Chapter 79 (1/2)
Glossary
时辰 | sichen | time system comprising of 12 two-hour periods of the day; one sichen is the equivalent of two modern hours
Xuanyuan Zong Zhi’s eyes were brimming tenderness as he gazed at his wife and she bore the full brunt of his affection and distress: “You and the children are the most important people in this world to me. There may not be the slightest mistake and in the future, you must absolutely protect yourself well.”
“Big Brother Lu, you are also my most important person.”
This was the first time Xuanyuan Zong Zhi had heard his wife express her love, and he was incredibly moved from contentment and joy. Though he had a thousand words he wanted to say, he couldn’t even spit out half of one and only dazedly stared at her.
The door to the room opened and Yun Shi Wei rushed in with a face full of fear: “Spouse, when I returned from the barracks, I heard some people had come to make trouble. Are you all right?”
“With everyone present, how could something have happened to me?” There were two males in the room and also Yun Shi Yi who was in the distant Lan Zhou–How privileged she was to be so dearly loved by all of these outstanding men.
Yun Shi Wei saw his wife smiling sweetly and released his breath.
The next day, Xuanyuan Zong Zhi sent someone to the palace to hand the old Emperor a memorial requesting a long vacation so he could accompany his wife at home until she had given birth. During this idle period, he visited Hua Nong Ying Glass Workshop to supervise the manufacturing process and also headed to Tian Wang Embassy to oversee its construction.
In accordance to Ruan Zhu’s idea, Yun Shi Wei established a special force and devoted all of his energy on training. However, in the days leading up to his wife’s expected delivery date, he tried to find as much time as possible to stay at home and accompany her.
Following the new year, on the evening of the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, Ruan Zhu gave birth to twins of mixed sex. It only took two sichen from the start of contractions to the end of delivery, and the entire process went very smoothly.
After going through the previous difficult labor, this time, Xuanyuan Zong Zhi had prepared very thoroughly. Imperial Physician Zhang and Wet Nurse Li had prematurely been invited over and had already stayed in the residence for several days, enjoying their good food and drinks.
Xuanyuan Zong Zhi, Yun Shi Wei and Ruan Yu had anxiously waited in the outer room. Along with the wails of an infant in the delivery room–the elder brother arrived first and ten minutes later, the little sister also entered the world.
When the midwife yelled out: “A boy and a girl; a pair of mixed twins,” all of the ones waiting outside became jubilant.
“So it really was twins of mixed sex.” Xuanyuan Zong Zhi was over the moon. His taut nerves that had been stretched thin over these several days finally obtained relief, and he impatiently entered the delivery room. Face beaming with joy, he took his son from Wet Nurse Li, then after a while, placed him down and picked up his daughter. Looking at the child’s rosy and small face, he was so happy, his mouth couldn’t even close: “Baby, quickly say ‘Pa,’ I am your Pa.”
It’d be a wonder if such a small baby could understand him! It seemed that no matter how extraordinary a man was, he would still have a childish side. Ruan Zhu’s strength had all been used up after delivering the children. Too lazy to pay attention to him, she fell asleep.
Xuanyuan Zong Zhi placed particular importance on these two children and was the embodiment of a father showing off his pride and joy. He insisted on personally naming them. When Ruan Zhu had given birth to Zhi Xi, the naming privilege had been stolen by Father Ruan, and he was absolutely unwilling to let that happen this time.
The young couple had come up with over a dozen names while they had been waiting and right when it was time to make the final decision……An imperial edict arrived from the palace–the children’s paternal grandfather had come to join in the fun, naming the boy Xuanyuan Bo Yu and the girl Xuanyuan Bo Ya.
As Ruan Zhu was in confinement, she could not accept the imperial decree and waited in the room for her husband to bring over the edict for her to see. Once she did, she became incredibly angry. They had already agreed to give the son to the Ruan clan so why on earth did the Emperor come to meddle?
Xuanyuan Zong Zhi saw that his wife’s expression was not good: “Don’t be angry. If worst comes to worst, I will yield the privilege of thinking of their pet names to you.” Actually, the two people had argued over several days on the topic of naming their children and the dispute had caused them both to be red in the face as neither of them were willing to yield to the other. In the end, Xuanyuan Zong Zhi conceded as he could not win over his wife, and Ruan Zhu had promised to let him come up with their pet names.
