Although the East Palace was not large, it was very delicately built. Yao Niang placed a blue and white porcelain jar outside the house, in which she kept a few koi fish, which swam back and forth nimbly.

Yao Niang placed a table in the yard and was mixing the colors of gouache, preparing to paint these koi. In order to keep her eyes bright over the years, she found that watching fish could make her eyes brighter, so she still has a lot of feelings for these koi.

This is different from Princess Zhenyang. She has her own favorite things. Besides painting, she reads books on weekdays. The only thing in her room is books. Therefore, even if she stays alone, she will not feel bored or lonely.

When Princess Zhenyang brought Wanwan over, she saw that her painting was finished. It seemed that Yao Niang had not changed at all. She was still the same as before, concentrating fully on doing something.

"The princess and Wanwan are here. Wait for me for a while. I'll talk to you after I wash my hands." Yao Niang smiled and told someone to put the painting in the study. She asked someone to fetch water to wash her hands before she greeted Princess Zhenyang and her daughter.

Wanwan is different from Princess Zhenyang. Although she is young, she is very sensible and has a quieter temperament. Yao Niang is a little bit of a care, and the little girl looks well-behaved.

"Princess, I really envy you for giving birth to such a wonderful daughter."

People envy what they lack. Her three sons were all very cute when they were young, but when they reached school age, they all had their own friends and social circles, and rarely spent time with their mother.

It is no wonder that Queen Hong likes Gao Xuance. At that time, Gao Xuance was still the Prince of Linjiang. Although he was busy with his studies, he understood women's minds very well. He could be called a friend of women. The palace is lonely, and having a son like him is more caring than a daughter.

King Zhou and Princess Zhenyang are not as pleasing to Gao Xuance in this respect, but after being with Gao Xuance for a long time, he always feels that other people are not smart enough when he gets along with them.

Princess Zhenyang was also proud of her daughter's young age, but she was so sensible, which many others could not match. However, she was not really outspoken, and instead smiled and said, "Third sister-in-law, if you like it, you can wait for the third brother to come back and have another child."

"This child is fate. I won't force it." There was no way she would give birth again just to have another daughter.

Anyway, she and Gao Xuance have reached an agreement. Although she likes girls, having a child still consumes a lot of her energy, especially now that Gao Xuance, as the crown prince, already has three legitimate sons. Chengyun and Chengze have grown up, so Yao Niang doesn't need to urge her to give birth.

Princess Zhenyang was a talker about children. Although she only had one daughter, Wanwan, she knew everything about which boy or girl was good. After she finished talking, she found that Yao Niang didn't seem to be interested in these topics and only agreed with her a few words, which made her feel strange.

After returning to Kunning Palace, she mentioned Yao Niang to Queen Hong: "She didn't talk much to me about Chengyun Chengze. I felt that Yao Niang was still like a young girl. She was either painting, reading or copying scriptures all day long."

She just doesn't have any feminine features, but it's hard to describe Princess Zhenyang.

Empress Hong could understand: "If a woman in the palace is like you all the time, she will never be favored. In her heart, your third brother is especially important. She is a cautious person about other things. When she is with you, she will naturally talk about irrelevant things. Although you haven't seen her busy with mundane affairs, everyone praises the way the Crown Princess treats the officials of the Eastern Palace. In addition, her children are much better raised than those who brag about it all day long."

Furthermore, what Empress Hong did not say was that Cheng Yundu had already been personally educated by Emperor Jianzhang and could see the emperor more often than she, the Empress, could. So why was he still showing off at this time?

Moreover, her own daughter had lost her son, and if Yao Niang still kept talking about her three sons, what would Princess Zhenyang think?

"That's true. Not to mention Ji'er and Huan'er, even Xun'er can eat by himself at the age of one." Princess Zhenyang was very impressed after hearing this.

The next time Yao Niang came to Queen Hong's place and personally handed the embroidered brocade carp sachet to Queen Hong, Princess Zhenyang finally understood her filial piety.

Queen Hong liked it very much. Yao Niang explained: "This is embroidered by my daughter-in-law using the scale needle technique. I hope you like it."

"What are you talking about? There is nothing I don't like."

"That's good."

…

After that, it was Yao Niang’s birthday. It was a hot day, and there was a lot of ice in the East Palace, but there were many people, so it was very hot there.

Early in the morning, Cheng Yun came back from Funing Palace. Yao Niang hadn't seen her son for a long time. Cheng Yun knelt down and kowtowed to wish her a long life: "I wish you, mother, a long and healthy life."

"You are really good at talking. Get up quickly so that your mother can see you properly." She just wanted to see Cheng Yun. He was all alone with the emperor. A little kid was being stared at every day. If he was not careful, he would easily be held against without even knowing it.

