The 47th year of the Kangxi Emperor's reign arrived amidst the babbling of a little wolf cub. As soon as he was able to speak, Yihua taught him to call her "Mother."
This kid, without any instruction, learned to say "hungry" to express his desire for food.
When the little wolf first said "hungry," Yihua was overjoyed. Honghui and Liuliu were the same; they first said "e-e-e," and then gradually learned to call their mother.
To everyone's surprise, the little guy cried out "Hungry, hungry" a few times, but when he didn't get anything in his stomach, he started to cry.
When the baby cried, the wet nurse would quickly pick him up and comfort him, only to find that he was straining his little mouth toward the granary.
After repeating this several times, Yi Hua finally understood that the boy was clearly saying "I'm hungry," and that she, as his mother, was just being presumptuous.
As Yinzhen listened to Yihua's accusations, he suppressed the urge to burst out laughing. He used a grape to tease the little wolf, making it call out "Father." The little wolf obligingly made a few "ah ah" sounds. Yihua, seeing Yinzhen's satisfied expression, did not expose him.
Was that son calling for his father? He was asking for food, that little glutton!
Just as Yi Hua was worrying about what to do about her son's excessive appetite, Hong Dou, a servant in the Eighth Prince's household, suddenly lost her appetite and refused to nurse.
Nalan was so anxious that her lips blistered. She changed many wet nurses, but Hongdou would eat at first, but gradually she wouldn't even open her mouth anymore, so she had to keep changing wet nurses.
The Eighth Prince invited the imperial physician, who said it was a loss of appetite and that it would get better as the child grew older.
But as Nalan looked at her increasingly thin child, she wondered if he could still grow up.
The Eighth Prince also valued this child very much. Several doctors couldn't come up with a clear diagnosis. Finally, his wet nurse hesitated and said, "Your Highness, why don't we go to the temple to pray? Perhaps the eldest prince is too young and might have offended something."
It is said that when people are desperate, they will try anything. Nalan Shi, at her wits' end, could only take her child to pray to Buddha and even funded the lighting of an everlasting lamp.
Little Red Bean had a rare, hearty meal in the Buddhist hall. Nalan looked up, her makeup showing signs of exhaustion, and smiled at the Eighth Prince with delight: "Your Highness, look, it really worked!"
Nalan thought this was the beginning of Hongdou's recovery, but she never expected it to be the start of their separation.
On his way back, the Eighth Prince pondered the words the high monk had spoken to him: "The concubine in your household is destined to bring misfortune to her children. The fact that the child was able to hold out for so long before showing signs of trouble is because the Eighth Prince is blessed with great fortune and can suppress it. Heavenly secrets cannot be revealed. I apologize for speaking out of turn, considering the child is still young."
When the Eighth Prince asked again, the old monk said nothing more, which made the prince believe him a little more.
Actually, the old monk's words are easy to verify, but it was Qing'er who suffered.
Back at the mansion, when it was time to feed Hongdou in the evening, she tilted her head and refused to eat. Nalan was very anxious and asked the Eighth Prince to come over. But his first words stunned Nalan.
"Nanny, take Hongdou to the Fujin's place to be cared for for a while."
The wet nurse suspected she had misheard and dared not move.
Nalan snatched her son from the wet nurse's arms in one swift motion, and looked at the Eighth Prince with some wariness: "Your Highness, what do you mean by this?"
The Eighth Prince smiled wryly: "Don't overthink it. Today, the high monk said that if you want Hongdou to live, she can't be raised by your side. I was skeptical at first, but given the current situation, it's better to separate them and see how things go."
“With the master watching over the Fujin, she wouldn’t dare to treat Hongdou badly.”
Nalan watched helplessly as the Eighth Prince took Hongdou away, and immediately fainted.
The anxiety of so many days and the shock of impending loss of her child caused Nalan to fall ill.
When the Eighth Prince's wife heard that she was to raise the child, her first reaction was to refuse: "My lord, this is the child of the concubine, not my child. It is not appropriate for me to interfere."
The Eighth Prince, holding Hongdou, smiled at his wife and said, "Look how cute he is, he's even smiling at you."
When the Eighth Prince's wife saw the adorable child, her expression softened a bit: "No, she can stay with me for a few days, and then send Nalan back as soon as she recovers. Why bother me?"
"And what does the Princess Consort think?"
The Eighth Prince's wife declared firmly, "Change the jade tablet. From now on, this child will be mine; he will be our eldest son."
“Why do you say that, my lady? We are both still young. You may be able to have your own child,” the Eighth Prince advised.
Eighth Prince's wife touched Hongdou's smooth little face: "Your Highness, you don't need to coax me. Just be alright. Why did Nalan give the child to me? There must be something going on. I don't care what it is, if you want me to raise this child, then it has to be my child."
"Alright, alright, whatever you say. But changing the jade tablet is no small matter. I need to submit the memorial when Father Emperor is in a good mood. You can raise the child for now." The Eighth Prince had no choice but to compromise.
"Your Majesty, I will obey." The Eighth Prince's Consort picked up the child and shook him. "Let's change this wet nurse. Tomorrow, I will personally go to the Imperial Household Department to select a few wet nurses that our First Prince likes."
Seeing this, the Eighth Prince tacitly approved of her antics.
******
When Ninth Prince's wife came to visit, she talked about things at Eighth Prince's residence.
"Fourth Sister-in-law, I really admire Eighth Sister-in-law. Even after being humiliated by the Emperor, she still managed to turn things around." Ninth Princess Consort said with great emotion, "I heard that since their eldest son entered Eighth Sister-in-law's courtyard, he has been eating well and has gained a lot of weight. Although Nalan still has the power to manage the household, her son is in Eighth Sister-in-law's hands, so she can only obey her in everything."
"In my opinion, the fact that the child refused to eat or drink at first must have been the work of Eighth Sister-in-law."
Yi Hua was making socks for the little wolf: "Eighth Master may not be unaware, but he just can't think of a solution. He has no choice but to do this in order to save the child's life."
"Isn't Eighth Sister-in-law afraid that Eighth Master might get angry and...!" Ninth Princess reached out and rubbed her neck.
Yi Hua chuckled: "How would we know the inside story of what happens between them? What if they conspired to get something for nothing and steal Nalan's child?"
"No way." Ninth Princess's mouth dropped open, and she didn't know what to say.
"You said it yourself, the Nalan family even selected wet nurses from the Imperial Household Department and the Nalan family, but the child just won't eat or drink. He'd rather drink some rice gruel than eat solid food. How could the Eighth Prince not find out anything about this with his abilities?" Influenced by modern times, Yi Hua always thought that the Eighth Prince was a very shrewd person.
It took Ninth Princess Consort a long time to regain her composure: "If that's the case, then Nalan is too pitiful."
"I was just guessing, it doesn't count." Yi Hua bit off the end of the thread, and a sock embroidered with the cartoon image of "Grey Wolf" was freshly made.
Ninth Princess Consort's attention was drawn to Yi Hua's hand: "What is this? It's a bit strange, but it's quite cute."
“This is a wolf.” Yi Hua smiled and showed it to Ninth Princess Consort, then asked Yu Xue to bring out Liu Liu’s doll for her to see. “This is Liu Liu’s favorite rabbit.”
"Wow, so cute!" Ninth Princess's eyes lit up as she hugged the large rabbit doll tightly.
"What animal do you like? I'll make one for you when I have time," Yi Hua asked.
"I'm so sorry, Fourth Sister-in-law, I like foxes." Ninth Princess Consort said cheerfully, clearly genuinely fond of them.
"Okay, I'll send it to you in a few days when things are settled."
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