Extra 4
When a layer of silvery frost spread in from the outside, Gu Zhen glanced back hesitantly, only to realize the moon was already bright in the sky.
From the high-hanging sun to sunset, and now to the moon in the middle of the sky… it seemed not much time had passed. Yet, the anxiety surging from the bottom of his heart made it feel as if he had suffered through half a lifetime.
Looking at the weak beauty lying on the couch, Gu Zhen’s eyes stung slightly. He lowered his head to gather her wet hair and coaxed softly, “Don’t cry. The child is out. Shall I get you some water?”
But Zhao Yiyi had no mind to pay attention to him. She just bit her lip and sobbed to herself, not even having the strength to cover her face.
Although she had been prepared for the pain, when the moment suddenly arrived, she still couldn’t bear it. Her entire body felt as if it were falling apart.
The evening breeze blew gently outside. Zhao Yiyi moved her fingertips, and after a long time, she turned her body and nodded. “Mmh.”
This sound was exceptionally low, like a frightened small animal. Gu Zhen felt an uncontrollable ache in his heart. He staggered up and went to the table, grabbing the teapot to pour a cup of warm water. But his hands kept shaking, and the tea spilled onto the table, splashing everywhere.
Returning to the bedside, he was somewhat at a loss. He didn’t dare help Zhao Yiyi up, nor could he feed her directly with the cup. In the end, he took a spoon and fed her spoonful by spoonful.
The warm water moistened her slightly dry lips, and her hoarse throat found some relief. But after just a few mouthfuls, Zhao Yiyi turned her face away, refusing more.
She was so uncomfortable she almost curled herself up, but she had no strength. She simply furrowed her willow-leaf brows and closed her eyes weakly.
Gu Zhen didn’t feel good either, but he forced himself to comfort her. “If you’re tired, sleep for a while. When you wake up, I’ll have someone bring the child for you to see.”
But Zhao Yiyi couldn’t sleep.
She struggled to shake her head and whispered, “Let me see. I don’t even know what she looks like yet.”
Gu Zhen paused. Looking down at her clear, moist eyes, he knew how stubborn she was in her heart, so he agreed.
Outside the hall, the cold wind cut like a blade. In the left side hall of Jiao Fang Palace, the Empress Dowager held the child in the swaddling clothes and couldn’t help but sigh with emotion, “This child… she really looks like…”
Halfway through her sentence, she suddenly stopped, a trace of confusion flashing across her expression.
Nanny Song’s brow jumped, and she quickly smiled. “Does Your Highness mean she looks like the Eldest Princess when she was born? They say a niece resembles her aunt. Now that I think about it, there really is a resemblance.”
Zhao Duanduan was staring intently at the child and didn’t notice the situation beside her. Hearing this, she couldn’t help asking, “Really?”
“Isn’t that so?” Nanny Song smiled, about to take the child and pass her to Zhao Duanduan.
However, the Emperor sent someone to pass a message to bring the child over.
This was the Empress Dowager’s first grandchild. She had looked forward to this for a long time and had waited outside for half the day. Only now did she finally breathe a sigh of relief. She couldn’t help asking, “Where is the Emperor? Why don’t we see him coming over?”
Wu Mao replied, “His Majesty is still inside. It will probably take a while longer.”
The expression on the Empress Dowager’s face faded slightly, but she said nothing, only speaking softly, “Then take her over. Let the Emperor and Empress have a look too.” She thought for a moment and added a few instructions.
Although she wasn’t very close to her son, he was born of her own body, so she understood him somewhat. She had also heard about the matters between the Emperor and Empress. Assuming that once the child went to that side hall, neither the Emperor nor the child would likely come out again, the Empress Dowager simply stood up and left.
Looking at the tiny little thing in front of her, Zhao Yiyi almost shed tears.
Leaning against the head of the bed, she reluctantly reached out to hug her, placing the child on her lap. She couldn’t help curling her finger to scrape the child’s cheek. Born not long ago, the baby was red all over, and nothing distinctive could be seen yet.
