Little Palace Maid Desires a Higher Seat of Honor - Chapter 128

Chapter 128: Childbirth Approaching (1)

The imperial selection that had taken half a year resulted in only two new consorts being chosen. The imperial edicts conferring their ranks were drafted quickly, both given the title of Baolin, without the slightest effort or consideration.

It was perfunctoriness one could see with the naked eye.

Ordinarily, such a result should have left many dissatisfied. Yet the conversation between the Emperor and Xi Xiurong during the selection had also spread, and suddenly the court was silent as the grave. Not a single person dared voice objection to the outcome.

For an official to rise high enough to stand in morning court, he had to possess a keen and discerning mind. None of them failed to understand that those words, though seemingly spoken to Xi Xiurong, had in fact been a veiled warning to them.

Granting them the face of agreeing to hold the selection was already a concession. If they pressed further, he would not hesitate to turn hostile.

The two new concubines entered the palace through ShunZhen Gate. Their ranks were so low that they stirred not the slightest wave in the harem. Hearing the news, the other consorts could only feel a muted awkwardness, such a grand spectacle for the selection, yet the conclusion was so hasty and half-hearted it left them at a loss for words.

In Kunning Palace, a long-unseen guest arrived.

The Empress, supported by Bai Zhi, was half-reclining against the headboard. Yun Si’s abdomen was high and full, enough to make one’s heart skip a beat. The Empress shook her head and looked at her.

“Why aren’t you staying in your palace to await the birth? What are you running about for?”

Seeing that Her Highness’s complexion was much better than that day, Yun Si said softly,

“It has been a long time since I last saw Your Highness. I wished to come and speak with you.”

In truth, she had found the events on the day of the selection rather astonishing, and the thoughts churning in her heart had no one to whom they could be spoken.

Moreover, she had finally realised that Baizhi’s words that day seemed to hold another meaning, not what she had originally assumed.

Yun Si first inquired after the Empress’s health, studying her complexion carefully.

“How does Your Highness feel?”

The Empress gave a quiet laugh.

“The Emperor has all but moved the entire Imperial Infirmary’s supply of tonics into Kunning Palace. If I still had no color in my cheeks, wouldn’t that be failing the efforts of all the Imperial Physicians?”

As soon as the words left her mouth, she coughed lightly, though it was far less severe than before, only a lingering itch in her throat.

She gave Yun Si a reassuring promise, “On the day you give birth, I should be able to be there to hold the fort for you.”

Yun Si calculated the time, it was only a few days away, and estimated that the period for paying respects should be able to resume.

Only one thing was uncertain, how long this so-called recovery of the Empress’s could last.

But such matters were not for Yun Si to ask. She glanced meaningfully at Baizhi and asked softly,

“I was a little puzzled by what Bai Zhi said that day. May I ask Your Highness to enlighten me?”

In a few brief sentences, she recounted Bai Zhi’s words from that day.

The Empress saw the hesitation hidden in the young woman’s apricot eyes and understood at once. In truth, Yun Si was not unclear, she simply did not dare believe.

The Empress suddenly laughed softly and shook her head, “Xi Xiurong, you already have the answer in your heart, do you not?”

Yun Si felt a touch of unease.

It was not that she didn’t know. She came to the Empress with this question precisely because it was not an easy one to ask.
Yet in this harem, she had no one else to whom she could speak.

It was rather amusing, really, she coveted the Empress’s position, yet among all the consorts of the rear palace, the Empress was the only one she could trust.

Even Consort Jing’s credibility with her could not compare to that of the Empress.

When the hall was quiet, the Empress suddenly raised a hand and lightly touched Yun Si’s belly. Yun Si hesitated for a moment but did not stop her, allowing her to stroke it.

A trace of wistfulness flickered in the Empress’s eyes as she said softly, “Don’t be anxious. Once you give birth to the imperial son, all will be answered.”

Yun Si took her leave from Kunning Palace with proper courtesy. This trip had not been without gain.

Though the Empress appeared to have said nothing outright, she had in fact hinted at the answer.

