Cheng Nianying had never intended to snatch someone else’s work.
If she said it was her affair, then it was hers.
She immediately withdrew her hand and followed the palace attendants aside to wash up. By the time she came back out, Commandery Prince Danshuo had already left.
She blinked. Naturally, she did not feel disappointed; she was merely somewhat at a loss, not knowing what she ought to do.
Fortunately, before long, a nanny arrived with servants from the Wuning Marquis’s Residence.
“I am Nanny Shi, and I oversee all the affairs, great and small, in your courtyard. If you need anything, simply order me to see to it.”
As she spoke, she turned slightly to one side. “The household servants you brought from the marquis’s residence may continue serving at your side as before.”
Cheng Nianying did not really understand these matters, so of course she said everything was fine.
Nanny Shi then introduced the other palace attendants, both those with major duties and those with minor ones, telling her each of their names and responsibilities.
After that, the dishes were brought out.
In the enormous room, Cheng Nianying was the only one seated. Everyone else, including the servants from the Wuning Marquis’s Residence, had to stand to one side and wait upon her.
Cheng Nianying felt somewhat uncomfortable. After hurriedly finishing her meal, she asked, “What next? Is there something else I have to do?”
Nanny Shi smiled benevolently. “Naturally, you must go and offer tea to your elders. The commandery prince is indisposed, so I will accompany the Commandery Princess in his place.”
Cheng Nianying did not mind.
If she stayed in one place with him all the time, she was afraid she might give herself away.
The central hall.
Prince Kang and Princess Kang sat high in the principal seats.
Fu Yi was their third son. The position of Heir of Prince Kang’s household could never fall to him, so he had gone out to make his own way in the world while he was still young.
And on that journey, he had been granted the title of commandery prince and received the exceptional honor of opening a residence of his own.
By rights, the new bride should have gone to Prince Kang’s Residence to offer tea.
However, their son, Commandery Prince Danshuo, had been injured while saving the Emperor. At present, he was highly regarded by the Emperor… If they did not take the initiative to visit him, it would make them appear neither benevolent nor clever as parents.
Of course, doing something was one matter.
On their faces, they still ought to show displeasure—and displeased they were.
Princess Kang set down her teacup, her expression sour. “How can parents arrive later than their daughter-in-law?”
The moment she finished speaking, Cheng Nianying was ushered through the door.
Prince Kang followed by setting down his teacup. “Isn’t she here now?”
His gaze shifted, then fixed on Cheng Nianying’s face. “A fine appearance. Not bad.”
They were Fu Yi’s parents, but they had not had any opportunity to involve themselves in Fu Yi’s marriage.
The Emperor had decided it, so it was decided.
The Wuning Marquis’s Residence had not socialized much with the aristocratic families in recent years. Prince Kang had not even known what the marquis’s daughter looked like now, and only today had he finally seen her.
Princess Kang spoke up at that moment. “For a principal wife, whether she is pretty or not is unimportant. What matters is that she be gentle and virtuous.”
As she spoke, she turned her head and asked the nanny, “How is your commandery prince’s health?”
The nanny bowed. “Replying to Your Highness, he is somewhat better.”
With only those few words, Cheng Nianying could clearly feel that they did not like her.
They even seemed intent on making her wait.
But at present, she did not have to hurry off to kill anyone, so she was in no rush.
Prince Kang spoke. “Can we see him today? His mother has been very worried about him.”
The nanny looked troubled. “The wedding yesterday exhausted him, and today he is unable to rise from bed.”
Princess Kang could not help giving Cheng Nianying a cold glance.
Cheng Nianying: ?
Prince Kang sighed. “Very well. His health comes first. He must take good care of himself. His mother and I will not disturb him, then.”
It was indeed unusual for parents to speak so courteously.
And he even referred to himself as “this prince.”
Cheng Nianying thought to herself: So the commandery prince’s father is also a prince!
How impressive!
“Come forward. Once you have offered the tea and changed how you address us, this matter will be settled,” Princess Kang urged coldly.
Only then did Cheng Nianying steadily lift a teacup from the lacquer tray held by an attendant. She first offered it to Prince Kang and, imitating the formal gesture she had seen the nannies perform earlier, curtsied and said, “I offer tea to Father.”
