Chapter 83 Chapter 83 Someone is slandering the baby here! ...
A new little prince was born in the palace, but the third-day bath and full-moon banquet were both hosted by the Imperial Concubine of Chengqian Palace.
And Concubine Tong, who always loved to be lazy and idle, suddenly burst out with great enthusiasm. Not only did she personally summon the chief eunuch of the Imperial Household Department, she even sent out many invitations, as if she was determined to hold the little prince's full moon banquet in an extremely grand manner.
This caused the palace servants below to discuss what exactly was Concubine Tong's intention?
Even when Concubine Ling was pregnant, Imperial Concubine Tong always acted very cold.
How come Concubine Tong seemed like a completely different person right after Empress Ling gave birth?
The palace maids speculated for two days but could not come up with a convincing answer. Suddenly, from some unknown day, a rumor began to spread among the palace maids.
——Concubine Tong has taken a fancy to the little prince born to Concubine Ling and plans to raise him herself!
So a palace maid asked, since Concubine Ling was the head of a palace, according to palace rules, she was also qualified to raise her own child alone.
Why should he be handed over to Concubine Tong for raising?
Soon another palace servant replied: "So what if she's a concubine? After all, she's two levels above Imperial Concubine Tong."
No matter how favored Concubine Ling is, can she be more favored than Concubine Tong?
Then she would not just be a concubine. She should have been promoted to a consort by the emperor the day after giving birth.
This statement was quickly recognized by most palace people, and their eyes looked towards Changchun Palace with a hint of sympathy.
…
Li Shuyao stayed in the delivery room to recuperate after giving birth and was still unaware of the changes in the outside world.
She was just a little worried about what happened to her little cub.
Why did he suddenly act so clingy to her?
Every day after waking up and drinking milk, if the wet nurse did not bring him to his side in time, he would get so angry that his face would turn red and he would wave his little hands and feet around, as if he wanted to beat up the wet nurse.
Even if the wet nurse wrapped him tightly in swaddling clothes, he could always break free quickly and continue to scream "ah ah" and dance at the wet nurses.
Only when he is brought to Li Shuyao's side will he return to his previous angel-like appearance.
This caused the wet nurses to exclaim in amazement, and they lamented that they had been working in this industry for so many years, but had never seen a child as smart as the little prince.
They all said that the little prince couldn't live without his biological mother.
However, Li Shuyao always felt that behind little Yinzhen's changeable emotions, there seemed to be a few traces of faint anxiety and reluctance.
What on earth is he anxious about?
…
As the full moon banquet drew closer, little Yinzhen felt more and more regretful.
If he had known that he would have a new mother, he should have been more obedient when he was in her womb, and she wouldn't have suffered so much.
——He had heard a lot from Nanny Yan and Tian Jiarou these days about all the hardships and fatigue that Li Shuyao had experienced during her pregnancy.
The more he listened, the more guilty he felt, and the more he dared not meet Li Shuyao's gentle gaze.
But he was anxious!
After the full moon banquet, I will be taken away. My new mother loves me so much. Will she be sad? Will she be heartbroken? Will she fall ill because she misses me too much?
Unfortunately, he couldn't speak yet, and couldn't express his emotions and thoughts. He couldn't tell his noble mother that he couldn't be her son in this life... He actually wanted to stay with this new mother more.
Let her watch me grow up little by little, and when I grow up, I can protect her from the wind and rain...
"What is the baby thinking about?"
While little Yinzhen was still feeling sad, someone suddenly flicked his fair and tender chin twice with a finger.
Li Shuyao lay beside him, her delicate little face as beautiful as a rose full of curiosity.
She stared intently at the dazed baby in the cradle, mumbling, "Why do you always frown? Your expression is like that of a little old man."
Little, little old man?
Little Yinzhen couldn't believe what he heard.
Li Shuyao, on the other hand, really didn't like seeing her baby show even the slightest bit of unhappiness. She tilted her head and thought, "Is he getting lonely staying in the room with his mother every day?"
She tried hard to recall in her mind what her cousin did with the baby after giving birth.
...taking photos of the full moon?
But there were no cameras in the Qing Dynasty.
Or maybe find an artist to draw what the baby looks like now that he is just one month old?
Well, it seems to work.
Li Shuyao nodded, then suddenly raised her eyelids and looked towards the door. "Madam Yan, please come in."
