CH 33

Aman’s body is different from that of a woman. The pelvis is narrow, which is not conducive to safe delivery. Even a normal-sized baby is extremely difficult to give birth to. If the baby is too large, dystocia is almost a foregone conclusion. If you are a little careless, you will end up with one corpse and two deaths.

Wei Zhao’s birth to Wei Chongrong was a very typical example. The birth took three days and three nights, and the child was born in pain. Wei Zhao almost didn’t survive. In the end, both father and son were lucky enough to keep their lives. In addition to the factor of the shaman doctor under Helian Zhuo, it was also Wei Zhao himself who was blessed with great luck.

At present, Jun Qing was only about six months pregnant. Wei Zhao secretly observed and found that his stomach was obviously much larger than his own at the same time, and his worries increased. You know, Wei Chongrong weighed eight catties when he was born, and he was considered a very big baby. If the foetus in Jun Qing’s abdomen was bigger than him, Wei Zhao didn’t dare to think about what would happen in the future. Fortunately, Teacher Duanmu was already living in Yujing. If he had any questions, he could go over and ask him, so he wouldn’t bother Jun Qing by saying it now.

After chatting for half a day, instead of convincing Jun Qing, Wei Zhao was persuaded by him. The two made an appointment to go to Dingling together on the second day of the next month.

As they were leaving, Wei Chongrong boldly touched Jun Qing’s stomach and kept thinking in his heart: Jun Hua, take care of yourself. Although I really want to help you, I really can’t do anything. But even if you are the same as before, I will take good care of you and protect you. If you want to come out with all your arms and legs intact, you must be good, don’t eat too much, don’t sleep too strangely, otherwise Duanmu Hui may not be able to do anything… 

Before Wei Chongrong finished speaking, Jun Hua seemed to be impatient, raised his little fat leg and kicked it out abruptly, causing Jun Qing and Wei Chongrong’s faces to change colour at the same time.

“Oh…” The baby’s movement was too violent, and Jun Qing held his belly and couldn’t speak for a while.

Seeing this, Wei Zhao hurriedly asked, “Qing’er, are you alright? Do you want to call a doctor?”

Jun Qing endured, shook his head and said, “It’s okay. The child is moving a lot, it’s not a big deal.”

Wei Chongrong was taken aback for a moment and withdrew his hand. He never knew that an unborn baby could have such strength, which really shocked him. If Jun Hua was born to be so lively, jump around and kick him a few more times, he would recognise his defeat and never fight back.

Seeing that Jun Qing’s face wasn’t abnormal, Wei Zhao gave him a few words of advice, took Wei Chongrong to say goodbye and stopped disturbing him to let him rest.

In a blink of an eye, on the death anniversary of Jun Lin, Wei Zhao was dressed in dark clothes and went out with Wei Chongrong, who was also dressed in the same colour. The two of them first went to Hou Zhaoyang’s residence, met with Jun Qing and others, and then went to Dingling together.

Wei Chongrong was puzzled as to why Wei Zhao held Jun Lin in such high esteem. When Jun Lin passed away, Wei Zhao was only three years old, so he was still too young to remember, and Wei Chongrong didn’t believe that the two had a deep bond. The only credible explanation was that in Wei Zhao’s formative years, someone kept instilling in him everything about Jun Lin. But who would do this? The empress couldn’t do it in the first place. Although Jun Lin was her nephew, Princess Suining died for him. Although the empress didn’t hate Jun Lin, she didn’t want to talk much about him, it was for sure. Wei Ming married Jun Lin’s half-brother Jun Feili, as Lord Consort. Of course, they respected Jun Lin, but their respect didn’t reach Wei Zhao’s level, and Wei Zhao couldn’t be influenced by them.

Except for the empress and the Crown Prince, the emperor was the only one who could affect Wei Zhao’s preferences. His love for Jun Lin was well known to the world. Wei Chongrong didn’t know why Wei Su was like this, and he didn’t want to ask, because Wei Zhao’s expression was really solemn.

When Wei Zhao and his son arrived at Hou Zhaoyang’s residence, Jun Qing and the others were already waiting for them. Jun Qing’s belly was bulging, and he didn’t want to reveal that he was pregnant, so he wrapped himself in a thick cloak. He was so tall that with the cloak on him it wouldn’t show that he was pregnant.