A mixture of indescribable emotions welled up in Yun Si’s heart. She had always known that Tan Yuanchu was unlike ordinary men, but she had never imagined that he might truly wish to cease holding imperial selections.

It felt unreal to her, almost absurd.

As she pondered this matter, someone else was questioning Tan Yuanchu about his true intentions.

In Cining Palace, the Empress Dowager was not the least bit surprised when she saw Tan Yuanchu enter. She ordered Zhang Momo to prepare tea, then watched him take a seat opposite her.

She had been in the midst of a game of go with Zhang Momo; the board was in disarray, but Tan Yuanchu swept the pieces away and reset it.

“Your son will accompany Mother to play a round.”

The Empress Dowager was a little reluctant. She knew her own skill, she played only for amusement, but that reluctance faded when she saw the expression in her son’s brows and eyes. She shook her head.

“I want the black stones.”

Tan Yuanchu let out a faint, ambiguous chuckle, shrugged, and gestured invitingly, conceding the first move to her.

After serving the tea, Zhang Momo and Xu Shunfu withdrew with the attendants; all of them understood that this mother and son had matters to discuss.

The Empress Dowager lowered her gaze to the board, as if intent on the game, but her words said otherwise,

“Do you truly wish to stop holding the selections?”

It was not without precedent. Even the late emperor had grown less enthusiastic about the selections in his later years.

Tan Yuanchu calmly placed a stone and replied unhurriedly, “The more people there are, the greater the disorder.”

Whether it be concubines or imperial offspring.

There was only one seat at the top; contention was inevitable.
Once there were many princes, everyone knew that in the end there would be a storm of blood.

Tan Yuanchu had lived through the struggle for the throne. His father had paved the way for him, and he himself had been ruthless enough. Of the late emperor’s fifteen sons, only he and the Thirteenth Prince were still alive.

Indeed, the Thirteenth Prince had survived only because of the lingering illness he had been born with—

A convenient card to play in showcasing benevolence.

All said the imperial family was without sentiment, but the princes had grown up together in the same compound. As for what it felt like to personally slay one’s own blood kin, Tan Yuanchu would never, and did not wish to, speak of it.

He valued imperial heirs, but ever since the birth of the Eldest Prince, he had regarded the matter of whether other women in the harem conceived with complete indifference.

If they did, and bore the child, he would protect it.

If not, so much the better.

No one knew what the future might bring. If it were truly to be like his own past, it would be better that there were none at all.

The Empress Dowager heard the implication in his words. Remembering how, in the late emperor’s time, imperial offspring had been born in an endless stream, her expression inevitably grew somewhat distant.

After a long moment, she lowered her gaze.

“Since it is your harem, whether or not to hold the selections is for you to decide.”

He had already made his stance clear, for all the court to see, leaving no opportunity for anyone to oppose him.

Now that he had come to speak with her, it was only to tell her that everything was his decision, and if she had any objections in her heart, she was not to take them out on others.

As for who this “other person” might be, naturally, opinions would differ.

But there was one thing—

The Empress Dowager lifted her gaze to the man before her. Her imperial son had long since grown up, and even sitting right in front of her now, there were times she could no longer read his mind.

Her tone betrayed no particular emotion,

“You like her now, but how long do you think you’ll continue to like her?”

Times change, and people change. Invisible, intangible feelings, especially are prone to grow stale.

The Empress Dowager said quietly, “I’ve met her. She is cautious and clever.”

“Right now, you’re exhausting every effort to win her response, giving her such expectations. Have you thought about how she is to conduct herself if, one day, your feelings change?”

If there had never been any expectation from the start, it would be one thing. What’s most painful for a person is when hope collapses.

To this, Tan Yuanchu only replied, “Mother, your son is a stingy man.”

He placed another stone on the board, then paused. Rising lightly to his feet, he said casually,
“Your son has lost. Mother’s skill grows ever more refined.”

The Empress Dowager lowered her eyes to glance at the board.

He had been in full control the whole time, and at the very end, had wordlessly yielded to her, handing her a victory that seemed flawless.

When Tan Yuanchu left Cining Palace, however, he instructed Xu Shunfu to return to the Yangxin Hall.

