The emperor had personally ordered a grand ceremony at the morning court. The Eastern Palace had received the decree to hold the three baptisms. The scene was extremely grand.
There were many people who came to attend the ceremony. This was the crown prince's eldest son and eldest daughter, the first child of the third generation of the imperial family. They had been the focus of attention in the capital since they were born. When they were born, they became even more popular.
Even if they didn't look at the political significance behind this pair of children, just the fact that they were twins was enough for the guests to step in. Whether it was the madams of the household who had sons or the young mistresses who had just gotten married, they all wanted to share in the joy.
The guests gathered in the main hall of Ciqing Palace, which was filled with beautiful clothes and pearls. The madams smiled and gathered together to talk. At this time, the eunuchs filed in from the outside. Everyone stopped talking and looked outside.
Two mamas came in with two swaddling clothes. When everyone saw them, they immediately congratulated them. The swaddling clothes and other things had been prepared beforehand, but before they were born, no one had expected that there would be twins. In these three days, the female officials of the Shangyi Bureau had rushed to make the swaddling clothes. They had specially prepared swaddling clothes embroidered with a golden dragon and a golden phoenix for the two little masters. It just so happened that they were twins, and it was a happy occasion. Now, the people watching the ceremony could tell which was the young royal prince and which was the young royal princess just by looking at the swaddling clothes.
The crown prince's son was a royal prince, and his daughter was a royal princess. When these two children were born, they were already of a higher rank than most of the madams present. This was the first time that the madams had seen twins with their own eyes. They were all full of praise, and the rarity in their eyes was almost tangible. After the imperial ceremonial officer sang the words, the midwives said auspicious words and washed the two children's bodies.
When the siblings were born, they were wrinkled and red, but after a day, they immediately became clean, white, and fat. Although there was still a light red color on their bodies, they could already be considered good-looking. A group of high-ranking officials and noble ladies gathered on both sides and watched the midwives wash the two children's little arms and legs. Whether they had given birth or not, their hearts were about to melt at this moment.
In fact, the two children were very clean. The public washing of the three children was just a symbolic meaning. After the midwives washed the children with warm water, they quickly dried the children with clean white silk cloth and wrapped them in the swaddling clothes again. The crowd was full of praises and blessings. The two midwives each carried a child and listened for a while with a smile. Then, they covered the children's heads and walked back.
At this moment, in the rear hall, the earth dragon was as warm as spring and the room was filled with a faint milky fragrance. Two nannies carried the child in and bowed to the person on the bed. "Crown Princess, the little master's three baptisms have been completed."
Cheng Yujin responded. Just as she was about to move, the Dugeaux hurriedly took the swaddling cloth and carefully placed it in Cheng Yujin's arms. Cheng Yujin's body was still weak, so she couldn't carry two at once. She could only carry one in her arms and put one on the bed. She couldn't even look at them enough.
"Have you seen it from His Highness and Her Majesty?"
"The first place we went was the Palace of Heavenly Purity. His Majesty even personally carried the two young masters and showed them to the lords before letting them be sent to the womenfolk."
Cheng Yujin nodded and asked, "You didn't see any wind along the way, right?"
"No, this servant has been very careful. His Highness also specially instructed that on the way back from the Palace of Heavenly Purity, there were eunuchs on both sides of the road to block the wind. This servant also wrapped the swaddling cloth with a large red quilt so that the two young masters wouldn't see any wind. "
That's good. Cheng Yujin was relieved and gently held the little one's hand on the bed. Twins were smaller than normal fetuses. Cheng Yujin was born this way. However, she didn't feel strange when it happened to her, but when it happened to her children, it immediately felt different. Cheng Yujin grew up healthily, but when she saw that the two little ones were weak, she was always worried. It just so happened that they were born in winter, so it was inevitable that they would appear in front of the entire court during the three baptisms, so they had to be extra careful on the road.
Cheng Yujin asked about the two children's milk and sleep. Just as she was talking, Lian Qiao came in and said, "Crown Princess, the Old Madam and Eldest Madam have come to see you."
Lian Qiao was a maidservant from the Cheng Family, so other than Old Lady Cheng and Princess Qingfu, no one else could be addressed by her in this way. Cheng Yujin nodded and said, "Please."
