General Yu came into the room that he had set aside for his wife's office and watched for a few moments as the elegant young man bent over his writing desk. A grin came to his lips and he let his eyes rake over the curve of his neck and clever hands.
"Are you just going to stare at me all afternoon, or do you have something you want husband?" The caustic words came out of the manly lips in a tone that bordered on teasing. His sharp eyes rose to meet the General's and then lowered back to his task.
"There is always something I want, wife dearest." The General teased back, and came to stand behind Prince Ling Min. He raked his fingers through the glossy strands of the man's hair, ignoring the stiffening of the prince's spine.
"Hmph. If I had known you were such an animal, I would have made you the wife." Ling Min grumbled as he put the finishing touches on his letter. He set his brush aside to be cleaned and turned to look at his husband with a raised brow.
"Too late now. Speaking of too late, the reason I came is that the First Wife is currently in labour. Did you wish to go and support your brother? He seems... agitated." General Yu said with a rakish smile.
"Eh!? Start with that next time. Gods man, how are you a general in the army when you think with your lower parts so much?" Ling Min got up hurriedly and smacked the general on the shoulder when he was grabbed into an embrace.
"Only when you are around, my dearest. I can't seem to help myself." He pecked a kiss on those pouting lips before him and watched the blush suffuse the prince's cheeks. It was still so satisfying to see the man lose his composure when he attacked him out of the blue.
"Well try. We need to leave immediately." Ling Min pulled reluctantly out of his embrace and ordered the horses to be brought forth. Clothing and such would follow them later, and he directed the head of the staff as they walked out to the front of the home.
Only an hour later had them walking into the room where the Emperor paced back and forth. They were close enough to hear all the commotion as serving staff and physicians looked after the pregnant Du Fen.
"You look terrible brother. Why are you so worried? Du Fen will be fine. He is strong and healthy. I am sure there will be no problems with the birth." Ling Min told his brother in a comforting tone. The Emperor grimaced and shook his head.
"I am not worried about his strength or abilities, brother... but at the same time I am very worried about those things." He muttered in reply cryptically. General Yu looked at his wife in puzzlement.
"What do you mean, Your Majesty?" He asked in concern.
"Du Fen is going to kill me... or castrate me. I hope he gives birth to an heir before he does, but there is no doubt about it. Maybe I should go off to war, so he has time to forget. Who should I go to war with, General?" The Emperor said the whole thing so calmly that both of them were shocked to their cores.
"Nobody. What on earth are you going on about, Jian Jun? Have you lost your mind?" Ling Min came forward and shoved his brother, who just sighed and flopped down onto a settee with his hand over his eyes.
"No, but Du Fen is going to in a moment." He mumbled. They could hear the shouting and grunting from the next room quite loudly. Ling Min wondered if hearing all that had made his brother lose his wits.
Suddenly there was a silence, and the cries of a babe were heard. The Emperor lifted his head with a look of pure joy, his grin stretched across his face and he let out a sigh. When his brother moved to congratulate him though, he held up his hand.
"Wait for it." Was all he uttered. There was a pause, a deadly quiet in both rooms.
"WHAT THE FUCK!" The guttural cry from the next room sounded out loudly and the Emperor of the lands from too far for the eye to see... flinched. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN I'M HAVING TWINS? WHERE THE FUCK IS HE!?"
Both the General and the Emperor's brother looked at the man on the settee who had a pale face with a look of impending doom. Jian Jun sighed and rubbed his forehead. He knew he had to go in there now.
"Did you know he was having twins?" Ling Min asked as he rose from the settee. Jian Jun gave him a look.
"And you kept it from him?" General Yu gave him a look of disapproval.
"What was I supposed to do? When he was having one, he threatened to pull it out before it was ready. Do you know how stubborn that boy is? He might've..." The Emperor stopped and paled at the very thought of it.
"Well, say goodbye to your little emperor brother. It was nice while it lasted, hmm?" Ling Min adopted a stoic look and shrugged. He patted the man's shoulder, then shoved him into the birthing chambers. The two of them looked at each other with a calm sense of schadenfreude.
"We should work on our own." Yu Zhi finally mentioned with a straight face. Ling Min glared at him with pursed lips and stormed out of the room in a huff. General Yu smiled deviously and followed in behind.
*
The first thing Jian Jun saw when he entered the room was all the people inside frozen like statues. He walked in with confidence though, and within seconds took in the flushed and angry appearance of his First Wife.
Before he could say a word, a physician came forward with a little bundle wrapped in red silks. His eyes lowered to the tiny, squished face of his first-born child... and his heart melted into a puddle of goo inside his chest.
His gaze could not be torn away from the reddened skin and tightly clenched fists that waved about as angrily as his mother was a second ago. The little whimpers touched him, and he reached out to take the small child into his arms.
Du Fen wanted to shout and rail at the man when he first entered the room, but found his curses stuck in his throat at the sight of his husband holding their tiny newborn. A pain wracked his body again and he groaned.
All eyes turned to him as he writhed on the bed again. His voice hoarse, he cried at the fierce clenching of his body and the painful stretch as yet another child entered the world. Jian Jun's eyes were wide as he saw the whole process of his second born coming out of his wife.
"Almost done, Ah Fen. Just a little more." His mother coached from beside him. The second proved to be much easier than the first and slid out with much less resistance than it's sibling. The physician took the babe to the side and cleaned it in a small basin, before wrapping it in blue cloth.
Jian Jun reached out to hold them both together, one in red and one in blue. His eyes shone with pride and contentment. He came to sit next to his exhausted wife, who had just been quickly cleaned after the birthing linens were removed.
"Ah Fen... see what little miracles you have wrought. Every day you surprise me more and more. How is my overachieving love?" He said with a quiet voice filled with awe. Du Fen did not have the strength to argue loudly at this picturesque moment.
"I will live, I suppose. No thanks to you." He grumbled. Jian Jun leaned forward and gave his sweaty head a kiss.
"Shall I name one, and you name the other?" He offered with a gentle look. Du Fen looked up at him in surprise. It was normally not his place to name the Emperor's children, even if they had come from his womb.
"May I?" He whispered, clutching onto the embroidered sleeve that was snuggled in close and peering down at the two squished faces of their children.
"Of course, my dearest." He intoned softly, so as not to disturb the lovely feeling between them.
"Are they..." Du Fen struggled to find the words. The physician stepped forward.
"They are both healthy, the first born is a male and the second born is a ger." He pronounced with a serious face. The Emperor smiled and offered the first born to be held by his mother, then the second. They nestled into his embrace and he stroked his fingers over their delicate foreheads tenderly.
"Our first born... shall be Jian Hong." The Emperor said decisively, looking down at the shock of dark red hair affectionately. Du Fen smiled and nodded.
"Can... can we call the second Fang Bao*?" Du Fen asked with an uncharacteristic timid look up at the Emperor. He was so used to his mother telling him that he would have no say in the children's name, that he was hesitant to voice it out.
"Yes. That is a good name. Our unexpected treasure. It will be good if he looks like you." He smiled down at the dark-haired boy that was cradled close. Du Fen blushed a little as Jian Jun leaned down and kissed him over top of the two little bundles. "Now, rest my dearest."
"Yes." With unexpected obedience, Du Fen sighed and closed his eyes. Jian Jun had someone watch over the three as he moved to announce the good news. A large smile did not leave his face for hours.
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*Fang Bao -beautiful treasure