The emperor himself had commanded, the Empress had to be sad of course, Noble Lady Yu soon moved into the Changchun Palace to nurse her baby.
The Empress was carefully pruning the bonsai on the shelf, Wei Yingluo is practising her calligraphy, while peeking at the Empress from time to time. The Empress finally asked: “What's wrong? To say or not to say.”
Wei Yingluo deliberated for a moment but said bluntly: “The Empress Niangniang, you should not have brought Noble Lady Yu to the Changchun Palace.”
The Empress looked at her quietly and asked: “Why?”
Wei Yingluo never hid her thoughts in front of the Empress and said: “Noble Lady Yu is about to give birth, there are many worries, if she eats too much, if she eats too little, if she doesn't take care of her, outsiders will blame Niangniang instead. Niangniang.”
The Empress, slightly surprised, asked: “Yingluo, you have defended Noble Lady Yu many times, why this time, have you changed your mind?”
Wei Yingluo replies almost coldly: “Yingluo thought that, not being afraid of trouble, does not mean that she is actively causing it.”
The Empress put down the shears, walked over to Wei Yingluo and smilingly asked: “Do you think this Palace Mistress taking Noble Lady Yu to the Changchun Palace, is actively trying to be a source of trouble?”
Wei Yingluo did not deny it: “This lowly servant is ignorant, if wrong, please forgive Niangniang.” The Empress took the pen from her hand, wrote a word on it and asked: “Do you know what this word is?”
Although Wei Yingluo had learned to read and write from the Empress, she did not recognise the character written by the Empress and shook her head.
The Empress patiently taught her: “A mouth at the bottom left and a hand at the top right, this is the origin of the oracle word “Hou”. The Forbidden City is a huge building, home to countless Consorts, court ladies, the Empress is the Master of the Consorts, the umbrella of the Six Palaces to provide shelter for the women here.”
Wei Yingluo instantly understood what the Empress meant but although she did, she could not understand and frowned: “But they are all here to compete with you for the throne!”
There was an indescribable sadness and pity in the Empress's countenance, she looked at the word “Empress” on the white paper and said gently: “They are poor enough to have left their parents and relatives to have been locked up in the palace all their lives; if this Palace Mistress is also full of jealousy, the palace will be out of order; this Palace Mistress is weak, she can always give them a little warmth, when they are wronged, they will not have to cry out; Yingluo, you must always remember, this Palace Mistress is the Empress first, only then is she a woman.”
Wei Yingluo stood in a daze, she looked at the Empress and saw someone else, someone who had said to her so gently: “Yingluo, it's not easy to survive, you must do what you can, help those who can, understand? Do you understand?”
The Empress looked at the tears in Wei Yingluo's eyes and asked: “Yingluo, what's wrong with you?”
Wei Yingluo wiped away her tears and whispered: “This lowly servant has a sister, the way Niangniang spoke just now, she resembled her sister, please forgive Niangniang, you are a person of gold to this lowly servant, you are a person of gold. This lowly servant should not compare you with my sister, this lowly servant just thought, you are a good person like my sister, God will bless you.” I will protect you too.
The Empress touched Wei Yingluo's forehead lovingly and snapped: “You're crying your nose off, what a silly little girl.”
Wei Yingluo smiled apologetically.
The Empress said again: “Yingluo, this Palace Mistress is going to the Changchun Garden to accompany the Empress Dowager to pay homage to the Buddha, Erqing will go with me, after that everything in the Changchun Palace, will be entrusted to you..”
Wei Yingluo gave an “eh” and said:” The Empress Niangniang, this lowly servant cannot afford such a burden, leave it to Mingyu.”
The Empress took Wei Yingluo's hand and said: “Mingyu has been with this Palace Mistress for many years, she has a strong bond but she is not calm enough, this Palace Mistress wants you to keep this Changchun Palace safe till she comes back!”
The words had come to this, Wei Yingluo did not resist any longer and promised in all seriousness: “Yes.”
The next day, the phoenix sedan left the palace.
