Long Feiye wanted to rush inside right away, but he remembered Han Yunxi telling him to wait outside and stopped. At this moment, Zhao mama dashed out with a face full of joy. “Your Highness, Your Highness, the princess birthed a–”
“Is she doing alright?” Long Feiye interrupted.
Zhao mama gave a start. All her years in the palace told her that emperor were always more interested in the gender of the child rather than the fate of the empress or concubine after birth.
This was a monumental moment in every royal clan. Who expected His Highness to ask after the princess’s state instead?
Zhao mama quickly replied, “Fourth Young Miss Ren said that everything went very smoothly, but she’ll need to observe a bit longer to confirm the mother’s safety.”
“And the child?” Long Feiye asked next. However, he was more interested in the baby’s health than its gender.
“Safe, safe!” Zhao mama was almost moved to the point of tears. She congratulated, “Your Highness, the princess birthed you a boy! A son!”
Long Feiye was so moved he didn’t know what to do. This was probably the first time in his life that he felt so lost. He had no idea what to say or how to act. His face alternated between furrowing his brows and smiling as he paced back and forth.
It wasn’t until Zhao mama’s next words that gave him a reminder. “Your Highness,” she said, “Princess won’t let us take the baby out. Hurry and go inside!”
Long Feiye realized that he was planning to dash in just then.
According to palace regulations, Han Yunxi’s tent could be considered the birthing room. Not just anyone could go inside. Typically speaking, the baby should be carried out to His Highness, then given to a wet nurse to take care of while the princess spent her first month in confinement.
Zhao mama had been glared at already, so she threw all customs outside the window and only told the servants to prepare clean, dry bedding. She knew that His Highness wouldn’t be sleeping in a separate room from the princess.
Long Feiye anxiously entered the room and was immediately touched by the scene inside. Han Yunxi was lying ashen faced on the bed. Next to her was a clean infant wrapped up in swaddling clothes. Mother and son laid on clean bedding and the little fellow had already stopped crying. Han Yunxi was staring at him with a faint smile, giving Long Feiye a rare vision of her feminine grace.
At Long Feiye’s entrance, Fourth Young Miss Ren dismissed the nurses and murmured to Han Yunxi, “Princess, there are no major issues. I’ll be right outside if you need to call me.”
Then she left silently as well.
Once everyone was gone, Long Feiye finally gave in and dashed to the bed. He stared at her, then the little fellow, then back and forth again. It seemed like his eyes couldn’t get enough of mother or child. Han Yunxi stayed quiet, assuming he was moved. But as time passed, she cradled his face in her hands and asked, “Long Feiye, have you lost your wits? What are you doing?”
“I, I…” Long Feiye stammered helplessly. “I, I’m just…happy.”
“So happy you turned into a fool?” Han Yunxi broke into an irresistible smile. “That’s fine as long as you’re glad!”
Long Feiye leaned over and planted another kiss on her forehead. “You’ve worked hard.”
“I wanted to,” Han Yunxi was speaking from her heart.
Long Feiye didn’t reply beyond giving her another kiss. His gaze finally rested on the quiet face of the little fellow. He really was tiny, his face even smaller than Long Feiye’s palm. Although he was a newborn, his skin was clean and his complexion slightly ruddy. He had a wide forehead and dense, black hair. One could tell from the shape of his shut eyelids that he had big eyes. His nose was tall and straight, his lips very much like Long Feiye’s own.
Overall, the little fellow was seven parts like his father and three parts like his mother. Long Feiye carefully studied his son, his dark pupils filled with love and doting. He carefully propped up the baby’s hand and placed it in his palm, marveling at the difference in their sizes.
“My son…” he murmured, “No, it’s our son…”
Even though he’d taken over countries, he felt a much weightier responsibility when cradling this tiny hand. From now on, his life would include one more person to protect for years to come. Long Feiye carefully raised the little fellow’s hand and planted a kiss.
He asked Han Yunxi carefully, “Can I pick him up?”
“Do you know how?” Han Yunxi replied.
She was nervous herself picking up such a tiny child, much less Long Feiye himself. Whoever said you’d know what to do naturally as soon as you birthed a child was a liar. She had to learn everything from scratch.
Long Feiye suddenly realized he’d never held a child before. Forgot about a baby, he hadn’t even picked up six or seven year olds.
How do I pick him up?
Long Feiye hesitated for a long time before he finally called Zhao mama inside. She saw that he hadn’t touched the baby yet and immediately picked him up skillfully. “Your Highness, hurry and hold the little master, ah. He’ll definitely like you plenty.”
Long Feiye extended his hands for the baby, but Zhao mama quickly corrected him. “Not like that, Your Highness. Let the little master’s head rest in the crook of your arm while supporting his body with your other hand. Yes, just like that.” She arranged his position further after he took the baby.
