Qing Dynasty: The Imperial Concubine is Pregnant Again

Yinxiang smiled happily, then nudged Fourteen with his elbow.

"It's just a one-year-old celebration, but you still want me to come and give you gifts in person."

As he spoke, he took a silk-wrapped brocade box from the young eunuch beside him with a condescending look on his face.

"Well, my gift is incomparable to anyone else's. It's very valuable!"

Tong Nuanyan couldn't help but laugh when she saw them throwing tantrums. These kids always wanted to compete with each other no matter what they did.

There was some mischief in Yinxiang's eyes. His mother was not granted the title of concubine until she died of illness. Before that, she had always been a concubine, and her low position led to few rewards.

In such gift-giving occasions, he could never come up with many valuable things and would inevitably be laughed at by Fourteen.

It was just that Fourteenth was favored by Concubine De, grew up in wealth and was well protected by Concubine De. He developed a fearless character and naturally did not take such ridicule seriously.

Yinxiang laughed and punched Shisi: "Well, you dare to laugh at me."

Yinzhen was punched but didn't dodge. Instead, he couldn't suppress the smile on his face and said stubbornly, "Am I wrong, young master? What I gave Hongzhao was South China Sea coral, which is so precious."

Yinzhen didn't realize that he had let the cat out of the bag, and was still pushing and shoving Yinxiang in front of Tong Nuanyan.

Tong Nuanyan smiled secretly and interrupted the brothers' play: "Thank you very much, Fourteenth Prince, for the coral given to Hongzhao. Hongzhao likes to see some bright colors nowadays. I believe he will like the gift from his Fourteenth Uncle very much."

Yinxiang and Yinzhen looked a little embarrassed. They stood still and straightened their clothes. When they heard what Tong Nuanyan said, they couldn't suppress the pride on their faces.

"It's good that you know! Humph!" Then, Yinzhen flicked his sleeves and went straight into the mansion.

Yinxiang smiled and shook his head, looking at Tong Nuanyan and said, "Fourteen is outspoken, Sister-in-law Four doesn't need to take it to heart. Then, brother will take a seat first."

A gentle smile appeared on his face, but it was not genuine, like a mask.

"It's okay." Tong Nuanyan smiled. She really didn't care much about Yinzhen's attitude. Yinzhen was only thirteen years old, and she wouldn't bother with a child.

Soon, all the guests arrived.

Everyone gathered in the main hall in the front yard. The highlight of today was the one-year-old ceremony for the third son of Prince Yong.

Tong Nuanyan brought Xia Xi out. She was wearing a bright Shu brocade dress embroidered with birds and beasts. She had a gorgeous but modest ornament pinned on her hair. A long pearl tassel hung on the left side, setting off her bright complexion. It made everyone dazed for a moment.

Although everyone had seen her at least three times, Tong Nuanyan still amazed them with this look. Even the women living in the mansion couldn't help but feel jealous. She was nearly eight months pregnant, but not only did she not look tired at all, she was even more stunning.

Xia Xi, who was beside him, was holding today's protagonist. He was wearing a bright red shirt embroidered with the king of beasts. Hong Zhao had a huge smile on his little face, and his laughter echoed in the hall.

"Today is the first birthday celebration for the Third Prince in our mansion. Concubine, why don't you take Hong Zhao to meet all the uncles?"

The one sitting in the front was the Fourth Lady. She was dressed particularly formally today, as if she was intentionally reminding everyone that she was the mistress of this palace.

Tong Nuanyan didn't want to cause any trouble in front of her son, so she followed her words and took Xia Xi for a walk in the hall.

The ones who stayed the longest were Yinxiang and Yinzhen. When they saw Hongzhao, they stared at his smiling face for a long time as if he had seen some rare treasure.

The two of them talked in a low voice for a long time, thinking that no one could hear them, but they didn't know that Tong Nuanyan could hear everything clearly using her special ability plug-in.

"Thirteen, how come Fourth Brother, who is so cold and icy, has such a smiling son?"

"Fourth brother actually loves to laugh, but you don't get along with him very well."

"I think Hong Zhao takes after the fourth sister-in-law. If he takes after the fourth brother's face, well, it's scary to think of his face smiling like this."

"I'd really like to see it. I wonder if Fourth Sister-in-law will give birth to a little brother who looks like Fourth Brother?"

Hearing this, Tong Nuanyan felt two pairs of eyes staring at her stomach. She couldn't help feeling speechless. The thinking of these two people was really unconventional.

He quickly took Hong Zhao and walked to the back.

After going around, the smile on Tong Nuanyan's face grew bigger and bigger. These people were so good at talking, and they were all praising her in various ways, which made her feel a little dizzy.

The fourth lady in the seat also heard the praise from these people, and the smile on her face faded a little. Thinking that she couldn't let Tong Nuanyan steal the limelight here, she quickly spoke:

"The auspicious time is almost here, so we should not delay the one-year-old ceremony. Why don't we all guess the lucky number?"

As the Fourth Lady finished her words, everyone immediately began to look forward to it. Although there were many children in the royal family, and there were at least three or four who had the one-year-old ceremony every year, this kind of riddle-like discussion also aroused a lot of interest among them.

"Hong Zhao of the Fifth Prince's family is about to turn one year old, right? Why don't you take a look at what Hong Zhao gets at the first birthday celebration this time?"

The one who spoke was the wife of Prince Zhi. No one knew whether she was speaking out of curiosity or some other thought. The Fifth Wife, Tatala, had been married for four years without any children, while the concubines had children one after another. This Hong Zhao was born to the concubine, Guaerjia.

Sure enough, the Fifth Lady's face darkened. She, who always had a bad temper, did not dare to say a word. After all, the other party was the wife of a prince, while she was only the wife of a beile, and there was a difference in the degree of nobility.

Soon, a square piece of red cloth was laid on the carpet. Everyone ignored the embarrassing scene and placed the items in their hands on the red cloth.

The plate that originally only had books, an abacus, arrows, and brushes was now decorated with many gold, silver, and jade articles, which were placed on the red cloth, making it a dazzling sight.

The matchmaker, who had been waiting for a long time, came forward, took Hong Zhao from Xia Xi's arms, and then held Hong Zhao in a strange posture and placed him on the red cloth.

"The trial begins!"

A sharp and loud voice sounded, and Hong Zhao laughed even more happily. He clapped the red cloth with his hands and looked at the gold, silver and jade artifacts with some curiosity.

Seeing that Hongzhao was staring at the gold and silver, the Fourth Lady couldn't help but smile as she sat in her seat. She thought it would be best if the Third Prince took the gold and silver to make the mother and son lose face.

On the contrary, Tong Nuanyan didn't care much. She already knew the answer in her mind as to what Hongzhao would grab today. Qiuyu and Yunxin had asked Hongzhao to simulate the ceremony in private. She knew all this.

Zhijian Hongzhao stood up with his hands, walked to each item one by one, looked at it, and then turned around and left.

Just when some people were gloating and wanted to see Hong Zhao grab some gold, silver or jade, the festive red man suddenly shouted towards the door: "Ama!"

Everyone turned around and saw Prince Yong, who had been away in Jiangnan for several months on business, slowly walking in with Su Peisheng.

The Fourth Lady's face was full of joy. She stood up and walked quickly to greet him. Although Tong Nuanyan beside her was not as excited as her, she walked to Yinzhen unconsciously.