Beside them, Wu Mao suddenly remembered something and hurriedly smiled. “Congratulations Your Majesty, Your Highness. It is a little Imperial Princess.”
Zhao Yiyi blinked, taking a long time to come back to her senses. Slightly unhappy, she tapped the little fellow’s nose and muttered, “It’s a little girl? Why was she so rowdy?”
Recalling the tossing and turning caused by this little fellow in the beginning, Gu Zhen was also somewhat dissatisfied. He snorted lightly, lowered his head, and whispered in Zhao Yiyi’s ear, “When she gets older, I’ll pay her back for it.”
It was already deep into the night. The moon hung high in the sky, and moonlight poured in through the windows like flowing water, intertwining with the dim yellow candlelight in the room to weave a patch of brilliant light.
Gu Zhen held one of Zhao Yiyi’s hands, looking down as she stroked the newborn child, his gaze softening.
When Zhao Yiyi’s movements slowed and a look of fatigue appeared on her face, Gu Zhen said gently, “I’ll take the child down first. You sleep for a while, okay?”
“Mmh.” Zhao Yiyi had recovered some strength by now, and her mind was much clearer. She was easy to talk to, leaning obediently against the headboard and turning her head to look at him. “You hold her. I can’t hold her anymore.”
She was tired to begin with, and it was late at night. As soon as she lay down and touched the pillow, she quickly fell into a hazy sleep.
Only after coaxing her to sleep did Gu Zhen carry the child out, hand her to the attendants, and turn to his study.
According to custom, rewards were to be bestowed after the birth of Imperial Princes and Princesses. If it was a Prince whose mother was favored, there might even be a general amnesty or universal rewards for the officials. For a Princess, at the very least, rewards would be given to the palace staff.
But this child was, after all, His Majesty’s first child, so naturally, it was different. Wu Mao dared not delay and followed him in to ask for instructions.
Gu Zhen simply sat by the desk, looking up at the bright moon hanging in the sky. His expression was somewhat heavy. The moonlight reflected in his phoenix eyes, but amidst the cold clarity, there was a heaviness.
His appearance was handsome and elegant, always worthy of the phrase “a peerless and brilliant gentleman,” but at this moment, he made people feel inexplicably oppressed.
“Your Majesty.” Wu Mao was a little puzzled. Wasn’t he happy just a moment ago? Observing His Majesty’s expression, he clearly liked the Imperial Princess. But now, Wu Mao couldn’t quite see through him, so he asked again.
Gu Zhen felt a headache coming on. He raised his hand to press between his brows, leaned back against the armrest, and with half-closed eyes, said in a deep voice, “Go look up the old records from Father Emperor’s time. Just follow the precedents used for Zhen back then.”
Wu Mao was greatly startled.
He looked up in surprise, unable to see the Emperor’s face hidden in the moonlight, only meeting the cold silver light head-on. He recalled that with His Majesty’s current prestige, let alone following his own specifications, even if he doubled them, no one would likely dare to object.
If it were a year or two earlier, even if this child were a Prince, censor officials might have submitted memorials saying a Prince should not be more honored than the Emperor, and the ceremonial style naturally shouldn’t overshadow His Majesty’s limelight.
But now everyone knew that what His Majesty detested most was subjects not putting their minds to the right path, focusing all day on his family matters regarding seniority and order, and prattling about what did not conform to ritual etiquette.
Regarding the Emperor’s family affairs, especially those involving the Empress, no one dared to utter a single extra word.
Thinking of this, Wu Mao lowered his brow and responded, “Yes, this servant will go do it immediately.”
The child grew day by day. The redness on her body faded, and she gradually became fair and clean. Her facial features also began to take shape.
The tiny little person was like a ball of snow. It was the end of the year now, and snow was falling outside. The palace servants joked that if they put the little Imperial Princess in the snow, they probably wouldn’t be able to find her.
Zhao Yiyi often sat by the window holding the child. Not daring to open the window, she could only listen to the sound of falling snow and the wind outside.
