Chapter 378 Mother-Daughter Knot
Xiao Baozhu's eyes turned, and a hint of confusion appeared in her eyes.
Nanny Wu wiped away her tears and then spoke.
"After the Queen gave birth to the princess, she suddenly became irritable, hot and cold. In the middle of the night, she couldn't sleep and cried loudly. Once, she pointed a sharp knife at her own neck, which scared me half to death..."
Nanny Wu still remembers what happened at that time.
Empress Sun had her hair loose and held a sharp knife in her hand, cutting her hair bit by bit and occasionally putting it on her neck to gesture.
Seeing Madam Wu, she asked, "Madam, if this sharp knife pierces my neck, will I die?"
From then on, Nanny Wu put away all the scissors in the hall and stared at her intently.
But it still couldn't be prevented.
She began to scratch her arms with the hairpin.
That's how the dense wounds on it came about.
Another time, Empress Sun was walking on the city wall while holding the Ninth Princess in her arms. Suddenly, she said, "I really want to jump off from here."
There are countless examples like this.
"During that time, the Empress had attempted suicide countless times, both openly and covertly. I thought she was possessed by an evil spirit, but I didn't dare to alert the imperial physician. I had no choice but to find a witch to exorcise the evil spirits for her, but it was still ineffective."
"Later, we found a folk doctor to treat the queen. He discovered that she was ill. This condition is common in women who have just given birth. It is postpartum depression caused by blood flowing into the mind."
"I just remembered that when the eldest prince was born, the Empress also suffered from a similar depression. However, this time, the Empress's symptoms were aggravated."
"The itinerant doctor said that in order to alleviate the symptoms, the child and mother must be separated. I was also worried that the Queen would do something to harm you, so I allowed you to live in the West Garden."
"The Empress's illness has been intermittent for several years, recurring repeatedly with no cure. She has been very cold towards you and unwilling to get close to you. But in fact, the Empress has you in her heart. During the period when her condition improved, she once came to your room in the middle of the night, stroked your swaddling clothes, and cried."
"Over the years, you've suffered a lot of injustice. There are always people gossiping about you, saying that the Queen dislikes you because you're a princess and doesn't like you. Those are just people with ulterior motives deliberately instigating things. The Queen doesn't dislike you, she's just sick. It's just that this illness can't be told to outsiders and can only be hidden. Don't blame her..."
It took Empress Sun five or six years to slowly recover from postpartum depression.
At that time, she had already developed a rift with her daughter Xiao Baozhu. Empress Sun was used to treating her coldly and her words were always critical and harsh. Xiao Baozhu was also in awe of Empress Sun, and the mother and daughter eventually drifted apart.
In case Xiao Baozhu didn't believe it, Nanny Wu told her another story.
Since Xiao Baozhu took charge of Jinxiufang, everything has been well organized and there has not been any mistakes.
But what she didn't know was that Empress Sun was actually helping her.
During the time when Lu Zhiran was away from the capital, someone took advantage of Jinxiufang and tampered with the spices.
Fortunately, the people planted by Empress Sun discovered the clues in time and stopped the matter. Otherwise, the problematic spices would have been sold, everyone's faces would have been disfigured, and the reputation that Jinxiufang had worked so hard to build would have been ruined. Xiao Baozhu, the leader, was also not unrelated.
"If you don't believe me, Princess, you can go find Lady Hu and Lady Bai. They were both involved in this matter."
Xiao Baozhu was stunned, her mind was blank, and she didn't come back to her senses for a long time.
She had always believed that seeing is believing, but the story told by Aunt Wu today completely overturned her cognition.
It turns out that what we see with our eyes is not necessarily true.
Xiao Baozhu's eyes were sore and her heart felt heavy, making her feel extremely uncomfortable.
When she spoke, her voice was hoarse.
"Why didn't you say these words earlier?"
Nanny Wu sighed, "I have said this, but you won't listen."
Xiao Baozhu felt a pang of pain in her heart.
Indeed, Nanny Wu would always comfort her and tell her that the Queen had her in her heart, but she was young at the time and did not receive the Queen's care and love. She did not believe these words, but instead took the instigation of others seriously.
Later, when she grew up and became rebellious, she refused to listen to Nanny Wu's words.
Nanny Wu tried to persuade both sides, but no one was willing to give in, and the gap between them became deeper and deeper.
Xiao Baozhu couldn't hold back her tears any longer and they rolled down.
Finally, she lay on Empress Sun's body and burst into tears.
The person under her moved his fingers slightly, and tears slowly rolled down the corners of his eyes.
After crying bitterly, Xiao Baozhu went to the imperial study and asked to see Emperor Defeng.
There were still traces of tears on her face, and her eyes were red. Looking at her increasingly thin cheeks, Emperor Defeng felt even more distressed.
Xiao Baozhu knelt down and said, "Father, I have something I would like to ask for your approval."
Emperor Defeng quickly stood up and helped her up.
"Silly child, get up quickly. If you have anything to say, just talk to me nicely. Father will agree to everything you say."
Xiao Baozhu choked up and said, "I ask your father to arrange a marriage for me, the sooner the better. I want to get married as soon as I reach the age of marriage."
Nanny Wu said that her mother had been holding on because she wanted to wait until she got married, and she didn't want her to delay the wedding because of mourning.
This was my mother's wish, so I helped her realize it.
This might be the last thing he could do for his mother.
Upon hearing this, Emperor Defeng felt a pang of sadness in his heart.
He nodded slowly. "Okay, I will order the Imperial Observatory and the Ministry of Rites to set a wedding date and begin preparations immediately. However, we are short on time, so I'm afraid I'll have to inconvenience you."
Xiao Baozhu shook her head, "I don't feel wronged."
Emperor Defeng looked at her and felt that she seemed to have grown up a lot overnight, and there was much more determination and courage in her eyes.
This made him feel both relieved and distressed.
I wanted to say something to comfort him, but any words seemed pale.
Some emotions need to be digested by yourself.
The Ministry of Rites quickly set the date for her wedding with Sun Muzhi, which was on the tenth day of March, and her coming-of-age ceremony was on the first day of March.
The two dates are so close together that the Imperial Household Department and the Ministry of Rites have a lot to do.
In mid-March of this year, it is the Spring Examination. Students from all over the country will rush to the Imperial Academy in Beijing to take the re-examination, and all departments in the court have to work around the clock for this.
It is now January 20th, and there is not much time left for the Imperial Household Department and the Ministry of Rites. Everyone is on edge and dares not be negligent.
The imperial examinations of this dynasty are divided into the Tongshi, Xiangshi, Huishi and Dianshi.
The Tongshi was not a formal imperial examination. One had to go through three examinations: the county examination, the prefectural examination, and the academy examination. Only those who passed all of them could obtain the qualification of "shengyuan", that is, a scholar.
Only scholars were eligible to take part in the provincial examinations, and those who passed were called juren.
Juren takes part in the joint examination, and finally the palace examination.
Every scientific examination is a round of rigorous selection, and only those with outstanding talents and knowledge can become one of the rare ones.
Just like in his previous life, Lu Juncheng passed the Tongshi exam smoothly and obtained the title of Xiucai.
His ranking was much higher than in his previous life, and he was directly promoted to the rank of a student on government academy.
Students with excellent academic performance can receive stipends.
Although the food in the government stipend is not much, it is an honor.
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