Chapter 2: Baby

The doctor had amazing news for me; I am safe... for another day at least.

… Months later …

Mao Wenrou's persimmon skin made her visible first in the garden.

It was predicted that the purple plum trees flowers will awaken today after the snow melts fully.

The blue water reflects the clearness of this early morning's sky. The sun lit everything up with a warm glow as it broke through the dull morning clouds.

I sit lounging in the crisp air waiting for the right moment to get up.

"Shen-xiong, may you walk with me?" Wenrou asks.

I smile a little and stand up from my stool.

There's the moment.

________

The changing of the short days to long aids in the change of the world around us. I doubt hiding away from my wife and consorts was the best idea, but I had plenty of time to be productive for myself. My fourteenth birthday will be coming up soon. Not that it matters.

The consorts have also been legally married to me during the following months after Pei Ling's announcement of pregnancy much to Lady Pei's frustrations after a conversation with my parents and the consorts parents.

The women don't seem to show any signs of hatred towards each other. I mean other than the usual angst Pei Ling brings with her everyday, but it isn't much unlike any other kids around town.

Pei Ling also had gone home during the time of the consorts marriage to celebrate her fifteenth birthday.

I finally focus on Wenrou in front of me.

She looks up to me and smiles a wide smile. She opens her eyes wider then exhales out shutting her curly lashed golden brown eyes.

There is a soft rustling of the wind motioning the branches to dance in a rhythm. She held her arms up to the sunshine.

"My grandmother told me about a land of sand, forests, prairies, savannas, jungles, and great riches and cultures. One with kings as powerful as the ones in China." She muses. "My grandma loved to tell me about the jungles."

"Where she came from the sun blazes and everyone has skin the color of night and skin like the wood on trees and soil." She continues.

"I never heard of such a land." I explain resting under a tree nearby.

"Of course not." She smiles, sitting down beside me. "Then she was taken by the people some with green eyes like the sky. Their hair was like dried grasses. She then ended up in a caravan with people who wore a hair covering and stayed in China."

"Then she gave birth to your mother?" I ask.

I put my hands behind my back and prance in front of her, walking backwards as she continues to speak.

"My grandmother had no name to herself, so she managed on her own. Then she gotten pregnant with my mother. My grandmother and mother were then taken in by my grandfather as servants." She answers.

She moves delicately, easing her footfalls with soft toe steps. Heels kissing the ground last, and as if the ground were hot, the heels would raise.

Her hair winding like the branches of the wisteria tree and her unique height one would have mistook her for a brown crane.

She turns to me, and her eyes catch the light in a way that makes her dark eyes appear a color like a purple sunset with gold streaking them.

,_,

"That was lovely." I say with a smile.

"Thank you." She clasps her fist and encloses it in appreciation.

"If you don't mind me asking, why did your grandfather take your mother in?"

I turn and walk forward to follow her.

"My father took a liking to my mother, and my grandmother needed work so she became a servant and learned Chinese ways. She couldn't even speak Chinese."

With that, she walks by my side and continues through the garden with me keeping pace after her.

She pauses for a second before turning around.

"Elder Zhang!" She claps her hands together, her face quickly morphing into a gentle smile. "I am surprised. Is there something that you need?" She pulls into my chest and wraps around my arm causing me to look back.

Her pale yellow overcoat tangles into mine.

I didn't even notice him there. How long did she notice?

"Oh, it is nothing as far as I am concerned, it seems that you aren't with your newly wedded wife." He chuckles. "How curious."

I scowl at him. Isn't this enough for him? I am having a kid and married.

He smiles at my reaction.

"You may be in charge for now, Gao family. but I see in your future that once the new emperor takes the throne, you won't be so lucky." He continues on his path after insulting me in front of Wenrou and trips a little before continuing back to the village.

Wenrou frowns.

"He's right, you know." She says after a while. "Your family's bloodline may be connected to the Emperor, but that line is growing so thin that at this point, you are simply wealthy civilians."

