The baby in the womb seemed to hear Tao Ti's prayers, and the next delivery went incredibly smoothly.
The midwife was sweating, one of the palace servants fed Tao Ti water, the other wiped Tao Ti's sweat, and Tao Ti was holding the quilt with both hands, sweating profusely.
"Empress Empress, try harder, sooner or later, this old slave is looking at the head of the emperor's heir."
"Your Majesty, take a deep breath and work hard in one place!"
"..."
Tao Ti really wanted to scream, but the midwife said that screaming would loose her strength, so she could only hold her breath.
Fortunately, this torture didn't last long. About an hour later, two crisp baby cries came from the delivery room.
Hearing the powerful cries, the midwife couldn't help being surprised and said, "Your Majesty is really lucky, this is both the first child and the twins, and the birth is so fast and smooth. The old slave has been delivering the baby for so many years, and it is the first time. See you."
Tao Ti smiled weakly, and asked Linglong to feed her ginseng soup.
"Your Majesty, the first one to come out is the little prince, and the last one is the little princess." Linglong had tears in her eyes. She had witnessed the birth of the prince and princess with her own eyes, and she had also seen the suffering of the empress and empress with her own eyes. Emotions are very complicated, both happy and distressed.
Tao Ti drank a bowl of ginseng soup, and with some strength in her body, she said softly, "Bring the child and show me."
Linglong responded and hurriedly sent someone to hug her.
Outside the hall, as soon as Pei Yan heard the cry of the baby, he wanted to rush into the room, but the maid stopped him, saying that the inside was heavily stained with blood, and the empress had not yet given birth, so he had to put on a sullen face, suppressing the anxiety in his heart, eyes But he kept his eyes on the direction of the inner hall.
When the midwife came out to announce the good news, he couldn't wait to step forward and asked in a deep voice, "How is the queen?"
The midwife smiled and said, "Don't worry, Your Majesty, the Empress is well, Xiaohuang..."
She wanted to say that the "little prince and little princess" are also very good, but before she finished speaking, she saw the emperor striding in, leaving only a hasty back.
This... don't even ask the children
As soon as Pei Yan stepped into the inner hall, he smelled a bloody smell. Although the windows were open and incense cakes were still burning in the room, it was still hard to hide.
The palace people had already changed clean sheets and bed covers at this moment, and the blood-stained sheets were placed in the copper basin. Pei Yan glanced at them, and seeing the blood stains, his heart sank.
He pursed his lips and went straight to the bed.
Tao Ti was leaning against a royal blue satin pillow, wearing a goose-yellow cloud satin to wipe her forehead, and two little babies were in her arms, one on the left and the other on the right. , Look at this for a while, look at that for a while, the eyes are full of joy.
The warm yellow candlelight shone on her body, making her hazy, as if emitting a gentle light.
Pei Yan's heart, which was full of anxiety, worry, and fear, calmed down unknowingly when he saw this scene.
An unprecedented and extremely strong emotion quickly flooded his whole body. His eyes were inexplicably sore, and his naturally hanging hands could not help but clenched tightly. He endured the surging passion in his chest, strode forward, and called out in a warm voice, " Artie."
Tao Ti raised her eyes and saw him, with a smile on her pale and haggard face, her misty black eyes shining brightly, and said to him happily, "Your Majesty, look at our babies, they are really small !"
Pei Yan was not in a hurry to see the child, but looked her up and down. Seeing that she was in good condition, the nerves that had been tense in her heart relaxed.
"Ah Ti, how do you feel now?"
"I'm a little tired, and I still feel a little uncomfortable under my body, but everything else is fine."
"Thanks a lot."
He stared at her deeply, his eyes were affectionate and shining brightly.
Tao Ti was embarrassed by his gaze, and hurriedly said, "Sit down and watch the children."
Only then did Pei Yan slowly sit down beside her, and set his eyes on the two children.
Tao Ti tilted her head and watched his expression quietly. Seeing that he didn't have much expression, she thought he was the same as herself at the beginning. When she saw the two children wrinkled, she thought they were ugly, and hurriedly added, "Don't look at them now. It's like a little monkey, the midwife said, it will become beautiful when it grows up in a few days."
Pei Yan curled her lips, "It's pretty."
Tao Ti, "Huh?"
Not really.
Pei Yan was very serious, and praised sincerely, "It's very beautiful, my son is like me, and my daughter is like you."
Tao Ti, "...?"
She looked down at the two red little monkeys who couldn't even open their eyes.
Uh, how do you look like it? A loving father filter
Pei Yanyan touched the faces of the two children with his hands, and the facial lines were a little more gentle.
Their children are the best.
"This is the elder brother, and this is the younger sister. The two came out front and rear."
"Well, very good, brother can protect my sister from now on."
The two looked at the children together for a while, and Pei Yan noticed the tiredness on Tao Ti's face, and beckoned the nanny to carry the two children down.
