Jingrou touched his belly. The Ninth Prince thought his little cousin was playing with him, so he stretched out his soft little hand and placed it on his cousin's hand, looking at her expectantly.
This involves some of their usual activities that they used to frequently play.
Jingrou pulled her hand out and placed it on top of the Ninth Prince's little hand. He laughed excitedly, then pulled his hand out again and placed it on top of his. This was a game they often played, a game of stacking hands, where the two children would try to outdo each other by placing their hands on top of each other's. They never tired of it. Actually, Jingrou was mostly trying to coax him, but children's hands are so soft and squishy that even if they were slapped, it wouldn't hurt. Jingrou could take the opportunity to gently knead them.
Moreover, Xiao Jiu was always enjoying this. Every time Jing Rou reached out her hand, he would look at his sister with his big, purple grape-like eyes, hoping that she would play this game with him.
Every time Jingrou did as he wished, he smiled with extraordinary joy. So even though he was usually as troublesome as a great demon king, no one would say he had a bad personality, because he really did have a very good personality, especially when he smiled, he was like a little sun that could infect everyone in the palace.
Even though Jingrou originally had other things to do, meeting his joyful eyes, she couldn't help but play with him. Sigh, younger brothers really are a hindrance to her work, just like those kings who are obsessed with beautiful women, always easily neglecting their duties!
Moreover, he was very persistent, insisting on placing his own hand on top of his sister's. Every time he placed his hand on top of his sister's, he would laugh happily, his eyes narrowing into slits, his long eyelashes falling on top, making his eyes appear even darker.
If his sister puts her hand on top of his, he won't get angry. He'll just frown, purse his lips, and take his hand back to place it on top of her. He's very patient and will never get angry first.
Once, Jingrou went back and forth with him nearly 100 times. In the end, Jingrou lost her patience and decisively gave in, which made him smile. I don't know why such a young child would be so persistent.
Then his expression kept changing, which even Consort Yi found very strange. Why could he have such a rich range of expressions, and how could he have so much energy every day?
Basically, except for sleeping time, he is always making a fuss and causing trouble. He has to get his mother and older sister to get up and play with him before he is happy!
He's like a natural-born star; he only feels comfortable when others have their eyes on him.
As the Eighth Prince, who was the same age as him, Consort Yi was also paying attention to the situation there, especially since the Eighth Prince's mother, Consort Liang, was now living under the roof of Consort Hui, and the relationship between Consort Hui and her was rather delicate, so she paid even more attention.
It was said that the Eighth Prince was a bit weak, which Consort Yi found rather strange, since he had been praised for being fair-skinned and tender when he was born, and weighed a full 8 pounds.
He doesn't look like the kind of person who is physically weak. On the contrary, when he was born, Consort Yi was sad, feeling that she hadn't raised him as well as Consort Liang. Although Consort Yi had no intention of fighting, they were born around the same time, and the two children were not even a year apart, so of course they would compare them sometimes.
So why is his health so weak now? And the baby… the Eighth Prince should be one year old soon, I wonder what kind of name the Emperor will bestow upon him. This is also what Consort Yi is concerned about.
However, Consort Hui is indeed in a bit of a mess right now. The reason is that not long after the selection of concubines, the Eighth Prince had a fever and lost a pound or two. Don't underestimate a pound or two, after all, a child who is not even a year old doesn't weigh much.
This extra weight had already made the Eighth Prince look somewhat haggard. Moreover, newborn children like this change in appearance almost every day as they grow in weight.
Unfortunately, the Eighth Prince's weight has actually decreased, which is a rather serious problem.
Consort Hui cares a lot about the Eighth Prince. Although the child is now being raised by her side, she never restricts Consort Liang from visiting him. After all, he is the little follower she has raised for her son, so she wants him to be healthy and, ideally, successful, as long as he doesn't surpass her son!
Therefore, Consort Hui paid considerable attention to cultivating a relationship with the Eighth Prince, and frequently visited him during the first six months after his birth.
But because of the imperial concubine selection, because before the selection she was helping her son choose a concubine, she ended up arguing with him and insisted that she didn't want one.
Consort Hui was displeased and threw a tantrum at her son.
Consort Hui was feeling very upset and focused all her attention on her son, so she didn't pay much attention to the Eighth Prince. In the palace, people were all selective in their treatment of others, so if Consort Hui didn't care, how could the servants care?
There were no trusted confidants of Consort Liang in the entire palace; everyone revolved around Consort Hui. As a result, some negligence occurred when handling matters, and she was given food that a child should not eat. However, Consort Liang dared not speak out against it, which led to this outcome...
However, the consequences weren't serious at the time; it was just vomiting and diarrhea, not serious enough to warrant calling the imperial physician, so it was left untreated...
It wasn't until she developed a fever and the imperial physician was summoned, almost alarming the emperor, that the matter finally came to an end. Although she had taken the medicine, she had endured the suffering, and after that, she never gained any significant weight.
Moreover, ever since he had a fever, the Eighth Prince seemed to feel insecure and often cried at night. Consort Hui was not the kind of person with patience, so she naturally found the child's crying annoying and moved the Eighth Prince to a side hall, which was a bit further away.
Then a vicious cycle is formed: if Consort Hui doesn't pay attention, others will devote much less energy to her.
Even if Consort Liang felt upset or that it was unfair, it wouldn't matter much, since she was still living under someone else's roof and had no say in anything. The Emperor didn't care about her at all.
It wasn't until the palace finally mentioned holding a first birthday banquet for the Eighth Prince and brought him out that Consort Hui realized how thin the boy was. She thought that if the Emperor saw him looking so frail, he would definitely be unhappy. The Emperor would definitely prefer a chubby, healthy boy who looked easy to raise.
Moreover, she has been by her side for so long yet has become so thin. Will the Emperor blame her for neglecting her duties?
Consort Hui panicked and tried to fatten him up quickly, but it was already too late!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
