Chapter 82 The Birth of a Son
The sun is shining brightly and the sky is blue.
Outside the side hall, in addition to the palace maids and imperial physicians, all the concubines in the harem, except the confined Concubine Liang, came. There were also several officials from the Imperial Observatory who needed to record the birth times of the princes and princesses, Lin Sulan and the old lady of the Su family. They stood in a dark crowd under the scorching sun.
Because the Queen Mother and His Majesty, who were supposed to be sitting in the main hall, came out and stood there waiting, who would dare to relax even a little bit...
"ah!"
As the woman in labor finally let out a cry of pain, the loud cry of a baby was heard!
"It's born!"
Beads of sweat rolled down Xuan Yi's forehead, and the palms in his sleeves slowly relaxed.
"The Concubine Shu gave birth smoothly!"
The Queen Mother looked up at the sky in ecstasy: "It is noon when the sundial's shadow is short. Good, good!"
Noon is the most yang hour of the day. If he is a prince, his destiny must be strong, like the scorching sun in the sky, the world is bright and clear, it is a sign of great joy with purple air coming from the east!
Several people from the Imperial Observatory also looked happy, but they didn't know it was a prince or princess, so they didn't dare to speak easily.
"Her Majesty, Your Majesty!"
Nanny Hua came out holding the swaddling clothes, her face full of joy: "Congratulations, Your Majesty, congratulations to the Empress Dowager, and Concubine Shu for successfully giving birth to a little prince!"
The concubines all had different expressions and knelt down together.
"Congratulations, Your Majesty, on the birth of your son!"
"Congratulations, Queen Mother!"
Xuan Yi took the baby from the swaddling clothes, stared at the baby crying loudly, then raised his eyes to look at the bright sun, and suddenly burst into laughter.
"This child's cries shake the tiles, and even the scorching sun retreats from his glare. He must be my Qilin child!"
"Congratulations, Your Majesty!"
——
It was already evening when Su Ci woke up. Her clothes were dry and soft, and her waist was wrapped in a thick cloth strip.
"Is the queen awake?"
“…Mother?”
"Why."
Lin Sulan's eyes were still slightly red and swollen: "Mother is here."
Su Ci glanced at the unfamiliar room and asked, "Where is this?"
Yanyu quickly squatted by the bedside and said, "Master, this is the side hall of Baorong Palace. It was the Empress Dowager who ordered His Majesty to bring you here."
"Um?"
Su Ci paused, then understood and nodded: "I'm hungry."
"Yes, I will go and tell the imperial kitchen to prepare the meal."
Guyu's eyes also turned red: "Master, the Queen Mother and the Second Prince are still in the main hall. I will go and tell them."
"Um."
Lin Sulan picked up a half-bowl of warm water and said, "Drink some water to moisten your throat first. Does your body still hurt?"
"It doesn't hurt anymore."
Su Ci opened her mouth and drank the water fed by the spoon: "Did His Majesty send you here?"
"yes."
Lin Sulan took out a handkerchief and wiped the corners of her daughter's mouth. She stood up and added a soft pillow for her. "Your grandmother is here too. She's outside talking to the Empress Dowager. His Majesty specifically asked us to stay and wait for you to wake up."
"My Ci'er is amazing. She gave birth to the child so quickly and smoothly. The Second Prince cried loudly. The Queen Mother even said that he looks very much like Your Majesty."
Su Ci pouted: "I always thought it was a little girl who looked like me, but I didn't expect it to be a boy. It's good that he looks like his father, but his personality shouldn't be like his father. The Queen Mother always said that His Majesty was as serious as an old man when he was young..."
"You're already a mother, yet you still talk nonsense."
Lin Sulan couldn't help laughing, but her eyes turned red again. "I only found out about your poisoning after entering the palace. I was terrified. Fortunately, the Buddha blessed us, and everything turned out fine. Mother and child are safe. I'm going to go to the Fahua Temple and fulfill my vow."
"Have you found the person who poisoned you? Where's His Majesty?"
