The Nanlü Princess’s marriage to Beijing was a grand affair. To demonstrate the deep friendship between Great Xian and Nanlü, the wedding ceremony followed the protocol for a Great Xian Princess.
Beijing hadn’t seen such a lively wedding in a long time. Gongs and drums resounded, the halls were resplendent, and ten miles of crimson brocade glowed brilliantly. The Cloud Banner General’s mansion was bustling with visitors, creating an extraordinarily festive atmosphere.
However, Ming Tan, who had been looking forward to joining the festivities for a long time, ultimately couldn’t attend the ceremony.
The reason was simple. Although the wedding news had come at the beginning of the year, the Sixth Princess’s journey from Nanlü to Beijing was already long. Unexpectedly, they encountered the Xin River’s flood season along the way, making the water route impassable. Taking the land route to Beijing delayed the wedding date repeatedly, coinciding with Ming Tan’s delivery.
Ming Tan’s labor was not easy. It started in the morning and continued painfully until nightfall without the baby being born.
Jiang Xu tried to enter the room several times, but Ming Tan adamantly refused, saying she was too unsightly and didn’t want him to see her. The imperial physician, midwives, and servants also cautiously advised him not to enter. He stood outside the room, his aura so intimidating that no one dared to breathe.
Near midnight, the cries from inside suddenly weakened. People around anxiously called out, “Princess, don’t sleep! Wake up, please wake up!”
Jiang Xu couldn’t wait any longer. “Move aside!” he commanded.
He burst into the room, his expression icy cold. No one dared to stop him.
“Your Highness…”
“Your Highness, you can’t…”
Ignoring them, he strode towards Ming Tan and grasped her cold hand. “Ah Tan, wake up. It’s me.”
His usually calm voice was laced with undisguisable tension.
Ming Tan’s eyelashes fluttered. After a while, she managed to open her eyes and turned to look at him. Her voice was as weak as a kitten’s, pitiful and faint: “Husband, I’m so tired. I want to sleep for a while…”
“Be good, you can sleep later. I’ll stay with you.”
Seeing her eyes open, the physician, midwives, and maids around her also encouraged her: “Yes, Princess, hold on a little longer. It’s almost out!”
Ginseng soup was quickly brought in. Jiang Xu took it, blowing each spoonful to cool it before feeding her. Finally, he gave her a ginseng slice to suck on.
As she slowly regained some strength, perhaps from reading too many novels, she suddenly looked at the physician and said weakly, “If you can only save one person, save my child. After all…”
“Save the Princess,” Jiang Xu interrupted, brooking no refusal.
The physician wiped his sweat and carefully replied, “Your Highness need not worry. As long as the Princess pushes a little more, both mother and child will be safe.” If there were real danger, it wouldn’t be a matter of choosing whom to save; usually, neither could be saved.
However, physicians were always cautious in their words. Since he could say that both would be safe, he must have been fully confident.
“Your Highness, the baby is in the correct position now. Just one last push. Relax first, then take a deep breath. You can do it.”
Ming Tan seemed to have gained some hope from these words. Her gaze returned to Jiang Xu, and she insisted in a small, tearful voice, “Then can you go out first? I look awful. Please don’t look anymore.”
“Ah Tan isn’t ugly,” Jiang Xu replied.
Ming Tan hadn’t expected him to say something like “In my heart, Ah Tan will always be the most beautiful girl.” She looked at him tearfully for a while, feeling somewhat comforted deep down, but still kept pushing him towards the door.
Jiang Xu had no choice but to comply and withdrew.
When the “creak” of the closing door was heard, Ming Tan asked for more ginseng soup and took two sips. Then she took a deep breath, closed her eyes, bit her lip, and used all the strength she could muster.
Her whole body trembled, her face pale, with beads of sweat rolling down her forehead. Mixed with the blood from her bitten lip, it spread in thin streaks of pain around her mouth. Yet this pain was almost negligible compared to the agony in her lower body.
Suddenly, Ming Tan’s vision went blank for a moment, and her consciousness seemed to leave her body along with the sensation of relief below.
“It’s born!”
“It’s born, it’s born!”
“The Princess has given birth!”
Jiang Xu, who had just left, heard the joyful cries and the gradually increasing cries of an infant inside. He turned back and pushed open the door.
“Congratulations, Your Highness! Felicitations, Your Highness! The Princess has safely delivered a little prince!” The midwife, holding the baby wrapped in a brocade blanket, approached Jiang Xu with a face full of joy to show him.
