A long caravan of horse-drawn carts rolled into Longcheng.
At the gate of a spacious courtyard, the lead cart drew to a stop. The Empress Dowager stepped down from the vehicle, pulling the young Emperor along with her.
The little Emperor clutched his mother's hand with both of his, betraying the anxiety within him.
"Hello, Empress Dowager. I'm Zhao Mingming. My second brother wrote to me and asked me to look after you all."
Mingming was ten years old now, and had begun taking charge of simple, minor affairs. When Jinyuan was this age, she had already been serving as deputy township head.
The moment Sarilang heard the surname Zhao and caught the character "Ming" in his given name, she knew the boy before her was also of the Zhao family. She dared not treat him lightly on account of his young age.
"Thank you for the trouble, Zhao — little Zhao — sir."
"No trouble at all. If you're not sure what to call me, just call me Mingming. Everyone does, and I don't mind."
As he spoke, he glanced at the little boy half-hiding behind Sarilang's side. The kid seems a bit timid, he thought. Or had he simply been frightened so many times that he'd been scared out of his wits?
Mingming stepped forward and patted the boy on the head.
"You're Manggultai?"
"Yes, I'm Manggultai..."
"You must be eight. You seem a little on the shy side. Just call me Brother Mingming — that'll do. If anyone gives you trouble, you tell me and I'll stand up for you."
Not that Mingming had ever stood up for anyone; he was usually the one people took their frustrations out on. But that was no reason not to talk big.
Hmph, Sister Jinyuan goes around showing off because she has an imperial cousin — well, I've got an imperial little brother now. Not that I'd ever show off about it.
Empress Sarilang's eyes brightened. Mingming seemed to have no ill intent, and a child this age was unlikely to have many hidden schemes. If she could get on good terms with him, it might make a great many things easier down the road.
"Manggultai, go on — call him Brother Mingming."
"Brother Mingming..."
"Young Master Mingming, Manggultai has always been timid and never had many friends, so he tends to feel lonely. If it's no trouble for you, would you be willing to take him along to play with you sometimes?"
"Sure! When I've got nothing on, I'll come find him."
Having a little emperor as a tagalong — now that would be something to be proud of.
"Thank you." Sarilang offered a genuine smile. She was about to say something more when she suddenly spun away and began to retch.
"Mother, Mother, what's wrong?"
"Empress Dowager, are you all right?"
"I'm fine, I'm fine. It's probably just the exhaustion from all the traveling these past few days, and the climate here is different from up north — my body hasn't adjusted yet. I just need some rest. Please don't worry."
"Oh, well, please do go in and rest then."
---
In the sitting room of the Zhao household, Zhao Baihui was beside himself with joy, pacing round and round the room in circles, lap after lap, like an old donkey on a millstone.
Jinyuan and Mingming came rushing in, and Jinyuan called out from halfway across the room: "It's confirmed, it's confirmed, sir — she's pregnant!"
"That's right, sir — pregnant!"
A servant who had been tidying up passed by the window and stopped dead in his tracks.
The master is pregnant?
Who's responsible?
Oh — wait, no, the master is a man. He can't be pregnant.
It must be that the master has gotten someone else pregnant!
Now that's cause for celebration! Which young lady is the lucky one?
Oh, how he longed to share the news with someone — but working here, you weren't supposed to go around talking out of turn.
Hold it in!
I'm a professionally trained servant. I absolutely cannot breathe a word of Zhao family business to the outside world.
Absolutely not.
Unless I simply can't help it.
Before long, word that a young woman in the master's household was with child had spread like wildfire across the whole city. People rushed about in jubilation, passing the news along, and before long every firecracker in Longcheng had sold out.
This gave the municipal government and the general staff quite a start — what was this great occasion, and why had no one informed them? Clearly their intelligence work was not up to scratch. Time to go and find out!
But all of that came later.
When Zhao Baihui heard the news confirmed — that Sarilang was indeed pregnant — his delight was overwhelming. Like an old donkey, he went around the sitting room several more times.
After a while, Zhao Baihui surfaced from the depths of his happiness and settled with a furrowed brow into his chair.
Sarilang's pregnancy — the child would be Mingxin's. Could that cause problems?
Mingxin hadn't taken a wife yet. If the child were born, how would his future wife see things? And then there was the matter of the mother being a widow of special status.
Oh wait, no — her husband was still alive. That made things considerably more complicated, damn it.
If Sarilang actually gave birth, wouldn't the people of the steppe be up in arms?
"Write a letter to Mingxin. Ask what he thinks."
"If he can accept it, I'll handle every last problem myself. If he simply doesn't want the child, then so be it."
"Sir, I know perfectly well you want this child. If you just put in a word, Brother Mingxin won't have any objections."
"No unnecessary words. I respect the wishes of every one of you. Besides — a child who does not have his father's love will find it very hard to be happy in this life."
"Understood, sir. I'll go write the letter."
Two automobiles roared out of Longcheng toward the capital, four drivers taking turns at the wheel. They were back within ten days.
Returning with them was Mingxin himself.
Mingxin went directly to the Zhao household and met with Zhao Baihui.
"Sir, I personally have no strong feelings either way. If you want to keep the child, we keep it. If not, we don't."
"The main thing is what you yourself think. Tell me — do you like children?"
"Uh... hard to say. I've never really thought about it. I don't think I dislike them. It's more the question of the child's status..."
"The status is not a problem. Since you say you don't dislike it, that's settled. I'll tell you plainly — I like children."
"Then if you like it, sir, we keep it!"
Word that the child would be kept was conveyed to Sarilang. She had been waiting like a prisoner awaiting sentencing, and when the news came she felt equal parts relieved and stirred, yet also anxious and uncertain.
A skilled physician had taken her pulse. It was a girl.
"A girl is wonderful. A girl is wonderful. If it were a boy, now that would be trouble."