The ninth day of the second month is the day of Kuihai.
Chen Que's birth went smoothly. She saw spotting on the night of the eighth day, and the baby was born on the evening of the ninth day.
Xie Shiguan was accompanying her in the room, and Tao Yiru and the old lady were helping. His Highness was worried, so he invited several experienced midwives to live in the mansion half a month in advance, and they were now waiting in the side hall.
Shen Xiangzhi, who was guarding outside the house, paced back and forth under the eaves, while Shen Luo kept looking around, trying to find out what was going on inside the house. When he saw a maid coming out of the inner room, Shen Luo stopped her and whispered, "How is Ah Que? Why did it take so long? When will she give birth?"
The maid shook her head: "It's uncertain. She might give birth soon."
In the past, when Shen Luo saw the families of his colleagues giving birth, he always felt that they gave birth to the babies in one breath. But now that it happened to Shen Que, he was so anxious that he was fuming and couldn't bear even a moment.
He couldn't do this for Chen Que, and could do nothing but stand there anxiously. Finally, he saw Tao Yiru half open the door and come out to get the basin of water, and Shen Luo hurriedly squeezed over.
"Give this to Ah Que," Chen Luo hurriedly stuffed a faded amulet into her hand, "Help me give it to him."
When he was attacked in Xichuan that year, if the tip of the knife had been an inch off, Chen Luo was afraid that he would have died there. Fortunately, he escaped unharmed that time. Therefore, he always felt that it was the amulet that Shen Luo had asked for on his behalf that protected him. From then on, he carried it with him day and night and hardly ever left it.
Tao Yiru didn't believe in those superstitious things, but seeing Chen Luo's earnest expression, she took the amulet and gave it to Chen Que in the tent in the house.
As soon as the door closed, Shen Luo finally couldn't stand it anymore and looked at Shen Xiangzhi: "Stop wandering around. The ground outside has been dented by your steps."
"My feet are itchy," Shen Xiangzhi turned back coldly, "I'm happy to do it."
The sun was setting and the sky was getting dark, but there was still no movement in the house.
Chen Xiangzhi had been pacing all day and was now tired, so he sat on the steps and ate sesame cakes with Chen Luo beside him while drinking cold water.
It has been thirty years now. At that time, Shen Xiangzhi was as high-spirited as Shen Luo beside him, and was looking forward to the birth of a life. However, who would have thought that one life would be exchanged for another. He had offspring, but lost his first wife forever.
The mute could not cry out even though he was in extreme pain. At the moment, the two of them could hear nothing except the occasional footsteps of the maids coming in and out, and the sound of the door opening and closing.
Fortunately, when the sun was about to set, a baby's cry was suddenly heard from the house. The two people on the steps stood up immediately and pushed the door into the main house.
Tao Yiru carried the baby wrapped in swaddling clothes to the outer room and showed it to the two men: "It's a little girl, and she's healthy."
Shen Luo carefully rubbed the little girl's face with his fingertips. The newborn baby was all red and it was difficult to make out a clear appearance.
"Girls are good," Shen Xiangzhi replied absentmindedly, and then added, "Girls know how to love their parents the most - how is Ah Que?"
Tao Yiru smiled and said, "With so many relatives guarding him, Chen Lang should be safe."
Hearing this, the two finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"I'm glad you're alright..."
Most of the candles in the inner room were blown out, and it was a little dark. Shen Xiangzhi and his son lifted the curtain like thieves and squeezed into the small door.
But at first glance, he saw His Highness leaning over, as if kissing the forehead, hair, eyes and lips of the person on the couch, while the person on the couch raised his hand and held half of Xie Shiguan's face, as if coaxing His Highness.
Suddenly seeing this scene, the two of them stood back and dared not move.
After a long while, Xie Shiguan, who was sitting beside the couch, looked over coldly and made room for the two of them. Perhaps it was because the lights in the room were too dim, but Chen Luo always felt that His Highness' eyes were red.
But after just a vague glance, he was not sure. After all, in all these years in the mansion, Chen Luo had never seen His Highness' eyes turn red or shed tears for any person or any matter.
Chen Luo approached cautiously, and at first glance he saw the pale lips of the person in the tent. His forehead was soaked with cold sweat, as if he had been fished out of the water, or as if he had suffered a serious illness.
