Chapter 15: First Birthday
Of course, the Sixth Prince is only a five-year-old child now.
He might be a little cunning, but not to the extent that Ye Shuo was worried about.
Ye Shuo also didn’t want to be on guard for things that hadn’t happened yet, otherwise living like that would be too tiring.
As things are now, it is understandable that the Sixth Prince wants to break free from his current difficult environment, and who can blame the Fifth Prince for having bad intentions first?
Since the Fifth Prince wants to use others, he must be prepared to be used by others in return.
At the same time, Ye Shuo was more willing to believe that the Sixth Prince pounced on him because he was worried about his safety.
Ye Shuo was an adult, and secretly he didn’t want to think too badly of a five-year-old child.
Just like that, the Sixth Prince followed Concubine Rong and her entourage back to Qiuwu Palace as it was a natural thing.
Emperor Jingwen soon learned about this matter, but after thinking about it, he didn’t say anything.
Firstly, the two children are still young, and the future is still a long way off, so there is no need to worry too much for the time being.Secondly, it may not be a good thing for the imperial concubine to have one more child. As long as the child is not listed in the imperial concubine’s name in the imperial edict, it will not have any impact.
It was only at this time that Emperor Jingwen realized that his little-known son was not living well in the prince’s residence.
No matter what, he is his own child after all, and cannot be abused by an ordinary servant.
With a frown on his face, after sentencing several people, Emperor Jingwen learned that the Sixth Prince had an injury on his forehead. He then asked the eunuchs around him to select some supplements that would help the wound heal and give them to the Sixth Prince.
When the Sixth Prince saw the ointment on the tray, he was so flattered that he didn’t know what to do with his hands and feet.
For the first time in his life, his father actually mentioned him.
As expected, only by following the imperial concubine can I have the chance to be seen by my father.
This move by Emperor Jingwen further strengthened the Sixth Prince’s determination to stay.
No matter what, he must find a way to stay here!
Although the Sixth Prince did not know the specific method, he knew one thing, that is, the Imperial Concubine was particularly concerned about the newborn little brother.
So as long as I try my best to be nice to my little brother, I still have a chance, right?
After all, there are only a few children who are born bad. Even for the Sixth Prince, his first reaction is to please, not to kill.
Seeing the child in front of him blush with excitement because of a small bottle of ointment, Ye Shuo couldn’t help but sigh in his heart.
It turns out that a child who lacks love can move himself if you treat him a little bit better.
Ye Shuo decided that he would be nicer to this poor kid in the days to come and try to bully him as little as possible.
Give him the warmth of spring breeze, so that such a good child will not go astray in the end.
Concubine Rong still had some sense of propriety. She did not give the side palace that belonged to her son to the Sixth Prince to live in. Instead, she asked the palace servants to clean up a side room next to the main palace for him to live in.
But even if it is a side room, it is not comparable to the Sixth Prince’s previous residence. The Sixth Prince still lives in the place where his biological mother lived before her death.
Sometimes the difference between being favored and being unfavored is so huge.
“This is Bao que. She will be responsible for serving you from now on. If you have any grievances, just tell me.” Concubine Rong did not hesitate and casually pointed to the senior palace maid beside her.
Upon hearing this, the Sixth Prince bowed and expressed his gratitude without a second thought: “Thank you, Madam Rong…”
“No need.” What Concubine Rong was most impatient about was kneeling down.
“It’s getting late now, and you’ve been frightened today, so you should go to bed early. I’ll ask Mammy to come to your room to call you at breakfast tomorrow.”
After saying that, Concubine Rong briefly checked the newly made bedding on the bed, and when she found that there was no problem, she left quickly.
As soon as they went out, the nanny next to them couldn’t help laughing.
“Mammy, why are you laughing for no reason?” Concubine Rong was puzzled.
“But is there anything happy? Why don’t you tell me about it?”
“Not really.” Nanny shook her head and said with a smile, “I just feel that now that the queen has become a mother, she has become a little different.”
How could she have had such patience and attentiveness in the past?
“If the master and his wife saw it, I’m afraid they wouldn’t recognize it.”
Being teased like this, Concubine Rong’s cheeks turned slightly red: “It’s all because of this little thing.”
She had never been involved in anything before, so she had never thought about it in this regard.
Ye Shuo looked extremely innocent, he was just a little useless, a little clingy, and required some care… How did it have anything to do with him?
The noise of playfulness gradually faded away. After telling Baoque to leave with a stern face, the Sixth Prince could not wait to look around.
Reaching out his hand carefully and touching the brocade embroidered bedding, the Sixth Prince remembered Concubine Rong’s action of checking the thickness just now.
Before this, no one had ever cared whether he slept warmly.
Afterward, an incredible thought flashed through the Sixth Prince’s mind –
Am I going to have a family?
The next day, Ye Shuo keenly discovered that the Sixth Prince had changed. He became particularly nice to him and seemed to be very cautious, wanting to please him and his mother.
After a moment’s thought, Ye Shuo understood why.
While sighing in his heart, he also gave very active feedback.
Then the Sixth Prince was surprised to find that his little brother, who was only over a month old, seemed to understand what he said. When he stretched out his hand, he actually took the initiative to ask for a hug. He was really smart!
