The Crown Princess had been in labor for an entire night. The midwife stuffed ginseng slices into her mouth for the fifth time and shouted into her ear, "Your Highness, use more strength. Just a little bit more!"
The Crown Princess's consciousness was already blurred and she couldn't even scream. She shook her head slightly and looked like she was about to faint.
If she really fainted, the two babies in her belly would suffocate, and she might not be able to save the mother. The midwife was worried, but she didn't dare to say it. She pressed hard on the Crown Princess' belly while looking back for Nurse Song.
"Come here and say something to Master to wake her up. If she really fainted, everyone in the room would …" She gestured to her neck.
Nurse Song hurriedly came forward to wipe her master's sweat. She racked her brains to think of an excuse, such as' His Highness the Crown Prince is waiting for you outside ',' His Majesty has been waiting for you for a long time ',' If something happens to you, wouldn't your enemies be happy? ', and so on. The Crown Princess didn't respond, and her eyelids were getting heavier.
Nurse Song suddenly had a flash of inspiration and shouted, "Your Highness, do you still remember the dragon-phoenix lot that Miss Xiang 'er drew? She said that the gods and Buddhas in the sky were using her hand to bless you. We are now in Baiyun Taoist Temple. Maybe Dao Zu is watching us from the sky! The bamboo turned into a dragon and a phoenix into the sky. The light of Dao shines and dispels all evil. With Dao Zu's blessing, those evil people won't be able to hurt you. You and the two little imperial grandsons will be safe and sound! This is God's will, God's will! Your Highness, if you use more strength, the little imperial grandsons will be out in the next moment! "
The Crown Princess' eyelids were still drooping at first, but when she heard the last few words, her eyes suddenly widened. She chewed the ginseng slices in her mouth and swallowed the ginseng juice. She screamed and used more strength. When people were at their most desperate, they would always pray to the gods and Buddhas they believed in for help. The Crown Princess was no exception. With the hint of the lot in front of her, she suddenly surged with infinite hope and strength. She actually came back to life at the moment of death and fought for a future for herself.
The sky was slightly bright. The Crown Prince stood in the corridor for the whole night.
Unknowingly, the drizzle had stopped, leaving behind only a sky-blue mist that shrouded the entire mountaintop. In the distance, the towering and precipitous peaks were faintly discernible in the rolling clouds. The scenery was breathtakingly beautiful.
Suddenly, a gap appeared in the thick clouds, and golden rays of light spilled down from the gap, projecting onto the peak of a mountain. The colorful halos spread out layer by layer, making the sky blue color of the mountain come alive.
The light was so dazzling that it attracted the attention of several Dragonscale Guards. They turned their heads to look and were stunned.
Right at this moment, a shrill scream could be heard from the delivery room, followed by two loud and clear cries. There were people constantly shouting, "She's giving birth! She's giving birth!" Their voices were filled with tears of joy.
The Crown Prince quickly walked to the door, only to see Song mama holding a baby wrapped in a cloth in each hand. She cried and laughed as she shouted, "Congratulations, Your Highness. This is the little prince, and this is the little princess. Please take a look. Her Highness the Crown Princess is safe. Please don't worry! "She leaned over and revealed the two red little faces in her arms.
The Crown Prince stretched out his hands, not knowing which one to hug first. The huge stone in his heart fell to the ground, making him feel dizzy.
But at this moment, countless fragmented halos spread out, enveloping the entire Baiyun Temple in colorful divine light. Several Dragonscale Guards pointed at the mountain peak surrounded by a circular rainbow and shouted, "The Dao light shines, auspicious signs descending from the heavens. This is the birth of the child of destiny!"
Everyone looked up and was mesmerized by this wonderful scene of nature. The words "the Dao light shines" kept echoing in their minds. Song mama recovered from her daze and hurriedly knelt down carefully with the children in her arms. She shouted, "Thank you, Dao Ancestor, for blessing Her Highness and the two imperial grandsons. Thank you, Dao Ancestor!"
When she said those words of encouragement to the Crown Princess, her heart was beating like a drum. Now that she saw this brilliant and dazzling Dao light, she was so excited that she almost cried. These two children were spiritual children bestowed by the Dao Ancestor. They would definitely be extraordinary in the future!
The Crown Prince bent down to take the children and slowly walked out of the eaves, allowing them to be completely bathed in the Dao light. With the baptism of the divine light, all disasters would eventually be far away from them.
The Dragonscale Guards knelt down one after another and shouted, "Congratulations, Crown Prince, auspicious signs descending from the heavens!"
The so-called Dao light was nothing more than a circular rainbow formed by the refraction and diffuse reflection of the clouds. But in the eyes of ignorant ancient people, it was undoubtedly a miracle.
