This day was the birthday of Taifu Yang Su, who was one of the Three Dukes and the elder brother of Yang Ji, the mother of Jin Yuehou. Therefore, although Yang's house did not hold a big banquet, there was still an endless stream of relatives and old friends who came to congratulate him.
Yang Su was over fifty years old, with white hair and beard. He was upright and strong-willed, and because of his poor health in recent years, he did not care much about state affairs. He only held the honorific title of Taifu, but was not in charge of any specific affairs.
But at this moment, in the quiet room of his house, there were several dignitaries in power in the court sitting.
Zhao Jikao, the Minister of State Affairs, was the first to speak: "For the sake of Bianzhou, the lord is really determined to mobilize the army, recruit troops and introduce new policies, which has caused a great uproar in the capital."
"My lord is still too young and full of vigor, and he doesn't know the severity of the situation." Shaofu Shi Quan shook his head and said, "On the battlefield, if you use slaves to fight against brave soldiers, only one or two out of ten will survive. No matter how many there are, they are just for numbers. What use are they?"
"Those slaves are the lord's own property. If the lord doesn't listen to our advice, what can we, as his subjects, do?" Taibao Weisibu sighed, "One song to deslave them. After this battle, even if the slaves didn't die, most of them have been deslave. The lord is greatly weakening his own strength. By then, the lord will be weak and the retainers will be strong, which is not a sign of a prosperous country. Alas!"
Yang Su listened to their chatter and thought of the rumors that had been going on in recent days. He felt annoyed and frowned, "It is indeed as you said. This matter is very bad. My sister is at the table today. I will tell her about this matter in detail and ask her to advise the lord."
Zhao Jikao leaned forward slightly and said, "Taifu, I recently heard a rumor, I wonder if it is true."
"The lord has a new favorite, named Mo Qiaosheng. He dotes on her very much, invites her to his bed every night, and is almost inseparable from her." He looked around and lowered his voice slightly, "This man is a slave. I heard that the lord made such a big fuss this time, ostensibly to support Bianzhou, but in fact it was just for this man's identity."
Wei Sibu pretended to dissuade him: "Brother Zhao, please don't speak nonsense. Is the lord such a ridiculous person?"
"You have seen, Lord Wei, who are the people the Lord has appointed when he came back this time?" Zhao Jikao curled his lips. "Zhang Fu and Helan Zhen, both of them are young, handsome and suave. Poor Lord Han, he was dismissed from his post as the Internal Affairs Minister for no reason. Such a lucrative position in charge of the country's purse fell into the hands of that pretty boy Zhang Fu."
Yang Su's face turned pale, he slammed the table, stood up and walked out angrily.
The people present exchanged glances with each other and showed satisfied expressions.
Cheng Qianye returned to the bedroom and talked to Mo Qiaosheng beside him as he walked.
"From the inspection today, the new policy has been well communicated and the effect is much better than we expected."
Mo Qiaosheng followed suit: "Master, this move has really inspired the people. According to my inquiries today, not only are slaves like me extremely excited, but even the common people in the wild and the civilians in the city are also eager to try and come to apply for military service."
Cheng Qianye said excitedly, "Yes! To my surprise, the number of recruits is increasing day by day. I asked Helan Zhen to intensify the training of these newly recruited soldiers and the 50,000 slaves under my name so that they can go to reinforce Bianzhou as soon as possible."
An eunuch who was serving in the hall stood aside, looking evasive and hesitant.
"What's the matter?" Cheng Qianye was in a good mood and asked as he sat down.
The eunuch lowered his head and quietly pinched a jade pendant in his sleeve. It was Xiaohuan, Concubine Xu's personal maid, who had forced it on him while begging for it in the afternoon.
He remembered his fellow villager Xiaohuan's pleading, and finally plucked up the courage to bow and reply.
"I heard that there was some movement from Concubine Xu in the afternoon. My Lord, do you want to go and take a look?"
Cheng Qianye didn't care and waved his hand, saying, "She gave birth to a child, and I don't know what's the point of going there? Why didn't you report it to the Madam?"
The eunuch bowed his head and reported, "The Madam's brother is celebrating his birthday today. The Madam went to the banquet and has not returned to the palace yet."
Cheng Qianye looked at the inner servant in front of him, who had hidden anxiety, fear and worry in his heart.
Something is not right.
She thought of Concubine Xu's frightened look all day long, and she couldn't bear it anymore. She stood up and said to Mo Qiaosheng, "Come with me to see what's going on."
When they arrived at Chaowu Palace, where Concubine Xu was waiting to give birth, the maids who usually served her were standing in the outer hall, some with pale faces, huddled together and trembling. Some were calm and composed, not looking away.
There was only one palace maid crying her eyes out, tied up with ropes and falling to the ground.
Cheng Qianye recognized her as Concubine Xu's personal servant.
"What's going on?" Cheng Qianye asked in a deep voice.
Everyone was surprised to see her suddenly barge in.
Cheng Qianye didn't wait for their reply and strode straight into the inner hall.
At this moment, in the delivery room of the inner hall, Concubine Xu was sweating profusely, her face was pale, and she was struggling on the couch.
The person leading the room was a female official.
He was the most useful person around Madam Yang, the Grand Chamberlain Cui, who was in charge of all the affairs in the palace.
She gave a look to a midwife who was assisting Concubine Xu in giving birth. The midwife stood up and wiped the sweat off her head with her sleeve. "The child is too big. There is really no other way. It seems that only one can be saved."
Cui said coldly: "Xu Fei, you have seen it too. It's not that we are cruel, it's that you really can't give birth. In order to protect the bloodline of the heir, you have to suffer."