It felt rather strange.
She was an orphan without a father or mother, yet within two days, she had suddenly acquired a pair of parents.
When it was Princess Kang’s turn, she held the teacup in her hands but did not drink. Instead, she asked the nanny, “Will she come to the residence each day to pay her respects from now on? Has your commandery prince instructed her to do so?”
The nanny hesitated. “The commandery prince did not give such instructions.”
Princess Kang stared at Cheng Nianying. “Then she should come every day. It is only a daughter-in-law’s duty, after all. As it happens, then I will have someone to ask each day whether Huaiyan is well or unwell, so I need not remain anxious all the time.”
Cheng Nianying had heard before that many mothers-in-law loved to make things difficult for their daughters-in-law.
But did princesses also make things difficult for their daughters-in-law?
She pressed her lips together and raised her eyes, an air of naïve innocence appearing on her face. “If the commandery prince says he is well, then he is well.”
This clearly did not suit Princess Kang’s wishes. She set down the teacup in her hand with a heavy thud. “Give the gifts we brought to the Commandery Princess. The prince and I should be leaving as well.”
Before the nanny could step in to stop her, Cheng Nianying spoke first. “Your Highness, aren’t you going to drink the tea?”
Princess Kang frowned. “What did you call me?”
“Your Highness. If Your Highness does not drink the tea, how am I supposed to change how I address you?” Cheng Nianying insisted.
Princess Kang exhaled, picked up the teacup again, and took a perfunctory sip. The cold smile at the corners of her mouth was almost overflowing.
“Let’s go!” she ordered sharply.
Cheng Nianying treated the displeasure in her voice as though she had not heard it and bent her knees in a curtsy. “I respectfully see you off, Mother.”
Mm. With that, the ceremony was complete, and she had lived up to the Wuning Marquis’s Residence’s instructions.
Prince Kang and Princess Kang came quickly and left just as quickly.
The central hall fell silent in an instant. Nanny Shi looked at Cheng Nianying in astonishment. She had not been nervous in the slightest.
How could she know that, in Cheng Nianying’s eyes, every person had only one head? With a single stroke of her blade, any one of them would lose it.
How could there be any talk of fear or timidity?
The servants from the marquis’s residence, standing farther away, also widened their eyes in surprise.
How was she… how was she even steadier than the true legitimate daughter of the marquis’s household?
“What comes after this? Is there anything else I have to do?” Cheng Nianying was concerned only with that at the moment.
“Nothing.” After saying this, Nanny Shi thought for a moment. “Would the Commandery Princess like to embroider something? I can have someone set up an embroidery frame.”
Embroidery?
She did not know how!
Watching her expression, Nanny Shi asked again, “Then perhaps play the qin?”
Cheng Nianying: “…”
She did not know how to do that either! Although there was an assassin in the Earth Pavilion who used a qin as a weapon.
“Play chess? Copy calligraphy?”
Cheng Nianying’s head began to ache.
What was she going to do? Was she about to give herself away?
A thought suddenly struck her. “I’ll go see the commandery prince.”
Nanny Shi stopped short.
Cheng Nianying could not help asking, “Am I not allowed to go?”
Suppressing her strange look, Nanny Shi said, “I will send someone to ask. The commandery prince has never liked being disturbed.”
*
Inside the commandery prince’s study, Fu Yi drank the first bowl of medicine of the day.
The guard Wu Xun said anxiously, “Why did Master not return until so late last night?”
The deputy general Hou Fu then spoke up. “We do not know what the marquis’s daughter is like. We ask that Master give us instructions, so that we will know how to treat the Commandery Princess in the future.”
Fu Yi spoke unhurriedly. “She is not quite the same as what Lu Xiao investigated.”
Lu Xiao was Fu Yi’s secret guard, and he was highly skilled at gathering information.
“What does Master mean by that?” Wu Xun pressed.
Fu Yi said, “I suspect she is not the legitimate daughter of the marquis’s household.”
“What? The marquis’s daughter was unwilling, so Marquis Wuning found someone to impersonate her? How dare he!” Wu Xun said angrily.
“Knock, knock, knock—”
The door was suddenly rapped on. The guard lowered his voice, but could not conceal the strange note in it. “Master, the Commandery Princess requests an audience.”