Nanny Yan in the outer room heard her call and quickly walked in. She bowed to her and said, "My Lady, what's wrong?"
"I want to find, um, a Western painter who can paint in color. I want them to come to Changchun Palace and paint Yinzhen's current appearance. Is that okay?" Li Shuyao said, and then she remembered something. "No, no, before finding a painter, I should find an embroiderer first. Have her make a few cute little clothes, like little tigers and little rabbits. After Yinzhen wears them, I can ask the painter to paint for him. How about that?"
Nanny Yan didn't quite understand Li Shuyao's idea, and she hesitated and didn't agree immediately.
Li Shuyao said, "Don't worry, I'm just asking someone to come and draw a picture of Yinzhen's current appearance. I will keep the portrait safe and won't leak it easily."
"Another thing is, once we have the portrait, when he grows up and moves to the prince's residence or leaves the palace to build his own residence, if we can't see him all the time, it would be great to be able to look at the portrait, isn't that right, Mammy?"
"Also, when he gets married and has a baby, I might be able to take out Yinzhen's childhood portrait and compare it with his baby to see if they look alike."
"We can draw once a month, and when we have enough portraits, we can make them into a loose-leaf album..."
Li Shuyao became more and more excited as she spoke, and she almost couldn't help wanting to jump off the bed.
It seems like I have to go to the warehouse to get the cloth now.
Nanny Yan was so frightened that she quickly reached out to stop her, "The imperial physician said that your majesty must sit in confinement for a full twenty-eight days before you can walk again."
"If you have any instructions, just let me do it."
"Okay, I want some fabric and leather. The lining should be made of the softest silk, and the outside should be embroidered with smooth leather. It should be fluffy all over, and it should be made into a jumpsuit, with the feet, hands, and hat all together. Oh, and the hat should have ears!"
"Mammy, Mammy, can you understand what I mean?" Li Shuyao squeezed Mammy Yan's hand with some excitement.
Nanny Yan nodded hurriedly and said, "I understand, I understand. Please go back to bed and rest. I will go to the storeroom to get the cloth and leather."
"And the best embroiderer in the embroidery room!"
"Okay, okay, I'll have someone call the embroiderer over right away."
"Yes, yes, yes, Ma'am, you've worked hard. Please go ahead. I'll be waiting for you here." Li Shuyao sat cross-legged on the bed, her almond-shaped eyes sparkling.
Cosplay, she has wanted to do it for a long time.
Unfortunately, I didn't have the conditions before, that is, after I gave birth to my cub...
Ahem, what’s the point of playing alone? It’s more meaningful if I drag the baby along.
Li Shuyao thought of this and suddenly remembered what Qingyao had said before. She quickly stuck her head out and shouted outside, "Jiarou, go next door and ask Concubine Yi to come over. Tell her that I have something important to discuss with her. It will be too late if we're done!"
Tian Jiarou agreed and turned away quickly.
In the delivery room, Li Shuyao, with a slightly excited expression, picked up the swaddling clothes beside her. Halfway through, she felt it was a bit cumbersome, so she simply untied the swaddling clothes and took out Yinzhen, who was wearing three layers of small clothes inside. She laid him on the bed and stretched out her fingers to compare, "Well, you are only this short now, so you shouldn't need a lot of fabric."
Who, who is short!
Little Yinzhen clenched his fists. Although he didn't know what his new mother was going to do, he suddenly felt a little angry after hearing her words.
He shouted "Ah" at Li Shuyao.
Li Shuyao immediately smiled brightly, "Baby, are you already looking forward to having your little portrait painted?"
"ah!"
——No, not at all.
"Mother knows it, we are in sync with each other, so when the time comes, you will be good and do whatever movements I tell you to do, right?" Li Shuyao came closer and kissed the little boy's milky cheek gently.
"Ah..." Little Yinzhen was stunned by her kiss, his voice became much weaker, and it sounded like he was acting coquettishly.
Li Shuyao said, "I know, I know. My mother's Yinzhen is the most obedient and the most caring child in the world. So he will definitely fulfill your wish, right?"
Yinzhen remained silent for a long time; he had a feeling that something was not right.
But where?
It seems...there's nothing wrong with it, right?
Never mind, let it be a compensation for the pain she had suffered when he punched and kicked her in the stomach.
So Yinzhen let out another small "ah".
Li Shuyao was instantly satisfied.
I felt the joy of being a mother.