But Jiang Xu didn’t even spare a glance, and even raised his hand to block the way, indicating that they shouldn’t obstruct his path.
“How is the Princess?” he asked in a deep voice.
The physician hurriedly answered, “The Princess has fainted from exhaustion. Miss Suxin has already given her ginseng slices. She should regain consciousness soon.”
Jiang Xu looked at Ming Tan lying on the bed, pale and drenched in sweat. As he was about to approach, Suxin, who was waiting nearby, said, “Your Highness, we need to change the Princess’s clothes.”
He paused for half a breath, stepped back, and allowed the maids to lower the bed curtains to change Ming Tan’s clothes.
During this interval, he glanced at the wrinkled baby nestled in the silk swaddling clothes. Perhaps due to his intimidating presence, the infant’s cries grew even louder.
Jiang Xu frowned and said indifferently, “Too noisy. Take him away. Don’t disturb the Princess’s rest.”
The midwives exchanged glances, speechless.
Ming Tan regained consciousness half an hour later. Knowing her love for cleanliness, the maids had changed all her clothes and bedding. The smell of blood in the room had been completely dispelled by newly lit calming incense.
It’s said that giving birth is like crossing the bridge between life and death. After delivery, it seemed as if her scattered strength was slowly returning. When Ming Tan woke up, she felt much lighter.
“Husband, have I given birth? Is it a boy or a girl? Or… did my child not survive?” Seeing how quiet it was around her, Ming Tan felt confused and lost.
“You’ve given birth. It’s a boy. I had them take him away so as not to disturb your rest.”
“I want to see him,” she looked at Jiang Xu expectantly.
Jiang Xu made a sound of agreement and ordered someone to bring the child. He warned her, “The physician said newborns are wrinkled from being in the amniotic fluid. They don’t look very good.”
Ming Tan nodded but didn’t mind, just waiting expectantly and nervously for the child to be brought over.
When the child was brought over, Ming Tan stared for a moment, her heart sinking.
After a while, she said slowly, as if unable to accept it, “This… isn’t just ‘not very good-looking,’ is it?”
“He’ll look better as he grows.”
Ming Tan said dejectedly, “The fourth young master of the main branch of the Fengchun Marquis’s household has looked like this all his life.” Now he’s grown up, but he’s just gotten uglier, so ugly that he can’t even find a wife.
“…”
“Our child shouldn’t be that bad.”
Ming Tan was silent for a moment. “That’s true. After all, we’re the Northern Prince’s household, not like the declining Fengchun Marquis’s household.” She seemed slightly comforted. After a long silence, she half sat up and sighed, “Well, a mother doesn’t find her child ugly. Come on, let me hold him.”
The midwife carrying the child was full of confusion. How was the little prince ugly? He had a proper nose and mouth, looking quite delicate. He was just a bit wrinkled now. In her experience, he would surely be as beautiful as jade and snow in a while!
“He’s too ugly…” Ming Tan took the child, complaining verbally but still carefully leaning in to kiss his little cheek. “Let’s just call you Chou Chou (Ugly).”
“…?”
The midwife couldn’t help but look at Jiang Xu, but his expression remained unchanged. He even replied, “Call him whatever you want.”
The little prince is so pitiful!
…
Ming Tan was just venting verbally. As part of the royal family, they often had to enter the palace for annual festivals. They couldn’t introduce their child to the entire royal clan with the nickname “Ugly.”
In the Jiang family, names were still single characters for this generation, with men’s names including the radical “宀” (roof). The Ministry of Rites had long prepared characters with excellent meanings for both princes and princesses. However, when they were sent over, Jiang Xu barely looked at them. He had his ideas for the child’s name.
“Ding? Jiang Ding?” Ming Tan couldn’t help asking aloud as she looked at the character on the paper.
He paused briefly, then wrote down two more characters next to it.
“Bei Gui? Is this his courtesy name?”
Jiang Xu made a sound of agreement.
“Isn’t he too young for a courtesy name?”
“I also had my courtesy name soon after birth.”
It wasn’t too unusual for noble sons to receive their courtesy names early, but he had given his son his title as a name and courtesy name. Who didn’t know that “Returning from the Northern Frontier” was his lifelong glory, recorded in history books?
Ming Tan stared for a while, then suddenly threw herself into his arms, hugging him tightly.
…
“Jiang Ding?” Emperor Chengkang pondered for a moment, then nodded. “This name is well-chosen.” He looked closely at the baby for a while, then raised an eyebrow. “This child looks exactly like you did as a baby.”
