After Prince Qi walked away, Li Huairou was so cold that half of her body grew numb, but she did not dare to come out immediately. Because this was Prince Qi’s usual route, he must have arranged for someone to stay on guard.
Just half an hour later, the snowfall grew deep, and Li Huairou was covered in heavy snow.
A little eunuch emerged from nowhere, looked around, then turned and left.
Li Huairou held on for another half hour to make sure it was safe. She slowly moved her limbs to shake the snow off her body and slowly moved back, step by step. When she left, she didn’t forget to take a few plum blossoms for the consort dowager to use on her table plaque.
[A traditional screen that is put on a table. Picture below]
A few days later, at the foot of Nanshan Mountain, Li Huailan saw an unexpected person. “Lu-momo, why are you here?”
“I went out of the palace for something, and I came to see you along the way,” Lu-momo said with a smile. “This is something I bought for you. There are some woolen garments and materials.”
“Momo, please sit down and have tea.” This was the first time Li Huailan had seen a person from Qingning Palace since leaving the palace; she was a little excited.
“Momo, how is the consort dowager? How about Huairou? Fang-momo as well, how is everyone?” Li Huailan asked excitedly.
After Lu-momo entered the house, she looked around. Although it was cold outside, the room was warm. It seemed that Shi Yong was taking good care of Huailan. “Everyone is fine. It’s just Huairou—a few days ago, she suffered a cold and got a serious illness. Now she can’t even get out of bed.”
“Why?! Is Huairou alright?” Li Huailan was a little agitated and felt a small pain in her abdomen. She hurriedly sat down, clutching her stomach.
Lu-momo took a sip of her tea and replied, “Don’t get worked up. The imperial physician examined her and prescribed some medicine. It’s nothing serious. She’s slowly recuperating now; it will be fine when the spring comes and everything begins to warm up.”
Li Huailan was still very worried.
Seeing that there was no one else in the room, Lu-momo said, “Do you know why Huairou suffered from the cold?”
Li Huailan shook her head.
“She went to pick flowers for Consort Dowager and happened to run into Prince Qi and Concubine Ling’s private meeting.” Lu-momo stopped short.
Li Huailan’s face paled. “How come?” The prince was kind to others. He was not such a person.
“After Huairou came back, she said that she saw Prince Qi’s guards taking a passing court lady away. A few days later, we quietly asked people to take a look at the corner of the southwestern side of Taiye Pond. A hole in the ice had been knocked open. These days, although it’s frozen over, the thickness of the ice is different from other places. Around spring, people will find a woman’s corpse floating in Taiye Pond,” Lu-momo said.
Li Huailan clutched her belly and bit her lip tightly. No, no, His Highness is not such a person.
Lu-momo had already prepared. She took a small gourd out from her sleeve and opened the lid. “Open your mouth! This is an anti-fetal medicine.”
Li Huailan knew the severity of the situation. She opened her mouth and swallowed the medicine.
After feeding her the medicine, Lu-momo helped her lay down on the bed and watched Li Huailan’s complexion improve. She sighed, “Knowing that you are a good child, I want you to give up, I fear that you will get mixed up in the future. Next summer, the empress dowager and the emperor intend to come to Nanshan Palace to escape the summer heat, and they’ll have Prince Qi come to the palace first to take care of everything after the spring.”
Li Huailan felt that her stomach no longer hurt, and her hanging heart finally let go.
“Momo!”
“Huailan, your lifestyle now is hard to come by; you have to cherish it. These are the consort dowager’s expectations for you.” Lu-momo patted Li Huailan’s hand.
With tears in her eyes, Huailan listened to all this, which was probably the consort dowager’s arrangements. The consort dowager wanted to use Huairou to open Li Huailan’s eyes. It was because she was not good enough that Huairou got hurt.
“Momo, I understand. I will stay at home with peace of mind and never cause trouble for the consort dowager,” Li Huailan said, touching her belly.
Lu-momo nodded. “It’s good if you understand it in your heart. The consort dowager is also thinking about you and Huairou. She loves Huairou very much, so you can rest assured.”
Li Huailan nodded.
