It had only just begun — the hours ahead would be long.
Pei Shaohuai was stopped at the door of the birthing chamber. The two Great-Aunts said: “This is as far as the son-in-law may go.” Even a great household could not escape such customs.
Yang Shiyue, enduring the waves of pain, a fine sheen of perspiration gathering at the tip of her nose, also said: “Go wait in the front hall, please. The two Aunts are here, and the nurses as well.”
Pei Shaohuai could say he cared nothing for these old customs — but he understood that Shiyue had, after all, been born and raised in this world. If he insisted on staying, it might only add to the burden on his wife’s heart.
He took out his handkerchief and carefully wiped the perspiration from her nose and brow, saying: “I will keep watch just outside — do not be afraid.”
The hands that ordinarily held a brush with steady firmness were now trembling. His palms were damp with sweat. Pei Shaohuai quickly hid them beneath his wide sleeves so his wife would not see.
Yang Shiyue nodded and replied: “Yes, yes.”
The birthing chamber was set with many hot-water warming vessels, making the room warm without being stuffy.
Taking advantage of a momentary pause in Yang Shiyue’s pain, the two Great-Aunts helped her change her garments, then combed her long hair into a simple everyday bun, wrapping it with a cloth — not a single strand of black hair left loose.
As they combed her hair, they offered instructions in the easy tone of everyday conversation: “You must not bear down yet, nor exhaust yourself with cries. Save your strength for the critical moment. When the pain becomes very great, bite down on a cloth.”
They added: “There is no need to think about the time. Three to five hours sounds long — but think of it another way, and it is no different from falling asleep and waking from an ordinary rest.”
As they chatted along, they even came to speak of the young couple’s appearance, with one Aunt praising: “You and the son-in-law are both so beautifully distinguished-looking — the little ones who come out of this will surely be exceptionally handsome.”
Before long, Lin Shi and Concubine Shen and the others had also hurried over. Lin Shi gave instructions to the kitchen to prepare some food and send it over — not only did Shiyue need to replenish her strength, the two Great-Aunts and the nurses helping them needed to eat their fill first.
Through the night the pain came without cease, at times easing, at times surging.
Yang Shiyue bit hard on the cloth, the expression of suffering on her face growing ever more pronounced.
The two Great-Aunts did not let her lie down, but supported her as she moved about the room — sometimes standing, sometimes crouching — saying: “It will soon be time to bear down. Shiyue, hold on a little longer.”
In contrast, out in the courtyard against the base of the outer wall, Pei Shaohuai had worn a great many circles into the ground without knowing it, pausing at each step to peer inward and keep track of any sounds from within.
By the time the first light began to show at the edge of the sky, the moment to bear down had still not arrived. One of the Aunts asked Shiyue if she was hungry.
Yang Shiyue endured the pain and nodded. In that instant she felt a sudden urge to be willful, and pulling the cloth from her mouth she said: “I want the sweet porridge that my husband cooked.”
No sooner had the words left her mouth than Nanny Chen called in from outside the door: “Young Mistress, the young master has sent over a pot of sweet porridge for you.”
Pei Shaohuai knew almost nothing of cooking — this sweet porridge had been made by simmering white rice in the kitchen until thick and smooth, after which Pei Shaohuai had added dried grapes and honey, and then let it steep for a quarter of an hour.
Yang Shiyue ate a small half of the pot and felt some strength return to her body.
“Shiyue, do you still have the strength to walk?” one of the Great-Aunts asked.
Yang Shiyue steadied herself on a chair and took a few steps. Both Great-Aunts were pleased to see this.
The candles of the night merged into the morning glow, and half the sky turned a deep, bright red welcoming the white day. When the morning glow filled the sky and the sun had just risen, Yang Shiyue stood at the birthing frame, gripping the crossbar before her, and with the coordinated assistance of both Great-Aunts, began to bear down.
After the first child was born, one Great-Aunt busied herself attending to the infant, while the other quickly urged Shiyue: “Shiyue, keep going with all your strength — do not let up. If you do, you will have to work up your strength all over again.” She encouraged her to follow through while the momentum was there.
Before long, the second child was also born, and the entire process went quite smoothly.
