In the next few days, several groups of people came to the East Palace to congratulate her every day. Zhao Jingyu was afraid that Xie Nanjia would be tired of entertaining the guests, so he specially invited his two mothers-in-law to stay with him for a while. On the one hand, they could entertain the guests for Xie Nanjia, and on the other hand, they could chat with Xie Nanjia to relieve her boredom and teach her some precautions during pregnancy.
The mother, her two daughters, cherished this rare time together very much. They stayed together day and night, unwilling to be separated for a moment. Zhao Jingyu, on the other hand, was left aside and ignored. She regretted the decision she made in a fit of anger.
Sheng Qingluan and Sheng Qingyun stayed in the palace until the day before the Lantern Festival before leaving for home. During this time, all those who should have come to congratulate them had already come, and Xie Nanjia could finally have some peace and quiet.
Unexpectedly, on the day of the Lantern Festival, an uninvited guest suddenly arrived. Xie Nanjia was sitting under the window embroidering children's clothes. The eunuch who was guarding the door came in and reported that Princess Wen'an came to visit with gifts.
Everyone in the Eastern Palace knew that Princess Wen'an had a feud with the Crown Princess, and now she was the most destitute princess in the palace, so everyone was hostile to her, fearing that she would harm the Crown Princess.
When Xie Nanjia heard that Princess Wen'an wanted to see her, she was also surprised. Although Liusu and Biluo both opposed letting Princess Wen'an in, she still insisted on letting the eunuch bring her in.
Princess Wen'an was much thinner than before, and her clothes were no longer as luxurious as before. Perhaps the palace servants saw that she had fallen out of favor and began to skimp on her food and clothing.
After entering the room, she politely bowed to Xie Nanjia and handed the brocade box in her hand to Liusu, who was staring at her eagerly: "Take it. I don't have anything to show off right now, but I'm not the kind of person who would poison or tamper with it. If you're worried, just throw it away after I leave."
Liusu didn't expect her to speak like this, and looked at Xie Nanjia hesitantly.
Xie Nanjia smiled and nodded, motioning her to put the things away.
Princess Wen'an asked, "Sister-in-law, don't you want to check it first?"
"No need." Xie Nanjia said, "I may not be able to use them anyway. I have received too many things in the past few days. If you don't mind, I would like to give some to you."
Princess Wen'an: "..."
Well, I have never been better than her in terms of eloquence.
"I came here to congratulate you sincerely today," Princess Wen'an said, "and I also want to thank you, even though it's a little late."
"Oh?" Xie Nanjia raised her eyebrows slightly and asked with a smile, "Thank me for what? Thank me for not letting you go to marry?"
"Yes." Princess Wen'an said, "You are a man of your word, but that won't reduce my hatred for you."
What a contradictory girl! Xie Nanjia couldn't help but chuckle and spread her hands indifferently: "Whatever you want."
"I've always wanted to know how you persuaded my father to let Song Meiwei marry for me." Princess Wen'an said.
"It's not a difficult matter. Song Meiwei is more suitable than you." Xie Nanjia said, "Her previous fiancé died of illness, and she couldn't find a suitable family afterwards. After the death of King Nanzhao, it became even more difficult for her to find a good match. Nanzhao is relatively close to Silla, and she can adapt to the living habits and food and water. The most important point is that she will be the queen when she marries there, which is better than marrying someone randomly in the country. But you are different. Although your mother is gone, you still have the emperor's protection, so you don't have to worry about marrying a good family."
Princess Wen'an listened for a long time without saying anything. After a long while, she said quietly, "You are so thoughtful. I really underestimated you before."
"What about now?" Xie Nanjia asked with a smile, "Will you still hate me?"
"Yes!" Princess Wen'an replied stubbornly, bowed and left.
"Hey, who is this?" Biluo was so angry that she jumped up and down.
Xie Nanjia smiled and waved her hand, telling her not to worry about it.
Liu Su said: "Maybe she is too shy to change her words. Let her be. The Crown Princess doesn't care about it anyway."
"Yeah, that's the right way to think." Xie Nanjia lowered her head and continued to concentrate on embroidering her flowers.
In the past, she was so aggressive in order to avenge herself, to win a bright future for her son, and to clear obstacles for Zhao Jingyu. Now, all her wishes have come true, she lives a stable and happy life, and there is a new life in her belly. She gradually put away her former edge, and became gentle, indifferent, quiet, and tolerant. She set her sights higher and farther, and learned to be the emperor's woman with the world in her heart.
The days passed slowly, and when spring came and flowers bloomed, Kang Kang and the daughter of Minister An became engaged. In the summer, Cheng Zhiye's wife gave birth to a big fat boy for him.
Zhao Jingyu went to Cheng Zhiye's house to attend a wedding banquet. After returning, he lay on Xie Nanjia's belly and listened again and again. He said that Cheng Zhiye told him that the one who kicks hard is his son, and the one who kicks softly is his daughter.
"But you are sometimes fierce and sometimes gentle, are you a man or a woman?" After listening for a long time, he asked Xie Nanjia with a confused look on his face.
Xie Nanjia thought that what Cheng Zhiye said was pure nonsense. Seeing that he was very excited, she couldn't bear to spoil his fun, so she said casually: "Who knows, maybe they are twins!"
Zhao Jingyu was overjoyed and agreed repeatedly: "It's possible, very likely, your belly is obviously bigger than others."
Xie Nanjia frowned: "Are you staring at other people's wives' bellies all day long?"
"No, no, I just said it casually. Other people's wives are in other people's homes. How can I see them?" Zhao Jingyu quickly clarified.
