Chapter 57

Jin Wang had made all the arrangements well in advance.

The guards hurried out to summon the physicians. Jin Wang helped Ye Shu lie down.

The mild ache quickly transformed into wave after wave of sharp pain. Ye Shu couldn't even speak. Cold sweat broke out across his forehead in repeated beads.

Footsteps sounded outside the door. Servants rushed in and out, bringing in hot water and supplies.

A somewhat younger physician stepped forward. "Your Majesty — you are the sovereign, and it would not be appropriate to remain in the birthing chamber—"

Before the words were finished, Jin Wang cut him off. "We are staying here with him."

"But—"

Jin Wang's cold gaze swept over him. "Was that unclear?"

The physician broke into a cold sweat under that glare and quietly retreated.

Imperial Physician Feng set his medicine chest by the bed and shook his head at the scene.

Too young.

Ye Shu gradually adjusted to the pain. He hooked his fingers around Jin Wang's and said lightly: "You're so fierce."

Jin Wang's eyes dropped, and they were faintly red at the edges. He asked quietly: "Are you afraid of me then?"

"I stopped being afraid ages ago." Ye Shu looked sideways at him. His voice was weaker than usual, but his spirits were still reasonably good. "My sovereign is such a big fool — not frightening at all."

"Mm — don't be afraid." Jin Wang held his hand, yet didn't dare grip too hard, as though afraid of hurting him. "I'm here with you."

"…Alright."

Childbirth was not difficult for a kun-sovereign, and Ye Shu's health had been well-tended. The whole process went smoothly.

Before the sky had fully brightened, a baby's cry rang out in the room.

"Congratulations, Your Majesty! Congratulations, Chancellor! It is a prince!" Imperial Physician Feng called out loudly.

The atmosphere around them was full of joyful commotion, congratulations rising one after another. But Jin Wang only gently wiped the sweat from Ye Shu's forehead without even glancing away.

No matter how smoothly things had gone, childbirth still took its toll. Ye Shu lay listlessly on the bed, his face pale. Every ounce of health he had built up over these past months seemed to have drained away overnight. He looked utterly worn through.

Jin Wang's heart ached terribly. He had regretted things a dozen times over the course of that night.

…He should never have let Ye Shu keep the child in the first place.

Imperial Physician Feng knew these two people best of anyone. He promptly shooed away all the attendants who had crowded into the birthing room and had the baby taken elsewhere to be cared for.

Ye Shu had fallen asleep the moment the child was delivered. Jin Wang asked Imperial Physician Feng repeatedly until he was certain that Ye Shu was simply exhausted and drowsy — and that there was nothing wrong.

Ye Shu slept deeply and didn't wake until nearly the following afternoon.

When he opened his eyes, he found himself lying in a warm embrace.

"Awake?" The man's low, slightly rough voice came from just above his head. "Hungry? Or would you like to sleep a little more?"

Ye Shu looked up at the person beside him.

Jin Wang's expression was somewhat tired — clearly he had not rested in a very long time.

The last time Ye Shu had seen him like this was when Ye Shu had disappeared without warning and been accidentally sent back to the palace dressed up as a new beauty.

Ye Shu asked softly: "Are you tired?"

"Not tired." Jin Wang smiled. "Eat something and then sleep again?"

Ye Shu: "Alright."

Barely had the words left his mouth when his stomach gave a small growl.

Jin Wang laughed and immediately had food brought in.

He took the bowl of congee from the court maid and fed it to Ye Shu himself.

The congee had been milled very fine, made with a chicken broth base, and was fragrant and mild.

Ye Shu took a sip and looked up at him. "You didn't make this."

It was too good. One taste and it was clearly the imperial kitchen's work.

"…" Jin Wang was quiet for a moment. "I wanted to."

"Imperial Physician Feng wouldn't let me."

"He said you were still in a weakened state and I shouldn't keep bothering you with my efforts."

Jin Wang set down the bowl and looked somewhat displeased. "Is my cooking really that terrible?"

Ye Shu: "Pfft."

Jin Wang glanced at him.

Ye Shu quickly stifled the laugh.