She wasn’t someone who loved to go out much before, but now, cooped up in the inner hall all day without seeing the light outside, she was almost suffocating from boredom.
She teased the little thing in her arms with one hand, leaning lightly against the back of the armchair, an unconscious smile on her face.
Footsteps came from behind. Zhao Yiyi didn’t turn her head but asked while teasing the child, “Why are you back so early?”
“Nothing urgent today.” Gu Zhen walked closer slowly, placed both hands on her shoulders, and asked softly, “Why didn’t you sleep longer? Why get up so early?”
Zhao Yiyi was a light sleeper these days. Last night, a sudden snowstorm arrived, and the fierce northern wind slamming against the windows had awakened her from her dream almost instantly.
Once she woke up, Gu Zhen naturally woke up too. He had clumsily coaxed his beloved beside him, whispering many words before calming her down.
Therefore, when he got up for court today and noticed she was moving to get up too, he stopped her and told her to keep sleeping.
“I heard the baby crying, so I asked them to bring her over to comfort her,” Zhao Yiyi explained quietly. “After coaxing her for a while, she stopped crying. I couldn’t fall back asleep, so I just got up.”
Gu Zhen kissed the corner of her eye and asked softly, “Have you had breakfast?”
Zhao Yiyi said, “Not yet.”
She didn’t say the reason, but Gu Zhen guessed a thing or two.
“I had some pastries before going to court. In the future, if you get up in the morning, don’t wait for me to come back. Eat first.” Gu Zhen sat down beside her, playing with her soft, boneless fingers, and smiled faintly. “Your health is important. If you get up and don’t eat breakfast, be careful your stomach doesn’t get upset again.”
Suddenly having her thoughts exposed, Zhao Yiyi’s cheeks flushed. She flung his hand away abruptly, hugged the child tightly, and said in embarrassment and anger, “Who’s waiting for you?”
Seeing her so annoyed, Gu Zhen suddenly laughed. He extended his arm to pull her into his embrace and whispered, “Mmh, I thought wrong. So Yiyi wasn’t waiting. It was I who was being sentimental.”
As he spoke, his expression was quite emotional, even carrying a hint of loneliness. “I saw the kitchen was still preparing the meal, so I thought Yiyi wanted to wait for me to return so we could eat together.”
Usually, he would wake Zhao Yiyi up for breakfast after returning from early court. Since his return time wasn’t fixed, the kitchen would wait for his order after court to prepare.
Whenever the palace servants sent word that the kitchen was already preparing, it meant she had already risen and given orders in advance.
Zhao Yiyi was the type of person with a stubborn mouth. In the past, no matter how much she liked him, she wouldn’t say it out loud, nor would she claim credit.
In these matters, saying too much would make her blush.
It was shyness.
But he wouldn’t let her off. He looked down at the child, frowned slightly, feeling she was in the way. “Looks like she’s almost asleep. In a moment, I have something to give you.”
“What is it?” she asked.
Gu Zhen rubbed her soft cheek and chuckled lightly. “I’ll give it to you after breakfast.”
The infant, barely a month old, slept a lot. She was awake when teased earlier, smiling occasionally, but after the couple finished breakfast, the child had fallen into a deep sleep again and was taken away by the attendants.
Because she had risen a bit early, Zhao Yiyi wanted to go to the rear hall to rest a bit more, but she was pulled back by Gu Zhen.
“Where are you running?”
He looked over with some dissatisfaction, his voice deep. “Take a look, do you like it?” As he spoke, he took a jade pendant from his sleeve and personally tied it to the palace sash at her waist.
Looking closely, the pendant was a piece of mutton-fat jade carved into the shape of a pear blossom. In the center, at the stamen, were specks of pale yellow.
Such a perfect and coincidental piece of jade was rare.
She blinked, her fingertips gently brushing over the pendant, and turned to ask him, “When did you ask someone to carve this?”
