Honghui drank too much sweet soup at night and woke up in the middle of the night to relieve himself in a daze.
After relieving himself of the urge to urinate, Honghui suddenly felt something was amiss. Usually at this time, the mansion was dimly lit, with only a few lanterns lit in key areas. But today, looking from afar, the front courtyard where his mother lived was brightly lit, and it seemed as if there were figures moving back and forth, indicating that no one in the courtyard was asleep.
After mentally calculating the days, Honghui was immediately jolted awake from his drowsiness. His mother was about to give birth!
He casually draped the cloak over his shoulders, ignoring the eunuch's attempts to stop him, and immediately headed for the inner courtyard.
The eunuch Su He, who was guarding the gate, knew what was going on as soon as he saw Honghui, but without Yinzhen's order, the gate could not be opened at night, and no one, whether it was the young master or anyone else, was allowed to enter.
"This servant greets the eldest prince. Please go back and rest now. There will be good news first thing tomorrow morning." Su He had recognized Su Peisheng as his godfather, changed his surname, and was living a very comfortable life guarding this gate.
"I'm going to see my mother. Are you trying to stop me?" Honghui was small, and when he looked up at him, there was no smile on his face.
Upon seeing the face so similar to that of Master He, coupled with the same imposing expression, Su He wanted nothing more than to kneel down and admit defeat. However, his reason told him that the door could not be opened.
The master, mindful of the eldest prince's filial piety, would not be too harsh on him, but he would show absolutely no mercy to him.
“Your Highness, please don’t make things difficult for me. This gate cannot be opened without the Prince’s order.” Su He wasn’t an overly rigid person. He continued, “How about this, I will go to the main courtyard myself. The Prince is here now. With His Highness’s permission, you can decide whether to go in or go back to rest. What do you think?”
"How is my mother?"
Su He dared not tell the truth, and could only vaguely say, "Your Highness, the Princess Consort is very lucky and will surely be out of danger. You don't need to worry too much."
"Danger? What's the danger?" Honghui felt uneasy; it seemed things weren't going well with his mother.
"This servant misspoke, please don't hold it against me." Su He slapped himself hard, refusing to utter another word about the main courtyard, nor allowing Hong Hui to enter.
Honghui turned his head to look at the main courtyard for a long time, then turned back and suddenly said, "I remember you."
Su He immediately bowed and smiled obsequiously: "That is the honor of this servant."
“You were standing next to Eunuch Su last time.”
"Your Highness has a good memory. This servant is fortunate to have become Eunuch Su's godfather. My name is Su He." For eunuchs, being able to show their faces in front of their masters and have their names remembered was an extremely important thing.
“Okay.” Honghui nodded, then glanced at Su He. “I won’t go over there, and you don’t need to do anything.”
Honghui turned around and went back to his courtyard, but instead of going to his bedroom, he went to the small Buddhist shrine.
The jade Buddha enshrined here was originally in Yihua's main courtyard, but she insisted on moving this small Buddhist shrine to a room in Honghui's front courtyard. She argued with Yinzhen about this for a long time, but fortunately, Yinzhen relented in the end because of Yihua's pregnancy. However, he was puzzled as to why Yihua did this.
Yi Hua explained it this way: "That jade Buddha was worshipped by Hong Hui right after he was born. She and Hong Hui have a great affinity. Now that Hong Hui and I can't live together, it's good to have the Buddha protect him for me."
When Yinzhen heard Yihua speaking so sorrowfully about parting with Honghui, he was moved but also found it amusing. It was just that they lived further apart, so why did she make it sound like a life-or-death separation?
Pregnant women tend to be a bit fussy.
Honghui repeats the daily routine of the small Buddhist shrine over the years: washing his hands, offering incense, and bowing.
The eunuchs who were following Honghui stood guard outside and specially brought over several stoves. Spring mornings and evenings were cold. It was better for the Princess Consort to be fine while the First Prince was sick. If they had to take care of him, they would be exhausted.
After silently reciting a few lines of scripture, Honghui looked up at the jade Buddha. A gaunt figure appeared in his mind. That fleeting glimpse under the illusion that day had made him remember that person deeply.
Honghui never mentioned to anyone the bizarre dream he had after falling from his horse. Or perhaps it wasn't a dream at all, but now he inexplicably recalled that day's scene again.
"Mother, if you are watching over me from heaven, please protect my mother." Honghui knelt down and prayed silently. "I know you are also my mother. Although I don't know why, I know you are not her, and she is not you. You are two people. Honghui is a blessed child who has two mothers."
"Although I have only met you once, I have never forgotten you, and neither has my mother. She never comes in here, yet she makes her son kowtow to her every day."
"I've already lost you, and I don't want to lose her too." Honghui tried to force a smile, tears silently streaming down his face. He knew that his mother's situation was probably very bad, because the people around her had rushed over in a panic and hadn't even had time to tell him.
Therefore, Honghui gave up the idea of returning to the front yard; he couldn't go back and cause trouble for his father and mother.
The eldest princess, who also lived in the front courtyard, was also awakened. She quickly put on some clothes and learned from the nanny about the perilous nature of Yihua's childbirth.
"Where is Honghui?" the eldest princess suddenly asked, remembering this.
The old woman didn't know either. After the eldest princess finished dressing, she took a lantern and went out. She walked quickly toward Honghui's residence.
As the night deepened and the dew grew heavy, the eldest princess's hands and feet were already icy cold when she arrived at Honghui's courtyard. She had rushed out without bringing a hand warmer, but she didn't care at the moment. Seeing the servants gathered around the small Buddhist shrine, she instantly understood.
The eldest princess gently pushed open the door and went in. She saw Honghui kneeling on the prayer mat, his shoulders trembling as if he were crying softly. She gestured for the people at the door to move away and went in alone.
She also offered incense to the jade Buddha, knelt beside Honghui, and whispered, "Honghui, don't be afraid. Your mother is a lucky person, and she and your child will definitely be safe."
"Big sister, do you like third brother?" Honghui stopped sobbing, wiped his cheeks somewhat embarrassedly, and suddenly asked.
The eldest princess paused for a moment and said softly, "I heard from my mother that I actually had an older sister, but she didn't live to be of the next generation. Before you were born, I was the only child in the household, and my father came to see me every day and talked to me."
"Although I don't remember these things, I always felt that my mother was talking about other people's stories."
“Honghui, there was a time when I didn’t like you, I didn’t like Hongyun, and I didn’t even like poor Hongfen.” The eldest princess laughed self-deprecatingly. “But my liking is the most meaningless thing. What matters is that Mother likes it and Father likes it.”
"The more I looked forward to Mother's baby, the more I hate him now." Honghui looked at the eldest princess, "Elder sister, was Mother's delivery of me this difficult?"
The eldest princess smiled and patted Honghui on the shoulder: "Don't scare yourself. Maybe things are going well with your stepmother. Let's just do what we can, like praying to the gods."
Honghui bowed devoutly to the Buddha statue, silently reciting in his heart: "Son doesn't believe in Buddha, son only believes in you."
At this moment, in the main courtyard, the midwife suddenly showed a look of surprise and said in a trembling voice, "It's done! Now is the perfect time. Quickly bring the princess consort some ginseng soup. Push hard now, push harder!"
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