Yi Hua gestured for the servants to leave, leaving herself alone in the room.
The governess didn't want to leave, but Chen and Yu Xiao forcibly took her away.
Yi Hua felt a little heavy-hearted and sat down opposite the eldest princess: "Eldest princess, take off your socks and let your mother take a look."
The eldest princess, with tears in her eyes, shook her head reluctantly, saying, "Mother, please don't look anymore."
Yi Hua knew that Xiao Gu Niang was proud, but she needed to know the extent of the damage to the child's feet and whether there was any possibility of recovery. She bent down slightly, took off her shoes and socks, and revealed a pair of fair and tender feet: "There's nothing to be embarrassed about. Your mother will show you first, and in exchange, you can show your mother your feet too, okay?"
The eldest princess was a sensible child after all. She shakily took off her socks, and her four toes were bent backward, almost blending into the soles of her feet, which did not look pretty at all.
Yi Hua felt sorry for her: "Princess, does your toe hurt?"
The eldest princess nodded and then shook her head: "It hurt at first, but the nanny said that everyone's feet are like that, and told me to bear with it. Now the eldest princess is used to wearing these socks to sleep."
I don't know if the eldest princess sought help from Madam Li at first, but judging from Madam Li's current indifference to the eldest princess, I'm afraid that even if she had sought help, she wouldn't have received a positive response.
"My dear princess, your mother will invite a female physician over later to slowly help you restore your foot to its original state. The process may be a little painful, but don't be afraid. Once your foot is back to how it was before your mother did," Yi Hua said slowly, not wanting to frighten her.
The eldest princess asked with some doubt, "Mother, the nanny said that noble ladies in the capital all bind their feet, firstly for beauty, and secondly because their future husbands will like them. Can the eldest princess not bind her feet?"
Yi Hua's anger towards the nanny sent by Consort De increased significantly: "Eldest Princess, you are the only princess in our Fourth Prince's Mansion, the apple of your father's eye. When you get married, you will at least be granted the title of County Princess. Judging from your father's efforts, you may even be a County Princess. Your future husband will have to win your favor."
“Remember, to outsiders, you are surnamed Aisin Gioro, you are the emperor, and others are the ones who have to flatter you.” Yi Hua felt that there was a big problem with the eldest princess’s education.
She remembered what history books from her previous life recorded: during the Qing Dynasty, the imperial princesses had to have their nannies decide when to have sex with their husbands, otherwise they would be scolded for being lewd and disobedient. Now, the exact same thing was happening in front of her.
She absolutely will not allow it!
“But the nanny said…” the eldest princess tried to argue.
Yi Hua sneered: "The nanny said, the nanny said, she was only sent by Consort De to take care of your daily life out of kindness. If she is incompetent, then she has betrayed Consort De's sincere heart and should be killed!"
The eldest princess was frightened by the coldness in Yi Hua's tone and dared not speak for a long time.
Yi Hua put on her shoes and socks: "Princess, the most important thing for a person is to be independent. If the nanny can't control you today, then even I, your mother, won't be able to in the future. Your father loves and pities you, so don't give up your weapons."
"Cooperate well with the female doctor. Don't wear these socks and shoes again in the future," Yi Hua said finally.
When Yihua left, she ordered people to take away all the shoes and socks from the eldest princess's place and commanded the embroiderers in the mansion to make new shoes for the eldest princess overnight so that she would have new shoes to wear the next morning.
******
After returning home from his official business, Yinzhen was invited over by Yihua.
Yi Hua was somewhat annoyed and bowed to Yin Zhen: "I have something to report."
After recounting everything she had seen and heard that day, Yihua showed Yinzhen a box full of shoes and socks: "I was negligent and never expected that such outdated customs and bad habits would be so rampant."
"Where is that nanny?" Yinzhen carefully examined the eldest princess's shoes and patted Yihua's hand reassuringly. "Don't worry, the eldest princess is living right under Li Shi's nose. If she didn't notice, how could you have?"
Yi Hua showed an embarrassed expression. According to her personality, this governess would have been beaten and dismissed long ago, but after all, she was sent by Consort De.
Yinzhen understood: "Su Peisheng, go to the eldest princess's place, take down the governess, give her twenty lashes, feed her a drug to make her mute, and sell her off."
Yi Hua wiped Yin Zhen's hands: "I originally thought of keeping this nanny for the eldest princess to practice on. She wants to establish herself in the front courtyard. As long as she can suppress this nanny's arrogance, that will be fine."
Yinzhen shook his head: "The Princess Consort's intentions are good, but the eldest princess is weak and lacks her own opinions. The governess has long held power and cannot be suppressed in a short time."
"We'll take good care of her," Yinzhen said, feeling sorry for his daughter.
Yi Hua disagreed somewhat. Yinzhen's attention to the eldest princess actually far exceeded that of many fathers in this era. Even so, even though he was still a prince, the eldest princess still suffered under his nose.
There is a great deal of knowledge to be learned in the inner quarters of a woman's household, and Yi Hua has only been able to grasp a little bit of it over the years with the help of Granny Chen.
If the eldest princess doesn't learn these things at this age, she'll probably stumble when she gets married.
However, since the eldest princess was not Yihua's biological daughter, and her own father didn't seem to care, she didn't intend to try to persuade her further.
Anyway, if the eldest princess's husband dares to bully people in the future, then be prepared for a nine-generation family wipeout.
Our future Emperor Yongzheng was notorious for being vindictive.
******
During the morning court session, Liang Jiugong stood to the side and slightly behind the emperor: "If you have something to say, speak up now; otherwise, the court is adjourned!"
Yinzhen took out a memorial he had hastily written the night before from his sleeve: "Your subject has something to report."
Emperor Kangxi had not been very fond of Yinzhen lately, and said somewhat impatiently, "Speak."
"Father, I have recently learned that many officials' daughters in the court have started foot binding, and even... it has become commonplace in the palace." Yinzhen's expression was angry, showing his great hatred for this behavior. "I think it is absurd that such a bad habit can be brought back to light. It should be severely punished to show the truth."
Kangxi was somewhat surprised. Yinzhen had been working in the Ministry of Revenue and he had assumed it was a matter for the Ministry of Revenue, but it turned out to be within the scope of the Ministry of Rites.
"What are your opinions, Minister of Rites?" Kangxi asked.
The Minister of Personnel replied with a forced smile, "This... is, after all, a woman's private matter, and I have not heard of it before. However, since the Fourth Prince has submitted this memorial, it must be true. I will go back and verify it immediately."
"Investigate! I ordered you all to study Han studies to learn the ways of governing the country and ensuring peace, not to relive those sordid and depraved practices," Kangxi said in a deep voice. "Any family found to have members with bound feet will be fined three hundred taels of silver and will have to repeat a grade and be re-evaluated."
Upon hearing this, many officials' expressions changed immediately, but Yinzhen ignored the subtle scrutinizing gazes.
He did this today for two reasons: first, he didn't want the same thing to happen to the eldest princess, and second, he wanted to show his face in front of Emperor Kangxi.
He has been out of the public eye for some time now; he cannot be truly forgotten by his father, the Emperor.
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