Perhaps it was because her background was too humble, and her maternal family couldn’t provide any support, leaving her weak and isolated in Daming Palace, not daring to hope for too much. She feared that if she entrusted all her love to the Emperor, in the end, she would be abandoned before her beauty faded.
After all, there were too many precedents of passionate women being betrayed by heartless men.
But between two people, someone had to take the first step forward, rather than both waiting for the other to approach.
The Emperor made up his mind. Since he had chosen this cunning girl with ambition and capability from among countless people, willing to let her accompany him on this difficult imperial path, he would eliminate all her doubts. He pushed the door, preparing to enter the birthing room.
The attendant eunuch beside him hurriedly stopped him: “Your Majesty, the birthing room is unclean. Seeing blood is inauspicious!”
“What’s inauspicious about it? I don’t believe in that.”
Having said this, the Emperor prepared to enter the birthing room. Several eunuchs firmly held onto his legs, pleading: “If Your Majesty doesn’t consider yourself, please think of Jieyü Jiang and the royal offspring! Your Majesty is the true dragon son of heaven, blessed by the heavens. What if disaster befalls Jieyü Jiang and the royal offspring?”
Hearing this, the Emperor hesitated. From inside the room, Jiang Lingye also heard the eunuch’s dissuasion. Tears welled up in her eyes, though it was unclear whether from pain or emotion. She grasped the hand of a palace maid beside her and said weakly: “Go tell His Majesty that I appreciate his kindness, but he need not break protocol for me… I don’t mind, but I don’t want this child to be criticized from birth… If he truly wants to accompany me, then… let a lock of his hair stand in his place…”
The palace maid hurriedly went to report. After hearing that Jiang Lingye didn’t want the child to be criticized from birth, the Emperor fell silent. The maid then conveyed the rest of the message. The Emperor seemed to draw a dagger, and the eunuchs again tried to dissuade him, probably arguing that the Emperor’s body was precious and he should not cut his hair. But soon, everything outside quieted down, and then the maid hurriedly ran back in, trembling as she presented a lock of the Emperor’s hair.
Jiang Lingye’s tears flowed like a spring. She clutched the hair in her palm, as if holding the Emperor’s warm hand. She closed her eyes, enduring wave after wave of unbearable pain within her body. Finally, she no longer suppressed her suffering but began to cry out in pain like an ordinary woman before her husband.
Amid Jiang Lingye’s cries of pain, the Emperor anxiously paced like an ant on a hot pan, his usual grace completely gone. He was so anxious that he was sweating profusely. An hour later, after Jiang Lingye’s final cry of pain, the Emperor heard the wailing cries of a newborn baby.
Jiang Lingye had fainted from the pain. In her dazed state, she heard that after the palace maids had cleaned the room, the Emperor immediately hurried in. The first thing he did was sit at her bedside, stroking her sweat-soaked hair, anxiously asking the palace maid: “Is the Jieyü all right?”
The maid answered: “Don’t worry, Your Majesty. The Jieyü is perfectly safe.”
Only then did the Emperor relax. The maid held the child and said, “Congratulations, Your Majesty. The Jieyü has given birth to a little princess.”
The maid said “congratulations,” but there was some regret in her tone—a pity it wasn’t a little prince.
In her dazed state, Jiang Lingye wanted to object. What was wrong with a princess? The princess was also her child. She wasn’t disappointed at all; she was very happy.
But she heard the Emperor, like an excited young man, beaming with joy: “A princess? I already guessed it would be a princess! Only a princess would be so well-behaved! A princess is wonderful! A princess is wonderful!”
Overjoyed, he took the tiny infant wrapped in red silk. Looking at his daughter in his arms, he laughed heartily: “My Princess Yong’an has been born!”
His joy didn’t seem fake. Jiang Lingye felt another wave of emotion. She tried desperately to open her eyes, but her body was too weak to do so. She heard the palace maid flatter the Emperor: “The Jieyü only labored for one hour to deliver the princess. The physician said he had never seen such a quick birth. It seems the princess didn’t want the Jieyü to suffer!”
The Emperor gazed at the infant in his arms and carefully kissed her forehead: “My Princess Yong’an is so considerate from birth. Truly a precious gift from the Bodhisattva. I’ve already thought of several pet names. When your mother wakes up, she can decide.”
He held the infant with one hand and used the other to grasp Jiang Lingye’s hand: “Lingye, wake up soon and look at our child.”
But it wasn’t until sunset that Jiang Lingye finally regained consciousness. When she awoke, she found that the Emperor was still in her room, not having left. He was leaning at her bedside, with the newborn child sleeping beside him. The child was sleeping soundly, though her little face was wrinkled, making it impossible to tell whether she was beautiful or not.
Jiang Lingye looked at the child and then turned her gaze to the face of the Emperor sleeping at her bedside. From this angle, the Emperor’s profile was handsome, radiant as if the sun and moon were in his embrace. Jiang Lingye’s fingers moved slightly, wanting to caress his face like an ordinary commoner’s wife would caress her husband.
But the Emperor had already awakened. Jiang Lingye hurriedly withdrew her fingers under the silk quilt. The Emperor looked up, saw she was awake, and said with delight: “Lingye, you’re awake.”
The Emperor carefully brought the child to her side for her to see: “Our child.”
Jiang Lingye nodded: “Yes, our child.”
“I think she looks like you,” the Emperor smiled. “When she grows up, she will certainly dazzle the world.”
Jiang Lingye smiled, pressing her lips: “She’s all wrinkled and so ugly. This concubine can’t see how she resembles me, much less how she’ll dazzle the world.”
“How is she ugly?” the Emperor objected, “She’s very beautiful.”
“Hmm… very beautiful…”
The Emperor smiled and spoke a few more intimate words with her, then said: “I’ve thought of some pet names. Let me tell you.”
As he listed the pet names he had pondered over, Jiang Lingye’s eyes grew increasingly gentle. She reached out from under the silk quilt and slowly took the Emperor’s hand, saying: “Let’s call her Mingyuezhu.”
The Emperor was startled when she took his hand on her initiative. Jiang Lingye said, “Mingyuezhu, the Bright Moon Pearl, is one of the seven treasures in Buddhist scriptures. This child is a precious treasure that the Compassionate Bodhisattva has given to Your Majesty and me. Let’s call her Mingyuezhu.”
The Emperor pressed his lips together. He held Jiang Lingye’s hand in return and said softly: “Very well. Mingyuezhu, it is.”