Chapter 1360: Grandfather Emperor

Zhu Cilang rose from the bamboo couch and stretched, thoroughly satisfied. He glanced beside him: the slender Princess Nisha lay wrapped in a blanket, her long hair in disarray, still asleep. A trace of a charming smile lingered on her lovely face, and her belly was already slightly swollen.

This princess of the Timurids of India was now Emperor Zhu's new favorite, and she was quite good at pleasing a man. Probably one of the Rajput maids who had come with her was a "master" teaching her — and besides, she herself was a Persian girl (her Mongol blood could be ignored), fiery and passionate, always able to get Zhu Cilang, who was about to become a grandfather, "in high spirits." Even though she was pregnant, Zhu Cilang still kept her by his side.

With Princess Nisha's company, Zhu Cilang had been in a fine mood lately, and everything had gone smoothly. The Lucky Crown Prince and the Tycoon Prince, the two brothers, had also done him proud. The Tycoon Prince was still busy with amnesty offers, examinations, and sending the garrison households unwilling to go to the New Continent off to Tianhe Prefecture — these things looked easy, but actually doing them was troublesome, with all sorts of details and possible mishaps to think through.

And the Tycoon Prince had actually handled it well! The tycoon's management ability was truly good. He had selected a management team from among the Centurions, probationary Centurions, vice Centurions, and guards who had passed the TOEFL exam, and had also established six bureaus — Revenue, Works, War, Justice, Rites — and put them each in charge of their own duties. He had also organized both groups, those going to the New Continent and those going to Tianhe Prefecture, into Centurion units, so there was organization, hierarchy, and claws — and of course, money. The Tycoon Prince — money was no problem!

In short, a hundred or two hundred thousand people under his management were in perfect order. One part continued to receive training useful for pioneering and surviving in the New Continent at the military camp in Chongqing Prefecture. Another part set off in waves to begin a new life in Tianhe Prefecture.

As for the Lucky Crown Prince, he had returned to his study to continue his coursework at the Military Academy. Under the supervision of Ding Yuying, who was pregnant and awaiting childbirth, his grades had improved greatly — even his French marks looked a bit better.

As for Ding Yuying's performance, it pleased Zhu Cilang the most. Carrying a big belly, she still insisted on attending court to hear governance; after returning, she could still urge her husband to study French, and she firmly held her husband's heart — at any rate, Zhu Cilang had not discovered the Lucky Crown Prince sleeping with any other woman!

The only thing that worried Zhu Cilang a little now was whether Ding Yuying could make it through the gates of hell that were childbirth! In this age, a woman giving birth was circling before the gates of hell, and one careless step and she'd wander right in. Especially since this was Ding Yuying's first child — particularly dangerous!

Hearing the sounds of Emperor Zhu rising, several "dark-skinned maids" that Princess Nisha had brought hurried in, brought mouthwash, offered hot towels, and also brought Zhu Cilang his Daoist robe, shoes, and socks, and attended him as he put them on piece by piece — these maids were not the singing and dancing Rajput maids, but low-caste servants.

Though both were maids, the work they did was completely different! These "dark-skinned maids" did the rough work, while the Rajput maids sang, danced, and shared the bed — Princess Nisha had told Emperor Zhu from the very beginning that he could sleep with all those girls who dressed up beautifully and looked just like Bollywood stars!

No problem at all! Princess Nisha could fully accept it.

But those "dark-skinned maids" absolutely could not be slept with, no matter what!

Besides, there were some even lower maids who handled the filthy work — best not even to glance at those, just treat them as if they didn't exist.

After rinsing his mouth and wiping his face, Zhu Cilang perked up and asked, "Any news from the Crown Princess and the Princess of Shen?"

He was asking whether the two had given birth. They had conceived around the same time, and their due dates were also close — just a few days away.

"No news yet — that's a good thing. The longer a child stays in the mother's womb, the more it grows."

The one answering him was a woman in her forties, surnamed Cao, whom Emperor Zhu called Big Sister Cao. She was a distant niece of Cao Huachun. Her husband had been a Ming soldier in the Tianjin garrison and had lost his life in the Battle of Tianjin, leaving behind a son and a daughter, both of whom she had raised. The son had joined the army, and the daughter had married. She was the only one left at home, and had been recommended into the palace by Cao Huachun's son Cao Wenbao to serve as a palace woman official.

