Chapter 65 Good Sister
"Look, look, this child is so cute."
"Brother, look here, look here—"
Empress Dowager Zhang watched as everyone teased her fat grandson, her smile widening from ear to ear. She said with a smile, "You should also take advantage of Zhen'er's blessing and give birth to some princes and princesses soon."
When naming the princes, the Imperial Academy would check the imperial edict to see if there were any duplicates, and then select a character to be presented to the emperor. Zhu Zhanji carefully selected the character "Zhen".
The word "Zhen" has a broad meaning. It refers to the Zhengui held by the emperor during court ceremonies, and also means the fundamental foundation and the power to dominate the world. Zhu Zhan is basically Zhu Di's "grandson handed down from generation to generation". Now there is another "Zhengui", which shows Zhu Zhanji's expectations and importance for his eldest son.
Concubine He Hui said with a smile: "Even if you were blessed, you couldn't have given birth to a child as smart and clever as the emperor's eldest son. Look at how big he is, and his little hands are so strong. He plays with all the little toys the princess gave him very well."
Zhu Qizhen, who is more than three months old, has grown fair and tender, strong and healthy, like a New Year picture doll, and is pleasing to the eye.
Zhu Yuhuan raised the corners of her lips and said with a smile, "These are things that children from the countryside like. If Zhen'er likes them, I'll buy some more later." She seemed to remember something and continued, "I'm still working on the enlightenment booklet I promised to make for my younger brother. I'm almost done with the Three Character Classic, but he doesn't need it now, so I'll put it aside and make it after Tongtong learns to paint. Otherwise, he'll laugh at my painting skills."
Hearing this, Empress Dowager Zhang looked at Zhu Yuhuan and said in a scolding tone, "Don't pamper him too much. I've never seen you pamper Tongtong this much."
Seeing Zhu Qizhen's round eyes looking at him, Zhu Yuhuan smiled and said, "Tongtong also has a lot of little things, but she didn't let grandma see them. The pottery whistle she gave her last time was the one I bought for her. She has always treasured it very much and gave it to her brother when his baby was one month old."
Speaking of this, Empress Dowager Zhang was a little surprised and said, "You are so generous. When my brother was one month old, you gave him the jade pendant and the necklace together. That was given to you by your great-grandfather."
Zhu Yuhuan didn't seem to mind and said with a smile, "My younger brother didn't live long enough to see Great Grandpa around. Otherwise, I'm sure there would be something better for him. In that case, just consider it a birthday gift Great Grandpa prepared for my younger brother."
Zhu Di gave Zhu Yuhuan many things, which were all kept by Hu Shanxiang. Although Zhu Yuhuan treasured the things left by her great-grandfather very much, she still had to pretend to be sincere and gave out some valuable things to show her sincerity.
After the incident with the bandits, Zhu Yuhuan went out of the palace as usual and brought back some small things from the people from time to time. In fact, most of them were sent by people from the charity hall. It was simply because the people learned that Zhu Yuhuan had a younger brother, so they sent some small things that their children loved to play with, as a gift to Zhu Yuhuan, the princess.
Zhu Yuhuan understood their intentions, so he accepted them all with a smile. He picked out some and sent them to the palace, and all of them came to Empress Dowager Zhang.
There were more than a dozen small drums, bells, and other toys, not to mention all kinds of stuffed dolls. Zhu Qizhen was still young and couldn't finish playing with many of them in a month. He had a pile of toys like a mountain king.
In addition, Zhu Yuhuan made great efforts to find time to visit Zhu Qizhen, and soon he became familiar with him.
Zhu Yuhuan's idea was naturally very simple. With Empress Dowager Zhang and Zhu Zhanji watching, she certainly couldn't say a bad word about her beloved brother. She had to show the deep affection between the siblings, especially after Zhu Zhanji "raised him high and put him down gently", Zhu Yuhuan couldn't bear any resentment.
Zhu Yuhuan could turn against the Sun family and against Concubine Sun, but he could not turn against his own father, brothers and sisters.
There were too many incidents of Zhu Di's Jingnan Rebellion and the Prince of Han's rebellion, and the Zhu family killing each other. Since Zhu Zhanji, naturally, no one wanted to have any rifts between their bloodlines.
As they were talking, a palace maid came from outside to announce: "Old Madam, the Korean tribute girl has come to pay her respects."
Empress Dowager Zhang responded and said, "Let them come in."
The palace maids drew aside the curtain, and four women in blue top and yellow bottom dresses came in obediently. The oldest one looked seventeen or eighteen years old, and the youngest only thirteen or fourteen years old. They had just entered the palace and one of them fell ill. Because they were worried that she would infect the empress dowager with the disease, she was kept in a place to recuperate. Only after she recovered did she start to see the empress dowager as scheduled.
