With a smile, Zhu Xiong Ying asked, "Is there anyone else in the family?"

Wang Chengen answered cautiously, "I have a younger brother at home. My family was poor when I was young, so they sent me to the palace."

Just as Zhu Xiong Ying was still asking questions, an acquaintance appeared.

"Yu'er!" Zhu Xiong Ying exclaimed excitedly, overjoyed. "Yu'er!"

Yu'er, Empress Ma's personal maid, was also very excited at this moment. Holding back her tears, Yu'er choked out, "Your Highness, this servant will be leaving the palace in a few days."

Zhu Xiong Ying was taken aback, then smiled and said, "That's true. If the Empress Dowager were here, she would have let you leave the palace. The Empress Dowager is kind and gentle, and she's just afraid that it would delay your marriage."

Yu'er immediately burst into tears. As the Empress's personal maid, she knew better than anyone the Empress's kindness.

"Yu'er, are you engaged?" Zhu Xiong Ying laughed, then immediately added, "These past years, I've been so grateful for Sister Yu'er's care..."

Yu'er immediately knelt down, "This servant wouldn't dare."

“Sister Yu’er watched me grow up, so it should be the same for her.” Zhu Xiong Ying thought for a moment and said, “I can’t get you an official title now, and I don’t have any female relatives around me. Over the years, I’ve accumulated some good things.”

After saying this, Zhu Xiong Ying called out loudly, "Xi'er, Xi'er!"

Zhu Xi ran out and asked, "Royal brother?"

"Choose a few pieces of the jewelry I asked you to keep safe and give them to Sister Yu'er," Zhu Xiong Ying said to Zhu Xi with a smile. "Don't be stingy, okay?"

Zhu Xi pouted and said, "Royal brother, I also know Sister Yu'er, and I know that Sister Yu'er takes the best care of you."

"That puts my mind at ease," Zhu Xiong Ying said with a smile to Yu'er, who was silently shedding tears. "Those were gifts for you. You know this jade pendant of mine; it's my favorite. Please accept it; it will fulfill our bond as master and servant."

Yu'er didn't hesitate and raised both hands to accept the jade pendant handed to her by Zhu Xiong Ying.

Hongxiu and Tianxiang will be Zhu Xiong Ying's two personal maids. There's not much to say about them; they are both girls approaching twenty, an age at which it's impossible for them to be Zhu Xiong Ying's concubines.

Comrades Old Zhu and Big Zhu are quite sensible; Zhu Xiong Ying is only ten years old (by the traditional Chinese age reckoning). At this age, there are certainly spoiled brats, but they clearly don't want Zhu Xiong Ying to "have children" so early; they'd rather wait another three or four years.

Well, getting married at thirteen or fourteen in this era isn't late, but it's not unacceptable either.