Because both daughters-in-law were pregnant and both far along, for this year’s New Year’s Eve palace banquet, Emperor Yongchang only summoned Prince Kang’s family to the palace to keep him company. He let Prince Hui and Prince Qing celebrate the holiday with their wives at their own homes. When the palace feast began, Emperor Yongchang separately bestowed eight dishes each to Prince Hui’s manor and Prince Qing’s manor.
The palace’s bestowed dishes were primarily meant to give imperial relatives and important civil and military officials a measure of prestige, and didn’t require everyone to eat the received imperial dishes completely clean.
At Prince Hui’s manor, after the palace eunuchs arranged the eight dishes on Prince Hui and the Princess Consort’s dining table, they withdrew.
Only after the outsiders left did Yao Huang examine these eight dishes one by one.
Zhao Sui: “With the bitter cold weather, they should all be cold by now. Better to eat what the manor prepared.”
Yao Huang looked again at the eighteen dishes of New Year’s Eve dinner with excellent color, aroma, and flavor, still steaming hot, sent over by Chef Kong and Gao Niangzi. Indeed, she lost interest in the eight imperially bestowed dishes. After all, she was pregnant, so Yao Huang felt more at ease eating food from her own household.
After eating her fill, Yao Huang wanted to go to the back garden for a while. The palace would be setting off fireworks soon, and she liked watching fireworks.
Zhao Sui wanted to have Qing Ai bring the large rosewood wheelchair again.
Yao Huang: “No need. Last time I used the wheelchair because it was snowing and the paths were slippery. Now the ground is dry and comfortable. I even took two strolls during the day.”
She insisted on pushing Prince Hui.
Zhao Sui agreed, but had Eunuch Cao arrange for servants to hang lanterns along the entire route and thoroughly check the ground for any frozen water or ice. He also had Nanny Jin, Physician Li, and Physician Liao follow at a distance in case the Princess Consort suddenly experienced physical discomfort.
Qing Ai and Fei Quan each received orders and went to relay the instructions.
Yao Huang teased: “In the past, I treated Your Highness like a precious egg. Now it’s Your Highness treating me like a precious egg.”
Zhao Sui: “…What do you mean?”
Yao Huang’s smile stiffened slightly. Oh no, she had accidentally said aloud the nickname she’d secretly given Prince Hui.
Facing Prince Hui’s eyes waiting for her to explain, Yao Huang touched her lower abdomen and said fearlessly: “That time I dragged Your Highness to Lingshan Mountain, before we set out I only thought about having fun, but Your Highness insisted on arranging enough guards to prevent banditry, which frightened me right away. I thought, it doesn’t matter if I get hurt, but Your Highness is an honored dragon son, like a precious egg from Father Emperor’s dragon nest. I must be extremely careful holding Your Highness and couldn’t let Your Highness suffer even the slightest bump or scrape.”
The Princess Consort spoke with increasing righteousness, but Prince Hui averted his gaze from the Princess Consort.
Only tonight did he learn that the Princess Consort once treasured him so.
Perhaps it wasn’t just once—not long ago, the Princess Consort couldn’t bear to let him build snowmen in the cold.
Yao Huang watched in surprise as a faint blush slowly crept up Prince Hui’s fair earlobes. She walked over, and because Prince Hui was sitting in the wheelchair, Yao Huang raised her hand and touched Prince Hui’s warm earlobe, giving it a gentle pinch. Prince Hui’s face also flushed slightly, making Yao Huang’s heart flutter restlessly again.
“What is Your Highness thinking about that made your face turn red?” Yao Huang seriously recalled and confirmed she really hadn’t said anything just now that should embarrass Prince Hui.
Zhao Sui pulled down the Princess Consort’s flirtatious hand and said with lowered eyes: “You can say such things to me, but you mustn’t joke like this before Father Emperor.”
Yao Huang said quietly: “Jokes, jokes—of course I only say them to those closest to me.”
Zhao Sui felt that every sentence from the Princess Consort carried fire.
Outside was quickly prepared. The couple each donned cloaks, and Yao Huang also wore a pair of fur hand-warmers, leisurely pushing Prince Hui out the door.
New Year’s Eve night was cold, but at least there was no wind. Along the entire route, the covered walkways, under the eaves, and in the trees all hung colorful lanterns.
