growing up

Since Cui Sugong ascended the throne, the ministers, disapproving of Shen Meiwu's behavior, sent many girls into the palace to compete for favor. There were girls of all shapes and sizes, but without exception, all of them were defeated by Shen Meiwu. Only Empress Fu Yunjin could still receive Cui Sugong's favor on the first and fifteenth of each month.

Now that Fu Yunjin has passed away, given Cui Sugong's obsession with Shen Meiwu, he probably won't appoint a second empress. In other words, the ministers' only option is Cui Shenzhi. Of course, they don't want him to become like Cui Sugong, someone who doesn't care about the people and only seeks pleasure.

Cui Sugong and Shen Meiwu had no objection to this. In any case, they would be the ultimate beneficiaries, and they were happy to be left alone if they were not allowed to interfere.

The ministers discussed this for a whole year, and only when Cui Shenzhi reached the age to enter the Imperial Study did they reluctantly decide on a tutor for him.

He had deep ties with the royal family; his grandfather had even taught the late emperor Huang Yuandao, a great scholar.

In this situation, the Huang family could have remained firmly in power. However, when Cui Sugong ascended the throne, he wanted to make Shen Meiwu the empress. Huang Yuandao's father pointed at Cui Sugong's nose and cursed him as a ruler who would bring about the downfall of the country. Later, he even led all the Huang family members to resign and leave, which forced Cui Sugong to step down.

Choi Suk-gong was somewhat displeased upon hearing this news, as he still vividly remembered what had happened back then.

He was the emperor! He only wanted to establish an empress according to his own wishes, but the Huang family got so angry that they made such a scene, to the point that even the emperor had to bow his head and back down.

Shen Meiwu was quite satisfied.

Even if a child raised by such an upright and honest family doesn't become a genius, he won't be bad; at the very least, he'll be a gentleman whose words and deeds are consistent. In other words, her Lingxian doesn't have to live in fear like her, constantly on guard against every woman who appears around her husband.

So she reached out and gently smoothed Cui Sugong's furrowed brows, and said softly, "Cui Lang, although the Huang family doesn't like me, their willingness to come back and teach Shenzhi is a good thing for you."

"Lord Huang was the imperial tutor who taught the late emperor. He also taught you when you were young. But because of me, you argued with Lord Huang and even to the point that he resigned and left with his family. As a result, there has been a lot of criticism of you in the court and among the people."

"Now it's all good. Although they are not willing to return to the court to assist you for the time being, the fact that the great scholar Huang is willing to teach Prince Shenzhi shows that their attitude is softening. Presumably, they will completely let go of it in a few years. Then who will say anything about you?"

"Moreover, although the Huang family has not been in the court for many years, I heard that they have opened a private school that accepts all students regardless of their background, age, gender, or gender. Over the years, they have produced countless students. With such a family returning, those who are hiding in the shadows will not dare to make any rash moves."

Cui Sugong thought about it and agreed, then casually pulled Shen Meiwu into his arms.

"But this will make things difficult for you. I was planning to make you empress in two years, but the Huang family has returned, so it's not a good time to bring this up again."

“Cui Lang, although I can’t be your wife in name and in fact, as long as you have me in your heart, I will never feel wronged.”

Looking into Shen Meiwu's affectionate eyes, Cui Sugong was deeply moved. He then ordered the Imperial Household Department to send a lot of things to Chengqian Palace and also improved the treatment of Shen Meiwu and Cui Lingxian.

*****

After Choi Shin-ji's husband was settled, Shen Meiwu began the next step.

Using the excuse of wanting to take the children to learn about her meeting, getting to know each other, and falling in love with Choi Suk-gong, she would take Choi Shin-ji and Choi Ling-seon out of the palace every day off. In reality, she was instilling certain things in Choi Shin-ji behind Choi Suk-gong's back.

There were some things that Cui Sugong didn't like to hear and wouldn't agree with.

For example, a man should be chaste and virtuous, and should not have too much involvement with other women, whether before or after marriage; once a man is married, he should stay with his wife for life; and a man should always obey his wife, since the pain of childbirth can be fatal.

When Shen Meiwu said these words, she didn't use her own name, but rather, seemingly unintentionally, she mentioned Fu Yunjin and used Fu Yunjin's words to say them.

In Cui Shenzhi's heart, Fu Yunjin died because of him, and she was the mother he owed so much to. Therefore, he kept Shen Meiwu's words in his heart.

Because of Cui Sugong's previous deceptive words, Cui Shenzhi was worried that mentioning Fu Yunjin would hurt Cui Sugong, so he never told Cui Sugong these things. Cui Sugong didn't know what Shen Meiwu had done and just thought she wanted to improve the relationship between the two children.

Surprisingly, besides what Shen Meiwu had instilled in him, Cui Shenzhi saw something else.

*****

Perhaps because of his biological parents, Cui Shenzhi saw something outside the palace that neither Shen Meiwu nor Cui Sugong had seen.

He witnessed the suffering of the people and the hardships they endured.

He saw that "those adorned in silk robes are not the silkworm raisers"; he saw that "the earth in front of the door is all used up, and there is not a single tile on the roof"; he saw that "behind the red gates, meat and wine go to waste, while on the road, there are frozen corpses"

This inevitably reminded him of Huang Yuandao's teachings.

"Your Highness, you are a member of the royal family, supported by the people. It is your duty to speak out for the people and seek their well-being. Regardless of whether you will ascend the throne in the future, you cannot become like the Emperor, who sits high in the court but is unwilling to bow his head and listen to the cries of the people."

