Early spring, in the backyard of Prince Ning's Mansion.
The night wind was still very cold, and the tear marks on Shen Yuyao's face had not dried yet. When the wind blew on her face, she couldn't help but shiver.
The first spring rain fell during the day, and at this time, the backyard of Prince Ning's Mansion was illuminated by the moonlight.
In the moonlight, two figures, one big and one small, stood in the corridor of the side hall in the backyard.
A page of the letter in Shen Yuyao's hand fell to the ground, but she didn't notice it. She just stared blankly at the cold crescent moon in the sky.
The letter in her hand was written by Anaj, the concubine of the Crown Prince of the capital's Eastern Palace. In the letter, Anaj described to Shen Yuyao in great detail all the major and minor events that had taken place in the Eastern Palace over the past year.
The Crown Prince's concubine, Lu, was favored by the Crown Prince and was promoted to the principal wife by the Emperor and the Empress.
Since Lu was promoted to the main wife, the prince she gave birth to naturally became the legitimate grandson of the emperor.
As for the children born to the deceased Crown Princess Chang, all of them were taken care of by Lu. With her tolerance and virtue, Lu gradually gained the favor of the Crown Prince.
Mrs. Lu doted on the youngest grandson born to Mrs. Chang in every way. Everyone in the Eastern Palace said that Mrs. Lu treated Mrs. Chang's children well, and even the crown prince, the emperor, and the empress expressed their approval.
It was said in the palace that Lu had both the virtue of a stepmother and the love of a biological mother.
......
Since Chang's death, everything in the Prince's Eastern Palace has been developing and evolving exactly as Shen Yuyao predicted.
Anaj kept Shen Yuyao's entrustment in mind, and whenever she had the chance, she would take the initiative to approach the eunuchs and nannies who were taking care of the little prince. She had been secretly looking after the little prince.
In the letter, Anaj wrote that once the little grandson grew up safely and was able to understand things, Anaj would tell him all the truth.
At the end of the letter, Anaj said two more things.
First, Lu repeatedly urged the Crown Prince to depose Anaj, a princess of the previous dynasty, from her position as a concubine, on the grounds that Anaj had attempted to assassinate the Emperor and had broken into the palace late at night and startled the Crown Princess Chang who was giving birth.
Fortunately, Anaj had heard Shen Yuyao's prophecy and had long been on guard against the Lu family. Furthermore, Anaj was gentle and respectful in her daily stay at the Eastern Palace. She only worked to promote integration between the Great Xia Dynasty and the remnants of the former Yuan Dynasty, which naturally earned the approval of the Emperor and the Crown Prince.
Therefore, the prince had no intention of abolishing Anaj's position as concubine, and she lived a relatively peaceful life in the prince's eastern palace.
However, the prince and she have not yet consummated their marriage.
The second thing is that at the beginning of last autumn, the eight-year-old Crown Prince was plagued by a strange disease, and by the end of the year, his condition became worse.
Anaj also secretly visited the Crown Prince, and even asked a great Mongolian doctor to take the Crown Prince's pulse without telling the prince.
The Mongolian doctor said that the crown prince had been poisoned by some kind of chronic poison.
But no matter how hard Anaj tried, she could not find the source of the poison, so she did not dare to report it to the prince.
When Anaj wrote to Shen Yuyao, the Crown Prince was already terminally ill and no medicine could cure him. The imperial physician in the palace diagnosed that he would not live more than three days.
It was when she saw this that the page of letter in Shen Yuyao's hand quietly fell to the ground.
......
"Mother." Xia Xiaoxian held Shen Yuyao's clothes with her chubby little hand and looked up to comfort her, "Little Mundun, he must have seen his mother."
After the spring, the Crown Prince will suddenly die of illness. Although Shen Yuyao had already known this from Xia Xiaoxian's voice.
But when the bad news really comes, it is still inevitable to feel sad.
Shen Yuyao wiped the tears from her face, squatted down, and hugged Xia Xiaoxian tightly in her arms.
"Little Mundun'er and his mother will reunite as mother and son."
Xia Xiaoxian put her little face against Shen Yuyao's face, gently patting her back with both hands, and said affirmatively.
"Hmm... I hope Sister Chang and the Crown Prince were born into ordinary families in another world and can enjoy family happiness."
[In a few months, Grandma Huang's two-year anniversary will also be coming up.]
[Grandpa Emperor's temperament will also change drastically, alas...]
Shen Yuyao hadn't heard Xia Xiaoxian's thoughts for a long time. Now she was eloquent and said whatever she wanted to say directly.
She knew that Xia Xiaoxian was worried that she would be even more sad, so she only dared to say it in her heart.
In the coming year, no one in the entire Great Xia Dynasty will have an easy life!
A few days ago, Prince Ning was assassinated at the gate of the palace, and the mastermind behind the assassination has not yet been identified. Now, the court is once again in turmoil due to the impending bad news.
Shen Yuyao was still a little hesitant in her heart, wondering whether she should tell Xia Yu everything she knew.
Another gust of night wind blew by, and Shen Yuyao felt that Xia Xiaoxian's little hand was slightly cold.
She stood up and said, "Let's go back to the house."
As soon as the mother and daughter entered the house, Xiao Huanzi, who was in charge of the palace's internal affairs, came to report.
"Your Highness, the ladies of Chuxiu Palace are asking when they can pay their respects to you, Your Highness."
"Greetings?"
"Yes, the young ladies are asking when they can pay their respects to Her Majesty, but in reality they are asking when Her Majesty will arrange for them to sleep with Her Majesty."
Xiao Huanzi was a eunuch brought by Shen Yuyao's mother's family. He was among the first group to follow Xia Yu to Yanjing when he was enfeoffed. Now Xia Yu has promoted him to be the chief steward of the internal affairs of the entire Ning Wang Mansion.
The concubines who were awarded in the palace a few years ago all ran to win over Xiao Huanzi and curry favor with her. They all thought that by bribing Xiao Huanzi, they could gain the prince's favor as soon as possible and gain a firm foothold in the palace.
Especially the tribute girls from the Li Dynasty were even more anxious.
It is because if they can have a little status in the Ning Wang Mansion, their parents' home in the Li Dynasty will also be treated well by the royal family of the Li Dynasty.
But Xiao Huanzi grew up in the Duke's Mansion, Shen Yuyao's mother's family. When encountering such a thing, he would definitely not make a decision on his own, and would definitely seek Shen Yuyao's opinion as soon as possible.
Moreover, Prince Ning also said in the front yard of the palace that from now on all matters in the palace would be decided by Princess Shen Yuyao.
Seeing Shen Yuyao pondering, Xiao Huanzi reminded her, "My Lady, how should I respond to those young masters?"
Shen Yuyao then remembered that the concubines from Chuxiu Palace were still living in the palace, and she didn't know how to arrange them.
Prince Ning was in good health, but Shen Yuyao was undecided about whether to arrange for a woman to sleep with him, even though she was a doctor and the prince was a patient.
But when Shen Yuyao thought about asking Prince Ning in person, "Are you feeling better? Can you sleep with me?", she really couldn't bring herself to ask such questions.
Shen Yuyao now felt that when the prince was not in the palace, the mistress could live a peaceful and comfortable life.
Since the prince came back, Shen Yuyao, as the mistress of the palace, has had no experience in such important matters as arranging sleeping arrangements.
She rarely even thought about it.
In the past, there were only two wives and concubines in the Ning Wang Mansion, her and Xu. When Ning Wang was in a good mood, he could choose any courtyard to rest.
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