“Your Majesty was just a child then. How could you remember clearly?” Jiang Xu calmly refuted.
“What’s wrong with being a child? I have a good memory. I even held you, you little rascal!”
Ming Tan believed this to some extent. After the child’s first month, he looked very different from when he was just born. His little face was soft and tender, his eyes clear and bright, and as his features developed, he became quite adorable and handsome. Given how handsome her husband was now, he probably looked like this as a child too.
As if to prove his good memory, Emperor Chengkang started talking about some childhood stories. Jiang Xu occasionally corrected a few details, always managing to irritate the Emperor, making him glare and puff up his nonexistent beard.
As the two men engaged in this rare casual conversation, Empress Zhang curved her lips slightly and gestured for Ming Tan to join her outside to appreciate the flowers.
Ming Tan hadn’t entered the palace for a long time due to her pregnancy. Today, they were summoned because Emperor Chengkang wanted to see Jiang Xu’s first child. Taking advantage of the court officials’ day off, he had called the whole family in.
After the Northwestern war, the court had relaxed. Jiang Xu often didn’t come when summoned, so now that he was finally here, Emperor Chengkang kept him for lunch, then dinner, and even insisted on playing Go with him. As a result, the whole family had to stay overnight in the palace.
That night, the questions in Ming Tan’s mind surfaced again. Lying in bed, she asked softly, “Husband, may I ask… why does His Majesty trust you so much? He trusts others too, but it feels different with you.”
“It’s a long story.”
“Then make it short?”
Jiang Xu rubbed her head. “It’s fine to tell the long version too.”
Before Emperor Taizong passed away, he discovered that his most beloved Crown Prince Minzong’s death wasn’t an accident, but was caused by the then Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace, who later became the previous emperor.
The previous emperor wasn’t a ruthless person. It was because of his usual benevolence and ability to govern peacefully that Emperor Taizong had chosen him to inherit the throne.
After the incident, the previous emperor knelt before Emperor Taizong, crying bitterly. He said he had been bewitched and misled by a woman, leading to this grave mistake. After his royal brother’s death, he couldn’t sleep at night, overwhelmed with regret. He was willing to abdicate to the Imperial Grandson and imprison himself in the Imperial Clan Court, spending his remaining life in confinement to atone for his sin.
At that time, the previous emperor’s succession was already the popular choice. He could have denied everything or even made Emperor Taizong pass away early without anyone knowing. But faced with the immense power of ruling the world, he ultimately couldn’t overcome his inner demons.
Jiang Xu was still young then, and the court was turbulent and unpredictable. Even if the throne was passed to him, it was hard to say how long he could hold onto it. So Emperor Taizong wrote a secret edict to be implemented after the previous emperor’s death, passing the throne to Imperial Grandson Jiang Xu. This edict was locked in an intricate mechanism made by Master Yunyan. At the same time, the previous emperor promised Emperor Taizong that he would keep his word and pass the throne to Imperial Grandson Jiang Xu after his death.
The woman the previous emperor mentioned was later known as Empress Dowager Su. Even though the previous emperor had come to despise her, the Su family’s power had reached its peak by then. Under various pressures, the previous emperor still let her become the Empress after the previous Empress passed away.
The previous emperor was benevolent throughout his life, but one moment of weakness led him to harm his always trusting and loving elder brother and sit on a throne that didn’t belong to him. Although he worked hard to govern well, he was deeply troubled. He passed away after ruling for just a few short years due to illness.
Before the previous emperor’s death, Jiang Xu was no longer a child and had already uncovered the truth. He had always thought the previous emperor was cunning and hypocritical, biding his time for years, just waiting to kill his enemy and avenge his father.
But unexpectedly, before his death, the previous emperor revealed the whole truth in front of Jiang Xu and the current Emperor Chengkang, who had already secured his position as Crown Prince. He also took out the mechanism containing Emperor Taizong’s secret edict and his imperial edict, handing them to Jiang Xu.
The content of both edicts was the same: to pass the throne to Jiang Xu.
After doing this, the previous emperor passed away peacefully.
How to describe that feeling? It was like punching a cotton ball. The grudge was resolved, but there was no satisfaction.
He also couldn’t transfer this hatred to Emperor Chengkang, letting it continue.
He and Emperor Chengkang had known each other since childhood and had been through many hardships together. Even when he first learned that the previous emperor was his father’s killer, he never thought about taking revenge on his son. Similarly, his only goal had always been to kill the enemy himself; he never thought about reclaiming the throne that should have belonged to his father.
