Extra Chapter 2
Although there were wet nurses in the palace, Yanshu always insisted on nursing her little one herself after giving birth.
The bond between mother and child grew deeper each day, and their nursing time became the most intimate moment between them.
However, this meant she had to be careful with her diet, avoiding foods that could cause inflammation or were too cooling.
Compared to before, her diet had become much simpler.
Of course, for the sake of her adorable little one's healthy growth, these restrictions were bearable. However, the little one became increasingly curious about food, gradually becoming unsatisfied with just milk and showing intense interest in what adults were eating.
Especially when seeing adults eat, the baby would immediately become fixated, not only staring intently but sometimes even drooling.
This was truly amusing, but alas, the little one was still too young and could only drink milk for now.
However, as the baby grew day by day, their abilities increased too, from initially kicking around happily to gradually being able to grab things.
For instance, on this day during their mother-child bonding time, while Yanshu was holding the baby and humming a tune, she suddenly felt thirsty. She picked up her teacup for a sip to moisten her throat, but before it reached her lips, the chubby baby suddenly reached out.
Fortunately, she was quick enough to move the cup away, or the baby's little paws would have surely dipped into her tea.
However, the tea still spilled onto her dress hem.
Rendong and others were startled and quickly came forward asking, "Your Highness, were you scalded?"
Before Yanshu could answer, the chubby baby suddenly giggled, completely unaware of their mischief.
Yanshu was both amused and exasperated. She told Rendong she was fine, put down the teacup, and said seriously to the little one, "Baby, you mustn't grab Mommy's cup, it's very dangerous."
The little one thought Mommy was just chatting and immediately responded carelessly with "Ah... woo..." while grinning.
Yanshu shook her head and decided to tell the baby, "Once there was a playful child, just like you, who grabbed their mother's teacup, and their little hand got burned and blistered, making them cry very loudly..."
Perhaps because the story was too long, the baby paused for a moment before chattering again, "Ah... @#￥%#@&*..."
Yanshu: "..."
Thinking it wasn't scary enough, she continued seriously, "There was another child who always tried to grab adults' food. One time they got a terrible stomach ache and lost all their cute baby fat, and none of the aunties, sisters, or grandma liked them anymore..."
The baby stared at mommy blankly for a moment, then babbled again while excitedly waving their little arms, seemingly saying, "Don't worry, Mommy, my baby fat is very solid, it won't go away!"
Yanshu: "..."
Well, it seemed intimidation wasn't working, so she switched to heart-to-heart communication, sighing, "Mommy is only drinking tea, which is bitter and you wouldn't like it. Since I'm nursing you, I can only eat bland food, which isn't very tasty either. You don't know how much Mommy is suffering."
After she finished speaking, she noticed the baby had finally stopped smiling and was just staring at her blankly, making an "ah" sound that might have been meant as comfort.
Oh? Had it finally worked?
Encouraged, Yanshu couldn't help but continue talking to her son—
"Baby, I heard there's a new lamb barbecue shop on East Street. Their lambs come from northern pastures, the meat is tender with no gamey taste, freshly slaughtered and grilled daily. That tender lamb meat sizzling on charcoal, sprinkled with cumin, salt, and chili powder, it's absolutely delicious! Mommy could eat a whole leg of lamb and twenty lamb skewers without getting full. It would be even better with two grilled flatbreads – those breads brushed with lamb fat, grilled until golden and crispy outside, then split open with a knife and stuffed with lamb skewers. One bite gives you that crispy exterior, fragrant interior, and juicy tender lamb meat. It's absolutely amazing!"
After she finished, she noticed the baby was stunned, forgetting even to make their usual "ah" sound.
But Yanshu was already lost in her daydream and continued, "Oh right, and there's the knife-cut noodles on Cotton Market Street. Those noodles are thin, smooth, and chewy, topped with a spoonful of meat sauce and mixed together – it's incredibly delicious! I could easily eat three bowls now!"
After these words, the baby finally recovered and started babbling again.
Then they heard mommy say, "You want to eat too, don't you? We'll go out to eat someday!"
The baby made a loud "ah" sound and started excitedly kicking their legs and waving their arms.
But then Yanshu paused and suddenly said, "...Oh right, you can't eat meat yet, nor noodles. We'll have to wait until after you're weaned to go eat."
She felt quite regretful, after all, if the baby couldn't eat, she couldn't either.
Seemingly sensing her emotions, the baby paused, then suddenly pouted, babbling disapprovingly.
Yanshu sighed and said, "Being unhappy won't help, we have to think about your health. Once you turn one year old and we wean you, it'll be fine. It's just eight months away, that'll go by quickly."
What? Eight months?
Hearing this, everyone in the hall sighed for the little prince—
After all, he was only four months old now, and eight months was twice as long as he had been alive. The little Crown Prince would have quite a wait ahead of him.
But just as they were thinking this, the little Crown Prince suddenly burst into loud tears, seemingly expressing his dissatisfaction.
It was about feeding time anyway, so Yanshu dismissed everyone, opened her clothes to nurse the baby, and comforted him while feeding, "Don't be impatient, baby. As they say, hope gives us motivation. Let's focus on drinking milk for now, grow up quickly with good nutrition, and the lamb legs and knife-cut noodles will come eventually."