The Mandarin spoken by these four people was a little unfamiliar, mixed with a bit of Korean accent. Lady Jiao couldn't help but laugh when she heard it. The oldest woman named Guilan blushed, obviously hearing the hint of mockery in Lady Jiao's laughter.
Empress Dowager Zhang didn't seem to mind. She first carefully examined the four people before saying, "They all look very good, which shows that North Korea carefully selected them. I heard from the Queen that one of them should have entered the palace last year, but fell ill, so her entry was postponed until this year. I think she is Concubine Han Li's sister..."
Guilan leaned forward and said, "Emperor Taizong's Consort Li is Guilan's sister."
Zhu Yuhuan had heard of this. When Han Lifei was buried alive with the late emperor, she begged him in every possible way, hoping to return home to serve her parents. Unfortunately, Han Lifei had no children and could not even save her own life, let alone return to Korea to take care of her parents in their old age.
Empress Dowager Zhang looked them up and down, seeming a little concerned. She said, "From your accents, it seems like you're not even familiar with Mandarin. Then why don't you learn Mandarin and the etiquette in the palace first?"
Upon hearing this, Concubine He Hui and others also breathed a sigh of relief. There was only one His Majesty, and if the Korean tribute girl came in, wouldn't everyone's chances be even less?
The four Korean tribute girls also had different expressions. The younger Zhu and Li looked a little lost, He lowered her head even lower, while Han Guilan was obviously relieved.
Zhu Yuhuan saw her expression and asked, "Is there anyone among you who can read and write?"
Empress Dowager Zhang saw her speak and smiled, "Are you still short of palace maids? These are tribute girls, meant to be concubines, not servants."
Han Guilan took the initiative and said, "I can write Chinese characters, although not many, but I am willing to learn."
The concubines had never seen anyone unwilling to be a master and willing to be a slave, so they were all stunned.
Empress Dowager Zhang looked at Han Guilan and heard her call herself "slave" and knew she was unwilling. Although she was a little unhappy, she was the oldest among the few people and not Zhu Zhanji's type. Empress Dowager Zhang did not force her and said to Zhu Yuhuan, "It's fine for you to follow me, but the treatment of palace maids and concubines is different..."
Han Guilan knelt down and kowtowed, saying, "I understand. From now on, Your Highness the Princess will be my master."
Zhu Yuhuan waved his hand and said with a smile: "I am curious about the customs and practices of North Korea. Since you don't want to be a concubine, why not come to my side and chat with me and Tongtong? You may even be able to pass the examination to become a female official in the future."
Before Empress Dowager Zhang could say anything, another palace maid stepped forward and said, "Empress Dowager, there's been some movement from Consort Xian. The Empress has sent this servant to report this."
Having already had her eldest grandson, Empress Dowager Zhang naturally wasn't as eager about a grandson as she had been at first. However, upon hearing this, she still said, "The Queen is the most capable person. Have you asked Madam Xu to come to the palace? Don't forget to have the Imperial Hospital staff on standby. This is Concubine Xian's first child, so we must be very careful."
When Concubine Sun gave birth, she was worried that Madam Xu was invited by Zhu Yuhuan, which would cause Concubine Sun to become suspicious, so she did not invite anyone into the palace. Furthermore, Zhu Qizhen was larger than the other children, so the birth was extremely difficult for Concubine Sun, and she recuperated for a long time before recovering. Since Wu Miaosu was giving birth for the first time, she naturally needed more people to watch over her.
"Don't worry, Madam Xu has already entered the palace and is waiting."
Seeing this, Zhu Yuhuan reached out and touched Zhu Qizhen's little face. Seeing him giggle, he said to Empress Dowager Zhang, "Grandma, I'll go to Empress Wu for you."
Empress Dowager Zhang was also a little worried about Wu Miaosu, so she said, "Go ahead. If you have good news, you must tell Grandma as soon as possible."
"That's right, grandma, don't worry." Zhu Yuhuan said, looking at Han Guilan, "Come with me."
Empress Dowager Zhang saw her running out and said with a smile, "This girl has always loved announcing good news since she was little."
Upon hearing this, Concubine He Hui and others also responded.
They all witnessed the situation when Concubine Sun gave birth last time. If they wanted to have a good life in this palace, in addition to having the favor of His Majesty, the most important thing was to be pleasing to the Empress Dowager. Otherwise, even if they were like Concubine Sun, the child would have to be taken away by the Empress Dowager to be raised after birth, bringing shame to the whole palace.
They didn't know the inside story, but after seeing how Zhu Zhanji dealt with the Sun family and seeing how Empress Dowager Zhang loved Princess Shunde very much, they vaguely guessed that Concubine Sun was defeated when she opposed Princess Shunde.
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