A sweet harem story.
Rumors throughout the court said that the emperor could not father a son. Some even claimed that he was impotent.
It was said that when the emperor's brothers were living in their fiefs, one prince once pointed to a bountiful field and told his son, “Take a good look while you can. If the emperor loses his mind one day and summons you to the palace to inherit the throne, you might never get to see this again.”
One summer, Consort Xia, who rarely ever left her chambers, suddenly took a long stroll through the imperial gardens with the emperor supporting her.
Consort Xia's belly was high and round. She was clearly seven or eight months pregnant.
Everyone's reaction was:
When did she get pregnant?
The emperor gave them a pointed look:
Can I or can't I? Hmm?
Half a month later, Consort Xia gave birth to a baby boy.
The emperor, who had already read every book of sage wisdom to shreds, felt that not a single word in them was good enough for his son.
The moment the baby was born, he cried three times. Before they had even chosen a name, he was immediately made crown prince as Consort Xia's son.
The little crown prince was the apple of every consort's eye.
Consort Liu, who had come from a commoner's family, said that children in the common folk's homes had a first-birthday ceremony where they picked an object to predict their future, so they should let the baby have a go, too.
And so, treasures and trinkets offered by the consorts of every palace were placed all around the chubby, round little crown prince.
The emperor was generous, setting the imperial seal right beside the prince's plump white feet, stacked in folds like bamboo.
Under the eager gaze of the consorts and the confident yet anxious gaze of the emperor, the precious little crown prince wiggled, crawled, and rolled his way over to his cousin, then grabbed her hand.
Babbling away, a little ball of glutinous rice and a little ball of pink fluff leaned against each other, raising their tiny fists high and laughing happily.
The emperor declared:
They are the crown prince and crown princess of our dynasty.
Theme: Keep your heart turned toward the light