She leaned over and kissed little Yinzhen on the cheek again. "Then you will obediently let the painter paint your portrait every month until you turn eighteen, right?"
Eighteen years old?
Why eighteen? Does this number have any special meaning?
Little Yinzhen was confused, but that didn't stop him from continuing to scream "Ah ah".
——Never mind him, the most important thing is to make the new mother happy first.
Besides, there probably isn't anyone in the world who would believe the promise of a baby who is not even a month old, right?
At worst, when I grow up I can deny it and say I didn’t know about it, isn’t that the end of it?
So little Yinzhen screamed “Ahhh” happily.
Li Shuyao looked at him thoughtfully, wrapped him in the swaddle again, crawled to the inside of the bed on her knees, and took out a set of four treasures of the study from a small box at the end of the bed.
Then he returned to the edge of the bed, reached out and poured a cup of warm water from the small table beside the bed, wet the ink stick, and rubbed it roughly ten times.
Then he dipped his brush in the paper and wrote, "I, Aixinjueluo Yinzhen, the eleventh son of the present emperor, solemnly promise to my mother, Li Jia, on July 16, the seventeenth year of the Kangxi reign, that from this day forward until I turn eighteen, I will wholeheartedly obey your instructions and be the most obedient child in the world."
"When mother goes out to play, you must follow her. When mother speaks, you must obey her. When mother does something wrong, you must blindly follow her."
“When mother is getting dressed, you must wait; when mother is spending money lavishly, you must be willing to spend it; when mother is angry, you must be patient; and especially when mother’s birthday comes, you must remember it.”[1]
"In short, I want to be my mother's sweet little cotton-padded jacket, little darling, little angel, little toy..."
No, no, he can’t be a toy. After all, he is a royal prince. If outsiders knew about this, they would probably laugh at him.
Thinking of this, Li Shuyao picked up the pen and crossed out the words "little toys", and then added a few unreasonable rules at the end.
Finally, he placed the brush and inkstone on the small table, and took out a piece of ink from the corner cabinet at the end of the bed.
Returning to the swaddling clothes, she looked at the little cub with sparkling almond-shaped eyes, "Since you promised mother, can you do it by stamping and signing it?"
As she spoke, she casually waved the rice paper covered with words in front of the kid, then put it aside. She pinched the kid's soft index finger with one hand, pressed it into the ink with a "snap", and then pressed it into the signature place on the rice paper with another "snap".
The speed was so fast that Yinzhen had no time to react.
And with his baby's vision, he couldn't see clearly what was written on the rice paper.
I just remember that there seemed to be many, many words...
But what are they?
Yinzhen fell into deep thought.
On the other side, Li Shuyao happily let go of little Yinzhen's fingers, held the rice paper and looked at it for a few seconds, then folded the rice paper in half again with an extremely solemn expression and put it in a locked drawer under the small cabinet at the end of the bed.
Only then did he return to little Yinzhen, humming a song while packing up his writing brush, ink, paper and inkstone.
After a while, Yue Shu walked in and said to her, "Your Majesty, Concubine Yi has arrived. Do you want to invite her in directly?"
Li Shuyao nodded and said in a clear voice, "Please come in."
Just as he finished speaking, he suddenly seemed to remember something, "Oh, right, first get a basin of clean water and wash Yinzhen's fingers."
"Fingers?" Yue Shu was stunned, then subconsciously stuck her head out to look at the little prince on the bed.
Soon, I was surprised to find that the little prince's two snow-white fists had turned red all over.
Li Shuyao nodded calmly, "Yes, Yinzhen and I were playing with ink just now. He was a bit naughty and got ink all over his hands. If Qingyao saw this later, she would probably dislike him for being such a naughty little monkey."
Li Shuyao lied with her eyes open.
She didn't intend to tell anyone else about the unfair rules between her and the brat. At most, she would just let Qingyao know about it.
Who said Qingyao is her best friend?
They had previously agreed that they would play together when they had children.
Moreover, she felt that the "New Three Obediences and Four Virtues" she had just written down on a whim was very good. She should copy a copy and ask Qingyao and her child to sign one.
Having babies is meaningless if you don’t use them to play!
Yes, that’s right, that’s the truth.
The little Yinzhen on the bed suddenly widened his big black eyes after hearing her words, and the next second -
"Wow--"
Someone, someone is slandering the baby here!
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