Xiao Jingzhao did not take the booklet from Xiang Song's hand.
His gaze was fixed on the graceful figure in the plum garden, his slender fingers lightly tapping the table.
“You Xian’er was born to a concubine and was raised by her stepmother, Liu. The man she loved was Liu Baokun, Liu’s nephew. Liu interfered, and she was unable to get married.”
Xiang Song: "..." Master has such a good memory.
Xiao Jingzhao turned his gaze to Xiang Song, "Has Liu Baokun come up the mountain today?"
"Here he comes, here he comes. You can rest assured that I can handle things properly. How could I miss such an important person?"
Xiao Jingzhao nodded slightly. "It's good that you're here. You can handle the rest."
"I will take some men to keep an eye on things. It's rare for Young Master Liu to come to the palace, so we should let him see his cousin."
Xiang Song bowed respectfully.
Xiao Jingzhao gave Xiang Song an approving look, and Xiang Song left. Eunuch Ma stood aside, seemingly oblivious to what was happening.
Seeing the Emperor raise his teacup and pause at his lips, Eunuch Ma followed the Emperor's gaze.
In the plum garden, groups of girls stood under the plum trees, gazing at the blooming plum blossoms and commenting on them.
Eunuch Ma wondered, was the Emperor secretly selecting future concubines?
Upon closer inspection, it was discovered that the Emperor's gaze was fixed on a red figure in the distance.
Eunuch Ma dared not presume to know the Emperor's intentions, and pretended not to have seen anything.
...
In the plum garden, I saw girls walking forward in twos and threes.
Du Yutong pulled Jiang Shuyue along and asked with a curious look, "Sister Yue'er, when did you master the art of pitch-pot? What other amazing skills do you have that I don't know about?"
Du Yutong's eyes lit up. At this moment, if Jiang Shuyue said that she could shoot an arrow through a willow leaf from a hundred paces away, she would believe it without a doubt.
"puff!"
"It's just that you're a little more accurate at throwing things, it's hardly a divine skill."
Jiang Shuyue saw Du Yutong's eyes light up and couldn't help but burst out laughing.
Qiuju felt a mix of emotions as she listened to their conversation. The hardships her young lady had endured were things that no noble lady in the capital could ever imagine in her entire life.
Jiang Shuyue said casually, "When I was pregnant with Sui Sui, I craved the wild sour fruit on the mountain. That sour fruit tree grew on a very high cliff."
"To avoid falling and still get to eat the sour fruit, Qiuju and I went around to the cliff from two miles away, and then threw stones at the tree branches."
Sour fruit fell down the cliff, and we went back down to pick it up. Over time, my throwing accuracy improved remarkably.
The light in Du Yutong's eyes disappeared, followed by tears, and her voice choked, "Sister Yue'er, you, you've suffered so much."
"It wasn't all hardship. With Aunt Su's family taking care of us, life wasn't too difficult."
Jiang Shuyue was telling the truth. During those days of carrying Sui Sui, being away from familiar people and free from strange looks and gossip was not necessarily a bad thing.
"Sister Yue'er wants to eat sour fruit, why don't you let Su Jin pick it? It's too dangerous for you to do it that way. You could easily lose your baby."
Du Yutong imagined Jiang Shuyue bouncing around picking sour fruit, and felt a chill run down her spine.
Qiuju said, "Miss didn't tell Young Master Su and Nannan that she wanted to eat sour fruit. That tree grows on the edge of a cliff, how could Miss let Young Master Su take such a risk?"
The snow in the plum garden was too thick, and as the sun began to set, the chill intensified. Everyone followed the sound of the zither toward the warm pavilion.
A floor radiator was installed under the floor of the heated room, making the room warm and cozy.
When Jiang Shuyue entered the warm pavilion, she was immediately struck by its beauty.
The warm pavilion was very large, and palace maids greeted people at the door. When a young lady entered, a palace maid would take her cloak and lead her to her seat.
