Chapter 138: The Fifth Lady

Chapter 138: The Fifth Lady

An Qing hadn’t expected this delivery to be so smooth. Not only did it happen quickly, but it was also without complications, and she hardly suffered any pain.

When Yinqi entered the room, everything had already been tidied up. An Qing had been cleaned and changed into fresh, dry clothes. She was now leaning against the headboard, smiling at the two red-faced little monkeys by her side.

Hearing movement, An Qing looked up and saw Yinqi. She waved at him excitedly, "Come see Second Treasure and Third Treasure."

Second Treasure? Third Treasure?

Yinqi’s lips twitched involuntarily upon hearing these names, but he didn’t comment further. Instead, he walked over and carefully examined An Qing, asking, "How are you feeling? Do you want to rest for a bit?"

He remembered that after giving birth to Xiao Bao, she had slept for a long time. This time, with twins, she must be even more exhausted.

An Qing smiled in response, "I’m fine. I feel okay right now. I’ll sleep when I get tired later."

The first birth took longer, and since it happened at night, she had been up all night. Naturally, both her physical and mental strength were drained, and she fell asleep immediately afterward. This time was different.

Seeing that she seemed to have good energy, Yinqi felt relieved and finally looked down at the two babies swaddled beside her.

Because they were twins, these children were smaller than Hong Zhi when he was born. However, the imperial physicians had checked them and confirmed that they were healthy with no signs of underdevelopment.

An Qing breathed a silent sigh of relief. She had been worried about the twins, fearing any complications, but now she was content knowing they were safe and healthy.

The two little ones had just finished feeding and were brought back by the wet nurse. They were sleeping soundly. From their appearance, they looked quite similar, weighing four pounds three ounces and four pounds five ounces respectively.

As for their looks, they were still red and wrinkled, making it hard to tell much about their features or whether they resembled each other.

However, with her previous experience, An Qing wasn’t bothered by their current appearance. She knew they would grow out of it and look better soon enough.

Yinqi gazed at the two children with affection, then turned his attention back to An Qing, speaking softly, "You’ve worked hard. I promised to be here for the birth."

An Qing shrugged, "What can we do? These two little ones were in such a hurry."

Yinqi chuckled. Indeed, they were in a hurry, but it was for the best, as it spared their mother the trouble.

"Which one is the brother and which one is the sister?" He couldn’t tell them apart after looking at them for a while.

An Qing pointed to the left, "This is the brother, Second Treasure. He was born less than half an hour before his sister, Third Treasure."

"Second Treasure and Third Treasure?" Yinqi repeated uncertainly.

An Qing nodded, "Second Treasure and Third Treasure are their nicknames. They follow their older brother. What do you think?"

She was quite satisfied; a family should be complete, and they were all their treasures.

Yinqi looked at the sleeping siblings, hesitated, and then gently suggested, "Your older brother is called Xiao Bao. If they are called Second Treasure and Third Treasure, it might not be appropriate."

According to her naming logic, Xiao Bao should be the younger brother.

An Qing paused, realizing he was right. She regretted not naming Xiao Bao as First Treasure.

"What should we name them then?"

Having two new babies at once was challenging for her, who struggled with names. She had spent a lot of time thinking of Second Treasure and Third Treasure.

Yinqi hesitated. Since An Qing had always said she would choose the nicknames, he hadn’t given it much thought. Now, being asked suddenly, he needed a moment to respond.

"How about letting Empress Dowager and Mother choose their names?"

An Qing liked this suggestion and agreed on the spot. It was perfect, with one child for each of them.

The news of the fifth Beile’s house welcoming twins quickly reached the palace. Kangxi was meeting ministers in the Palace of Heavenly Purity when he heard the news during a break. He was delighted.

"Excellent! Twins are a great omen!"

The ministers echoed his joy, filling the hall with well-wishes.

Kangxi was genuinely happy, and he immediately instructed Liang Jiugong to open his private treasury. A stream of gifts flowed from the palace to the fifth Beile’s residence.

In Yikun Palace.

Concubine Yi was stunned after hearing the news from the messenger.

She knew An Qing had gone to the palace today to attend Princess Ten’s wedding. That girl thought she could avoid Yikun Palace, but Concubine Yi had known all along.

To ensure nothing went wrong, Concubine Yi had sent someone to watch over An Qing, only relaxing when she safely left the palace.

Why did she give birth now? Did something happen on the way back?

"How is the Fifth Lady doing?" Concubine Yi asked with concern.