The two children’s cries rose up in turn. The two Great-Aunts, unlike ordinary midwives who would rush out to report the good news and claim their reward, waited until everything had been properly tidied and Shiyue had been moved to a clean, fresh bed before they opened the door and said: “Congratulations to the Earl’s residence — one son and one daughter, a boy and a girl complete. Both weigh four and a half jin.” Twins often came early, and so were naturally lighter — a little careful nurturing would set things right.
They added: “Please send word to the son-in-law to change into fresh clothes before coming in to hold the children.”
Letting this new father be the first to hold them.
“Yue’er.” After entering the room, Pei Shaohuai took quick steps to the bedside. Seeing his wife lying there, her face pale and her strength entirely spent, he felt both tenderness and guilt.
“I am fine — I have only exhausted all my strength and am a little tired.” Yang Shiyue’s voice had grown considerably hoarse.
She saw the two Great-Aunts each holding a bundle and standing quietly to one side waiting, and so reminded her husband: “Go first and hold our children.”
Pei Shaohuai nodded.
One arm cradling each child — left hand with one, right hand with the other — Pei Shaohuai had practiced this motion many times and had thought he would be practiced and confident with it. But when he actually looked upon the pair of children, so tiny and small, he became exceedingly careful, his arms feeling as though they cradled something of incalculable worth.
He looked left, then right.
The little ones were sleeping. Pei Shaohuai felt he could not look his fill, no matter how long he gazed. He asked: “Which is Xiao Nan, and which is Xiao Feng?”
The two Great-Aunts, having no way of knowing, could not answer.
The names had only been decided the previous night — how could the Aunts possibly know?
Yang Shiyue, her spirits still reasonably steady, helped supply the answer: “The elder brother is Xiao Nan, and the younger sister is Xiao Feng.” She then teased her husband, saying: “Just wait for her to come sweeping back and forth across your great courtyard.”
No sooner had Pei Shaohuai heard this than he fell into thought again — was it the one on the left who was the elder brother, or the one on the right?
While he was still wondering, the infant in the left-side bundle raised two tiny fists and broke into a loud, clear cry.
“Is it Xiao Nan or Xiao Feng crying?” Yang Shiyue asked him.
Seeing the look of uncertainty on her husband’s face, Yang Shiyue understood. She leaned forward slightly and glanced over, then told him: “The one in the honey-pink bundle is Xiao Feng. The one in the water-ripple blue bundle is Xiao Nan.”
And so it was Xiao Feng doing the howling — born half an hour after her brother, but winning on the matter of lung power.
The two Great-Aunts took the children back into their arms and said: “The son-in-law has now seen them. The young master and young miss came a little early, and being born ahead of time they are light of body — so please ask the elders of the residence to be patient for a period and not rush to come hold them. As for the third-day washing ceremony, please keep it simple — elaborate fanfare and commotion would not be advisable.”
All of it was for the children’s good.
Pei Shaohuai bowed deeply in a respectful salute, expressing his gratitude: “The two Aunts have taken great pains. Everyone in the Earl’s residence will follow your arrangements without exception.”
Thereafter, Lin Shi and the Old Madam and the others came in only to see Shiyue and the children, and then withdrew.
It was not Pei Shaohuai’s imagination — this year’s autumn was truly colder than years past, with the eighth month bringing a chill that made one feel snow was imminent.
To keep the room warm without making it stuffy, the hot-water warming vessels had to be changed nearly ten times in a single half-day.
In such unusual cold, who would dare bathe the little ones before family and friends on the third day?
Yet the gifts were no fewer for it. On the third day after Xiao Nan and Xiao Feng were born, the Yang, Xu, Chen, and Qiao residences and others all came to congratulate Pei Shaohuai on becoming a father for the first time, and to celebrate the Earl’s residence welcoming its eldest great-grandchildren, a boy and a girl. The whole family was warm and lively.
Upon learning that Pei Shaohuai had been given a son and a daughter, the Emperor especially had the Six Censors grant him a half-month’s leave, telling him to remain at home and properly attend to his wife and children.
As for the formal names for Xiao Nan and Xiao Feng, by Da Qing custom, names ought properly to be given by the grandparents’ generation when the children reached three months of age. Pei Shaohuai calculated mentally that three months hence would be precisely when his father returned to the capital for his performance evaluation — a perfect fit. The matter of formal names was thus set aside for the time being.
After more than a month of careful nurturing, Xiao Nan and Xiao Feng had finally grown to seven or eight jin in weight — considerably more robust than before. The crinkled little faces had gradually filled out and smoothed, fair of skin with rosy cheeks.