Objectively speaking, Emperor Chengkang was more suitable to be the ruler of the country. So in the end, he burned those two edicts that could have changed the entire court of Great Xian in front of Emperor Chengkang, left the palace alone, and headed to the northern frontier. It seemed only on the battlefield, fighting bravely against enemies, could he feel the meaning of his existence.
By the time Jiang Xu finished telling this story that began in Emperor Taizong’s reign, it was nearly the fifth watch of the night.
Ming Tan didn’t know if she was unable to process it all at once or what, but she remained silent for a long time.
However, she finally understood why Emperor Chengkang could unconditionally tolerate and trust Jiang Xu, even when his attitude was often somewhat disrespectful.
This trust came not only from their childhood friendship and shared experiences in times of danger but also from guilt, and more importantly, from the throne that Jiang Xu had willingly given up.
How could a person who had readily given up his rightful succession to the throne be interested in scheming for power and usurping the throne?
—
Time passed neither too quickly nor too slowly. Before they knew it, another Qingming Festival had arrived. Ming Tan, Bai Minmin, and Zhou Jingwan, along with the Sixth Princess and Shen Hua, made plans to take their husbands on an outing to enjoy the flowers in the suburbs.
Jiang Xu rarely agreed to such things, but he accepted this invitation.
The place they went was both familiar and strange – it was the site of the former Hanyan Temple, which had been razed to the ground by a great fire years ago. Now, an academy stood on this land. Bird calls could be heard in the forest, along with the clear sounds of students reciting their lessons.
Ming Tan and Jiang Xu were assigned the task of fetching water from the stream. As they walked towards the stream, Ming Tan kept glancing at the academy and excitedly told Jiang Xu, “Oh, by the way, husband, my brother wrote that a new academy opened in Tonggang this spring. They’ve admitted over fifty students!”
“That’s good news.”
“My brother says Tonggang is becoming quite prosperous now. Ah, I want to go see it too.”
“If you want to go, we’ll go. I have no pressing matters these days. I’ll accompany you.”
Hearing this, Ming Tan, who had just been looking forward to it, hesitated and didn’t respond.
“What’s wrong?”
“I’m afraid we can’t go shortly,” Ming Tan looked up at him, pretending to be in a difficult situation.
“Why not?”
Ming Tan thought for a moment, then gestured for him to lean closer. She stood on her tiptoes and whispered in his ear, “I think I’m with child again!”
Jiang Xu paused briefly, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he swallowed, his voice still hoarse: “Really?”
“Ah Chun checked for me. It can’t be wrong.”
He had forgotten that the Sixth Princess from Nanlü knew some medical skills.
“Ah Chun also said there’s a good chance it’s a little girl this time. It would be wonderful if it’s a girl. Ding’er looks so much like you, a little girl would surely look like me.” Ming Tan touched her still-flat belly, already full of anticipation. “What do you think we should name her if it’s a girl?”
Jiang Xu reached out and also touched her belly, his voice suddenly much softer: “Let’s call her Koko. When I first met you here, you were just coming of age, still a young girl.”
At that time, he didn’t know that the somewhat delicate young girl would become his wife in the future. His life had once been lived for revenge, then for Great Xian, but after meeting Ming Tan, it seemed to have many more stories related to warmth.
“All right, Koko it is!” Ming Tan thought for a moment, then readily agreed.
Seeing that no one else was around, she wrapped her arms around Jiang Xu’s neck and stood on her toes to kiss him on the lips.
From not far away, they could hear the laughter of Bai Minmin and the Sixth Princess chasing each other, seemingly mixed with the smiling persuasions of Zhou Jingwan and Shen Hua. The stream flowed clearly, carrying fallen apricot blossoms downstream. Spring was in full bloom.
Ming Tan tilted her head, shielding her eyes from the slightly dazzling sunlight. Looking at the man ahead who maintained his princely demeanor even while fetching water, she couldn’t help but smile.
The day they left the Cloud Banner General’s mansion, upon learning that she was likely pregnant again, she secretly visited Lingmiao Temple.
The noble ladies of the capital all loved to worship at the Grand Xianguo Temple, but little did they know that the neglected Lingmiao Temple in the capital was the most efficacious.
She had prayed for and received her ideal husband here, and prayed for her husband’s safe return. That day, she made another wish, though this wish was so long-term that it would probably have to wait until after her passing to be fulfilled.