The messenger hurriedly replied, "Rest assured, Your Highness. The Fifth Lady is well, and the young prince and princess are also well."

Concubine Yi breathed a sigh of relief. Thinking of having another grandson and granddaughter, she visibly brightened.

"Your Highness, the Fifth Beile and Fifth Lady asked me to convey that they wish for you and the Empress Dowager to choose the nicknames for the twins," the messenger added.

Without hesitation, Concubine Yi was thrilled. She couldn’t wait and immediately set off for Ningshou Palace to discuss the matter with the Empress Dowager.

Although there were two children, one boy and one girl, the names had to be chosen carefully.

When Concubine Yi arrived, the Empress Dowager had already received the news and was overjoyed. The entire Ningshou Palace was filled with happiness. After some friendly discussion, they decided that the Empress Dowager would choose the nickname for the brother, and Concubine Yi would choose for the sister.

Both were cautious and didn’t decide on the names immediately, opting to think about it further.

Hong Zhi and Hongsheng returned from the Imperial Academy and found everyone in the household jubilant. People were bustling about, and the brothers were puzzled.

"What’s going on? What happened in the house?" Hong Zhi stopped a young eunuch and asked.

The young eunuch hurriedly replied, "Little Prince, Lady Fu has given birth to a younger brother and sister for you. The servants are busy delivering red eggs to the various residences."

Hong Zhi and Hongsheng exchanged glances, both stunned. Mother/Daughter-in-law gave birth?!

In the next moment, they sprinted toward the main courtyard, spotting Yinqi coming out of the house from a distance.

"Ama, is Mother okay?" Hong Zhi asked breathlessly.

Hongsheng also covered his chest, panting heavily as he looked at his Ama.

Yinqi gestured for them to be quiet and whispered, "Don't worry, your Mother is fine. She's just tired and has just fallen asleep. Keep your voices down."

Relieved, Hong Zhi followed up with another question, "Where are the baby brother and sister? My brother and I want to see them."

Yinqi led them to the side room where the two little ones were lying side by side, sound asleep.

"How ugly," Hong Zhi said, somewhat disdainfully.

Their red, wrinkled appearance reminded him of the wild monkeys he had seen before.

Hongsheng chuckled and explained, "I heard from the nanny that newborns always look like this. They'll get better looking over time."

Hong Zhi still couldn't imagine how such ugliness could turn into beauty.

Yinqi couldn't help but glare at his unfortunate son and said irritably, "You were even uglier when you were born. You almost made your Mother cry."

Hong Zhi instinctively wanted to argue but suddenly remembered that the nanny had indeed told him that his Mother found him quite unattractive when he was born and worried about finding him a wife because of his looks.

He didn't believe it before, thinking his Mother was exaggerating, but seeing the two little ones in bed now, he started to believe it.

If they really stayed that ugly, it would indeed be hard to find a wife.

News of Beile Yinqi's joyous arrival of a son and daughter quickly spread throughout the Imperial City, and everyone marveled at Beile Yinqi's good fortune.

After all, a pair of twins is an auspicious sign in the imperial family. Didn't everyone see the lavish gifts Emperor Kangxi sent to Beile Yinqi's residence that day? The gifts were secondary; what mattered most was the imperial favor, which no one could help but envy.

An Qing and Yinqi had always been low-key in the Imperial City and did not want to make a fuss. After discussing it, they decided to have a small ceremony for the washing ritual instead of a grand celebration.

As for the reason, it was easy to explain: twins tend to be more fragile, so it was appropriate to take extra care of them.

However, as the saying goes, "You can avoid the first but not the fifteenth." While they could skip the washing ritual, they couldn't avoid the full moon celebration, especially since Emperor Kangxi wouldn't allow it.

After all, how often do twins appear in the imperial family? This was a cause for grand celebration, not something to be done secretly.

On the day of the full moon celebration, Beile Yinqi's residence was bustling with activity. Apart from royal relatives, many ministers and their families came to offer congratulations.

In a sense, they weren't there for An Qing and Yinqi but for the imperial family. A great joy for the imperial family required proper congratulations.

Unaware of the festivities in the front yard, An Qing was still in confinement due to her childbirth. Because she had twins, both the nannies and the imperial physicians advised her to rest for two months.

Thus, she couldn't attend the full moon ceremony. Instead, she entrusted the women's side of the celebration to the Ninth Lady Fu and Guaerjia.

