The Flirtatious Prince and His Savage Concubine

On the first day of the first lunar month in the twenty-sixth year of Jiayu, the Crown Prince, the King of Qi and all the officials entered the palace to celebrate the New Year.

When all the officials had gathered and Emperor Nanzheng took his seat, Nan Wangyu, who was on the right side of the emperor, stepped forward first, presented his gift, and said, "Spring brings happiness to the whole family, and festivals bid farewell to the old and usher in the new. On this day of universal celebration, I, your son, wish you good health and prosperity for the country."

Emperor Nan Zheng took the gift from Nan Wangyu in his hands, looked around, and praised, "Yu'er is thoughtful. This jade paperweight is snow-white, cool to the touch, warm and delicate. It's obviously a top-quality jade. It took some effort to find it, right?"

Nan Wangyu: "As long as Father likes it."

Emperor Nan Zheng: "Well, reward."

Nan Wangyu knelt down to express his gratitude and said, "Thank you, father, for your grace!" He then stepped aside to his original position.

Nan Jingye, the Prince of Qi, who was standing opposite Nan Wangyu, was not in a hurry to present his gift. He stepped forward and said impatiently, "Father, I have prepared a surprise for you today."

Emperor Nanzheng: "Oh? What surprise?"

Nan Jingye did not answer, but shouted: "Carry him up!"

Then a woman came into the hall holding a swaddling baby and stood beside the King of Qi.

Emperor Nan Zheng was puzzled: "What is this?"

"This is your eldest grandson, father!" Nan Jingye said, looking at the crown prince Nan Wangyu provocatively. But the other party didn't even look at him, not noticing his provocation.

As soon as the words "eldest grandson" came out, all the ministers in the court were in an uproar. Most of the ministers in front were in high positions and had seen a lot of the world. They only exchanged glances and asked each other if they had received the news in advance. The answer they got was that they didn't know.

The ministers hiding in the back could not hold back and began to discuss in low voices:

Minister A on the side asked Minister B in the middle: "Didn't they say that the Princess of Qi is only seven or eight months pregnant?"

Minister B spread his hands and said, "Really? How come she was born? There was no news at all."

Minister A: "Maybe it's not the daughter of the Princess of Qi? Is it the daughter of another concubine in the Prince of Qi's palace?"

Minister C on the other side of Minister B said: "Didn't you hear 'first born grandson'? Not 'first born grandson of concubine'. This must be the daughter of the princess."

Minister A: "Then the eldest grandson of the emperor was born prematurely? I don't know if he can be born so prematurely..."

Before he uttered the word "live", the other two had already signaled him to be quiet.

The ministers were busy discussing the matter, but the Emperor of Nanzheng was already surprised and said, "The Princess of Qi has given birth? And it's a boy? Hurry and bring him up so I can see him."

Although Emperor Nan Zheng usually disliked the King of Qi, he was his son after all. Now he had a grandson. Perhaps because of the difference in generation, he was extremely happy and even looked at the King of Qi with a lot more favor.

When the King of Qi heard that the Emperor of Nanzheng wanted to see the child, he hurriedly asked the woman to come forward with the child.

When the woman came closer, Emperor Nan Zheng stood up, lifted a corner of the swaddling cloth, and took a look at the child. He saw that the child's face was wrinkled, and the skin was so tender that red blood could be seen. The swaddling cloth looked big, but it was actually wrapped too thickly, and the child was pitifully small.

Emperor Nan Zheng had seen newborns before, and he had held Nan Wangyu when he was just born. He wanted to hold the child, but when he saw him like this, he really didn't know where to start, for fear that if he was a little too heavy-handed, the child would be gone.

Seeing that Emperor Nan Zheng was looking at the child without saying anything, Prince Nan Jingye of Qi said, "Please give this child a name, father."

Nan Jingye asked for a name, and all the ministers fell silent and looked at Emperor Nan Zheng. The meaning of the name given by the emperor often indicates the emperor's attitude towards the child, which is a big deal.

Emperor Nan Zheng looked up at Nan Jingye, and without rushing to give him a name, he asked, "When was this child born?"

