The Commandery Princess’s gaze was deep, and her words carried a hint of probing.
Zhou Peifang opened his mouth, but the proper smile remained on his face.
“Your Highness, this garment was part of my mother’s dowry. After all, you know… I have yet to take a wife.”
“I hope… you won’t speak of her that way.”
Hearing this, the smile on the Commandery Princess’s face did not fade.
She nodded as if suddenly understanding, stepped forward, and took Zhou Peifang’s hand.
The two did not stand close together. Their distance was neither intimate nor entirely distant, yet it seemed awkward and thrilling.
“So it belonged to Zhou Lang’s mother. Then what I said earlier was improper of me…”
Zheng Shifu did not hear the Commandery Princess’s words after that.
The sunlight was warm. The bright, sunny days of the Capital City were unlike anything Jiangnan had ever seen.
Yet Zheng Shifu felt a wave of weariness.
Perhaps she was simply tired—so tired that she no longer even felt angry.
Looking at the Commandery Princess’s hand clasped with Zhou Peifang’s, all she felt was weariness.
She quietly left the courtyard and headed for the room she shared with Xiaobao.
After the Commandery Princess arrived, she and Xiaobao had moved into a side room in the side courtyard.
The side room was small and out of the way, with casually arranged, meager furnishings.
But at least they had this room—a small place to shelter in the vast Capital City.
Zheng Shifu pushed open the door and saw Xiaobao lying quietly on the bed. Sunlight spilled over the bedding, and her little pink-and-white face looked soft and plump.
She had been away all morning, yet Xiaobao had neither cried nor fussed.
When Xiaobao saw her, she waved her arms and kicked her legs with delight, her round, grape-like eyes still smiling.
Zhou Peifang was too busy and had not even had time to give her a proper name.
He could only call her Xiaobao.
Thinking of this, Zheng Shifu felt a pang in her heart. She hurried to the bedside, gathered Xiaobao into her arms, and gently coaxed her. “What a good girl, Xiaobao.”
Xiaobao nestled against Shifu’s chest. Perhaps she smelled the milk; she babbled, wanting to nurse.
Xiaobao was hungry, and Shifu had not nursed her for a long while. Now her milk was nearly overflowing, soaking even her bellyband.
She was about to lift her clothes and nurse Xiaobao, but at the thought of the young master of Prince Yu’s Residence, she paused.
Shifu squeezed her milk into the chamber pot, then went to the small kitchen and steeled herself to cook a bowl of rice porridge.
She mixed the porridge with cow’s milk, let it cool, then fed Xiaobao a little at a time with a wooden spoon.
In her arms, Xiaobao did not resist at all. She obediently swallowed the porridge.
Zheng Shifu’s eyes widened, and she looked at Xiaobao in delight. “You’re such a good girl, Xiaobao. You’ve learned to eat rice porridge at just three months old.”
As if she understood Shifu’s words, Xiaobao smiled as she ate, taking one spoonful after another.
Sunlight fell on her, revealing her pink gums.
Zheng Shifu could not help smiling too. She reached out and fed her another spoonful.
“If you learn to eat rice porridge, Mother can ask Nanny Wu to help take care of you.”
She smiled and smiled, then suddenly stopped—and began to cry.
What a cruel mother there was in this world, feeding her three-month-old daughter rice porridge.
As tears streamed down her face, she scooped up another spoonful of porridge and, with trembling hands, fed it to Xiaobao.
Shifu told herself it would be all right.
She knew Nanny Wu well. They were from the same hometown, and Nanny Wu was a good person.
Her granddaughter had just turned two, and her daughter-in-law was at home caring for the child, so Nanny Wu had come to work at the Zhou Residence.
Five taels of silver a month.
If she could pay three taels a month, she could entrust Xiaobao to Nanny Wu’s daughter-in-law.
Dusk settled in.
The main hall of the Zhou Residence’s principal house was magnificent, its lamplight flickering.