Chen Luo's nose felt sore, and he asked in an almost inaudible voice: "Is it uncomfortable?"
But Shen Luo shook his head, stretched out his other hand, and unfolded it in front of him. Inside was a wrinkled amulet. Shen Luo took it and said, "I don't know if it's useful or not. I'm handing it over to you so you can hold it. Just to give you peace of mind."
Now that they saw that the mute was safe and sound, the father and son were relieved. Shen Xiangzhi had served the prince closely for so many years, and as soon as he came in, he keenly noticed that the atmosphere in the room was wrong, so he pulled Shen Luo's arm and pulled him away.
"The prince just wanted to see the baby," Shen Xiangzhi deliberately made an excuse, "Let's go and bring the kid over, and let the two siblings meet him, let's go."
Chen Luo glanced at Chen Que reluctantly: "I'll go to the kitchen and ask the cook to warm up the pigeon soup and bring it to you when it's ready..."
Before he could finish, Shen Xiangzhi pushed the man out.
Seeing that they had gone out again, Chen Que suddenly took His Highness's hand and asked him to put his palm against his cheek. Xie Shiguan then spoke, but his voice was hoarse: "When you gave birth to that cub, you were alone in the mountains. Were you afraid?"
The mute shook his head and said silently, "I'm not afraid."
What's more, he was not alone at that time. He had Danxin guarding him, and Tao Yiru and her daughter helping him. He was not afraid of the pain, but was afraid of dying quietly in the mountains and forests, and not being able to see His Highness and his master and brothers again when he was dying.
Before the mute could finish his gesture, His Highness grabbed his wrist and whispered, "But I'm scared to death."
He remembered the two-inch scar on the mute's lower abdomen. If he had not been in danger, how could he have been forced to undergo a cesarean section?
The brat tortured Shen Que for as long as Shen Que tortured him. It was clear that the pain was not on his body, but his heart felt as if it was being cut open.
It was the first time that Chen Que saw His Highness cry. He pressed his forehead against his, and the moisture dripped down the bridge of his nose, wetting Chen Que's face.
The mute was anxious and confused, and hurriedly wiped the prince's tears, then stroked the back of his neck and kissed him gently.
"It doesn't hurt," Shen lied to him, "It doesn't hurt."
But they were so close, how could Xie Shiguan see what he was saying? He only knew that the mute's lips were moving, and then His Highness tilted his head slightly and buried it in the mute's neck.
After a long while, he suddenly said without any context: "I was wrong."
Shen, who was held in his arms, was slightly startled, but then he heard His Highness continue, "I shouldn't have lied to you like that, causing you to suffer and wander all the way.
"I'm the one who let you down."
This was the first time since they met again that Shen heard Xie Shiguan apologize to him in person. He had forced himself to forget it countless times and lied to himself that it was not His Highness's fault.
It was because he was born with such a shameful body that others trampled on him wantonly, even if that person was the moonlight in his heart, the sun and stars that he once could not reach.
He always deceives himself, and he deserves it.
Shen Que's eyes also became wet. The inferiority complex and the deep-seated illness in his heart seemed to be washed away by this tear from His Highness.
Finally someone was willing to tell him that it was not his fault, that he did not deserve it, and that it was not the sin and karma he was born to suffer.
I don’t know if it’s because the fetus is full-term, but this little girl is surprisingly easy to take care of. She sleeps when she’s full, and eats when she’s slept enough. Every night, as long as she gets enough milk, she can sleep soundly for the rest of the night.
She is not as sensitive and clingy as Si Lai was at the beginning. She is willing to be held by anyone and rarely cries. When she has had enough sleep, she will stare at people with her round eyes, being so well-behaved that people will love her.
Xie Shiguan never liked babies this small, he was very impartial and annoyed by them no matter how big or small they were.
Until the little girl opened her eyes, her two round eyes like lacquer, black and bright, with thick black eyelashes fluttering from time to time, it was enough to melt people's hearts.
In terms of beauty, I think that boy is probably better than this little girl, but in terms of eyebrows and eyes, this girl is more picky and specifically picked out the most attractive part of Shen Que's face to imitate him.
Firstly, her appearance is somewhat similar to that of the mute. Secondly, this girl's temperament is exactly the same as Chen's. She is obedient and easy to raise, and not at all spoiled.