Old Lady Cheng and Princess Qingfu entered the hall. Today was the young royal prince and the young royal princess's three baptisms banquet. Everyone was looking forward to it, but in the end, they could only see them from afar. However, Old Lady Cheng, as a member of the Crown Princess's maternal family, had dignity, so she could directly come to the inner hall of Ciqing Palace to visit the Crown Princess. Old Lady Cheng and Princess Qingfu sat down in order. Old Lady Cheng asked, "Crown Princess, are you feeling well? How is your postpartum recovery? "
"Everything is fine." These words were indeed true. Cheng Yujin didn't have to worry about food and clothing now, and everyone in the palace worshipped her like a Bodhisattva. Li Seung-kyung was very considerate of her. Cheng Yujin only had to move her fingers slightly, and the maidservants would immediately come forward to do it for her. The emperor gave out rewards like flowing water. When Empress Dowager Yang and Empress Yang saw it, they also had to give rewards together to prevent others from gossiping.
Cheng Yujin didn't need to worry about anything. It was enough for her to take care of the two children every day. She was in a good mood, so her postpartum recovery was naturally good.
After Old Lady Cheng asked her usual questions, she glanced at Princess Qingfu. Qingfu was very tactful and immediately came forward to ask about her well-being. Cheng Yujin smiled and responded to all the good things one by one.
After Princess Qingfu and Crown Princess had communicated about their mother-daughter relationship, Old Lady Cheng explained nonchalantly, "Today, Second Brother's wife also wanted to come, but I was afraid that everyone would go out and there would be no one in charge of the household, so I let her stay in the Marquis Household to look after the house."
Cheng Yujin's smile didn't change. "Grandmother is the head of the household. Naturally, the matters of the Marquis Household will be arranged by Grandmother."
Old Lady Cheng was somewhat apprehensive when she made this decision. The Crown Princess had given birth to twins, and her status in the palace had multiplied. Everyone in the capital knew that as long as the Crown Prince didn't commit a major crime like rebelling, or if the Emperor suddenly went crazy, the next Empress would definitely be the Crown Prince and his wife. The weight of pleasing the Crown Prince and Crown Princess was still different from pleasing the Quasi-emperor Empress.
Old Lady Cheng was on tenterhooks for a month in November. Not only her, but the rest of the Cheng Family also ate vegetarian and prayed to Buddha. Even Cheng Yuan-hsien didn't go out to fool around. On the morning of the first day of the month, Old Lady Cheng heard that the Crown Princess had given birth to twins. She immediately chanted the name of Buddha and was so happy that she almost fainted. Everyone in the Marquis of Yichun was overjoyed. The house was filled with joy, even more joyous than the new year.
On the third day of the month, Old Lady Cheng was satisfied and brought her daughter-in-law into the palace. However, before she left, she was worried about the Nguyễn Clan. Cheng Yujin was also a twin, but she had already been adopted by Princess Qingfu. Now that she had given birth to twins, if she brought the Nguyễn Clan into the palace, it would appear that the Marquis of Yichun was deliberately mentioning the Crown Princess' background. Moreover, Qingfu was a princess after all. In order to give face to her eldest daughter-in-law, Old Lady Cheng forcefully made the decision to leave the crying Nguyễn Clan in the Marquis Household and only bring Princess Qingfu into the palace.
When Old Lady Cheng made the decision, she was merciless. However, now that she saw Cheng Yujin, she was afraid and carefully tested the Crown Princess' attitude. There was no other reason. The Cheng Family relied on Cheng Yujin to be where they were today. Their entire family had to support Cheng Yujin. How could they dare to make the Crown Princess unhappy? Although Cheng Yujin was smart and clear-headed since she was young, no one knew what kind of attitude she had towards her birth mother and adoptive mother.
Old Lady Cheng carefully watched for a long time. When she saw that Cheng Yujin didn't seem unhappy, she was slightly relieved. In reality, even if Cheng Yujin had any thoughts, Old Lady Cheng wouldn't be able to tell.
Cheng Yujin had been in the palace for a year and a half. She didn't know if it was because the palace had trained her or because the crown prince had taught her well, but Cheng Yujin's superficial skills had greatly improved. Now, even though Old Lady Cheng had lived for forty more years, she still couldn't see through the Crown Princess, who was only her grandchild.
Old Lady Cheng reluctantly calmed down and slowly began to talk about the outside world. Today, the Marquis of Yichun had greatly changed his status and became the most popular and influential person in the capital. Although Cheng Yuan-hsien was flattered to the point of being happy, he was still an incompetent hedonistic son. He had no interest in his official career and still focused on eating, drinking, and playing. In a sense, he was very worry-free.