Jun Qing naturally couldn’t ride a horse. He got into the carriage and Ji Xin accompanied him. Lu Ming rode a horse and accompanied Wei Zhao, who was also riding a horse. Wei Chongrong originally wanted to ride a horse alone, but unfortunately Wei Zhao didn’t allow it, so he had to ride a horse with him.

Dingling was the mausoleum of the current emperor. It had been built since the second year of Wei Su’s ascension to the throne and had been ready for more than forty years. The burial grounds around the imperial mausoleum also buried many courtiers who died before the emperor. 

The closest to the imperial mausoleum, except for the empress’s mausoleum, were the tombs of Wang Changning Wu and Hou Zhaoyang Huan. The tombs were in the shape of mountains, resembling Qilian Mountain and Lushan Mountain respectively, symbolising their outstanding military achievements.

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Not far away was the tomb of Consort Xin and the tomb of Wang Zheng Wei Xu. Entering Dingling,  no one was allowed to travel by carriage and horse, so they got out of the carriage and dismounted, and walked slowly. When passing by the tomb of Wang Zheng, they met some women who came to pay respects.

Wei Zhao stopped, cupped his fist in greeting and said, “Younger Brother greets Imperial Sister-in-law.” It was one thing not to want to pass his son for adoption to his elder brother, but it was another thing to be polite to the widow of the deceased brother.

Wangfei Zheng side-stepped and accepted a half-salute, and then returned the salute. Wei Chongrong opened his eyes wide and looked at the woman who had almost become his mother.

Wangfei Zheng was very young and beautiful. Even though she was dressed in plain clothes and did not wear makeup, she couldn’t hide her natural beauty. It was just that the vicissitudes and exhaustion in her eyes were very inconsistent with her age.

Before Wei Chongrong had finished looking at her, Wei Zhao pushed him to salute Wangfei Zheng, looking a little embarrassed.

Wangfei Zheng smiled and helped him up, saying that seeing her nephew for the first time, she should have given him some meeting gift, but today she went out to pay respects and she had nothing to give, so she could only make up for it next time.

Wei Zhao hurriedly said that it was fine. After returning to Yujing for so long, he had never brought Wei Chongrong to visit his aunt, so it was his negligence.

Wangfei Zheng smiled softly, and said that it was fine, let’s just meet each other if there is a chance. After the two exchanged a few pleasantries, Wangfei Zheng took her people and left first.

It wasn’t until the backs of Wangfei Zheng and her party completely disappeared from sight that Ji Xin sighed softly: “She is also a pitiful person.”

Wei Zhao’s face was expressionless as he said indifferently: “No matter how pitiful she is, she can’t steal my son.” The matter of passing Wei Chongrong for adoption was probably only the intention of Wei Su and Ji Wan, and Wangfei Zheng didn’t know about it, otherwise Wei Zhao wouldn’t have had a good face when he saw her.

Pitiful! Haha!

Wei Chongrong curled his lips imperceptibly, a look of disapproval flashing in his eyes. Wangfei Zheng might be called a pitiful person, but the Shangguan family behind her was definitely not innocent.

Wei Su, who had always been full of trust in the Shangguan family, didn’t know it until he died. The real culprit behind the witchcraft disaster that shocked the world and almost destroyed the country of the Great Yan was the Shangguan family, whose early planning far exceeded everyone’s expectations.

Back then, Wei Chongrong was desperate to serve Wei Yang. In addition to Wei Yang’s initiative to show kindness and take advantage of it, the common enemy of the Shangguan family also played a certain role. After all, all of Wei Chongrong’s relatives in the Great Yan died directly or indirectly at the hands of the Shangguan family.

In his previous life, Wei Chongrong had never seen Wei Ming, Princess Yuankang and the others, and he didn’t have much affection for them. The reason why he avenged them was just a statement of blood ties. The real reason was that he wanted to find a motivation for himself to persevere.

Now, Wei Chongrong had met Wei Ming and Princess Yuankang. They loved him a lot, as much as their biological children. Even Wei Xuan and Wei Kou and the Xie family really treated him as their own younger brother.