“You’re the one who said for me to think of the pet names~ What would be good to call them, hmm?” Ruan Zhu saw that the matter had been concluded and could only compromise. After thinking for a good while, her eyes became shiny: “Our son will be called Jack and our daughter will be Alice. How about that? Doesn’t it sound nice?” 《Alice in Wonderland》was her favorite movie and it must be said that the little girl was extremely cute.
After giving birth, a woman would inevitably be beside oneself with joy and would also not be concerned with whether or not a name was regarded as appalling or shocking in the current era. During the time when Zhi Xi was being named, she had come up with a whole bunch of pet names, such that she’d call him this today, called him that tomorrow, and finally made it so that no one knew what name the child should or should not be called. Thus, they all simply called him by his formal name.
This was what and what? Xuanyuan Zong Zhi was flabbergasted. How could his precious children be called such strange names? If others knew, wouldn’t they laugh themselves to death?[a] He hummed and hawed: “Might it be possible for me to take back the privilege?”
“Not possible.” Ruan Zhu was solemn: “Since my manly husband has spoken, it is like a white dye stained black and one may not renege.”
In other matters, Xuanyuan Zong Zhi could reach a compromise with his wife, but this time, he was a hundred percent insistent. No matter what she said, he would not consent to giving his children such peculiar names. He himself refused to call them with those names and also instructed others to do the same.
On the topic of picking a pet name for her nephew, Ruan Yu firmly stood on the side of her brother-in-law, and the result was that Ruan Zhu alone called the children by their pet names, angering her so much that she refused to speak to her husband for a good several days. In actuality, she only wanted to play around for a bit. If she were to truly give her children such shocking pet names, she would really need to think it over.
Xuanyuan Zong Zhi found two wet nurses for his children that were the wives of some of his subordinate imperial bodyguards with very clean backgrounds. The twins received proper care, leaving Ruan Zhu completely idle. However, as a qualified mother, she spent the majority of her time with them everyday as she was absolutely not willing for them to become close to their wet nurses and completely forget about her, their mother, after she had painstakingly given birth to them.
On the fifteenth day of the second lunar month, the twins turned one month old. Xuanyuan Zong Zhi arranged a huge banquet and invited members of the court to celebrate. It was one of those banquets that lasted three days and guests could come and go as they pleased. Even the beggars on the streets basked in the light and were provided with steamed buns, copper coins, and clothes in turn.
The old Emperor in the palace sent an envoy to deliver many gold and silver jewels and other related items. The head of the palace eunuch grasped the imperial edict and read out in his high-pitched voice: By the Mandate of Heaven, the Emperor hereby decrees……and so on and so forth. The general meaning was that the son could inherit his father’s position and title in the future, but the daughter should also have a title and has now been bestowed the title of ‘county princess.’
Ruan Zhu did not care too much about these so-called titles as they were merely things to give one face. In the future, the children would still need to rely on their own ability to earn money. However, having something was better than nothing and she followed her husband in offering her thanks for the grace.
When Yun Shi Yi received the news that his wife had given birth to a pair of mixed twins, he sent over two large carriages of gifts. As an individual, Yun Shi Wei did not have much of property or assets and used the salary he had acquired as an official to buy a pair of golden locks engraved with a qilin[b] from a jewelry store as gifts for the twins.
The weather warmed. The twins had the wet nurses looking after them and little Zhi Xi stuck next to Xuanyuan Zong Zhi every day calling to ‘wide horsey.’ Ruan Zhu had gained a reputation in the social circles of the capital and was frequently invited by Madams of government officials to parties. This could be counted as her having experienced the enthusiastic and intoxicating extravagant lifestyle of the upper class.
On this day, she arrived at Princess Long Yuan’s residence as a guest. This Princess was the Emperor’s biological little sister and based on the family hierarchy, was Xuanyuan Zong Zhi’s paternal aunt. This year, she was forty-some years of age. The several husbands by her side had all passed away one after the other from illness and her children had long moved out and settled down elsewhere. Because she had a reputation of bring bad luck on her husbands, no other man dared to enter her residence as a concubine. The Princess also did not want to accept anyone and lived unfettered by herself. When she had nothing to do, she would invite some ladies from the imperial court to get together for some fun.
Ruan Zhu was fond of this easygoing elder Princess. After she arrived, she saw that the other was currently playing mahjong with several court madams.
Speaking of mahjong, there is a little bit of history here. It had reportedly originated from the Crown Prince’s residence. One of the Crown Prince’s aides had studied it from who knows where and the game had then slipped its way inside the Empress’s palace. Not long after, mahjong became popular among the aristocracy in the capital.