Although Chengyun was young, he was an extraordinary person because he grew up under the care of Emperor Jianzhang. He was able to keep many things to himself at such a young age. For example, Yao Niang taught him that if a minister does not keep secrets, the monarch's mistakes will occur. No matter whether the emperor's actions were right or wrong, it was not something that a minister could discuss, especially the monarch's mistakes.

It was only when the mother and son were talking in private that Cheng Yun said, "Grandfather Huang has always wanted me to be close to my fifth uncle."

The fifth and sixth princes are the sons of Concubine Li Guifei and the emperor's youngest sons. Emperor Jianzhang now loves these two little ones very much.

Yao Niang thought, calculating the age of the emperor in the previous life, he should not live for many years. In this life, Emperor Jianzhang was not a healthy emperor either. Arranging for Cheng Yun to befriend the fifth prince so quickly, probably with the intention of entrusting the orphan to his care.

Therefore, she smiled and said to Cheng Yun: "Since your royal grandfather said so, then you should listen to him. Yes, your grandmother and others will also come to the palace to celebrate my mother's birthday today. You should come out and see them then."

"Yes, son remembers grandma and the others." Chengyun has a good memory.

Yao Niang was surprised: "Do you remember everything?"

Cheng Yun nodded: "Grandma spoke very kindly, my eldest aunt was very thin, I don't remember much about my second aunt, but my third aunt had a big belly, right?"

"All right, my son is awesome." Yao Niang gave a thumbs up.

Cheng Yun only showed his childish pride in front of his mother, "Of course, my son still remembers that my cousin's wife looks a bit like you."

The cousin-in-law she was talking about was Luo Jingrou's daughter Wang Song. Strangely enough, when she grew up, she looked somewhat like herself. In fact, Yao Niang looked similar to Yu, but she was like Luo Zhizheng in some ways.

Speaking of Wang Song, Yao Niang has always been wary of her because her mother is wary of her. In her previous life, there was Lin Chaoyan, and she doesn't know what to make of Wang Song in this life.

But she often lived in the palace and was unaware of many things happening in her parents' home.

However, what surprised Yao Niang was that Yu Yan was among those who came to the palace to celebrate the birthday. She was a little surprised, but it was not convenient for Yu to explain in public.

After little Jiang passed away, Yu Yan, who was originally a concubine, was promoted to the wife, which Yu felt was inappropriate. However, old lady Dou had already passed away, and Jiang from the next room had already made arrangements with the Jiang family, after all, she gave birth to Luo Jingfa's eldest son.

Luo Jingfa is now in his forties, but he relies on his family's influence to appoint people to official positions, and his official position is not high. He is a playboy and doesn't want to be controlled by others. He makes Yu Yan his wife and can also improve his relationship with the first wife. What's wrong with that?

Therefore, now that Yu Yan was able to come here, even Jiang and Luo Jingfa’s original wives’ families didn’t say anything, let alone her as an aunt.

Yao Niang said with a smile: "It's really hard for you to take the trouble to send so many gifts."

"That's not what the Crown Princess said. It's our blessing that we can enter the palace to celebrate your birthday." Yu also smiled.

Fan also flattered her, but Zhu was the only one who felt uneasy.

Zhu's husband Luo Jingyuan defected to King Zhou. Although Gao Xuance did not make any plans and had no time to make any plans before going to the battlefield, Yu and others could not help but bring her along.

But Yao Niang's expression was obviously much colder, and everyone could still feel the subtle difference when they were in the situation.

Wang Song saw it clearly, of course. She had two layers of mother-in-law around her, so she didn't dare to interrupt casually. Yao Niang didn't talk much to them either. She just asked if there was anything going on at home, or talked about the opera troupe and so on.

When they finally left, Yao Niang glanced at Yu Yan and said meaningfully, "Father was forced to resign because of my second sister's incident a few years ago. Now that father is in a high position, he must be more careful. A thousand-mile embankment can be destroyed by an ant hole."

After hearing this, Yu dared not be careless.

After returning home, he immediately told Luo Zhizheng what Yao Niang had said: "I saw that she looked serious and was not joking. In my opinion, she probably saw Yu Yan."

When he heard about Yu Yan, Luo Zhizheng was relieved: "Your niece's matter is not a big deal. She is the only woman in Jingfa's backyard who gave birth to the eldest son. She is also a daughter of the Yu family, so it is normal for her to be promoted to the first wife."

There is nothing wrong with Xiao Jiang. Those women who were sold out by Xiao Jiang and beaten to death, who can they go to for redress? In the past, Xiao Jiang relied on the Jiang family's influence, and now Yu Yan relies on the Yu family's influence, so she can do whatever she wants.

