Chapter 90: Birthday
Upon seeing this, the imperial physician immediately began to struggle over whether to tell or not to tell the truth. After all, although the queen seemed to have successfully conceived, she had taken medicine after all, and the situation was not as optimistic as it seemed.
But in fact, the queens knew what was going on. They had already made preparations when they drank the medicine.
The queen was happy to pay a price in exchange for a child.
Therefore, the queen said bluntly: “No matter what, we must save this child and ensure that he is born full-term.”
“This…” The imperial physician hesitated for a moment, and then met the queen’s sharp eyebrows. His heart trembled, so he subconsciously said: “I will do my best to protect the queen and the little prince!”
Although this baby might not be a boy, the queen clearly wanted a boy, so the imperial physician could only say this.
After the words were spoken, the queen was delighted and let the imperial physician leave.
After the imperial physician left, it took a long time before he gradually came back to his senses from the afterglow of excitement, with joy in the corners of his eyes and eyebrows.Carefully touching her belly which was not yet pregnant, the queen let out a long sigh.
“The future of your mother depends entirely on you.”
After all, my son is the one who crawled out of my belly, so I should favor him.
The emperor would not allow her to have children, so adoption was out of the question. Although the prince was respectful to her, he had a biological mother after all, and his biological mother was the Empress Yuan, so it was impossible for him to really regard her as his mother.
All of the above would be fine, but what the queen could not accept the most was how Concubine Rong could bypass her and give birth to a child smoothly.
It would be fine if His Majesty really treated the two of them as disposable toys, but the Empress could still tolerate Concubine Rong’s repeated acts of disobedience that embarrassed her. After all, who would care about such a mere toy?
But now that the emperor is obviously concerned, the queen has suddenly become a joke, like the last straw that broke the camel’s back. No wonder the queen is mentally unbalanced and takes risky actions.
But in fact, this matter really had little to do with Emperor Jingwen. Emperor Jingwen really did not break the contract on purpose. Before Concubine Rong became pregnant, Emperor Jingwen had already taken precautions. He had tried to have sex after she became pregnant, and even sent someone to feed pills to the child after he was born. It’s just that all these failed.
Of course, the Imperial Concubine cannot be blamed. After all, the reason why the Queen is the Queen is that the mission she received when she was canonized was to compete with Imperial Concubine Rong and prevent Imperial Concubine Rong from dominating alone. Not only the Queen, but also the maternal family behind the Queen, were the mainstays in the fight against the Duke of Zhen for a period of time.
How could the imperial concubine not be annoyed when she was faced with someone who was constantly causing trouble for her, not only herself but also bringing her father to cause trouble for her father?
Although the imperial concubine has a bad temper, she doesn’t get angry at everyone.
As for Ye Shuo, you can’t say that he was wrong for refusing to take the pills obediently. He has people he wants to protect, and he also wants to live a good life!
So everything is just a coincidence.
Although the queen had prepared herself mentally in advance, she had never experienced the pain of pregnancy herself. In addition, the child’s arrival was caused by the use of medicine, so the queen’s reaction was particularly strong in just over a month.
The queen was only able to endure it because of the anger in her heart.
Every day she comforted herself, thinking that everything would be fine once the baby was born.
The Queen counted the days and found that the Emperor’s birthday, which was the Tianchang Festival, was approaching. After careful consideration, the Queen decided to announce the news of her pregnancy on the day of the Tianchang Festival.
After all, that day was the emperor’s birthday. Even if the emperor was angry, he would not be angry for too long.
All monarchs hope to have many sons and be blessed with many children. Moreover, the father and son are connected by heart. How can the emperor not acknowledge this son when the time comes?
If the empress knew what Emperor Jingwen had done, she probably wouldn’t be so confident. If necessary, the emperor would really take action against his own son.
Unfortunately, the queen didn’t know.
On the other hand, Ye Shuo was also worrying about what he should give his cheap father for his birthday. It was okay in the past, because he was still young and could just give him something random.
But this year… Ye Shuo had a feeling that he couldn’t fool people anymore.
You can’t just recite two articles to your cheap dad on the spot, can you?
…wait, this method does seem to work, after all, when giving a gift, it has to touch the heart of the person.
What is the biggest headache for my cheap dad recently? Isn’t it his study problem?
Seeing that his stepfather’s birthday was approaching, Ye Shuo thought about it and decided to be less angry with him and be more restrained during this special period. At worst, he could wait until after his stepfather’s birthday and then resume his behavior.
Just like that, two days before Emperor Jingwen’s birthday, he always felt that something was wrong around him.
I feel like things are too quiet around me lately.
Emperor Jingwen belatedly looked at Xiaojiu who was trapped by the Grand Tutor and the others. Normally, Xiaojiu would have been making a fuss at this time, and his teachers would have been changed several times, but today the Grand Tutor and Lord Cen were not angry, nor did they scold him loudly.
This should have been a very good phenomenon, but for some reason, Emperor Jingwen felt uncomfortable.