In the evening, Shi Yong came back while carrying the candied chestnuts that Li Huailan had been craving. As soon as he walked in, he was pulled aside by his old aunt. “Someone came in the afternoon. She was from the palace. She spoke with Huailan for a long time. After she left, I saw that Huailan’s complexion was not so good. Go in and take a look.”
Shi Yong had a guess. Before he married Huailan, he had known everything about her, but he didn’t care. He had three generations in a single branch of the family and wanted to bring in a daughter-in-law for his family, start a family with her, extend the family with heirs, and comfort his parents. As for Huailan’s having another person in her heart, Shi Yong didn’t care about it.
He believed that as long as he had the heart, that stone could be covered. Besides, Huailan now had his child.
Shi Yong pushed the door open and entered. He first dissipated the cold from his body, then walked into the inner room. “I heard my old aunt say you are unwell. What’s the matter? How about we have you go see a doctor?”
“It’s okay. Lu-momo was here in the afternoon. She said that Huairou is sick, so I felt a little worried. It’s all right now. Is the snow heavy outside?” Li Huailan asked with a smile.
“Mm, the snow is heavy. I bought candied chestnuts—do you want to eat them? I’ll peel them for you.” Shi Yong touched her belly; seeing that her complexion was good, he was relieved.
“You peel it, and I’ll eat it.” Li Huailan smiled.
Shi Yong immediately began to peel. After peeling two or three in a row, he suddenly recalled something. He turned his head to take a look, then took a bag out from his arms. “Here, hawthorn cake. Eat and don’t let my old aunt see. Have one!”
Li Huailan couldn’t help laughing. She didn’t know what was going on. She didn’t like hawthorn cake in the past, always finding it too sour, but she craved it after pregnancy. But her aunt would not let her eat it even after attempts at persuasion, saying that hawthorn promoted blood circulation, so pregnant women couldn’t eat it.
Shi Yong had asked the doctor quietly. The doctor had replied that it was okay to have a little, so he quietly brought it back.
Li Huailan finished eating and fell asleep. Shi Yong exhorted his old aunt with a few words, then went out in the wind and snow.
Turning around, Shi Yong finally stopped in front of a house and knocked on the door. The door opened. Shi Yong looked around, and seeing that no one had followed, he went in.
The person in the room was Lu-momo.
“How is Huailan’s mood?” Lu-momo asked.
“It’s alright. Don’t worry, momo,” Shi Yong answered.
Lu-momo nodded. “My master is willing to spend this effort, which means that she still has her in her heart. After all, Li Huailan has been with the master for so many years. The old master saved all of our lives, and he had a wish before he passed away: to take good care of the master. Li Huailan has been with the master for so long, so let’s treat it as repayment!”
“Momo, don’t worry.” Shi Yong was a wise man and naturally understood Lu-momo‘s intentions. “Then, Prince Qi’s side?”
“No need to be too intentional. Let him make trouble; it’s fine as long as he doesn’t involve the master. The master likes to watch the play,” Lu-momo said.
Shi Yong nodded to express his understanding.
Lu-momo smiled and said, “Huairou has been bored during her illness. She’s been thinking about naming the child, and she thought a lot about some names, but the master didn’t like them and felt that they were too tacky. Perhaps you will be lucky, and your child will be able to be named by the master herself.”
Shi Yong was very pleasantly surprised. “Really? Will the master really give the child a name?”
Lu-momo did not speak, but she smiled and nodded.
Shi Yong was assured, and he grinned happily.
—–
“Consort dowager, what is with your expression! My brother-in-law’s surname is Shi, so these names, Shi Jingtian or Shi Potian, would be so magnificent!” Li Huairou was a little speechless as she spoke. Don’t think I can’t see through the screen.
Consort Dowager Hui rolled her eyes angrily. When she was reminded in a low voice by a momo that it was unbecoming, she quickly returned to normal. “Are you dumb! How can you mess up the name ‘Jingtian’? Who is Tian? Are you coming up with the name ‘Jingtian’ because you want to conspire?”
[Tian (天) means sky. Being emperor is the highest existence, so giving a name with “sky” can mean that the person wants to get higher than the emperor, like the sky]
Li Huairou uttered “ah” aloud. She had to pay attention to this.