Su Ci suddenly felt abdominal pain while taking a walk and thought she was just going into labor prematurely. It was not until Duan Jingwen took her pulse that she realized she was poisoned. She asked about the poison but it was not strong enough to harm her and the baby. Then she was busy concentrating on giving birth and didn't ask anything else.
Lin Sulan frowned slightly and spoke hesitantly.
"We've found that the saffron and oleander debris came from a summer-heat sachet you've been wearing these days..."
"Sachet?"
Su Ci's face tensed up, and she was a little surprised: "The medicine bag that my second sister gave me?"
Since she became pregnant, countless people have given her gifts, but she didn't need to give any instructions as all the gifts were moved to a remote side hall at the back for storage.
Su Hui had only sent her gifts in the middle of last month, including a few sets of children's clothes made of fine fabrics, and two medicine sachets for her to clear her mind and relieve summer heat.
"Impossible! Dean Xu and my second brother-in-law checked those two medicine bags and made sure they were harmless to me before letting me wear them."
"Yes, Dean Xu and the Second Uncle said the same thing. The Second Uncle also said that when the Second Miss was sewing the medicine bag, she specifically asked him to look over the ingredients to make sure they were all normal before sending them to the palace. But when they cut open the medicine bag today, they found some finely ground saffron and oleander leaves."
Lin Sulan took a breath as she spoke. "Director Xu said the fine dust was soaked in ebony water before being ground. It's very dark in color and very difficult to distinguish among the herbs. But he and the second uncle both believed that these harmful substances were put in after they had inspected them."
"It's a good thing the poison wasn't put in long ago, and the baby in your belly is already full-term. Otherwise, if it had been put in earlier, who knows what the consequences would have been. I'm terrified just thinking about it..."
"I'm fine now."
Su Ci thought and held A Niang's hand: "What did His Majesty say?"
Lin Sulan kissed her daughter's hand. "Your Majesty is wise. He didn't impulsively convict you right away. Instead, he brought you and the child here and conducted a thorough investigation of everyone in Yufu Palace. Aside from Yanyu Guyu and the several old maids sent by the Empress Dowager, everyone else is currently being interrogated in Yufu Palace."
"That's good."
Su Ci breathed a sigh of relief: "Your Majesty will investigate it personally, so I don't have to worry about it."
"Your Majesty is not available. Nannies Yi and Qin, who are by the Queen Mother's side, will preside over the trial."
"No time? It's almost dark now, what is he busy with?"
Lin Sulan smiled happily: "His Majesty is in the court discussing state affairs with the ministers. Ci'er, you don't know that the Second Prince was born at noon, and then the victory news from Yuezhou came back, and the victory news from the northern and southern borders also came soon after!"
"The Empress Dowager was extremely delighted and said that the Second Prince was our Great Yong's lucky star. The Imperial Astronomical Observatory also said that the Second Prince had a good fate, with the sun shining in the sky and conquering all evil in the four directions. Your Majesty was delighted and immediately named the Second Prince Yao, which means bright and shining."
"Xuan Yao? Show off?"
Su Ci laughed: "Okay, I always thought I was pregnant with a girl, and I discussed several names for girls with His Majesty, but I haven't discussed names for boys yet..."
"Haha, our Yao'er has a biased mother."
The Queen Mother came in with the swaddling baby in her arms, smiling: "I told you it was a little prince, but you refused to believe me."
Lin Sulan quickly stood up and saluted.
"There are no outsiders here, Madam Su, there is no need to be polite."
The Queen Mother bent down and placed the swaddling clothes next to Su Ci, her face full of joy: "Look at this child's eyebrows, eyes, mouth and ears, he looks exactly like his father."
Su Ci tilted her head and looked at the dark little face, slowly pursing her lips.
"Is this my child? He's so ugly, wrinkled and black like a little monkey. He doesn't look like his father at all..."
Madam Su, Lin Sulan, and several other maids and wet nurses were all stunned, their eyes wide open in surprise.
Even if she is the prince's biological mother, she can't speak like this in front of the Queen Mother...
…
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