Chapter 178

Jiang Xiurun was about to speak again when a wave of labor pain struck, causing her to clutch his hand tightly, unable to utter a word.

Feng Liwu glared at the midwife and demanded to know how to ease the Empress’s pain.

The midwife grimaced and replied, “Naturally, once the baby is born, the pain will be gone.”

Serving the imperial family was never easy.

If this were an ordinary household and the master of the house behaved so unreasonably, she would have thrown in the towel and left.

But now, under the intense gaze of those imperial dragon eyes, she could only deliver the baby with trepidation, praying that the Empress would give birth smoothly.

Once this task was done, she would wash her hands of this business and return home to enjoy her twilight years in peace.

Feng Liwu had never witnessed childbirth before.

He had only heard of how dangerous it could be, but seeing it with his own eyes was an entirely different matter.

His Xiurun’s long hair was soaked with sweat, her delicate face pale with pain.

She, who was usually pampered beyond measure, was now struggling desperately, breathing in and out with effort, enduring everything on her own.

If he could, Feng Liwu would have ripped that little rascal right out of her belly and given it a good spanking for making its mother suffer so much.

Two agonizing hours passed.

Jiang Xiurun, drenched in sweat from her efforts, was not the only one exhausted—Feng Liwu, who had been holding her hand the entire time, was also soaked through, his lips slightly pale.

The midwife, bringing brown sugar water to replenish the Empress’s strength, couldn’t help but think that His Majesty could probably use some revitalization as well.

After drinking a bowl of red sugar water, everything fell into place—after much toil, the little one finally entered the world with a loud cry.

Feng Liwu stared at the red, sticky little creature, startled and unsure of what he was looking at.

Fearing Jiang Xiurun might also be frightened, he quickly covered her eyes.

Before long, the other two assisting midwives swiftly cleaned the newborn and wrapped her in a swaddle.

Smiling, they came forward to report, “Your Majesty, it’s a princess! She’s as delicate as a porcelain doll, truly a little beauty in the making!”

Feng Liwu, still shielding Jiang Xiurun’s eyes, cautiously took a look himself.

Inside the swaddle was a fair, soft little thing, struggling to open her eyes.

Jiang Xiurun was puzzled at first as to why he was covering her eyes.

Once she understood, she couldn’t help but laugh and cry at the same time.

“Your Majesty, stop being ridiculous. What newborn isn’t like this? Just go outside already…”

But how could Feng Liwu leave? He stayed right by her side, watching as the tiny baby opened her little mouth and nuzzled against Jiang Xiurun’s chest, searching for milk.

After just a few sips, tasting the first flavors of life, the newborn drifted into sleep.

Jiang Xiurun, having finally rid herself of the heavy burden, felt a deep relief.

Now, all she wanted was rest.

She placed her daughter beside her and soon fell asleep.

When she awoke, she saw Feng Liwu opening the swaddle, clumsily playing with their daughter’s tiny hands and feet, even counting her toes.

She found it amusing.

Though Feng Liwu already had a son, Baoli, he had never witnessed his birth.

Now, with his daughter, he was making up for it, completely engrossed in his fascination, unable to stop fussing over her.

Jiang Xiurun had to step in and tell him to stop bothering their daughter.

The next day, when Jiang Xiurun was able to get out of bed and move around, the wet nurse brought Baoli over.

He was crying to hold his little sister.

Jiang Xiurun let him climb onto the bed and sit in her lap to hold his sister.

The little boy hugged his baby sister tightly and looked up at his father.

“Sister is even softer than a puppy!”

Feng Liwu raised a brow.

“How can you compare your sister to a dog?”

But to Baoli, his soft and cuddly little sister was much better than a puppy.

He quickly imitated his mother’s usual gesture, kissing his baby sister’s plump, rosy cheeks.

The sight of the older child kissing the newborn delighted both parents.

Since she was still too young to be given a formal name, Feng Liwu had to personally choose a childhood name for her.