Wei Chongrong thought of the past again, and his hatred for the Shangguan family naturally deepened. He vowed that he would never let their conspiracy succeed.

Wangfei Zheng was Shangguan Ao’s daughter and almost adopted him. Wei Chongrong couldn’t say that he was angry with her, but it was inevitable that he didn’t like her. Her marriage had brought infinite favour to the Shangguan family while removing the emperor’s wariness of Gong Yue’s mansion.

Wei Zhao wasn’t surprised by Wei Chongrong’s cold treatment of Wangfei Zheng, nor did he blame him for his rudeness to the elders. Anyone who wanted to take away his son wasn’t a good person.

When they reached the tomb of Jun Lin, after Jun Qing and the others had paid their respects, Wei Zhao whispered to Wei Chongrong: “Rong’er, go and kowtow with Daddy.”

Wei Chongrong was startled, and walked over on his short legs, still wondering in his heart what Wei Zhao’s words meant.

Jun Qing was the son of Jun Lin, and Lu Ming was the adopted son of Jun Lin. They should kneel and kowtow to Jun Lin; although Ji Xin was a wang with a different surname and his title was above Jun Lin, he was Jun Lin’s cousin and son-in-law, and it was normal to treat himself as Jun Lin’s nephew. Wei Chongrong was of the same generation as Ji Xin, and he was also Jun Lin’s cousin. It was normal for him to kowtow, but it was a bit strange to kowtow for Wei Zhao. The seniority was wrong.

Realising that his thoughts were a bit off, Wei Chongrong stopped in time, not thinking about it anymore, and honestly followed Wei Zhao’s example.

Matters related to Jun Lin couldn’t be explained by common sense. Otherwise, with his title, why would the specifications of his tomb be comparable to that of Wang Changning Wu? It could only be Wei Su’s orders.

Wei Chongrong once heard people say that if it weren’t for Emperor Taizu’s bequest that after Wang Yong’an and Wang Changning, the Great Yan could no longer have a third wang with a different surname, based on the feats of Jun Lin and the emperor’s love for him, it was by no means impossible for him to become a wang with a different surname.

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It rarely snowed in Yujing in winter, but the climate was humid, the air was damp and cold, and the chilly feeling was extremely uncomfortable.

Dingling was built on the mountain, and the tomb of Jun Lin was close to the imperial mausoleum, which was naturally on the top of the mountain. The mountain wind blew in gusts, and the temperature was significantly lower than at the bottom of the mountain.

Wei Zhao didn’t stay in front of the tomb for long before he felt unbearable pain all over his body, as if there were countless small bugs squirming in his bones, biting and gnawing. His joints were numb and sore, and cold sweat was oozing out on his forehead.

Although Wei Zhao tried his best to endure and didn’t want to be discovered by others, Wei Chongrong stood beside him, so how could he not see it? He hurriedly asked, “Daddy, are you uncomfortable? I see you are sweating a lot…”

“Rong’er, I’m fine, don’t talk too much.” Wei Zhao took his son’s hand and shook his head gently. He was also very dissatisfied with his current body, it was really too weak.

Feeling that Wei Zhao’s palms were cold and wet, Wei Chongrong opened his mouth to speak, but Wei Zhao’s grip tightened and he was unable to speak for a while.

Jun Qing glanced at Wei Zhao carelessly and said indifferently: “Xin’er, I’m a little tired, let’s go back.” Didn’t he know Wei Zhao’s nature? He wanted to save face and suffer.

Jun Qing was pregnant, and Ji Xin was a little reluctant to let him go up the mountain to offer sacrifice in the first place. When he heard him say that he was tired, Ji Xin didn’t dare to neglect him and stretched out his hand to help him.

As Ji Xin helped Jun Qing go down, Lu Ming, a little startled, followed them. Wei Zhao took advantage of the situation and naturally led Wei Chongrong down the mountain.

Wei Chongrong was silent, but he was thinking in his heart that after returning to the city, he would persuade Wei Zhao to go to Duanmu Hui to have a look. Wei Zhao’s face at this time didn’t look as good as Jun Qing’s.

