Chaos in the Chu Palace

Chapter 24: First Pregnancy (1)
Ouyang Ruo only felt that his body was light and light, and his consciousness was floating like smoke.After an unknown period of time, it seemed that someone was whispering something in her ear.Gradually, the erratic consciousness slowly gathered, Ouyang Ruo opened his eyes, and what caught his eyes was Chu Huotian's worried eyes.

"Master Hou is here, my concubine..." She just wanted to get up.Chu Huotian hurriedly held her down, his usually stern eyes softened a lot, and said in a harmonious voice: "Lie down quickly, your body needs to rest." As he spoke, he only stared at her face, his deep eyes contained Looking at the surprise, it seems to be full of joy but not to say it.Eyebrows and mouth corners are full of drowning smiles.

Ouyang Ruo gradually felt that her body was not so heavy. Seeing him staring at her, she couldn't help touching her face and said, "Master Hou, is there something on my face? Why are you staring at my concubine like this?"

As soon as he touched his cheek with his hand, he felt a faint pain. Then he remembered that he had been slapped by Mrs. Xu, pain flashed across his pale face, and the hatred in his eyes couldn't be concealed.

Seeing her frowning slightly, Chu Huotian hurriedly said with pain flashing across her clear and beautiful face: "The medicine has been applied to her face, don't worry, this Marquis has punished her severely. Don't be annoyed anymore, after a few days When you feel better, ask her to come and accompany you."

After he finished speaking, there were three points of annoyance and three points of pity in his eyes, and he held Ouyang Ruo's cold soft hand, Ouyang Ruo turned his head and remained silent.

At this time Wan Hui entered the door, her face beaming with joy, and she said: "Madam, what do you want to eat, tell me as soon as possible, this body needs to be nourished more."

Seeing her happy expression, Ouyang Ruo asked suspiciously, "Why are you all laughing? Where is Xiang Ling? Is she alright?"

Wan Hui said in surprise: "Ma'am, didn't Lord Hou tell you? Ma'am, you are happy."

Are you happy? !

Ouyang Ruo only felt that his mind was blank.

"Are you happy?" She murmured, turning her head mechanically to look at Chu Huotian.

Chu Huotian smiled and hugged her in his arms: "I just saw you just woke up, and I was afraid that you would be too excited and hurt your body, so I wanted to wait and tell you."

Ouyang Ruo looked at Wan Hui, who was full of joy, and then at Chu Huotian, who had a tender face. The buzzing in his head became louder and louder. He looked at their lips that opened and closed, but couldn't help but wonder. Know what they are talking about.

Chu Huotian thought she was stupefied with joy, laughed, hugged her tightly and said, "Ruo'er, look, you have our child. Haha! Our child!" His long laugh was filled with endless joy , eyes full of tenderness and pride.It seems that this is his first child.

"Child!" Ouyang Ruo suddenly woke up.Seeing her pale face, Chu Huotian thought she was very hungry, so he hurriedly ordered Wanhui to serve bird's nest porridge.He lowered his head and said to her with pity: "Don't worry, I must be in great pain for this child. Hehe, I didn't know that you could make me so happy by having a child. Haha..."

Ouyang Ruo was buried in his arms, his laughter shook her heart.After a while, her thoughts became more and more broken.He personally fed her bird's nest porridge and ate it bite by bite, and stayed in Jingyun Pavilion at night.

The night is bright and the stars are sparse, and the grass and insects are chirping.The silence and serenity of the room.

But Ouyang Ruo couldn't sleep, she just stared blankly at the cloud-white silk curtain above her head with her big eyes open, and Chu Huotian beside her was already sleeping peacefully, breathing slightly.Ouyang Ruo turned his head and watched quietly, but saw that he was as handsome as jade and as graceful as a god.If you look at it normally, a face can't be said to be domineering, but its momentum is very breathtaking.

But now at night, his brows and eyes softened in his dream, as if he had dreamed of something, a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.His hands lay across her waist, as if he was afraid of touching her stomach, he was protecting her stiffly, not daring to relax even in his sleep.