Jin Wang fed Ye Shu the congee mouthful by mouthful, then wiped his lips clean and asked quietly: "Do you want to sleep more?"

Ye Shu shook his head.

He had been asleep all day. He wasn't sleepy in the slightest.

Jin Wang said: "Then let me just hold you and lie here a while?"

Ye Shu had the feeling he had forgotten something, but couldn't quite think what it was. He nodded. "Alright."

Jin Wang was just about to lie down when footsteps came from outside the hall — it was head attendant Gaojin.

"Your Majesty…"

One look at who it was and Jin Wang's expression showed faint displeasure. "Now what?"

"…" Gaojin was quiet for a moment.

His Majesty had given strict instructions: no one except the physicians was to come and disturb the Chancellor's rest. Under normal circumstances, he wouldn't dare intrude on these two at all. But…

Gaojin steeled himself. "The little prince has not stopped crying since he woke up. The wet nurse says he may be missing his father. Shall this servant bring the little prince in?"

Jin Wang: "…"

Ye Shu: "…"

He finally remembered what he had forgotten.

He hadn't met his own baby yet.

Surely there were no more scatterbrained first-time parents in the entire world. Jin Wang and Ye Shu looked at each other. For a brief moment, both of their expressions went completely blank.

But Jin Wang was, after all, an emperor. He collected himself, maintained his composure, and gave a calm nod. "Bring the child in."

Before long, the sound of an infant's crying drifted in from outside the hall.

Jin Wang stood to look.

The tiny bundle was wrapped in swaddling cloth, still wailing. No amount of soothing could calm the baby down. Jin Wang took the child from the wet nurse's arms and turned with some inexperience, carrying the baby to Ye Shu.

Ye Shu watched his clumsy handling and mocked him: "Clumsy as ever."

Jin Wang paid no mind and sat down at the bedside. "The baby looks like you."

The newborn baby hadn't yet opened its eyes properly. Its skin was a little flushed, all wrinkled — not particularly beautiful by any measure.

Ye Shu made no comment on Jin Wang's assessment. He reached out and poked the little one's soft, squishy cheek. "Ugly."

Jin Wang: "…Ahem."

The baby: "Mmph."

The little one's brow scrunched up, seemingly on the verge of another cry. Jin Wang quickly said: "Not ugly at all. Papa was teasing you."

Ye Shu smiled and sat up. "Let me hold."

Jin Wang placed the baby in his arms.

The swaddle was very small. Ye Shu's one arm was enough to wrap around it completely.

Ye Shu had never had an experience like this. The soft, small little thing lay in his arms, and as though sensing a familiar presence, stopped crying and made small snuffling sounds while burrowing closer.

Ye Shu went stiff. He didn't even know where to put his hands.

This small life, created by him and Jin Wang, was lying right here in his arms.

Completely, undeniably real.

Ye Shu suddenly realized that the feeling of unreality that had always hovered at the edges of his heart seemed to have simply disappeared.

Ye Shu looked up. Jin Wang was already looking at him. In each other's eyes, something very tender was flickering.

Ye Shu lowered his gaze and said softly: "He's… he's so small."

"Yes he is." Jin Wang bent down and pressed a kiss to his forehead. "A Shu — this is our child."

The following day, Jin Wang issued a decree announcing the existence of the little prince to the realm.

His Majesty had been issuing decrees so frequently lately, and every one was earth-shattering news — to the point where the officials had nearly become immune.

This time, they absolutely could not overreact the way they had last time. They needed to appear composed and dignified.

Thinking this, they picked up the decree and began to read — and were so stunned by its contents that several of them nearly stumbled and fell on flat ground.

WHAT — ???!

Where had a prince come from?

Born by whom?

Oh, the decree says by Chancellor Ye.

…The Chancellor???

The last time the Chancellor had appeared in public was after the palace examinations, when he had joined the sovereign in announcing the top examination candidates.

The Chancellor at that time had been… wearing an early spring cape, his figure entirely concealed, with nothing to suggest anything, and nobody had thought anything of it.

Counting the months — the Chancellor had already been five months along at that point.

