Let's Consummate the Marriage
"What are you saying, Your Majesty? The farming tools you made have benefited the entire Great Jin. Our Tao family and the Yu Clan are deeply grateful to you. It is an honor for me and the Yu Clan to be able to do something for you and provide you with the glutinous rice and other necessities you need. So please don't say anything that makes you feel bad," she said.
"But I really don't need it, I'm so sorry." Zhao Ruxi's smile remained bright, but her words were anything but polite and tactful.
Seeing Zhao Ruxi begin to pick up her teacup, Madam Tao had no choice but to stand up. "In that case, Your Highness is busy, so I will not disturb you any longer. If Your Highness needs anything in the future, please just give the order. I will certainly serve Your Highness."
"Thank you, Madam Tao." Zhao Ruxi stood up, gestured for Qingfeng to see Madam Tao off, and sighed as she watched Madam Tao's departing figure.
She was secretly relieved that she hadn't interacted with the women's circles in the capital since being brought back to the Zhao Family. Otherwise, she would have been too busy exchanging witty remarks with them to get anything else done.
Because Xiao Lingyan's health had recovered quite well, Xiao Ge had filled him with a lot of official duties, keeping him busy all day long.
He returned home for dinner that evening and heard about Madam Tao's situation.
He frowned and asked Zhao Ruxi, "What is that Madam Tao doing here?" If she dared to bring her daughter to Zhao Ruxi to make her presence known and cause trouble for Zhao Ruxi, he wouldn't mind giving that Minister Tao of the Ministry of War a good talking-to in court.
Zhao Ruxi laughed and said, "They couldn't send their daughter away, and they're afraid of offending me so I can settle scores with her husband later when I'm in power. So they're trying to curry favor with me. Of course, they might also want to see if I'm easy to fool so they can send their daughter into the household."
She explained the purpose of Madam Tao's visit.
"Hmph, if you really want to buy glutinous rice from Nanyang, do you need her to do you a favor? Just have Liu Hongyu and Cai Yaozong give a little hint down there, and countless people will send glutinous rice to your distillery. She's really shameless."
Speaking of sealed-jar wine, Xiao Lingyan truly admired his wife's shrewd business acumen.
Wine is a luxury item, and Zhao Ruxi's sealed-jar wine is even more high-end, making money from aristocratic families. It has nothing to do with the phrase "competing with the people for profit." In addition, the farm tools she designs do not make a single penny from the people. With these two factors in mind, it is impossible for others to find any excuse to attack the couple.
Therefore, Xiao Ge was happy to be this partner, hoping to earn some extra money on his own.
With the Emperor acting as a shield and protecting them from trouble, and the heads of powerful families, who were all elderly, discovering the health benefits of this wine, how could they dare to complain about the area dedicated to glutinous rice cultivation?
So her wine business went incredibly smoothly, and not a single person in the entire court expressed any negative opinion about it.
Madam Tao's attempt to curry favor with Zhao Ruxi was rejected, a humiliating experience she wouldn't reveal. Zhao Ruxi was even less likely to speak of it. However, the news likely leaked from the Yu Clan, and two months later, it still got out.
The noble ladies who had previously been eager to curry favor with Zhao Ruxi gave up on the idea after hearing about this.
They wanted to send a girl from their family to the Prince of Qi as a concubine, but the Prince of Qi of Qi refused very firmly.
As for Zhao Ruxi, she would rather not be the Crown Princess than allow the Prince of Prince of Qi to take a concubine, which shows that she does not seek power; now, even with the well-selling sealed wine, she would rather not make money than cooperate with Madam Tao, which shows that she does not seek profit.
It's incredibly difficult to win over Consort of the Prince of Qi, who's so stubborn and unyielding. A direct visit might offend her instead of winning her over. And with the Earl of Suiping's Residence's family still in Gusu, a roundabout way to curry favor with her is out of the question.
After much deliberation, these people finally gave up.
When these things reached Xiao Ge's ears, Xiao Ge was filled with emotion. "The late emperor spent his whole life painstakingly maintaining a balance, and I have paid a heavy price to balance the power in the court. We always thought that being an emperor meant taking concubines into the harem to balance the various forces. Now, seeing what Little Five and his wife are doing, I suddenly realize that we have all been wrong."
"If you accommodate one side, you're always afraid that excluding the other will cause an imbalance. In reality, true balance comes from excluding both sides entirely. A ruler without desires is invincible. When an emperor is not driven by power, profit, or women, can those scheming opportunists still find weaknesses to attack? With nowhere to strike, no need to hesitate or compromise, the emperor's methods can become truly firm."
"Your Majesty is wise," Eunuch Xie echoed.
"Take the imperial physician to Prince of Qi's Residence's Prince of Qi and examine him to see how well he is recovering. If possible, have the Directorate of Astronomy choose an auspicious day for them to consummate their marriage. I cannot wait to make Prince of Qi the Crown Prince," Xiao Ge said.
In the Prince of Qi's Residence, Zhao Ruxi was also discussing the matter of consummating their marriage with Xiao Lingyan: "I'm already eighteen, and your health should be improving by now. If we delay any longer, the Imperial Medical Bureau won't dare to cover for you anymore. Otherwise, the Emperor will punish them."
Not only should the imperial physicians be punished, but perhaps the Emperor or Noble Consort Cen will decide on a whim to find an outside doctor to treat Xiao Lingyan.
If this matter is exposed, her crime will be so great that she could definitely become the number one sinner in the Great Jin.
Xiao Lingyan knew that secrets couldn't be kept forever, and it was already quite good that he could hold out until Zhao Ruxi turned eighteen. Waiting until she turned twenty to consummate the marriage was completely impossible.
"You..." He hesitated as he looked at Zhao Ruxi.
Once they consummate their marriage, Zhao Ruxi will face pressure to have a child.
If she cannot conceive within three months, Xiao Ge might issue an imperial decree without considering the consequences, bestowing two concubines upon him. In that case, it wouldn't be him who would bear the pressure, but Zhao Ruxi.
"Don't worry, I'm in great health," Zhao Ruxi said.
During the past six months Xiao Lingyan has been recuperating, and so has she.
She was already in good health, and after practicing martial arts, she did several rounds of boxing every day, which made her even healthier. She could eat and sleep well, run and jump, had a rosy complexion, was full of energy, and didn't suffer from any ailments such as cold uterus or general weakness.
While it's said that the best age for a woman to give birth is twenty, that refers to the optimal age. For a healthy, fully developed woman, getting pregnant at eighteen is perfectly fine.
Besides, she has the Recovery Pill as backup.
"Alright then. The information you gave me about cesarean sections is being studied by the doctor who developed the paralysis drug. In the past two years, he's used this technique to save more than a dozen women in difficult labor," he said. "So don't worry, everything will be fine."
Xiao Lingyan's words were more of a consolation to himself than to Zhao Ruxi.
Zhao Ruxi raised an eyebrow and asked, "What is the success rate?"
"Seventy percent," Xiao Lingyan said.
The information Zhao Ruxi provided included not only surgical procedures but also penicillin culture. That research fanatic mastered all of this in just six months and was fully prepared, but finding a suitable mother was extremely difficult.
It's not easy to find a woman who has had a difficult childbirth and agrees to have a male doctor perform a cesarean section.