A future father-in-law who only knew how to spend money and didn't have any political ambitions was the best. When the people in the capital discovered this, they strangely relaxed.
Old Lady Cheng chatted for a while about the Cheng Family's daily life. For some reason, she brought up the Second Prince and Dou Xiyin. "Crown Princess, Princess Shou was grounded by His Majesty a while ago. However, ever since the Empress Dowager fell ill, she was grounded for some reason and began to move around the capital again. She only calmed down a bit when the news came out that you gave birth to twins two days ago. "
Cheng Yujin knew about this matter. At the time, Dou Xiyin had secretly looked at Imperial Physician Zhao's prescription and found out that Cheng Yujin was pregnant with twins. She went into the palace to urge the Empress Dowager. Later, Cheng Yujin beat her at her own game and revealed all of this to the Emperor. The Emperor was furious and didn't dare to do anything to the Empress Dowager. Dealing with Dou Xiyin, a wang fei, was more than enough. Dou Xiyin was grounded indefinitely and ordered to study morality in the fu. However, a month later, Empress Dowager Yang suddenly became "seriously ill." Empress Yang summoned the entire imperial family into the palace to take care of her. Dou Xiyin was naturally released because of this.
Other than using the ominous meaning to Cheng Yujin, lifting Dou Xiyin's confinement was probably one of Empress Dowager Yang's goals. However, Cheng Yujin didn't care about these things. She had already achieved her goal. The entire capital knew that the Emperor didn't like Princess Shou. Everyone knew that Princess Shou went into the palace to urge the Empress Dowager to harm the Crown Princess. In the end, she was angrily reprimanded and grounded by the Emperor. As for whether the confinement was lifted or not, it didn't matter.
One was popular, the other wasn't. Dou Xiyin's original political capital had basically been ruined by her. A good hand of cards had been played to a pulp. The current Dou Xiyin wasn't enough to be Cheng Yujin's opponent. Cheng Yujin was too lazy to pay attention to her.
Even when Old Lady Cheng talked about Dou Xiyin, there was a hint of schadenfreude in her voice. "Princess Shou was jumping up and down a while ago. She ran to the palace every day, saying that the Crown Princess was pregnant with twins and that it was an ominous sign. Now, it's really twins, but it's a boy-girl pair. Princess Shou was humiliated greatly. Now, many people are secretly laughing at her. I don't know if she'll have the face to walk around in the future. "
"It's fine." Cheng Yujin said, "She can say whatever she wants. There's no need to argue with her."
Cheng Yujin's attitude was especially good. Why should she reason with an idiot? She could just beat the idiot until she didn't have the strength to speak.
Although she said this, Old Lady Cheng still felt a little uneasy when she thought of the humiliation she had suffered a while ago. Princess Qingfu also lowered her voice and said, "That person only dared to be so arrogant because she had someone backing her up. It's also because His Majesty is too filial. The disaster relief in Jiangnan was clearly the Crown Prince's credit, but in the end, the great merit was snatched away by someone else. That was a few months of hard work. When many madams talked to me about this, they all felt indignant for the Crown Prince. "
Cheng Yujin didn't respond and said, "I don't understand the matters of the court, but since it was Yang Shoufu who recommended the Crown Prince, and His Majesty and the cabinet agreed, there must be a reason."
Princess Qingfu pursed her lips. Because the palace was now filled with trustworthy people, Qingfu didn't hesitate to speak more bluntly. "If you ask me, it's still Empress Dowager Yang who stretched her hand too far. The imperial harem is not allowed to interfere in politics, but Empress Dowager Yang promoted her own brother and helped her own niece and granddaughter to become the Empress and Imperial Concubine. In the end, she even wanted to pressure and steal the Crown Prince's credit. It's really too much. It's a pity that the Eastern Palace suffered a great loss. "
Cheng Yujin smiled lightly and said, "It's not a pity."
Princess Qingfu and Old Lady Cheng were stunned. Cheng Yujin smiled and completed the sentence, "How can it be a pity to listen to His Majesty and Empress Dowager?"
Moreover, the Eastern Palace wasn't the one who suffered a loss.
Li Seung-kyung did give away the merit, but everyone knew that the Crown Prince's credit had been stolen. He gained both fame and fortune, and didn't need to deal with the aftermath. He even earned a wave of sympathy. That was enough.