Luo Zhizheng was not a person who was overly concerned with etiquette.

"Now that I hear that, I feel relieved," said Mrs. Yu with a smile.

Luo Zhizheng nodded: "Mrs. Yao is very cautious in her actions in the palace, which is a good thing."

But as for Zhu, Yu said directly: "Next time, don't let her enter the palace. I saw that Yao Niang was very cold to her. Although they are all family, the second son had frequent contacts with King Zhou at that time. Yao Niang should know about it, so she doesn't like it."

The former dynasty and the harem are closely related.

Regarding Zhu, Yao Niang said to Cheng Yun: "She is your second aunt, and we had a good relationship before, but they are my family. At that time, your second uncle publicly supported the King of Zhou. If I didn't react, they would really think I was a fool."

Luo Jingyuan thinks that people should judge the situation and join this one today and that one tomorrow. As long as it is beneficial, it doesn't matter. It's the general trend. But even Gao Jian kept coming to her later, and even Gao Xuance was still wary of him. Luo Jingyuan had never helped them before, so why should she give him this face?

Shi Yu was quickly called back by Aunt Qin, who also interceded for Luo Jingyuan and his wife: "The Crown Princess and Consort will be treated differently. How will your second brother and his wife live in the family in the future? In fact, your second brother also did it for the family. The situation was unclear back then, and we couldn't just throw all our eggs in one basket."

"Besides, everyone was optimistic about King Zhou at that time, including Queen Hong. The Crown Princess was still respectful to Queen Hong."

Aunt Qin's lifelong hopes are all on her son. Only if her daughter-in-law is successful can she have a foothold in the Luo family.

"Auntie..." Shi Yu had no choice.

…

When we got to Yao Niang's place, she was taking her little son to school. The quieter the house was, the better. Princess Zhenyang had left the palace, and Yao Niang's place was very quiet.

Only when one is quiet can one learn things well. Although Xun Ge'er is still young, he likes to dismantle mechanical gadgets, and he can even reassemble them after disassembling them. Yao Niang does not think that this is a strange and ingenious skill. Instead, she has people collect some of them, and she spends an hour and a half every day accompanying her son to dismantle mechanical gadgets and then reassemble them.

She herself did not understand the particularly difficult math, so she just read books and figured it out on her own. In the end, her son's hands-on skills improved, and she also made great progress.

"It is true that understanding the world is a great learning."

Bai Zhi came over and said, "Crown Princess, the Queen wants you to come over."

Yao Niang didn't know what was going on, but she had always been disgusted by Empress Hong's behavior of crossing the river and destroying the bridge. Even though they seemed to be in harmony now, she couldn't completely believe it.

At this time, Empress Hong was smiling and saying to Huang Rushuang, "From now on, you will live with Wanwan, in the East Palace together. When the Crown Princess comes over later, have you learned the rules at home?"

Huang Rushuang nodded quickly.

Crown Princess Luo was said to be a great beauty.

In Huang Rushuang's mind, her mother was of noble birth, of high moral character and upright. Among the people she had met, Princess Zhenyang was innocent and warm-hearted, and she was worthy of being her mother's close friend. So what kind of person was Luo, who was said to have snatched her mother's position as Crown Princess?

When the Crown Princess arrived at the gate of Kunning Palace on her shoulders, the eunuchs and palace maids were already kneeling on the ground. A young girl soon appeared at the gate, and Huang Rushuang was almost stunned.

She was dressed in a light gauze, which made her figure look exceptionally slender, yet she did not look like a willow swaying in the wind. Instead, she seemed graceful, smiling before she spoke, with bright eyes, and an elegant demeanor, with unparalleled beauty.

"Your servant pays her respects to the Crown Princess." Huang Rushuang knelt down and kowtowed, thinking to herself, her mother said that she was only a few years older than the Crown Princess, but judging from her appearance, her mother seemed to be a dozen years older than her. She was too young.

Yao Niang unexpectedly saw Huang Rushuang here, a girl of about ten years old, with a bun on her head, beautiful face, elegant manners, very calm, and polite. She couldn't help but smile and said, "Please stand up quickly. Why do you call yourself a servant? You are also the daughter of an official."

"Thank you, Princess." Huang Rushuang breathed a sigh of relief.

Then I heard Empress Hong say, "The emperor has asked several new concubines to live here to learn the rules. You are Wanwan's aunt, and I want them to live with you. It just so happens that the crown prince is on the expedition to the east, and you are lonely. It would be great to have them accompany you."

It's not a big deal for this aunt to take care of her niece.

Wanwan didn't care because her mother had a good relationship with the Crown Princess' aunt. But Huang Rushuang heard her mother mention that the Crown Princess had some grudges with her, so she couldn't help feeling nervous.