Coming out of Dingling, Jun Qing didn’t let Ji Xin get into the carriage, indicating that Wei Zhao would accompany him. Wei Chongrong also said that he was tired of riding a horse and wanted to ride in the carriage. Wei Zhao followed them into the carriage. Jun Qing didn’t like to talk too much, but he was always very kind to him.

On the way back to the city, Jun Qing seemed to be tired. Without saying a word, he leaned his forehead on the small table to rest. Wei Zhao and Wei Chongrong didn’t dare to disturb him, so they just put their foreheads against each other and communicated in whispers. Wei Chongrong put his arms around Wei Zhao’s neck and said in a low voice, “Daddy, do you know where Teacher Duanmu lives?”

Seeing Wei Zhao nod, Wei Chongrong added: “Let’s not go home yet, shall we go to Teacher Duanmu’s place?” After speaking, he hugged Wei Zhao and rubbed against him, hoping that he would say yes to him.

Wei Zhao hesitated, nodded and said, “Okay, let’s go find Teacher Duanmu.” In the past few days of practising martial arts, he obviously met a bottleneck. He didn’t know if it was remnants of the medicine, or if he could only recover to such a point. Maybe Duanmu Hui could give him the answer he wanted.

Duanmu Hui lived in Hehua Li. When Wei Chongrong got out of the carriage, he felt that the scenery he saw was very familiar. If he walked a hundred steps forward and then turned to the left, there would be his mansion of the previous life.

Seeing Wei Chongrong looking around, Wei Zhao smiled and asked him, “Rong’er, is there anything you want to buy? Daddy will buy it for you.”

Wei Chongrong shook his head quickly, indicating that he didn’t want anything. He wasn’t interested in Wei Zhao’s favourite sweets. It would be better to buy less.

Wei Zhao smiled, stopped asking, and led Wei Chongrong to Duanmu Hui’s house.

This was a three-entry house(1). It looked simple and unassuming on the outside, but the inside was a different world. In the front yard, many herbs were planted, with strange and colourful appearances, many of which Wei Chongrong didn’t know.

After reading Wei Zhao’s message, the Duanmu family’s servant led them to the main hall to rest, and apologised: “Your Imperial Highness Wang Qin, Teacher is treating a patient, please wait a moment.”

Wei Zhao sat down peacefully, smiled and waved his hand, indicating that it was okay. He had studied medical skills with Sun Ye for a few years. Although he had not learned much, he knew Duanmu Hui’s character very well. This old man never cared about the status of the patient, only whether it was a difficult case.

Wei Zhao was very puzzled about this before, and he also asked Sun Ye why this was so. Sun Ye’s answer was simple and clear. There were many doctors in the world, and you could go to them for ordinary illnesses. Why waste the energy of his teacher? The patients that Teacher Duanmu wanted to treat were all patients that others couldn’t cure.

The servant brought tea and snacks and put them on the table and left. Wei Chongrong wasn’t interested in the snacks, so he looked out curiously. From the legendary two great doctors, he had already seen Shangguan Xiang, and he was about to meet Duanmu Hui.

The backyard was also lush with flowers and plants, and the varieties were richer than in the front yard. After looking for a long time but seeing nothing, Wei Chongrong turned around and jumped back into Wei Zhao’s arms, asking, “Daddy, do you feel better now?”

He also remembered that when he was in Fuyu, the shaman doctor said that Wei Zhao’s body was too damaged, and if he didn’t recuperate carefully, his life span might be shortened. Back in Yujing, there were imperial doctors watching him in the palace, and Wei Zhao didn’t say anything about it himself. Wei Chongrong was full of hope that his body was recovering well, but today in Dingling, the wind wasn’t very strong and the air wasn’t particularly cold. While Jun Qing, who was six months pregnant, was fine, Wei Zhao looked like he couldn’t bear it, making Wei Chongrong worry whether there were any hidden problems with his body that Wei Zhao didn’t tell him about.

Wei Zhao nodded and said softly, “Daddy is fine, don’t worry, Rong’er.” Was it because he had been sick and injured too many times that Wei Chongrong had a psychological shadow and could tell right away as soon as he felt a little uncomfortable?

Wei Chongrong was about to answer, when he saw a familiar figure coming out of the backyard and hurriedly greeted: “Your Highness Wang Yong’an.”