Kangxi was still hesitating, but Nurses Zhang and Zhao immediately spoke up to object.
“Your Majesty, Your Imperial Highness, we cannot do that. When a child falls ill, it is necessary to let them rest and go without food for two meals—that is the only way they will recover quickly,” Nurse Zhang said.
Nurse Zhao quickly agreed. “That is right. If she eats now, her condition might well worsen before long. This began as nothing more than a mild chill, but if we are not careful, it could drag on and become far more serious.”
Hearing these words, Empress Hešeri once again began to hesitate, but Yiqing had reached the limit of her patience.
“Hungry… hungry… bad… eat… food…”
If she had been able to speak clearly and form complete sentences, Yiqing would have pointed directly at the two nurses and called them wicked.
“Let her eat,” Kangxi said firmly. “Since the child is hungry, we should let her eat her fill first. I once read in *Treatise on Febrile Diseases and Miscellaneous Disorders* that warm rice porridge is recommended to help enhance the effectiveness of medicine. Now that Yiqing is crying and complaining of hunger, let her eat her fill.”
Nurse Zhang opened her mouth to object again. The child was still barely able to speak—how could they simply give in to her every whim and desire?
But Nurse Zhao gently tugged at her sleeve and signaled her to stop speaking, and Nurse Zhang immediately fell silent. It was the Emperor who had spoken, and his words were not to be challenged or contradicted lightly.
Soon, warm goat’s milk was brought to Yiqing, along with half a small bowl of soft-cooked vegetables.
Empress Hešeri personally fed her, and this task proved far easier than giving her medicine. Yiqing was fully cooperative, and indeed ate quickly and eagerly—she was truly starving.
Once she had eaten her fill, Yiqing’s spirits were much improved. She recalled what the two nurses had said earlier, that she had to go hungry while she was sick. The only reason she had not been able to argue with them was that she could not yet speak properly. But as soon as she was able to express herself clearly, she would make sure that the Grand Empress Dowager and the Empress Dowager abolished this cruel and dangerous rule forever.
When a person is unwell, their body is already lacking the energy and strength it needs to recover, and food is the very source of that energy and nourishment. Making anyone go without food for two meals was enough to cause harm even to someone in perfect health.
Seeing how well Yiqing behaved after eating, and that she no longer looked listless and weak as she had before, Kangxi and Empress Hešeri both breathed sighs of relief.
“Mother~” Yiqing’s eyes shone brightly as she looked up and stared intently at Empress Hešeri.
There had been many matters to attend to in the inner palace over the past two days, and Empress Hešeri had not visited the Palace of Compassion and Peace for two or three days. Yiqing had remembered this clearly, and now that she was finally with her mother again, she was eager to draw close and show her affection. Her mother always smelled so sweet and pleasant, and spoke in such a soft, gentle voice—she loved her dearly.
Empress Hešeri smiled and drew Yiqing into her arms, taking care to keep her warm and protected from the cold. “My sweet, precious child, get well soon. Once you are fully recovered, I will take you to the Imperial Garden to see all the beautiful flowers. They are in full bloom right now—red, yellow, blue, and every color you can imagine.”
Empress Hešeri had always carried herself with grace and gentleness, and her features were soft and kind. A small, charming dimple appeared on her left cheek whenever she smiled, giving her a playful and endearing look. When she smiled, she seemed warm and approachable to all, yet when her expression turned serious, she immediately radiated authority and dignity.
Yiqing looked at the dimple on her mother’s left cheek and reached out, wanting to touch it gently with her index finger. It looked so sweet and lovely—she wondered if touching it would feel just as wonderful.
Watching the two of them sharing such a tender moment, Kangxi felt a twinge of jealousy and cleared his throat softly. “Yiqing, come here, call me Father.”
Her arms were still too short to reach her mother’s cheek, and Yiqing felt a little disappointed. But when she heard Kangxi’s words, she turned her head to look at him. She had seen how anxious he had been while standing by her bedside when she was ill, and the genuine worry on his face had been impossible to fake—he had truly taken good care of her throughout this time.
