Phoenix Hairpin

The Eldest Huángzi fēi[1] vomited like this, and the people around her didn’t dare to be negligent. So they immediately handed over the post to enter the palace and invited the imperial physician to see her.

  The imperial doctor was experienced, and once he diagnosed the pulse, he diagnosed the happy pulse: “Congratulations to the Eldest Huángzi fēi, niángniáng[2] is pregnant. Judging from the happy pulse, the pregnancy period is still short, so niángniáng has to calmly raise the fetus. I will prescribe a prescription for anti-abortion, and please the niángniáng to have a safe pregnancy.”

Was she pregnant?

  The Eldest Huángzi fēi recalled in a daze that her period was indeed more than ten days late. It was just that she’s been in a gloomy mood recently, and her period was usually irregular, so she didn’t take this matter to heart at all.

  Looking forward to it day and night, and finally looking forward to the good news.

  The Eldest Huángzi fēi carefully put her hands on her flat belly, for some reason, there was lingering sourness and pain in her joy.

  The Eldest Prince, who was on duty in the palace, heard the good news and returned home excitedly.

  The Eldest Prince looked happy, walked quickly to the side of the bed, and held the hand of the Eldest Huángzi fēi: “You are pregnant! That’s great!” The Eldest Huángzi fēi’s face was a little pale, with joy shining in her eyes: “The period was ten days late, I didn’t think much about it at all. I really didn’t expect it to be a happy pulse.”

This child, it would have been great if this child came earlier.

  Some things happened and left scars forever.

  The Eldest Prince quickly said: “I will enter the palace to announce the good news to my Royal Father, Royal Mother, and Concubine Mother. You can rest and have a baby. By the way, there is no need to keep those two in my study, let them go!”

The Eldest Huángzi fēi calmed down and said with a smile: “I am pregnant now, so I have to raise my baby with peace of mind. I can’t take good care of your Highness. Both of them were trained by my Concubine Mother. Let the two palace maids stay behind.”

  It was all little things. The Eldest Prince didn’t take it seriously, nodded casually, and said with great interest: “I’ll send someone to send a letter to the Liang Mansion. Father-in-law and Mother-in-law must be very happy when they know about it.”

  The Eldest Huángzi fēi agreed softly.

  The Eldest Prince, who was immersed in joy, didn’t notice anything strange about the Eldest Huángzi fēi at all. Immediately, he sent someone to Liang Mansion to deliver the letter, and he himself entered the palace to announce the good news.

  …

  Logically speaking, if a woman was pregnant, she should not announce it within three months. Mostly wait three months later, and then announce the good news about having a baby.

  When it came to the Eldest Prince, there was no movement after more than two years of marriage, even Emperor Yongjia couldn’t help but worry for a while.

  Unable to restrain himself, the Eldest Prince entered the Wenhua Hall excitedly, first to announce the good news to Emperor Yongjia. Emperor Yongjia was overjoyed and said with a smile: “Okay, Liang Shi will be rewarded.”

  Soon, everyone in the palace knew about this happy event.

  Both Empress Dowager Zhao and Empress Qiao also rewarded Liang Shi. Concubine Meng Gui, who had always been displeased with her daughter-in-law, was also full of joy and gathered a bunch of supplements suitable for pregnant women, and ordered them to be sent to the Eldest Prince’s Mansion.

  Madam Liang was overjoyed. On the night she heard the good news, the next day, she came to the Eldest Prince’s Mansion and carefully told her daughter to have a safe pregnancy: “The most important thing for you now is to take care of your body and give birth to the baby in your womb. Your Highness’s daily necessities, just let those two palace servants take care of him.”

“You must not be stupid. A husband is no more reliable than a son!”

“This baby must be a grandson of the Emperor!” The Eldest Huángzi fēi stroked her belly with both hands and hummed with a smile.   

………

Princess Hui’an went to visit the Eldest Huángzi fēi in person, and she couldn’t help saying a few bitter words: “You have been quiet before, and I heard that Concubine Meng Gui personally picked two people for you. Unexpectedly, you suddenly have good news. Why did you hide your pregnancy? If you had spoken up earlier, there would have been no need to go to the mansion to bring people.”