He turned around, helped her to lie down, and carefully tucked her quilt up. Immediately, he leaned over and kissed her eyes again, and said in a low voice full of tenderness, "Ah Ti, have a good sleep."
"Well, then I'll go to sleep." Tao Ti was really tired, she held his hand, closed her eyes, and soon fell asleep.
...
In the early morning of the second day, the news that the queen gave birth to twins spread throughout the court and harem.
Hearing the good news, Mrs. Zhang, Princess Jingyang, Qinghe, Xu Wenchan and others brought a bunch of gifts into the palace to visit Tao Ti.
When the Supreme Emperor of Xingqing Palace heard the news, he also rewarded a lot of gifts.
In the morning, Pei Yan shared the joy with the courtiers in a happy mood, and at the same time announced the amnesty of the world, reduced and exempted taxes for three years, benefited the common people, and accumulated blessings for the prince and princess.
All the officials congratulated, and the mountain shouted God bless Dayuan, long live Your Majesty.
When the little prince and princess were full moon, Pei Yan and Tao Ti took the two children to Xingqing Palace to visit the Supreme Emperor.
This was the first time that the Supreme Emperor saw his grandchildren. His health has been deteriorating over the past year, and his whole body is aging at a speed visible to the naked eye. His hair that was originally jet-black is now more than half white, and he looks haggard.
I heard from Li Gui that the Supreme Emperor often went to Fengyi Palace and sat in front of the tablets of Empress Gu and the First Prince for a whole day.
Sometimes he laughs idiotically, sometimes he is depressed and silent, his emotions are indistinguishable and elusive.
The imperial doctor only said that the Supreme Emperor had a heart disease, and heart disease needs to be healed by heart medicine. No matter how precious and rare ordinary medicine stones are, they are useless.
Both Pei Yan and Tao Ti knew what the Supreme Emperor's heart medicine was.
There is no medicine for his heart in this world, so he can only linger on and continue to be ill until he dies.
Speaking of this, the Supreme Emperor looked at the white and tender little prince and princess, afraid of getting sick, so he didn't hug them, but only narrowed his eyes and looked at them.
The two children were born as cute snow balls, and they were not afraid to see the gray-bearded and hair-haired Supreme Emperor, staring at him with big clear eyes.
Seeing the curious and pure eyes of his grandchildren, the Taishang Emperor's stern face softened a lot, and he stuffed two thick red envelopes for the two children as a meeting gift.
That night, the palace also held a grand full moon banquet for the prince and princess.
Among the guests who came to the palace banquet, everyone who saw the little prince and princess said they were cute.
—
Another month passed, and winter came.
On this day, Pei Yan went to court as usual.
In the court, some courtiers advised the emperor to draft concubines to fill the harem.
They thought in their hearts that when the queen was pregnant, His Majesty did not accept the concubine in order not to affect the queen's mood. Now that the empress has safely given birth to the prince and daughter, and is confinement again, there should be no other reason for your majesty to evade the concubine, right
However, facing the courtiers' remonstrance, Pei Yan once again refused, with a calm and loud tone—
"I have a crown prince and a state-owned heir. Why do I need concubines? Besides, for the royal family, it is not necessarily a good thing to have a thriving heir. I think that in order to avoid chaos in ten or twenty years, the matter of drafting is not necessarily a good thing. Don’t mention it any more.”
He meant something.
Smart people can tell that His Majesty is talking about the coercion incident of the third prince Pei Changzhou two years ago, which is taboo, how dare they answer it.
What's more, His Majesty's attitude has been so clear. After more than a year in power, the courtiers also understand that the new emperor is not as gentle as his appearance, and his tough methods are even worse than the Supreme Emperor. And nothing less.
But one is hiding a needle in the cotton, hiding a knife in a smile, and the other is killing decisively and making quick decisions. Anyway, father and son are not easy to deal with.
After retiring from the court, Fu Xirui could see that His Majesty's mood was not in a good mood, obviously he was overwhelmed by those courtiers who had no eyesight.
He hurriedly smiled, bent over and suggested, "Your Majesty, why don't you go to Weiyang Palace? Didn't the Empress also say that she made a special stone pot and what kind of stone pot chicken do you want to eat..."
Sure enough, when the empress was mentioned, the coldness in His Majesty's handsome brows and eyes dissipated a lot.
He twirled the jade wrench on his thumb, and after a while, he gave a low "hmm".
Fu Xirui immediately yelled happily, "Your Majesty sets out to drive Weiyang Palace—"
When Pei Yan arrived at Weiyang Palace, Tao Ti was sitting cross-legged on the long couch unwrapping presents, while the eldest prince and little princess were sleeping soundly in the golden cradle.