Concubine Xu was shocked. She was so weak that she could barely stand up. With tears in her eyes, she begged, "Please help me again, maids."
Cui snorted coldly: "This is the master's first child, how can it withstand the slightest mistake? Now it's you who is useless, who can you blame?"
Knowing that Madam Yang would not spare her life, Concubine Xu felt sad, but she had been pregnant for ten months and was about to give birth. She wanted so much to hold her own flesh and blood in her hands.
She burst into tears and begged, "Please be flexible, Madam, and ask my husband to come and see me for the last time. I will entrust a few words to this child, and I will die without regrets."
"What a joke! Don't even mention that the master is not in the palace right now. Even if he is, this is the delivery room, a bloody place. How can the master come in to see you?" Yang raised her chin and said to the midwife beside her, "Stop talking nonsense and get started!"
The midwife nodded and brought out a plate with a pair of sharp scissors and a stack of doilies on it.
Concubine Xu couldn't help but scream and struggle in fear.
Several strong maids rushed over, held down her hands and feet, and covered her mouth. Concubine Xu was weak and in labor, so she had no way to break free. She could only open her eyes wide in fear and whimper.
The midwife raised the scissors, came to Concubine Xu, and said, "Madam, please don't blame me. You gave birth to a child for the master. The master and the madam will remember your kindness. The young master will also be taken care of by the madam. You can go with peace of mind."
Just about to take action.
The door curtain was opened with a rustling sound, and Cheng Qianye stepped in, with a cold face, and angrily said: "What are you doing!"
Everyone in the room was startled and loosened their hands and feet. The midwife's hand trembled, and the scissors fell to the ground with a clang, shaking continuously.
Concubine Xu struggled to get up. She was sweating all over, her hair was sticky everywhere, and the blankets under her were soaked with amniotic fluid and blood. She trembled and stretched out her hand to Cheng Qianye: "Husband, husband, please save me, save my life."
Cheng Qianye turned his eyes away, looking at the scissors still swinging on the ground, suppressing the anger in his heart, gritted his teeth and said, "Go, call the imperial physician."
The maids in the room all looked up at Cui, then lowered their heads, stammering in silence but not moving a muscle.
Cui came to Cheng Qianye and knelt down to salute, forcing a smile, "My lord, this is the delivery room, you are not allowed to enter, it may cause bloodshed, which is not good for my lord. Please go out first, and let the servants handle this."
Cheng Qianye was so angry that she stopped getting angry. She laughed and said, "The chief minister in charge of the harem? Very good, come out with me, all of you!"
Cui hesitated.
Cheng Qianye's face turned cold, he flicked his sleeves and was the first to leave the house.
Cui was feeling uneasy, but then she thought, I am acting on the orders of the Dowager Lady. Even if the lord is angry, he cannot contradict his mother for a concubine. I just need to wait until the Dowager Lady comes back and everything will be fine.
She breathed a sigh of relief and waved to everyone in the room.
A group of people filed out.
Cheng Qianye sat down in the main seat and ordered people to untie the palace maid named Xiaohuan.
"Go, go in and look after your wife first."
Xiaohuan kowtowed several times and crawled into the delivery room.
Na Cui smiled and stepped forward to speak.
Cheng Qianye looked at her silently for a long while. This person exuded a disgusting color from the inside out. She was both vicious and cruel.
"Qiao Sheng." Cheng Qianye closed his eyes and made a gentle gesture.
Mo Qiaosheng said nothing, strode forward, grabbed Cui's collar, and regardless of her struggles and cries, dragged her out of the door and threw her to the ground.
There was a flash of knife, and the Da Changqiu, who had always been domineering in the palace, let out a shrill scream and fell to the ground.
The bright red blood flowed all the way down the stairs outside the palace gate.
Everyone in the hall could not believe that their lord, who was just talking and smiling, would disregard the Dowager's feelings at all and execute the Grand Chamberlain Cui on the spot.
Now they all started to panic and knelt down to kowtow and beg for mercy.
Cheng Qianye looked around, pointed at a female official in the crowd and asked, "What's your name and your official position?"
The female official fell to the ground, trembling, and answered, "My name is Axia, and I was originally an official under the Grand Chamberlain."
"Okay, you will take over the position of Grand Chamberlain temporarily now." Cheng Qianye said.
Axia didn't expect that the situation would take such an unexpected turn. Suddenly, a pie fell from the sky and hit her on the head. She didn't know whether to be surprised or happy.
"Two things you need to do right now. Once you've done them, you'll be the Grand Chamberlain in charge of palace affairs." Cheng Qianye said, "First, take this midwife out with a hundred men and quickly summon an experienced midwife from the palace to serve you. Second, quickly summon the imperial physician. Go."
"Yes, yes, I will definitely do it, I will definitely do it." Axia quickly got up and first assigned a few maids who were on good terms with her to punish the midwife, while she herself ran to find a reliable midwife.
Cheng Qianye was sitting in the outer hall with his arms and legs spread wide. The midwife and the imperial physician who had hurried over were all shocked when they saw the body lying in front of the door. They bowed their heads and greeted, then hurried inside, daring not to do their best.
After several hours, a baby's cry was heard in the delivery room.
Cheng Qianye became happy and entered the room.
"Congratulations, my lord. Congratulations, my lord. It's a handsome little boy."
The midwife handed the wrapped baby to Cheng Qianye's arms. Cheng Qianye looked at the wrinkled newborn in his arms with great curiosity. The baby closed his eyes, tilted his head towards Cheng Qianye's arms, and pouted his round mouth like a little fish. This made Cheng Qianye laugh.