Guaerjia was a Princess in Beile Yinqi's residence and had been managing the household affairs on behalf of An Qing. It was only natural for her to handle the arrangements. The Ninth Lady Fu, being An Qing's sister-in-law, was responsible for entertaining the female guests, making her the perfect hostess.

An Qing, the hands-off manager, was completely at ease.

She was happily playing with the two little ones in bed. They had just finished feeding and were awake, so An Qing was using a small toy to entertain them.

Over the past month, the three of them had spent most of their time together, and An Qing had watched the babies grow.

To put it simply, while she and her Third Elder Brother had similar features despite different skin tones, these two little ones looked nothing alike—likely fraternal twins.

However, An Qing faced a troubling issue: both she and Yinqi seemed to favor the daughter. They would subconsciously pick her up and play with her first.

Although she knew it was wrong, seeing the soft, sweet daughter and the old-souled son, she couldn't help feeling a bit biased.

This won't do. Unequal treatment among children often stems from parental shortcomings. She needed to treat them equally. An Qing closed her eyes and silently admonished herself.

Then, she opened her eyes again and tried to entertain the son with the toy, but no matter how she tried, he remained expressionless, only following the toy with his eyes.

"Son, give your Mother some face and smile, will you?" An Qing said.

Hearing her words, the son shifted his gaze from the toy to her face but still showed no reaction. Meanwhile, the daughter giggled.

An Qing: "..."

"Oh, that laughter is so loud. Is it the brother or the sister?"

A voice came from the doorway. An Qing looked up and saw Concubine Yi.

"Mother, why are you here?" she asked, surprised, as she hadn't heard about the beautiful mother-in-law's visit.

Concubine Yi approached and glanced at her, "Why, can't I come and see my grandchildren?"

An Qing chuckled, "Mother, you're so biased. You only think of your grandchildren and not me."

Seeing her rosy complexion, Concubine Yi knew she was doing well during her confinement and felt relieved. "Why should I think of you, you ungrateful girl? You didn't even come to see me when you went to the palace."

An Qing immediately realized that Concubine Yi knew about her secret visit to the palace for the tenth princess's wedding. It seemed she was planning to settle accounts later.

"Oh, Mother, come and see! I gave you such wonderful grandchildren. They're chubby and healthy, and you got two at once. Ask around the Imperial City; who else could be such a great daughter-in-law?"

Concubine Yi, who wasn't really planning to settle accounts, couldn't help but laugh and poke her forehead.

"You're a mother of three now, and you're still acting like this."

An Qing chuckled and affectionately held her arm, shaking it gently.

Concubine Yi ignored her antics and continued, "I came with your Emperor Father today. Empress Dowager was going to come too, but she caught a cold a couple of days ago, so she couldn't make it."

An Qing heard this and quickly asked with concern, "Is Empress Dowager alright?"

Concubine Yi waved her hand and said, "It's nothing serious. She took a few doses of medicine and is almost fully recovered. But she said children have weak constitutions and shouldn't be exposed to illness, so she won't come over for now. You can bring the baby into the palace for her to see in a few days."

Hearing that the Empress Dowager was fine, An Qing felt relieved.

After finishing the serious talk, Concubine Yi finally had time to look at her chubby grandson and granddaughter.

She held one and then the other, bustling about happily, of course, thoroughly enjoying herself.

"These two children have such different personalities. The younger sister is like you, lively and cheerful, while the older brother is very steady," Concubine Yi commented. "But it's good this way. It's better for boys to be steady, and girls being lively are more endearing."

An Qing thought to herself, indeed, the brother was too steady, even steadier than she was as their mother.

"They're still young; their personalities might change later," she said.

Concubine Yi insisted, "They say you can tell a person's future from their childhood. Personalities are set from an early age."

An Qing didn't agree, "That's not always true. There are exceptions. Look at Hong Zhi. When he was born, he was so well-behaved, but now he's completely different."

When he was little, she thought Hong Zhi would grow up to be a simple and steady person, especially when he was just born, never crying or fussing, making him incredibly easy to take care of. Now, he's always causing trouble, much more cunning than she is.

Concubine Yi, hearing this, immediately became defensive, "Who says our Hong Zhi isn't steady? Ask around the Imperial City, whose child can compare to ours..."

Seeing her beautiful mother-in-law's protective stance, An Qing silently closed her mouth.

She had forgotten about this. Hong Zhi, that rascal, relied on his face that looked exactly like Eleventh Brother, and was always the favorite grandson in the eyes of her beautiful mother-in-law.