So after Cui Sugong allowed him to leave the palace alone, without having to be accompanied by Shen Meiwu, the first thing he did was to take all the savings he had accumulated over the years with him and use them to provide porridge and clothing to the people in the slums. He also invited craftsmen to teach them skills that they could rely on for survival. In this way, he also met Lu Fengping, who had come to provide free medical care with his elders.

Shen Meiwu was somewhat surprised by Cui Shenzhi's behavior but didn't pay much attention to it until she heard that Cui Shenzhi had met a very compatible confidant outside the palace, at which point she began to take notice.

— Shen Meiwu and Cui Sugong met when Cui Sugong was traveling incognito.

This inevitably made Shen Meiwu somewhat worried. If Cui Shenzhi's "close friend" was a noble lady from some family, wouldn't everything she did for Ling Xian have become a wedding dress for someone else?

Shen Meiwu immediately sent people to investigate, and only breathed a sigh of relief after learning that the other party was Lu Fengping, the son of the head of the Imperial Medical Academy.

But once is never enough. Choi Shin-ji visits the slums every month, so his chances of meeting people are numerous. This time he met a rich young man, but what about next time? And the time after that? It's impossible for it to be a rich young man every time, right?

However, there was no justifiable reason to keep Cui Shenzhi locked up in the palace and prevent him from going out. So, not long after, when Cui Shenzhi went out of the palace to the slums again, he was followed by a tail – Cui Lingxian.

Cui Lingxian is the only daughter of Shen Meiwu and Cui Sugong. The two of them are afraid that Cui Lingxian will encounter any trouble, so they dote on her in every way, which has fostered her simple and kind nature. So after seeing the pitiful appearance of the people in the slums, her little savings, like Cui Shenzhi's, quickly became empty. Not only that, she also began to find ways to ask Cui Sugong and Shen Meiwu for money to help the poor.

This made Shen Meiwu somewhat dissatisfied.

She is willing to promote those who, like her, came from the slums, but she despises those who stay in the slums to live a life of idleness and complacency. Even though she now enjoys wealth and luxury, she is unwilling to give them even the slightest bit of charity.

But seeing Cui Lingxian's pitiful appearance, she couldn't bring herself to be cruel. She could only pretend to be deaf and dumb, just giving Cui Lingxian money and not caring what Cui Lingxian did with it.

And so, under everyone's watchful eyes, Cui Shenzhi grew into a refined and elegant gentleman with a heart for the world. As a prince, he cared more about the people than the emperor Cui Sugong. So much so that it was said among the people that if you had a grievance, beating the Dengwen Drum might not be effective, but going to the vicinity of the slums would definitely bring you justice.

Cui Shenzhi lived up to expectations. Although he was still a prince who had not yet participated in court affairs, he would respond without hesitation to anyone who complained about their grievances. He would do his best to investigate the truth and give the other party justice.

*****

Upon hearing the news that Fu Yunjin had died from postpartum hemorrhage after giving birth to Prince Cui Shenzhi, Qingya was lost in confusion while holding Ping'an in her arms.

How could this be? Didn't Fu Yunjin say that with the Fu family backing her up, nothing would happen? And where did Cui Shenzhi come from? Fu Yunjin clearly only gave birth to one daughter, Ping An!

After much deliberation, Qingya decided to send a message to the Fu family outside the palace, asking them to take Ping An away. After all, the only people who could kill Fu Yunjin in the palace and create a child to impersonate Fu Yunjin's child were Cui Sugong and Shen Meiwu. She was just a maid, and under these circumstances, she couldn't protect Ping An.

But the Fu family's answer was:

"The person with the blood of the Fu family is the eldest prince, Cui Shenzhi, not some bastard who appeared out of nowhere."

Qingya couldn't believe it and wanted to continue sending messages to the Fu family outside the palace, but the palace servant who was supposed to deliver the message ignored her and turned away as if she didn't exist.

It took Qingya quite a while to realize what the Fu family meant.

The Fu family didn't distrust her, nor did they doubt Ping An's bloodline; the Fu family simply didn't want a princess who couldn't inherit the throne.

The Fu family does not wish for peace.

The Fu family would rather have Cui Shenzhi, who is only nominally related to the Fu family, than Ping An, who is Fu Yunjin's biological son and carries the Fu family bloodline.

After reaching this conclusion, Qingya couldn't help but cry for the deceased Fu Yunjin. Ping An in her arms also seemed to know something and started to cry. Qingya could only hold back her tears and carefully comfort her.

After Ping An stopped crying, Qing Ya calmed down a lot and finally had the energy to think about what to do next.

Is there any place in the palace that Cui Sugong and Shen Meiwu wouldn't investigate, a place where she could secretly raise Ping An?

Qingya thought of the Cold Palace.

There were too many deposed concubines in the Cold Palace who had been driven mad by Shen Meiwu's persecution. No one knew what they would say in their madness, so Shen Meiwu never let Cui Sugong pay attention to that place. She also arranged for Guo Shu, a eunuch who also came from the slums, to keep an eye on them, just to prevent the 'troublemakers' in the Cold Palace from escaping.

In other words, as long as she can bring Ping An into the Cold Palace and 'give birth' to Ping An there, Ping An will be under Shen Meiwu's protection and will not attract Shen Meiwu's attention.

—It’s no small matter that someone in the Cold Palace had an affair and had a child. Guo Shu wouldn’t tell Shen Meiwu about this. After all, if he didn’t notice someone doing such a thing in the Cold Palace today, what if he accidentally released a few people from the Cold Palace tomorrow?

After coaxing Ping An to sleep, Qingya stuffed her ears and mouth with cloth, carefully wrapped her in a bundle, held her in her arms, and walked towards the Cold Palace.