The washing ceremony on the third day at the Fourth Prince’s residence had a modest attendance. He didn’t host a grand banquet for numerous guests—apart from the Fujin and Ce Fujin’s natal families, he only invited his brothers.
This had been discussed with the Ce Fujin beforehand: the third-day washing ceremony would be kept simple, and they could hold a grand celebration at the full-month milestone when the children were a bit older.
He currently had only two sons. The older one still had a somewhat weak constitution, and it was uncertain whether he could be raised to adulthood. Now, finally, another son had arrived—moreover, they were dragon-phoenix twins, a boy and a girl, and their birth mother held a respectable rank. His brothers all wanted to join in the festivities, and their Fujins and Ce Fujins also wished to partake in this good fortune.
Who would complain about having too many descendants?
Once the Fourth Prince sent out his invitations, everyone who had left the palace and established their own residences attended.
Except for the Eighth Prince, none of them lacked sons, but dragon-phoenix twins were rare indeed.
Even those who had some discord with the Fourth Prince came.
The Old Madam and Yun Shuyao both went.
Among the crowd of Fujins and Ce Fujins, they stood out somewhat.
The Eighth Fujin deliberately sought out Yun Shuyao away from others to speak with her. “I heard you also gave birth to dragon-phoenix twins?”
Yun Shuyao: “Yes.”
The Eighth Fujin spoke directly: “Do you have a secret formula? I’m willing to pay a thousand taels of gold.”
Yun Shuyao: “…” She was startled. A thousand taels already?
It wasn’t that the money was too much, but weren’t they meeting for the first time? Eighth Fujin, you’re really treating me like family!
“Eighth Fujin jests. This was a fortunate coincidence; there’s no secret formula.”
The Eighth Fujin was unwilling to give up: “I sincerely want to buy it from you. Perhaps you don’t want money—I can offer something else instead.”
The Fourth Prince had few heirs, but the Eighth Prince had even fewer—directly zero.
Before the twins were born, the Fourth Prince had two sons and one daughter. But the Eighth Prince was only three years younger than the Fourth Prince, yet to this day had not a single child. How could the Eighth Fujin not be anxious?
She was nearly driven mad with worry.
She had consumed countless medicinal tonics and consulted numerous physicians. However, the couple’s deep affection was widely praised, and to this day the Eighth Prince’s household had only the Eighth Fujin.
Among all the imperial princes, he was truly a rare exception.
Yun Shuyao couldn’t help but smile bitterly: “Eighth Fujin, there truly isn’t one. My maternal grandmother gave birth to a pair of twins—this should be hereditary.”
The Eighth Fujin couldn’t hide her disappointment: “I see.”
Yun Shuyao watched as she turned away dejectedly, that bright face seemingly shrouded in shadow. But in an instant, she had pulled up a smile again, once more the flamboyant Eighth Fujin.
Yun Shuyao fell silent. Historically, she seemed to remain childless throughout, though later, unable to withstand the pressure, children born to concubines appeared.
The Eighth Prince wanted to compete for the succession, and being childless was an extremely significant flaw.
She had previously watched television dramas with various interpretations.
For instance, that they were true love, and the Eighth Prince only chose to take concubines and have children out of desperation.
Or that the Eighth Prince valued the influence behind the Eighth Fujin, and to keep her devoted, never had other women until he later consolidated his power, then took concubines.
There were also claims that the Eighth Prince only liked men, and the Eighth Fujin was a shield…
The accounts varied wildly, and Yun Shuyao didn’t know which was true or false.
Having just met, with such limited time, she couldn’t discern anything.
Perhaps only they themselves knew what their relationship truly was.
However, the Eighth Prince’s title of “Eighth Worthy Prince” wasn’t without reason—his excellent connections were already abundantly evident.
—
Such small children changed every day.
When the two children were brought out, the Old Madam’s eyes nearly glued themselves to them. “So these are the two children—they look wonderful.”
“You can tell at a glance they’ll be blessed in the future.”
The midwife had established procedures for everything she said and did. Everyone just spoke some auspicious words, then tossed various items into the basin to express their blessings. Today, that midwife was smiling from ear to ear—with this room full of important personages, she earned a full bowl and basin. All those items tossed into the basin would ultimately be hers.
When struck on their bodies by the scallions, both children let out protesting “waa waa” cries. From the volume, both children clearly had excellent lung capacity.
This brought heartfelt smiles to everyone.
The Old Madam was both delighted and distressed: “Wasn’t that too forceful?”
“Look at how the children are crying—such loud voices, just like their mother.”
“A loud voice is good—they’ll definitely be raised safely to adulthood.”
On the way back, the Old Madam and Lin Ruhai kept discussing it.
The Old Madam felt the two children had been somewhat shortchanged. The third-day washing was a very important milestone, yet so few people attended today.
Lin Ruhai: “The Fourth Prince doesn’t want to be too high-profile.” Ever since Songgotu was declared by the Emperor as the greatest criminal of the Qing Dynasty two years ago and died in prison, the atmosphere in court had changed. The Crown Prince was still the Crown Prince, but his greatest support had been severed by the Emperor, which inevitably created a subtle situation.
If they held a grand celebration for the third-day washing now, would they also do so for the full-month ceremony?
When the Old Madam heard him mention this, she closed her mouth. She didn’t know when the Fourth Prince had developed ambitions for that position, but his strategy was correct. The one who ultimately ascended the throne was him, so from this, the Old Madam guessed he must have harbored such thoughts from the beginning. This was normal.
