Chapter 221 - 190: Shude Zhenli Chenzunfei

As this was his first daughter, Xie Che was overjoyed.

But when he thought about how the birth had tormented the Empress and nearly cost her her life, his joy faded somewhat. He issued lavish rewards, bestowing them generously upon the midwives and female doctors. The Imperial Hospital and all the Palace Attendants present were also handsomely rewarded to demonstrate his affection for the Eldest Princess.

After kneeling to express her gratitude, the midwife quickly demurred, "This servant was only doing her duty. The credit truly belongs to Lady Zhaoyi. If she hadn’t massaged the Empress to aid the delivery, this birth would not have been so successful."

The other nannies in the delivery room also dared not take credit, stating outright that Lady Zhaoyi’s skills were simply miraculous.

’Let Her Ladyship have the whole cake; they’d be happy with the crumbs.’

Xie Che was stunned. "Is that really true?"

He had thought that Xian’er’s presence in the delivery room would, at best, offer the Empress a bit of moral support.

He never expected her to be so capable.

And when he remembered the throng of concubines waiting in Jianzhang Palace, he suspected that the ones who truly wished for the Empress to have a safe delivery could be counted on one hand. This made him find Jiang Xian’s pure-hearted kindness all the more precious.

An Emperor has limited energy. The selection of concubines was more for forging close ties with the court and maintaining the imperial family’s prestige. It was like an imperial banquet: tasting a bite of every dish would leave one stuffed, but having any less would be unseemly. The harem was not what the plays depicted, with countless women vying for the love of the handsome and extraordinary Emperor. More often than not, when a concubine’s name was chosen, she would come to attend to him in his chambers, dutifully serving a man she might only see a few times a year. Where could love possibly come from?

The concubines who hoped the Empress would suffer a difficult birth were thinking that another vacancy at the top would allow them to climb a little higher.

As long as there was no legitimate son by the Empress, everyone had a fair chance to compete.

There were many reasons for their hatred, and affection for the Emperor was rarely one of them.

As he stroked Jiang Xian’s hair, Xie Che recalled the late Emperor’s words. He had been told to be tolerant of the Concubines, but not indulgent. He was to be tolerant because once they were chosen for the Imperial Palace, they were destined to live a lonely life, different from that of ordinary women. He was to govern Yan Chi well, allowing them to live in peace and prosperity within the harem. And if he discovered they did not love him, he should not fault them for it.

’Their bloody struggles are for power and pride, not for love.’

"Gu Zhaoyi, your selfless dedication to the Empress has moved me deeply."

"Xian’er, I understand your feelings for me."

Xie Che took the small, golden-red bundle from Jiang Xian’s arms. The newborn’s forehead was still damp with hair, and her skin had a reddish tint, making her a tiny, pink ball. To put Empress An’s mind at ease, Xie Che issued an edict right there in Jianzhang Palace, conferring the title of Princess Taihua upon the Eldest Princess. To receive a title at birth was a clear sign of the Emperor’s immense love and high regard.

As he spoke, Xie Che took Jiang Xian’s hand with his free one and sighed. "Unfortunately, according to the ancient customs of Yan Chi, a concubine’s title must be a single character. Otherwise, I would truly want to bestow all the world’s most beautiful names upon you. I would call you..."

Her ’boss,’ on a sudden whim, thought he’d had a stroke of genius. "Pure, Virtuous, Chaste, and Beautiful Consort Chen! I’ll create a new tier just for you, Venerable Consort, making you equal in honor to Xue Shi." Xue Shi was the personal name of Noble Princess Consort Rong; in his excitement, the Emperor had blurted it out.

Liang Yuyin was speechless.

The crowd of illiterate yet utterly flabbergasted palace maids was also speechless.

’A stroke of genius?’

’This wasn’t just adding feet to a snake; it was turning it into a centipede.’

