jdhmnovel Chapter 269 The Princess Has a Bad Temper (7)
Chapter 269 The Princess Has a Bad Temper (7)
Wangyou didn't pay special attention to Ziwei and Xiaoyanzi either. After all, she was more concerned about the development of the world than the romance between the male and female protagonists.
Kunning Palace.
The Empress received the task of assigning a governess to Ziwei and Xiaoyanzi. After thinking for a moment, she decided to send Rong Momo over to teach them manners. She didn't expect them to be perfect in manners, but at least they should be presentable in important occasions.
Most importantly, it's crucial to clearly define who you can and cannot mess with. If you provoke Wangyou, you might accidentally get beaten to death. After all, she knows her daughter's temper very well, and such incidents have happened before.
Although that person was an assassin.
Inside Shufangzhai.
Xiao Yanzi and Ziwei exchanged information about what was happening inside and outside the palace.
When Ziwei learned that Xiaoyanzi had been seriously injured and was on the verge of death, and had been saved with great difficulty, she was heartbroken and burst into tears. Xiaoyanzi was also moved to tears when she learned that everyone in the tenement was looking for her.
“Ziwei, there are rules everywhere in the palace. This is not a place for me, Xiaoyanzi, to stay.”
"Little Swallow, I'm sorry, it's all my fault for being so talkative. I was thinking that Father Emperor would give you some gold and silver as a reward, so you wouldn't have to work so hard performing when you go back."
"Ah, I think I, Little Swallow, am the one who's really lucky. I never dreamed I could become a princess."
"Little Swallow, besides your injury, have you encountered anything else this past month?"
"I've been recuperating at Consort Ling's place. Consort Ling is a very kind person, but I always feel awkward about it," Xiao Yanzi said honestly. "However, Fifth Prince, Benjamin, Erkang, and Ertai are all very nice. They come to see me often."
Is it really that good?
“I was shot by the Fifth Prince. Out of guilt, he gave me a lot of compensation. Erkang and Ertai are good friends with the Fifth Prince. Oh, and there’s that foreigner too, so they often come to see me together. But when the four of them come, Consort Ling treats me even better.”
Listening to Xiao Yanzi's rambling account of her experiences over the past month, Ziwei felt a sense of unease, but she couldn't pinpoint what it was, so she decided to put it aside for now and wait and see.
The next day, the Empress sent Rong Momo with gifts and confirmed the matter of teaching the two children manners and etiquette.
Under the influence of Wangyou, the current empress doesn't value Qianlong as much. She wouldn't even bat an eye if she adopted ten or eight empresses, let alone two adopted daughters. Therefore, Rong Momo doesn't have any special hostility towards these two.
"This servant greets Princess Huanzhu and Princess Mingzhu. May both of you be blessed. From now on, this servant will be responsible for teaching you both etiquette," said Rong Mama in a serious and methodical manner.
"Thank you for your trouble, Granny," Ziwei said somewhat nervously.
"This servant will first explain the relationships within the palace to the two princesses today, so that they will not be unaware of them when they go out."
"There are three most important masters in this palace: the Emperor, the Empress Dowager, and the Empress. You have already met the Emperor and the Empress, so I won't say any more."
The Empress Dowager and the Fifth Princess are still praying at Mount Wutai and have not yet returned. Once they return, she will naturally summon the two princesses to an audience.
Besides the Emperor, the Empress Dowager, and the Empress, there are the concubines from all the palaces. You have already met Consort Ling. You will know the other concubines when you meet them in the future.
There is another master in this palace whom you must not offend, and that is the Sixth Princess, the princess you met on the day of your family reunion. She and the Fifth Princess are twins. After their third-day celebration, the two princesses were granted the title of First-Rank Princess. You will be required to pay your respects to the princess in the future.”
"But we are all Father Emperor's daughters, why should we bow to her?" Little Swallow asked, puzzled.
"This is a matter of rank. Because the Fifth Princess and the Sixth Princess are legitimate daughters, only those born to the Empress can become Princess Gulun. Moreover, the Fifth Princess and the Sixth Princess are the only two princesses in the royal family who have titles before marriage."
"Not to mention you, even the princes have to bow to you when they see you," said Granny Rong sternly.
Next, Rong Momo explained to the two of them in detail the palace's hierarchical system and the status of the Eight Banners.
She successfully made the two women realize how much of their title of princess was fabricated. In addition, Rong Momo also talked about how many women the emperor would visit each time he went to the south of the Yangtze River, and how many officials would send women to the emperor. Among them were women who gave birth to children, but none of those women had a good ending.
This made Ziwei feel uneasy. She understood that Rong Momo was giving her a warning. It was already difficult for her to be recognized by her relatives. After all, she had died without even knowing that her father was the emperor. It was already good that the emperor recognized her identity.
"Then why can't we mess with the Sixth Princess? She's as beautiful as a fairy, but is she really that bad-tempered?" Little Swallow was clearly not thinking that much about it, or maybe she wasn't really listening.
"The Sixth Princess has a very good temper, but you can't cross her bottom line. Also, she doesn't like people getting too close to her. You two princesses just need to remember that. If you get too close to the Sixth Princess, you might end up with missing limbs." Rong Mama emphasized the mishap.
The two nodded obediently. Seeing that they had indeed remembered, Rong Mama began to tell them about the bondservants under the Eight Banners.
Ziwei was surprised to learn that Fu Erkang and Fu Ertai were born into bondservant families, which meant they were servants of the royal family. Consort Ling was also born into a bondservant family, which amazed both of them.
From Rong Momo's explanation, the two also learned that there had never been a royal princess who married a bondservant. If such a marriage did occur, the emperor would bestow a favor upon the bondservant family and elevate them to the Eight Banners, transforming them from bondservant to official members of the Eight Banners.
From the two men, Rong Momo learned that the Fifth Prince often brought that foreigner and the Fu brothers to see Xiao Yanzi. She also emphasized the serious matter of the separation of men and women, stating that men from outside the palace were not allowed to enter.
After Rong Momo finished explaining the matter to Ziwei and Xiaoyanzi, she also made a mental note of it. When she returned, she reported it to the Empress. The Empress then reorganized the harem and gave Consort Ling a serious warning.
……
"It's raining!" On the day of the Autumn Equinox, the rain was exceptionally heavy, but Yongji still came to find Wangyou despite the wind and rain.
Why did you come all this way in such heavy rain?
"Sister, look at these new characters I've practiced. Have you improved?" Yongji said, his face full of praise.
Wangyou glanced at Yongji's large characters, and instead of just going through the motions, she looked at them carefully and circled the well-written characters in red.
"Sister, you circled five more words today than yesterday."
"Yes, Yongji's handwriting is getting better and better."
"Then, sister, I'll go practice some more."
"No rush. It's raining today, perfect for sword dancing. Let me teach you a set of sword techniques!"
"Great! Great!" Yongji clapped his hands with joy upon hearing that he could learn a new sword technique.
"Chaoyang Palace is too small. Let's go to the martial arts training ground. It's a large place, and it's probably less crowded today because of the rain, making it more suitable for practicing swordsmanship."
"Sister, won't you catch a cold?"
"Just take an umbrella. Today we'll see how Sister cuts off the rain." Wangyou smiled, but her words only made Yongji more eager to see what would happen.