Chapter 5 Self-Discipline and Restoration of Propriety In the main courtyard, the Princess Consort lovingly stroked the black...
In the main courtyard, the Princess Consort lovingly patted Wulinzhu's head and had a maid lead her to sit down. She then inquired of the wet nurse about the eldest princess's diet and daily life.
The wet nurse spoke methodically, recounting details such as what time the eldest princess went to bed and woke up, how much she ate each day, and whether she woke up at night, as if she knew them all by heart.
The princess listened carefully, and finally said in a deep voice, "Granny, you've worked hard. But you should know that I only have one princess."
The wet nurse immediately bowed and replied, "This servant will certainly serve the eldest princess with all my heart."
The Princess Consort nodded, signaling to her maid, Suxin, to give the reward, and then dismissed her. Granny Shuang, watching the Princess Consort and the eldest princess speak, also slowly retreated outside.
The wet nurse, holding the reward money, thought about what had just happened. She tugged at Shuang's sleeve, stepped back under the window, and whispered, "Shuang, there's something I don't know if I should mention."
Granny Shuang frowned. "What is it that you're unsure about, and you're coming to tell me instead of telling the Princess Consort?"
The wet nurse then told me about how the eldest princess had run off to watch the Cheng princess kick the sandbag. "We were supposed to go through the west gate, but the commotion on the east side was too loud. The eldest princess is fast, and before I knew it, she had slipped past my sleeve and run over there."
Granny Shuang knew everything that happened in the backyard. She despised Consort Cheng's clueless and silly ways. But the girl was happy to be silly, so why should Granny Shuang complain? Even the Fujin (princess's wife) didn't have a rule forbidding the lower-ranking concubines from playing around.
But while it's fun to play around, it's unacceptable to corrupt the eldest princess.
Granny Shuang lowered her eyes and said, "Alright, I'll mention it to the Fujin. You should keep a close eye on the eldest princess."
The wet nurse was someone who couldn't be sure whether the princess would allow the eldest princess to play with it. Hearing what Granny Shuang said, she understood what she meant and patted her chest, saying, "The eldest princess grew up on my milk since she was a baby. How could I not care!"
Inside the main hall, the Fujin (principal wife) and the eldest princess chatted for a while, mainly about how many words she had recently learned and whether the nanny had taught her needlework.
Ulinzhu answered obediently, "My nanny taught me several Manchu phrases and I also know more than a dozen Chinese characters." As she spoke, she smiled unconsciously, revealing a few small teeth. "I can already use a needle. My nanny only lets me learn to insert needles. My nanny also said that I have a talent for needlework."
The princess consort patted her little bun with satisfaction, but still instructed her, "A woman's beauty lies in her quiet demeanor. Ulinzhu, when you smile, you should not show your teeth, remember?"
Wulinzhu quickly wiped the corners of her mouth, pursed her lips, and gave a standard smile typical of women today, nodding heavily.
"Good child," the Fujin said, ordering someone to bring some snacks. After feeding her half a piece of milk cake, she had someone take her back to the backyard. Watching the small figure slowly leave, the Fujin couldn't help but clench her handkerchief and whispered, "My only daughter, I would give anything for her future."
Granny Shuang whispered from the side, "The Buddha will know the kind heart of the Princess Consort."
The princess closed her eyes slightly and slowly exhaled.
Logically, the eldest princess should have lived with her in the main courtyard, but she instead allowed the second prince's concubine to move in, while moving the eldest princess to the back courtyard. This was because the second prince's temperament had worsened since Suo'etu's death, and now, having lost his position as crown prince, he was even more unpredictable. As the principal wife, she couldn't avoid him, but she didn't want to gamble on whether the second prince had any fatherly compassion for his daughter. Moving the eldest princess far away was her way of showing her good intentions.
Seeing that the Princess Consort had calmed down a bit, Granny Shuang repeated what the wet nurse had just said. "The eldest princess is at the age where she should begin to learn manners," she added.
The Princess Consort pondered for a moment and said, "Being kind to one's inferiors doesn't mean one shouldn't allow others to laugh or joke." However, the eldest princess's upbringing is indeed a problem.
She began learning the etiquette of entering the palace at the age of eight, and after seven or eight years of study, she was successfully made Crown Princess. She knew best what kind of person the Emperor liked.
She was a woman of upright character. When the Emperor first assigned her the role of Granny Shuang to teach her manners, he often compared her to Empress Zhangsun. Empress Zhangsun was kind, generous, and impartial; she was not jealous or envious and could offer advice. Over the years, she had acted in this way, which is why the Emperor was very pleased with her as a daughter-in-law and praised her virtue in public on several occasions.
One type is like a princess, such as Princess Wenxian, the daughter of Consort De in the palace. While many princesses needed to be sent to serve the Mongols, this princess didn't marry outside the capital, showing she truly had the Emperor's favor. However, her fate was unfortunate; she died a few years after marrying into the capital. What was Princess Wenxian like? Everyone described her as quiet, gentle, and elegant.
Given the current situation, neither she nor the Second Prince can influence the future of the Eldest Princess. The only way out for the Eldest Princess is to gain the Emperor's favor.
Does His Majesty like his granddaughter, Wulinzhu? Undoubtedly, he does. He even bestowed many gifts upon her when she was born. However, this affection alone is not enough; Wulinzhu must grow up to be the kind of person His Majesty desires in order to have a brighter future!
