“Is Xiaobao asleep?”
Zhou Peifang slowly entered the room and walked over to Zheng Shifu, intending to take the child from her.
Zheng Shifu gave a soft hum, still gazing down at Xiaobao, without moving her hands.
Zhou Peifang reached out and grasped nothing. His hands hung suspended in the air.
Without the familiar warmth and milky scent, his arms felt empty.
Zhou Peifang knew Zheng Shifu was angry because the Commandery Princess had worn her clothes that day.
That was why she was deliberately being petty.
But no matter how much she treasured it, it was only an old garment of little value.
Why make things so difficult for him?
He had never realized before that she could be so unreasonable.
Zhou Peifang frowned as he looked at her, his voice turning somewhat stern.
“Your clothes are worth only three or four taels of silver. The Commandery Princess didn’t care for them, and she didn’t wear them on purpose to spite you.”
At his words, Zheng Shifu paused slightly, then slowly closed her eyes.
Three or four taels of silver.
In the past, weren’t her hairpins and bracelets and everything else worth three or four taels when sold?
Three or four taels of silver had become the money he and Zhou Runqing needed for a month of studies.
She had sold off all her jewelry. Now, all she had left was this garment.
But in his eyes, it was nothing more than an old garment.
Like her, the garment had become insubstantial, no longer worthy of his regard.
“The Commandery Princess may not care, but I do.”
Zheng Shifu lifted her eyes and told him, word by word.
The dim candlelight shone into her luminous almond-shaped eyes, veiled in mist, like the drizzling rain over Jiangnan.
Zhou Peifang’s Adam’s apple suddenly bobbed.
He rubbed his brow and explained, suppressing his temper:
“If you’re making a fuss over the clothes, I’ll have someone buy you a new set tomorrow.”
“But the Commandery Princess is waiting in the main hall to eat. Stop making a scene and go serve at the table.”
Zheng Shifu looked into Zhou Peifang’s eyes.
The golden candlelight reflected in them, making the impatience in his gaze all the more apparent.
A wave of bitterness suddenly welled up in her chest, and it felt as if a large hand were squeezing her heart.
Shi Fu gave a soft laugh. “The Commandery Princess has so many people to serve her. Does she really need me too?”
“You’d go to all this trouble just to make your wife serve her like a slave?”
At her words, Zhou Peifang’s brow furrowed, his expression growing even more severe.
His voice rose a little. “Fu-niang, can’t you be a little more reasonable? The Commandery Princess holds the Zhou family’s future in her hands. You made her angry, and now you’re being asked to serve her for a little while. Is that really so difficult?”
His sudden shout woke Xiaobao from her sleep.
When Xiaobao saw the almost unfamiliar man before her, she suddenly began to cry.
Her piercing cries echoed in her ears as Zheng Shifu stared blankly at him.
The man standing before her wore a scowl and a cold expression. It was as if she had never truly known him.
Zhou Peifang had repeatedly claimed that he had no wife or daughter now, so the Commandery Princess didn’t know about them.
The Commandery Princess had gifted him a residence, promised to accept Runqing as her adopted son, and often came to Zhou Residence to dine with him.
As women, they both knew how difficult it was to survive in this world.
She could not bear to see another woman suffer.
So she had let the Commandery Princess be deceived by him.
Thinking of this, Zheng Shifu came back to herself and hurried to soothe Xiaobao, crying in the crook of her arm.
Her eyes lowered, she slowly formed a smile. “All right. I’ll get ready and go.”
Seeing that she had softened, Zhou Peifang finally breathed a sigh of relief.
The anxiety that had been weighing on him finally eased.
“Hurry. I’ll be waiting for you in the main hall.”
After saying this, he strode away.
Zhou Peifang returned to the main hall and ordered the cook in the courtyard to serve the Commandery Princess.
It was just growing dark, and a maid was quietly arranging dishes on the table.
The jade plates clinked sharply as Zhou Peifang watched the Commandery Princess’s displeased expression.
For some reason, the wait was making him feel increasingly restless.