Outside the window, snowflakes drifted through the air.

It was the season of cold dusk.

Thus, she was named Xueyan—Snow Goose—a bird that could soar through wind and snow, tempering the delicate nature of a royal princess so she might grow up strong and resilient.

Though the Qi dynasty was embroiled in civil war, with the land in turmoil, inside the serene Luo’an Palace, all was momentarily peaceful, and their family was now complete with both a son and a daughter.

However, despite Feng Liwu’s desire to stay and spend more time with his wife and children, the war at the front could not wait.

The Qi Dynasty’s army advanced into three counties, halting the forces there from continually encroaching and devouring the surrounding counties.

However, both armies remained locked in a standoff on opposite banks of the Feng River, neither able to push forward, forming a situation akin to ruling the land divided by a river.

The Qin and Yang families brought with them the vast wealth accumulated by noble clans.

With their support, Feng Wu’s power had greatly increased, and it was said that the empress-sealing ceremony was conducted with grandeur and proper form.

Yang Ruxu, having long harbored resentment over Feng Liwu’s past delays and rejection, was filled with stifled frustration.

In the end, she had indeed married into the Feng family, and the extravagance of her empress-sealing ceremony was entirely intended to overshadow the Southern Qi Empress.

It was even rumored that her phoenix coronet had been crafted a size larger than Jiang Xiurun’s.

When news of this reached Luo’an Palace, Jiang Xiurun was watching the palace maids bathe Xueyan.

The little one lay comfortably in a maid’s arms, her tiny belly covered with a cotton cloth, while Baoli carefully poured water from a jade ladle over her stomach.

His little sister grinned in delight, her tiny tongue flicking in and out.

Just then, Empress Dowager Wei personally arrived to see her newborn granddaughter.

Upon hearing of the Empress Dowager’s arrival, Jiang Xiurun ordered the maids to clear away the water, wrap Xueyan in her swaddling clothes, and dress her.

At the same time, she instructed someone to inform the Emperor in the imperial study that the Empress Dowager had arrived at Fengming Palace.

The Empress Dowager had regained some of her former vitality after a period of recuperation.

Though her temper had softened somewhat, she still held little warmth for Jiang Xiurun.

After all, how often does one encounter a daughter-in-law so brazen as to dare slap her mother-in-law? Such an audacious act, seen once in a thousand years, had happened to her.

However, Empress Dowager Wei knew well that, in her son’s heart, his wife was far more important than his own mother.

So, she maintained a surface-level civility, smoothing her expression.

She had not come empty-handed either.

She gifted the newborn princess a pair of bracelets inlaid with precious pearls, which she herself had worn as a child.

She had never been particularly fond of children.

Even after giving birth to Feng Liwu, she had barely held him.

But since she had come to see her granddaughter, it was necessary to go through the formalities of holding the child.

Just as she reached out her arms, Feng Liwu strode quickly into the room from outside and immediately took the baby from the maid, cradling her in his own arms.

“Mother, you’ve only just recovered. You must not overexert yourself. If holding the baby tires your arms, it wouldn’t be good,” he said.

The Empress Dowager’s outstretched hands met only empty air.

Her face flushed, her chest heaved, and she felt as if all her goodwill had been treated like trash.

She hadn’t even held Feng Liwu much as a child, and today, in an effort to mend relations, she had swallowed her irritation to hold her granddaughter—only to be dismissed.

Glancing at Jiang Xiurun standing nearby, the Empress Dowager knew she must have been the one to send word to the Emperor just now.

Seeing how guarded this cunning woman was against her, as though she were some great flood or savage beast, the Empress Dowager felt even more indignant.

She could not help but say, “It has been some time since His Majesty ascended the throne, yet the palace remains far more desolate and empty than during your father’s reign. By refusing to take noblewomen into the harem, His Majesty has completely severed ties with the aristocratic families, leaving himself no retreat.

