Thus, Third Brother said rather excitedly, “Fourth Brother, why didn’t you tell your third brother about such good news? That’s unbrotherly of you.”
“I only just knew of it. Ruoyin’s body was frail previously, so it isn’t something I could have mentioned earlier,” Lord Fourth replied mildly.
The first trimester was filled with uncertainty. Normally, pregnancies were announced only after three months.
Lord Third blinked his eyes, unable to fathom something.
He had actually seen a smudge of tenderness in Lord Fourth’s gaze and almost dropped his jaw in surprise.
According to his knowledge, hadn’t Fourth Brother and the Fourth Fujin always been somewhat on bad terms?
However, he quickly arrived at the conclusion that it was due to the inactivity in the Fourth Fujin’s abdomen.
Did that now mean that her status was elevated because she was expecting?
Thus, he smiled at Lord Fourth and said, “What are you saying, Fourth Brother? How can you not be aware of what you did? Let’s do it this way: When you return, tell Third Brother, and I’ll get my Fujin to pay you a visit too.”
Instantly, all the other princes and lords indicated their interest in going to Lord Fourth’s residence.
After all, it was the Fourth Fujin’s first child. His very first successor lay in her abdomen, and this was great news.
As for Lord Fourth, he was frozen by Lord Third’s words.
Naturally, he knew what he did.
Afterward, Lord Fourth smiled and thanked all the princes for their concern.
He smiled even more broadly as he said, “Alright, that’s enough. Thank you, brothers, for all your kindness. I have taken it to heart. I will definitely invite everyone after I return, but it’s big brother’s day of joy today—don’t be mistaken.”
Instantly, the crowd laughed. They bantered a while more before dropping the subject.
Shortly afterward, the Ninth Prince, Tenth Prince, Thirteenth Prince, and Fourteenth Prince arrived as well.
Kang Xi had taught all of his sons well, and all the princes matured early.
The Tenth Prince and Thirteenth Prince were barely ten years old.
The Fourteenth Prince was not even ten yet, but he could already bring subordinates to banquets like this.
The Ninth Prince had probably inherited his extremely handsome features from Consort Yi. He had bewitching eyes resembling peach blossom petals.
However, he was a little slack in attending to his duties. Every single task Kang Xi had set for him was not handled well—not only were they not dealt with properly, he even made matters worse.
However, he was the wealthiest of the princes and could be said to be the richest in the dynasty.
Perhaps his cunning was all spent toward making money.
Thus, it could be said that the Ninth Prince was a prince both handsome and rich.
Thus, Kang Xi’s sons were all outstanding.
However, it might be because of this that all of them were eagerly fighting for the throne.
After the Fourteenth Prince arrived, he greeted all his brothers.
Afterward, he swept a glance at the crowd but did not sit beside his blood brother, Lord Fourth.
Instead, he sat beside the gentle and modest-looking Lord Eighth.
He was still young, and so, although Lord Third wanted him to drink, he could not bring himself to do it.
Lord Third felt as though he had been played by Lord Fourth.
Even though there were many princes who came after Lord Fourth, most of them were very young.
Apart from the Ninth Prince, who was already married, all the other princes were either barely ten years old or not yet that age.
As an older brother, he could not bear to urge them to drink.
He could only urge the Ninth Prince to drink. “Ninth Brother, you’re late, so hurry up and drink three cups of wine as self-punishment.”
“Sure, sure, sure. I’ll drink right now, but I’ll drink only two cups for now and reserve the third for later, or my belly might hurt from drinking on an empty stomach.” The Ninth Prince seemed to understand the situation.
He had welcomed a new concubine to his residence the previous night and had frolicked with her an entire night, causing him to wake up late today.
Thus, he knew very well that he was late, and he drank without any complaints.
However, as a prince, he did not like to be led by the nose by others.
He thus discounted a cup and drank only two as a show of ceremony.
The last to arrive was the Crown Prince. Although he was not on good terms with Prince Zhi, he still fulfilled his surface duties.
He also entered the room together with Prince Zhi.
The Crown Prince was wearing a bright yellow robe depicting blue seas and soaring dragons.
His long, slanted brows were slightly raised, and his dark eyes, deep as black jade, shone with dominance and confidence.
However, even if he emanated the aura of a successor to the throne, Prince Zhi was definitely a match for him when they stood together.
This was because Prince Zhi was famed for his gorgeous looks. He was immensely handsome, extremely talented, and was of noble moral character.
Thus, he was top-notch in every aspect among the princes, which was why Kang Xi regarded him importantly.
However, even though Prince Zhi had been on campaigns with Kang Xi for many years, he lacked the robustness of a man that Lord Fourth had.
If Prince Zhi was gorgeous, then Lord Fourth was grand and handsome.
It could be said that Lord Fourth’s aura was the combination of the Crown Prince’s and Prince Zhi’s.
Upon seeing the Crown Prince, everyone rose to greet them.
Even Lord Third, who was busily urging people to drink, stopped.
The Crown Prince had arrived last, but he did not dare press drinks upon him.
Not only did he not dare to do so, he even bowed together with everyone else.
The Crown Prince’s gaze swept across the subordinates kneeling on the floor and the bowing princes with their hands held together.
He waved his palm and said to Prince Zhi beside him, “I heard there was a birth in your residence and have thus specially come to congratulate you. I wish my niece to be innately intelligent and to grow up healthily.”
His voice had just fallen when more than ten subordinates outside the door came in carrying several large mahogany boxes.
This seemed to be the Crown Prince’s gifts for the celebration.
Naturally, Prince Zhi thanked the Crown Prince politely. He then led him to where the princes were sitting and asked him to sit as a guest of honor.
After the Crown Prince had settled down, the formerly laughing and chattering princes did not dare to do so anymore.
Even the artistic and hedonistic Lord Third did not speak noisily anymore.
Where Lord Fourth was at, the liveliness stopped after the arrival of the Crown Prince.
However, Ruoyin, who was in the main courtyard, was instead being bombarded with the women’s sputter.
Because Prince Zhi was a first son, the women who had come were mostly first wives, or it would be a sign of disrespect to the prince.
He was a high-ranking prince who had just had his first child.
If the other wives and concubines came instead, wouldn’t that be inappropriate?
In the main courtyard, a confinement headband was wrapped around Prince Zhi’s consort as she sat at the head of the table. In her arms was a little girl who had just passed her monthsary.
Surrounding her was a crowd of officials as well as the wives of the princes.
“Aiyah~ You’re so blessed. Your daughter looks so much like you, but even more like Prince Zhi.”
“No, I think he looks like the prince more.”
“Sister-in-law, you’re the true Mistress here. Now that you’ve given birth to so many successors one after the other, you would be the one holding sway in Prince Zhi’s residence, no?”
However, the Third Fujin’s words were either simply too frank or were meant to stab the heart of those who could not carry children.
The room fell silent suddenly as no one responded.
Thus, the Third Fujin turned to look at Ruoyin, much to her surprise.
It was probably because she had the impression that Ruoyin was an easy target. “Fourth Sister-in-law, I heard you’re pregnant too?”