Ouyang Ruo looked at it, and tears fell.Drop by drop meandered on the face and dripped into the quilt.

She shed a burst of tears silently, then simply got up.

The night was as cold as water, the maids had all rested, and Wan Hui was already asleep.She was walking in the dark hallway, wearing only embroidered shoes with cotton soles, and walked numbly towards the backyard.

There was silence all around.She stepped up to the gazebo, sat on the cold stone bench, looked around blankly, sat for a while, seemed to think of something, and suddenly sang in a low voice: "Xiaomeng condenses sorrow, tears break through the rails, but blue birds don't send messages outside the clouds. Falling red is all over the path, fragrant butterflies are beautiful, but I feel Shi Liang is shocked and chilled. My heart is far away, and my concubine love is difficult..." She sang over and over again, two lines of clear tears meandering into a river on her face.

This word is prosperous like brocade, but reveals a shocking coldness.I seem to have heard it somewhere, yes, yes, on the day the city was destroyed.She huddled in the dark room, listening to this vague song over and over again, every word was engraved in her heart.The moonlight was silent, as if even the moon in the sky was staring at her sorrow.After an unknown amount of time, she suddenly covered her face and wept bitterly.

"Aren't you unwilling to carry our child?" A cold voice suddenly sounded.

Ouyang Ruo raised his tearful eyes to look, and saw Chu Huotian standing in front of the pavilion wearing only an outer shirt.Half of his face was shown under the moonlight, half of his face was hidden in the shadows, his tall body stood coldly and motionless.

Ouyang Ruo couldn't see his expression, and didn't want to bother to guess.He just smiled softly: "Child! It's not that I don't want to have a child for Lord Hou, but I just think of my poor Lingyu. I was wrong, I shouldn't have sent her out..."

She smiled and laughed and turned into crying. Under the moonlight, her temple hair was messy, tears were running down her face, she just grabbed his robe tightly and said: "Master, I dream of her every day, crying and asking me, mother!" Why did my concubine send her out, why, she was hungry and tired outside, and couldn't find her mother concubine... I was so cruel... I was so cruel..."

Ouyang Ruo cried and fell on the cold ground, feeling that her heart and lungs were in pain so much that she was about to pull out.The desolate cries wrapped around the small courtyard like silk threads.After an unknown period of time, only a sigh was heard.Chu Huotian took off the robe on his body, wrapped her up and held her in his hands.In her hand, she was as light as a feather, sobbing softly, helplessly and aggrieved.

There was pity on his face: "I know that you are suffering in your heart, and I know that you have endured a lot of grievances. But if you are willing to trust me, I will help you find your child."

Ouyang Ruo suddenly woke up from the trance: "Really?" Her body trembled involuntarily, and she grabbed his cuff, as if grabbing the last straw.

"Really, don't you believe what I, Chu Dinghou, said?" He smiled, and his laughter seemed to be able to drive away the darkness of the night.

Ouyang Ruo burst into tears and smiled, and his depressed thoughts were relieved a lot, and his outer robe wrapped around him felt warm like spring.Chu Huotian looked at her with a smile, walked slowly into the room, and said as he walked: "Look at you, you are crying and laughing. You are all mothers, and you are so willful. If the big thing is boring In my heart, I'm going crazy."

Ouyang Ruo put her arms around his neck, but felt that her eyes were swollen and uncomfortable, so she leaned against his chest and said nothing.

Chu Huotian whispered again: "I know, you have always had knots in your heart. You don't trust me that much. I couldn't help you before, so I shouldn't..." He sighed a long time.

The two were silent, went back to the room, took off their clothes, Chu Huotian hugged her and fell into a deep sleep, never mentioning it again.Ouyang Ruo also fell asleep after crying for a while.

On the second day, when Ouyang Ruo got up, Chu Huotian had already gone to court.Ouyang Ruo was lying on the bed, lazy and didn't want to get up.

