Chapter 113: Chapter 113

After Little Moon's first birthday celebration, her formal name was officially decided.

Yu Ludai, meaning "jade bird" in Manchu, symbolized both the precious purity of jade and the lively freedom of a bird.

The little girl truly lived up to this name. Though exceptionally active for her tender age, she was an extraordinarily bright child. Perhaps influenced by her mother, she'd developed an eye for beauty from infancy.

The leaping koi in the pond, the emerald lotus-covered lakes in summer, the fiery red maple leaves in autumn, the first red plum blossoms braving winter's icy grip - were it not for her still-limited brush control, her dedicated art room would contain far more than just a collection of tiny handprint paintings.

She'd even somehow heard about the magnificent sunrise views from Western Mountain and one day stubbornly insisted her father take her to see it. How could Yin Tang, now fully transformed into the ultimate doting father, possibly refuse his precious daughter? He ended up carrying her all the way to the summit, so anxious about her safety that he dragged several imperial physicians along from the Imperial Hospital.

The entire trip was spent worrying over his daughter, yet upon their return, Yu Ludai remained as energetic as ever, happily skipping about. Her poor father, however, returned with visible dark circles under his eyes. No sooner had they returned than Yin Tang was summoned to the palace and thoroughly scolded by his mother.

Imperial Consort Yi's tirade essentially accused him of irresponsibility - after years of careful nurturing to strengthen the eldest princess's delicate constitution, how dare he take such risks by bringing her up a mountain?

Back at Yikun Palace, the thoroughly chastised Yin Tang buried his face in his hands.

How could he explain that the moment those big pleading eyes had looked up at him, his body seemed to move on its own before his brain could process the request?

But a real man keeps his word, especially promises made to his daughter - how could he possibly go back on them?

Standing stiffly in the chamber, Yin Tang remained silent for a long while.

As the saying goes, no one understands a son like his mother. Imperial Consort Yi needed only one look at her unlucky son's expression to grasp the situation completely.

Guo Luoluo couldn't help sighing inwardly - Yu Ludai was truly exceptional, not just in looks but with that extraordinary aura about her. Not yet three years old, she already displayed more wit than Fifth Prince's five- or six-year-olds, coupled with an irresistibly sweet tongue. Even the Emperor, normally reserved with his daughters and granddaughters, had been charmed into gifting several treasured paintings from his private collection during his last visit.

Though it seemed a casual gesture quickly forgotten, this alone astonished Imperial Consort Yi. With such cleverness as the only daughter in the family, no wonder her youngest son...

After the incident, the little girl behaved angelically for quite some time. Seeing her father's gloomy expression for several days (apparently scolded relentlessly by Grandmother in the palace - how pitiful!), she toned down her antics.

"Mother," she suddenly asked one day while snuggling with An Ning on the lambswool-covered daybed, "why does Father, Grandmother, and everyone think I'm not healthy?"

She felt perfectly fine - certainly better than Second Uncle the Crown Prince's third daughter, who always had to drink those horribly bitter medicines. That cousin had secretly confided that the Imperial Hospital's white-bearded old man prescribed the most disgusting remedies ever.

The system was equally puzzled about this. The mid-tier health-guaranteed pill from the system store should have ensured perfect health from birth. Yet every imperial physician unanimously declared the eldest princess somewhat delicate, requiring careful nurturing. Only in recent months, seeing her run and jump without issue, had they slightly modified their diagnosis - while still insisting on continued cautious care.

This had thoroughly frightened Ninth Prince into treating his daughter as more precious than his own eyeballs. The system initially suspected its host of tampering, but after extensive covert observation, found no evidence...

An Ning gently stroked her daughter's fur-capped head: "Yu Ludai, have you heard the saying 'fear breeds irrationality'? Your father and others simply worry too much, just like Mother does. So you must take extra good care of yourself..."

"As for those imperial physicians," An Ning chuckled lightly, "take their words with a grain of salt. Haven't you noticed they say similar things about your third cousin and many others?"

"Oh! That's true!" The little girl thoughtfully nuzzled against her mother before blinking her large eyes with sudden realization: "So Mother means things many people say aren't necessarily correct?"

"Exactly! Our Yu Ludai is so clever!"

She'd actually known this already, but her mother's daily praise still made her beam with joy, her already radiant face glowing even brighter...

Why was it the only clueless one here?

Holding her daughter's small hand, An Ning remained silent. The situation made perfect sense - simple human nature.

For imperial physicians - especially Qing Dynasty imperial physicians - playing it safe was paramount in such a high-risk profession. This was an era of shockingly high infant mortality rates.

After that earlier life-threatening episode, any child born under difficult circumstances would be diagnosed as delicate regardless of actual condition. If the child thrived, the physicians could claim credit; if misfortune struck, their prior warnings would mitigate blame - especially with Ninth Prince's own health issues as precedent.

No intervention from her was necessary.

Most importantly, caressing her daughter's soft cheek, An Ning would never risk fake pulse diagnoses or similar methods on her child. Children's constitutions were fragile enough without adding medicinal toxins unless absolutely necessary - no matter how confident she might be...

Oblivious to her mother's complex considerations, Yu Ludai continued her happy days - dressing prettily to go boating with Mother and posing for portraits, begging Father to see beautiful lion dogs and talkative parrots, occasionally creating her own "masterpieces," or visiting that somewhat silly Tenth Uncle who always angered Father but recently earned partial forgiveness by gifting a lovely pony (he might qualify as one of Yu Ludai's best uncles now).

Her only sorrow? Sighing while propping her chin, she wished Third Sister from Second Uncle's household could come out to play more often.

On New Year's Eve, An Ning stayed cozy at home listening to her husband and especially her daughter's excited accounts of palace banquet novelties. Outside, fireworks painted the night sky with brilliant colors.

Yet peaceful days never last.

Early in the 47th year of Kangxi's reign, before New Year celebrations concluded, urgent news broke from Yuqing Palace - the Crown Prince's life hung by a thread!