Chapter 1568: Chapter 1575: Dragon-Phoenix Triplets (4)
He spoke, stroking her eyes, and waited for her to close them before leaning over to plant a kiss on her forehead.
Cai Wei withdrew her tears and focused her gaze on the three children. The three little ones lay wrapped in red swaddling clothes, only their little heads exposed. Their tiny, wrinkled, red faces were not even as big as her palm, yet it was clear that they were born identical. If it weren’t for the different little bracelets they wore according to their birth order, she wouldn’t have been able to tell them apart.
Nangong Yi also bent down to look at their children with Cai Wei. Although at first he thought they were not particularly good-looking, as he imagined children to be fair, plump, and adorable like jade snow, rather than like three little red monkeys, now he liked them more and more as he looked at them, finding them increasingly cute. He loved them so much that he wanted to pile all the best things in the world in front of them.
Just then, Chun Liu reported from outside the veil, "Your Majesty, Your Grace, it’s time to feed the little Highnesses."
Following the sound, Cai Wei looked over and saw a few nannies standing faintly outside; these were the nannies chosen by Empress Dowager Mo from the "Milk House" for the children.
Looking at the three tender little buns and thinking about them being nursed in another woman’s arms, Cai Wei suddenly felt a pang of jealousy and said, "Yi, why don’t I personally nurse the children?"
"No way!"
Nangong Yi refused her without thinking: "You just gave birth to triplets, which consumed a lot of your energy. You should take good care and nurture yourself. These nannies were all carefully selected by the Imperial Mother from the Milk House, and their milk is absolutely not inferior to yours!"
The Great Jin Nation established a mechanism specifically for supplying wet nurses in the palace, commonly known as the "Milk House." Every year, the court selects wet nurses (lactating women) from the suburbs of the Capital City, exclusively to feed royal infants, with very strict selection criteria. The Ceremony Supervisor oversees this matter, subordinate to the Brocade Uniform Guards. In the middle of each season of spring, summer, autumn, and winter, forty wet nurses are selected, split equally between those giving birth to boys and girls, and raised in the "Milk House" for the interior palace’s use, known as "sitting season wet nurses." Additionally, eighty backup wet nurses are selected and only registered, still allowed to live in their own homes, known as "listed wet nurses."
Cai Wei had also seen these nannies before. They were all carefully selected from the "Milk House," aged between fifteen and twenty, in good health, with decent appearances, and with complete families. They could only begin after their own children were exactly three months old and had received specialized training in etiquette before officially entering the palace.
Although she was unwilling, the man’s words made sense. Her milk couldn’t possibly be enough for all three babies to eat, so the nannies would have to be used.
However, they were merely backups, only allowed to step in when she couldn’t personally nurse, when her milk wasn’t sufficient. She did not want her children growing up nourished by another’s milk.
If at that time, they became close to the nannies rather than her, it would be a tragedy.
Because royal nannies breastfed the princes for a period, they not only received generous rewards and compensation but if the prince were to rise rapidly in power, the emperor’s nanny would advance by leaps and bounds and be honored. Even her family and children would be well-treated, enjoying endless wealth and honor.
Even if the prince was enfeoffed and left for his fief, the nanny could still be well-treated and honored, allowing her family to exert authority and wealth in the fiefdom.
In her past life, Cai Wei had read Ming History and heard about the evil deeds of Lady Ke, who manipulated the entire Imperial Harem, even torturing pregnant concubines to death. She also ordered family servants to call her the "Grandmother of Nine Thousand Years," colluding with Wei Zhongxian, engaging in partisan activities that caused Empress Zhang to miscarry. Imperial Concubine Feng died violently in the wilderness, and three princes and two princesses died young because of her.