Thanks to Hongtao's words, Jiaming was able to put her worries aside. With some free time, she asked Hongtao to bring her the storybook.
“My lady, you’re in your postpartum period, you can’t overexert yourself.” Even as she said this, Hongtao still brought over the storybook, and then added, “You can’t read it for too long.”
As for why she wasn't allowed to see it, it's because she couldn't reason with Jiaming and had to compromise.
As Jiaming took the storybook from Hongtao, she smiled and said, "Don't worry, I've never read it for too long. I won't."
And so she read storybooks, ate, slept, and breastfed her child... until the next morning when a knock came at the door, and a familiar child's voice called out, "Mother."
It's Xuan'er. Thinking back to the time I just checked the pocket watch, it's early in the morning. Clearly, he not only returned from the palace, but also came straight here as soon as he got back.
On New Year's Eve, they definitely had to stay up all night. Xuan'er, who was so young, must have been very tired and sleepy. He could have gone back to sleep and then come to her, but he came instead. Jiaming understood that the little guy wanted her to see him and put her mind at ease, and her heart warmed instantly.
"Come in!" As she spoke, her voice suddenly rose and became urgent.
Looking at the little guy, still dressed in the same bright red outfit as yesterday, although he wasn't as energetic as yesterday (after all, he had stayed up all night), he still seemed alright. So Jiaming felt a little more at ease, thinking that he should be fine.
As she lay half-reclined on the bed, her thoughts raced through her mind. Then she reached out to gesture for the little one to come closer and sit on the kang (heated brick bed).
Hongxuan quickly sat down on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), called out "Mother," and then his eyes involuntarily fell on the swaddled baby who was also on the kang.
"Hmm!" Jiaming responded while using her special ability to check on Hongxuan. After finding everything normal, she felt relieved of her last worry. She smiled as she watched Hongxuan reach out and tease her second son's clenched fists, deliberately extending her index finger for the little fists to hold, and gently moving it occasionally.
However, thinking that the little one hadn't slept all night and must be tired, she said softly, "Xuan'er must be tired. If you're tired, go back to sleep first. As for your brother, you can come see him after he wakes up."
"I am a little tired (physically tired), but not sleepy yet. I'll talk to you later." Xiao Hongxuan said that as soon as he saw his cute little brother, much of the sleepiness he had accumulated all night disappeared. The little bit left was not enough for him to give up his cute little fists to tease his little brother and to poke his little tofu-like cheeks.
"Alright, whatever you say." Jiaming immediately steered the conversation towards the palace on New Year's Eve, "How was last night?"
When asked a question, the little guy kept his head down, occasionally fiddling with his younger brother's little fist and poking his cheek, but he didn't forget to answer Jiaming.
For example, "My royal uncles and elder brothers really like me. They always want to pinch and poke my cheeks, just like I like my younger brother..."
For example, "I get along very well with my cousins. They like me a lot and always want to play with me, but they can never beat me, whether it's dice or cards, I always win."
"I see," Jiaming interjected thoughtfully, "So your cousins who lost to you weren't angry or embarrassed, or they didn't want to play with you anymore because you kept winning?"
It seems like a lot of kids are like that, right?
The little guy nodded and then shook his head.
"What do you mean?" Jiaming didn't understand.
"After losing a lot, some people get angry and embarrassed, but they quickly get over it."
"Oh?" Jiaming raised an eyebrow and asked.
"That's it." As she said this, a warm smile immediately spread across the little girl's fair face.
Jiaming was momentarily dazzled. She blinked and understood. With the infectious power of the little guy's smile, he could definitely win over the grandson of the emperor, whose mind wasn't as deep as that of the princes. After all, even the princes adored the little guy because of his smile.
"But there are also people who don't like Xuan'er, and the way they look at Xuan'er is particularly annoying." Just as Jiaming figured it out, the little guy continued.
Upon hearing this, Jiaming asked, "Who?"
Before Hongxuan could answer, Granny Sun, who had come into the room with him, added, "It's Princess Wang from the Eighth Prince's residence, the one who just gave birth to the Eighth Prince's first son."
After learning that it was Wang Xuezhen from the Eighth Prince's residence, Jiaming was no longer puzzled or surprised.
"It's her. It's not surprising. At yesterday's New Year's Eve banquet, she just looked at Xuan'er with dislike, which is nothing. After all, she had previously reached out to me quite a bit."
"Why did she attack you, Princess?" Granny Sun had wanted to ask yesterday, but there wasn't enough time, as she was about to leave for a banquet at the palace.
Jiaming remained silent for a moment, then laid out the matter: "That woman named Wang Xuezhen faked her death and entered the Eighth Master's mansion. Before she faked her death, she and I had a falling out."
Feigning death? What could possibly require feigning death to escape?!
Is there a rift between you and her? Could it be, as Granny Sun asks, that the rift between you and her is related to her faking her death?
Jiaming nodded, glanced at Xiao Hongxuan who had stopped teasing his younger brother and was listening attentively to her, and continued, "To be precise, it's related to Master. She wanted to enter Master's household, but she wasn't a Manchu and couldn't participate in the imperial concubine selection, so..."
After Jiaming explained the grievances between her and Wang Shi, Granny Sun was at a loss for words.
Jiaming ignored the silence in the room and broke the quiet by saying, "The reason I'm telling you this is so that you know what kind of person Wang is, and don't underestimate her and let her take advantage of you."
"Mother, Xuan'er will be careful of her." Little Hongxuan didn't think as much as Granny Sun and spoke up first.
After Jiaming nodded to Xiao Hongxuan, Granny Sun spoke with a solemn expression, "Master, should we tell the master about this? After all, the master was also tricked by her before, and since she is still not giving up on attacking you, Princess, the master will not let that Wang Shi off the hook. With the master's intervention, you and the Fourth Prince will be able to rest easy and will not need to be so careful of her."
Jiaming shook her head. "Granny, you've misunderstood. Even if the master knew, he wouldn't be able to do anything about it. After all, that woman gave birth to the first prince for the master's younger brother—Eighth Prince—and is Eighth Prince's person. It wouldn't be good if word got out that she was interfering in her brother's affairs. Besides, although we're sure she's the dead Wang Xuezhen, there's no concrete evidence. And she also erased all the evidence of her schemes against me last time."
That's what she said, but in reality, there was only one reason why she didn't want to tell the Fourth Master: she found out something that even he couldn't find out, and the implications behind that were quite intriguing.
She didn't want the next time Fourth Master cleaned up the backyard, the person being cleaned up to be hers; that would be terrible.
Granny Sun was convinced by her reasoning and didn't guess this point.
As for Jiaming's request, just keep it in mind and keep it a secret; as for telling the master, wait until you have evidence, otherwise the master won't believe you.
Granny Sun nodded in agreement.
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