Anyone else would have laughed until they were breathless. After all, not everyone possessed the grand audacity of Emperor Shi, who could invent unprecedented titles to sing his own praises. But Xie Che had run into an unconventional modern soul. Any other normal person from the modern era would have cringed at having a pile of Mary Sue-esque prefixes tacked onto their title, but not Jiang Xian.

’Having so many modifiers in front of my job title,’ she thought, ’is actually pretty great.’

’It’s the boss’s recognition of my work performance.’

’To put it bluntly, if I ever had to "switch jobs," an ordinary concubine would probably be dragged off and executed. But if the emperor of an enemy nation heard that Yan Chi had a "Pure, Virtuous, Chaste, and Beautiful Venerable Consort Chen," wouldn’t he have to summon me over just to see what kind of godlike being with three heads and six arms I was? Then I could put on a little demonstration, and a new ’offer’ would be on the table, wouldn’t it?’

"I love the title Your Majesty has chosen for me. Why don’t we use that one?"

Seeing Gu Zhaoyi accept it with a grin, Liang Yuyin was even more stunned.

Fortunately, Xie Che had only spoken foolishly in the heat of the moment. He didn’t actually agree, saying only that the matter of her promotion would be discussed at a later time.

News that the Emperor had joyfully welcomed his Eldest Princess by the Empress swept through the Capital like wildfire.

Upon learning of the risks the Empress had faced during labor, the Empress Dowager couldn’t help but shed tears. Her tears were not for her daughter-in-law’s suffering, however. She was afraid that if Empress Yuan were to die in childbirth, she would have to worry about finding a new empress, which would mar the perfect image of the Emperor and Empress living in harmonious accord.

"If only it had been a legitimate son."

The Empress Dowager sighed as she offered incense to Buddha. "The Empress had such a difficult birth, yet the Eldest Princess is so robust. If she had been born a boy, she would surely have been a healthy, legitimate son."

’After all, her family actually had a throne that needed inheriting.’

The Empress Dowager fretted all morning, but Xie Che had already gone to Changle Palace to share the good news. He made a point of showing how fond he was of the Eldest Princess, hoping that for his sake, his Mother Empress would refrain from pressuring the Empress to have another child and instead let her rest and recover. "This morning, Consort Ji fainted outside Jianzhang Palace," he added. "If a mother’s body is frail, I fear she cannot bear healthy children. Your son believes the culture of the harem ought to be reformed. Someone like Gu Zhaoyi, for example, is an excellent model."

He proceeded to lavish praise on Gu Zhaoyi for entering the delivery room and using massage to assist with the birth.

Consort Ji, meanwhile, served as the sickly, fragile control group in his comparison.

Who would be moved by someone who didn’t do a damn thing, but simply worried herself sick over the Empress?

In truth, it wasn’t Consort Ji’s fault. To show her piety, she had been observing a vegetarian diet. After standing vigil at Jianzhang Palace for so long, she had fainted from exhaustion. It wasn’t intentional. Unfortunately, failing at such a critical moment caused her to fall further and further behind.

"Gu Zhaoyi and the Eldest Prince are both exceptionally robust. And since the Second Prince began visiting Bihua Palace more often, I have noticed his cheeks have become rounder than before. She should indeed be rewarded."

The Empress Dowager said meaningfully.

She knew, of course, that her son wanted to reward Gu Zhaoyi; she just didn’t know what form that reward would take.

"The rank of Pure Consort is currently vacant. I wish to promote Gu Zhaoyi to that position."

The Empress Dowager paused. ’Just as I thought,’ she mused.

The four main consort ranks were Noble, Pure, Virtuous, and Worthy. Gu Zhaoyi could not yet be made a Noble Consort, and Princess Consort Zhang, as Consort Xian, held the lowest of these ranks. The Emperor probably felt that even making Jiang Xian a Consort De would be beneath her, so he was claiming the highest available rank—Pure Consort—for her now, with an eye toward future promotions.

When an Emperor decided to dote on the one he favored, his partiality was truly blatant.