It was another bright, sunny day.
The Capital City was unlike Jiangnan. In winter, the trees were all bare.
Zheng Shifu clutched the bundle in her hands and stepped over the threshold of the prince’s residence.
She explained her purpose to the gatekeeper, and someone soon came to receive her.
The Nanny before her wore a blue-gray robe with a cross-collar. Her black hair was slicked back meticulously and tied tightly into a bun.
She scrutinized Shi Fu’s face expressionlessly. After a brief pause, she finally spoke:
“My surname is Huang. Come with me.”
Nanny Huang led Zheng Shifu through the prince’s residence.
She walked quickly, and Shi Fu followed close behind, not daring to raise her head too high.
They crossed neat bluestone paths and passed a rockery made of Taihu stones in the garden. Ahead, the covered corridor wound like a ribbon.
The wooden lattice windows beside the corridor were intricately patterned, and rows of palace lanterns hung beneath the eaves.
A slight upward glance revealed pavilions and towers scattered in the distance, their rooftops rising and falling beneath blue glazed tiles, with mythical beasts crouched at each corner.
Everything was a sight Zheng Shifu had never seen before.
Prince Yu’s Residence was extraordinarily grand, its many courtyards stretching seemingly beyond the eye’s reach.
Even standing within the residence made one feel as though one had shrunk to a tiny speck.
Even the world seemed especially vast at that moment.
Zheng Shifu had once thought that the house the Commandery Princess had given Zhou Peifang was the finest place in the world.
But now, it seemed not even a fraction as impressive as Prince Yu’s Residence.
After crossing who knew how many thresholds, Nanny Huang finally stopped.
“This will be your quarters from now on. Jinxiu Hall, where the Master lives, is right next door.”
Zheng Shifu looked over the bedroom before her.
The room was simply furnished. At a glance, she saw a wooden bed with pale yellow curtains hanging around it.
A row of large wardrobes stood beside the bed. Farther away was a wooden table, with two sets of clothes laid on top.
The windows were bright and clean. Sunlight filtered through the thin paper windowpanes, filling the bedroom with a clean, bright glow.
This bedroom was twice the size of the side room at Zhou Residence.
“Your monthly allowance is twenty taels of silver, and you may go home for two days every half-month. But the Master has a bad temper, so you must be careful when serving him.”
Zheng Shifu pressed her lips together and nodded.
No wonder the monthly allowance was twenty taels of silver—the same as a wet nurse’s yearly pay elsewhere.
It was only natural that the work would be difficult.
Nanny Huang watched her smoky eyes shift and her rosy lips gently bite together.
Suddenly, she spoke more sternly:
“From now on, you must always remember your place in the prince’s residence. Don’t go thinking you can rise from a branch and become a phoenix.”
Zheng Shifu hurriedly nodded, sweetening her tone. “Thank you for the reminder, Nanny. It’s already a great blessing to be allowed into the prince’s residence. I only want to take good care of the young master in swaddling clothes.”
Nanny Huang paused at her words, neither agreeing nor disagreeing. She merely said, “In the presence of nobles, you must refer to yourself as this servant.”
Zheng Shifu nodded vigorously. “This servant understands.”
The Nanny by the Commandery Princess’s side had said the same thing, but Zheng Shifu no longer felt humiliated by it.
Looking at the spacious bedroom before her, she felt a faint, bubbling joy within.
It was as if the huge stone that had constantly weighed on her spine had grown a little lighter.
Even if it was for Xiaobao’s livelihood, she was determined to be a good wet nurse and stay in the prince’s residence for a long time.
Once Zheng Shifu had put away her bundle, Nanny Huang led her to the main hall beside the side room.
Jinxiu Hall.
She stepped over the threshold. Jinxiu Hall was not as lavishly decorated as Zheng Shifu had imagined; instead, it was exceptionally spacious.
Flowers and trees grew in the courtyard, lush and thick, and the sounds of animals could be heard faintly.
Shi Fu paused in surprise.
She looked toward the sound and saw a horned sheep running straight at her!
The Wu sheep was pure white from head to hoof, with gently curled horn tips. A small wooden cart was hitched behind it.
The cart was exquisitely made, and a delicate little boy sat inside.
At that moment, he was whipping the sheep with a bamboo switch, driving it wildly around.
A maid in green hurried after the Goat Cart. “Young Master, slow down! A wet nurse is coming to serve you in a moment…”
The boy raised his brows, his cheeks puffed with anger, and brought the switch down on the sheep again. “Who wants a wet nurse?”
“All those Nannies are so ugly. They come to boss me around by lamplight at night and scare me!”
Before he had even finished speaking, the sheep bolted ahead of him, heading straight for Zheng Shifu at the gate.
The Goat Cart was moving so fast that all she saw was a blur of white. Frightened, Shi Fu staggered backward several steps.
The boy suddenly spotted the woman before him and yanked the reins tight.
The sheep came to a stop just in time.
The maid in green breathed a sigh of relief.
She hurried to the boy’s side, then saw Shi Fu’s face. Her eyes lit up, and she coaxed him with a smile:
“Young Master is very particular, but this wet nurse is beautiful. She isn’t scary at all.”
Young Master?
Zheng Shifu came back to herself and stared in surprise at the boy, who looked about four or five, sitting in the Goat Cart.
The boy wore a sapphire-blue, round-collared brocade robe, with a red-gold longevity lock around his neck. His black hair was tied into two little tufts on either side of his head.
He was handsome, and now he was staring up at her with two wide, grape-like eyes.
Shi Fu estimated that he was about three years old.
But… did a child this old still need a wet nurse?
Feeling Zheng Shifu’s astonished gaze, the boy gave a cold snort and turned away.
“No! I don’t want anyone bossing me around!”
“Instead of getting another wet nurse, you should buy me more sheep. I want to raise pigs too, and keep them all in the courtyard!”
As he spoke, he struggled to direct the sheep with his bamboo switch again.
But for some reason, the sheep suddenly stopped obeying him. It stood still, unwilling to move.
Frustrated, the boy gritted his teeth in anger.
He turned to Cuicui beside him. “I don’t need a wet nurse at all! Instead of having another person boss me around, you can both get lost!”
Cuicui bit her lip at his words.
Looking troubled, she glanced up at Nanny Huang behind Zheng Shifu.
Nanny Huang shook her head. “The Young Master doesn’t like this one either. So be it.”
Nanny Huang glanced sideways at Shi Fu, thinking she was an unlucky one.
She was about to speak when Zheng Shifu suddenly stepped forward.
Shi Fu took a few light steps, her plain white skirt fluttering.
Then she slowly extended her slender, pale wrist and waved her handkerchief at the sheep, speaking just as gently:
“Come here. Come to me.”
The boy laughed and lifted his rounded little chin smugly. “My A-Man would never listen to you!”
But as soon as the words left his mouth, the sheep in front of him bleated.
Then it set its four hooves in motion, pulling the wooden cart behind it as it trotted lightly toward Shi Fu.
Clip-clop, clip-clop—the sound of the sheep’s hooves striking the bluestone slabs.
Zheng Shifu stood quietly where she was, her eyes curving into crescents and a small dimple appearing at the corner of her mouth.
She took a few more steps forward and beckoned to the sheep again. “A-Man?”
The sheep followed close behind her, then actively lowered its head and stuck out its tongue to lick Shi Fu’s palm.
“Baa~”
Pei Xuezhou, sitting in the Goat Cart, looked up in amazement, staring at Zheng Shifu in disbelief.
“How come A-Man listens to you?”