One day, after the eldest princess had finished her breakfast and was about to change her old clothes to go out to the South Study to study, Concubine Zhang, who was unwilling to give up, took advantage of the fact that the palace servants were hiding in other places and slacking off to talk to the eldest princess about the old matter again under the pretext of helping her change clothes.
"Remember to tell Prince Zhenbei about me today."
The eldest princess knew what she was talking about as soon as she heard it. She changed her clothes clumsily and shook her head firmly at Concubine Zhang.
"What's the harm in just helping me? It's not that difficult for him! Doesn't he want to help you? If my position rises, won't your status also rise with it?"
The eldest princess's mother, Concubine Zhang, did not dare to speak loudly, because in the palace where she and the eldest princess lived, there was not a single palace maid who was loyal to her or the eldest princess.
She grabbed the eldest princess who had simply changed her outer clothes and was about to put on her shoes to go out.
The eldest princess didn't dare to speak loudly. While struggling to break free from her biological mother's grip and pull, she whispered with an embarrassed look on her face, "Prince Yu is an outsider and cannot interfere in the affairs of the Emperor's harem."
When someone helped her, it could be said that he was helping someone in need. It was a coincidence and not an intentional attempt to interfere in the royal affairs. Besides, she was not the emperor's wife or concubine, but the emperor's daughter. Her identity was not as sensitive and taboo as that of the emperor's wife or concubine. It would not be a big deal even if Yu Zizhen intervened occasionally.
But her biological mother was different. As one of the emperor's many concubines, whether she was favored or not was a matter that should be decided by the emperor, and whether her rank could be raised was a matter that should be decided jointly by the emperor and the empress.
Apart from the emperor and the empress, the only one in the world who was qualified to express his opinion on the status of the emperor's concubines was the Empress Dowager Da Lu, who was both a mother and a mother-in-law.
Others, let alone foreign ministers like Yu Zizhen, even the concubines and close relatives of the late emperor, had no right to interfere with the emperor and empress on this matter.
The eldest princess was young and had limited experience, so she naturally didn't realize that Yu Zizhen's help in winning favor for her biological mother was actually a death warrant for them. However, she had lived in the harem for so many years that she had learned some basic social etiquette and the default rules of this world.
In her understanding, foreign officials, even those from the Lu family who had close ties with the royal family, would never interfere in the palace affairs openly.
Whenever they wanted to do something, they would definitely go to the Big Lu and Little Lu first. What was the purpose of going through so much trouble? Wasn't it just to have a legitimate reason and avoid being criticized?
Yu Zizhen is her benefactor, the person she should repay and protect. How could she drag such a person into trouble when she knew it was impossible?
The eldest princess stubbornly refused to agree. Concubine Zhang, who had tried to persuade (teach) her again and again but had failed every time, finally ran out of patience.
Although she did not dare to offend the palace maids sent by Xiao Lu, she changed her timidity when facing the eldest princess who crawled out of her belly.
"You useless fool!" She pinched the eldest princess's thin arm. "I'm the dignified Crown Prince of Zhenbei. Do I need you to think for me? With his father's power and status, even if he meddles in other people's business, who can do anything to him? Don't forget what he did in the past? Look at the Queen and Concubine Wen. Didn't they have to give him some leeway when they faced him?"
With such power and status, it wouldn't be a big deal to help them a little, right? After all, he has taken the initiative to protect the eldest princess, so why not do it more thoroughly?
Concubine Zhang had a nice idea, but the eldest princess was stubborn and didn't show any signs of being shaken by her words.
With tears in her eyes, she endured the pain and bent down to put on her shoes. "They used to give in to him because he was powerful and right, not just because his father was the King of Zhenbei, who commanded a large army. Mother, please forgive me for not repaying kindness with enmity."
Wiping away the tears that flowed uncontrollably from her eyes, the eldest princess grabbed the book box and rushed out.
Although she was a small person, she had difficulty carrying the big book box on her shoulders, but she did not feel sorry for herself.
Several palace maids who had been slacking off somewhere else came out at the exact moment and followed the eldest princess until she staggered to the junction of the front court and the harem. Only then did one of them step forward and take the book box that she was carrying with great effort.
The eldest princess, who was well versed in the ways of survival in the harem, did not resist. She obediently handed the book box to the other party, and then used her little hands to tidy up her somewhat messy clothes.
The next moment, she smiled and prepared to meet everyone, especially Yu Zizhen, with an expression of "I am very happy".
However, as soon as she looked up, the little figure whom she worshipped as a god suddenly rushed into her field of vision without any warning.
The eldest princess stood there in a daze. Several palace maids who saw Yu Zizhen earlier than her were so frightened by the way Yu Zizhen stared at the bookcase that they fell to their knees one after another.
They were all newly assigned palace servants by Xiao Lu to the eldest princess. Of course, Xiao Lu was not personally following up on this matter. As the queen, she only needed to give orders to her subordinates, and naturally the eunuchs or palace maids would go and select and assign new people to the eldest princess.
As Xiao Lu became more and more arrogant, her trusted subordinates also became so domineering that they almost forgot how to pronounce the word "cautious".
Because the eldest princess suffered a setback, her master couldn't wait to flatter Little Lu. When he was selecting and sending new people to serve the eldest princess, he would naturally secretly instruct the newly sent palace servants to teach the eldest princess a lesson.
Those palace maids did not dare to offend the popular figure around the Queen, Xiao Lu, but they also did not dare to follow the previous palace maids in beating and scolding the eldest princess. So after coming to the eldest princess, they chose the compromise solution of collectively giving up.
Normally, none of them would get close to the eldest princess. She was only six years old, but they forced her to learn to do all the chores in life by herself.
Every time the eldest princess went out to the South Study, they would not help her take the book box at the beginning. Instead, every time they were about to enter Yu Zizhen's activity area, one of them would pull her book box from the eldest princess and hold it in their own hands.
This was not the first time they had done this, and the eldest princess had never complained about it.
However, just when they thought they could keep doing this, the person they feared, Prince Yu Zizhen of Zhenbei, appeared!
Several palace maids knelt on the ground and trembled, fearing that they would suffer the same fate as the previous palace maids.
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