Shi Yong came back with the imperial physician.
The imperial physician’s conclusion was similar to Doctor Zhuang’s, but he looked at the environment of the delivery room and pointed out many areas that needed to be changed: “The doors and windows are closed in this hot weather, which is actually not good for the mother and child; the doors and windows should be left open. If you are worried that the mother and the child will be exposed to the wind, you can put a screen in front of the bed and avoid that. In addition, the child should take a bath once every two days. You can choose a time whenever the sun is full at noon. For the mother, prepare hot water to scrub her body every day. When scrubbing, the doors and windows can be temporarily closed.”
Shi Yong listened to all of this and committed it to memory.
Li Huairou stayed with the Shi family for more than ten days until someone came to pick her up. Then she reluctantly returned. Before leaving, she reluctantly hugged her two nephews. Although these two children were still ugly in Li Huairou’s eyes, and they weren’t as good as the old aunt has said, at any rate, they were her own nephews. There was nothing to dislike.
“Brother-in-law, I’m going back. I will leave my sister and the children to you,” Li Huairou said.
These days, Shi Yong had been happy every day, and the corners of his mouth had almost cracked to the root of his ears. “Meimei, don’t worry!”
“Jie, I’m leaving. Take care of yourself and don’t get up at night—the nephews will be taken care of by a nanny. The most important thing is to nurture your health,” Li Huairou said. Li Huairou had insisted on bringing in a nanny. It would be difficult for the old aunt to take care of the two children alone, and Shi Yong was a clumsy man. She could help now, but if she left, would Li Huailan take care of them? She was still in seclusion.
Therefore, Li Huairou insisted on asking for two nannies for the two nephews, paying them the monthly payment for three years in one lump sum. Three years later, the children would also be older, and there should be no need for the nannies anymore.
Shi Yong refused to let Li Huairou pay the money, but Li Huairou insisted. Shi Yong couldn’t outdo her, so he had to let her do it.
“Don’t worry, I’m fine. You must take care of yourself!” Li Huailan said, holding her sister’s hand. Now, with her husband and sons, she was satisfied, and no longer had any nostalgia for that palace. Her only concern was Huairou.
“Jie, don’t worry, I will. Take care of yourself and don’t make me worry,” Li Huairou said with a smile.
After getting on the carriage to return to the summer palace, Li Huairou sighed.
The carriage stopped at the gate of the summer palace, and Li Huairou got out.
“Miss Huairou, Lu-gonggong will send you to the consort dowager’s Chunyi Yunhe Pavilion.”
“Thank you.” Li Huairou nodded and went in.
“You finally came back. When you were away, the consort dowager missed you.” Lu-gonggong was also an old-timer at Qingning Palace; he was seven or eight years older than Li Huairou and took good care of her. As soon as the two met, Lu-gonggong handed Li Huairou a handful of dates from his sleeve.
Li Huairou didn’t hesitate to take and eat them.
Lu-gonggong was also holding an umbrella, but Li Huairou refused his offer. “No need, gonggong. I’m not afraid of the sun.”
He smiled and put the umbrella away. “Don’t say that in front of the consort dowager. She will get angry.” The most precious thing for the consort dowager was her fair skin. In such hot weather, she never wanted to go out. The empress dowager had held banquets several times, but the consort dowager refused to participate. If one didn’t go out all day, one would get bored—but since Li Huairou was absent, Consort Dowager Hui felt even more bored.
Finally, Fang-momo asked someone to take Li Huairou back.
“Hey, is there anyone still wandering around in the garden at this time?” Li Huairou looked up inadvertently and saw a figure in front of her flash by. The figure was a bit familiar.
“Leave it be. The consort dowager brought you back to have you watch the play. Tomorrow is the empress’s birthday, and tomorrow night, the empress dowager and the emperor will have a banquet in Qingliang Hall to celebrate,” Lu-gonggong said with a grin.
Li Huairou thought for a while. Oh, I know. Su Wan’er had regained favor at the empress’s birthday banquet with a lone boat, a red dress, and dancing lightly. It was said that when Su Wan’er had danced, she not only succeeded in regaining her favor, but even the fish in the lake were attracted to her. They circled the boat she was riding in and refused to leave until the end of the song.
The description of this dance was exquisite, but who knew what it would look like.
Thinking of this, Li Huairou was immediately happy. “The consort dowager is the best!” Her footsteps were also brisk.
Lu-gonggong lowered his head and smiled, picking up his pace to catch up.
“Yes, are you willing to come back?” As soon as Consort Dowager Hui saw Li Huairou, she started with the sarcasm.
Fang-momo smiled and added, “Someone’s getting fatter and taller.”
“Is that right? My brother-in-law’s old aunt has good cooking skills. Every day, she cooked cold noodles, mixed noodles, liangpi, and others. I just ate a lot,” Li Huairou answered with a smile.
Seeing that she had been ignored, Consort Dowager Hui angrily raised her eyebrows. “I’m talking to you, so where are your ears?”
“My ears are here! Hehe, consort dowager, I brought you a gift. I picked it myself. Wanna see if you like it or not?” Li Huairou took a veil out from her sleeve. Inside was a pair of earrings. “Only you are getting a gift—no one else has one.”
Consort Dowager Hui was satisfied. If everyone else had it, she wouldn’t want it. She picked the two opal earrings up and admired them for a while. Although they were made from inexpensive materials, they had a unique design. “Not bad. I shall wear these for the empress’s birthday banquet tomorrow!”
