Chapter Ninety: Assisting One’s Husband and Raising the Children

Ling Shunuo had been rather downcast these past few days. Lately he had been feeling the first stirrings of spring, yet had no one to set his heart on, and so he had lost all interest in food and drink.

When the wet nurse in Splendid Palace noticed the problem, she immediately went to report it to Ling Zetian.

After hearing it, Ling Zetian frowned and called out, “Grand Eunuch Sun, go summon the Empress for me.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.” Grand Eunuch Sun received the order and hurried off.

Before long, Feng Qiuji pushed open the door and came in. She carried a plate of pastries she had made herself, determined from this day on to become a virtuous wife and loving mother, to devote herself to her husband and children, to study all the proper feminine virtues, and to turn herself into a gentle, graceful lady.

Ling Zetian sat with a writing brush in hand, bent over a mountain of memorials. His brows were faintly knit. The sight was almost too beautiful. Feng Qiuji stared for a moment, entranced. Someone had once said that a man is most handsome when he is serious, and now there was a handsome man looking so intent that he seemed doubly so. She could not help swooning a little.

She hated to ruin such a lovely scene, but she could hardly keep standing at the door, so she called softly, “Your Majesty, Your Majesty...”

“Is something wrong with your head?” Ling Zetian looked up at her, clearly unaccustomed to this. In the past Feng Qiuji always kicked the door open with breezy force, making the poor fragile thing shake a few times, then strode over to him, braced her hands on the desk, and began shouting. Today, with her cautious little manner, she had truly startled him. Had Feng Qiuji gone strange again?

“What do you mean by that?” Feng Qiuji shot him a glare. It had taken effort to try being gentle with him for once, and this was how he responded. “Weren’t you the one who called me here?” As she spoke, she set the tray before him.

“What is this?” Ling Zetian looked at the brightly colored pastries and frowned.

“Aren’t I trying to learn how to be a virtuous wife and loving mother? You must be tired from reviewing memorials. Eat something and rest a bit,” Feng Qiuji said with a smile. Then, very attentively, she poured a cup of tea and placed it by his hand. She had inquired with the eunuch responsible for Ling Zetian’s meals about what kind of tea he drank, and had even specially learned how to brew it, so that she could make tea for him often in the future.

But Ling Zetian gave her a very peculiar look, as if he had never seen her before. Her manner reminded him of what had happened a year ago, when her body had suddenly housed a different soul. Surely it had not happened again, and changed into yet another soul this time?

Ling Zetian had never cared much for sweets. Still, although the pastries Feng Qiuji made were rather ugly, their motley colors were pleasing enough to the eye. So he picked one up and put it into his mouth.

“Husband, what do you think?” Feng Qiuji asked, blinking up at him with bright, expectant eyes.

“Delicious.”

“What?” Feng Qiuji froze at those two words. She had already prepared herself for him to say they tasted awful, because that was how it always went in novels and dramas. Yet Ling Zetian had actually said they were delicious?

“Then try the tea.” With eager attentiveness, Feng Qiuji handed him the cup still breathing a faint wisp of heat.

Ling Zetian took a shallow sip, then offered another two-word verdict. “Very good.”

“Really?” Feng Qiuji was so delighted she nearly jumped up. After all, this was her first time learning to do such things, and yet they had been acknowledged by the reigning emperor himself. One had to know that someone like Ling Zetian, raised from childhood amid every luxury, eating delicacies from land and sea every day, could practically be called a gourmet. And now even he had said it was good to eat and good to drink. It seemed she truly had a gift for cooking.

He nodded. “Mm. In that case, from now on, you can prepare all my meals.”

“What?” Feng Qiuji went blank at once.

“Didn’t you say you wanted to be a virtuous wife and loving mother? Then I’ll assign you some duties. From now on, you are to wash clothes, cook meals, and look after the child.”

“Wait, wait, wait,” Feng Qiuji hurriedly cut him off. “Doesn’t the palace already have people for washing and cooking?”

“Didn’t you say you wanted to be a virtuous wife and loving mother?” Ling Zetian was beginning to sound almost playfully aggrieved.

“And what is this about looking after a child? Where is this child supposed to come from?”

“Ah Nuo, of course,” came the perfectly matter-of-fact reply.

“Ling Shunuo is already five. He can eat, drink, and sleep on his own, and he’s a child prodigy besides. He knows more than I do. What is there for me to look after?” Feng Qiuji protested unhappily.

“You are his mother, so of course you should look after him.” Ling Zetian thought this only proper. “Lately Ah Nuo has had no appetite and no spirits. No one knows what is wrong with him. You should go and take a good look at him.”

“How am I supposed to look? I’m not an imperial physician. If he won’t eat, maybe he’s just got some digestive problem. Wouldn’t it be enough to have the physicians prescribe a few doses of purgative?” Feng Qiuji was speechless. Since when was Ah Nuo’s refusal to eat her responsibility? True, she had helped treat his cold before, but that did not mean she knew medicine. Were all the imperial physicians in the palace just drawing their pay for nothing? Why send her instead of them?

“It isn’t a physical problem. From the wet nurse’s description, it sounds more like a physiological one.” Ling Zetian’s expression was unusually grave.

