He quickly felt her belly and confirmed, “No problem, Your Majesty. Listen to the midwife and push.”
The midwife also nodded repeatedly, “Yes, it’s just beginning now. You only need to follow my instructions to breathe and push.”
Zhao Hanzhang nodded, following the midwife’s breathing pattern, inhaling and exhaling, taking a deep breath then pushing…
In the delivery room, only the midwife’s commanding voice could be heard. Whether Zhao Hanzhang or Fu Tinghan, both were very silent, silently experiencing the pain, experiencing that different sensation. The palace maids followed suit in silence, holding things and standing to one side waiting.
Hearing the excited voices of the two midwives, the imperial physician also encouraged Zhao Hanzhang, instructing her to push. After one breath, Zhao Hanzhang felt something separate from herself.
Zhao Hanzhang seemed to see a flash of white light explode before her eyes. This was a permanent white light. Everything around became quiet, sound and pain both disappearing, leaving only the solid arm she was tightly gripping still there. The familiar touch brought her back from that state in one second. She blinked, returning from illusion to reality.
The midwife gently cradled the baby’s head and lifted her up. Zhao Hanzhang’s gaze followed, and something wet dripped onto her face.
Zhao Hanzhang raised her head and only then saw Fu Tinghan, who was holding her, drenched in sweat, tears falling drop by drop, his face a mess of sweat, mucus, and tears.
Zhao Hanzhang felt momentarily weak, “Why are you crying? I didn’t even cry.”
Fu Tinghan struggled to hold back his tears, holding her and choking out, “Let’s just have this one, okay? Your face wasn’t this pale even when you were wounded and trapped in the refugee army.”
Zhao Hanzhang said, “One won’t do. At minimum we need two, otherwise if there’s an accident, it’s very easy to be finished.”
She didn’t want the crisis of losing an only child to happen to her.
The imperial physician had already attended to Zhao Hanzhang and happily told her, “Your Majesty’s delivery was very smooth. Your postpartum condition is very good. Just observe your confinement period properly, don’t get upset, don’t overwork yourself, and you’ll be fine.”
Extremely smooth, smoother than ordinary robust women giving birth. The emperor’s good health was truly beneficial. Perhaps it was because of martial arts training?
The imperial physician thought that in the future, the girls in his family could also learn some health-strengthening martial arts. Setting aside other benefits, it could reduce many dangers during childbirth.
Zhao Hanzhang agreed. The bodily pain had already receded, and her spirits recovered somewhat. She raised her hand to dismiss the imperial physician.
The midwife had by now cut the baby’s umbilical cord and patted her feet. At first, she didn’t make much sound, just low humming noises. Zhao Hanzhang heard it, but the midwife didn’t hear clearly. Thinking there was no response after two pats, she got scared and slapped hard. The baby burst into loud wails with a “wah”…
The sound was abrupt and loud, still carrying a hint of anger.
Both Zhao Hanzhang and Fu Tinghan, who was holding her, were startled and shuddered together.
Fu Tinghan felt heartbroken and reminded, “You could pat more gently…”
But the midwife was very happy and explained to Fu Tinghan, “Imperial Consort, the louder the princess cries, the healthier she is. This is a very good thing.”
She quickly placed the baby in warm water to wash, dried her, placed her in swaddling clothes, then brought her before Zhao Hanzhang and Fu Tinghan to show them. “Your Majesty, look, it’s a princess. She’s fair and clean. I’ve delivered so many babies, and this is the first time I’ve seen such a fair baby.”
Zhao Hanzhang leaned forward to look carefully. She didn’t have the redness of typical newborns but was fair and clean. Her features…
She turned to look at Fu Tinghan behind her, compared them, then said, “They say daughters resemble their fathers more. I believe it now. She really looks like you.”
Fu Tinghan also looked at her carefully, his heart melting, gently pressing the swaddling beside her face, wanting to see more clearly.
The couple both looked at her with tender affection. Ting He waited a while before reminding, “Your Majesty, the Empress Dowager and the court historians are waiting outside for word.”
Zhao Hanzhang came back to her senses and instructed, “The princess has been born. Announce it to the realm. The child should temporarily remain here and cannot be exposed to drafts. Please ask the Empress Dowager to come here to visit.”
Ting He received the order and left.
Fu Tinghan said to the midwife, “Take the child to the outer chamber first. His Majesty needs to wash up.”
Having just given birth, according to custom she couldn’t bathe. Zhao Hanzhang didn’t want to challenge the thousands of years of postpartum confinement tradition, so she only went to the washing room to wipe herself down, changed into clean undergarments, put on a comfortable outer robe, then walked outside.
Fu Tinghan was covered in sweat, blood, and tears, so he also went down to bathe and change clothes.
Wang Shi changed into clean clothes and came in to see the child. She was exclaiming in wonder when she looked up to see her daughter coming out, her eyes widening, “You, you, you, why did you get out of bed?”
Zhao Hanzhang: “The imperial physician didn’t say I couldn’t get out of bed.”
Wang Shi immediately abandoned her granddaughter to chase her daughter, ushering her back to bed. “You can’t be willful during confinement. You need to lie down and not move.”
Zhao Hanzhang lay there for three days. On the third day, she finally couldn’t help but get out of bed, moved from the delivery room back to the main hall, and even walked to the front hall to handle the documents that had accumulated over these days.
The officials: …
A bit frightening, but then came spontaneous admiration. Seeing Zhao Hanzhang appear, the officials dared not be negligent and reported various urgent matters one after another.
The autumn harvest in various regions had concluded. This year was another bumper year. Zhao Hanzhang then said, “This year, corvée labor in all regions shall not exceed fifteen days.”
This type was miscellaneous corvée, not regular corvée. The projects possible with such miscellaneous corvée were all quite small—repairing official roads, ditches, and laying some small bridges.
An official asked, “What about large projects…”
Zhao Hanzhang: “Pay for them.”
Understood—don’t issue regular corvée. For things like official roads and ditches in one’s own village or near the county seat, issue miscellaneous corvée to repair them. If the project was massive, like large bridges or dikes with work periods exceeding half a month, they would need to pay to hire civilian workers.
“Your Majesty, this year’s cotton harvest is also abundant. After ginning, the dried cotton seeds totaled three hundred sixty-eight catties, enough to plant approximately seventy-two mu of cotton. Next year, if there are no accidents, after harvest the seeds could increase to six hundred mu.”
It sounded like a lot. Zhao Hanzhang asked, “Has there been any seed degradation? Are there any waste seeds among this year’s dried seeds?”
The official sweated, “There are some…”
Shen Ruhui said, “There are fourteen catties and six liang of waste seeds. Among the three hundred sixty-eight catties, they’re divided into upper, middle, and lower grade cotton seeds. Among them, only one hundred twenty-nine catties are superior seeds. There is indeed cotton seed degradation, but there are also superior seeds. At this time, if we could have foreign cotton seeds to cross-breed with them, it would be even better. Your Majesty, is there still no news from the Western Regions delegation?”
The officials felt Shen Ruhui lacked tact. The princess’s birth was such a joyous occasion—this was the time to say good things and let the emperor be happy. Other matters could completely wait until later.
An official quickly interrupted him, “Your Majesty, with the imperial eldest daughter’s birth, there should be a general amnesty.”
Zhao Hanzhang: …Why did these people always want a general amnesty at every turn?
Zhao Hanzhang gritted her teeth, then forced a smile, “Very well, to share joy with the people, reduce this year’s corvée labor by another five days.”
The officials: …
—