Nan Jingye: "Last night at midnight!"

Emperor Nan Zheng: "Last night at midnight? Dragon?" He was puzzled: What a coincidence? Born at the last moment of the Dragon Year like Yu'er? But Yu'er was full-term at that time, in the right time for delivery, and this child...

Nan Jingye looked down at the ground and replied calmly, "Yes, father."

Emperor Nan Zheng: "But I remember that the Princess of Qi seemed to have some time before giving birth? How come she gave birth on New Year's Eve?"

Nan Jingye bowed respectfully, lowered his head a little, and calmly said the words he had prepared before: "The day before yesterday, the princess was still asleep when she heard the chirping of birds outside the window. She was puzzled, where did the birds come from in this icy and snowy place?

When she opened the window, she saw a magpie standing on the locust tree in the yard, jumping up and down. The princess was overjoyed, thinking it was a good omen, and she was eager to share it with her son.

But when he turned around, he saw a spider falling from the beam. He was frightened and fell to the ground.

Afterwards, the princess felt something unusual moving in her stomach, so I quickly asked the midwife who had been prepared to come and check on the situation.

This time, it looked like she was about to give birth. I was also frightened at the time, fearing that something might happen to the child, so I didn't dare to leave for a moment and stayed by the princess' side until the child was born safely.

Therefore, I was unable to attend the family dinner on New Year's Eve last night. I hope you will forgive me, Father."

This process was full of ups and downs, but Nan Jingye described it calmly, without any emotional ups and downs. He was still thinking of confessing his crime at this time. And the magpie announcing the good news and the spider descending from the sky were all included. How could such a coincidence happen? There must be something fishy. But no one could tell the truth now.

The Emperor of Nanzheng was dissatisfied and suspected that this was not the whole story of the premature birth of the child, but now that the ministers were watching, it was not easy to ask in detail. Besides, now that the child was born, asking these questions would be useless.

Emperor Nan Zheng took his seat again, looked down at Nan Jingye and said, "Of course, Princess Qi's delivery is more urgent. It's just a family dinner, so it doesn't matter if you don't attend."

Nan Jingye bent his knees slightly and was about to kneel down to thank Emperor Nan Zheng for his forgiveness.

Then he said, "Since the child is weak and hasn't even finished his confinement, take him home and take good care of him. He's my eldest grandson, so make sure you take good care of him."

After saying that, he waved at the woman, indicating that she could leave.

Emperor Nan Zheng: "As for the name, let's call him Zhou Hong! What do you think, King Qi?"

When Nan Jingye heard the name bestowed by Emperor Nan Zheng, he immediately knelt down to express his gratitude: "Thank you, father, for giving Zhou Hong a name."

When the ministers heard this, they guessed the meaning of the two words "Zhou Hong" and followed the King of Qi in kneeling down to congratulate him: "Congratulations to the emperor on the birth of his eldest grandson, and congratulations to his highness the King of Qi on the birth of his son." They shouted three times in a row to show their sincerity.

Emperor Nan Zheng glanced at Nan Wangyu sideways and saw that he followed the ministers in agreeing and did not care about the sudden appearance of the emperor's eldest grandson.

I was a little angry for a moment. How could this child not be moved? He was two years older than the King of Qi. Now the King of Qi had a legitimate son, but he had concubines everywhere but nothing happened. Was he not worried about his offspring? Or was it useless to worry? Would he have any problems? Should I find a trustworthy doctor to check it out?

Nan Wangyu never thought that his father would think of so many questions in the time it took him to look at him. He only thought that Nan Jingye was really crazy, forcing his child to be born prematurely just because of the zodiac sign of dragon. Ridiculous, is the zodiac sign that important?

After the matter of the emperor's eldest grandson was revealed, all officials began to pay their congratulations one by one. However, when they gave their speeches, in addition to the New Year's greetings they had prepared earlier, they also added speeches congratulating the emperor's eldest grandson on his birth.

Then there was a palace banquet. After the banquet, all the ministers immediately returned to their homes and ordered the mistress of the inner house to prepare gifts and send them to the Prince of Qi's palace.