Chapter 547 Jealousy (Second Update)
Fortunately, Eunuch Qin arrived at that moment.
"Little Dengzi, what are you still standing here for? Didn't I tell you to crack the walnuts?" Eunuch Qin scolded the little eunuch, then bowed to Princess Ning'an, "Princess, did this useless servant offend you?"
Princess Ning'an said gently, "No, you call him Little Dengzi, right? I like him very much."
Xiao Dengzi was flattered!
Eunuch Qin hurriedly said to Xiao Dengzi, "Hurry up and thank the princess for her kindness!"
"Yes! Yes!" Little Dengzi knelt down and kowtowed to Princess Ning'an. "Thank you for your kindness, Princess!"
"Go down," Princess Ning'an said.
"yes!"
Xiao Dengzi has stepped down.
Eunuch Qin smiled and said to Princess Ning'an, "Your Highness is a little late today. Is there too much business in Bixia Palace? If you don't have enough servants, I will send you a few more capable palace maids."
Princess Ning'an politely replied, "No need, my son and I don't need that many palace servants."
Eunuch Qin said, "I watched the princess grow up. If the princess needs anything, she doesn't need to be so polite with me."
Princess Ning'an gave a faint smile.
Princess Ning'an used to be a lively and cheerful girl, but ever since she returned from the border, all her happiness seemed to have vanished, and Eunuch Qin rarely saw her smile.
Even when she does laugh, there's a hint of helplessness and bitterness in her voice.
Eunuch Qin sighed inwardly.
What a terrible thing to do.
If it weren't for Consort Jing using the prince consort to set up a trap with a handsome man, how could Princess Ning'an have fallen for him to this extent?
“Eunuch Qin,” Princess Ning’an suddenly spoke.
"Princess, please give your orders," said Eunuch Qin respectfully.
Princess Ning'an said bluntly, "Have you noticed that Doctor Gu looks a lot like me?"
“I’ve found it! The back view is remarkably similar! The temperament is also somewhat similar, and then…” Eunuch Qin stopped with a sheepish smile.
Princess Ning'an finished speaking for him, saying what he dared not say aloud: "Then I have a scar on my face, and I always wear begonia makeup. She has a birthmark on her face, which looks just like my begonia makeup."
Eunuch Qin chuckled dryly: "Ah... that's how it is."
Actually, Eunuch Qin didn't think it was exactly the same, but at first glance, there was something on the left side of the face.
Princess Ning'an walked forward: "How did Mother Empress meet Doctor Gu?"
Eunuch Qin stepped forward and said, "When the Empress Dowager and Miss Gu first met, this old servant was in the palace and not by the Empress Dowager's side. I'm afraid you will have to ask the Empress Dowager about the details yourself."
Although Eunuch Qin was not by the Empress Dowager's side, he later learned the whole story from her.
He didn't tell Princess Ning'an because he felt it wasn't something he should say.
Princess Ning'an said, "If Doctor Gu were to ask Eunuch Qin how Mother first met me, would Eunuch Qin also have Doctor Gu personally inquire with Mother?"
Eunuch Qin choked.
Princess Ning'an smiled faintly: "I was just joking."
"Ah." Eunuch Qin secretly broke out in a cold sweat, thinking to himself that this joke had gone a bit too far.
Princess Ning'an then asked, "Can Miss Gu impersonate me to please the Empress Dowager?"
Eunuch Qin choked again.
He smiled and said, "Princess, you are of noble birth. How could Miss Gu really resemble you so much? You can't pretend, you can't even pretend!"
Princess Ning'an said softly, "It seems not. I thought that the Empress Dowager doted on her so much because she saw my former self in her."
Eunuch Qin: Princess, please don't tell me everything on your mind. It puts a lot of pressure on me.
Fortunately, Princess Ning'an did not say anything else that would embarrass Eunuch Qin on the rest of the journey.
Eunuch Qin escorted Princess Ning'an to Empress Dowager Zhuang's bedroom.
Little Jingkong couldn't stay still. He didn't sit in his aunt's bedroom for long before he disappeared in a flash.
The bedchamber was unusually quiet at this moment.
Eunuch Qin pushed open the half-closed door, and a young palace maid tiptoed out, bowed to the two of them, and whispered, "Princess, Eunuch Qin, the Empress Dowager has retired for the night."
Princess Ning'an asked with concern, "So early? Is Mother feeling unwell?"
The palace maid shook her head: "Doctor Gu just took the Empress Dowager's pulse and said there's nothing seriously wrong. The Empress Dowager is just tired."
Princess Ning'an's expression softened slightly, and she nodded, saying, "Then let Mother rest well. I won't go in and disturb you. I'll come again tomorrow."
The young palace maid curtsied and said, "Respectfully seeing off the princess."
