pdf-ebookys Chapter 142 Letter from the Palace
Chapter 142 Letter from the Palace
Early spring, in the backyard of Prince Ning's Mansion.
The night wind was still very cold, and the tears on Shen Yuyao's face had not yet dried. When the wind blew on her face, she couldn't help but shiver.
The first spring rain fell during the day, and at this time, the backyard of Prince Ning's mansion was illuminated by the moonlight.
In the moonlight, there were two figures, one big and one small, standing in the corridor of the side hall in the backyard.
A page of the letter in Shen Yuyao's hand fell to the ground, but she didn't notice it. She just stared blankly at the cold crescent moon in the sky.
The letter in her hand was written by Anaj, the concubine of the Crown Prince of the capital. In the letter, Anaj described to Shen Yuyao in great detail all the major and minor events that had taken place in the Eastern Palace over the past year.
The Crown Prince's concubine, Lu, was favored by the Crown Prince and was promoted to the principal wife by the Emperor and the Empress.
Since Lu was promoted to the main wife, the prince she gave birth to naturally became the legitimate grandson of the emperor.
As for the children born to the deceased Crown Princess Chang, all of them were taken care of by Lu. With her tolerance and virtue, Lu gradually gained the favor of the Crown Prince.
Lu doted on Chang's youngest grandson in every way. Everyone in the Eastern Palace said that Lu treated Chang's children well. Even the crown prince, the emperor and the empress expressed their approval.
It was said in the palace that Lu had both the virtues of a stepmother and the love of a biological mother.
......
Since Chang's death, everything in the Prince's Eastern Palace has been developing and evolving exactly as Shen Yuyao predicted.
Anaj kept Shen Yuyao's entrustment in mind, and whenever she had the chance, she would take the initiative to approach the eunuchs and maids who were taking care of the little grandson. She had been secretly looking after the little grandson.
In the letter, Anaj wrote that once the little grandson grew up safely and was able to understand things, Anaj would tell him all the truth.
At the end of the letter, Anaj said two more things.
First, Lu repeatedly urged the Crown Prince to depose Anajee, a princess of the previous dynasty, from her position as a concubine, on the grounds that she had once attempted to assassinate the Emperor and had broken into the palace late at night and startled the Crown Princess Chang, who was giving birth.
Fortunately, Anaji had heard Shen Yuyao's prediction and had taken precautions against the Lu family early on. In addition, Anaji was gentle and respectful in the East Palace every day. The organization only did some work to promote the integration between the Great Xia Dynasty and the former Yuan survivors, which naturally won the praise of the emperor and the prince.
Therefore, the prince had no intention of abolishing Anaj's position as concubine, and she lived a relatively peaceful life in the prince's Eastern Palace.
However, the prince and she have not consummated their marriage yet.
The second thing is that at the beginning of last autumn, the eight-year-old Crown Prince was afflicted with a strange disease, which became worse as the year drew to a close.
Anaj also secretly went to see the Crown Prince, and even hid it from the Crown Prince, and invited a great Mongolian doctor to take the Crown Prince's pulse.
The Mongolian doctor said that the crown prince had been poisoned by some kind of chronic poison.
But no matter how hard Anaj tried, she could not find the source of the poison, so she did not dare to report it to the prince.
When Anaj wrote to Shen Yuyao, the Crown Prince was already terminally ill and no medicine could cure him. The palace physician diagnosed that he would not live more than three days.
Just when she saw this, the page of letter in Shen Yuyao's hand fell quietly.
......
"Mother." Xia Xiaoxian held the corner of Shen Yuyao's clothes with her chubby little hand and looked up to comfort her, "Little Mundun, you must have seen your mother."
After the beginning of spring, the Crown Prince will suddenly die of illness. Although Shen Yuyao had already known this from Xia Xiaoxian's voice.
But when the bad news really comes, it is still hard not to feel sad.
Shen Yuyao wiped the tears from her face, squatted down, and hugged Xia Xiaoxian tightly in her arms.
"Little Mundun and his mother will be together again."
Xia Xiaoxian put her little face against Shen Yuyao's face, gently patting her back with her hands, and said affirmatively.
"Well... I hope that Sister Chang and the Crown Prince were born into an ordinary family in another world and can enjoy the happiness of family life."
[In a few months, the two-year period of Grandma Huang will also be coming to an end. ]
[Grandpa Emperor's temperament will also change drastically, alas...]
Shen Yuyao hadn't heard Xia Xiaoxian's thoughts for a long time. Now she was eloquent and said whatever she wanted to say directly.
She knew that Xia Xiaoxian was worried that she would be even more sad, so she only dared to say it in her heart.
In the coming year, no one in the entire Great Xia Dynasty will have an easy life!
A few days ago, Prince Ning was assassinated at the gate of the palace, and the culprit behind the assassination has not yet been found out. Now, the court is in turmoil again because of the impending bad news.
Shen Yuyao was still a little hesitant in her heart, wondering whether she should tell Xia Yu everything she knew.
Another gust of night wind blew by, and Shen Yuyao felt that Xia Xiaoxian's little hands were slightly cold.
She stood up and said, "Let's go back to the house."
As soon as the mother and daughter entered the house, Xiao Huanzi, who was in charge of the palace's internal affairs, came to report.
"Your Highness, the ladies in Chuxiu Palace are asking when they can pay their respects to you, Your Highness?"
"Excuse me?"
"Yes, the young masters are asking when they can pay their respects to Her Majesty, but in reality they want to ask when Her Majesty will arrange for them to sleep with Her Majesty."
Xiao Huanzi was a eunuch brought by Shen Yuyao's mother's family. He was one of the first group to follow Xia Yu to Yanjing when he was enfeoffed. Now Xia Yu has promoted him to be the chief steward of the entire Ning Wang Mansion.
The concubines who were awarded in the palace a few years ago all ran to win over Xiao Huanzi and curry favor with him. They all thought that by bribing Xiao Huanzi, they could gain the prince's favor as soon as possible and gain a firm foothold in the palace.
Especially those tribute girls from the Li Dynasty were even more anxious.
It is because if they can have a little status in the Ning Wang Mansion, their parents' families in the Li Dynasty will also be treated well by the royal family of the Li Dynasty.
But Xiao Huanzi grew up in the Duke's Mansion, Shen Yuyao's mother's family. When encountering such a thing, he would definitely not make a decision on his own and would definitely seek Shen Yuyao's opinion as soon as possible.
Moreover, Prince Ning also said in the front yard of the palace that from now on all matters in the palace would be decided by Princess Shen Yuyao.
Seeing Shen Yuyao pondering, Xiao Huanzi reminded her, "Madam, look, how should I reply to those young masters?"
Shen Yuyao then remembered that the concubines from Chuxiu Palace were still living in the palace, and she didn't know how to arrange them.
Prince Ning was in good health, but Shen Yuyao was undecided whether to arrange for a woman to sleep with him, even though she was a doctor and the prince was a patient.
But when Shen Yuyao thought about asking Prince Ning in person, "Are you feeling better? Can you have someone to sleep with you?", she really couldn't bring herself to ask such questions.
Shen Yuyao now felt that when the prince was not in the palace, the mistress could live a peaceful and comfortable life.
Since the prince came back, Shen Yuyao, as the mistress of the palace, has had no experience in such important matters regarding sleeping arrangements.
She rarely even thought about it.
In the past, there were only two wives and concubines in the Ning Wang Mansion, her and Xu. When Ning Wang felt like it, he could choose any courtyard to rest.