Chapter 124

Parsed with an automated reader. The content accuracy is not guranteed.

Whitelist us. Ad revenue gives additional support to the translator and keeps the site running.

Interested in being a part of the Nocturne TL team?

We are looking for Editors and Chinese, Korean, and Japanese translators to join our team. Join us on Discord and look for Picky Reader#7543 to guide you through recruitment if you are interested.

==============================================================================================

Li Huairou had been assured by Noble Consort Ling, and she felt relieved. But, the next month, someone still came to visit her.

Li Huairou only found out that the person who’d come was Wei Qingqi.

“Jiang Man’s pregnancy is not going well, so I had her stay at home to take care of herself. Firstly, my parents are gone, and it isn’t convenient for the family to have no elders in charge, so I invited a widowed aunt to come to the house, to help take care of Jiang Man. Second, she can also help with the housework. She was worried about you, so she asked me to tell you not to worry,” Wei Qingqi said with a smile.

Li Huairou nodded. “That’s good.” Then she took out a jade pendant from her sleeve. “This is a gift from the noble consort. I heard that jade can help ease the mind; take it and have my sister put it under the pillow or hang it on the bed. I don’t know if my sister’s baby is a boy or a girl, so I intend to prepare some gifts.”

Wei Qingqi smiled. “Several doctors have checked it, and they all say it looks like a boy.” He was having his first son in his thirties. Of course, it must be cherished. In fact, he didn’t mind Jiang Man’s ambition—he also had ambition and wanted to climb up! But he could not tolerate his wife’s leaving her infant son and going into the palace to be a wet nurse. That’s why he was so angry, locking Jiang Man at home and inviting the most strict third aunt in the clan to come.

“Really? That’s wonderful. There’s a saying that men wear the Guanyin and women wear the Buddha. Last time, the empress dowager rewarded me with a Guanyin jade pendant. When I look back, I will send it out when my nephew is born!”

Wei Qingqi laughed, “Then I’ll thank the aunt for the child first.”

Li Huairou also smiled.

How to describe Wei Qingqi? He was smart and knew how to conduct himself properly. He knew that Li Huairou was not familiar with him and had nothing to say, so he left after saying a few words.

Li Huairou was also relieved. If Wei Qingqi was a smart person, then it was good. In this way, he’d know how to treat Jiang Man.

After Li Huairou returned, she began to knot the Guanyin. The fifteenth prince saw it and thought it was for him. “Sister Rou, I don’t like red. I like black and gold.”

“This is not for Your Highness,” Li Huairou said with a smile.

“Who is it for?” The fifteenth prince immediately, nervously put down his brush and ran to Li Huairou’s side when he heard the words. “Sister Rou has someone she likes? Is Sister Rou going to leave the palace?

“This slave is not going anywhere. This slave will always serve Your Highness.” Li Huairou said with a smile, “Your Highness, do you still remember that when we were in Huanyin Palace, there was a palace maid who kept quietly giving us food? She left the palace to get married, and her son is also about to be born, so this jade pendant is for him.”

The fifteenth prince didn’t care about that. He stared at Li Huairou and asked, “Will Sister Rou also go out of the palace to get married one day? Will Sister Rou also have children? After Sister Rou has her own children, will you still like me?”

Li Huairou could hear the nervousness in the fifteenth prince’s words. She put the work in her hand down and held the fifteenth’s face with both hands. “Your Highness, don’t worry. This slave swore before my master that I would not leave Your Highness. I am also reluctant to leave Your Highness. This slave will not go out of the palace, marry, or have children in this life. In this life, this slave will follow and take care of Your Highness. When Your Highness has his own little princes and princesses, this slave will take care of the young princes and princesses.”

The fifteenth prince saw the firmness in Li Huairou’s eyes and the sincerity in her words, and he was relieved. “Sister Rou only needs to take care of me, and you don’t need to worry about others. Sister Rou, don’t worry. When I grow up, I’ll also take care of Sister Rou!”

“Okay! This servant knows. Your Highness, let’s practice calligraphy!” Li Huairou said with a smile.

The fifteenth prince went happily.

Li Huairou continued to talk.

Four months later, Jiang Man’s child was born—a boy. When Wei Qingqi spoke, he always smiled, and his brows were beaming. “Seven pounds and eight taels! He’s a big, chubby boy. When his mother gave birth to him, she suffered a lot. This boy’s palate can be tricky—after drinking his mother’s milk, he refused to drink the wet nurse’s milk. Even after four or five wet nurses, this kid was not satisfied. There was no other way, so she had to feed him herself. For the sake of this child, she drank all kinds of soup every day, and her waist grew thick. His mother is still afraid that I will dislike her, but how could I! Isn’t this all for my son? Come now, if I dislike her, then what kind of person would I be!”

Li Huairou listened with a smile. Talking to a smart person was refreshing. “Did he make trouble when sleeping?”

“He doesn’t make trouble at all, just cries a few times when he’s hungry, sleeps when he is full, and is very well-behaved. Jiang Man now only has her son in her heart and no one else.” Wei Qingqi smiled contentedly. After having a child, everything was different. Jiang Man now had a son in her heart. If it weren’t for him and his third aunt there to stop her, she would have liked to hold her son all day long.

In the dead of night, he once asked Jiang Man if she was willing to leave his son and enter the palace as a wet nurse. Jiang Man rolled her eyes at him without speaking. She took his son’s chubby hand, put it to her mouth and smelled it, kissing and kissing.

Li Huairou smiled and handed the bag to Wei Qingqi. “In addition to the jade pendant I promised, there are also a few pieces of fabric. My sister knows that my craftsmanship is not good, so I can only give fabric. They are all the softest cotton cloth—light and breathable, the most suitable for children’s underclothes. I know you will definitely not lack these. This is also my regard.” Wei Qingqi took it with a smile.

