Outside the window, everything is lush and green, and the pears on the branches are already as big as a thumb.
The woman by the window wore a white chiffon dress, which accentuated her graceful figure.
Ningyin waved a round fan with one hand, watching Suxin and Qingying sitting on the pear tree eating pastries outside.
Before long, an old woman who manages menstrual registration walked in from outside the courtyard.
This old nanny was in charge of recording the menstrual periods of the concubines in the palace and the number of times they served the emperor.
As Ning Yin turned back to her seat and took a sip of chrysanthemum tea, the man had already stepped into Zhaoyang Palace.
The old nanny bowed respectfully to greet her, then took out a red booklet from her sleeve and said with a smile, "Your Highness, has your period started this month?"
Ning Yin remembered that she had noticed some bleeding this morning, so she answered truthfully.
The old nanny nodded, made a few marks on the booklet with her brush, and then said earnestly, "Your Highness, you are now the mistress of the Eastern Palace, but other mistresses will come in the future. You need to conceive as soon as possible in order to keep His Highness's heart."
The last time the old nanny came, she received a reward from Ningyin. She had witnessed the fate of two generations of crown princesses, both of whom were overtaken by later generations and ended up being banished to the cold palace.
The old nanny knew that Ningyin was kind-hearted and probably unaware of the treacherous intrigues in the palace, so she gave her a few words of advice.
Ning Yin smiled and nodded. She was already trying her best. Regardless of whether Xiao Xuan would take concubines in the future, she wanted a child of her own.
Women of this age naturally want a child, and given how considerate Xiao Xuan is to her, isn't it only natural that she wants one?
Even if she didn't succeed the first time, there were countless other times. Xiao Xuan stayed in her own palace every day, so it was hard for her not to get pregnant.
After the old nanny left, Qing'er came over. She had received Ning Yin's treatment these past few days, and her complexion was getting better and better.
Despite being dressed simply as a maid, her delicate features could not be concealed.
"Greetings, Your Highness the Crown Princess."
Qing'er bowed respectfully, her face filled with gratitude, and she held a bottle of Hundred Flowers Dew in her hand.
"Your Majesty, this is the morning dew I collected from the garden this morning. Yesterday I saw that you needed a lot of morning dew, and since I had nothing to repay you with, I thought I would do something within my power to help you."
During this period, Ningyin's research and development of the Snow Skin Cream entered a heated phase, requiring a large amount of morning dew.
In particular, the morning dew on these flowers is extremely precious and has a better effect than that on the leaves.
Ningyin plans to produce some in bulk and send them to the ladies of each palace.
As a merchant and a divorced woman, she couldn't possibly rely solely on Xiao Xuan if she wanted to gain a foothold in the deep palace.
She wants to earn everyone's acceptance through her own abilities, instead of hiding under a man's protection all day long.
Ningyin accepted the morning dew and then took Qing'er's pulse. Her health was visibly improving.
"It seems that my treatment plan is effective. I didn't have such high hopes before, but now it seems that it is not impossible to completely remove the Gu worms from your body."
Ningyin was quite pleased. She picked up her teacup, took a sip, and said, "You've been in the palace for a few days now. I have a few questions for you. Will you answer them truthfully?"
Ning Yin thought that this Frost Gu was extremely rare in the world, so how could it possibly appear on a little maid?
When Shen Jia mentioned tomb sweeping last time, she didn't think much of it at the time. But after calming down, she felt that Shen Jia seemed to be acting very strangely.
When Qing'er saw that Ning Yin had a smile on her face but her tone contained a kind of awe-inspiring coldness, she felt a tremor in her heart, thinking that her identity had been exposed.
She was the youngest daughter of the Duke of Dingguo of Chu, and also the woman Chu Mo deeply loved. She also knew that Chu Mo might become the Crown Prince's concubine.
If Ning Yin knew his identity, would she target him?
Ning Yin keenly noticed that Qing'er's expression suddenly changed. She remained calm and ordered Zhang Mama to move a chair for someone.
“Sitting down is not well, so please sit down and talk.”
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
Qing'er sat down somewhat nervously, her gaze lowered, not daring to meet Ning Yin's eyes.
"Does Your Highness have any questions for this servant?"
Ningyin sensed her nervousness, covered her face with her handkerchief and smiled, "It's nothing serious, I just wanted to ask you, is Shen Jia doing well after marrying into the Marquis of Wuding's household?"
Ning Yin asked this question on purpose. In fact, how could she not guess Shen Jia's life after marriage? She was originally Yang Shujing's sycophant, but now she actually exposed the Marquis of Wuding's rebellion at the gate of the East Palace. It seems that they had already torn off their relationship long ago.
Now, she is testing the waters to find out Qing'er's identity and Shen Jia's purpose.
Qing'er's speech and manners were nothing like those of a maid; her dignified and virtuous appearance was more like that of an official's daughter.
Qing'er coughed softly twice, wanting to give herself time to think. Little did she know how Shen Jia was doing at the Marquis of Wuding's residence.
But she also heard with her own ears that day that Shen Jia had denounced her husband's family, so she figured the Marquis of Wuding's family must not have treated Shen Jia very well.
Qing'er was quick-witted and organized her thoughts in no time. Then she looked up and met Ning Yin's gaze.
She said cautiously, "Your Majesty, my young lady is not doing very well in her husband's family. Her husband often neglects her, and her parents-in-law also give her the cold shoulder."
After Qing'er finished speaking, her heart began to pound wildly. She secretly observed Ning Yin's expression and saw that Ning Yin did not have any major emotional fluctuations, so she secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Just as Qing'er relaxed a little, Ning Yin's next question stumped her again.
"Hmm, did you go with Shen Jia to sweep my mother's grave last time?"
Qing'er's fingertips tightened slightly on the handkerchief, somewhat bewildered. She hadn't heard a single word that Shen Jia had said inside the palace that time.
Shen Jia visited the Crown Princess's mother's grave, but I don't think I've ever heard Shen Jia mention it before.
But when the Crown Princess asks this, how do I answer whether I went or not?
If I answer that I'm going, will the Empress ask what the environment is like there?
She had no idea where the Crown Princess's mother's grave was, nor what was around it.
Forget it, I'll just say that I was busy preparing summer clothes for the young lady that day and didn't pay attention to her movements.
Sure enough, Ning Yin's expression didn't change after Qing'er finished speaking, so it seemed that her answer wasn't too outrageous.
Ning Yin could easily see through her nervous, shifty gaze and somewhat hasty answer.
However, Ningyin was now even more curious about Qing'er's true identity. Her mind was so quick, and her answers were watertight. She only showed a slight stage fright when faced with her questioning. This was something that an ordinary maid could not do.
After Qing'er left, Ningyin sent Suxin to keep a close eye on her to see if she would reveal any flaws.
Three days later, the Chu princess arrived at the palace.
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