However, Wan Hui turned into the room and said with a smile: "Madam, this servant thought about it for a long time last night. Madam is now pregnant. I must not eat this cold and hot life again. This servant has prepared more than a dozen dishes for Madam. As for supplements, they will be taken in rotation at that time to ensure that they will be healthy and give birth to a white and fat son in the future."

Ming Ying followed behind her, also said with a smile on her face: "Haha, when the time comes, Madam will give birth to a little son, so we can play together with Ling Xiang."

Hearing this, Ouyang Ruo stood up, put on a robe and said to the two with a smile, "You guys are thinking too early, the child in this belly is still young."

Wan Hui helped her to sit in front of the dressing table, turned over the bronze mirror, and said to the mirror, "Look, ma'am, the claw marks left by Madam Xu are gone. She will come to apologize in a day or two, and Madam should too." Forgive me."

Ouyang Ruo turned to the side and looked carefully, the red mark of Zhen's five fingers really disappeared, and his face was no longer swollen.

She nodded with a sneer and said, "Now that she's too arrogant, someone should punish her properly."

While talking, Ming Ying, who was going outside to fetch water, suddenly ran in panting: "Madam... Madam... Wangfei is here. She is being welcomed in."

Ouyang Ruo was startled, and hurriedly told Wan Hui to take care of her long hair casually, and because her face was still a little swollen, she put a little powder on it.She picked out a smoky embroidered long dress with butterflies and flowers, a translucent golden sand smoky robe, and a ponytail.

Ouyang Ruo dressed properly, and then quickly walked out of the room, and when she entered the outer hall, she saw Concubine Chu drinking tea, and the maidservants on both sides were waiting on her.Ouyang Ruo hurried forward and knelt down and said: "My concubine, Ouyang, pays a visit to the princess, please forgive me."

Seeing her bowing down, Concubine Chu hurriedly stepped forward to help her up, and said with a smile: "My sister has done a lot of hard work. I, as a princess, am so unhappy. I think that one day everyone will do more for Lord Hou."

The ladies below hurriedly got up and responded.Concubine Chu asked someone to watch the seat again, and said to her: "Madam Xu, I have already asked someone to invite her to come over, and I must ask her to apologize today. Don't be too busy, do our sisters still pay attention to this?"

As he said that, it was quite a lot to ask the people below to offer a pack of supplements.Concubine Chu pointed to the supplements, and said with a smile: "Look, this concubine and several other wives co-authored and sent it. When I heard that my sister was happy last night, I really didn't know what to give."

Liu Shi stood up when she heard the words, and said with a smile: "According to me, sister Ouyang is missing something from us. Now that she is pregnant, the Hou Mansion should celebrate it, isn't it, princess?"

Ouyang Ruo hastily said no, but Concubine Chu clapped her hands and laughed: "You slanderous person, I just remember to eat it. After a few days, it will be the fifteenth day of this month. Although it is not the Mid-Autumn Festival, according to the usual practice, it will be given to the Lord of the Land." It's delicious, let's hold a good table at that time, you guys will eat less for dinner, and open another table at night, it will be a celebration for Sister Ouyang."

Everyone laughed and said yes.

Seeing that it was getting late, Concubine Chu looked outside the door and said, "Why is this younger sister Xu still not coming? Do you have to ask someone to invite her again?"

While talking, the nanny who was going to pass on the message came over and said: "The maidservant brought the princess's words to Mrs. Xu, and Mrs. Xu said that she is not feeling well today, so she will come alone tomorrow to make an apology to Mrs. Seven."

Concubine Chu became angry when she heard this, she patted the table and said, "Sister Xu is too ignorant. Now that this happened, I just asked her to come and pay for it. It's so embarrassing. Why did you beat me back then?" I don’t see that she is not feeling well. You go and give her a message. If you are really not feeling well, you should reflect on it in the garden. When you are free, copy a few Buddhist scriptures and let her know what greed, ignorance and hatred are. Think about it before you do it. But in the next two days, I must come and apologize to Mrs. Seven. If she refuses to come, I don’t need Master Hou to ask me, this concubine will be the first to ask for family law."