Only when Zheng Shifu’s graceful figure lifted the beaded curtain and entered the main hall— did he finally breathe a sigh of relief.
When the Commandery Princess at the table saw Zheng Shifu, a rare smile appeared on her face.
She waved her bright red, nail-tinted hand and beckoned Shi Fu over.
“Come, Nanny Zheng. From now on, stay by my side and serve me.”
Zhou Peifang paused and looked toward Zheng Shifu.
Zheng Shifu, standing in the doorway, paused slightly, then walked to the table with an unchanged expression.
She curtsied and said neither humbly nor arrogantly:
“Your Highness, I don’t wish to be your personal maid.”
“And from today onward, I won’t be preparing the Zhou family’s three meals a day, either.”
The Commandery Princess’s hand holding the jade chopsticks paused slightly. Her expression changed as she looked at Zheng Shifu.
The Commandery Princess rarely darkened her expression. Now she raised her eyelids to look at her, and the air was thick with the threat of a coming storm.
Zhou Peifang’s expression changed, and he was just about to speak.
But then he heard Zheng Shifu’s voice, soft yet resolute:
“I came today because there’s something I want to say to the Commandery Princess.”
The Commandery Princess slowly lifted her chin, then actually smiled.
“This Princess also has something to say to Nanny Zheng today.”
Hearing this, Zheng Shifu was just beginning to feel puzzled. when the Commandery Princess lazily picked up a crystal dumpling from the white porcelain plate and took a bite, cutting it in half.
Then she frowned, apparently finding it unappetizing, and tossed the remaining half back into the porcelain bowl.
It landed with a clunk, making everyone’s eyelids twitch.
The Commandery Princess sneered, then fixed her gaze on Shi Fu’s small face, with its red lips and white teeth.
“Nanny Zheng is quite lovely, actually. What a pity she was widowed at such a young age. If you don’t want to be a maid at my side and serve me dishes, that’s easy enough to settle.”
“I can arrange for you to marry a prince’s manor stable hand another day. It would be a fine match.”
“The stable hand is honest and can help support the household. Then, when your Xiaobao grows up, she can enter the prince’s residence as a cleaning maid…”
She paused slightly, then spoke with greater emphasis.
“You wouldn’t have to rush around doing this and that, and you could even forget your own duty of cooking!”
The Commandery Princess’s voice rang out, each word clear and sharp.
Shi Fu’s breathing grew slow and heavy.
Zhou Peifang frowned slightly and was about to speak.
But then he heard Zheng Shifu say, “Xiaobao has had a hard life, but with me here, I won’t let her become a maid.”
Shi Fu was mild-tempered and rarely argued, but this time she had finally talked back.
She stood stubbornly in place, showing no intention of yielding an inch.
The Commandery Princess had evidently not expected Zheng Shifu to talk back.
She drew a deep breath and frowned slightly. “But a servant’s daughter can only be a servant.”
She turned a puzzled gaze toward Zhou Peifang.
“Peifang, why is Nanny Zheng so angry…? Did I say something wrong?”
She gave a soft laugh and spoke unhurriedly. “Could it be that she wants her daughter to become a Commandery Princess too?”
Zhou Peifang’s Adam’s apple bobbed.
He said nothing.
Zheng Shifu watched him in silence, watching his reaction, and felt only how absurd it all was.
Her heart was cold, with nothing left but the lifeless stillness of a deep pool.
It wasn’t for herself. It was for Xiaobao.
For Xiaobao having such a father.
Her father had placed first in the imperial examination and entered the court as an official; her elder brother was the Commandery Princess’s adopted son and the top candidate in the provincial examination.
Their prospects were boundless.
But what about Xiaobao?
She lived in a cramped, secluded side room and was to be sent off as a cleaning maid in the prince’s residence.
How absurd that such a thing could happen in this world!
Zheng Shifu slowly raised her eyes and spoke each word with great force. “Were all eighteen generations of the Commandery Princess’s ancestors Commandery Princesses?”
As her words fell, the main hall instantly fell silent.