Nanny Chao hadn't closed her eyes all night. She was extremely worried and said to Nanny Fan, "The young prince has an injury, and he still asked for water twice. I can hardly bring myself to say it."Originally, Nanny Chao didn't want to report this, because if Nanny Fan knew, then Consort Dowager Wu would know too.The consort dowager was the young prince's grandmother. Ever since Prince Wu and the princess consort had passed away, Consort Dowager Wu was the young prince's only remaining relative. She currently lived in Jianye, spending her days with Prince Wei's mother, the Consort Dowager of Prince Wei.But this new princess consort, Lady Zheng, had truly gone too far. Even if she hadn't known at first that the young prince had a shoulder injury, how could she not have noticed when they shared a room? She had thought Lady Zheng would be someone who knew how to care for others, but who would have guessed she seemed more like a seductress.Nanny Fan, however, laughed and said, "Nanny Chao, you needn't concern yourself with the young prince's private affairs. They've only just been married—saying too much about such matters would only backfire."Seeing Nanny Fan speak this way, Nanny Chao thought to herself, Of course you'd want it this way. If Consort Dowager Wu could get some leverage over the new princess consort, she could send her grandniece to the young prince.This marriage of the young prince's had been arranged by Prince Wei to form an alliance with Marquis Zhaojie of Jizhou—it was a thoroughly political union. Otherwise, Consort Dowager Wu would have wanted to betroth her grandniece, Li Cheng's cousin Xun Rou, to him.Xun Rou had come to Consort Dowager Wu's side at age seven. Back when the Princess Consort of Wu was still alive, she had also wanted to betroth her niece Lady Cui to him, but after the princess consort passed away, that matter was never brought up again. If Prince Wei hadn't arranged this marriage alliance for Prince Huaiyin, the person Li Cheng would have married would likely have been Xun Rou.But Nanny Chao and those like her were different—their fortunes were almost entirely tied to the young prince, so they naturally had to be more concerned.Never mind those two—even Zheng Deyin, now in the Eastern Palace, was quite pleased with herself. The crown prince had bestowed upon her fine silks and treasures, while the crown princess had received barely anything. And today he had said he would come to her chambers, making her feel even more certain that she had made the right choice in switching.Lianzhi and Yunzhi were also delighted. Lianzhi said, "The kitchen has already sent over your ginseng soup, miss. That Xiao Luzi also said that whatever you'd like to eat, you need only tell the kitchen."Yunzhi added, "Miss, once you give birth to a grand heir, the Eastern Palace will be quite lively."Grand heir. In her previous life, her younger sister Huiyin had only become empress dowager by bearing a son. Speaking of Huiyin, she asked the servants, "Second Miss should have already married and gone to Xuzhou by now, shouldn't she?"Lianzhi nodded: "I estimate she should be arriving around now.""Miss, Prince Huaiyin had originally sought your hand in marriage—Second Miss simply picked up what you left behind," Yunzhi said hastily.Deyin smiled without speaking. She would always remember how, in her previous life, after marrying over, she had been cold-shouldered for many days before the wedding was even consummated, and she was mocked on all sides. To make matters worse, Li Cheng had returned with an injury. Nanny Chao had secretly instructed her not to consummate the marriage, lest the consort dowager find out and call her a Daji or Mo Xi, saying it would be detrimental to the young prince's recovery. Deyin had complied.During Li Cheng's convalescence, she had begun managing the prince's household, only to be framed by others. She couldn't defend herself no matter what she said and was sent to Jianye.That place was a veritable den of tigers and dragons. Li Cheng was also someone who couldn't tell right from wrong and had no feelings for her whatsoever—unlike Li Heng, who had doted on her exclusively. Let her suffer through this marriage then. No, she shouldn't think that way. Though Madam Ji had committed many evils, Huiyin herself had still done nothing wrong.Back in the bridal chamber, Li Cheng, hearing Huiyin speak this way, simply said, "Of course I regard you as my wife."Huiyin knew that she and the other party were not yet well acquainted—it would be impossible to demand vows of eternal love from him right away—but she still had to make her stance clear. Seeing that Li Cheng's response was merely a perfunctory acknowledgment, she did not press further and only smiled, saying, "Then let us retire early."The dragon-and-phoenix candles were not to be extinguished all night, and Huiyin never slept well with light shining, but having been through several disruptions that day, she was exhausted and, for once, simply turned over and fell asleep.When she woke the next morning, Li Cheng was already gone from her side. She rang the bell to summon the maids to help her wash and dress.Unexpectedly, Nanny Chao came in as well, her expression sour. Huiyin glanced at her, unsure of what the matter was, but she saw no need to ask and simply pretended not to notice. If she were to humbly inquire, she would only be putting herself at the other's mercy.Nanny Chao saw Lady Zheng's maids clustered around her, applying powder and makeup, and she still preserved some measure of respect for the princess. Only when Huiyin's toilette was nearly complete did she speak: "Young Princess, this servant has something to tell you?"Only then did Huiyin pretend to catch on, furrowing her brows. "I saw that you, Nanny, seemed to have something on your lips. Do you have words for me?""Yes, this servant wishes to tell you something of great importance." Nanny Chao deliberately stressed the words "great importance."Huiyin then took the hint and dismissed the servants before saying, "I wonder what business you have with me, Nanny? Please, have a seat."Nanny Chao smiled. "The Young Princess has come from afar. Originally, you should have completed the wedding in Jianye, where you could have met the Prince Wu's Dowager Consort and Prince Wei and other relatives. But the Young Master is stationed in Xuzhou, so it is rather a hardship for you.""Nanny, what are you saying? As the saying goes, 'Marry a rooster, follow the rooster; marry a dog, follow the dog.' The words may be crude, but the meaning is sound. Rest assured, I feel not the slightest hardship." Huiyin smiled sweetly, knowing that Nanny Chao was first being polite before turning to force.Sure enough, Nanny Chao praised her: "The Young Princess is so reasonable and sensible. We old servants by the Young Master's side are most gratified." Then her tone shifted: "It's just that the Young Master is now wounded and needs quiet recuperation. We cannot have the two of you crowded together here, can we? In that case, neither you nor the Young Master will sleep well."Nanny Chao felt her words had been quite tactful already.Huiyin, hearing this, also knitted her brows. "Yes, the Young Master's shoulder is injured. Seeing it, I cannot bear it either. Then you should go speak with the Young Master about it. Wherever he is willing to stay is fine with me—I have no objection. In fact, I already told him last night that I would sleep on the couch and let him have the bed.""Well, well—how am I supposed to say that to the Young Master?" Nanny Chao rejected the idea without a second thought.Huiyin saw it clearly—if she was so good at talking, why didn't she go tell Li Cheng herself? But Li Cheng himself wouldn't move, and she was expected to, as a wife who had only known him one night, shut her own husband out of the room.So Huiyin simply tossed the problem back to Nanny Chao. After all, if someone had to offend, let her do it—don't take her for a fool.Nanny Chao glanced at Huiyin, saw that she said nothing and offered no response, and realized herself that this was a trap. A wet nurse—just because she had fed the boy milk for a few days—was she to meddle in the private affairs between the Young Master and the Young Princess?What if the Young Master wished for husband and wife to be close?Huiyin smiled and said, "Nanny Chao, then it's settled. You go and speak with the Young Prince. By the way, in the past few days, since we hadn't yet held the grand wedding, any reward I gave would have lacked proper justification. Today, I've specially prepared a generous gift for you."Nanny Chao glanced at Huiyin—this young princess was quite formidable indeed.
Chapter 9
Rebirth of the Empress