After he got home and opened it, he found out that, in addition to what she’d said, there were also some children’s toys, rattles, etc. They were very delicate, and, at first glance, they’d come from the palace.

This gift was also thoughtful. At least, he and Jiang Man were quite satisfied.

“Your sworn sister is a good person.” Wei Qingqi washed his hands and changed his clothes before coming to play with his chubby son. The chubby son paid him plenty of respect, promptly rewarding his father with urine. He had to change the clothes he’d just changed again.

Jiang Man smiled. “She’s always been like this. She’s bullheaded, and when she firmly believes something, she won’t come back even if she bumps into the south wall. Back then, it was so hard in Huanyin Palace. She had the opportunity to call out several times, but she refused and stayed alone with the fifteenth prince. One night, the fifteenth prince suddenly had a high fever. There was no medicine, and there was no one there. She didn’t sleep all night, using well water to wipe his body over and over again to make him cool down.”

Speaking of this, Jiang Man laughed to herself. Huairou and the fifteenth prince were sharing weal and woe. She’d only helped them a few times; what could it count for!

“Good people will be rewarded! Don’t worry!” Wei Qingqi said. However, their relationship with Li Huairou must be maintained. If the fifteenth prince had great fortune in the future, their Bao’er might also have a good future!

Time passed so slowly.

According to Li Huairou’s expectations, the southern tour finally began. But, this time, there was a big difference. The empress dowager was doing well, and she would also go with them.

Li Huairou thought, What reason will Wei Qingxue find this time not to go? She thought about it—could it be the fifteenth prince? In the past three years, Wei Qingxue had become a mother twice, with the sixteenth prince and seventh princess. Unfortunately, the sixteenth prince had died, and the seventh princess had been handed over to Concubine Ying from Mongolia to raise. Noble Lady Song, the biological mother of the seventh princess, was grateful to Wei Qingxue. After all, the princess would help her biological mother when she grew up. Having a Mongolian adoptive mother would definitely be of great benefit to the seventh princess in the future. Even the Mongolian, Concubine Ying, was very fond of Noble Consort Ling.

The emperor also appreciated Wei Qingxue’s move and spoke some high-sounding words of appreciation.

In fact, for Li Huairou, Wei Qingxue just didn’t want to raise children.

It turned out that, up until the start of the southern tour, Wei Qingxue did nothing, just going with them.

Li Huairou didn’t want to go. She knew that, in ancient times, traveling was not as comfortable as watching it on TV.

In fact, there were many inconveniences. But the fifteenth prince was very excited, and she didn’t want to disappoint him. So she bravely followed.

After that, she had to lay down during the whole trip because of motion sickness.

After finally getting on the boat, she thought she could relax a little, but not only was this body motion sick, it was also seasick. She vomited all the way, dying.

Fortunately, wherever you go, you do stop for a while. Coupled with the secret recipes and pills that the fifteenth prince had collected, Li Huairou finally managed to survive.

Because of a lack of energy, Li Huairou was bedridden.

The fifteenth prince was annoyed throughout. He’d originally wanted to take Sister Rou out to see and enjoy the scenery in the lands south of the Yangtze River. He hadn’t expected that Sister Rou would get motion sick and seasick. She couldn’t appreciate the scenery, and she lost a lot of weight. He really regretted it.

On this day, the fifteenth prince suddenly came in in a hurry.

Seeing his panicked face, Li Huairou hurriedly asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Sister Rou, Empress Mother, she…” the fifteenth prince said hesitantly. “Father Emperor was so angry that he asked someone to send Empress Mother back to the capital.”

“What?” Li Huairou was also a little surprised. Had the plot developed to this point? “Where’s the empress dowager?” Hadn’t she always liked the empress? She was here this time, how could she just sit back and watch!

“Empress Mother said a lot of things, and Imperial Grandmother stopped her several times. Empress Mother turned a deaf ear, and she even cut her hair in front of Imperial Grandmother, and the emperor’s grandmother was also angry,” the fifteenth prince said, calming down.

[Cutting hair can be an offense in Chinese culture, as people believed that your body was a gift from your parents. Damaging your body was equal to insulting your parents, which is unfilial. Cutting off hair could be a punishment or humiliation. Also, cutting hair was normally only performed when someone’s parents or spouse passed away, or if some important figure passed away, representing the virtual death of oneself, as to accompany the dead]

“Where’s the noble consort?” Li Huairou asked again.

“Concubine Mother is not here. My eleventh elder brother is sick, and Concubine Mother went to take care of him. After the incident, Li Yu went to invite Concubine Mother. Now, Concubine Mother is at Father Emperor’s place, comforting him,” the fifteenth prince replied.

Li Huairou took a deep breath. She knew that Wei Qingxue would have always been able to adapt to the situation and cut herself off. “Your Highness, quickly go to the empress dowager so you can comfort her. Don’t say anything else!” It was always right to be cautious in word and in deed.

The fifteenth prince nodded. “I know. You have a good rest, don’t think about me.” The reason why he’d told Li Huairou about this was because he was afraid that Li Huairou would not know the situation and worry about him.

Li Huairou nodded.

“Your Highness, Your Royal Highness the Fifteenth Prince, are you inside? The emperor has promoted Noble Consort Ling to Imperial Noble Consort Ling. Imperial Noble Consort Ling told you to go to the empress dowager’s place so as to comfort the empress dowager,” the little eunuch outside said.

“Go ahead!” Li Huairou said, patting the fifteenth prince’s hand.

The fifteenth prince nodded and went.

==============================================================================================

This translation is presented by Nocturne Translations.

Related