The Yang Family had gained an advantage in name, but in reality, they were at a disadvantage. If the disaster relief was done well, it would be the Crown Prince's credit. If it wasn't done well, it would be the Yang Family that wasted the Crown Prince's efforts.
No matter what, the Eastern Palace wasn't the one who suffered a loss. However, this wasn't the biggest gain. Yang Shoufu had many enemies and accumulated resentment for a long time. It was only a matter of time before he lost the support of the people. However, this time, he lost the support of the Empress Dowager.
It had to be known that the Yang Family's foundation wasn't Empress Yang, not the Second Prince, and not even Yang Shoufu. It was Empress Dowager Yang.
Because of this incident, everyone in the capital knew that the Empress Dowager had interfered in politics and used her illness to pressure the Empress Dowager. In the past, Empress Dowager Yang occupied the high ground of the Empress Dowager. Etiquette and reason were naturally on her side. Some old-fashioned old scholars didn't care about the facts and blindly followed the Empress Dowager. However, now that the Empress Dowager had a stain on her reputation, if the Emperor and Crown Prince did anything in the future, those scholars could no longer criticize them.
Empress Dowager Yang had lost the support of the people. Her virtue didn't match her position. This was clearly the Eastern Palace's gain. Cheng Yujin smiled but didn't say anything. Cheng Yujin naturally wouldn't tell the Old Lady Cheng and Princess Qingfu the real reason.
The grand baptism ceremony ended. The cabinet, which represented the highest literary standards in the world, argued with each other for a long time. Finally, they solemnly made a list of names for the eldest grandson and granddaughter of the Emperor. The Emperor received the list and made a decision for a long time. He also called Li Seung-kyung over to discuss it for a long time. In the end, with the help of everyone, they named this precious and beautiful pair of twins.
Li Seung-kyung's generation had the character Cheng, which meant to connect the past and open the future, and to revive the country's strength. The children's generation had the character Ming, which meant to carry on the past and open up the future, and to bring peace and prosperity to the future.
In the end, the older brother was named Li Mingqian, and the younger sister was named Li Mingyue.
When everyone heard the names of the eldest legitimate son of the Crown Prince, there was an uproar.
Cheng Yujin was a little surprised when she heard it. She expected that the names of the two children would be precious, but she didn't expect it to be this precious.
Qian, which meant the sky, the circle, the monarch, and the sun. Ming Qian, which was the name that the Emperor and the Crown Prince gave to the eldest legitimate son, was clear at a glance.
The girl's seniority wasn't actually the character Ming. It was said that this was Li Seung-kyung's idea. He said that since the two children were twins, they should be treated equally. The bright moon shone brightly over the nine provinces, so he gave his daughter the boy's seniority and named her Ming Yue.
When the maidservants heard this, they all surrounded Cheng Yujin and teased her, "Crown Princess, the young royal prince is called Ming Qian, which means the sun. The young royal princess is called Ming Yue, which means the moon. A little sun and a little moon. It can be seen that in the future, they will be the Crown Princess' intimate little cotton-padded jackets. "
Cheng Yujin smiled and picked up her daughter. She tapped Li Ming Qian's forehead and said, "You only know how to eat your sister's hand and bully her because she can't crawl."
Li Seung-kyung came in and heard Cheng Yujin talking about the children. He smiled and said, "What's wrong? I heard you scolding your son as soon as I came in."
"Ask him." Cheng Yujin hugged her little moon and said, "He doesn't eat his own hand and insists on biting Ming Yue's. Ming Yue isn't as strong as him, so she can't win against him every time. "
Li Seung-kyung heard this and laughed. He walked over to look at Li Ming Qian. Sure enough, this boy didn't have anything in his mouth and was flapping his arms, trying to grab a fist to eat.
Li Seung-kyung picked up his son and said, "Look at your mother. She's biased. She never calls you by your name, but she always calls you Ming Yue."
Cheng Yujin didn't even look at the two men. Li Seung-kyung hugged him for a while, but didn't attract any attention. He could only sigh and honestly commented, "He's gotten fatter and heavier."
Cheng Yujin agreed. "Children change every day. When they were born, they were so small and wrinkled. Now, they've become white and chubby."
Li Seung-kyung nodded and placed Li Ming Qian next to Cheng Yujin. Cheng Yujin looked up at him strangely. Li Seung-kyung said honestly, "He's too heavy. You carry him."
"I want to carry Ming Yue."
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