BXBX NOVEL Chapter 133
Consort Li, who’d just given birth a day ago, was sitting now too at the empress’ lower left hand side. The chair she was on had enough room to lay on, so that she was not fully upright. For a woman who’d just recently given birth, this was the best position to be in. Consort Li watched the empress holding the tenth prince. Even though this was her own son, but she’d not had a chance to hold him herself. This was also the reason that Consort Li, despite her current condition, made sure she was in attendance at the Hall of the Gracious Phoenix today. She had heard from the older serving woman that the empress was very taken with the tenth prince. The news made her entire person anxious. If the empress were to ask for the tenth prince to be housed with her, then as a mere consort, she had no place to object.
Every one of the concubine present, so long as they were intelligent enough, knew exactly how Consort Li felt. They were all here heady to watch the drama play out when Consort Li fought with the Empress for her son. One of them was the empress, the other was the head overseer for the back palace. This drama playing out between them should be more than good to watch.
Luo Wei arrived outside the Hall of the Gracious Phoenix. Once he realized he should avoid entering due to the concubines being gathered inside, he decided to head to the Hall of Eternal Light.
“Young Master,” As he was about to leave, Zhao Fu came out from the main hall, “His Imperial Majesty requests your presence inside.” He was a senior eunuch, and once he saw Luo Wei arriving from afar, he’d already brought the news to the emperor’s attention. This kind of efficiency was brought on in no small part by Emperor Xing Wu mentioning Luo Wei many times today.
Luo Wei hesitated, “The lady concubines are all inside, isn’t it improper of me to enter?”
“Young master can rest assured,” Zhao Fu smiled, “The mistresses have all gone back to their dwellings, you may enter.”
With that, Luo Wei entered the main hall. Once he was inside, he cast his eye about the room. It seems that the princes, even the eighth and ninth, were all present. Between the concubines, Consort Li, Consort Qiu, Consort Xiao, and Consort Zheng, the Four Imperial Consorts whose positions were second only to the empress were also there.
Emperor Xing Wu watched as Luo Wei paid his ministerial respects to him, then waited for him to pay the same respects to Luo Zhi Yi before smiling at him, “Wei Er, are you also here to see the tenth prince?”
Luo Wei lowered his head, “Your humble servant is here to congratulate His Imperial Majesty.”
“Why don’t you come up and see,” Emperor Xing Wu waved Luo Wei closer.
Luo Wei walked up behind the emperor and the empress.
“This is the tenth prince,” Emperor Xing Wu pointed at the little baby in Luo Zhi Yi’s arms.
Luo Wei looked at the tenth prince. The little prince was sleeping right now. The newborn had hardly had time to unfurl his wrinkly little face yet, but he was healthy and chubby, and very adorable.
“Wei Er, he was born with a smile on his face too,” Luo Zhi Yi told Luo Wei, “Just like you.”
“The tenth prince is a child of the imperial dragon, how could I possibly compare myself to him,” Luo Wei said quickly. Consort Li was sitting just down from them. Luo Zhi Yi had managed to wrong her with a single sentence.
Emperor Xing Wu wasn’t quite happy when he heard Luo Wei, especially when Luo Wei’s true identity was a sickness upon his mind, “You’re not any worse either,” he said, “The son of a senior chancellor, the dignity of your position is far above others.”
Luo Wei quickly smiled at the emperor. So what if his father was the chancellor? If the emperor was angry enough, he could still exterminate his entire family. The only person who was truly far above others was only the emperor himself.
The tenth prince awoke just now, and opened his little mouth with a childish squeak.
Since Luo Wei had already seen the tenth prince and congratulated the emperor, he wanted to leave. This was a gathering for the emperor’s family, an outsider like him could only be an intrusion. “I hope you grow up safe and sound,” Luo Wei thought as he readied himself to be excused.
Luo Zhi Yi saw Luo Wei’s gaze at the tenth prince, and mistook his thoughtfulness for interest, “Xiao Wei, do you want to hold him?”
Luo Wei felt a headache coming on. This aunt of his was always like this, like a person who didn’t understand how the world properly looked. Between the imperial consorts and the princes present, why would he, an outsider, a servant of the emperor, get to hold the prince? Even if he was related to her, there was still a distinct difference between the imperial family and him, a mere minister! “Your humble servant dares not,” Luo Wei quickly backed up a few steps, and lowered his head in a bow.
Emperor Xing Wu felt his heart clench at Luo Wei’s display of humbleness and propriety, it made him truly unhappy, “Wei Er, hold him for a bit.”
“I dare not,” Luo Wei answered quickly, “And I don’t know how to either.”
Emperor Xing Wu smiled as he shook his head, “So are you not even going to hold your own child when you get married one day? How hard could holding a baby be? Do you need to be this scared?”
Even with his back to Consort Li, Luo Wei could feel the sting of her gaze on him.
“Come here,” Emperor Xing Wu’s thoughts were all on Luo Wei now, and didn’t much mind for everyone else’s reactions.
Luo Wei could only do as he was told, and stepped closer once again. Looking at the tenth prince with his trepidation, he wondered how he was supposed to be holding a baby this small.
“Let him hold him,” Emperor Xing Wu said to the empress.
“You have to be careful,” Luo Zhi Yi advised Luo Wei as she really passed the tenth prince into Luo Wei’s arms.
“Learn how to hold him properly,” Emperor Xing Wu saw how stiff Luo Wei was, and found it rather amusing. He always thought that this youth was rather grown up for his face, and didn’t expect to see him acting this awkward and afraid.
Beside them, Consort Li almost fainted. What were the emperor and the empress thinking? Were they trying to teach Luo Wei, a servant of the empire, to hold a baby with her own son? Who was Luo Wei to them? No more than an outside relative(1)! Her son was a prince!
To say that Luo Wei was holding the tenth prince wasn’t exactly accurate, it was more like proffering the tenth prince on both hands. Luo Wei wasn’t comfortable, and the tenth prince who was being held up like a trophy wasn’t exactly comfortable either. Babies were often very direct in their reactions, so as the prince started to cry, his limbs started wiggling about as well.
“No!” Hearing the sound of the tenth prince crying, Consort Li’s body moved before her brain could hold down the reflex. She jumped up from her chair at once.
Luo Wei turned to look at Consort Li with the tenth prince in his hands. Not only him, all the people present turned to stare at her.
Consort Li didn’t have time to pay attention to this just now. He only saw the tenth prince clutched in Luo Wei’s hands, his little body struggling, and Luo Wei’s hands looked as if they were shaking from the effort. “That’s my baby!” Consort Li was incredibly afraid of Luo Wei dropping the tenth prince, and rushed forward instinctually to wrench the prince into her own hands. Along the way, she pushed Luo Wei aside.
It happened all too quickly for those inside the hall to react. When everyone realized what had happened, the tenth prince was already crying in Consort Li’s arms, and Luo Wei had gotten on his knees on the ground.
“Are you trying to hurt the prince?!” Consort Li finally managed to breathe as she held her son with her own arms. All of her anger was directed at Luo Wei, “If something happened to him, are you going to be responsible?! His Imperial Majesty asked you to hold him, you should have held him carefully, how could you make the prince cry?!”
“Please forgive me, Imperial Consort,” Luo Wei backed down, and knocked his head against the ground to recognize his mistake. The little prince did start crying in his arms, after all.
FOOTNOTES:
1. outside relative – In a marriage in China, the relatives on the mother’s side are all considered “outside relatives” because the wife will leave her family to be married into the husband’s. Due to the fact that she often lives with the husband’s family in his home, her relatives are thus “outside”.