Zhaoyang came to the palace to visit Shen Wei, and the matter also reached the ears of the princess. The princess didn't care, she was very busy now.
There are many chores in early spring.
The fields of the palace need to be managed, the tenants of the farm need to be paid, the profits of the shops need to be calculated, and the clothes of the wives and concubines in spring need to be taken care of. The princess rubbed her brows tiredly, looking at the account books piled up on the table, and felt a splitting headache.
In fact, in the first few years after she married into the palace, the princess managed the palace quite well. It's a pity that she later focused all her energy on the struggle between wives and concubines and the education of her children, and became increasingly unfamiliar with these housekeeping chores.
The princess did not have any nanny or maid who were good at housekeeping to share her worries.
"Madam Liu, send someone to deliver these to the East Chamber." The princess couldn't bear to watch this any longer, so she asked someone to deliver all the account books to the butler Fugui.
The princess returned to the Buddhist temple and continued to worship Buddha.
After a while, Nanny Liu came in and reported, "Princess, Concubine Zhou from Nanyuan wants to see you. Spring is coming, and she has made new clothes for the child, and she wants to see the child."
The princess lit a stick of incense in the Buddhist shrine and thought for a while before she remembered who Concubine Zhou was. There are quite a few concubines in the palace. Concubine Zhou has an ordinary family background and became a concubine after entering the palace.
Later, she was lucky enough to give birth to a son and was promoted to a concubine. The son born to Zhou's concubine was naturally given to the princess to raise. Every time she wanted to see her child, she had to beg the princess on her knees, and nine times out of ten she was turned away.
The princess said calmly, "Spring is a good time to study. The children are taken care of by servants in the school, so they don't need any clothes."
Nanny Liu walked out of the Buddhist hall and came to the gate of Kunyu Courtyard. He said to the thin and withered woman, "The princess is very busy. Master Zhou, please go back first."
Concubine Zhou knelt on the ground, grabbed Madam Liu's sleeve, and burst into tears: "Madam Liu, please let me see the princess. Chengming is not in good health and always coughs in spring. There are many willow catkins in the school. What if he coughs and inhales the catkins? What should I do?"
The son born to Zhou's concubine was named Li Chengming. The child was only five years old and had always been in poor health.
She begged desperately, but Madam Liu remained unmoved: "In the academy, each young master has servants to take good care of them, and there are learned teachers to guide their studies. Master Zhou, please don't worry."
Nanny Liu turned and walked into the yard, and heard Concubine Zhou's suppressed crying behind her.
In the Buddhist temple, there is a lot of incense burning in front of the compassionate Buddha statue.
The princess replaced the water in the vase of the Buddhist shrine and asked Aunt Liu, "I heard that the prince postponed the full moon banquet for Shen's daughter?"
Madam Liu said, "That's right. It must be that Shen was reluctant to part with her child, so she begged the prince to delay the date of the full moon banquet. Master, delaying the full moon banquet is really against the rules."
The princess laughed sarcastically: "No problem, I can wait."
If Shen Wei gave birth to a son, the princess would definitely take the child away when he was one month old.
But Shen Wei was unlucky and gave birth to a daughter. Shen Wei wanted to keep the child with her for a few more days, but the princess was not angry.
The princess even felt a secret sense of joy in her heart. Chen Wei was almost the exclusive favorite of King Yan and enjoyed unlimited glory, but in the end she only gave birth to a useless daughter, which is really laughable.
After some time, mother and daughter were separated. If Shen Wei wanted to see her daughter, she had to go to her house and beg in person. Thinking of that happy scene, the princess smiled.
So what if you are favored?
After all, I am a concubine.
——
East Palace.
The prince handed the border document to the King of Yan: "The border has temporarily ceased fighting. General Shen is guarding Liangzhou. Shangguan Xuan wrote a letter, hoping to return to Yanjing for a short stay in the second half of the year and return to the border next year."
King Yan nodded: "Yes."
The two chatted about official business for a while, and then the little girl's sweet voice came from outside the study: "Father, Wan'er brought sweet soup to you and Second Uncle!"
The prince's daughter trotted in, with a maid behind her holding two bowls of sweet soup.
Wan'er was wearing a pink spring dress and had beautiful double buns. She had a chubby face and her embroidered little boots made thumping sounds as she stepped on the floor. She first handed the prince a bowl of sweet soup, and said in a soft voice: "Father, drink first."
Then Wan'er handed King Yan a bowl of sweet soup and said with a smile, "Uncle, drink too."
King Yan took it, raised his eyes to look at the cute girl in front of him, and suddenly thought of the child born by Shen Wei. In a few years, his daughter will definitely be cuter than Wan'er.
"Father and second uncle have worked hard! Wan'er won't disturb you anymore. I'm going to go play with my sister Nanzhi." Wan'er skipped away, her back looking like a lovely butterfly.
The prince drank two sips of the sweet soup and said: "It tastes very good."
King Yan took a sip and frowned: "It's too sweet, brother, how can you drink it?"
The prince smiled but said nothing.
While drinking the sweet soup, the two continued to discuss the Spring Examination. There are a large number of candidates taking part in the spring examination this year. The Ministry of Rites will take longer to mark the papers and the standards for selecting talents will be stricter.
The crown prince told the king of Yan: "Yuan Jing, the candidates selected in this spring's imperial examination will be your bargaining chips in the future. You must recruit them as soon as possible and appoint people based on their merits, regardless of their background."
King Yan nodded: "Brother, I know."
Due to the large number of candidates taking part in the spring examination this year, the release of the list has been delayed. King Yan has already investigated and found that Shen Wei's brother Shen Xiuming did well in the test paper and should be on the list.
Prince Yan simply postponed his daughter's full moon banquet. Let’s celebrate together after the Spring Examination and Palace Examination lists are released.
The Prince of Yan was busy until dusk before leaving the Eastern Palace. The dark and magnificent carriage of Prince Yan's Palace was driving on the bustling streets of Yanjing.
A small vendor selling rattles on the roadside was enthusiastically soliciting customers: "Look, look! Rattles, children's favorite rattles!"
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