When Emperor Zhu spent the night at Princess Nisha's place, he generally did not bring eunuchs, and just let Big Sister Cao bring along a few strong widow palace women.

The reason was that Princess Nisha's Rajput maids looked down on eunuchs — their minds were full of strict caste notions. To them, eunuchs were untouchables, while Big Sister Cao was a military household, equivalent to Kshatriya, so they respected military-household widows like Big Sister Cao but discriminated against eunuchs.

Zhu Cilang had not known this until Ding Yuying, who had come to pay her respects, privately told him.

As Big Sister Cao was answering, Princess Nisha also woke up and smilingly took up the topic: "Your Majesty, your grandson will surely be born safely, because the Crown Princess and the Princess of Shen are both very robust, and even after becoming pregnant they often exercise, which is very beneficial for childbirth. Moreover, the midwives in the palace are very capable — for children delivered by them, the survival rate of mother and child is extremely high."

Nisha had studied medicine — and that was seventeenth-century Indian medicine!

Zhu Cilang nodded and laughed: "Nisha, you should move around more too, it's better for childbirth." He glanced at her chest. "Look at you — eating more and moving less lately, you've gotten fat!"

"Your Majesty!" Nisha pouted coquettishly. "You're always so improper."

Zhu Cilang loved watching her pretend to be angry — those big eyes darting about were especially adorable. He was just about to go over and kiss her when a palace matron suddenly hurried in, went up to Big Sister Cao, and whispered something.

Big Sister Cao immediately announced loudly: "Your Majesty, the Crown Princess is about to give birth!"

Zhu Cilang burst out laughing: "Excellent! We are going to be a grandfather!"

With that, he stood up, straightened his robes, and strode out of the bedchamber, heading toward the temporary Eastern Palace where the Crown Prince and Crown Princess resided.

Chaotian Palace was not very large, and the distance from Zhu Cilang's bedchamber to Zhu Hexing's Eastern Palace was just a short walk — he arrived in the blink of an eye.

Entering the Eastern Palace courtyard, he saw the Lucky Crown Prince pacing in circles in the yard. Emperor Zhu hurried forward and asked, "Lucky boy? How is it?"

Seeing his Imperial Father, Zhu Hexing quickly bowed: "Imperial Father, about an hour ago they said she was going into labor, and it still hasn't finished. It's maddening!"

Zhu Cilang said: "Don't fret, don't fret. The palace midwives have all been specially trained and are most skilled at delivery!"

What he said was true. Before Zhu Hexing was born, the palace midwives had undergone "special training" by Zhu Cilang's decree — the training content was not complicated, just one thing: disinfection! Using boiled water and strong liquor for disinfection, and keeping the delivery room as clean as possible before the birth.

These small improvements should not be underestimated — they had greatly improved the success rate of palace deliveries and the postpartum health of mothers.

Of course, this improvement was in a sense Emperor Zhu making trouble for himself — otherwise the Chongzhen Emperor could not possibly have had so many children. Now he was about to become a great-grandfather — four generations under one roof! The Chongzhen Emperor's blessings in descendants were almost catching up to Zhu Yuanzhang's. When he died in the future, he could at least get a posthumous title like Ming Fuzong!

Just as he was thinking this, Zhu Hehao arrived with his two pregnant wives, and Emperor Zhu's Noble Consort Xu Erlin and Princess Nisha also arrived one after another.

The courtyard was full of people. At this moment, Ding Yuying's cries came from inside the room. Zhu Hexing's face turned white, his lips trembling slightly, silent, his eyes fixed on the door.

From his expression, one could tell that Ding Yuying had completely captured his heart.

Emperor Zhu took in his son's expression and grew a little nervous too. Selecting and training a Crown Princess was not easy — she must not die in childbirth!

Ding Yuying's cries continued, rising again and again, painful just to hear! After an unknown length of time, the cries suddenly stopped.

Everyone's heart leaped into their throat, and then they all heard the wail of a newborn.

A palace midwife soon lifted the door curtain and came out. In the courtyard, she bowed to Zhu Cilang and Zhu Hexing, then announced loudly: "Congratulations to His Majesty and Thousand Years — the Crown Princess has given birth. Mother and child are both safe!"

(End of Chapter)