After speaking, he took a sip of tea and asked Ouyang Ruo, "How about the beaten maid?"

Ouyang Ruo expressed a bit of worry, and said: "Go back to the princess, the doctor in the mansion saw that the bone was broken, if it can't be taken care of properly, I'm afraid it will be a little lame in the future."

Concubine Chu sighed, and the other wives also sighed regretfully, and one of them, Mrs. Ye, said with distress: "Poor girl, how old is she? How can she get married in the future?"

Concubine Chu sighed: "How about this, you first ask the servants to take good care of her, now that you are healthy again, I'm afraid there will be not enough manpower, this concubine is calling out a few maids and mothers, and you can pick the ones you like. And this yard, if you think it's too small, let me know, and then I'll ask someone to clear up an empty yard and tidy it up for you to live in. What do you think?"

After hearing this, Ouyang Ruo hurriedly thanked her again and again. When she got up, she saw the jealousy flashed in the eyes of those little ladies, so she pretended not to see it, and only bowed her head to listen to Concubine Chu's orders.Concubine Chu said for a while before going back.Ouyang Ruo hurriedly sent it outside the hospital before turning back.

Because Ouyang Ruo was happy, the whole Hou Mansion seemed to be full of joy.Although Chu Huotian has reached his thirties, he does not have many children under his knees, only Hanxuan and Linyue have a son and a daughter.Therefore, the whole family attaches great importance to it.Chu Huotian also often came to visit, and if he was busy with government affairs, he asked Li Jingcai to bring some rare things.Concubine Chu even sent a lot of maids to serve her in the morning, which also saved Ouyang Ruo from going to pay her respects every morning.Several wives from the mansion came to give gifts, to exchange greetings, the stewards and respectable nuns came to say hello, and some officials and family members from outside came to make friends under the guise of their names.

Seeing this, Chu Huotian hastily issued a rest order to slightly stop the limelight.Ouyang Ruo also breathed a sigh of relief.However, Concubine Chu and Liu's did not dare to relax, and several wives in the mansion often asked Wan Hui to bring things over to chat on her behalf.It's just that Xu's first room is very hostile to her. The last time Concubine Chu asked her mother to scold her and cut her severely, the next day she reluctantly apologized to Ouyang Ruo through the bamboo curtain. .Still with a cold face, if the two meet on the road, she will turn her head and leave.

At that time, Liu Shi and Ouyang Ruo were admiring flowers in the garden.Seeing Xu's group turn their heads and walk away, Mrs. Liu saw a strong mockery in her crooked crescent eyes. She stretched out her slender and tender fingers to pinch a pink rose, put it in her nose and smell it carefully, and turned her head around. Turning to Ouyang Ruo, she said: "Don't pay attention to her, she just can't see others being better than her. You say we are both sisters, why not let her dominate the favor of Lord Hou, and no one else has a share."

Ouyang Ruo was afraid of the heat, and was shaking a Xiangfei bamboo incense fan in her hand. The long fringe of the fan patted her round and fair arm. Hearing this, she pursed her red lips and said with a smile: "Sister Ruyu is right. But as women, she is afraid that her share will be taken lightly in the end. But then again, Sister Ruyu and Mrs. Xu entered the mansion almost at the same time, so why is she still not pregnant. " After finishing speaking, Ruoyu Looking thoughtfully at the direction in which Mrs. Xu disappeared.

Mrs. Liu compared the roses in her hand on her head, and a maid stepped forward to hold the mirror.She put the Chinese rose on the mirror hairpin, carefully took a picture, and said with a sneer in her eyes: "Yes, why not. Sister Ouyang didn't know that she came late, she had one but couldn't keep it. Who told her to be domineering and domineering on weekdays, I guess God couldn't see it. After all these years, she just didn't get pregnant for some reason." After speaking, she seemed to think of something, leaned over, and said mysteriously in Ouyang Ruo's ear: "I heard that she secretly called Many doctors looked at her illness, but all the doctors said that she would never think about having children again in this life."