His son was so quiet that Emperor Jingwen wondered if he was sick.
He picked up and put down the brush in his hand several times. Finally, Emperor Jingwen couldn’t help but asked, “Shuo’er, are you feeling unwell?”
The prince next to him finally discovered what was missing today.
Ye Shuo was stunned at first, and then became speechless.
It’s over, my cheap dad has turned into a masochist.
At first, Emperor Jingwen was on guard, wondering what idea he had come up with and whether he was gathering strength. However, when he heard that this was his birthday gift to him, Emperor Jingwen was stunned at first, and then he was inexplicably moved.
Being able to quiet down a son who climbs up and down like a monkey proves that he still has his father in his heart.
It’s like asking a person to give up his or her favorite thing. Doesn’t this prove the other person’s sincerity?
Ye Shuo thought, it was only two days away, so he took out the gift he had prepared in advance.
“What is this?” Emperor Jingwen was stunned when he saw the wooden plaques in the box. He picked up one and saw the words “voucher” written on it.
There are coupons for article purchases, coupons for being obedient, coupons for shoulder and leg massages, etc. There are so many of them, totaling about ten coupons.
“What is this??”
Seeing that his cheap father was puzzled, Ye Shuo immediately explained the purpose of these wooden signs.
Coupons are definitely things that can be used for redemption, like an article voucher, which can be used to redeem one article, while an obedient voucher can make Ye Shuo behave himself for a whole day.
Emperor Jingwen turned over the back of the wooden sign and found that the date and number of times were indeed written on it, making it look like the real thing.
Emperor Jingwen had no idea what was going on in that little head of his, but to be honest, it was quite interesting.
It was not until Emperor Jingwen looked through them all that he realized there were only two coupons for writing good articles and three coupons for being obedient, and the rest were all shoulder-kneading and leg-beating, that his face immediately turned dark.
He has so many eunuchs and servants, do they really need him to massage their shoulders and legs?
“Dad, what you said is wrong.” Ye Shuo immediately became unhappy when he heard this.
“How can palace maids and eunuchs be compared to your son?” He is my biological son, and they are not.
Emperor Jingwen sneered: “I think the palace servants are much more useful than you.” Only the palace servants know how to serve people. How could he, a prince, understand this?
Although Emperor Jingwen said this, he still couldn’t control his curiosity and threw a voucher out to see what the effect would be.
Seeing this, Ye Shuo immediately rubbed his hands together, then walked behind his cheap father and put his two paws on his cheap father’s shoulders.
Emperor Jingwen felt awkward at first. After all, as an emperor, he had never been close to others. But as the little bastard moved, Emperor Jingwen found that it was actually quite comfortable.
Although the little bastard is young, he is very strong. Both the strength and the location of the massage are just right.
Emperor Jingwen was finally satisfied this time.
“It’s amazing that you have specially learned this.” Although he benefited greatly from it, Emperor Jingwen only said this indifferently on his face.
After he finished speaking, Ye Shuo paused.
But what his cheap dad didn’t know was that this was not something he learned specifically. In his previous life, he often waited for his father to come home from get off work and massaged his father’s shoulders. He had accumulated so many years of experience that he became so skilled at it.
The next moment, Ye Shuo returned to normal.
“As long as Father likes it.”
Emperor Jingwen was indeed quite happy. After Ye Shuo and others left, he did not ask anyone to take the box away. Instead, he placed it directly on his desk, ready to use these wooden signs to deal with the little bastard when he got angry again.
After a while, Emperor Jingwen couldn’t help laughing.
“Xiaojiu is a child with a lot of clever ideas.”
Noticing the smile in the emperor’s eyes, Wang Ziquan beside him naturally obeyed him and thought to himself that this Ninth Prince was truly extraordinary.
Two days passed in a blink of an eye, and finally it was the Tianchang Festival.
Ye Shuo soon discovered that his brothers were truly richer than each other. Even the eldest prince who lived far away at the border had sent someone to send birthday gifts back in advance, just in time for his step-father’s birthday, not to mention the second and third princes.
Even for the Fifth Prince, who had not yet started court, the gifts he sent were extremely precious because he had the support of Concubine Shu.
Ye Shuo was dazzled by all kinds of rare treasures. Antique calligraphy and paintings, authentic works of celebrities were just trivial things. The eldest prince even gave him a treasure tree. The treasure tree was shaped like a pine tree and was inlaid with gems, symbolizing longevity.
Even the unknowledgeable Ye Shuo was stunned.
Emperor Jingwen himself was not in a good mood. After all, he was the emperor, rich in the world, and had seen all kinds of good things.
However, seeing how hard his eldest son was working at the border, Emperor Jingwen still gave him a few more words of encouragement.
I really want to dig out a gem…
Watching a group of eunuchs carrying the precious tree as they passed by, Ye Shuo couldn’t help but feel a little eager.
But unfortunately, this precious tree was made with extremely good workmanship, and even though it was shaking like that, nothing fell off.