After more than a month of feeding, the two children are no longer wrinkled and red like newborns. Their skin is gradually white and plump, like the white of an egg that has been peeled off its shell. The eyebrows and eyes gradually opened. As Pei Yan said before, the little prince is indeed more like him, with a pair of beautiful peach blossom eyes, while the little princess is more like Tao Ti, with big round eyes and deep folds of eyelids, like As delicate as a doll.
Hearing the familiar footsteps from far to near, Tao Ti didn't raise her head, she just lowered her head and continued to unwrap the congratulatory gifts, saying hello, "Your Majesty, you are coming down."
"Yeah." Pei Yan walked over slowly, glanced at the gift on the table, "Is this from Rong Di?"
Tao Ti nodded in response. These gifts were all prepared by Qiongqi, including high-quality furs, gems, spices, and two exquisitely polished spike chains.
Qiongqi said in the letter that in the customs of Rongdi, the wolf teeth have the meaning of protection, and the wolf teeth hanging on the body can drive away evil spirits and avoid disasters, so as to ensure safety and success. These two hanging chains were made from the teeth of the wolf she had hunted herself, as her godmother's wish for the two little dolls.
Tao Ti planned to wait until the children were one year old before hanging them up. The children were still young at the moment, so she was afraid that they would stuff their mouths indiscriminately.
After the presents were unwrapped, she asked the palace people to pack them up.
Pei Yan walked to the side of the cradle, lowered his head, and looked at the two children quietly, feeling that he couldn't get enough of them.
It was winter at this time, and the little prince was wrapped in royal blue satin swaddling clothes embroidered with precious flowers, while the little princess was wrapped in lotus root pink swaddling clothes. These two colors made their skin white and tender like snow. They fell asleep peacefully, with black and soft hair, long eyelashes, and pink mouths, which were very painful.
Tao Ti got off the couch and walked to Pei Yan's side, her eyes fell on the two children, the corners of her lips curled up, a little twitching, "They are so good, they go to sleep after eating, and they don't make a fuss at all."
Pei Yan looked sideways, and seeing her slightly raised lips, the light in her eyes softened.
After more than a month of recuperation, she returned to her previous state, with a ruddy complexion and a slim figure. If there is any difference before and after giving birth, it is probably her temperament. Not as lively and innocent as before, but a little more charming and gentle.
After looking at the child for a while, Tao Ti turned around, raised her head and said to Pei Yan, "I heard that the courtiers are urging you to draft again?"
Speaking of this, Pei Yan frowned slightly, snorted coldly, and said, "They are all fed up. They can't even handle the trivial matters in their own harem, and they want to intervene in the harem affairs."
As he spoke, he took Tao Ti to sit down by the warm couch, let her sit on his lap, and wrapped his arms around her slender waist.
Leaning in his arms, Tao Ti raised her hand to touch his chin, her fingertips were slightly itchy due to the small stubble, she frowned and joked softly, "A beautiful woman is like a flower, isn't Your Majesty tempted? "
Pei Yan raised her eyebrows and looked down at her.
She is wearing a moon shadow white double-breasted jacket today, the buttons on the collar are not all fastened, and three buttons are unfastened. From Pei Yan's perspective, one can see her white and tender skin and the autumn-scented undershirt. Her black and voluminous hair was tied into a short bun and hung behind her head, and two strands of hair hung by her ears, adding a bit of lazy charm.
Like plump and ripe peaches hanging on the branches, it is mouth-watering.
Pei Yan felt a little thirsty in his throat, and his eyes darkened a little.
"My queen is the best in the world." He pressed her restless little hand, put it on his lips and bit it lightly, "If you have the best, why do you need others? You alone are enough." .”
When he said this, he leaned very close, and his warm breath gently brushed her earlobe.
Tao Ti's face couldn't help but feel hot, and her slender eyelashes trembled slightly.
Seeing her shy look, Pei Yan's throat rolled up and down.
He has been vegetarian for almost a year, and he can see, hug, and kiss, but he can't eat and wipe it off, God knows how tortured that feeling is.
Pei Yan's hand on her waist was tightened, his black eyes glowed with a deep and dangerous light, and he said in a hoarse voice, "If Artie doesn't believe my intentions, I don't mind to prove it with my own body."
Tao Ti was startled, and just about to say "I mind", the next moment she felt light, and she was directly picked up by the man.
"Your Majesty, it's only noon and the sky is still bright..."
"fine."
"But, but we haven't had lunch yet." Her stone pot chicken is still suffocating on the stove!
Pei Yan strode to the bed with her in his arms, bent down to put her down, narrowed his black eyes, and breathed heavily, "I'll eat you first."
After that, he leaned over and kissed her lips deeply.
The red curtain slowly hangs down, covering the charming room.
Outside the house, magpies climbed the branches and twittered. In winter, the bright sunshine shrouded the brilliant double-petaled crabapples in front of the courtyard, and the time became long and pleasant.
There is spring in the house, and people who love each other are doing happy things.
==(end of text)==