Inside the hall, it was utterly quiet. The camellias had long since withered, yet the potted plants still sat in place, unchanged.

The air was perfumed with the cool scent of snow bamboo; wisps of pale smoke curled upward from the incense burner. The only man seated within wore an expression of faint detachment, lost in thought.

He had not dismissed his mother’s words.

People did change. If, one day, his feelings for the woman faded, what then?

After giving her such high honor, any shift in his heart would be easily detected, especially by someone as perceptive as she.

But in truth, the Empress Dowager had been wrong on one point. He had never thought to scheme and labor just to force a response from her. The things he gave her were only because he delighted in her.

If she truly came to delight in him because of it, Tan Yuanchu would be pleased to see it.

He had pondered this question for a long time. That was why he had never spoken his feelings aloud before her; it remained an unspoken understanding between them.

Moreover, Tan Yuanchu knew himself very well.

As he had said, he was a stingy man.

He wasn’t fool enough to lavish the same deep affection on a second person.

And in fact, what he needed to consider was not what Yun Si should do if he ever ceased to like her, but how to ensure he would continue to like her, always.

It was not without a solution.

People value their investments.

If, while he liked Yun Si, he treated her with all the care he could and invested enough in her, then in the future, even if he wished to withdraw his feelings, he would be reluctant to do so.

Tan Yuanchu held a brush in hand, his eyes lowered, unhurriedly setting ink to paper.

When Xu Shunfu entered to serve tea, his gaze happened to fall upon the words written on the xuan paper, and he froze in shock, eyes widening. Before the Emperor could notice, he hastily bowed his head, not daring another glance.

—

By mid-July, everyone in the palace was a little restless, their thoughts constantly drifting toward Chu’an Palace.

Xi Xiurong’s due date was in these very days.

All of Chu’an Palace dared not relax in the slightest; every pair of eyes was fixed on Her Ladyship, afraid she might go into labor without warning.

Tan Yuanchu too had set aside all other affairs and frequently went to Chu’an Palace. The eunuchs of the Service Bureau had abandoned the idea of presenting bedchamber cards, since the Emperor would not take any.

Yun Si’s labor began in the depth of night.

The darkness was so thick it seemed it could not be dissolved. The palace gates were locked; all had fallen into slumber. Only the faint chorus of cicadas from afar could be heard in the stillness.

It was at this moment that Yun Si felt a sharp wave of pain surge through her, and her face instantly went deathly pale.

During this period, the midwife had repeatedly instructed her on the process of childbirth, reminding her again and again not to become overly tense.

Yun Si had kept it firmly in mind. Though her heart was flustered and uneasy, she quickly steadied herself. Cold sweat beaded on her brow from the pain, and she bit down, forcing herself to remain conscious. She reached out and pushed Tan Yuanchu, who had been staying in Chu’an Palace these past nights.

Tan Yuanchu woke quickly, his eyes opening almost at once.

Her small face was ashen as she clutched his arm, tears slipping down from the pain.

“Your Majesty…”

He reached out to feel her forehead, then suddenly called for attendants. Within moments, Chu’an Palace was ablaze with light.

The entire imperial palace woke because of it.

Yun Si was carried to the birthing room. She felt something flowing from between her legs, soaking her clothes.
She let out a muffled sob from the pain, tears streaming down. Fear finally took hold in her heart, and she gripped Tan Yuanchu’s hand tightly, unwilling to let go, crying softly,

“Your Majesty… it hurts so much… I’m scared…”

Everyone said a woman giving birth had one foot in the gates of death. No matter how much the midwife had instructed her before, in this moment Yun Si could not help but feel fear.

Tan Yuanchu’s brows knitted tighter with each cry. His heart sank heavily. He bent down to kiss the sweat from her brow, his voice hoarse as he comforted her.

“A’Si, don’t be afraid. Nothing will happen.”

Her whole body trembled from the pain.

But when the midwife came in, she said, “The amniotic fluid hasn’t broken yet. Your Ladyship, do you have the strength to get up and walk a couple of laps?”

Yun Si’s tears fell in a rush, her apricot eyes wide with terror. In her condition, shaking all over from the pain, she was expected to get up and walk?