“Well……”
Ye Shuo withdrew his gaze with regret, but when he turned his head, he met the Sixth Prince’s extremely embarrassed and awkward face.
Ye Shuo understood after a little thought.
Now the Sixth Prince was just an oligarch prince, he ate and slept with him and his mother, so naturally he didn’t have any extra money to buy any birthday gifts, so the gifts he sent inevitably looked shabby among everyone else.
What the Sixth Prince gave was a picture of Guanyin that he had painted himself.
Now the fifth prince was laughing at him madly.
“Sixth brother, you are frugal.” Although he was frugal, in the palace where people had to speak in a roundabout way, the fifth prince almost pointed at him and said he was poor.
Ye Shuo was immediately displeased: “That’s wrong. Gifts should be to the liking of the emperor father.”
Seeing him like a cat whose tail was stepped on, the Fifth Prince wanted to mock him at first. He and the Sixth Prince were not real brothers. The Sixth Prince was just picked up by Concubine Rong. It was hard for him to protect him so much.
Until the attendant next to him secretly leaned over to the Fifth Prince’s ear and whispered something.
The fifth prince was startled at first, then he burst into laughter: “I wonder what’s going on.”
It turns out that he wasn’t protecting Old Six.
“You are not as good as him.”
Soon, even the Seventh and Eighth Princes knew about their father’s birthday and the fact that the Ninth Brother only sent a few wooden lumps.
When the Sixth Prince heard the news, he was shocked.
Vouchers…how did he give them away?
When his father gives an order, he has to do whatever he is told to do. Why does he need something like a voucher?
Xiaojiu’s gift was probably equivalent to giving nothing. The Sixth Prince, who had been busy for a month because of the Guanyin painting, could not help but remain silent.
Ye Shuo narrowed his eyes and looked at the group of people in front of him, but what he thought in his heart was, they know nothing!
Sure enough, after noticing the movement here, Emperor Jingwen first frowned, and then said lightly: “Old Fifth, you will enter the court next year, you should learn more from your second brother and be more solemn.”
The wooden sign was quite ingenious, and Emperor Jingwen liked it very much. The Fifth Prince looked down on it, didn’t it mean that he had no taste? Could Emperor Jingwen be happy?
This time it was Ye Shuo’s turn to laugh.
The Fifth Prince’s laughter stopped abruptly, and he looked at Ye Shuo with eyes that were almost spitting fire.
They tried their best but couldn’t get a single word of praise from the emperor, but Xiao Jiu only made the emperor praise him with a few pieces of rotten wood. How could the fifth prince not be angry? I heard that he just picked it up in the garden, and it’s not a precious wood. Is it that serious?
The more they thought about it, the more unbalanced they felt. Several people immediately became jealous and had long forgotten about the Sixth Prince.
The prince felt that Xiaojiu’s ability to bring trouble was becoming stronger and stronger.
Facing the envious, jealous and hateful looks of the Fifth Prince and the others, Ye Shuo’s expression became more and more annoying.
Just when the scolded Fifth Prince was about to step forward and punch him twice, a voice suddenly came from outside –
“The Queen is here!”
“Greetings to Her Majesty the Queen.” Everyone knelt on the ground.
“No need to be polite, everyone. Please stand up.”
In the past, the Queen Mother always came early. What happened today? Why did she come so late?
He was soon allowed to stand up. Just when Ye Shuo was confused, he looked up and saw the face of the Queen.
Although the queen’s face was covered with makeup, her haggardness could not be concealed.
Just when Ye Shuo was wondering if the other party was sick, the queen did not ask him to wait any longer and quickly gave an answer.
It turned out that she was not sick, but pregnant.
After hearing the news, Ye Shuo watched helplessly as his stepfather’s face changed from bright and sunny at the beginning to dark in an instant.
“Queen, you——”
Emperor Jingwen was stunned at first, then furious. Just as he was about to say something, the sound of a woman retching suddenly came from the bottom of the banquet table again.
This time it’s Lady Song.
Concubine Song had been successful the last time she had sex with the emperor three months ago, but she was afraid that someone would harm her, so she kept it a secret for three months and didn’t dare to say a word. When she said that a month and a half ago, she actually did want to test the emperor, but seeing how repulsive Emperor Jingwen was, and Concubine Song had no experience, she panicked and dragged it on until now.
But now, the sweet-scented osmanthus duck at the banquet might have been not handled well by the imperial chef, so it had a strong fishy smell. Concubine Song had a strong reaction and she couldn’t help it. She accidentally retched in front of everyone.
It would have been fine if she didn’t vomit, but her vomiting actually made Concubine Rong feel a little nauseous.
“This Song family is really something, so ungentlemanly, they don’t even know how to avoid people.”
Concubine Rong quickly took a handkerchief to cover herself. She felt a sour feeling rising in her throat and felt that she was about to collapse.
“Quick, quick, quick, Aunt Jing, go get me a clean bowl!”
Ye Shuo looked at this, then looked at his unaware mother, and suddenly thought of something. He was so surprised that his chopsticks fell to the ground with a “click”.