9th year of Tiancong, Wuming palace.
It was peak winter, as the people and vegetation froze, each trying to survive through the harsh weather.
At night, cold wind blew through a small inconspicuous palace in the inner palace of the royal palace. Few maids and eunuchs could be made out running some errands, as a small group of 4-5 young maids were standing outside a room, talking in hushed voices.
"Consort Su's waterpack is broken? I was sleeping and arrived just now."
"Hush, talk slowly, you wouldn't want to disturb the midwives at this critical time, do you?"
*Ahhhh*
A maid who had just arrived asked loudly and was reprimanded by the present maids, when a shrill voice pierced the silence of the night.
"Hiss, you don't know, consort Su has been crying for 10 minutes already, a midwife just went inside with hot water before you came."
"By the way, is his majesty informed?"
"Yes, I saw eunuch Wei going outside the Wuming palace, I guess he went to inform the emperor."
"Alas, the emperor is still angry about the sudden death of concubine Hu, otherwise he would've directly sent the imperial doctors."
One of the maids sighed as she lamented the fate of concubine Hu. When the topic of concubine Hu came out, one of the young maid babbled.
"What do you know? Rumour is that concubine Hu died due to the scuffles of the
Harem."
"What!?"
"Really?"
*Smack*
"Ahh! Who dares to hit me?"
The maid who was hit turned around to face a rough faced woman, and immediately went quiet with her head down. Other maids also followed suit and the chatter quieted down.
"Shut up! Are you so eager to die? If someone else with impure motive heared you, even if you had 10 heads, it wouldn't be enough to chop."
"S.. sorry big sister, this girl was very foolish, please punish me!"
"Hmph, this week's cloth washing is all on you! Remember, if you want to survive in the inner palace, just listen and obey, don't interfere or comment in the strifes of inner palace or you will die without a burial place!"
"This little girl understands."
"We too, we too."
Others chimed in after the young maid responded. They looked at each other and waited for further instructions, but the rough maid kept quiet and waited patiently.
*Tap Tap Tap*
"Hmm? Ah! Greetings your highness!"
""Greetings princess""
Hearing someone coming, everyone turned behind to look at the new arrival, the 7th princess of Yang Dynasty, Yang Lili, the first born of noble consort Su when she was a concubine. She was a small 6 years old girl, cute, chubby and sensible who was loved by all the maids who worked in the Wuming palace. She came to check on her mother and upon hearing an odd greeting, she stood in front a maid and asked "Sister, are you new here?"
Suddenly being called a sister by a princess, the maid's brain had a small short circuit. She processed the words and suddenly blushed, her heart started beating wildly as stammered and replied,
"Y..y..your highness, p..please forgive me! I am a lowly maid unworthy of being called a sister by your highness, and yes, I am new here."
"Hehe, don't be afraid big sis, I am not a tiger. And don't call me your highness, just call me princess like everyone else, understood?"
"Yes Yes, this maid obeys your order."
"Ahem, that's good. Ahh right, mother is still inside, do you know when my brother or sister will be born?"
The rough maid bowed and replied, "Soon your highness. She has been in labour since afternoon, I think your highness' brother or sister will be born soon."
"I hope - Achoo!"
"Princess, it's too cold outside, you will get cold. Please return to your chambers and warm up, I will inform you when your sibling is born."
"Achoo, don't worry, I am very strong. Even my mother said that I *Achoo* stay as warm as a phoenix*Achoo* in winter."
The maids looked at each other and were speechless for a while and the rough maid broke out in a bitter smile. They didn't knew anything about the princess being as warm as a phoenix, but one thing was sure that if she caught cold, consort Su will really become a phoenix and burn them nicely into charcoal. Don't look at how kind she is to her subordinates, when it comes to her daughter, she even confronts his majesty.
They still remember when his majesty didn't pay attention to Lili for 2 years, causing her to become sad and teary everyday. Even after being reminded by the noble consort Su, he actually forgot, so she directly complained to the empress dowager and the emperor had to listen an earful.
It's a different matter that after that nagging, the emperor didn't favoured her for 6 months before his hormones took over him. But after the incident, the emperor always took out time every month to play with Lili and his few other children.
So how could they ignore the health of the princess? But before anyone could speak, a shrill cry came from the delivery room followed by the midwives shouts.
"Push more, push more!"
"Yes, it's coming, I can see the head!"
"Just a little more!"
"Yay! My sibling is about to come!"
Everyone outside turned to look at the door aa princess Lili was excited in anticipation for her brother or sister.
Soon, the voices grew louder and the destined time arrived
"Ahhhhhh!!"
"Wahhhh.."
"Yaahhhh!!"
Inside the room, followed by the concubine Su's shout and baby's cry, the midwives also shouted with joy as they cleaned the child, cut the umbilical cord and bought him to the gasping concubine, whose face was flushed but still filled with maternal love.
"Congratulations consort Su, you gave birth to a healthy dragon! Congratulations consort Su!
""Congratulations consort Su!"
After an hour, the eunuch Wei came back in a carriage. After disembarking, he clasped his fists as another beardless eunuch got down the carriage. He was old, wrinkled, but still no trace of facial hair. He was a man without any power, no posts, but whenever he spoke on behalf of a certain person, people's heart would rise to their throats. One word could decide the fate of millions. He was the personal eunuch of the emperor of Yang Dynasty, Eunuch Ge.
Eunuch Ge didn't wasted time on formalities and rushed to the delivery chamber. Upon seeing the healthy mother and child, he breathed a sigh of relief.
'Fortunately, both noble consort Su and the prince are safe. Strifes of the harem have increased and the inner palace has turned into a battleground. But it's still better that no one has targeted the consort, given her prestige as the noble consort, they would have to be careful lest they get their heads chopped off.'
"Congratulations consort Su for giving birth to a strong dragon. His majesty is overjoyed and has gave the imperial edict to bless the prince with the majestic name of Yang Tian and said that the name Tian will bless him to shine as brightly as the sun in heavens"
After thinking it through he bowed and congratulated the consort, as well as announced the edict.
"Yang Tian? Truly, my son's brilliance will truly blind them all."