The baby continued making small whimpering sounds while nursing, still appearing quite disgruntled.
As days passed, when the little Crown Prince turned six months old, he could finally eat some rice porridge.
On his first try, the baby was very excited, finishing half a bowl of rice porridge in the blink of an eye, making "ah ah" sounds to chat with his mother while eating, as if saying, "This is delicious! I want to eat more tomorrow!"
This continued for several days with the same enthusiasm and no discomfort, showing an excellent appetite.
The wet nurses and palace maids couldn't help but praise that babies who eat well grow well, and with such a good appetite, the little Crown Prince would surely grow up strong and healthy.
The little one was also very happy, and as time passed, he tried more and more supplementary foods. His body indeed grew stronger and more robust, becoming increasingly adorable.
That's why no matter how busy his father was during the day, he would return to the central palace early every evening to personally hold the little one.
Of course, this was also his mother's happiest moment.
Mainly because Yanshu increasingly discovered that the Emperor was truly a master at putting the baby to sleep.
As the little one grew bigger, his energy levels increased, making it difficult to get him to nap during the day. Usually, it would take her or the wet nurse half a day to get the baby to sleep.
But the Emperor was different. Once the baby was handed to him, within the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the little one would be sound asleep, so deeply that even thunder wouldn't wake him – it was quite miraculous.
For instance, this evening, as soon as Yuwen Lan entered the hall, Yanshu immediately handed the baby to him, saying, "Your Majesty, I've been waiting. He's all yours now. I'm going to take a bath."
With that, she went to the washroom to enjoy her flower petal spa.
Yuwen Lan: "..."
He looked down at the baby in his arms and said, "Look how Heng'er has worn your mother out, making her so eager to leave."
The baby made an "ah" sound, happily grinning at his father while showing off the two white baby teeth that had just emerged on his lower gums.
Yuwen Lan's heart melted with love. He bent down to kiss the baby's cheek and said, "Heng'er seems to have gained some weight again. You must have been eating well lately."
The baby responded, "#￥%...&"
Yuwen Lan nodded again, "Indeed, but a man of great character cannot merely focus on eating. He must also dedicate himself to studying."
The little one responded with incomprehensible babbling, "@#$%$#&*&..."
The tiny child hadn't yet realized that his father was about to give him another lesson.
Although the little one fell asleep at the first mention of the sage's teachings, Yuwen Lan wasn't discouraged. He believed in persistence, thinking that even if the child couldn't understand, the gradual influence, like spring rain nurturing the earth, would eventually show results.
Look how far they'd come - they'd progressed from the "Mencius" all the way to the "Han Feizi."
He was full of confidence.
Clearing his throat, he began, "Safety and danger lie in right and wrong, not in strength and weakness. Survival depends on substance, not numbers."
The little one babbled, "@#$@*&*..."
His expression had grown serious.
Yuwen Lan continued, "Don't burden your mind with cleverness, nor yourself with selfish desires. Entrust order and chaos to law and strategy, and right and wrong to reward and punishment."
The little one mumbled, "$@#..."
His voice growing fainter.
Yuwen Lan pressed on, "The masses assist with their strength, those nearby bond with sincerity, those far away are drawn by reputation, and the respected lead with authority."
The little one had stopped talking, his eyelids growing heavy.
Yuwen Lan persisted with one more line, "One with talent but no authority, though worthy, cannot control the unworthy. Thus, a foot-long piece of wood placed atop a high mountain overlooks a thousand-foot ravine - not because the wood is long, but because its position is high."
The little one had fallen asleep.
Yuwen Lan nodded, feeling that his efforts were indeed showing progress.
After all, the little one had improved from falling asleep after three sentences to lasting four sentences.
The child showed promise.
As days passed, considering the little one's development, when the baby reached ten months, Yanshu stopped nursing.
After all, the little one was eating solid foods well and had a wet nurse, so she decided not to force herself to continue.
However, as the capital had grown cooler in late autumn, she couldn't take the little one out anymore, so she had the imperial kitchen roast a leg of lamb for a feast.
Hehe, after ten months of restraint, she could finally return to her days of hearty eating!
The imperial chef's skills were exceptional. The freshly roasted lamb leg, marinated beforehand and sprinkled with cumin and chili, had a crispy exterior that carried a subtle honey sweetness - truly delectable.
While she ate with gusto, the little one beside her grew increasingly agitated. Watching his mother devour the meat made him terribly hungry. He let out loud "ah-ah" cries and nearly stood up from his little wooden chair.
He was using all his might to express - "Mother! What delicious food is this! Let your baby have a bite!!!"
Yanshu felt guilty, but since the lamb was roasted rather than minced, the little one couldn't eat it. She could only give him a lamb bone to appease him.
The inexperienced little one happily accepted it and began gnawing away.
As he gnawed, he babbled on.
The meaning was probably -
This hard-to-bite thing is so special.
But why does it seem like I'm not getting anything to eat no matter how much I gnaw?
Grown-up food is so strange.