Princess Ning'an turned and left Renshou Palace. On the other side, Gu Jiao finished repairing the swing and went to her bedchamber to bid farewell to Empress Dowager Zhuang.
Princess Ning'an turned around and saw Gu Jiao enter Empress Dowager Zhuang's bedroom as if it were her own.
No notification is needed, and there is no obstruction.
Eunuch Qin glanced at Princess Ning'an, then at Gu Jiao who had just entered the bedchamber, and felt extremely embarrassed.
He didn't know how to explain that he had absolutely not treated the two masters differently. It was just that the Empress Dowager hadn't used palace rules to restrain Miss Gu, and that Miss Gu was the same here as she was in Biyue Hutong.
When she was with Miss Gu, Empress Dowager Zhuang was no longer the powerful empress dowager, but just an old aunt from Bishui Hutong.
Unlike when she met Ning An, who was a princess and she was the empress, the rules were established from the very beginning.
Princess Ning'an murmured, "It seems that Mother really dotes on Doctor Gu."
Eunuch Qin hurriedly said, "The Empress Dowager dotes on you the most, Princess. You are good at following the rules. Doctor Gu grew up in the countryside and doesn't quite understand some of the palace rules. The Empress Dowager is old and doesn't like to argue with young girls."
Princess Ning'an smiled faintly: "Eunuch Qin, there's no need to rush to defend yourself. I won't make things difficult for her."
Eunuch Qin laughed and said, "That's right, that's right. You are a princess, you are magnanimous, you would never hold a grudge against a little girl."
Princess Ning'an nodded: "Please wait, Eunuch Qin."
Eunuch Qin bowed and said, "Princess, please take care!"
After Princess Ning'an disappeared into the night, Eunuch Qin returned to his small pond where he raised turtles.
Empress Dowager Zhuang was incredibly kind to him, even digging a pond just for him to raise turtles.
In the palace, he couldn't trust anyone's words, so he only confided his worries to this pool of little turtles.
He touched the little turtle on the far side and sighed, "I have a feeling that the princess is a little jealous of Miss Gu."
He held a turtle in his left hand: "Miss Gu."
A turtle in his right hand: "Princess Ning'an."
They were all his young masters to whom he had to serve, so he had to treat them all equally and not show favoritism to any of them.
He looked at the turtle in his right hand and said, "I've watched you grow up since you were a baby. I even changed your clothes when you wet your pants."
He then looked at the turtle in his left hand: "You saved the Empress Dowager's life. With you by her side, she doesn't have to live such a tiring life. You take care of everything for her."
He then looked at the turtle on his right and said, "From childhood to adulthood, the Empress Dowager has always doted on you the most and never let you suffer any grievances."
He then looked at the turtle on his left: "Thank you for protecting the Empress Dowager so well, giving her someone to rely on."
Alas, as a loyal servant, he should have been more loyal to Princess Ning'an, whom he had raised.
But why does he prefer the turtle in his left hand?
...
"Jiaojiao!" On the way back in the carriage, Xiao Jingkong sat obediently next to Gu Jiao and tugged at her hand.
"Aren't you sleepy?" Gu Jiao asked, taking his small hand in hers.
Xiao Jingkong shook his head.
Gu Jiao hummed in agreement: "That's strange. You didn't take a nap today, yet you're not sleepy at all. Were you scared by the puppy?"
"No." The puppy was indeed pitiful, but Xiao Jingkong wasn't a child who was easily frightened. He opened his big, dark eyes wide, his long eyelashes fluttering, and pointed to the big trees by the roadside, saying, "Jiaojiao, those tree branches are broken. Are they in a lot of pain?"
Gu Jiao thought for a moment: "It might hurt, but their branches will grow back in the spring."
"Then... what about the flowers?" Xiao Jingkong asked again, "If the flowers are picked, will they grow back?"
"Mm." Gu Jiao nodded.
Little Jingkong stuck his little head out and shook it: "What about my little head? Can it grow out too?"
Gu Jiaojiao trembled: "That's not allowed!"
"Oh." Xiao Jingkong sat up straight again, swinging his short little legs. "What if it's legs, Jiaojiao? If you don't have legs, can they grow back like tree branches?"
Gu Jiao patted his little head, and regretfully but cruelly told him, "It won't grow."
Xiao Jingkong lowered his head: "Oh."
He asked such a question as soon as he met Huangfu Xian, so it was certainly not without reason.
Her pure heart is the warmest child in the world.
Gu Jiao rubbed his little head: "Although it can't grow back, it can be helped to stand up again."
Suddenly, light returned to Xiao Jingkong's dull eyes: "Really? Can I really, really stand up?"
Gu Jiao smiled and said, "Okay, as long as he tries hard enough."
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(End of this chapter)
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