After the Empress Niangniang's departure, although everyone had heard that Niangniang had ordered Wei Yingluo to be in charge, Mingyu was not convinced and took it upon himself to delegate matters to everyone. Wei Yingluo did not want to confront Mingyu and Mingyu did know the Changchun Palace better than she did, so as long as nothing happened, she would not fight for power.
That night, Wei Yingluo was in her room, dreaming soundly, when she heard a woman's scream, she woke up with a start, the shout of the court lady, Ho Ye, came from far away: “Noble Lady is in labour, hurry, get the midwife!”
Wei Yingluo immediately got up in her clothes and hurried to the inner courtyard, where she saw the inner courtyard in chaos, she pulled her hair back and shouted in a stern voice: “What's the fuss, Hupo, go and fetch the midwife!”
Hupo looked back and went away at once.
Wei Yingluo cleared her mind and ordered: “Zhenzhu, prepare the hot water and the shears for later, ask the matron for the rest, Jadeite, tell the maid to make a pot of ginseng soup as she is told!”
The people finally calmed down with their jobs to do and went about their business.
Mingyu gritted her teeth, her face full of indignation.
The ginseng soup was ready, Wei Yingluo was carrying it into the hall, Mingyu suddenly stopped her and said with an unpleasant expression: “I will bring it in! Go to the backyard and wash your dirty clothes, don't be an eyesore here!”
Wei Yingluo was irritated but hearing Noble Lady Yu's harsh cries and the matron's urging growing louder in the hall and knowing that now was not the time to quarrel, Mingyu took the ginseng soup away and sent it to the hall.
In the side halls, Noble Lady Yu's screams rose higher and higher, the court ladies kept moving, passing the blood and water out and quickly bringing in clean hot water.
The matron was sweating profusely, encouraging: “Niangniang, try harder!”
Noble Lady Yu suddenly screamed a cry that almost pierced the eardrums, followed by the loud cries of a child and a relief to the crowd! Noble Lady fell back on the bed, her long hair was loose and asked, breathlessly: “Is it Prince or Gog?”
The two matrons looked at the baby, both saw the horror in each other's eyes.
Noble Lady Yu eagerly asked again: “Is it Prince or is it a princess!”
The emperor himself had commanded, the Empress had to be sad of course, Noble Lady Yu soon moved into the Changchun Palace to nurse her baby.
The Empress was carefully pruning the bonsai on the shelf, Wei Yingluo is practising her calligraphy, while peeking at the Empress from time to time. The Empress finally asked: “What's wrong? To say or not to say.”
Wei Yingluo deliberated for a moment but said bluntly: “The Empress Niangniang, you should not have brought Noble Lady Yu to the Changchun Palace.”
The Empress looked at her quietly and asked: “Why?”
Wei Yingluo never hid her thoughts in front of the Empress and said: “Noble Lady Yu is about to give birth, there are many worries, if she eats too much, if she eats too little, if she doesn't take care of her, outsiders will blame Niangniang instead. Niangniang.”
The Empress, slightly surprised, asked: “Yingluo, you have defended Noble Lady Yu many times, why this time, have you changed your mind?”
Wei Yingluo replies almost coldly: “Yingluo thought that, not being afraid of trouble, does not mean that she is actively causing it.”
The Empress put down the shears, walked over to Wei Yingluo and smilingly asked: “Do you think this Palace Mistress taking Noble Lady Yu to the Changchun Palace, is actively trying to be a source of trouble?”
Wei Yingluo did not deny it: “This lowly servant is ignorant, if wrong, please forgive Niangniang.” The Empress took the pen from her hand, wrote a word on it and asked: “Do you know what this word is?”
Although Wei Yingluo had learned to read and write from the Empress, she did not recognise the character written by the Empress and shook her head.
The Empress patiently taught her: “A mouth at the bottom left and a hand at the top right, this is the origin of the oracle word “Hou”. The Forbidden City is a huge building, home to countless Consorts, court ladies, the Empress is the Master of the Consorts, the umbrella of the Six Palaces to provide shelter for the women here.”
Wei Yingluo instantly understood what the Empress meant but although she did, she could not understand and frowned: “But they are all here to compete with you for the throne!”
