Chapter 1211: Promoted to Being a Father
Lady Song wanted Yinzhen to have another baby with her before she even got out of the puerperium period. She invited Yinzhen over, saying that the child missed her father.
For Yinzhen, this was his first child after all. He had been promoted to the status of being a father because of this, so it was only right of him to occasionally visit Lady Song’s courtyard.
Lady Song would always have the wet nurse to bring the child over beforehand. When Yinzhen came, he saw that the child was still very thin and weak. She was completely motionless inside the wet nurse’s arms as she slept with her eyes closed.
If it weren’t for the slight movement of her nose, he would have thought that the child was already dead. Yinzhen was very sad. The doctor had said that this child may die young.
After this, Yinzhen rarely visited Lady Song’s courtyard anymore. He really didn’t want to develop any feelings for the child. It’d only make him more sad once the child passed away.
So when Lady Song used this reason to call him over again, he didn’t respond to her invitation.
Lady Song was very angry. She pointed at the baby that was still in swaddling clothes and screamed that she was useless for being a girl. However, after she finished yelling, she hugged the child again and apologized while crying, “Mother is sorry. Mother has let you down.”
When Ning Shu found out about this, she felt that Lady Song was probably suffering from postpartum depression. She had harbored such great expectations for her baby. She had suffered so much pain during pregnancy and childbirth, but the result was a baby girl. She felt like she hadn’t gotten an appropriate return for her efforts. There was too great a disparity between reality and what she had hoped for.
Lady Song had always thought that she would be giving birth to Yinzhen’s eldest son, but it turned out to be a very thin and frail baby girl. It was easy to imagine how much disappointment Lady Song must be feeling. The most important part was that Yinzhen didn’t seem to care for this child.
Lady Song felt very dejected, so she vented all her anger on the child.
She didn’t even sew a single garment for her child.
Women of the inner courtyard relied on their children to improve their standards of living, but Lady Song’s child hadn’t improved her situation. She hadn’t been able to gain any additional benefits due to this child.
Lady Song didn’t care about this child, so Ning Shu had no choice but to pay extra attention to this child. Otherwise, history would really repeat and the child would die before she even turned one month old. She wouldn’t even get a name.
Lady Song’s second child had faced the same fate. She had also died before she had turned one month old. Children were very fragile. If even the mother didn’t care for her own child, how could the child possibly grow up without problems?
Ning Shu would boil goat milk every night to feed the child, then wipe down the child. This child was very quiet and always asleep. If she had peed, she’d just mutter a bit. When the wet nurse didn’t pay attention, the child would have to wear the wet diaper for a long time, so her skin would become completely red from the dampness.
Ning Shu sighed. She couldn’t take care of this child at all times. She had no choice but to wait until night to get her something to eat and wiped her down a little.
In any case, Ning Shu didn’t know what Lady Song was trying to do. She had been so ambitious in wanting to give birth to a son, but she wasn’t fated to have a son. She had only given birth to daughters and they had both died before they even became one month old.