“Enough, all of you. Stop gossiping here. Her Highness cannot be left unattended.”
Following Shen Zhaoli, Mi Ning helped her onto the rosewood carved canopy bed.
After settling Shen Zhaoli to sleep, she quietly left.
Early the next morning, Mi Ning had all the plain and dull clothes cleared out.
They were replaced with palace-style silk dresses that conformed to the regulations for princess attire.
She carefully groomed and dressed Shen Zhaoli.
A meal had already been laid out in the side hall of Qinghuan Hall.
Shen Zhaoli noticed a familiar pastry on the dining table—one that shouldn’t have appeared in the Princess’s Mansion. A faint smile flickered in her eyes.
“Yutangchun’s pastries are hard to come by. It’s thoughtful of you to remember that I wanted to eat them.”
Mi Ning glanced at Xiangxue, who was in charge of the meals. “To get Yutangchun’s pastries at this hour, you’d have to queue up since the fourth watch. You lazy girl, you’ve actually been diligent for once today.”
Xiangxue looked puzzled. “I didn’t buy these pastries. They were already on the table when I set the meal. I thought you had specially bought them for Her Highness.”
The few people in Qinghuan Hall exchanged bewildered glances.
Mi Ning frowned and quickly removed the pastry box.
“Who knows where this came from? How dare you place it on Her Highness’s dining table! If someone intends to harm Her Highness, even ten of our heads wouldn’t be enough to atone!”
As she spoke, Mi Ning was about to have the box of pastries disposed of.
Yun Yao, who had hurried over, quickly shielded the box. “Don’t! This was sent by the Prime Minister.”
Mi Ning frowned deeply, her tone stern. “Nonsense! The Prime Minister is still at the morning court. When did he send pastries?”
Yun Yao smiled and placed the pastries back in front of Shen Zhaoli.
“It’s true, Your Highness. Before dawn today, the gatekeeper sent word.”
“He said someone was lingering outside the Princess’s Mansion, likely with ill intentions. Upon approaching, he realized it was the Prime Minister, holding a box of Yutangchun pastries.”
“When the Prime Minister saw the gatekeeper, he handed over the box without a word, turned around, boarded his carriage, and hurried off to the morning court.”
“The gatekeeper thought about it and concluded that the pastries could only be for Your Highness, so he had them brought in.”
Yun Yao observed Shen Zhaoli’s expression and chuckled softly. “It seems the Prime Minister is too reserved to apologize in person, so he resorted to this roundabout method.”
“Would Your Highness like to try one?”
Yun Yao picked up a silver pair of chopsticks and served a piece to Shen Zhaoli.
Mi Ning’s brow twitched, and she glared angrily at Yun Yao.
“Since when have the rules of the Princess’s Mansion become so lax?!”
“Without inspection or proper notification, you dare to present something from outside directly to Her Highness.”
“Who taught you to act this way?!”
Yun Yao was momentarily taken aback, her expression somewhat perplexed.
“Sister Mingning, aren’t you overreacting? In the past, items sent by the Prime Minister were always delivered directly to Her Highness without such hassle.”
Shen Zhaoli’s gaze fell on the silver plate.
The pale yellow pastry looked soft and glutinous, with delicate patterns carved on its surface. A sweet fragrance wafted into her nostrils.
Even after so many hours, it still faintly emitted warmth.
Clearly, great effort had been made to deliver it.
But Shen Zhaoli only frowned slightly. While she loved all of Yutangchun’s pastries,
this sweet and soft chestnut cake was the only one that gave her hives.
Two years ago, during a grand palace banquet, her elder brother had specially invited Yutangchun’s pastry chef to the palace.
After eating the chestnut cake, she had broken out in small rashes all over her body and suffered from a fever for three days.
The incident became known throughout the entire palace.
At that time, Xie Yuheng was also present.
Yet he had specifically bought chestnut cakes.
Shen Zhaoli couldn’t help but laugh.
Should she be pleased that Xie Yuheng was willing to go through the trouble to coax her, or should she feel chilled that he had neglected her to such an extent?
