独自思着日后府里的种种，嫣凝私心里却想着。若是能让福康安允准夕盈搬回东院，重新养育德麟在身侧。到时虽是同一府院，却也整日的见不着面。那样德麟与自己之间还尚能保留昔日的养育情分，若是来日生了心结，德麟又是袭福康安爵位之人。那她的孩子该如何在这府中生存？她仿若从福长安身上看到了自己孩子的以后。
Even if Fukang'an agreed, Xi Ying would never want her son to return to her side as an illegitimate child.
Thinking this, Yan Ning didn't realize it was already dark and the lights were on in the room until Zhu Xiang invited her out for a meal. Her hand touched the jade porcelain bowl on the short-legged table; the bowl was already cool, and the barley and longan soup inside had formed a layer of glossy, gauze-like film.
Perhaps feeling a little hungry, Yan Ning smelled the sweet aroma of peppers on the wall.
"The fruit of pepper will multiply and thrive," was a phrase Fukang'an recited from the Book of Songs when teaching Yan Ning to recognize ancient characters. He had initially ordered pepper to be mixed with mud, simply to warm the inner room. That day, after reciting it, a hint of joy flashed across his face, supported by his silver-white robe, and he murmured, "So the pepper room has this meaning too. If the walls of this room are all mixed with pepper mud, won't we have a house full of children and grandchildren in the future?"
Fukang'an's gentle smile lingered in Yan Ning's heart. When she saw her hair bun on the wall above Hejiao's house, she sighed that the swallow-tail-like hair bun did not belong to her.
Just as she ultimately did not belong here.
She couldn't remember why she originally wanted a child; it was simply because she couldn't bear the loneliness of the courtyard and wanted her own flesh and blood to accompany her day and night.
If she were to suddenly disappear one day, just as she had arrived, how would her child survive in the strict and hierarchical Fucha family, where legitimate and illegitimate children are distinguished?
Since she cannot be there to help her unborn child grow up and start a family, then by not keeping the child, only she herself will suffer.
Fukang'an did not return from his study until dinner was served.
Yan Ning looked at the table full of food, hesitating to touch her chopsticks. This morning, Wu Chun had given birth to her daughter in the same way. Wu Chun was able to save her child from premature birth, but if it were her, with her flat stomach, she could only watch helplessly as her child turned into a pool of blood and left her.
She was ultimately reluctant to part with Fukang'an and her child; her eyes welled up with tears as she looked at Fukang'an.
Fukang'an sat beside her, piling food onto the jade porcelain plate in front of her. He smiled gently, "With me, your father, here, who would dare harm my child!"
One sentence dispelled Yan Ning's worries; Fu Kang'an seemed to have already investigated the matter thoroughly this morning.
At noon in Chunying Garden, although the maids had prepared a meal, neither of them ate because they were worried about Wuchun. Fukang'an tried to force Yan Ning to eat some soup, but Yan Ning spat out the Guixian wrapped cake he put on her lips. At dusk, the barley and longan soup that Zhuxiang served turned into a cold porridge because of Delin.
Now Yan Ning's belly was empty, and there was another mouth hidden inside her; she disregarded the husband's authority as wife and ate the delicacies on the table by herself.
In the blink of an eye, the golden thread silver fish soup in the jade porcelain soup bowl on the table was empty, the tempting smoked bayberries on the jade porcelain plate were reduced to remnants, and the mint and jujube noodles in the bamboo basket were also reduced.
Seeing that she only ate these greasy snacks and porridge, Fukang'an picked up a few strands of steamed goose with apricot paste and placed them on the jade plate in front of her.
The strong aroma of Sichuan peppercorns wafted into her nose, reminding her of the symbolism associated with them. Yan Ning set aside the steamed goose with apricot paste. She picked up a piece of braised duck soup, and Fu Kang'an, assuming she didn't like the steamed goose with apricot paste, didn't pay any attention.
After dinner, Yan Ning's flat stomach appeared slightly rounded. She wondered to herself, then blurted out, "Is the baby growing?"
Fukang'an glanced at the broken jade porcelain plate and dish, then gently touched Yan Ning's face, which had regained its rosy hue, and couldn't hide the smile on his face.
Yan Ning followed Fukang'an's gaze and immediately blushed, probably because her ravenous eating made her look just like a refugee.
The moonlight, calm and still as water, pierced through the crystal curtain and shone upon the figures of Fukang'an and Yan Ning, who were nestled together. On the short-legged table sat a crane-shaped candlestick, its white candle dripping with specks of wax that fell onto the crane's folded wings.
In the candlelight, Fukang'an's features were soft. He put his arm around Yan Ning's waist and showed her the names of Wu Chun's daughter and the unborn child in her womb.
The crane's slender shadow stands quietly on the white rice paper, making the three names appear and disappear indistinctly.
Yunwan, Yunxin, Dexuan.
Yan Ning picked up the Xuan paper and looked at it for a while, then asked, puzzled, "Does it have any symbolic meaning?"
Fukang'an pointed to the two characters "Yunwan" and said, "Yun refers to bamboo. I hope that my daughter, Fukang'an's daughter, will have the same integrity as bamboo, evergreen throughout the four seasons, defying frost and rain. If our child is a daughter, we will name her this, meaning gentle and virtuous."
Then he pointed to the two characters “De Xuan” and said, “Xuan means swirling, which is a metaphor for triumph. I hope that our son will return victorious from every battle in the future, but I don’t want him to live a life of ease.”
Finally, he pointed to the two characters "Yunxin" and said, "Wuchun gave birth to my first daughter today. I hope she can grow up safely and inherit Wuchun's beauty and fragrance."
The three names took on profound meaning from Fukang'an's simple words. Yan Ning looked at him and smiled. Just now, the thought of not wanting to keep the child in her womb vanished into thin air.
The next day, Fukang'an received an imperial decree to go to the Yuanmingyuan Garden to pay his respects to the Empress Dowager. Yan Ning first went to the Peony Hall to pay her respects, and then prepared to go to the Spring Cherry Garden to inform Wu Chun about her name.
The curtain hanging in the main room of the Peony Hall was lifted, making the room much brighter. Even the wisps of sandalwood incense wafting from the bronze openwork incense burner could be seen.
My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
