Unbeknownst to him, beads of sweat on Yinzhen's forehead dried and then reappeared, repeating this cycle until, just before dawn the next day, the sound of a baby crying came from inside the room.
Yinzhen was not relieved; on the contrary, he became even more nervous. After all, the news that the young princess was safe and sound had not yet spread, so he dared not relax.
Some faint sounds could be heard coming from inside the room.
"...It's a princess...come quick...the princess is pregnant with another one..."
And so, a few more hours passed. The morning sun rose halfway up the sky, turning the heavens a beautiful fiery red, and then a loud cry came from inside the house.
"...He's a prince..."
After a while, the door to the delivery room was pushed open, and a nanny came out and said to Yinzhen, "Your Majesty, the Princess Consort has given birth to twins, a boy and a girl, and both mother and children are safe and sound."
Yinzhen felt as if the voice came from the horizon, hazy and unreal. The nanny repeated the original words, but he still stood there stunned. Hongzhao, who was beside him, tugged at his sleeve and said, "Father, your son wants to go see Mother and my younger brother and sister."
Yinzhen then came to his senses and realized that his concubine had given birth safely, giving him a son and a daughter.
"She gave birth?"
Hongzhao was dumbfounded. So his father hadn't heard him?
"My mother gave birth to a younger brother and sister for her son."
Yinzhen asked in a daze, "How come they are twins? The imperial physician didn't say that!"
No one could answer that for him.
Yinzhen never really wanted children in his life. He originally thought that having Hongzhao was enough. He really couldn't bear to see his little wife suffer the pain of childbirth, but she unexpectedly became pregnant, so naturally he couldn't refuse her.
He had hoped for a daughter, but to his surprise, it was twins, a boy and a girl, born at full term. He noticed that his wife's belly looked almost the same as when she was pregnant with Hongzhao, and the imperial physicians couldn't diagnose it as twins. How could it be twins?
It's not that I'm unhappy, but I'm really terrified. Two pregnancies are much more dangerous than one.
He was terrified.
Now that he finally realized what had happened, his forehead was covered in cold sweat—sweat from nervousness.
"Father, can our son go in?"
Of course they could, and the father and son went into the delivery room together.
The delivery room was bustling with activity, filled with nannies and maids, with Shumulu Shi directing from the side.
Although the two children were healthy, they were quite small. Looking at the half-born child that Hongzhao had just discovered, Yinzhen glanced at it from afar and couldn't help but feel heartache. Then he walked up to Tong Cheng'er, and Shumulu Shi stepped forward and said, "Cheng'er is tired and has fallen asleep."
"Yes, thank you, Mother-in-law."
Shumulu smiled and said, "It's only right."
In ordinary families, it is customary for an elder to be present when a woman gives birth. The royal family does not favor such occasions, but Prince Yong did not mind. She was his own daughter, so why should he express his gratitude?
Hongzhao was more focused on his younger siblings. The newborns weren't exactly beautiful; their skin was wrinkled, and they even looked a bit ugly. He frowned and asked, "Mother Guo Luo, are these your younger siblings?"
His tone carried a slight hint of doubt.
He didn't think he was ugly, but his younger brother and sister... he really didn't know what to say to them.
Shumulu was taken aback at first, then couldn't help but laugh: "All newborns are like this. They'll grow out of it. The redder they look now, the whiter they'll become as they grow."
"Really?" The tone was uncertain.
Can such bright red and wrinkled little brothers and sisters really be considered cute?
Shumulu said, "Would I lie to you? You'll find out in a while."
Hongzhao:......
It looks really amazing.
The news of Tong Cheng'er's childbirth reached the Qianqing Palace last night. Yinzhen was waiting at the gate, and Kangxi in the palace was also waiting. He sent people to wait at Prince Yong's residence, just to get the first news. Before Yinzhen even thought of sending the news to the palace, the Qianqing Palace already knew.
The moment he heard the news, Kangxi smiled. Twins, a boy and a girl, the Qing imperial family was also involved. Such a blessed event was truly extraordinary.
He had hoped that Yinzhen's wife would give birth to a son, but who would have thought that they would have twins, a boy and a girl? The imperial physicians couldn't detect it even after examining their pulses multiple times, which was quite miraculous.
"Liang Jiugong, go to my private treasury and find some good things to send to Prince Yong's wife and the two newborn children. Oh, and give the two imperial estates in the western capital to the two children as gifts."
Liang Jiugong hurriedly replied with a smile, "Yes, Your Majesty, this servant will go right away."
Emperor Kangxi was overjoyed, and the rewards flowed into Prince Yong's residence like a river. By noon, the entire harem knew about it, and following Kangxi's lead, the ladies of the palace all expressed their great generosity.
By the afternoon, the high-ranking officials and nobles in the capital had also received the news. They had different thoughts, but they all thought that Prince Yong's wife was a good wife, and at the same time, they thought that Alhatu had given birth to a good daughter.
These are the first pair of twins (one male and one female) in the Qing Dynasty imperial family.
After careful consideration, everyone suddenly remembered that the mother of Prince Yong's wife, Lady Shumulu, seemed to have a twin sister. This connection made their reasoning "justified."
The talk in the capital was all about Tong Cheng'er, but it wasn't really her concern. She was going through a double postpartum period and couldn't even leave the house, so she couldn't worry about anything else.
Children grow very quickly. In just a month or two, they've grown up and become fair and tender. Hongzhao watched his younger siblings change day by day and found it amazing.
No matter how much you hear from Shumulu, nothing is as real as seeing it with your own eyes.
On the day of the full moon, the Yong Prince's mansion was filled with guests. Yinzhen and Hongzhao were in charge of entertaining them. Only then did everyone realize that the Yong Prince's son had grown up and reached the age to marry a wife.
Previously, everyone had only focused their attention on Yinzhen and had forgotten about Hongzhao, the eldest son of Prince Yong. Now, however, the young man is a fine young gentleman and is indeed an excellent candidate for son-in-law.
So Hongzhao found his life becoming more and more exciting. After the full moon banquet, he would always hear his friends talking about how so-and-so's princess was doing. At first, he didn't care, but after hearing it so many times, he realized that he was being watched.
Yinzhen and Tong Cheng'er were a rare loving couple, and with them as role models, Hongzhao had more thoughts about his wife. He had also seen the troublesome things in his uncles' and aunts' households. He had cousins born of the principal wife, and these cousins had many brothers, sisters, brothers and sisters born of concubines. Their family affairs were very troublesome, and just hearing about them made him feel annoyed.
Hongzhao also hoped to find a soulmate, a lifelong partner, so he was very averse to these things. It was at this time that he discovered that his "friends" also had many "selfish motives".
He told Yinzhen about these things, and Yinzhen was very pleased. His son was growing up and was being eyed by girls from other families.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