Long Feiye’s movements were stiff as he feared hurting the child. Actually, his hands were big and full of strength. The little fellow would definitely be more comfortable in his arms than Han Yunxi or Zhao mama’s.
“Your Highness, look how sweetly the little master’s sleeping,” Zhao mama chuckled.
Han Yunxi observed Long Feiye’s proud figure cradling such a tiny fellow and split her lips into a grin. She was full of joy.
Long Feiye didn’t even want to let his son go after picking him up. But soon the baby’s eyes fluttered open. Surprised and thrilled, he cried, “He’s opening his eyes, opening his eyes!”
His voice was very soft in case he startled the baby. He quickly sat down so Han Yunxi could see as well. Zhao mama nestled over, very excited. “Aiya, how miraculous! He was only born recently but he’s already opened his eyes. He’ll definitely be formidable in the future!”
Long Feiye was fully concentrated on his son and didn’t hear Zhao mama’s words. Han Yunxi was too lazy to explain herself to her either. Babies could open their eyes even in the mother’s womb. When they were born, they needed time to adjust to the light, so they spent most of their time sleeping. Most babies took about one to two days before they really opened them, but this was normal too.
Long Feiye leaned in close, so Han Yunxi quickly closed their distance even further in hopes that the baby’s first sight would be of his mother and father. The little fellow was very slow in moving his eyelids, only fluttering slightly before stopping for a long while.
“Did he fall asleep again?” Long Feiye couldn’t help asking.
“Wait a bit longer,” Han Yunxi was lost as well.
But soon enough, the little fellow opened his eyes again–this time completely. Long Feiye’s smile intensified as he drew even closer, but as soon as the baby saw him, he whimpered and burst into wails.
Long Feiye quickly picked him up to coax him, but that only made things worse. This left Long Feiye feeling awkward and embarrassed.
“Hungry! He must be hungry!” Zhao mama said quickly.
Han Yunxi took the baby into her arms to feed him, but he stopped crying as soon as they touched. Tears dangled at the edges of his eyes, a clean and flawless sight pure enough to melt the evilest of spirits. Such a pitiful sight melted away twenty some years of Long Feiye’s cold and frozen heart.
He didn’t know what else to do except smile.
As Cloud Realm Continent’s topmost expert, he had no enemies on par with him. But the little fellow less than a month old in front of him could defeat him with one look. As Han Yunxi fed the little fellow, Long Feiye watched from the sidelines.
Zhao mama asked timidly, “Your Highness, this servant ordered someone to make the princess a bowl of noodles. Shall I carry it inside?”
Long Feiye remembered that Han Yunxi hadn’t eaten yet and quickly had Zhao mama prepare the food. While he spent time with Han Yunxi inside the tent, news of her delivery soon spread through all of Rear Camp and the Yunning army camp.
Long Feiye didn’t publicize the news intentionally, but neither did he order his subordinates to keep quiet. Thus, on the very day the child was born, the news broke out beyond the camp to spread across Cloud Realm Continent.
Gu Beiyue and Gu Qishao were living right in the rear mountains. The former came from the camp to deliver the good news in person. Gu Qishao was curled up in his black robes and soaking up the sunshine when he heard about Han Yunxi’s successful delivery.
He immediately poked his head out of the hood, happy beyond belief. His smile was more dazzling than the noonday sun.
“Gu Beiyue, I’m a godfather now! I have a godson!”
“Haha, Poison lass gave birth to a son! Hahah, I have a godson now!”
No one had ever agreed to make him the godfather, but he claimed the spot by himself because he was so overjoyed! He stood up and wanted to rush down the mountain, but halted after a few steps. Then he turned with a grin to sit back by the entrance and continue sunbathing.
Seeing Gu Beiyue staring, he pursed his lips and said, “What are you looking at? Just then..just then I was thinking of going to the bathroom, but now I don’t feel like it!”
Gu Beiyue didn’t pierce through his lie! He took out a single seed and handed it to Gu Qishao. “I sent someone to gather some plague victim corpses from Northern Li and nurtured two poisonous medicines. Although the strain is different from the ones from your past, you might as well try them out.”
The docile Gu Qishao immediately planted the seed in a shallow cut on his leg. Thorny thistles quickly sprouted from his leg and out of the expansive black robes. Gu Beiyue tested the medicine he made on the vines like countless other times before quietly waiting for results.
In the end, the vines remained unharmed without a grain of difference.
“Gu Beiyue, if these thorny thistles bloomed, I bet the flowers would be purple, right? Poison lass likes purple,” Gu Qishao asked lightly.
At this moment, a messenger hawk landed nearby. Gu Beiyue didn’t answer Gu Qishao’s question, but took down the letter tied to the bird’s leg.
According to the missive, Mu Linger had arrived in Medical City…