Each day after returning from official duties, the first thing Pei Shaohuai did was go to see the children. The little ones’ temperaments were not yet possible to discern clearly — the only thing evident was that Xiao Feng was more lively and restless.
The rosewood rocking cradle from his own childhood had been moved into the room. The two little ones lay side by side in the cradle, and spent most of their time sleeping.
Pei Shaohuai’s palm traced each smooth and polished handle of the rocking cradle one by one, recalling every memory he held of it over the years, and thought to himself: the meaning of this cradle lies in being passed down, generation after generation.
In the ninth month, the grain had only just been fully harvested — what should have been a sky of endless blue sending off the autumn geese had instead become a day of early cold with fine snow falling.
The fine snow settled on Pei Shaohuai’s shoulders, not clumping together — a light shake and it scattered.
Pei Shaohuai hoped this was simply an anomaly of this particular year. If winters continued to arrive early year after year, with shorter summers and longer winters, Da Qing would need to be on careful guard against the horseback riders of the Northern Yuan invading from the north once more.
He was just preparing to make his way to Qianqing Palace to discuss the matter with the Emperor when he caught sight of Eunuch Xiao coming toward him from a distance.
Beneath the eaves, Eunuch Xiao brushed the fallen snow from his body with his whisk and remarked: “This year’s weather is truly unseemly — snow in the ninth month.”
“Precisely — this snow ought to have waited another two months,” Pei Shaohuai replied, then asked: “Eunuch Xiao has come through the snow to find me — is there something urgent from His Majesty?”
“His Majesty summons Official Pei to the imperial study for an audience.”
Pei Shaohuai had been thinking of discussing “snow” with the Emperor — he wondered what the Emperor wished to discuss with him.
The Emperor raised the subject of Yuchong County — the place where his father had first taken up his post — and then said: “Six years across two terms in Yuchong County, repairing rivers, reclaiming fields, planting sesame. Then six more years heading south to Taicang… In twelve years of official service, the things your father did for the people are worth more than what others accomplish in several decades.”
Pei Shaohuai saw that the Emperor’s expression, amid his praise, carried a look of regret, and a thought crossed his mind.
As he had anticipated, the Emperor continued: “Da Qing needs more officials like your father. Following his final evaluation at year’s end, We intend to issue a special imperial decree summoning Pei Zhizhou back to the capital, to serve in the National Academy instructing the academy students in experiential learning — learning through practice… Boyuan, what do you think?”
Pei Shaohuai understood clearly: had his father not raised the matter of his own accord, the Emperor — with ten thousand affairs to attend to each day — would hardly have suddenly thought of this and made such an arrangement.
The “special imperial decree” was an honor bestowed upon his father.
It was not difficult to understand why his father would make such a decision. Pei Shaohuai felt a complex stir of emotions.
“A father walks ahead, and a son follows in his footsteps. In days to come, this subject also wishes to share all that he has learned and come to know with all those of like mind throughout the world.” In Pei Shaohuai’s eyes, his father had not stepped aside to clear the path for him — his father was setting an example by going ahead, walking still further into the distance.
He respected his father’s choice. And one day, he would be willing to make the same choice himself.
“Good.” One matter concluded, the Emperor raised another: “Boyuan, there has lately been talk in the court about factions again — rumors of scholars of humble origin banding together as a ‘Pure Stream’ faction. Is there truth to this?”
This referred to the “Pure Stream Party.”
Those who made up this Pure Stream were largely sons of farming and humble families who had spared no hardship to pass through the civil examinations step by step, finally earning the chance to enter officialdom.
They were a group that had once been lauded for being of “pure stream” character — yet now they had become the target of criticism from all quarters in the court. The reason was no mystery: it was merely because the head of the Pure Stream faction, Xu Zhiyi, had shown faint signs of aspiring to enter the Grand Council, and someone was deliberately muddying the waters and throwing mud at his name.
As for the Emperor’s question — his intent did not lie in whether it was true or false.
True or false could be investigated by sending someone to look into it. What need was there to ask Pei Shaohuai’s view?
And so Pei Shaohuai replied: “In reply to Your Majesty: a Pure Stream is simply a pure stream. Rivulets and trickles converging into a current — that is a natural thing. How could the word ‘party,’ with its connotations of factional scheming for private gain, ever be fitting to describe it?”