Yun Yao was somewhat confused, but the tense atmosphere in the hall still made her tremble.
Mi Ning, with a cold expression, ordered someone to remove the chestnut cakes.
“Her Highness breaks out in hives if she eats chestnut cakes!”
“Yun Yao, as Her Highness’s personal maid, you are ignorant of Her Highness’s preferences, unaware of the mansion’s rules, and presumptuous in guessing your superior’s intentions!”
“What punishment do you deserve?”
Yun Yao’s eyes widened in disbelief—she was wronged!
She had only been promoted to serve as the princess’s personal maid last year and was not responsible for meals, so how could she have known about this?
She had only thought that Her Highness would be pleased to know that Prime Minister Xie had sent pastries early in the morning.
Who would have thought that Prime Minister Xie, after years of interacting with Her Highness, would not know that she couldn’t eat chestnut cakes?
Though wronged, Yun Yao dared not say more and quickly knelt to receive her reprimand.
“This servant deserves death! Please forgive me, Your Highness!”
Shen Zhaoli’s gaze swept faintly over everyone in the hall.
“If not for today’s incident, I would not have known when this Princess’s Mansion came to be governed by Xie Yuheng.”
Though her tone was calm, the authority of one in a superior position remained imposing.
All the servants in the room trembled and immediately knelt to beg for forgiveness.
In the few seconds of stifling silence, Shen Zhaoli sighed.
Over the years, Xie Yuheng had gained too many privileges in her presence.
So much so that the servants of the Princess’s Mansion dared to disregard the mansion’s rules for Xie Yuheng’s sake.
“Mi Ning, convey my order to reorganize the Princess’s Mansion. Do not allow any random people or things to enter.”
Shen Zhaoli’s command spread throughout the entire Princess’s Mansion in no time.
…
In the Princess’s Mansion, at Donglan Pavilion.
The exquisite pavilion was filled with items once used by Xie Yuheng.
From large old bookshelves to small broken brushes.
Even more numerous were the portraits Shen Zhaoli had painted of Xie Yuheng.
Walking, sitting, reclining; scenes of the four seasons; moments of leisure and laziness; expressions of cold severity.
Densely packed, they almost covered every wall of Donglan Pavilion.
At this moment, servants were moving the items out of the room one by one.
Seeing the maids taking down the paintings one after another, Mi Ning felt a pang of heartache.
“Your Highness, you put so much effort into painting these. Must they really be burned?”
Xiangxue and Ziyan also felt it was a pity.
“Your Highness, if you no longer want items related to Prime Minister Xie, you can simply discard them. But these paintings are your own hard work—why burn them?”
“That’s right, Your Highness. If you find them bothersome to look at, you could also give them to others.”
Facing three pairs of earnest eyes, Shen Zhaoli was momentarily taken aback, finding their reasoning somewhat sound.
Why should she destroy her own hard work because of Xie Yuheng?
Yet, looking at the scrolls piled high on the table, Shen Zhaoli still felt a headache coming on.
Mi Ning, sensing Shen Zhaoli’s thoughts, stepped forward and sorted through the scrolls, smiling.
“The people of Yujing often say that Prime Minister Xie is upright in character, clear and honest as an official, and as elegant as an orchid or jade tree. They wish they could hang a portrait of him in their homes.”
“Why not have someone set up a stall with these paintings? It would fulfill the people’s wish.”
A flicker of amusement passed through Shen Zhaoli’s eyes.
If Xie Yuheng knew his portraits were being sold,
given his proud and aloof nature, who knew how furious he would be.
But what did that have to do with her?
“That’s fine too. The silver from the sale can be sent to the Ciyouju to provide more food for those poor children.”
Mi Ning looked at Shen Zhaoli with even greater admiration.
“Your Highness cares deeply for the people—truly a blessing for Dajing.”
Piles of scrolls and objects were carried out, leaving the room gradually emptier.
Shen Zhaoli watched, her emotions somewhat complicated.
Everything in this room had been accumulated by her, piece by piece.
It held all her memories of Xie Yuheng.
Now, it was all cleared away.