Gu Zhen’s face was cool and elegant as always. He looked away somewhat uncomfortably and mumbled, “It’s been carved for some time.”
To the side, Wu Mao smiled and said, “Your Highness doesn’t know, this jade pendant was carved by His Majesty personally. He started preparing it before the Imperial Princess was born. Who knows how much material was wasted? Now, just in time for the New Year, it’s finally finished.”
He was the Emperor’s attendant; naturally, he hoped the Emperor’s efforts would be known by the Empress.
Zhao Yiyi was stunned. She suddenly remembered that lately, there had been small cuts on Gu Zhen’s hands. When asked, he said he had accidentally injured himself at the training grounds.
Thinking about it now, he was probably cut by the carving knife.
She pushed him lightly and hummed, “Who asked you to carve this sort of thing? Getting so many injuries, wasting ointment.”
Gu Zhen just smiled and said warmly, “Didn’t you say that day that all the pear blossoms in the palace had fallen and you’d have to wait until next year to see them? I carved one for you to wear, so you can see them all the time.”
Zhao Yiyi was stunned, staring at him blankly.
The handsome, matchless man sat there, his eyes condensed with a smile, causing her heart to suddenly beat faster.
In a few days, it would be New Year’s Day (Yuanri). Zhao Yiyi hadn’t been able to attend the child’s one-month celebration, but by New Year’s, her body had fully recovered, so she naturally planned to personally take the child to meet people.
Gu Zhen, however, spoke to her about the New Year’s event, planning to take the child to the front court.
The titled ladies were all female relatives and had a natural affinity, so taking the child to see them was no big deal. But the front court was full of officials.
Zhao Yiyi frowned. “She’s so small, how can she see so many people?”
Gu Zhen said, “It doesn’t matter. I took her to the Purple Luster Hall a few days ago too. She was giggling there. What could happen?”
“When did you take her?” Zhao Yiyi’s expression changed drastically. Even her voice trembled. She grabbed the corner of Gu Zhen’s clothes tightly, her heart hanging in suspense.
Gu Zhen said gently, “A few days ago when you just fell asleep. She was crying nearby, and I had to go to the Purple Luster Hall to see people. Afraid she would disturb you, I took her along.”
Zhao Yiyi was furious, but since he had already done it, saying more wouldn’t help. She said angrily, “Don’t do it again. What kind of father acts like you?”
Gu Zhen held her waist, raised an eyebrow, and said, “She was noisy and rowdy. If I wasn’t afraid she’d wake you up, why would I take her?”
“So you’re going to take her to the New Year’s Banquet this time too?” Zhao Yiyi grabbed the lapel of his clothes, looked up at his smooth jawline, and asked resentfully.
Gu Zhen moved her hand away, pecked her lips a few times, and said lightly, “Take her out to meet people, let her become bolder.”
At the one-month mark, it was simply joy for the new life.
Since they were going to officially take the child out to meet people in a few days, Zhao Yiyi remembered that they still hadn’t given the child a name.
Because it was too hard to choose, nothing had been settled, and they had been vaguely calling her “Baby” and the like.
She mentioned the name she had been thinking of for days and asked him, “How about A-Luo?”
Seeing Gu Zhen looking at her without speaking, Zhao Yiyi got anxious. She hooked her arms around his neck and urged, “Is it okay or not?”
Gu Zhen enjoyed her action very much. He took the opportunity to hold her in his arms and patted the small of her back. “Change it to another one.”
“Is A-Luo not good?” Zhao Yiyi knitted her brows, her voice charming. “The mountain of Huanju, from which the Luo River flows. As beautiful as the Goddess of the Luo River—what’s wrong with it?”
“It’s quite good.” Gu Zhen looked down at Zhao Yiyi’s charming face, chuckled lightly, and stroked the hair at her temples. “There’s nothing wrong with it, but if we use this character, requiring people to observe the naming taboo will be a troublesome matter.”
A look of confusion flashed across Zhao Yiyi’s face. She turned her head in a daze to look at his cold, solemn phoenix eyes.
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