A soldier who doesn’t want to become a general isn’t a good soldier; likewise, a prince who doesn’t want to become emperor isn’t a good prince. That position was only one step away from them—it was perfectly natural to be tempted.
It was just that previously they had no room to maneuver. The Emperor valued the Crown Prince too highly—even his studies were personally guided by the Emperor hand-in-hand. Only the Crown Prince received such treatment.
Later, when the Emperor deposed the Crown Prince, the succession struggle entered its white-hot stage, placing the princes’ ambitions for the throne nakedly on the table.
Now, the time until the Crown Prince’s downfall actually… wasn’t far off.
Calculating it, the Old Madam suddenly felt her heart pounding—time had passed too quickly.
The Old Madam suddenly remembered something. “Oh yes, Shuyao, what did the Eighth Fujin want to talk to you about?”
Yun Shuyao was somewhat helpless: “She asked if I had a secret formula for giving birth to twins and was willing to pay a high price to purchase it.”
The Old Madam was momentarily at a loss for words.
Lin Ruhai smiled bitterly: “How could there be a secret formula?” He recalled that long ago, after the three children were born, he had also been asked similar questions by colleagues troubled by the same issue.
Back then, having suddenly gained three children, he was high-spirited, and they assumed he had obtained some secret formula, pestering him for advice and willing to pay high prices.
Lin Ruhai could understand this mentality. Before the two concubines entered the household, if someone had told him they could give him a child, he would have been willing to pay even a thousand taels of gold.
The Old Madam couldn’t help but sigh. She could somewhat empathize with the Eighth Fujin’s thoughts. “The Eighth Prince is an imperial prince, yet only the Fujin is by his side.” As she spoke, the Old Madam shook her head. The Eighth Fujin shouldn’t be so stubborn, which had led to her reputation as a jealous wife spreading throughout the capital.
However, as a fellow woman, the Old Madam also felt some envy. Even if it couldn’t last forever, it was still something to aspire to.
“Previously, the Emperor wanted to bestow women upon the Eighth Prince, but it was declined.” Lin Ruhai was certain this was definitely recorded in a black mark in His Majesty’s little notebook. He just didn’t know to whom this mark was attributed—to the Eighth Prince or the Eighth Fujin?
He also wondered if the Emperor would also record a mark for their daughter?
Their daughter could be considered as having rendered meritorious service in childbearing this time.
Yun Shuyao and the others learned the next day that Jia Yuanchun had been accepted by the Emperor and even received the rank of Changzai.
Upon learning this, Lin Ruhai couldn’t help but frown. The Emperor was old enough to be her grandfather.
The Old Madam saw through it clearly and calmly stated: “She’s getting older. If she doesn’t seize this opportunity to take a chance, once she leaves the palace, she’ll most likely be matched as someone’s second wife.”
Later, when news spread that she had actively staged an “chance encounter” with the Emperor under the pretext of celebrating Luo Yu’s auspicious birth of dragon-phoenix twins, the Old Madam was disgusted, her face livid: “She’s been watched too strictly by Noble Consort De and seized this opportunity to take her chance, but using the children as her talking point—I’m ashamed to be associated with her!” She also didn’t know exactly what she had said to the Emperor, or whether she had committed any taboos. Thinking of how even Jia Baoyu’s jade was widely publicized, the Old Madam truly couldn’t feel at ease.
In the dream world, she didn’t know how Jia Yuanchun had gotten together with the Emperor. Many things had already changed.
Suddenly, the Old Madam’s expression changed. “Noble Consort De’s background… Jia Yuanchun has committed a taboo.” Based on her understanding of Noble Consort De, she would find an opportunity to teach Jia Yuanchun a lesson. This was very easy for her as one of the Four Consorts. She would also take out her anger on her granddaughter, which was also easy since she was the Fourth Prince’s birth mother.
The Old Madam felt somewhat apprehensive.
Lin Ruhai frowned: “Don’t worry too much. She’s in the rear palace; Luo Yu has few opportunities to enter the palace. They’ll spend little time together. The two children are her biological grandchildren—for their sake, Noble Consort De won’t go too far.”
The Old Madam: “…”
In her impression, when this person’s stubborn nature flared up, she wouldn’t even give face to her own son, let alone grandchildren.
Compared to the Lin family’s joy being clouded with worry, the Jia family was completely overjoyed.
The Jia family was the Lin family’s maternal relatives—such was the propriety. Even though Lin Ruhai had remarried, this remained so. Therefore, Luo Yu was their Jia family’s maternal granddaughter. Now she had given birth to dragon-phoenix twins in the Fourth Prince’s residence, bearing imperial grandchildren—this was the first happiness.
The second happiness was that the Jia residence’s eldest daughter, Yuanchun, had finally emerged from obscurity in the palace. She had been favored by the Emperor and immediately granted the rank of Changzai upon her first encounter.
The current Emperor was one who was stingy with ranks. That their Yuanchun could be granted Changzai immediately, whether due to the old Duke’s influence or Yuanchun’s own capabilities, was excellent.
The Jia residence set off firecrackers for three consecutive days. Then Wang Xifeng personally delivered invitations door to door. The Jia family would host a grand banquet. Holding the cards, her eyes sparkled with delight, her whole person brimming with joy: “Our residence has joyous news. We humbly request the Old Madam to honor us with her presence and grace us with her attendance.”