the only thing Bai Jia was grateful for was that she had never offended Consort Li of the East Courtyard before.
In addition, when Bai Jia met Li in the garden last winter, she saw that Li had no ill feelings towards her, so she let it go.
As for Li giving birth to the second princess of the mansion, Bai Jia said it was a pity and didn't think about it much.
As for Madam Xie, she was currently too busy to pay attention to or think about the gossip and turmoil in the backyard.
In August, after serving the Fourth Master, she was watched by Fu Lu in the front yard and forced to drink a contraceptive soup, although she later vomited some of it out.
However, it was suspected that Xie had not vomited all of her pregnancy that day, and she was already experiencing occasional abdominal pain before she was eight months pregnant.
Madam Xie was very generous; she took all the jewelry and silver she brought with her when she entered the mansion and exchanged them for precious tonics from the mansion doctor, saying it was for nourishing her body.
With the addition of various customary rewards during the New Year holidays, the Xie family managed to get through the year.
These days, Madam Xie still feels as if she has divine assistance, because with the presence of the Fujin (Prince Consort) and Consort Li of the East Courtyard, many New Year's greetings have been waived.
Especially after the Fujin fell during the first month of the lunar year, everyone in the backyard was in a state of panic, and no one paid any attention to her.
Xie kept her pregnancy a secret until five months into the pregnancy, but once she was five months pregnant, the changes in her belly became undeniable, and she no longer needed to pay her respects.
It wasn't as if they had divine assistance.
As for having the physician examine her pulse, Madam Xie would have her maidservant reach out from behind the curtain to deceive the physician.
And those servants in the sewing room, seeing that she was out of favor, didn't come to take her measurements and prepare spring clothes for her when spring arrived.
However, this actually made things convenient for the Xie family.
But this also made Xie remember these things one by one.
Once the child in her womb is born, Xie will repay all the suffering she has endured over the past few months.
Xie Hengyi touched the rise and fall of her abdomen and smiled.
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