“Although the Yang family may be an ungrateful turncoat, having sided with the Three Counties, one cannot deny that Yang Ruxu is truly a virtuous and capable woman. As soon as she was made Empress, she selected several concubines for Feng Wu. If His Majesty had changed his mind back then and accepted a daughter of the Yang family into the palace, perhaps the situation today would be quite different. The palace might even be more lively.”

Jiang Xiurun listened with perfect clarity.

The Empress Dowager’s words were meant as a veiled jab at her.

But as she was still in her confinement period, she couldn’t be bothered to get angry.

Leisurely, she sipped a bowl of papaya and goat milk soup, quietly nourishing her body.

Feng Liwu was holding his daughter, teasing her playfully, when he heard his mother making such pointless and unfair comparisons.

His expression darkened instantly.

“Mother, I fail to understand your reasoning. If it was something you yourself did not do in the past, why should my empress be expected to do it now? Might I ask, when Father was alive, how many concubines did you magnanimously select for him? And if the palace were to become lively with concubines, how many sons like Feng Wu would they produce—sons who disregard the people and the empire, thinking only of usurping power?”

Feng Liwu’s words struck directly at Empress Dowager Wei’s sore spot.

When she had entered the palace, she had been anything but virtuous and magnanimous.

Not long after her wedding, she had already fallen out with Emperor Duanqing.

Out of jealousy, she had frequently schemed against his favored concubines.

Otherwise, she wouldn’t have ended up giving Emperor Duanqing leverage over her, leading to her being discarded and confined to the Cold Palace.

Yet now, having her past disgrace exposed by her own son, and in front of that vixen of an empress no less, Empress Dowager Wei could not bear the humiliation.

She slammed her palm down and shouted, “You unfilial son! What nonsense are you speaking?”

Her voice was so loud that it startled the little princess in Feng Liwu’s arms, making her tremble.

This immediately distressed her father.

He shot a cold glare at the Empress Dowager and said icily, “If there is nothing of importance, I must ask Mother not to visit Fengming Palace again. Someone, escort the Empress Dowager back to her palace to rest!”

The moment the words left his mouth, Empress Dowager Wei regretted her outburst.

She always forgot—her son was no longer that pitiful child in the Cold Palace who used to long for her affection.

Now, with the aristocratic clans being purged and suppressed in the Qi Dynasty, Feng Liwu’s imperial authority had only grown stronger.

Even her own father, Wei Zhong, dared not openly oppose the emperor in court.

Calling him an “unfilial son” had been an inappropriate lapse unbecoming of an empress dowager.

But she had not expected Feng Liwu to go so far as to forbid her from stepping foot in Fengming Palace ever again.

He was so protective of his wife that he had completely forgotten about his mother!

Empress Dowager Wei trembled with rage, even wondering whether she had truly given birth to Emperor Duanqing’s son.

How could he lack seven-tenths of his father’s romantic nature?

After the Empress Dowager left, Jiang Xiurun finally poured a cup of calming fragrant tea for the emperor and handed it to him.

“She was just venting,” she said lightly.

“I didn’t even get angry—why are you?”

Feng Liwu cast her a sidelong glance, sensing her deliberate attempt at appearing obedient.

Did she think he didn’t know her well enough? Her heart was as small as a needle’s eye.

If he had played the filial son and simply listened to his mother’s nonsense, she wouldn’t be handing him tea so sweetly right now.

But truly, that Yang Ruxu was insufferable, so desperate to squeeze her way into the Feng family.

And after marrying in, her only concern was finding concubines and favored mistresses for her husband.

In the past, Feng Liwu had believed that a virtuous woman ought to behave in such a way.

But now, after experiencing true love with Xiurun, he found such behavior completely intolerable.

That woman from the Yang family must be seriously ill!

Having such a sister-in-law was already an eyesore.

But thinking about it, she was actually a perfect match for his second brother.