Fang-momo saw Li Huairou coax the consort dowager with a few words. “Yes!” she said, smiling.
Li Huairou talked with Consort Dowager Hui about her two nephews and the situation when Huailan was giving birth. Consort Dowager Hui frowned; even though she had never given birth, she had still seen a woman in the palace do it. The tragedy was vivid in her memories. In the present, recalling it, she couldn’t help but feel a little frightened.
“The old aunt and my brother-in-law are telling lies through their teeth. The babies really aren’t fair-skinned and cute at all. More like dirty and wrinkled, like a little old man. My sister also talked nonsense with them—she said that after a while, the children would become better-looking. It’d been ten days or so, and they were a bit cleaner and brighter. As for the beauty, I couldn’t see it. But they were soft, like they had no bones at all. There was a smell of milk, and it smelled good,” Li Huairou chattered with a smile.
Consort Dowager Hui had no interest in children, so she decided to just listen. However, she did like listening to Huairou twittering away.
“Momo, tomorrow, send the two longevity locks with the names engraved on them,” Consort Dowager Hui lazily ordered.
“Yes. This old slave also decided to add a few things. Would the consort dowager like to take a look?” Fang-momo replied with a smile.
“No need. It’s up to you,” Consort Dowager Hui said.
“The name, what is the other name? My sister and the others don’t know what name they should choose, so they plan to follow Minghua and call the other one Guanghua,” Li Huairou asked.
“‘Guanghua’? You really can’t figure it out! The first child is Minghua, and the second child should be Canhua!” Consort Dowager Hui sneered.
“Canhua? Bright and splendid—this name is good. The consort dowager is still more educated than me,” Li Huairou remarked with a smile.
[Can (灿) means bright, illuminating. Hua (华) means magnificent, splendid]
In fact, Li Huailan and Shi Yong had originally wanted to name the second child by themselves, but Li Huairou had stopped them. Since the name of the first child was given by the consort dowager, the second child should also be named by the consort dowager. This was only fair!
Consort Dowager Hui gave her a blank look. “I’m hungry, let’s have a meal!”
Fang-momo hurriedly ordered someone to set up a meal. When Li Huairou was not present, the consort dowager’s rice was no longer fragrant, and she’d lost some weight.
[Having no appetite]
Sure enough, facing the feasting Li Huairou, Consort Dowager Hui regained her previous appetite.
“This tofu is good, but the portion is small. momo, have them make some noodles in the evening. Make it spicy and sour, it’s appetizing and delicious,” Li Huairou said as she ate.
Consort Dowager Hui looked at her with disdain. “Keep quiet during meals and bedtime.”
Li Huairou uttered an “oh” and was immersed in bitterness. After a while, she said, “This lamb chop is delicious. Did you change the cook? Consort dowager, have a bite.”
Consort Dowager Hui glared at her. “Hurry up and eat. What’s with all these words?”
After eating and drinking, Li Huairou slumped on the chair, patting her stomach.
Consort Dowager Hui leisurely drank tea. “Is the palace’s imperial food delicious, or is the Shi family’s food delicious?”
Li Huairou was not afraid of death, and she answered, “Each has its own merits!”
Consort Dowager Hui grabbed the mat next to her angrily and threw it over. Li Huairou hurriedly dodged. “I’m full, so I’ll go out for a walk.”
Then she disappeared.
Consort Dowager Hui complained, “Momo, look at her making me angry!”
“Alright, don’t get angry! It’s not too early, so this old slave will help you take a nap!” Fang-momo quickly coaxed.
“Send someone to follow her. She is here for the first time. Don’t let her get lost; this is not the imperial palace,” Consort Dowager Hui said softly.
“Yes, Xiao Linzi has already followed after. Consort Dowager Hui can rest assured.” Fang-momo helped Consort Dowager Hui into the bedroom.
This was Li Huairou’s first time coming to Nanshan Palace. She was a little curious. Taking advantage of midday, when everyone was resting, she went out to stroll around.
Xiao Linzi followed her, panting from exhaustion, but Li Huairou was still walking fast. Xiao Linzi stopped, panting with his hands on his knees.
“Sister, my dear sister, can we stop and rest for a while?”
Li Huairou had no choice but to stop. “Okay, let’s rest.”
Xiao Linzi sat down on the ground.
Li Huairou found a flat stone on the ground and began to toss it around. Xiao Linzi looked at it with interest. “Sister, I can do this too.”
“Okay, let’s play together!” Li Huairou smiled.
Xiaolinzi immediately got up from the ground, and the two began to compete while looking for rocks in the grass.
When they were playing happily, a voice came from behind: “Which palace are you from? Why are you throwing stones in the water? What will you do if you scare the fish in there!”
Li Huairou heard this familiar sound and turned her head to look. It turned out to be Yingyue, and next to her was Su Wan’er.
“I’m one of Consort Dowager Hui’s people. What, is there a rule in the palace that you’re not allowed to play here?” Li Huairou said as she threw the stone in her hand, skipping it ten times on the surface of the water. Finally, it fell into the river.
“Consort Dowager Hui.” Yingyue was a little nervous; she had to hold back her anger and could not waste the prince’s previous work. “Sister, I don’t mean that, but my lady loves the fish in this water very much. She comes to feed them every day. I fear that you will scare the fish away—if my lady comes to feed the fish, and the fish do not come, my lady will be sad!”
Li Huairou patted the dust on her hands and called out, “That’s fine, you said it earlier. We won’t play anymore. Xiao Linzi, let’s go.”
Yingyue breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you for your compassion.”
