Chapter 5 Hurry back to the palace to get help
Jiang Xue ordered breakfast and only asked where Gu Lintan was, then started eating.
Before the hour of Si, she sent someone to inform Gu Lintan to go to the palace with her to express her gratitude.
Gu Lintan arrived quickly. When he saw Jiang Xue standing at the door, her bright red dress made her skin look white as snow and her face was pale. However, he still pretended to be concerned.
"Is your Highness feeling better today?"
"I'm feeling better now. I heard you called Doctor Yan to ask about it, so I think he knows something. It's just that I've been upset recently. I think I'll be fine after taking a few doses of medicine."
Her attitude was even colder today. Gu Lintan was stunned and nodded in agreement. Then the two of them got on the carriage together.
The Gu Mansion was given by the Emperor to his daughter so that she could be closer to home. It was just two streets away from the palace gate. Soon they arrived at the Xuanhua Gate, and the servant brought the footrest and opened the door.
Jiang Xue said nothing along the way, sitting upright and quietly in the middle of the carriage, with the majesty of a royal family that could only be admired from afar.
Gu Lintan wanted to break the silence, so when the carriage stopped, he bent down and walked to the door and said, "I will help Your Highness get off the carriage. Your Highness, please be careful with your steps."
As he said this, he stretched out his hand.
Jiang Xue nodded, raised her hand but only gently placed it on his wrist.
Gu Lintan endured it, and when the two men got off the car, they saw a eunuch waiting in front of the palace gate.
"I am honored to meet Her Royal Highness the Princess and Her Royal Highness the Prince Consort. Your Royal Highness is very happy! Your Royal Highness the Prince Consort is very happy!"
The eunuch immediately knelt at Jiang Xue's feet and said respectfully, "Her Royal Highness's sedan chair is already waiting inside Xuanhua Gate. The emperor has ordered that the consort should go to the Chaozheng Palace to express his gratitude first."
Jiang Xue asked, "Do you need me to go with you?"
"The Empress misses the princess, and His Majesty has exempted the princess from thanking him. You can get on the sedan chair first and go to Yi'an Palace to talk with the Empress and rest. His Majesty will go to Yi'an Palace for lunch with the Empress."
After saying that, he led Jiang Xue into the sedan chair.
Gu Lintan was also led to the Chaozheng Hall by other palace servants.
At the gate of Yi'an Palace, Jiang Xue got off the sedan chair. Aunt Dong beside the Queen had been waiting for a long time. She was overjoyed to see Jiang Xue and immediately stepped forward to pay her respects.
Jiang Xue hurriedly helped her up, her eyes and eyebrows full of joy.
"Aunt, there's no need to be so polite. Please get up quickly."
"Your Highness has only been away from the palace for one day, and the Queen already misses him terribly." There were tears in Aunt Dong's eyes, which made Jiang Xue feel sad.
"I knew my mother missed me, so I came back early."
Jiang Xue raised her hand to wipe away her tears. "Only when you get married and leave home do you realize how hard it is for your parents. Aunt, don't be sad. The Gu Mansion is close to the palace. I will come back to the palace more often in the future to accompany my mother."
When Aunt Dong saw her appearance, she didn't seem to be shy and happy as a newlywed, but seemed to have become more heavy and vicissitudes of life overnight. She immediately felt unhappy with Gu Lintan.
"Don't cry, Your Highness. Let's go in first. The Queen and I are both here. If Your Highness misses home, just come back to the palace. Even if you come back every day, His Majesty and the Queen will be happy."
The two of them supported each other and entered the palace.
Inside the main hall of Yi'an Palace, there was a woman sitting on the phoenix throne. She had dark black hair like distant mountains and phoenix eyes. Except for a few traces of time at the corners of her eyes, upon closer inspection, her appearance was no different from that of a young lady in her early thirties.
She was wearing a loose phoenix robe, but it still couldn't hide her graceful figure.
This is Jiang Xue’s mother, the current queen Lu Congfang.
As soon as Jiang Xue entered the palace, Lu Congfang's expression changed from anxious to happy. Jiang Xue bowed and saluted according to the rules. After three bows, he said:
"My son's wedding has been completed. I am returning to the palace today to thank my father, the emperor, and my mother, the queen. Please accept my respect."