“A psychological one? Have you scolded him lately? Or put too much pressure on him?” Feng Qiuji did not notice that the conversation between her and Ling Zetian now sounded very much like that of a pair of parents discussing their child’s development.

“That’s just it. Because we don’t know, I need you to go see him. Go on, right now.” Ling Zetian promptly issued his order for her departure. These past few days he had been overwhelmed with state affairs, and the small neighboring countries had grown somewhat restless as well. He truly could not spare the time to see Ah Nuo himself, so he had no choice but to send Feng Qiuji. Even if all she did was take him to stroll in the imperial garden, that would be fine.

“Oh.” Once Feng Qiuji understood the situation, she poured him another cup of tea and set it by his hand. “You have to finish all of these. I’ll be back in a little while.” With that, she left the study.

Watching her departing figure, Ling Zetian felt a warmth spread through his heart.

In truth, the pastries Feng Qiuji made were very ordinary. To be more exacting, they were not good at all. And the tea she brewed could not possibly compare to that prepared by the palace’s dedicated tea attendants. Ling Zetian had been drinking such tea since childhood; whether it was well brewed or not, he could tell by scent alone. Yet seeing how hard Feng Qiuji had worked, how full of expectation she was, he could not bear to dampen her spirits.

What did it matter, really, whether it tasted good or not, whether it was pleasant to drink or not?

What mattered was the care behind it, the thought, the concern. It warmed a person from within.

As emperor, he stood above everyone. The people he faced each day were ministers prostrating themselves at his feet, speaking in formal phrases, flattering him with falsehoods. He was long used to it. As for the palace maids and eunuchs, they served him with endless caution, working each day in fear and trembling, terrified of failing him in the slightest and provoking his anger. In truth, he was not especially harsh. But he had grown up this way, and had also grown used to the loneliness of one man, the solitude of one man, sitting in silence and doing what he must do, working quietly and tirelessly on his own.

Now, however, Feng Qiuji was by his side. She could not help him shoulder his burdens, nor could she handle affairs of state for him, but her small acts of care were enough to satisfy him deeply. They made him feel he was not fighting alone, but that someone was always beside him. That companionship alone gave him more than enough strength to go on working.

Sometimes he felt that having her there was truly wonderful.

By the time Feng Qiuji arrived at Splendid Palace, Ah Nuo was being punished by standing outside. Warm sunlight fell over him. Seeing his head drooping, Feng Qiuji thought he looked almost half asleep.

“Ling Shunuo.” She crept up to him and suddenly bellowed in his ear.

Startled out of his drowsiness, Ah Nuo jerked awake. When he saw it was Feng Qiuji, his expression turned distinctly displeased. “Why are you here?”

“I’m your mother. What is so strange about me being here?” Feng Qiuji, seeing the look of disdain on his face, immediately grew annoyed. She had come out of kindness to see him, and the boy did not appreciate it in the least. “Weren’t you in class? Why are you standing out here?”

Before Ah Nuo could answer, his teacher came out of the room. “Greetings, Your Majesty the Empress.”

“Please, Grand Tutor Lin, no formalities.” Feng Qiuji quickly helped up the tutor, a man well past fifty. She had heard of his background before. It was said that for three generations his family had all taken first place in the highest imperial examination, and naturally he himself was no exception. In short, he was gifted in every way, immensely learned, and seemed to know everything under heaven. That was precisely why Ling Zetian had appointed him to teach Ah Nuo.

“Your Majesty,” Grand Tutor Lin said, “the little Crown Prince has been in poor condition these past few days. Yesterday he also failed to complete his assignment, which is why this official punished him by making him stand here.”

So that was it. Feng Qiuji understood at once. She smiled at Grand Tutor Lin and said, “You were right to discipline him, Grand Tutor. A child so young should not be allowed to neglect his lessons. Please rest assured, I will give him a proper scolding.”

At that moment, Feng Qiuji felt especially like a parent attending a school conference, with the teacher listing all the ways her son failed to study properly or finish his homework, and she, in turn, forced to apologize repeatedly and promise that she would certainly educate the child well.

How hard the hearts of parents have it. Now she could fully understand how her own mother must have felt when she went to school for parent meetings and was thoroughly criticized by the teachers.

“Many thanks for Your Majesty’s understanding.” Grand Tutor Lin smiled, then glanced at the sun. “It is about time for class to end. This official will take his leave first.”

“Please go carefully, Grand Tutor.” Feng Qiuji had considerable respect for this kind of elderly, learned teacher. After all, when a person had lived an entire lifetime, the older they were, the richer their experience, and the more they understood.

Once the tutor’s figure disappeared from her sight, she turned and fixed Ah Nuo with a stern expression.

“Ling Shunuo, why didn’t you do your homework yesterday?”

“Because I didn’t feel like it.”

“Since when can you just skip homework because you don’t feel like it?” Though she said that, Feng Qiuji herself had always hated homework. Back when she was in school, if there was any assignment she could avoid doing, she absolutely would. In the end she had landed herself in her current state. So children who love learning should absolutely not imitate her. They must do their homework properly.

“It was too easy. Boring.” Ah Nuo’s tone was rather arrogantly disdainful.

Today there are four updates. Sure enough, people really are forced into productivity by pressure...