The residence gifted by the Commandery Princess was understated yet luxurious, with exquisite decorations throughout and furnishings all made for the Imperial Palace.
Silver chopsticks were neatly set out, and the jade plates gleamed.
Zhou Peifang sat upright at the redwood round table, waiting for supper with the Commandery Princess.
Zheng Shifu had always personally prepared his meals. Whether he was taking the imperial examinations or serving as an official, she had done so without fail for years.
Zhou Peifang was used to her cooking.
Even the Commandery Princess, who had tasted every delicacy in the Imperial Palace, thought highly of Zheng Shifu’s cooking.
So although they had moved out of their little house, there was now a dedicated cook in the new residence.
Even so, Zhou Peifang had instructed Shifu to keep cooking.
Three meals a day.
For him and the Commandery Princess.
For some reason, however, supper was taking an unusually long time to arrive.
“Why hasn’t supper been served yet?”
The Commandery Princess frowned, her tone carrying a trace of reproach.
The rules at the prince’s residence were strict. These days, she would return there as soon as she had finished supper, not daring to linger even for half a moment.
If she returned any later and her Royal Father asked about it, he might learn what she had been doing outside. That would be more trouble than it was worth.
By now, the Commandery Princess was growing impatient. She turned the jade bangle on her wrist and spoke nonchalantly.
“Nanny Zheng has never been one for rules. It’s only because you’re kindhearted, Zhou Lang. At the prince’s residence, a servant as unruly as her would have been dismissed long ago.”
The Commandery Princess’s words made Zhou Peifang pause.
She was still wearing the garment embroidered with begonias.
Its vivid red was brilliant as fire, adding a hint of allure to the Commandery Princess’s otherwise ordinary features.
Zhou Peifang recalled Zheng Shifu’s reddened eyes that day, and for some reason, he felt a little uneasy too.
He did not argue. He simply rose slowly.
“I’m sorry to keep you waiting, Your Highness. I’ll go to the kitchen and hurry them along.”
The Commandery Princess nodded reluctantly. “Bring Nanny Zheng here. This Princess has something to say to her.”
Zhou Peifang left the main hall and headed for the kitchen.
A lamp was lit in the small kitchen, and someone was moving about inside.
Zhou Peifang let out a slight breath of relief.
He opened the wooden kitchen door, and a wave of steam greeted him.
In the past, Zheng Shifu’s fair, delicate face would emerge from the swirling steam.
The mist would dampen her temples and blur her brows and eyes.
She would smile and call him, “Husband…”
“Lord, what may I do for you?”
A woman’s voice interrupted Zhou Peifang’s memories. He came back to himself and looked at the unfamiliar face before him, frowning slightly.
“…Where is Nanny Zheng?”
The little maid tending the fire answered honestly, “Nanny Zheng came at noon to cook a bowl of rice porridge. She hasn’t been back since.”
Zhou Peifang nodded, but for once, something felt strange in his heart.
Instead of returning to the main hall to arrange supper for the Commandery Princess, he went to look for her in the side room of the side courtyard.
His steps quickened for some inexplicable reason.
He had abruptly left the bright, lavish main hall and arrived at the cramped, dim side room.
Zhou Peifang frowned slightly, unused to it.
He pushed open the door and saw Zheng Shifu sitting beside the narrow bed, coaxing Xiaobao to sleep.
She had likely just bathed. Moisture clung to her dark hair, which fell smoothly over her shoulders.
A glimpse of her snow-white neck showed, touched with a faint pink flush.
A dim candle cast light on her face, outlining her gentle features. She looked like a merciful Guanyin statue.
Zheng Shifu looked up and saw him, then lowered her head again and gently patted Xiaobao’s back.
She did not hurry out to greet him, her face alight with joy, her plain skirt swaying.
Nor did she place the milk-scented Xiaobao in his arms, happily coaxing her to recognize her father.
Now, she did not even show any unnecessary expression.
She was quiet and distant.
Zhou Peifang stopped at the doorway. For some reason, he felt his heart tense.