Zhao Sui sat in the wheelchair, silently inspecting every section of path the Princess Consort was about to step on. Yao Huang looked back at Nanny Jin and the others following far behind and said quietly to Prince Hui: “Your Highness is accustomed to being nobility. For me to go out, you make so many people accompany me in the cold. I feel a bit guilty.”
Zhao Sui: “…Everyone who came along tonight will receive a reward.”
Including the two physicians who didn’t go home for New Year, they all had separate rewards.
Yao Huang: “Ah, Your Highness is so generous. If my family was so poor we couldn’t make ends meet, I’d want to run to Your Highness’s manor to be a maid.”
Zhao Sui: “…”
Without the Princess Consort, ordinarily he only needed Qing Ai and Fei Quan to attend him closely, plus dealing with Eunuch Cao, Nanny Liu, and Guo Shu for internal and external affairs. The rest of the servants merely received fixed monthly wages.
They reached the back garden. Yao Huang found the most suitable open area for watching the palace fireworks.
Qing Ai pushed over a four-wheeled rosewood wheelchair with leather upholstery, placing it next to Prince Hui’s.
Yao Huang sat down and leaned comfortably against the chair back, tilting her head up.
There was no moon. The New Year’s Eve night sky was black like a piece of black silk whose patterns couldn’t be seen, the silk dotted with sparkling gems.
Yao Huang was quite envious: “I really wish I knew the immortal magic from those story books, so I could pluck down all the gems from the sky.”
Zhao Sui: “…Actually, the stars are probably much larger than what we see.”
Yao Huang heard this theory for the first time and asked curiously: “Why?”
Zhao Sui: “Like the gems in your hand—placed in your palm they’re the size of longans, but if placed a li away, could you still see them?”
Yao Huang: “Definitely couldn’t see them… I understand!”
After understanding, when Yao Huang looked at those glittering stars again, she suddenly felt a bit afraid, thinking every star might be even bigger than all of Lingshan Mountain!
“Your Highness, do you think these stars might suddenly fall down and hit us?”
“…No. The constellations the ancients saw are no different from what we see today.”
To comfort the Princess Consort, Zhao Sui began pointing out the twenty-eight lunar mansions one by one.
There were too many. Yao Huang couldn’t remember them at all, but she still earnestly followed Prince Hui’s finger to identify each constellation. When Prince Hui finished, Yao Huang’s gaze finally returned to Prince Hui’s handsome face, elegant as jade in the night, and she praised sincerely: “Your Highness is truly amazing, knowing so much even about the stars.”
Prince Hui turned his head aside.
Yao Huang pulled over his hand and showed off the two stars she knew to Prince Hui: the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl.
“Your Highness, do you think there are really such devoted couples? Meeting only once a year yet still unable to forget each other?”
Zhao Sui glanced at the Princess Consort gazing up at the sky and said: “Perhaps few, but they definitely exist.”
The Princess Consort smiled and said quietly to him: “On the day the Cowherd and Weaver Girl can meet, they probably really do stay in bed the entire time.”
Zhao Sui: “…”
Suddenly, the first burst of fireworks for the evening bloomed above the imperial city.
The Princess Consort immediately cast aside both the proper constellations and improper imaginings, focusing intently on admiring the fireworks.
Travel at night was inadvisable, but on New Year’s Day, Yao Huang still accompanied Prince Hui to the palace to pay New Year respects.
Emperor Yongchang, Empress Zhou, Consort Du, as well as Consort Liu and Consort Shen were all present.
This year there was no super large red envelope for a new daughter-in-law, but Empress Zhou and Consort Du each still gave Yao Huang a red envelope congratulating the new daughter-in-law on her pregnancy.
Empress Zhou was as kind as ever. Yao Huang noticed that Consort Du’s gaze toward her wasn’t as haughty as before either. She wondered if last year’s serious illness had affected her temperament.
With one look at Second Son’s wife’s complexion, Emperor Yongchang knew her pregnancy was going smoothly. After a while, Prince Qing and his wife arrived. Seeing that his niece Zheng Yuanzhen also looked much more plump than when at the traveling palace, Emperor Yongchang was in a very good mood. He gave them both some instructions together, telling them they needn’t come to the palace anymore from now on—they could come again after the children were born.
After instructing these two, Emperor Yongchang glanced at the quietest one, Eldest Son’s wife.
