Starting from 1618 of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 150 Chengqian's Arrival

Spring, late February, in the sixth year of the Tianqi reign.

The door to the delivery room was closed at Chenshi (7-9 AM) and has not been opened since.

Lu Yan stood in the courtyard.

It wasn't sitting, it was standing. He stood from the very beginning, first with his hands behind his back, then with his hands down, and then with each hand placed somewhere else, his left hand holding onto a pillar and his right hand on his waist. He couldn't stand steadily, and finally just let his hands hang down, standing in the shadows under the corridor, facing the door of the delivery room.

The spring sunlight cast the shadows of the colonnades obliquely onto the polished brick floor, a thin line that moved eastward little by little as the sun shifted. Lu Yan's boot toes stepped on that shadow, without moving.

Fan Fu came twice. Once, he brought a bowl of hot tea, saying it was freshly brewed and would warm the stomach since the weather was still cool. Lu Yan took it and placed it on a stone stool by the corridor pillar. The tea was steaming, but he didn't touch it. The other time, it was noon when Fan Fu came again, asking if he wanted lunch. Lu Yan waved his hand without saying a word. Fan Fu stood there for a moment, then tiptoed back. Passing the kitchen, he whispered to the cook to turn down the stove and keep the food warm, not knowing when it might be needed.

Zhao Changying squatted at the gate of the courtyard, leaning against the door frame, playing with a withered locust branch she had picked up from under a tree. She turned it over and over, not really playing with it, but just needing to hold something in her hand. Every now and then, she would raise her eyes to glance at Lu Yan standing under the eaves, then at the closed delivery room door, and then lower her head to continue turning over the withered branch.

Various sounds came from the delivery room: the midwife giving instructions in a low voice, the maids going in and out to fetch hot water, and Cui Shi's suppressed groans. Through the thick door, all the sounds became indistinct, as if they were coming from the water. You could only sense the general shape and not hear the details.

Lu Yan absorbed each of the sounds without moving.

The sun climbed over the courtyard wall, casting a slow shadow. Calculating the time, it was almost late afternoon.

There was a sudden silence inside, a silence that was more unsettling than any sound. Lu Yan's fingers tightened, and he unconsciously clenched a loose fist, which hung at his side.

Then, the crying began.

It wasn't an adult's; it was thin and sharp, carrying a kind of wildness that came with the world for the first time. It came out of the delivery room, through the thick door, through the spring breeze under the eaves, and into the courtyard. After a moment, the sound took a breath and then rang out again, this time louder and with a slight tremor, as if it was adjusting to its own vocal cords.

Zhao Changying suddenly stood up. The withered branch fell to the ground, but he didn't pick it up. His eyes were fixed on the door of the delivery room.

Lu Yan stood under the corridor, his head not raised. His right hand, which was hanging down, slowly opened its fingers, from an empty fist to a flat palm, and then hung down again, returning to its original position.

At the courtyard gate, Zhao Changying glanced at him, her lips twitched, but she swallowed back what she was about to say.

After another two cups of tea's time, the commotion inside gradually subsided. The midwife's voice took on a cheerful tone, and the maids' footsteps changed from hurried to relaxed. It was clear that the most difficult time had passed.

The delivery room door opened.

Cui's personal maid, Qiuyue, peeked halfway out of the door, her face beaming with undisguised joy. Seeing Lu Yan standing in the corridor, she said with a hint of a smile, "Master, it's a boy! Mother and child are safe."

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Lu Yan responded with an "Mm" and stepped inside.

The delivery room was sweltering. The charcoal brazier had been burning since last night and was still blazing. The smoke and medicinal fumes mixed together, carrying a bitter smell. As soon as the door opened, half of this fumes rushed out. Lu Yan walked in without frowning, paused for two steps, and first looked for Cui Shi, then for the source of the crying.

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Lu Yan didn't respond to that sentence, but walked past the midwife and went to the bedside.

Cui leaned against the headboard, her hair disheveled, a few strands clinging to her forehead. Her face was pale, with a hint of blue in it. Her lips were dry, and her eyes were open, her gaze somewhat unfocused. When she saw Lu Yan enter, her brow twitched, and her eyelashes trembled slightly, as if she wanted to move but couldn't.

"Don't move." Lu Yan sat down on the edge of the bed, his voice low, not an order, but an instruction.

He sat down by the edge of the bed, glanced at Cui Shi, and the two looked at each other for a moment. He didn't say anything extra, and went back to find the child. The midwife had already wrapped the baby up, one layer of cloth and one layer of cotton, tightly wrapped, with only the face showing. The face was red, the features were all scrunched up, the eyes were closed, and the brows were furrowed, as if it had a lot of complaints about the world. The mouth was moving, ready to shout again at any moment, but it was quiet at this moment.

The midwife brought the baby over, and Lu Yan reached out to take it. He held it with both hands, his posture stiff, as if he were receiving something he had never received before. He couldn't find the right amount of force. If he held it too lightly, he was afraid it would be unstable. If he held it too heavily, he was afraid it would choke the baby. He used just the right amount of force with both hands, keeping it suspended in that position without moving.