Inside the delivery room, the midwife opened the window a crack and helped the crown prince consort up so that she could admire this rare spectacle. She said softly, "Niang niang, the light of the Dao illuminates all evils and dispels them. It's hard to say how the mastermind is wringing his wrists and jumping about right now. You can sleep in peace. "
The Crown Princess smiled lightly and closed her eyes to sleep. Although her lower body was tearing apart, this was the first time she slept so soundly since she was pregnant. With the blessing of the Dao Ancestor, she was finally safe.
When the news reached the capital, the Emperor was wild with joy and sent several urgent edicts for the Crown Prince to quickly send the Crown Princess and the two Imperial Grandsons back. The more happy he was, the more he hated the person behind the scenes. He secretly ordered Yu Pinyan to thoroughly investigate this matter. He would rather kill the wrong person than let it go. Yu Pinyan took the opportunity to report that Shen Miao Qi was suspected to be the blood of the Marquis Household. The Emperor did not take it seriously and said that once she was cleared of suspicion, she could be taken away and he acted as if he did not know anything.
Yu Pinyan gladly accepted the order.
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When the Crown Princess woke up, the ban on Bai Yun Guan had not been lifted and everyone was detained in the courtyard to be investigated. Because the Emperor sent an urgent edict, the Crown Prince prepared a comfortable and warm carriage and ordered the coachman to slowly return to the capital.
When the Crown Princess left, she did not forget to bring Old Matriarch Yu back and ordered Song Momo to personally send her to the entrance of the Marquis Household.
After four shichen (1 shichen = 2 hours), Song Momo was still very excited. She pulled Old Matriarch Yu's hand the whole way and described the scene of the bright light. She repeatedly sighed, "Miss Xiang 'er is indeed a spiritual person. There were so many lots but she just had to draw the Dragon and Phoenix lots. Especially the last sentence of the lot, it was simply godly! If I did not see it with my own eyes, I would have thought that I was dreaming! It is a pity that Miss Xiang 'er left first and did not see it. Our The Ninth Princess was stunned at that time and stood in the courtyard jumping and screaming … "
Old Lady Taitai excitedly discussed with her and was also looking forward to seeing the miracle. It was a pity that she woke up late and only saw a bit of light that had not dissipated.
Time passed quickly and they arrived at the Marquis Household very quickly. Song Momo attentively helped Old Lady Taitai into the house and had people carry several large boxes of expensive gifts, saying that Her Highness had brought them for Miss Xiang 'er.
The Pei Clan also benefited from Old Lady Taitai and took the last carriage to go down the mountain. Otherwise, they would have been frightened to death by a group of Dragonscale Guards covetously staring at them all day.
The two of them said goodbye at the fork in the road. The Pei Clan hurriedly returned to their rooms to wash up while Old Lady Taitai went straight to the West Wing to visit her granddaughter.
"Old Ancestor, why are you back so early?" Yu Xiang raised her head and mumbled sleepily.
It was already a quarter to nine in the morning and she was still lying on the bed sleeping. She did not wear anything on her upper body except for a pair of smoky green bloomers. Part of the quilt was lifted, revealing half of her fair and tender jade-like arm. When the sunlight shone in from outside the window, it actually gave off a lustrous glow. It was really very seductive.
Old Lady Taitai walked over and tucked her in, then tidied her unkempt hair and scolded, "Lazy girl, what time is it and you are still lying in bed? Quickly get up! You don't know, right? The Crown Princess gave birth prematurely! "
Yu Xiang was completely awake. She propped up her upper body and asked, "What did she give birth to? Is it a boy or a girl? "
"She gave birth to a pair of twins. Her horoscope is really good. The heavens even sent down an auspicious sign …" Old Lady Taitai told her the story she had heard from Nanny Song about the Light of Dao shining on all things. She lovingly pinched the tip of her granddaughter's nose and smiled, "My granddaughter is really a little lucky star! Is your back done soaking? Let Old Ancestor take a look. "
Yu Xiang brushed her long hair aside and said, "It's much better after applying some medicine. Old Ancestor, don't be happy yet. I want to tell you something depressing … "
Old Lady Taitai was smiling at first, but when she heard the last part, her face became so gloomy that it could drip water.
Yu Xiang rubbed the corners of her eyes and complained in a sobbing voice, "The Fang Clan humiliated me like this. Old Ancestor, you have to help me!" After she finished speaking, she blinked her cat eyes and tears streamed down her face. She looked very pitiful.
