After chatting with Prince Hui for a while, Yao Huang slept a long sleep. When she woke, it was already dark outside the window.
Dazed for a moment, Yao Huang looked to the side and discovered that the swaddled bundle previously placed here was gone. Instead, there was Prince Hui lying fully clothed beside her.
Yao Huang: “…”
Though the Princess Consort hadn’t made any obvious movement, Zhao Sui still woke. Meeting the Princess Consort’s clear gaze—not knowing how long she’d been awake or how long she’d been watching him like this—Prince Hui stiffened slightly for a moment, then while propping himself up to sit, asked in a low voice: “Is there any discomfort?”
Yao Huang indeed felt a bit uncomfortable. She pointed at her chest covered by the quilt and said: “Very swollen.”
This wasn’t teasing the reserved Prince Hui—the Princess Consort’s brow was furrowed.
Zhao Sui immediately sat in the wheelchair and called out for someone.
Nanny Jin and Luo Jinhua entered one after the other.
Prince Hui found it inappropriate to explain the Princess Consort’s discomfort aloud. He glanced at the Princess Consort and pushed himself out.
Yao Huang looked toward her mother: “Where’s the child?”
Luo Jinhua smiled: “Given to the wet nurse for feeding. Seeing you and His Highness both asleep, we kept him with the wet nurse. The little fellow ate his fill and is also sleeping soundly right now.”
Having resolved her confusion, Yao Huang looked pleadingly at Nanny Jin.
Nanny Jin then gently massaged and kneaded for the Princess Consort. Feeding children was hard work. The palace consorts and female family members of high-ranking official families all hired wet nurses to feed.
After marrying into the imperial family, Yao Huang had enjoyed so much—naturally, child-rearing matters should also be handled in the most comfortable way possible.
According to Nanny Jin, as long as Yao Huang drank the medicinal food soup Nanny Jin had the kitchen prepare for three to five consecutive days, her chest would return to its original ease.
Luo Jinhua, watching her daughter’s increasingly comfortable expression, said happily: “Mother has also heard about this massage technique from other official madams. After the massage it’s comfortable, but during the massage it’s quite painful. Looking at Nanny Jin’s superior technique, you must reward Nanny Jin well, and also be even more filial to Empress Dowager later.”
Yao Huang: “That’s natural. Without Nanny here, how could I have been so worry-free these past months?”
Nanny Jin had long experienced the Princess Consort’s sweet tongue. Now being praised by the Princess Consort and her mother together, at her age, she was actually becoming embarrassed.
After cleaning up again, Luo Jinhua went to bring the child back. After she and Nanny Jin withdrew, Prince Hui came again, with a tray covered in red silk on his lap.
The Princess Consort, who had been focused on examining the child, was attracted by the red silk and asked: “What’s this?”
Zhao Sui: “A reward bestowed by Father Emperor.”
The Princess Consort’s eyes lit up. She leaned up to sit, moved the swaddled bundle beside her, making room for Prince Hui to place the tray.
Zhao Sui watched with alarm: “You can sit up already? Won’t you be cold wearing only an inner garment?”
Yao Huang didn’t feel cold, but to put Prince Hui at ease, she still picked up a short cotton-padded jacket left nearby and put it on.
Zhao Sui placed the tray to one side of the pillow and removed the red silk.
Yao Huang first saw a peony hairpin made of gold inlaid with gemstones. The outer layer of the peony flower at the hairpin head had seven red gold petals, each petal’s center embedded with a longan pit-sized ruby. The second layer had seven petals carved from mutton-fat white jade. The third layer had seven golden filament stamens, each filament curled around a bean-sized lustrous white pearl. The fourth layer also had golden filament stamens, but these were shorter, densely packed around the hawthorn fruit-sized ruby wrapped in the very center!
Just looking at it melted Yao Huang’s heart. Prince Hui helped place the peony hairpin in her hand.
Yao Huang tried prying at the ruby inside, confirming it wasn’t easy to pry out. Only then was she reassured—otherwise, if she wore it out someday and while walking this most valuable ruby fell off, she would cry from heartache!
On the tray was also a gold collar hung with a red gold longevity lock, and a pair of gleaming golden infant bracelets, all for the little imperial grandson.
Yao Huang thought to herself that Emperor Yongchang definitely cherished his own grandsons more, but a newborn grandson didn’t understand anything yet and was easy to fool. He could only improve the reward given to her to show his satisfaction with this imperial grandson.
“Father Emperor is truly too good. Your Highness must be very filial to Father Emperor in the future, with or without reason, show more care and concern for Father Emperor.”
Yao Huang instructed sincerely, because she and the child were the “two crows” of Emperor Yongchang’s love extending to all related to Prince Hui. Only if Prince Hui continued receiving Emperor Yongchang’s favor would rewards for her and the child flow endlessly.
Zhao Sui ignored the Princess Consort’s foolish words. He picked up a bracelet and compared it to the child’s small wrists raised beside his shoulders—it couldn’t be fitted on at all.
Yao Huang felt that Prince Hui being like this was also quite foolish.
After nightfall, the wet nurse carried the child away. Prince Hui lay on the birthing room bed accompanying the Princess Consort to sleep.
The couple discussed the child’s informal name.
All three of Prince Kang’s children received names bestowed by Emperor Yongchang after their first birthday. Then the children of both Prince Hui and Prince Qing’s families would definitely continue this custom. The two couples only needed to think of temporary informal names for their children.
Yao Huang: “Actually ‘Egg’ is really quite cute, and sounds easy to raise.”
Zhao Sui: “Inappropriate.”
Yao Huang: “Then how about ‘Dan’? The ‘dan’ for morning—a day’s plan lies in the morning. So meaningful.”
Zhao Sui: “…Inappropriate.”
Yao Huang pushed him: “Your Highness, you think of one. The ink you’ve read is more than all the water I’ve drunk since childhood.”
Zhao Sui: “But that ink isn’t suitable for thinking up informal names.”
Informal names should sound very affectionate upon hearing. Prince Hui still hadn’t figured out how to address the Princess Consort affectionately, so he knew he similarly couldn’t come up with a suitable informal name for the child.
Yao Huang: “My brother’s informal name is Little Tiger, mine is Little Flower—both taken from one character from my parents’ names.”
Zhao Sui looked at the Princess Consort.
Yao Huang immediately covered his eyes: “You’re not allowed to use my name!”
Zhao Sui: “…My name is too proper.”
Yao Huang: “Then mine is too common!”
She withdrew her hand. The couple each stared at the bed canopy thinking. Prince Hui silently worked on variations of “huang.” Yao Huang thought of the bamboo grove they passed through when the child started coming this morning, thought of how Prince Hui liked living in the Bamboo Courtyard when she first married over, then looked at Prince Hui beside her, elegant as a bamboo stalk. She smiled, leaned on Prince Hui’s shoulder and said: “Let’s call him Little Bamboo. Your Highness is the big bamboo, he is the little bamboo. Bamboo grows quickly—this name has good meaning too.”