The princess made up her mind and calmly decided on Wulinzhu's future: "Tell the eldest princess's wet nurse to assign more homework, such as memorizing books, recognizing characters, and doing needlework."
This meant that the eldest princess would be effectively confined to the west side hall. Granny Shuang thought to herself, then accepted the order and left.
In the east wing of the backyard, Cheng Qianyue was making sandbags. She was using pretty silk fabrics in shades of pink and light blue. To make them look nicer, she even took the rare step of embroidering a few small apricot-yellow flowers on them.
She sat on the kang (a heated brick bed) embroidering, while Ruoyun moved a small stool and sat below to embroider as well. This simple pattern of petals and leaves didn't require much effort; a flower could be embroidered in almost fifteen minutes.
Ruoyun paused briefly to rest, then looked at Cheng Qianyue and said, "The eldest princess will definitely like this kind of sandbag."
Cheng Qianyue replied with a smile, "Definitely."
She could tell from the way the eldest princess looked at her this morning that she liked this. Come to think of it, what could a child possibly play with in the palace? She'd definitely want a punching bag that she could kick and move.
When she saw the princess's expectant yet timid eyes, her heart melted. Ah, although she was a true member of the imperial family, she was just an adorable little girl right now, so cute!
She initially thought of giving the sandbag to the girl if she liked it. However, she then realized that the sandbag had been kicked and handled, and its surface was grime-covered and dirty; she definitely couldn't give it to her. So, Cheng Qianyue decided to make a few new ones and send them over.
Hearing this, Ruoyun became unusually eager and helped her think about what fabric to use to make it look nice. She even drew several embroidery patterns and brought different colored needles and threads for her to choose from.
Before evening, four brightly colored beanbags were finished. Two of them even had colorful tassels sewn onto their corners. Cheng Qianyue had a wonderful plan: two were for playing, and the other two were for looking at—each beanbag had its own purpose! And considering that the eldest princess had small hands and feet, she had deliberately made the beanbag a size smaller than the one she would play with.
Seeing Cheng Qianyue's expression of admiration, as if she were reluctant to give her away, Ruoyun quickly said, "Princess, how about I send them over right away?" Then she added, "The two we kicked earlier are a bit damaged. Let me make two more when I get back."
Cheng Qianyue had already planned this, so she said, "That's what I was thinking too. Then you can send these four to the west side hall."
Ruoyun agreed, quickly picked up the sandbag from the table, placed it on a tray, and went out. She soon arrived at the west side. Rong'er, the palace maid guarding the door, recognized her as Cheng Qianyue's personal maid and stepped forward to greet her.
Ruoyun gave a slight curtsy and said "hello," then smiled and said, "Sister, this is a beanbag made by our princess, specially given to the eldest princess to play with."
Rong'er lowered her eyes but did not refuse. She simply said, "Thank you very much, Princess Cheng. The eldest princess is practicing calligraphy right now. I'll go and inform the nanny first."
Ruoyun gave a soft "Ah," handed the sandbag to her, and stood with her hands at her sides. A moment later, the eldest princess's wet nurse came out and said, "Thank you for your trouble, princess. This is a reward from the eldest princess."
Ruoyun accepted the gift with both hands. Although she couldn't go in and meet the eldest princess, she still happily bowed.
After she left, Rong'er, who was standing inside the door, asked softly, "Granny, what do you think of those sandbags...?"
The wet nurse glanced at them, then looked at the eldest princess practicing calligraphy behind the screen, and said in a low voice, "Keep it at the bottom of the trunk. From now on, things like these sandbags are not allowed to appear in front of the eldest princess."
Rong'er sighed inwardly. Though her steps were light, her movements were swift. She turned and went to the storeroom, casually stuffing the sandbags into a box. Looking at the sandbags, she thought, "What a waste of these lovely little things."
Cheng Qianyue was slow to realize something again. Had she done something wrong again? Because four or five days had passed since she sent the sandbag over, and the eldest princess hadn't come out to play.
Ruoyun was also unsure. If the eldest princess didn't like the things? That couldn't be. She had clearly seen the eldest princess's expression that day. Was it that the Fujin (principal wife) wouldn't allow it? They didn't know either; the Fujin hadn't sent anyone to tell them.
"What do you think happened?" Cheng Qianyue asked, looking towards the west with a puzzled expression.
Ruoyun thought for a moment before saying, "Perhaps it's because the eldest princess's wet nurse is strict. Or perhaps the eldest princess doesn't like playing shuttlecock in front of the eunuchs."
Oh, that makes sense. It seems not everyone is as unambitious as her.
Cheng Qianyue chuckled softly. She seemed to have been too caught up in her surroundings again. Really, the environment in this palace really does influence a person, she thought. What was that saying again: environment determines thinking, thinking determines action, and action determines results. She should be thankful that her mind hadn't been influenced by the environment! Hmm, congratulations!
After a while, Ruoyun gave her another idea that could guess the emperor's intentions: observe the Spring Equinox. This year's Spring Equinox came later than usual, falling on the 20th of February. Every year on the Spring Equinox, the emperors in the palace would bestow Hundred Flower Cakes upon the head of the household.
"If we're unsure of the Princess's intentions, then we'll just see if she rewards us with flower cakes," she said.
Cheng Qianyue really wanted to tell her that she didn't actually care that much about the Fujin's attitude. But seeing Ruoyun's smug look, she ultimately didn't say anything to discourage her.
A note from the author:
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