The child was lighter and smaller than he had imagined, so small that it surprised him. He mentally estimated the weight to be around four or five pounds, lighter than a box of land deeds in his hands, but the moment he caught the child, that lightness felt heavier than anything else.

Cui turned her head to the side, watching him hold the child, without saying a word.

Qiuyue stood by the bed, holding a bowl of hot soup in her hands, waiting to feed it to the madam. She didn't say anything, but just looked at Lu Yan and lowered her eyes.

The delivery room was unusually quiet, with only the faint sound of burning charcoal braziers and the occasional soft breathing of the baby.

Lu Yan looked down at the wrinkled little face, stared for a while, then looked away and said to Cui Shi, "You've worked hard."

He said those three words calmly, without any particular emotion, but it was the first complete sentence he had uttered since entering the delivery room.

Upon hearing this, Cui closed her eyes, her eyelashes trembling slightly.

Lu Yan handed the child back to the midwife, stood up, got up from the edge of the bed, paused for a moment, and said, "Rest well, don't think too much, let Qiuyue watch over you."

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He turned and left, closing the door behind him.

As he stepped out of the delivery room, the spring breeze from the corridor swept over him, cooling him clean and wiping away the heat from his face. He took a deep breath and stood in the corridor, not leaving immediately.

Zhao Changying walked over from the courtyard gate in two quick steps, stopped in front of the porch, looked him over, and asked, "Are you and your child safe?"

'

"Safety."

"Boy or girl?"

'

"brothers."

Zhao Changying burst into genuine laughter, a laugh that came from within, radiating true joy. She slapped her thigh and said, "Good, good, the firstborn is a boy, the young master has an heir."

He said something and looked at Lu Yan, waiting for him to answer. Lu Yan did not answer. Zhao Changying then said, "Young Master stood in the courtyard for more than half an hour. He went in and stayed there—and came out after such a short while."

“She wants to sleep,” Lu Yan said. “I’m in the way.”

6

Zhao Changying pondered the word "obstacle," as if she had discerned something within it. She suppressed what she was about to say, but then couldn't hold back, and said, "Young Master, you really are—"

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He shook his head and changed the second half of the sentence: "Heartless."

The four characters "中" carry a somewhat indescribable meaning. It's not a curse, but a sigh, a kind of sentiment that he himself couldn't quite explain. It's mixed with something that dissipates as soon as it's spoken, leaving only an echo under the eaves.

Upon hearing this, Lu Yan stopped and turned to look at Zhao Changying.

Zhao Changying did not retreat. He stood there, the smile still there, but there was something else in his eyes, more complicated than before. He couldn't explain it himself. If he had to put it into words, he could only say those four words, nothing else.

The two exchanged a glance. Lu Yan looked away first, lowered his head and walked forward, saying, "Go and call Fan Fu, and send in the tonics we prepared earlier. Start simmering the ginseng soup tonight, and have Qiu Yue keep an eye on Madam's consumption."

"Yes." Zhao Changying turned and left. The withered locust branch was still lying on the ground at the gate of the courtyard, and no one picked it up.

Lu Yan walked to the door of the study, stopped, and glanced back at the direction of the delivery room. The door was closed again, and the spring sunlight made it a little dazzling. The light from inside shone through the crack in the door, warm and overlapping with the sunlight outside, forming a thin, yellowish ray.

The faint sound came from inside again—a child's voice, crying again. This time the crying was short, only two cries before stopping, as if the child was satisfied with their outburst and returned to calm.

Lu Yan stood at the door of the study for a longer time than he realized.

Fan Fujin was coming and going in the courtyard, and the maids were talking under the eaves. Their soft voices were filled with joy because of the happy occasion. It was as if something had suddenly come to this small courtyard. It was a kind of liveliness that had never been seen before. It was not loud, but it was real.

He entered the study, sat down at the desk, took a blank sheet of paper from the drawer, picked up a pen, and wrote two characters in the center:

Chengqian.

After looking at it for a moment, he folded the paper and placed it under the inkstone.

He came up with the name by himself, without consulting anyone or informing the Cui family beforehand. Chengqian, meaning to bear the weight of heaven and earth, sounds too grand in any era, but he chose it anyway. After choosing it, he didn't feel any particular sense of grandeur; he just felt it was appropriate.

He picked up his pen, lowered his head, and began to review the first official document that had been pending for three days.

The study was quiet. The spring sunlight outside the window illuminated a bright square on the floor, and that light moved with the sun, gradually creeping deeper into the study. Lu Yan sat on the edge of that light, his pen scratching softly on the paper.

In the delivery room, the baby cried again, then fell silent.

After a long period of silence, it was as if nothing had happened. The study was still the same study, the desk was still the same desk, and the official documents were still the same stack of official documents. Only under the inkstone, there was an extra folded piece of paper with two words on it that had nothing to do with any official documents.

Spring light moved across the floor, reached the center of the study, paused for a moment, and then continued to move.