"Tsk!" Xie Nanjia rolled her eyes at him. "If you want to know so much, why not call Dr. Sun to take my pulse carefully? He's good at this."
"That's not necessary." Zhao Jingyu said, "I was just curious. If he had diagnosed it in advance, it wouldn't have been a surprise."
Xie Nanjia: “…”
A few days later, Concubine Shu brought the little prince to visit the East Palace. Everyone teased the little prince and asked him whether his sister-in-law was pregnant with a nephew or a niece. The little prince pretended to touch Xie Nanjia's belly, and then told everyone loudly that he was pregnant with both a nephew and a niece.
Everyone laughed at his amusement, and no one took the child's joke seriously. Unexpectedly, when winter came and she was about to give birth, she actually gave birth to a pair of twins, a boy and a girl.
Because of her previous experience of giving birth to Kang Kang, Xie Nanjia did not sit still like other women in labor. Instead, she often walked around the palace to exercise. Therefore, although the delivery process was painful, it was very smooth. The birth of her first child took less than two hours from labor to birth.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief when they saw it was a boy. They congratulated Xie Nanjia and were busy telling the good news to the empress dowager, the emperor and the prince who were waiting outside. The midwife took away the blanket covering Xie Nanjia's belly and prepared to clean her. She unexpectedly found that her belly was still bulging. She panicked and called out to everyone in surprise: "Wait a minute, wait a minute, there is another one."
Everyone was stunned and hurriedly prepared for the delivery again.
Zhao Jingyu first heard the good news from the nanny who brought him the birth of a little grandson. He did not have time to share his joy with the Empress Dowager and the Emperor, and rushed to the delivery room immediately, wanting to see Xie Nanjia. However, as soon as he arrived at the door, he was stopped by the gatekeeper Liusu, who told him that the Crown Princess was pregnant with another baby.
Zhao Jingyu was completely stunned. He stood there for a long time before coming to his senses. He asked with a distressed look on his face, "Will the sleeves be hurt twice?"
"..." Liusu finally understood that the importance of several children could not compare to that of the Crown Princess in the Crown Prince's heart.
The second child was born smoothly without much trouble and was a very beautiful little princess.
Xie Nanjia gave birth to twins, a boy and a girl, which delighted the empress dowager and the emperor. The emperor immediately issued a decree of amnesty to celebrate and to bring blessings and merits to his grandchildren.
Zhao Jingyu was only concerned about his wife, so after the baby was born, he stayed by Xie Nanjia's bed, waiting for her to wake up.
The nanny brought the cleaned child to him for him to see. He looked at this and that, frowned and said only two words: "How ugly."
"..." Nanny didn't know whether to laugh or cry, "How can our little grandson be ugly? He looks exactly like the Crown Prince."
Zhao Jingyu widened her eyes and said, "Mammy, please don't lie. I'm so handsome, elegant, and suave. I'm ten thousand times better looking than them, okay?"
Mammy: “…”
The happy news of the Crown Princess giving birth to twins, a boy and a girl, spread throughout the capital along with the Emperor's decree of amnesty. People took to the streets one after another, beating drums and gongs to celebrate the fact that Great Zhou had a successor. They lamented that the Crown Princess, a girl with the destiny of a phoenix, was truly extraordinary. Not only did she quell civil strife and eliminate foreign threats for Great Zhou, she also gave birth to imperial grandchildren and granddaughters for Great Zhou. She was simply a messenger of auspiciousness and the embodiment of blessing.
The next day, Zhao Jingyu went to the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion and the General's Mansion in person to announce the good news. Sheng Qingluan and Sheng Qingyun brought the gifts they had prepared long ago and went to the palace with Xie Nanjia's twelve sisters-in-law to congratulate them.
The twins' cradle was placed next to Xie Nanjia's bed. Everyone gathered around the two identical-looking siblings in amazement and gave them a bunch of gifts such as longevity locks and small golden bells.
Next, the East Palace began to welcome a new round of guests who came to congratulate, and the gifts of all sizes filled up several warehouses.
Xie Nanjia became the greatest contributor to the Great Zhou Dynasty, and her life reached a new peak when she gave birth to twins, a boy and a girl.
However, this was not the peak of her life. Three years later, Song Wanji died of illness, and Zhao Jingyu ascended the throne and changed the reign title to Jing'an. At Zhao Jingyu's insistence, the coronation ceremony and the queen-making ceremony were held at the same time. Xie Nanjia was named queen, and for the next forty years, she assisted Emperor Jing'an in governing the country, expanding territory, and creating the Jing'an prosperity that will go down in history.
Emperor Jing'an never took concubines in his life. He and the empress had two sons and two daughters. He was hailed as the most loyal emperor in the history of the Great Zhou Dynasty.
In the spring of the second year of the Jing'an reign, Emperor Jing'an went on a southern tour, and the empress accompanied the princes and princesses.
The sun was rising, the clouds were shining brightly, and the majestic dragon boats were sailing on the Grand Canal, the spring scenery was in full bloom on both sides of the river, the birds were singing and the flowers were fragrant. Princess Roujia was held in Zhao Jingyu's arms, looking at the birds circling on the water, and asked in a baby voice: "Father, where are we going?"
Zhao Jingyu lovingly helped her tidy up her hair that was messed up by the wind, and kissed her little face that was as pink as petals. He pointed to the distance and said to her: "Father will take you to see the vast mountains and rivers of the Great Zhou."
Xie Nanjia embraced Prince Haoyang, who looked exactly like Zhao Jingyu, and kissed him on the forehead: "When you grow up, you must be a good emperor who works hard to govern the country, so as not to let down this vast land."
(End of this chapter)