Originally, seeing that this girl dominated Chenque every day, His Highness disliked her very much. But when she opened her eyes and showed her pair of bright black eyes, Xie Shiguan didn't feel so annoyed anymore.
Having such a little sister was originally a very happy thing. I would stay by the tent every day to watch her feeding, burping, and sleeping while sucking my fingers.
It can be seen that Grandpa holds this little girl in his arms every day, and even another grandfather who is not very close to him will hold Grandma from time to time to comfort her. Thinking about it, he feels aggrieved and jealous.
It was clearly him who was held in his father's arms before, but now both of his fathers were occupied by this little sister. The boy felt upset, but he didn't know how to express it. He pondered for a long time, and suddenly ran to the couch and said, "Si Lai also wants to drink milk."
Shen looked at his aggrieved face, smiled lightly, and then slowly moved his hands: "We have grown up, we are big kids now, we can eat like Aye."
He was always patient and gentle when talking to this brat, but today, when he coaxed her like this, Si Lai pouted, her little nose turned red, and she stammered, "Si Lai, don't, don't be a big kid..."
Just as Shen was about to ask why, His Highness suddenly pushed the door open and came in. When he walked to the couch, he took out a plate of osmanthus cake from behind him like a magic trick.
"The one we saw at the entrance of Wuyi Lane was the old woman we met last autumn. It's only spring now, which is not the season for sweet-scented osmanthus cakes. The old woman said she dried some last year and saved them up, and deliberately prepared them to sell in early spring. I just happened to meet her today," Xie Shiguan smiled and put a piece into Chen Que's mouth, "I know you like it, so I bought some more on purpose."
After feeding him the osmanthus cake, Xie Shiguan bent down and put his cheek to Shen Que's lips: "Where's the reward?"
If Shen refused to move, he would stay there and not leave, so the mute had to quickly touch his face with a light kiss.
Xie Shiguan was not very satisfied, but when he turned his head, he caught a glimpse of the little brat with red eyes and pouty mouth. Children of this age all have round bellies. His Highness poked his belly with his hand and said, "What are you doing? You are a brother, why are you still so childish?"
Upon learning that the kid wanted to drink milk, His Highness was immediately unhappy and scolded him, "How old are you? Why are you still crying for milk? If others hear this, you will be so embarrassed."
When Shen Que was not at home in the past, the kid was always taken care of by His Highness. Xie Shiguan, the unreliable grandfather, would come up with such pranks from time to time.
At first Si Lai would be so angry at him that she would cry loudly, but later she got used to it and would just secretly write down everything, and then complain to him word for word when Chen Que came back.
But today, before Xie Shiguan could say anything, the kid's face wrinkled and he started crying with an "ow". He had learned to walk a long time ago and could even run now, but once he started crying, his limbs became uncoordinated.
I was standing there perfectly fine, but I fell on my butt.
Xie Shiguan couldn't help laughing. When Silai heard his laughter, she cried even harder.
"I don't want to be a brother," the kid said intermittently while sitting on the ground crying, "I don't want to be a brother..."
Hearing him crying like this, Shen suddenly understood why the kid was sad. He got off the bed and picked up Si Lai from the ground with heartache.
Then he took him back to the bed, stroked his back gently, and when his crying gradually subsided, Shen Que placed him next to the little girl and wiped his face with a handkerchief.
"Aye's love for Silai and A'mei is the same," Chen said slowly, "Silai also drank Aye's milk before, and was also held by Aye like this."
Si Lai sobbed and muttered: "Now that Aye has a younger sister, there's no need for Si Lai anymore..."
But Shen was not anxious with him. Instead, he leaned over and kissed the kid gently on the forehead: "No, why would Aye not want to come?"
He was calm and gentle, and gestured to him slowly: "Aye, tell Silai a secret. Silai, please don't tell Amei, okay?"
The kid nodded with red eyes.
"No matter what, Aye loves you two years more than Amei, right?"
After learning this "secret", Si Lai smiled. He leaned over and kissed Shen Que on the cheek, then he clung to Aye and acted coquettishly: "Si Lai wants to hear Aye tell stories from the past."
"Okay." Shen smiled back.
The author has something to say:
The next chapter should be the last chapter of the last extra chapter 2, and then the if line will be opened, which will allow me to think carefully about how to write it.
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