A month after Yongjie's full moon celebration, it was time for Princess Fucha to give birth.
Unlike Yunyi, although Princess Fucha was a year older than Hongli, it was her first pregnancy and she had a long labor before finally giving birth smoothly.
It took two or three birthdays, about five hours, for Princess Fucha to give birth to a healthy prince, Hongli's second son and the second prince of the household.
Since the eldest son had already been named by the emperor, the second son did not have this honor, so the second son's name was chosen by Hongli himself.
It's strange, even though so many things have changed, the Second Prince still ended up calling himself Yonghuang.
Just as some were happy while others were sad, Hongli was overjoyed to suddenly have two big, healthy sons.
In contrast, Fucha's side was filled with sorrow. Before the primary consort had even given birth, the princesses had already given birth to two illegitimate sons.
This is a joyous occasion for the Fourth Prince, but not so good for his wife.
Having two illegitimate sons before the legitimate son, and thus two illegitimate sons, was not a good thing for Lady Fucha.
After learning that Princess Gao and Princess Fucha had given birth to a prince, Granny Chen's worries grew day by day.
This worry persisted until Fucha was about to give birth.
On the morning of September 15th, everyone had just finished paying their respects to the Princess Consort and were still on their way when a maidservant hurriedly ran up to catch up with them, saying that the Princess Consort was about to give birth.
Yunyi was also stopped by her maid halfway. She and Qingdai exchanged a glance and had no choice but to turn back.
She had originally planned to go back and catch up on her sleep, but now she can't. She doesn't know how long the wife will give birth, or how long she'll have to wait outside.
As it turned out, this pregnancy was indeed difficult for Lady Fucha. She was young, her pregnancy was not good, and now the delivery was particularly difficult.
From the time the labor began in the morning until Hongli returned from his business trip in the afternoon, Fucha had still not given birth.
Yunyi and the others were all tired of waiting, so you can imagine how tired Fucha must have been in the delivery room.
This was Hongli's third time becoming a father, but it was the most nerve-wracking one for him. Princess Gao and Princess Fucha gave birth relatively quickly, but his wife had been in labor for almost a day.
Although he was a man, Hongli knew that the longer the labor lasted, the more dangerous it would be for both the mother and the child.
Unable to do anything, he could only stand at the door and pray incessantly, hoping that his wife could give birth smoothly and safely.
Fortunately, Hongli's prayers worked, and before half of her birthday had passed, Lady Fuca finally gave birth.
The midwife wiped the cold sweat from her face, and the fear in her heart finally dissipated. She was terrified if the Fourth Princess Consort couldn't give birth.
The midwife gently picked up the baby, looked at him, and paused before announcing the good news.
"Congratulations, Madam! It's a beautiful little princess!"
This little one is indeed beautiful, with very well-developed features. Although he was just born, his chubby little face has grown into very fair skin.
But what the midwife didn't say was that the little princess didn't seem to be in good health; her face looked a bit bluish-black, probably because she had been in the womb for too long.
Moreover, when she was first born, her cries were very soft, like a kitten's, and she was far less healthy than the eldest and second princes.
Granny Chen had been watching the situation inside and naturally noticed that something was wrong with the midwife. She went over to take a look and instantly understood why the midwife had that expression earlier.
Fearing that her mistress would be saddened, Granny Chen could only smile and say that the little princess was very good, in order to reassure Lady Fucha.
The midwife took the newborn princess outside to announce the good news. Hongli looked at the midwife with anticipation, but heard her say something strange.
"Congratulations, Fourth Prince! Your wife has successfully given birth to a little princess!"
Upon hearing that it was a little princess, Hongli was disappointed for a moment, but he quickly reassured himself that it was alright, his wife was still young, and they would have a son sooner or later.
Hongli's desire for a legitimate son was something outsiders couldn't understand, but he didn't put too much pressure on his wife. He also loved this daughter, who was also his eldest legitimate daughter.
But when he went over and saw his daughter, Hongli was a little surprised. She was different from his two sons. It was obvious to the naked eye that she didn't look very healthy.
Seeing the Fourth Prince's expression, the midwife lowered her head and explained, "The Princess Consort's labor took a little longer than usual, and the little princess was in the womb for a while, but she is still healthy. We just need to take good care of her from now on."
With a midwife present, Hongli was relieved. As a royal prince, it didn't matter if his daughter was a little frail. With so many imperial physicians in the palace, his daughter would be fine if she took good care of herself.
But he was being too naive. This child had died young in history, and now he was not escaping that fate either.
Before the full moon celebration could even begin, and after only five days of raising the baby, the eldest princess born to the Fujin died.
Empress Fucha was still in her postpartum confinement period when she suddenly heard the news of her daughter's death. She fainted on the spot, unable to accept the news.
Everyone knew that the eldest princess died young because she was too weak; there was no accident or framing involved.
But Niohuru didn't see it that way. Her daughter-in-law hadn't given birth to a prince, but the disliked Gao had given birth to the eldest grandson, and now her daughter-in-law's granddaughter had died young.
Niohuru was unhappy and didn't want to please the other concubines in the backyard. Another reason was to solidify her daughter-in-law's position, fearing that if they gave birth to princes, they would become arrogant and disrespectful to the primary consort.
Therefore, Empress Dowager Niohuru issued an order for all the princesses in the Fourth Prince's backyard to copy Buddhist scriptures to pray for the early death of the eldest princess.
These words were spoken by Wang, the old woman who served Niohuru. She reprimanded the princesses and assigned them tasks before leaving.
If Yunyi were to say, Niohuru was definitely coming for her. The arrogant words she uttered were probably directed at her, since she had given birth to the eldest prince and held a rather special position.
Qingdai also felt that Consort Xi was giving her mistress a warning, so she was a little angry on her way back. When she saw her mistress obediently copying Buddhist scriptures, she couldn't help but speak up.
"Your Highness, please let us do these things. Consort Xi said that the Buddhist scripture needs to be copied a hundred times. How can your hands withstand that?"
Yunyi waved her hand to stop her: "Qingdai, watch your words! Consort Xi's arrangements have their reasons, and praying for the eldest princess is what we should do. Everyone else is copying, so how can I be lazy!"
"Alright, I understand. I misspoke. Please forgive me, Master."
Qingdai puffed out her cheeks and said she was sorry, but it was clear that she was still unconvinced.
Although she is unreliable now, Qingdai is still very capable outside. Moreover, she has served the original owner's maid since childhood and is loyal to Gao Shi. Therefore, Yunyi did not punish her, but patiently gave her a few words of advice and told her to be careful.
Because of the death of the eldest princess, the atmosphere in the backyard was very quiet. Even Jin Shi, who used to love vying for favor, became low-key and dared not do anything.
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