Eldest Huángzi fēi: “…….”

Was she here to visit, or was she here to deliberately irritate her?

  The Eldest Huángzi fēi held back her anger and responded softly: “Princess, you’re joking. I have never concealed anything. It’s true that I didn’t know about the pregnancy myself.”

Princess Hui’an shrugged: “That’s all, anyway, it’s a happy event. Two palace ladies are nothing.”

  Yes, nothing mattered if she gave birth to the eldest grandson of the Emperor. Not to mention the two palace ladies, even if her husband accepted a noble daughter from a famous family as his side concubine in the future, she didn’t have to be too disappointed.

  The Eldest Huángzi fēi silently comforted herself in her heart.   

Princess Hui’an asked in a low voice again, “How did you become pregnant? Did you secretly consult a renowned physician to regulate your body? If there is any good method, you can tell me.”

“I got married to Fùmǎ[3] earlier than you did, but I haven’t been able to conceive all this time. It is true that the Fùmǎ’s family hasn’t said anything about it, but I have been hoping for a pregnancy to happen sooner.”

The Eldest Huángzi fēi replied softly, “I won’t hide it from you, Princess. I did try some medicinal prescriptions to regulate my body before. However, they didn’t seem to work, so I stopped taking them these past few months. Unexpectedly, I became pregnant.”

Princess Huian glanced at the Eldest Huángzi fēi with a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes and said, “You don’t want to give me this mere medicinal prescription, do you?”

The Eldest Huángzi fēi had no choice but to suppress her frustration and handed over the medicinal prescription to Princess Huian.

When Princess Huian went to see Empress Qiao in the palace, she brought up the matter, saying, “Liang Shi has such a petty and narrow-minded character. It’s just a medicinal prescription, yet she was reluctant to give it to me.”

Liang Shi’s biological mother was a servant of the Li family and had served Empress Qiao in the past. When she reached the age of marriage, she was given as a bride to Li Yuan’s personal guard commander.

Liang Shi had been carefully groomed from a young age and was intended to be sent to serve as a personal maid to Miss Li. Therefore, Princess Hui’an was no stranger to Liang Shi.

Because of this, even if General Liang was now a second-rank general of the imperial guards, and the Li family’s servants in the past had become second-rank imperial wives; even if Liang Shi later became the Eldest Huángzi fēi and her dìxí[4], Princess Hui’an mentioned Liang with a bit of contempt.   

Therefore, one cannot entirely blame Concubine Meng for looking down on her daughter-in-law.   

In fact, everyone knew the details of the Liang family.

  Empress Qiao frowned slightly and pointed to Princess Hui’an: “Your father trusts General Liang, and entrusted him with the heavy responsibility of guarding the capital. It was also your father’s idea that Liang Shi marry the Eldest Prince. From now on, be careful with your words in front of others, so as not to offend your father.”

Without waiting for Empress Qiao to speak, Princess Huian continued, “Mother, please don’t nag. Liang Shi is pregnant now, and if she gives birth to the child, Consort Meng and her son will be even more favored.”

Wasn’t that the truth?

Having a firstborn son and a first grandchild would indeed elevate their status significantly.

  Her son, because he was born two years late, was late at every step. Now that Liang Shi was pregnant, when Lu Mingyu comes in next year, Liang Shi will have birthed her child.

  When Empress Qiao thought of this, she felt a dull pain in her heart.

Princess Huian understood Empress Qiao’s thoughts very well and whispered, “Mother since Liang Shi just became pregnant, why not do something to prevent her from carrying this pregnancy…”

“Stop!” Empress Qiao interrupted Princess Huian sharply, her face stern. “How can you say such things? It’s disgraceful and goes against all principles of humanity. Such wicked thoughts should not even be considered.”

References

References↑1wife of an imperial prince↑2this is how imperial women are addressed↑3husband of an imperial princess↑4younger brother’s wife