Ouyang Ruo was startled suddenly, and raised her head, Liu Shi's usually gentle eyes were shining brightly, seeing Ouyang Ruo's surprise, the color in her eyes flashed past.

Ouyang Ruo couldn't help asking: "How could this happen?"

Liu lowered her voice and said slowly: "Sister Ouyang doesn't know, I'll just tell you the whole story today. Xu Ningshuang dared to beat you when she ran to beat your maid that day. You don't know that she has such a temper, you Ask a few wives, except for the maids under the concubine, who has not been beaten by her? She brought a group of maids and nurses to other people's yards to find a pretext and beat them up. Hmph, relying on Lord Hou not paying attention to the backyard , Wangfei is a rigorous lady of the family, and she is domineering."

"Later, she was pregnant with a child by herself, and she didn't know it for more than a month. Master Hou just took a room in those days, and spent a few days resting in that courtyard. When she found out, she ran to Master Hou and cried Noisy, Master Hou was annoyed by her troubles, he pushed her to the ground with his hand, and the child died as a result."

The more Ouyang Ruo listened, the more surprised she became, and hurriedly asked in a low voice: "Could it be that Master Hou was careless. But why didn't she know that she was pregnant with a child?"

Mrs. Liu sat upright again, took a sip of tea and said: "Who knows. I can't blame others for being stupid. But since she lost her child, she has restrained herself a lot. This mansion has been quiet for quite a while. .”

After she finished speaking, she turned her head and saw Ouyang Ruo's face was a little dazed, she quickly smiled and said: "Oh! It's all my fault. Why did I tell you this carefully, but I got greedy for a while, sister Ouyang, don't be scared."

Ouyang Ruo looked up and saw her with crooked eyebrows and smiling amiably. For some reason, a chill rose in her heart, and she quickly shook the fan in her hand and said with a smile: "How could it be? I was thinking that no matter what she did, Lord Hou still shows some kindness to her, and he doesn't see how to punish her severely."

Mrs. Liu nodded and sighed softly: "Yes, it's just to save face for her because she has no children. Otherwise, according to you, how could Master Hou's indifferent temper make her so arrogant " As he spoke, he suddenly took Ouyang Ruo's hand, and said with a smile: "It's all right now, Lord Hou has found a good person like Sister Ouyang, so I have a place to talk, and Sister Ouyang is so good at life, let alone Lord Marquis, the wives all like it very much."

Ouyang Ruo also smiled and said a few words modestly: "Speaking of blessings, sister Ruyu is the real blessing. The eldest son is talented and intelligent, and he will be a talent who will do a great job in the future."

When Liu Shi heard this, her eyes showed arrogance, and the two chatted for a while before breaking up.

Wan Hui helped Ouyang Ruo to choose a shady place to walk.The curved corridor turns back and forth, and the pond lotus sways, and it just happens to spread along the way to cool off the heat.

Seeing that the lotus in the pond was blooming well, each one was big and fragrant, and against the emerald green lotus leaves, it was even more charming, so she couldn't help but said: "Madam, you should rest here more, this lotus is blooming. How well."

Ouyang Ruo nodded, sat down, looked carefully for a while, and then said coldly: "Auntie, you see that the lotus is blooming well, but there is some kind of snake or insect hidden in the dark water below, it looks scary. "

Wan Hui looked around, shivered slightly and said, "Yes, it's scary. Then let's reward and leave. The slave girl originally wanted to ask someone to pick a few lotus leaves and go back to steam a lotus leaf eight-treasure rice."

Ouyang Ruo suddenly smiled: "Although the lotus is delicate and beautiful, it will be crippled once the summer is over."

Just like the Xu family, although she is beautiful, but she has no children, and her evening scene will be bleak in the future.Ouyang Ruo couldn't help stroking her stomach, and there was a small life growing in the flat stomach.

She was fascinated by the dense summer scene in front of her.

(End of this chapter)