The midwife’s words were no falsehood.

Even Tan Yuanchu’s brows drew together tightly. The midwife explained, “This is for the sake of both Your Ladyship and the child in your womb.”

With that brief explanation, Yun Si held back her tears and forced herself to stand on legs that trembled from pain.

Half her body sagged into Tan Yuanchu’s embrace. He half-supported, half-held her, feeling her body drenched in sweat, still trembling. His expression was grim.

All around them, the attendants kept utterly silent.

The Emperor’s heart ached for Her Ladyship, anything they said now risked offense.

News of Xi Xiurong’s labor spread throughout the palace within moments. The palace gates opened, and the Imperial Guards rode out to summon the physicians from the Imperial Hospital.

Although there were imperial physicians on duty, Tan Yuanchu still felt uneasy and ordered that all physicians be brought into the palace.

When the concubines arrived at Chu’an Palace, they could only see shadows moving inside the birthing room. Song Fu stood outside with a group of palace attendants, guarding the entrance, no one dared to take a step closer. The servants of Chu’an Palace were so busy their feet barely touched the ground, carrying basins of hot water in and out, with no one available to receive the visitors.

They looked around, but there was no sign of the Emperor.

But they all knew that His Majesty was staying at Chu’an Palace tonight. If he was not out here, then he could only be inside the birthing room.

Realizing this, every concubine’s expression shifted.

A sudden, unspoken worry rose among them, if Xi Xiurong gave birth to a princess today, it would be one thing.
But if she delivered a prince… with the Emperor’s current favor toward her, they dared not even imagine what further honors she might receive.

Another round of footsteps sounded from Chu’an Palace, and everyone turned to see the Empress and Consort Jing stepping through the palace gates almost at the same time.

Their arrival left the gathered concubines momentarily stunned.

Both the Empress and Consort Jing had been ill and absent from court for a long time, yet here they both were together today.

Especially Consort Jing.

Even the Empress glanced at her and said softly, “You’re not usually one to join in this kind of excitement.”

They had known each other for many years, and the Empress considered herself to have some understanding of Consort Jing’s nature.

Consort Jing did not deny it. After all, some things were no secret, one could find out with the slightest inquiry. Lowering her voice to an almost inaudible level, she said, “She is my aunt’s child.”

Surprise flickered in the Empress’s eyes, and in the next moment, she understood why, during that summer retreat at the traveling palace, Consort Jing had gone out of her way to accompany them.

The Empress thought of something and said softly, “If Mother knew this news, she would certainly be pleased.”

From the beginning, she had understood why her mother had urged her to keep good relations with Consort Jing, it was merely to help protect this unsupported member of the Gu family. But the ultimate reason was because of that aunt of Consort Jing’s.

The two women did not converse further. Whatever friendship they had shared in youth had long since faded; after all, it had been twelve or thirteen years since the Empress had married into the imperial family, and times had changed. They no longer had much to talk about.

The Empress looked toward the birthing room, where shadows flickered on the lattice windows, and faint cries drifted out from within. For some reason, it reminded her of her own experience back then. Without showing it, she pressed her lips together lightly.

She recalled telling Yun Si that she would come to lend her presence, and she exhaled softly. Sweeping her gaze over the surroundings, she asked aloud, “Is the hot water ready?”

Song Fu immediately responded.

At the sound of her voice, the people outside the hall seemed to gain a pillar of support and no longer appeared so flustered.

The Empress added, “The Imperial Physicians should be here soon, make sure the ginseng soup is ready.”

After a brief pause, she remembered the current hour and said, “Also, prepare some hot food to send into the hall. How can your lady have the strength to deliver when she has just woken up and hasn’t eaten anything?”

Song Fu dared not delay and hurried to arrange everything as instructed.

But a few concubines frowned ever so slightly. They had never imagined the Empress would play the gracious mediator to such an extent, personally safeguarding another consort’s childbirth.

With Xi Xiurong enjoying such favor, and possibly delivering a Prince, was the Empress truly not afraid her own position would be threatened?

They really could not fathom what the Empress was thinking!