When Concubine Rong, who was watching from the side, saw this, a look of surprise flashed in her eyes.
It’s only been over a month since he could recognize people. What will happen if he grows up a little bit more?
The nanny nearby also said that usually babies start to recognize people at four or five months old, and know to be held at five or six months old. In other words, her son is at least four months smarter than other children.
If you switch to reading and writing, wouldn’t you be even better? Leading by three to five years won’t be a problem.
At this moment, Concubine Rong seemed to see the scene when her son entered the study room to study and surpassed the other princes.
“As expected of my son, you are different from ordinary people!”
Ye Shuo: “…”
Ye Shuo was so scared that he quickly put his hand down.
He just stretched out his hand, how could his mother think so much about it.
After this lesson, Ye Shuo never dared to move again.
He was afraid that one day his mother would really say, “I think everyone else is ordinary, but my son is capable of great responsibilities.” Then Ye Shuo would have no place to cry.
Ye Shuo endured until he was two months old before he could lift his head, turned over at four months, could sit at six months, and could crawl at eight months. When he was one year old, he could barely take two steps holding the edge of the bed. This perfectly fits the folk law of “two lifts, four turns, six sits, seven rolls, eight crawls, and a week walks”.
Some children who develop well and learn quickly can run around at eight or nine months old. Ye Shuo’s performance is not considered fast.
But in the eyes of Concubine Rong, her son was extremely smart and learned things very quickly, which made Ye Shuo wonder if his acting skills had declined. In his previous life, he had been pretending for more than 20 years, but his father did not suspect anything.
Gradually, Ye Shuo realized that it was not the case at all, but that Concubine Rong’s filter was too thick, and she could no longer recognize the reality.
It would have been fine if she was the only one who failed to recognize the reality, but she also led the Sixth Prince astray. After hearing this so many times, the young Sixth Prince also felt that his younger brother was smart.
After all, the Sixth Prince was young and did not remember anything about his childhood, let alone that he could speak when he was seven months old. But his younger brother still spoke indistinctly and could not even utter a complete sentence “Mother”. When he was nine months old, he was already running around the yard. Compared with him, it would not be an exaggeration to call the little prince a “mediocrity”.
The maid who had served the Sixth Prince since he was a child did not dare to say a word. She buried her head, fearing that Concubine Rong and the maids beside her would notice her abnormality.
The maid knew very well that if she dared to tell the truth at this time, she would definitely not see the sun tomorrow.
In the beginning, the maids didn’t actually think the little prince was smart. They thought he was just a normal child.
But there was nothing to be done, the little prince was so handsome, his little face, which had already begun to show its outline, especially his slightly slanted phoenix eyes and his red lotus-like mouth, were simply his two most amazing weapons.
From an eighty-year-old old lady to an eight-year-old little girl, there are very few who don’t like this one.
Although the little prince is still young, it is precisely because of his young age that he has this face that makes him look good no matter what he does.
The maids became increasingly obsessed with the results of the powerful alliance between the emperor and the imperial concubine, and gradually gave up their principles.
For some reason, Ye Shuo suddenly felt that the burden on him was very heavy.
In fact, he had almost mastered pronunciation when he was four months old. After all, it was quite easy for him to speak again.
The same is true for walking, but due to the child’s soft bones, he dare not stand up too early.
Ye Shuo was now just thankful that he had held it in, otherwise his reputation as a genius would have spread throughout the harem by now.
Thinking of that scene, Ye Shuo couldn’t help but shudder.
“What’s wrong? Are you cold?” Seeing this, the Sixth Prince asked in a low voice.
Nearly nine months had passed, and the Sixth Prince had now gotten used to life in Qiuwu Palace, and caring for his younger brother had become a natural thing for him.
Ye Shuo is still physically young, so there is no way he can explain this to him, so he can only put it aside for the time being.
Seeing the child looking at him, regardless of whether he could understand or not, the Sixth Prince instructed: “When you do the one-year-old ceremony later, you don’t have to be nervous. Just do it like you did a few days ago.”
All the concubines in the palace will come at that time, even the Queen will be present. The Sixth Prince knows this. Ever since the incident when the Fifth Prince and the Seventh Prince threw stones at his younger brother, Imperial Concubine Rong has detained his younger brother in the yard and never asked him to go out again.
The Sixth Prince was afraid that he would be nervous because he had never met so many people.
But in fact, the Sixth Prince was just a six-year-old child, not much older than Ye Shuo today.
Ye Shuo blinked and was about to say that he was not nervous, but the next moment, he heard the eunuch’s voice suddenly coming from outside –
“The Emperor has arrived!”
“I pay my respects to His Majesty, may His Majesty be blessed with good health and good wealth.”
The concubines were startled at first, and then they all saluted. The queen sitting on the upper throne was stunned at first, and then she slowly saluted with the help of her maid.
“Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you. May your Majesty be blessed with good health.”
Having missed the third day bath and the full moon, Emperor Jingwen still had to come on the day of his first birthday.
Ye Shuo then remembered, oh, besides his mother, he also had a father.
Just as Ye Shuo was stunned, a pair of dragon boots embroidered with gold thread appeared before his eyes.