Chen Ying’s face reddened under his gaze.
Emperor Yongchang’s heart stirred, and he looked toward Consort Liu.
Consort Liu smiled: “In reply to Your Majesty, Ying’er’s joyous pulse was only detected before New Year’s Eve. I intended to wait until she was more stable before reporting this happy news to you.”
With the imperial family’s descendants flourishing, Emperor Yongchang was very pleased and told Consort Liu to give Eldest Daughter-in-law an extra reward.
On the way out of the palace, Yao Huang took Chen Ying’s arm and shared some of her small experiences from early pregnancy as they walked.
Beside them, Prince Kang pushed Second Brother in the wheelchair, while Prince Qing personally supported Zheng Yuanzhen, who didn’t dare walk too quickly, falling behind.
The next day was the second day of the new year.
This year Yao Huang couldn’t conveniently return to her natal home, so Zhao Sui decided to invite both the Yao and Luo families to stay at the manor for three days. During the day, he let the Princess Consort talk freely with her natal family’s women. After briefly keeping her father and the others company, he let them tour the gardens on their own while he stayed alone in the inner chamber “walking” with the support rails, or read in the study, returning to the Princess Consort’s side at night.
The first lunar month flowed past like water amid banquets and the liveliness of the Lantern Festival.
Both physicians at the manor and the imperial physicians from the palace all estimated the Princess Consort’s due date to be at the end of the second lunar month, possibly a few days early or a few days late.
Thus, having just entered the second month, Prince Hui became tense. At night, if Yao Huang moved even slightly, she could wake him.
Yao Huang couldn’t bear seeing the dark circles under Prince Hui’s eyes and drove him to sleep in the front courtyard by himself.
The Princess Consort truly seemed not to want him accompanying her. Zhao Sui, thinking further that if the Princess Consort went into labor in the middle of the night while he sat in the wheelchair, he would only obstruct Nanny Jin and the maids coming in, agreed to the Princess Consort’s request. Each night he stayed with her until the Princess Consort fell asleep, then returned to the front courtyard.
Just not being by the Princess Consort’s side, Zhao Sui was equally tense. To reduce overthinking, he could only use the support rails to tire himself to sleep, then endure two or three nights before sleeping with the Princess Consort for one night again.
On the fifteenth of the second month, there was a court session at the palace. Emperor Yongchang, sitting high on the dragon throne, immediately noticed Second Son’s poor spirits.
Remembering that when Empress Zhou was pregnant for the first time, he too had a period of deep concern, after the court session dispersed, Emperor Yongchang gave Second Son leave, letting him rest until after his wife gave birth before continuing his duties. Since he was looking after Second Son, Emperor Yongchang conveniently also gave Third Son, who didn’t seem particularly concerned, the same leave.
On the morning of the eighteenth of the second month, Prince Hui was being forced to sit in the wheelchair, personally pushed by the Princess Consort as they sunned themselves in the back garden, when the gatekeeper sent word that Prince Qing’s manor had just sent someone with happy news. Half an hour ago, Princess Consort Qing had joyfully given birth to a precious son—mother and child were safe.
Yao Huang was secretly surprised. Previously when the consorts chatted idly, they mentioned that Zheng Yuanzhen’s due date was a month later than hers, probably at the end of the third month. Zheng Yuanzhen had given birth prematurely?
Fortunately, Prince Qing’s manor had reported the happy news, showing the child was very robust.
This gave Yao Huang more confidence. If Zheng Yuanzhen with her delicate constitution could have a safe delivery, she would definitely be even smoother.
What Prince Hui in the wheelchair was thinking was: Princess Consort Qing gave birth prematurely—would his Princess Consort…
“Let’s go back. I’m feeling a bit hot.” Prince Hui’s expression remained normal as he discussed with the Princess Consort.
Yao Huang: “You’re hot after only walking half a circuit?”
Leaning over to look, Prince Hui’s fair forehead indeed had a layer of fine perspiration.
She couldn’t let Prince Hui overheat in the sun. Yao Huang could only turn the wheelchair around and quicken her pace walking back.
Zhao Sui: “…No rush. Walking slowly is fine.”
To the Princess Consort, he was merely one precious egg, but at this moment, the Princess Consort to him was one large and one small precious egg—neither could be bumped or scraped.