After settling the children in, Yinzhen finally revealed his anxiety. However, he was experienced enough to know that Changning needed to eat well to have the strength to give birth. Besides, she had already had several pregnancies, so the delivery should be relatively quick. He pondered this while listening to the sounds coming from inside.
Sure enough, before Changning could even eat the chive boxes she ordered, things started to move. Soon after, the first baby was born, its loud cries echoing throughout the entire courtyard.
Yinzhen was so excited that he stood up immediately. Twenty or thirty minutes later, a second cry rang out, which also sounded quite powerful.
It took a lot of effort to get to the third person, and it wasn't until Yinzhen could no longer stand and was about to rush in that a faint cry could be heard.
Next, the midwife would wash the baby, cut the umbilical cord, and wrap the baby in swaddling clothes.
Su Peisheng, who was standing next to Yinzhen, also breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, Master Chun was alright. Otherwise, the prince's face, which was as black as the bottom of a pot, would have been too frightening. It was as if if something happened to Master Chun, everyone would be buried with him.
Not long after, the midwife came out to announce the good news, grinning from ear to ear: "Congratulations, Your Highness! Congratulations, Your Highness! Consort Chun has given birth to a little prince and two little princesses."
"How is she? Is she alright?" Yinzhen hurriedly asked about Changning's condition.
The midwife beamed, "It's alright, it's alright. Your Highness is experienced in childbirth, and this pregnancy went very smoothly. The imperial physician just checked, and both mother and child are safe. It's just that Your Highness is exhausted and will have to rest for two months."
Yinzhen breathed a sigh of relief, nodded, and then smiled, "It's good that you're alright."
Changning felt like she had slept for a very long time. In her dream, she kept planting pomegranate trees, one after another. Later, these trees blossomed and bore a lot of fruit. She tasted one, and it was very sweet. Then her stomach started to hurt, and she woke up from the pain.
"Ouch!"
Upon hearing Changning's voice, Yinzhen immediately came over: "Awake? How are you? Are you tired?"
Seeing her pale face, Yinzhen knew that this pregnancy must have taken a lot of effort from her, which made him feel a pang of heartache. He wished he could pluck the stars from the sky for her.
"It's okay, not tired, just sleepy." Changning had just woken up, her stomachache was gone, and she yawned again. "Where are the children?"
"They're all asleep and perfectly healthy. It's just that the fourth princess was a little small and a bit weak. But it won't matter; she'll be fine with proper care in the future. There have to be some strong and some weak among the three children."
Yinzhen was deeply moved. He gently brushed Changning's hair back, kissed her hand, and said softly, "You've worked so hard."
Changning smiled and said, "It's alright, as long as the children are healthy. I didn't expect to actually have two daughters. I was wondering why I was so sentimental this pregnancy."
"My daughter is doing very well, she's especially beautiful, with a fair complexion and rosy cheeks." Yinzhen smiled gently. "This time I'm going to write to Father Emperor and ask him to make you his primary consort."
Changning paused for a moment, then smiled and said softly, "Okay."
Yinzhen said with a guilty tone, "Yaoxian, it's my fault. With your family background, you could have been my primary consort, but you ended up as a secondary consort. Over the years, I have often felt indebted to you."
Changning remained silent, but her eyes were slightly moist; these words had made her feel somewhat sad.
Does she hate it?
She didn't know.
Being a legal wife is what she wants, but what she desires even more is a lifelong, monogamous relationship.
She knew that traveling back to ancient times and marrying into the royal family was just wishful thinking.
However, since marrying her, Yinzhen has indeed never touched another woman.
Since entering the household, he has been the sole and exclusive favorite.
She was indeed happy, but people are greedy, and she would sometimes wonder if she was really married.
Did she marry Yinzhen?
Or was she simply possessed by him?
Although the couple now has nine children, Changning still doesn't feel that she shouldn't have the right to pursue her dreams.
Now, after hearing what Yinzhen said, her anger gradually subsided.
Yinzhen's eyes held a deep sense of guilt: "I love you, so I want to give you the best."
He paused, looking at Changning with tender affection, and said earnestly, "I originally thought that if things really work out in the future, I would definitely make you my first wife and empress, and I would not let you suffer any grievances. Even in the history books, it will only be written that the first empress was Fucha Changning."
As he spoke, he gripped Changning's hand tightly: "This is my selfish wish, I suppose. The year is up, and if Father Emperor doesn't agree, I'll kneel before the Qianqing Palace. Now, my only fear is that you might harbor resentment. Back then, Consort Tong... she did have her own selfish motives, but I'm very grateful to her. If it weren't for her, I might never have had a chance with you in this life..."
As she said this, a crystal-clear, hot tear fell from the back of Changning's hand. Yinzhen could barely lift his head, his voice slightly choked and heaving.
“In the dead of night, I dreamt that you didn’t belong here, that you didn’t belong in this place, that you were living happily in another place I couldn’t understand, but I wasn’t there, and you weren’t by my side… Yao Xian, please, don’t leave me.”
After saying this, Yinzhen burst into tears.
Changning looked out the window. The leaves were rustling, autumn had arrived. Fallen leaves could not return to their roots, and lonely souls could not return home either.
Or rather, her home was right here, in the Qing Dynasty, in the Prince Yong's Mansion, in the Forbidden City.
At this point, she embraced Yinzhen, tears streaming down her face.
More than ten years after she entered the household and gave birth to six sons and three daughters, the two finally became close and had no more grudges.
Although the delivery in Changning went smoothly this time, it doesn't feel as easy to recover as before.
The flesh on her stomach, in particular, is slightly loose.
She was so worried that she frowned all day long. Although Yinzhen had hired more than a dozen nannies to take care of her health and help her recuperate, even the food during her postpartum period was carefully prepared, and a special postpartum kitchen was set up.
However, she still felt that the road to weight loss was a bit long.
Although Yinzhen felt that her flesh felt just right to the touch, and that she was a bit plump, he didn't care about her appearance or figure now, so it didn't matter if she was out of shape. He was just worried when he saw her looking distressed.
"When will this belly go back down?!" Changning was going crazy. Two nannies from the Imperial Household Department who were skilled in obstetrics and gynecology had been massaging and acupressure on her for more than a month. Although there was some improvement, it was still nothing compared to before she gave birth.
Yinzhen had no choice but to coax her every day, praising her for having the beauty of the Tang Dynasty, a unique charm, and that Yaoxian was naturally intelligent and clever, far surpassing ordinary figures, and that her plumpness gave her an aura of wealth and longevity.
After much persuasion, they finally convinced her to give up the idea of dieting.
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