Going back even further — that would mean when the Chancellor was still disguised as the consort, the two of them had…

The expressions on the officials' faces became extraordinarily complicated.

So the earlier decree hadn't been a public declaration of love to the Chancellor at all — it had been to… show off in front of all of them?

The sovereign truly knew how to play.

Whatever speculation the outside world was engaged in had no effect on the two people at the traveling palace.

Both fathers were experiencing all of this for the first time, with absolutely no idea what they were doing. Fortunately, the palace was fully equipped with wet nurses, attendants, and everything an infant could need — they didn't have to worry about anything.

Ye Shu recovered quickly. He spent his days being waited on hand and foot, and in his idle time played with the little one. Life was thoroughly comfortable.

Jin Wang, on the other hand, was not so fortunate.

Several days after the birth, fresh victory reports arrived from the front. Xixia had finally buckled under Changlu's military pressure, opened its city gates, and submitted to Changlu's supremacy.

Xixia had voluntarily ceded territory and was sending a hostage prince with countless treasures — they would be setting out for Changlu shortly.

With this, the war had finally come to a close.

The backlog of affairs from before, combined with the postwar arrangements, meant Jin Wang was nearly too busy to breathe.

"Look at this — this is what your life is going to look like." Ye Shu pointed at Jin Wang, who was sitting at the writing table dealing with official matters, and said earnestly to the little one.

Newborns changed day by day. The little one was larger than at birth, plump and pink, with a pair of eyes that were big and bright — the more one looked, the more he resembled Jin Wang.

Hearing Ye Shu's words, Jin Wang looked up from the memorial. "What are you talking about now?"

"Nothing at all."

Ye Shu sat cross-legged on the bed, holding the little one who hadn't yet learned to crawl. Father and child simultaneously turned to look at Jin Wang, two pairs of equally bright eyes fixed on him.

"Am I wrong?" Ye Shu raised an eyebrow. "Or is it that you don't want our son to be emperor?"

Jin Wang was at a loss for words.

Ye Shu played with the little one's tiny hand and sighed with theatrical heaviness. "Poor little Yeye — clearly the firstborn son, yet Papa won't name you Crown Prince. You'll end up fighting over the throne with Second Prince and Third Prince and Fourth Prince — whatever shall we do…"

Jin Wang: "…"

The child's proper name would be decided after the first-month ceremony. For now he had only a pet name.

Ye Shu had wanted to call him Xiao Wang — Little Awang — to match the father who was always called a dog. Jin Wang had firmly and unequivocally refused.

Jin Wang drew a deep breath and said with perfect calm: "Second Prince, Third Prince, Fourth Prince — so the Chancellor thinks one is not enough?"

"…"

Jin Wang smiled at him and said pleasantly: "If you want more children, just say so. I'm more than willing."

Ye Shu glared at him. He took the little one's two chubby arm-roll arms and lifted them. The baby, cooperatively, made a face at Jin Wang.

Jin Wang: "…"

What on earth was this person teaching the little one all day???

Father and baby dissolved into giggles together. Jin Wang couldn't help laughing either.

These two were cut from exactly the same cloth. The little one was basically a copy of Ye Shu.

By the time Jin Wang finished his work and looked up, father and son had both fallen asleep on the bed.

Two heads, one large and one small, resting against each other. Quiet and sweet.

Jin Wang walked to the bedside. The little one suddenly opened his eyes and made small sounds, reaching out a chubby little hand toward Jin Wang.

"Shh." Jin Wang held out his finger, letting the little one grip it.

The baby smiled — and obediently stopped making noise.

Jin Wang lay down on the bed and gathered both the baby and the father into his arms.

Ye Shu slept lightly and nuzzled against him. He asked drowsily: "…Did you finish your work?"

"Mm."

Ye Shu was so sleepy he could barely open his eyes. He said quietly: "You've worked hard."

Jin Wang kissed his face. "Sleep a little more."

Ye Shu gave a soft "mm" and fell silent.

The afternoon sun was bright but not harsh. Jin Wang pressed a kiss to the forehead of each — one small, one slightly larger — and then closed his own eyes. He was asleep in moments.