Old Lady Taitai didn't know whether to laugh or cry. She poked her forehead and said angrily, "Quickly put away the cat urine. Do you think I don't know your character? It's already good that you didn't scold that Fang Clan boy until he wanted to die from shame and anger. "
Yu Xiang wiped away her tears and smiled shyly, "If I don't scold him to death, how can I relieve the hatred in my heart? Old Ancestor, you should quickly drive them away. Living in the Marquis Household is annoying for no reason. "
"Okay, Old Ancestor will send people to drive them away." Old Lady Taitai rubbed the top of her granddaughter's head and sighed, "Men are afraid of entering the wrong profession, women are afraid of marrying the wrong man. The Pei Clan married the wrong person after all. Those salt merchants stole the Emperor's silver and lived more luxurious lives than the Emperor. They even praised the salt administration officials until they didn't know the immensity of heaven and earth. But they didn't know that the more wealthy they were, the closer they were to death. This time, the Crown Princess and the two little imperial grandsons were killed. The Emperor's heart was filled with anger, but he had nowhere to vent it. They should be used to vent it. I also watched the Pei Clan grow up in the past. When they were young, they still had some bearing. After soaking in that noisy and flashy place of Yangzhou for a few years, they were like vulgar merchant women who didn't have any knowledge. Ai … "
Old Lady Taitai shook her head and sighed for a long time. Seeing that it was getting late, she repeatedly urged her granddaughter to get up. Then, she returned to her room and ordered Mama Ma to wake Yu Siyu.
Yu Siyu trembled as she knelt down. Just as she was about to open her mouth to complain, she heard Old Lady Taitai ask in a deep voice, "How are you? Your wings have hardened. You even dare to do such a disgraceful thing as secretly meeting an outsider. You even brought him into your boudoir. Is the Fang Clan so good that you didn't hesitate to lose your reputation to marry them? "
Yu Siyu gritted her teeth and kowtowed, "Granddaughter doesn't care whether the Fang Clan is good or not. Granddaughter is only in love with Fang gongzi. Since my reputation has been ruined, please grant me my wish, Old Ancestor. "
Yu Siyu had heard the Pei Clan describe her family's situation before. Not only were the clothes and jewelry they wore priceless, even the food they ate was incomparably exquisite. A simple plate of egg-fried rice cost 50 taels of silver to make. The hens that laid eggs ate ginseng, astragalus root, atractylodes macrocephala, red dates, and other ground powders every day. They were truly extremely wealthy. Moreover, Fang Zhichen was so talented and had a bright future. He was exactly the kind of man she had imagined countless times in her mind.
If she missed out on the Fang Clan, she was afraid that she wouldn't be able to find a better place to go in the future.
Old Lady Taitai was so angry that she laughed and slowly said, "What do you mean by my reputation has been ruined? I'll deal with that Qing Ya later. The Qiu Clan, Tao Hong, and Liu Lu definitely won't spread this matter. How is your reputation ruined? It's you who doesn't want it anymore, right? "
She fiercely threw the teacup in her hand and reprimanded, "How did my Prefecture Yu give birth to such a shameless thing like you!"
Yu Siyu's forehead was red and swollen, but she didn't show any remorse. She repeatedly kowtowed and said, "Please grant me my wish, please grant me my wish. Granddaughter doesn't have any other wishes. Please grant me my wish, Old Ancestor. I'll remember your kindness for the rest of my life …"
Old Lady Taitai muttered to herself for a while, then coldly said, "Since you've already made up your mind, I have no choice but to grant you your wish. In a month, I'll personally visit the Pei Clan to discuss the marriage. I don't need you to remember my kindness. I just hope that you won't go back on your words at the last minute … "
"Granddaughter will never go back on her words!" Yu Siyu couldn't wait to promise.
Old Lady Taitai stared at her for a while, then waved her hand to let her leave.
Mama Ma asked worriedly, "The Old Lady, are you really going to marry Eldest Miss to the Fang Clan? How can this be? "
"Why can't it be? The young imperial grandson's death has caused the Emperor to be furious. He'll definitely use thunderous methods to purge the Qing Dynasty from inside and outside the court. In three months, the dust will have settled on the salt tax case. The Fang Clan won't be able to escape this calamity. Fang Zhichen's recent scholarly achievements will probably be used to atone for his crimes. He'll become a commoner and his official career will be ruined. I won't have to worry about the Emperor suspecting my Marquis Household. I can marry Yu Siyu over. Didn't she cry and beg for this? I'll grant her her wish. "
Mama Ma was speechless for a long time. She felt that Eldest Miss was hateful and pitiful at the same time. If she hadn't made such a fuss, she could've married into a well-off family and lived a stable life. If Old Lady Taitai really steeled her heart to marry her to the Fang Clan, she would suffer in the future.