There was an indescribable sadness and pity in the Empress's countenance, she looked at the word “Empress” on the white paper and said gently: “They are poor enough to have left their parents and relatives to have been locked up in the palace all their lives; if this Palace Mistress is also full of jealousy, the palace will be out of order; this Palace Mistress is weak, she can always give them a little warmth, when they are wronged, they will not have to cry out; Yingluo, you must always remember, this Palace Mistress is the Empress first, only then is she a woman.”
Wei Yingluo stood in a daze, she looked at the Empress and saw someone else, someone who had said to her so gently: “Yingluo, it's not easy to survive, you must do what you can, help those who can, understand? Do you understand?”
The Empress looked at the tears in Wei Yingluo's eyes and asked: “Yingluo, what's wrong with you?”
Wei Yingluo wiped away her tears and whispered: “This lowly servant has a sister, the way Niangniang spoke just now, she resembled her sister, please forgive Niangniang, you are a person of gold to this lowly servant, you are a person of gold. This lowly servant should not compare you with my sister, this lowly servant just thought, you are a good person like my sister, God will bless you.” I will protect you too.
The Empress touched Wei Yingluo's forehead lovingly and snapped: “You're crying your nose off, what a silly little girl.”
Wei Yingluo smiled apologetically.
The Empress said again: “Yingluo, this Palace Mistress is going to the Changchun Garden to accompany the Empress Dowager to pay homage to the Buddha, Erqing will go with me, after that everything in the Changchun Palace, will be entrusted to you..”
Wei Yingluo gave an “eh” and said:” The Empress Niangniang, this lowly servant cannot afford such a burden, leave it to Mingyu.”
The Empress took Wei Yingluo's hand and said: “Mingyu has been with this Palace Mistress for many years, she has a strong bond but she is not calm enough, this Palace Mistress wants you to keep this Changchun Palace safe till she comes back!”
The words had come to this, Wei Yingluo did not resist any longer and promised in all seriousness: “Yes.”
The next day, the phoenix sedan left the palace.
After the Empress Niangniang's departure, although everyone had heard that Niangniang had ordered Wei Yingluo to be in charge, Mingyu was not convinced and took it upon himself to delegate matters to everyone. Wei Yingluo did not want to confront Mingyu and Mingyu did know the Changchun Palace better than she did, so as long as nothing happened, she would not fight for power.
That night, Wei Yingluo was in her room, dreaming soundly, when she heard a woman's scream, she woke up with a start, the shout of the court lady, Ho Ye, came from far away: “Noble Lady is in labour, hurry, get the midwife!”
Wei Yingluo immediately got up in her clothes and hurried to the inner courtyard, where she saw the inner courtyard in chaos, she pulled her hair back and shouted in a stern voice: “What's the fuss, Hupo, go and fetch the midwife!”
Hupo looked back and went away at once.
Wei Yingluo cleared her mind and ordered: “Zhenzhu, prepare the hot water and the shears for later, ask the matron for the rest, Jadeite, tell the maid to make a pot of ginseng soup as she is told!”
The people finally calmed down with their jobs to do and went about their business.
Mingyu gritted her teeth, her face full of indignation.
The ginseng soup was ready, Wei Yingluo was carrying it into the hall, Mingyu suddenly stopped her and said with an unpleasant expression: “I will bring it in! Go to the backyard and wash your dirty clothes, don't be an eyesore here!”
Wei Yingluo was irritated but hearing Noble Lady Yu's harsh cries and the matron's urging growing louder in the hall and knowing that now was not the time to quarrel, Mingyu took the ginseng soup away and sent it to the hall.
In the side halls, Noble Lady Yu's screams rose higher and higher, the court ladies kept moving, passing the blood and water out and quickly bringing in clean hot water.
The matron was sweating profusely, encouraging: “Niangniang, try harder!”
Noble Lady Yu suddenly screamed a cry that almost pierced the eardrums, followed by the loud cries of a child and a relief to the crowd! Noble Lady fell back on the bed, her long hair was loose and asked, breathlessly: “Is it Prince or Gog?”
The two matrons looked at the baby, both saw the horror in each other's eyes.
Noble Lady Yu eagerly asked again: “Is it Prince or is it a princess!”