After finishing her rant, Concubine Yi finally focused her attention back on the grandchildren, doting on them once again.

"Mother, look at the younger sister's mouth and nose, don't they look just like yours?" An Qing said.

Concubine Yi looked closely and agreed. Apart from the mouth and nose, even the face shape resembled her somewhat.

The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were chatting enthusiastically when Yinqi suddenly walked in from outside, "Emperor Father wants to see the children. I'll take them out first and bring them back later."

An Qing had no objections about Emperor Kangxi wanting to see the children. She raised her hand, signaling Yinqi to take them out.

Yinqi first picked up the younger sister and handed her to a nanny nearby. As he picked up the older brother to hand him to another nanny, Concubine Yi couldn't help but exclaim, "What's this? Look at his eyebrows and eyes, they resemble Emperor Father, don't they?"

An Qing stretched her neck to look. She hadn't noticed before, but now that Concubine Yi mentioned it, she saw the resemblance.

Just a moment ago, they said the younger sister looked like Concubine Yi, and now the older brother looked like Emperor Kangxi. An Qing shrugged and turned to Yinqi, "None of them look like us. Seems like we did all this work for nothing."

Her words left everyone in the room stunned.

Yinqi couldn't help but rub his forehead.

She really dared to say anything. Luckily, there were no outsiders present.

Concubine Yi, listening nearby, found it both amusing and annoying, "What kind of talk is that? Just because they don't look like you, does that mean they aren't your children?"

How could it be for nothing?

No, wait...

Something about this sounded wrong!

Despite what An Qing said, the two children did bear some resemblance to her and Yinqi.

For example, the younger sister's eyes were very similar to An Qing's, large almond-shaped eyes. Although the older brother's eyebrows and eyes resembled Emperor Kangxi, they also looked like Yinqi if you looked closely. After all, who could help it if his father looked like his grandfather?

But it must be said, these two children inherited the best traits. Emperor Kangxi wasn't particularly outstanding in appearance, but his eyebrows and eyes were excellent. And Concubine Yi, the beauty, was even more so.

An Qing was quite proud of this. Her children were truly blessed with good genes.

The full moon banquet was a great success. Emperor Kangxi and Concubine Yi came by for a short visit and then returned to the palace. Yinqi had been entertaining guests in the front yard and finally managed to send everyone off, feeling utterly drained.

Ninth Prince had been helping his Fifth Brother entertain guests throughout the event, even helping to deflect many toasts. He wasn't in any better shape.

The two brothers slumped in wicker chairs, resting for a while. Yinqi felt he had recovered enough and wanted to go to the backyard to check on An Qing and the children.

Unexpectedly, Ninth Prince stopped him, looking troubled, "Fifth Brother, don't leave yet. Stay here a bit longer."

Yinqi glanced at him suspiciously, "Why aren't you going back to your residence? What about your wife?"

At the mention of his wife, Ninth Prince sighed heavily, "Fifth Brother, my heart is heavy. Have a drink with me."

He then produced a jug of wine from somewhere.

Yinqi frowned, "What's going on? Stop beating around the bush and tell me!"

Ninth Prince poured himself a drink and began pouring out his grievances.

It wasn't a big deal. A few days ago, he went to a teahouse for business, just to listen to some music and have a drink. But his wife found out and sternly advised him not to go to such places, saying it was inappropriate for someone of royal status.

Ninth Prince, being rebellious, couldn't stand being lectured by his wife. So the next day, he went back to the teahouse, only to be scolded again upon returning home. This continued for several times until his wife stopped coming.

Thinking he had won, Ninth Prince was surprised when Concubine Yi summoned him to Yikun Palace and gave him a severe scolding, almost punishing him with a willow branch.

Even though Ninth Prince was stubborn, he dared not go back to the teahouse. However, he felt he had lost to his wife and was ashamed. Thus, he sought solace in alcohol and complained to his Fifth Brother.

Afterward, he couldn't help but sigh, "Fifth Brother, you're lucky. Fifth Sister-in-law never restrains you."

Unlike his wife, who acts like a rigid old bookworm, always lecturing him with moral principles and controlling his every move, even preventing him from drinking and listening to music at the teahouse.

Yinqi: "…"

He looked at this ungrateful younger brother who was poking at his sore spot, almost grinding his back teeth to dust. God only knew how much he wished An Qing would manage him like this.

"Get back to your own mansion, or I’ll beat you!" Yinqi said coldly.

Ninth Prince: "…"

What had he done to deserve this?