Since neither the Empress Dowager nor the Empress Dowager came this time, there was no need to pay respects. Mingxiu completely let loose and handed Chenghuan over to Luzhu and the others. Mingxiu felt that her previous decision not to have children was absolutely the right one.
There are still wet nurses taking care of children now, but Mingxiu doesn't really like having her children with wet nurses because she used to see some children who were closer to their wet nurses than to their own mothers, and it was all because of the wet nurses' encouragement.
She had previously seen princesses from the Qing Dynasty who were sent abroad for marriage alliances, and some of them were manipulated and controlled by their wet nurses, listening to their wet nurses in everything. The lives of these princesses were truly miserable.
Although Chenghuan's wet nurse hasn't shown any signs of this yet, Mingxiu has been consciously isolating them, so Chenghuan and the others are spending more time with Luzhu, Yuqing, and Yulan.
However, because she had been away for too long before, Cheng Huan couldn't see her for a while, but after seeing her, he clung to her every day.
At first, Mingxiu was full of maternal love, but later she was so worn out that she lost all maternal love, especially since the child was not a very obedient child.
She couldn't stand the slightest grievance, and would cry so loudly that the whole Yonghe Palace could hear her. Moreover, she was full of energy and would drag Mingxiu around doing this and that every day. Mingxiu's small body could barely withstand it, and she couldn't understand where Chenghuan's small body came from to unleash so much energy.
So after arriving at Changchun Garden, Mingxiu simply left the children to Luzhu and the others to take care of. As long as the children didn't insist on coming to Mingxiu crying and making a fuss, Mingxiu generally ignored them.
After dealing with the noisy children, Mingxiu finally relaxed. The consequence of this relaxation was that she spent the whole night reading storybooks and watching anime, which led to a vicious cycle of not sleeping at night and not getting up during the day.
By the time Green Bamboo and the others had a moment to spare from taking care of the children, Mingxiu already had dark circles under her eyes and looked utterly exhausted.
Emperor Kangxi arrived at this time and was startled when he saw Mingxiu's panda eyes. He was speechless when he learned what had happened.
Kangxi was so angry he was speechless: "I think you're asking for trouble again. Liang Jiugong, take all the storybooks away from Consort Ming in a moment, and don't let her read them anymore."
"Yes, sir," Liang Jiugong replied, bowing his head.
"Ah, no, Your Majesty! I promise I won't do that again! Please don't accept my things!" Mingxiu protested, even though her most important storybooks and comics were in her spatial storage, and no one could take them away.
But after it was taken away, she no longer had a legitimate reason or excuse to play freely.
"You dare to make requests? I've only been away for a few days, and you look at yourself in the state you've become! Nothing to do, huh? From now on, come to my place every day to read books and help me grind ink, then you'll have something to do."
Mingxiu was naturally unwilling. If she had to study under his nose, wouldn't she have no freedom at all?
Mingxiu's eyes darted around, and when she looked at Chenghuan lying on the ground beside her, her eyes lit up: "Your Majesty, I still have to take care of Chenghuan. If I go to Your Majesty's place, I won't be able to take care of Chenghuan anymore. Chenghuan will miss me, her mother." As she spoke, she didn't forget to let Chenghuan speak up as well: "Isn't that right, Chenghuan? If you can't see your mother for a day, won't you miss her?"
Cheng Huan was a little confused, but she understood that she might not see her mother for a day. She nodded, she didn't want to not see her mother for even a day.
Kangxi looked at Mingxiu, who was so shameless that she even tried to cheat a child, and was at a loss for words. He simply stopped talking to her and picked up Chenghuan to sit on his lap.
"Chenghuan, your mother needs to rest well for the next few days. Do you see the dark circles under your mother's eyes? It's because she hasn't rested properly these past few days. If this goes on for too long, your mother will get sick. Our Chenghuan is such a good girl, she certainly wouldn't want your mother to get sick, right?"
Upon hearing that her mother was about to fall ill, Cheng Huan's heart ached and her eyes welled up with tears. She knew what it felt like to be sick—pain and discomfort all over the body, and having to drink bitter medicine. She quickly nodded and said softly, "I don't want my mother to be sick."
Kangxi nodded and continued, "But your mother can't control herself here. She's always thinking about playing and doesn't get enough rest. So I'd like to send your mother to where your father works. That way, your father can make sure she gets a proper rest. If Chenghuan misses us, she can come to see us every day, okay?"
Mingxiu looked at Kangxi with some disdain. How dare she say that to her? Wasn't she also deceiving Chenghuan by saying she was young?
But little Chenghuan only had one thought: she couldn't let her mother get sick. But her mother couldn't control herself, just like how she liked to play and wouldn't listen to anyone. Only her father, the Emperor, could control her and prevent her from getting sick.
So she nodded happily and looked at Mingxiu and said, "Mother, you should go and stay with Father. I will take good care of myself. I don't go back to see you every day. Mother, please take good care of yourself and don't miss me too much."
Mingxiu looked at the little figure in Kangxi's arms with complicated emotions as she spoke. She felt a mix of feelings: concern from the child and the frustration of the child having sold her without her even knowing how.
I could only nod and promise that I would take good care of myself and come back as soon as possible without getting sick.
Then Mingxiu's fate was sealed. After all her books were confiscated, she had to go to Emperor Kangxi to complete the studies he had assigned her, including grinding ink. Most importantly, she had to sleep with him at night.
Mingxiu looked at the book in her hand, tears welling up in her eyes. Kangxi sat above her, seemingly preoccupied with something. Mingxiu felt an overwhelming sense of regret, wondering why she had been so indulgent.
Now things have gotten worse. Kangxi is angry that she doesn't care about her health and assigns her a lot of homework every day. He also makes her work herself to the bone at night. Whenever she says she can't take it anymore, Kangxi starts saying that she can endure staying up all night reading stories and doesn't need to sleep.
What's so hard about that? It's just too light. I need to put in more effort to do some work so I can get a good night's sleep.
Then came an even more strenuous performance.
After being tormented by Emperor Kangxi to the point of being unable to get out of bed once again, Mingxiu finally got angry. This life was too hard for her, and she didn't want it to be like this anymore.
But Kangxi was still angry with her. He never talked nonsense with her normally. Mingxiu bit her lower lip and looked at Kangxi, feeling that things couldn't go on like this.
If this continues, she will either die from exhaustion or be tormented to death by the classical Chinese texts of the Four Books and Five Classics.
So at night, Mingxiu secretly did something naughty.
Kangxi felt a sudden numbness in his body and realized that his face had turned dark in an instant.
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