"Miss, please come with me."
Before Jiang Shuyue could even see the layout of the warm pavilion, a palace maid walked up to her and curtsied.
The group followed the palace maid to a changing room next to the warm pavilion.
"Her Highness the Princess instructed that all the young ladies' people can change clothes here, or take a short rest here."
At first glance, the room is fully equipped with a soft couch and a tea table, making it a small reception room.
Jiang Shuyue understood; Princess Yonghe knew she disliked noise, so she had specially arranged for her to rest here.
Thank you.
Jiang Shuyue thanked the palace maid, and after the maid left, Jiang Shuyue and Du Yutong took off their cloaks.
Qiuju and Zhuer took the cloak and hung it in the wardrobe before taking off their cotton-padded coats.
"Sister Yue'er, Her Highness the Princess treats you differently, and I'm benefiting from it too."
With no one else in the room, Du Yutong disregarded her image and sprawled out on the soft couch.
"Miss, don't mess up your hair." Zhu'er hurriedly went over and picked up a soft cushion to place on the back of Du Yutong's neck.
"It's alright, there's a dressing table over there, I can just tidy it up before I go out."
After Jiang Shuyue sat down, she touched the teapot on the coffee table and felt that it was hot to the touch.
She poured a cup of tea and placed it in front of Du Yutong. "Drink some hot tea to warm yourself up. It's cold in the plum garden, so be careful not to catch a cold."
Then he poured himself a glass and said to Qiuju and Zhuer, "You two should have some too."
Du Yutong hates drinking bitter medicine, so she quickly sat up and held the teacup in her hands.
She said jokingly, "Sister Yue'er, you don't know, although it's cold in the pavilion, my blood is boiling, so I shouldn't catch a cold."
When Qiuju and Zhuer saw her bringing the teacup to her lips as she spoke, they both turned their heads away and covered their mouths to chuckle.
A moment later, a palace maid brought in pastries and dried fruits, and respectfully said to Jiang Shuyue:
"Please rest for a while, young lady. His Highness will come back in a little while. If you feel bored, you can go to the main hall and play the zither with everyone."
"It's alright, let's just sit here and rest."
At this moment, all the girls in the plum garden were gathered in the hall; she had no intention of showing off her musical skills.
It's comfortable and relaxing here; there's no need to be formal, and Du Yutong doesn't want to move at all.
Her piano skills are fine for her own enjoyment, but if she wants to show off in front of others, then forget it.
The two pairs of mistresses and servants were hiding in the room drinking tea and eating snacks, unaware of how many people were looking for them in the hall.
When Princess Yonghe arrived at the dressing room, Du Yutong had already taken half of the pastries on the coffee table.
After everyone exchanged greetings, Princess Yonghe took her seat.
"Sister Jiang, I've been quite busy today and haven't been able to properly attend to you and Miss Du."
"Princess, you don't need to be so polite with me. The dressing room you arranged is so comfortable that neither Yutong nor I want to leave," Jiang Shuyue joked with a smile.
Yonghe smiled and said, "If the Empress Dowager hadn't taken Aunt Cai away from the palace, I would have been much more at ease today. It's my first time at the temporary palace, and I wouldn't feel at ease unless I saw things for myself."
"Understood, Your Highness. Please go ahead and attend to your business. I will come to find you later."
Yonghe nodded, "Okay, I'll go play a tune in the hall before I go do other things."
As Yonghe left, Du Yutong sighed, "As expected of Her Highness the Princess, she handles things so well and thoroughly. She was born to be a matriarch. I wonder which family's ancestors were blessed to be able to marry such a capable woman as the princess."
"Your Highness is indeed capable. Sister Yutong, don't underestimate yourself. I think the Su family ancestors haven't been idle either."
It took Du Yutong a while to understand the deeper meaning behind Jiang Shuyue's words.
She blushed instantly, "Sister Yue'er, you..."
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