Consort Dowager Hui snorted, “I should have you read more books. You are lazy. No sense of culture!”
“What’s in a name! I have so many names, but you have rejected them all. You say ‘Shi Zhuzi’ is too vulgar! ‘Shi Ping’an’—you said it was too petty. I can’t figure it out,” Li Huairou wailed as she laid on the bed.
Consort Dowager Hui lowly said the name that she had thought of: “Call the child Shi Minghua. The ‘Ming’ comes from Guang Ming, and the ‘hua’ comes from Cui Can.”
[Minghua (明华). Guangming (光明) means bright or promising. Cui Can (璀璨) is a book with the line “xing rong zhu yu deng guang cai xian ming” (形容珠玉等光彩鲜明), which describes a pear with bright luster]
“Shi Minghua? This name, Minghua, is good. It can be a boy’s name or a girl’s name,” Li Huairou said. “I want to write to my sister quickly.”
Consort Dowager Hui put the cup in her hand down, her mouth filled with the scent of rose milk. She wiped her lips with a handkerchief and asked slowly, “Do you think Huailan will give birth to a boy or a girl?” Then she laid down on the couch and looked at the scene of snow outside the window.
The heavy snow was still falling. The New Year celebration was very lively; every day there was a variety of banquets. Today, the empress dowager was the host, and tomorrow, the empress would treat everybody.
However, due to Huairou’s illness, Consort Dowager Hui was too lazy and simply reported feeling sick. From the empress dowager down to the empress and concubines, they all sent many things, although the people themselves were absent.
There were so many people in Qingning Palace, and there were many people who kept Consort Dowager Hui company to talk and play to relieve boredom, but Consort Dowager Hui preferred to spend time with Huairou. Huairou was now ill, and Consort Dowager Hui felt bored; refusing to listen to other’s advice, she insisted on staying in Huairou’s room and chatting with her.
Fang-momo continued to cajole her. In the end, she ordered people to divide the room in two with a screen. Huairou stayed inside, and Consort Dowager Hui stayed outside. Fortunately, the charcoal fire in Qingning Palace was enough, and adding on the crowds inside, the room was warm.
“Boy or girl is good as long as the mother and child are safe.” Li Huairou suddenly touched her stomach. “Snowy weather like this is the best time to eat hotpot.”
Li Huairou had been sick these days and unable to eat anything. Now that she actively said that she wanted to eat hotpot, she seemed to be getting better soon.
“Momo?” Consort Dowager Hui also wanted to eat it after hearing Li Huairou.
Fang-momo immediately understood, and she went down to have the dining room prepared.
“Momo, prepare more beef and mutton. And I want to eat spicy hotpot,” Li Huairou shouted.
“The imperial physician said that your illness is still not healed—your diet should be light, and you can’t eat spicy food. Momo, I want to eat spicy pot.” Consort Dowager Hui said.
“Consort dowager…” Fang-momo looked helpless. Really, she was becoming more and more like a child. “Eating too much spicy food can cause acne on the face!”
Consort Dowager Hui immediately changed her words. “Forget it!”
“Momo, I want to eat spicy hot pot. I am not afraid of acne!” Li Huairou softly appealed.
Fang-momo pretended to not hear.
However, when the hotpot was placed, Fang-momo still added some chili to Li Huairou’s dipping sauce.
Prince Qi then came to send things to Consort Dowager Hui on the order of the empress dowager.
At the beginning of the palace banquet, the empress dowager had remembered that Consort Dowager Hui was sick. She had some regrets, so she sent someone to give Consort Dowager Hui some royal dishes. In order to show the love between mother and child, such errands had always been done by Prince Qi himself.
The attendant complained in a low voice. There are so many people in the palace; why make His Highness come out in the wind and snow?
With a gentle smile on his face, Prince Qi simply wrapped his cloak tightly around himself.
Stepping into the door of Qingning Palace, Prince Qi suddenly detected the scent in the air. It smelled so good! Prince Qi suddenly felt that the snacks he had eaten were really just for staving off hunger.
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Example of table plaque
(source: Baidu)
