Yun Zhuo freed one hand and lifted the child's chin so that the child would look at him, but the child's gaze slid across his face and looked elsewhere, as if he did not exist.
Yun Zhuo then asked, "Having been unable to turn over for five months, is the situation very serious?"
Granny Xing replied, "It's not serious. Maybe the child is wearing too many clothes in winter and can't roll over. When it gets warmer and the child wears fewer clothes, he might be able to roll over."
The next day, Yun Zhuo invited the imperial physician to take the child's pulse. The physician said, "The little prince is healthy, chubby and growing well. There is nothing wrong with him. He is wearing too many clothes in winter and cannot turn over. It is possible that the little prince will not want to turn over after a while."
The weather was cold, and it had just snowed heavily, so Ye Qingxue suggested to Yun Zhuo that they go to the temple together for a few days and personally add oil to the ever-burning lamps.
Yun Zhuo listened to her.
The couple, along with their child, stayed at Shenyin Temple for seven days, personally adding oil to the ever-burning lamps every day.
After returning to the Crown Prince's residence, Ye Qingxue had someone heat the floor in the room until it was warm, brought Xiao Bao to her side, took off his thick clothes, and personally trained him to roll over.
When Xiao Bao was six months old, he finally learned to roll over skillfully. Ye Qingxue was overjoyed and had people watch over him at all times to make sure he didn't fall off the bed or couch.
However, when the child was seven months old, a new problem arose: the child could not sit up steadily.
When her child was four or five months old and couldn't roll over, Ye Qingxue didn't notice it at first. Later, she realized that not being able to roll over at five months meant that the child was a little late in development.
After that incident, she specifically asked the wet nurse about the skills a child should learn at each stage. Therefore, she knew that a seven-month-old baby couldn't sit steadily, which was later than other children of the same age.
She started crawling and sitting training for her child again.
When the baby was eight months old, he was finally able to sit up steadily. Ye Qingxue was overjoyed to see the baby sitting on the tatami mat and no longer swaying to either side.
Although she accepted from the beginning that the child would grow slowly, she couldn't help but feel happy and joyful when she saw the child make even the smallest progress.
But at eight months, the child still couldn't crawl.
But that's not important.
Ye Qingxue had already looked into it; not all children crawl. Some children can stand up and then walk right away. Of course, it's better if they learn to crawl, but it's okay if they don't.
What worries Ye Qingxue the most is that the child still doesn't recognize his mother. She has heard that some children start recognizing their mothers at three or four months old. They will cry if someone takes them away, but they will be well-behaved when they are in their mother's arms.
But she didn't have a child, even now that she's eight months old.
Occasionally, when he cried and was difficult to soothe at night, Ye Qingxue would try to let him lie on her chest—the wet nurse said that when a child hears his mother's heartbeat, he will feel at ease and then calm down.
But no, Xiao Bao climbed straight down from her arms without needing her comfort.
Xiao Bao not only doesn't recognize her, but also his wet nurse, or anyone else. Even when Dong Bai takes him out to run around every day, he doesn't recognize Dong Bai.
He rarely cries or laughs, and is very difficult to amuse unless Yun Zhuo takes him on a high-flying adventure or does something very exciting like tossing him up and down.
When she was pregnant, she had Granny Xing find many trustworthy people to come to the Crown Prince's residence to take care of the child.
However, the various abnormalities the child is exhibiting have given those people pause to think—perhaps the eldest grandson of the emperor is an idiot.
They tacitly agreed that they would be blamed if the child was found to be mentally challenged when he grew up. So, in the past few days, people have been coming to see Granny Xing, saying that they had to leave because of family matters.
Those whose indentures were held in the Crown Prince's residence claimed illness, stating that they were unable to undertake such delicate work as caring for the young imperial grandson.
At first, Granny Xing dealt with the matter directly, but as more and more people left, Ye Qingxue also found out.
Ye Qingxue remained calm and composed, saying, "If they want to leave, let them go. They're useless if they've become disloyal. Transfer a few capable people from our indentures, train them, and then send them to take care of the young prince. If we don't have enough manpower in the manor, just have the steward go out and buy some."
"Yes." Granny Xing went to carry out her duties.
Dongbai brought the child over. She had just taken the child out for a run, and her face was still sweaty, but after she stopped, the child stayed quietly in her arms without making a sound.
"Look at your mother!" Dongbai turned his face toward Ye Qingxue, but the child refused to look at Ye Qingxue.
He not only avoided looking at Ye Qingxue, but he rarely looked at anyone, even when the wet nurse was feeding him.
But Ye Qingxue tested it and found that the child's eyes and ears were fine; he could see and hear.
"Give me the child." Ye Qingxue took the child from Dong Bai's hands and touched his face. The child didn't react at all and even seemed to want to pull away.
Ye Qingxue couldn't say she was heartbroken, but she felt as if her heart was filled with frost.
She stood under the eaves with her child in her arms as dusk gradually fell, a cool breeze caressing her face. Once again, she recalled Mo Yuan's words.
But soon, the people in the manor told them that Xiangsizi had returned.
"Is he injured? Did he bring back the antidote for His Highness the Crown Prince?" Ye Qingxue immediately handed the child to Granny Xing and hurried outside.
Not only did Xiangsizi bring back the antidote, but Yunzhuo had already taken it and was now waiting for it to take effect so he could find out who the person he had jumped into the water to save was.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
