At that time, Consort Chen dismissed all the attendants around her, leaving only the crying little prince wrapped in swaddling clothes, writhing alone on the warm seat.
She walked to the side of the warm seat with lazy steps and sat down, looking at the little prince with lowered eyebrows.
The anger on her face was completely lost, but was instead replaced by an amiable smile. She spoke in a gentle and soft tone:
"Little one, why are you crying again? Oh, look at the poor thing. Don't cry, don't cry. Will you let This Palace hug you?"
She clumsily picked up the child in her arms, patting his back and whispering gently,
"This Palace knows you are uncomfortable, but you have to learn to endure it, don't you? You are your Father Emperor's first son. You have to be like your Father Emperor, a towering and steadfast man. You also have to learn to be stronger and braver, understand?"
What could a two month old baby understand?
On the contrary, the more Consort Chen coaxed him, the harder he cried.
"Oh oh oh~ don't cry, don't cry. Shall This Palace take you flying high?"
She raised the little prince a little higher, shook him gently twice, then slowly lowered him.
The candle flames in the hall were warm, and the evening breeze outside was mild.
She, such an unruly woman, unexpectedly revealed her gentle side to a baby completely unrelated to her by blood.
The little prince also seemed very spirited. The wet nurses coaxed him as if they were just doing their job, still not as attentive as Consort Chen.
Consort Chen played with him, and he soon stopped crying and even laughed at Consort Chen.
His laughter made the wrinkles on his face deeper, like gnarled tree bark, not good-looking at all.
Yet Consort Chen did not dislike him at all. On the contrary, hearing his laughter made her happy too. She couldn't help pressing her cheek against his rough little face.
"Don't cry anymore. Your Father Emperor cares most about This Palace. When This Palace is conferred the title of Noble Consort in the future, and your Father Emperor asks what grace This Palace wants, This Palace will ask your Father Emperor to give you a name, all right?"
The infant could not understand her words, only kept giggling.
Seeing him like this, Consort Chen felt sore in her heart.
She stroked his limp hair, and said distressfully:
"You were also pitiful. But now that you are with This Palace, This Palace will not let you suffer any more grievances."
The louder the little prince laughed, the louder his voice became. In between, he even took the initiative to grab Consort Chen's loose black hair.
Hearing his laughter, Consort Chen also couldn't help laughing.
But she laughed silently, afraid of letting others hear, thinking that she was so fond of this child.
After all, someone as proud as her, if the palace maids knew that she liked a child born to Xiao Jingheng by another woman so much, she was afraid people would laugh at her behind her back.
Later the little prince fell asleep quietly in her arms before she gently put him back on the warm seat,
then walked to the door to clear her throat and said loudly outside:
"This ugly thing fell asleep. Let the wet nurse take him away and not bother This Palace’s eyes."
The wet nurse came in quickly and picked up the swaddling. Just as she was leaving, she heard Consort Chen say impatiently:
"In the future if he cries and fusses again when you coax him, bring him to This Palace. Let’s see if he dares to act wild in front of This Palace!"
The wet nurse responded weakly, and hurried away holding the little prince.
Liu Yue saw that Consort Chen was still angry, so she advised:
"Why is Mistress getting angry with that child who is not favored by His Majesty? If you ask this slave, Mistress is kind-hearted. Back then, if you had directly sent him to the Summer Retreat Manor, wouldn't there be so much trouble?"
Consort Chen glared at her. "What? Are you teaching This Palace what to do?"
"Slave doesn't dare!" Liu Yue shook her head in panic. "It's good for Mistress to raise him too. It can make His Majesty feel that Mistress is virtuous. Looking now, His Majesty is about to confer the title of Noble Consort on Mistress. The current Empress has lost favor and His Majesty's affection. This slave thinks that in the future when Mistress safely gives birth to the heir, His Majesty will be greatly delighted. I'm afraid he will even raise Mistress to be Imperial Noble Consort!"
Only then did Consort Chen's expression relax a little, and said:
"It's already September, and the weather is getting cooler. There's half a month left before His Majesty's birthday celebration. How are the preparations in the six palaces? Give This Palace the list of tribute gifts tomorrow. The useless Empress, This Palace will have to make more thoughtful arrangements on His Majesty's behalf."
In the next half month, after a brief two days of autumn heat, the weather cooled down completely.
During this time, Xiao Jingheng was still often accompanying Song Zhao. She was due to give birth in a little over ten days, so Xiao Jingheng was naturally very attentive to her matters.
As for Consort Chen, Xiao Jingheng did not neglect her either, still accompanying her for dinner every two or three days.
But when it came to favor, these days, someone new had also gradually risen among the new beauties.
That person was Rongyue.
Xiao Jingheng seemed to like Rongyue very much. He had visited her chamber three times in half a month, monopolizing the top spot.
Such good fortune was really enviable to others.
However, the favor envied by others may turn out to be bad luck for those involved, who can say for sure?