"My son, get up quickly." Lu Congfang gave him a hand and said, "Come to mother quickly."
Jiang Xue stood up and walked to the Queen's side. Aunt Dong ordered someone to bring a round stool, and Jiang Xue sat beside the Queen's lap.
Lu Congfang took his daughter's hand, only to find it cold. He squeezed it again and again, saying with concern:
"Is everything okay in the Gu Mansion? How does the Prince Consort treat you?"
Jiang Xue had tears in her eyes and bit her lower lip slightly, then smiled after a moment.
"Everything is fine. The majesty of the Heavenly Family is there to support my daughter. No one will disrespect me."
Lu Congfang felt something was wrong when he heard this, so he had to suppress his doubts.
"Are the servants in the mansion doing well?"
"Speaking of servants, I was just about to ask for permission. The Gu Mansion is new, and the servants will inevitably need some training. I am really unable to do so, so I thought of picking a few of the maids and nannies I used to have in Changle Palace and bringing them to the Gu Mansion."
She is really short-staffed at the moment, and there is nothing she can do that she wants to do.
Although most of the servants in the Gu Mansion were recently purchased, except for a few who were brought by Gu Lintan from his hometown, they were not her confidants after all, so she did not dare to use them easily.
"When you got married, you said you would not bring a servant with you. I said that was inappropriate. You were too sensible and cared about your husband's face. But you were raised in pampering. If you were away from the palace, your daily life would be inconvenient."
"What do you mean by asking for permission or not? Just pick some good ones and go with them. I'll ask Aunt Dong to select a dozen flexible and skillful palace maids, and you can take them with you when you leave the palace later."
"Mother, you don't need so many." Jiang Xue didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "I don't need many maids. There is only one thing I have to ask for your instructions."
"You said it."
"There are not many servants in the Gu Mansion, and I think the few who are there to guard the house are not very capable. I feel uneasy when I walk around the palace with only these people to protect me."
Jiang Xue's eyes turned slightly, "I want a few guards with better skills in the palace. Can you please assign them to me, mother?"
"Although the palace guards all hold court positions, according to the rules they can only be used by the palace. But your father and I only have you as our daughter."
Lu Congfang patted Jiang Xue's hand and comforted her:
"If you want, the Queen Mother will assign it to you. Shu Pei, go and report to His Majesty and ask him to select ten good commanders from the Wu'an Command and assign them to Xue'er."
The Wu'an Commanders were all selected from the Wu'an City Defense Army, which was directly under the emperor, after multiple examinations and were only responsible for patrolling and guarding the emperor and empress's palaces.
This shows how much the Queen loves Jiang Xue.
However, Jiang Xue hurriedly stopped Dong Shupei.
"Wait a minute, auntie."
She said to the Queen, "Mother, I don't want to be too ostentatious. If my father sends me here, everyone will know that the guards in Gu's mansion are not strong enough, and I'm afraid it will be embarrassing for Gu and the Prince Consort."
"I think that Queen Mother can just explain this to Father in private. When we leave the palace, you can dress up as ordinary servants and follow me back to the palace."
"We don't need ten people, four or five capable ones will do."
Now I don’t know how many things Gu Lintan has concealed, so I can only start with the mother and son and investigate secretly.
The smaller the investigation into this matter, the better. If it is done in a big way, I am afraid Gu Lintan will become suspicious.
The Queen thought for a moment and said, "That's good. You are always so sensible. Shu Pei, just do as Xue'er wants. Pick a few good ones from Yi'an Palace and give them to her."
Aunt Dong said yes.
The mother and daughter held hands and chatted for a while. Just as the sun was hanging high in the sky, a palace maid came to report.
"Your Majesty, Princess, His Majesty's carriage will arrive at Yi'an Palace soon. Please prepare the meal."
The queen nodded and ordered Dong Shupei to prepare the meal.
The palace servant continued, "His Majesty asked me to tell the Queen that the Second Prince will come with His Majesty to have dinner with the Queen and the Princess today. Please prepare an extra set of bowls and chopsticks, Auntie."
"Second brother is back?" Jiang Xue stood up suddenly and almost tripped over her skirt, but she couldn't hide her joy.
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