Thinking of this, Yiqing turned back to Kangxi and gave him a sweet smile, her voice soft and childish. “Fa-ther~”
Perhaps because she was still too young and her vocal cords had not yet fully developed, her words always came out sounding slow and drawn out. She had tried many times to make her voice sound clearer and crisper, but every attempt had only made her words more difficult for others to understand. For now, she had decided to put this aside and wait until she was older and more able to speak properly.
A look of delight and surprise spread across Kangxi’s face. He had spent the entire day yesterday teaching her to call him Father, and she had stubbornly refused to say even a single word. Now, she had done so immediately when he asked, filling his heart with joy.
“Good girl, come and say it once more,” Kangxi said as he carefully took Yiqing from Empress Hešeri’s arms. He reached out and touched her forehead gently. “Say it again, so Father can hear you once more.”
“Fa-ther~” Now that she had said it once, Yiqing had no objection to saying it again. Her pronunciation was still not quite accurate, however, and the words came out sounding slightly different from what she intended.
But Kangxi did not mind this in the slightest. He laughed heartily and held her a little closer to him.
Empress Hešeri watched them, her eyes filled with warmth and affection. She loved seeing moments like this, when their family was so happy and united.
After playing for a while longer, however, Yiqing began to feel sleepy. She was still recovering from her illness, and while she no longer felt as unwell as she had at first, her body was still weak and easily tired.
Once Yiqing had fallen asleep, Kangxi and Empress Hešeri left the side hall together.
This illness had been nothing more than a mild chill, and after taking medicine for three or four days, Yiqing made a full recovery. By this time, she had already spent four or five days living in the Palace of Heavenly Purity, and the Empress Dowager had long since sent messengers to ask when she would be returning home.
On this day, Su Ma La Gu came personally to bring her back. On the previous occasion, Kangxi had been able to use Yiqing’s illness as an excuse to keep her there, but now that she was fully recovered and running about with all her usual energy and vitality, he had no more reasons left. He could only watch with great reluctance as Su Ma La Gu carried the child away.
Even though Yiqing had only stayed with him for a few days, Kangxi had discovered the joy and fulfillment that came with caring for a child. Watching her small, delicate form crawling about the halls, and hearing her call him Father with that sweet smile on her face, had touched his heart in a way he had never experienced before, making him feel soft and tender inside. It was as though something precious had found its way into his heart, leaving him feeling happier and more content than he had been in a long time.
Meanwhile, back at the Palace of Compassion and Peace, Yiqing was being held and cuddled in turn by the Empress Dowager and the Grand Empress Dowager.
“My poor little Yiqing, you have suffered so much,” the Empress Dowager said, looking her over with deep affection and concern. “You only left us for a short while and still fell ill. Now that you are back, everything will be well again.”
“Grandmother~” Yiqing called out happily.
Hearing her voice, the Empress Dowager beamed with joy and responded immediately.
The Grand Empress Dowager feigned a look of jealousy. “Yiqing has come home and does not even call for me anymore.”
“Great-gran-mother~” Yiqing called out to her in return.
Her imperfect pronunciation made everyone in the room burst out laughing. At that moment, Baoqing crawled over from the other side of the room. He was overjoyed to see his sister home again and began making happy, babbling sounds, drawing everyone’s attention to him. The nurses lifted him up and brought him closer.
When Baoqing saw his sister, whom he had not seen for such a long time, he reached out with his small hands and babbled excitedly.
“Our Baoqing has been missing his sister,” the Empress Dowager said with a smile. “The bond between these two siblings is truly wonderful. It seems that Lady Magiya will be giving birth very soon, and when her child arrives, you will have another companion to play with.”
Baoqing was too young to understand what was being said, and he continued to pull and tug gently at his sister’s clothes, refusing to let go. For a time, the entire Palace of Compassion and Peace was filled with laughter and joy.