She gasps and puts her hands to her mouth. "I am so sorry, it is not my place to speak. I just felt so comfortable talking with you that I blabbered."

"I wish to hear your thoughts. Besides, we did talk when we were younger. I don't see why we can't now." I tell her, pulling her hands away from her mouth.

"You can be casual. I would rather know the real you instead."

"Who are you now, Wenrou? What does Wenrou think?"

"It feels wrong." But I give her a smile, and the look on her face melts away and is replaced with a tender smile, making a radiating warm aura form around her.

My wife and consorts are all very different from each other. Pei Ling can be jealous and a bit stubborn, but quite wise. Wenrou is an ardent soul, but quiet and innocent seeing the world with amazed eyes. But the eldest Hua Li is strangely quiet, too quiet even for women's standards. Hua Li seems to be more interested watching things play out before her than acting out. It seems I might have to get to know her more.

"I think we should get to work?"

Wenrou sighs and heads back into the house where I go to the yard and look at the notes left on the post of jobs I will need to complete.

"Move the goats (Wu family), fix house siding (Tao family), cut down tree and replant another one away from the big peach tree (Peng family)." I read aloud. "It doesn't seem like a lot today." I note and head off.

The day goes by fast and by the time I replanted the tree, it was late and time for bed.

Wenrou wakes me up in the morning with a gentle smile on her face. She gives me a massage and leads me out of my room to breakfast, which is set up on the table. Hua Li and Pei Ling are already at the table with my parents eating. Wenrou quietly sits down.

"You slept in." Pei Ling chides.

"Sorry," I apologize simply knowing Pei Ling likes to get to the point. I sit down at the table to eat breakfast. "I will wake up earlier tomorrow."

"You better. Breakfast doesn't stay hot forever."

The rest of the morning's breakfast was silent enough except for the slight chatter. It left everyone to their own thoughts. However, somewhere in Pei Ling, I could tell gears were turning in her head.

She noticed me looking at her and caught it tight with her pale gaze. If her focus hadn't been on me before, it definitely is now.

She mouths at me to meet with her after breakfast.

Hua Li and Wenrou were too busy focusing on who to give the leeks and sauce to than to pay attention to the words she uttered. My parents rather instead focus on their food as well.

When breakfast finishes. I leave with Pei Ling to the yard.

"Why have you taken me here?"

"Your father has offered me a courtesy name for our son." She says.

"Already?" I ask with surprise. "What name did he choose?"

"Baihu," She quickly replies. "He wants our son to bring purity and virtue to the world. And to gain standing with my father. Do you think that is sweet?"

"Strength and purity. Sounds nice." I tell her.

She tugs at her loose stand of hair and goes to sit down on a bench before stretching out her legs.

Her feet have been strained from standing so long that she gave up and simply continued to speak to me from the seat.

She then quickly moves a hand to her stomach.

"I will be back." She says.

When she disappears from my sight, I notice Hua Li has been there as well.

"Li Hua Li?" I call out.

She nods before sliding out of her hiding place with a smooth agility. The air around her shivers as she walks.

The soft scent of jasmine wafts suddenly from around her. A promise.

She looks deep into my eyes with her dark brown ones.

"I always liked your purple eyes, A-Shen."

Pei Ling returns with a pout on her flushed face, and she speaks in a tone of petulance:

"How dare you show your face around my husband! You. . . You fox! Go away!"

From this interaction, Hua Li panics and runs away.

"And then she is going to pretend I am the bad guy," Pei Ling growls, stomping her impossibly small feet and wincing with each one. She huffs and wraps her arms around my midsection.

"She annoys me more than the other peasant. Why must she stay?"

I shake my head and stroke my hand through her hair.

"Any ideas for our son's name?"

"Not yet. But I will know when I see them." She tells me.

My hand is placed on her belly where I can feel the pulse of her heart.

"What will you do, He Shen?"