TPNCQ CHAPTER 36
A beautiful and noble lady
"But hasn't anyone attending to the Seventh Prince shown signs of a cold?" Su Limo inquired. Previously, there had been a nanny who coughed a couple of times and dismissed it as nothing. Who would have thought that the Seventh Prince would soon have a runny nose? The Empress was so upset that she had the nanny sent out of the palace and forbidden from serving. After that, all the nannies were extremely cautious. As soon as they felt any discomfort, they would absolutely not approach the Prince to serve him.
"No, not that I know of. If there were, I'm sure there would have been news of it by now," Dong Xue shook her head.
The Seventh Prince Yongcong was the apple of the Emperor, Empress, and Empress Dowager's eyes. Now that he had caught a cold, the atmosphere in the palace would undoubtedly become more tense. Shu Pin and Chen Guiren exchanged a glance, and both thought of this. They didn't dare to linger any longer and got up to take their leave, returning to their respective palaces to quietly wait.
Su Limo leaned back on the brocade couch, letting Dong Xue peel a tribute grapefruit for her to eat, her thoughts drifting far away. The Seventh Prince's cold seemed a bit suspicious. Now that the Seventh Prince was over seven months old, his physical condition was much better than it had been a hundred days ago, and he had a dozen people serving him day and night. Logically speaking, this shouldn't happen. Could it be that he was simply born too weak and couldn't survive? Or was someone behind it with ulterior motives? If someone really had ulterior motives, were there others behind the scenes? And who could it be?
The legitimate son, who received a thousand times more love, also received a thousand times more hatred. Children who were not favored or were incompetent might be able to live a good life, but children who were expected to succeed were often unable to even live a good life.
Su Limo sighed deeply. Even though she knew that the Seventh Prince would only live for a year and a half, she couldn't help but feel deeply moved when she was in such a situation. She couldn't stop the wheel of history. All she could do was take better care of herself and her three children to avoid being caught in the crossfire.
*
For several days, Empress Fucha stayed in the Prince's residence, personally taking care of the Seventh Prince without taking off her clothes. Four imperial physicians took turns serving, ensuring that they could be called upon at any time at night. From grabbing medicine and decocting it to watching the wet nurse take it and turn it into milk to feed the Seventh Prince, there were always imperial physicians on hand to ensure that there was no negligence. Fortunately, the Seventh Prince had caught a cold early and received timely treatment, so after several days of such careful care, he gradually recovered.
The little child's nostrils were all rubbed red. Because he was uncomfortable and couldn't sleep well at night, he cried non-stop. Most of the time, Empress Fucha personally held him and coaxed him. As a result, when the Seventh Prince recovered, Empress Fucha's body couldn't take it. Moreover, she hadn't taken good care of herself during her confinement, and now that it was winter, she felt even colder. Wrapped up tightly, she often felt a chill in her shoulders and neck as if the wind was blowing in, and her knees were also sore and painful.
After finishing her work at the Seventh Prince's place and returning to the Changchun Palace, she also called the imperial physician to examine her. The imperial physician prescribed some dispersing formulas and reminded the Empress to keep warm and avoid the wind, paying attention to keeping her shoulders, neck, and legs warm. Hearing this, Saoqin thought of many ways, and finally, she sewed two more layers on the inside of the knees of the outer pants that the Empress wore. Although it was slightly inconvenient to move, it was more windproof and warmer than before, so she wore it when going out.
*
On the second day of the twelfth lunar month, the Fourth Princess, Jingshun, celebrated her first birthday.
After breakfast, Su Limo took Jingshun to the Cining Palace to greet the Empress Dowager.
Su Limo had Shungjiang inlay the red ruby that the Empress Dowager had given Jingshun earlier on a newly made hat. The goose yellow hat with the red ruby, paired with a pomegranate red Ruyi cloud pattern dress, was truly a beautiful sight.
"Grandmother, Grandmother," as Su Limo carried Jingshun into the main hall, Jing Shun immediately struggled to get down. As soon as Su Limo placed Jing Shun on the ground, the little girl toddled straight towards the Empress Dowager, calling out in a babyish voice and trying to climb onto the brocade couch by grabbing the Empress Dowager's legs. However, the couch was a bit high, and she tried her best but couldn't climb up, which made the Empress Dowager burst into laughter.
Seeing everyone around her laughing, Jingshun also giggled.
The Empress Dowager scooped Jingshun up and held her close to her heart, treating her with great affection. "It's so cold outside, look at how chilly your cheeks are. Grandmother will warm you up."
"Milk slices, Jingshun, eat milk slices," Jingshun rubbed against the Empress Dowager's cheek, gave her a big kiss, and giggled.
"You little clever one, I've already prepared it," the Empress Dowager turned to Ruhua gugu and ordered, "Ruhua, go get the milk slices and soften it."
"Knowing that the Fourth Princess would be coming, I had it prepared earlier. It's ready. I'll go get it," Ruhua personally went to get it from the outer room.
Su Limo paid her respects and sat on a round stool below, watching the grandmother and granddaughter play, her face full of warmth and gentleness.
"In the cold winter, it's the hardest to take care of young children. Make sure the wert nurses and maids who take care of Jingshun are extra careful, and don't let her catch a cold like the Seventh Prince," the Empress Dowager said as she held Jing Shun and fed her the milk slices.
"Chenqie knows. I personally check Jingshun's sleeping quarters every night to ensure there are no problems," Su Limo replied.
"It's a good thing that children are lively and active. She's strong and healthy. The fact that Jingshun has been raised so well in the past year shows that you've put in a lot of effort. The Emperor is also willing to visit your palace from time to time, which is very good. Familiarity breeds contempt. If the Emperor were to forget about you and not visit your palace once in half a year, then it would be truly hopeless. Don't even mention other people, even the servants would dare to be arrogant and overstep their bounds," the Empress Dowager said, with a kind smile on her face, occasionally using a handkerchief to wipe the drool from Jingshun's mouth.
Hearing between the lines, Su Limo understood that the Empress Dowager was subtly reminding her. The situation of Jia Fei was known to everyone in the palace. Even a favored concubine could experience such a decline in fortune, let alone others? This was a reminder to Su Limo that even though she had the Empress Dowager as her backer, the Emperor's affection was also extremely important.
"An outsider sees more than an insider. You're still young, so don't go down the wrong path," the Empress Dowager paused and added.
These words from the "palace intrigue champion" were like a bolt of lightning that struck Su Limo, instantly sobering her up.
"Chenqie is grateful for the Empress Dowager's careful guidance," Su Limo expressed her gratitude, sincerely. Looking at Jingshun, who was happily eating the milk slices in the Empress Dowager's arms, she expressed her gratitude again, "Jingshun is also blessed by the Empress Dowager. Today is her first birthday, so I specially brought her here to pay her respects to the Empress Dowager. I wish the Empress Dowager eternal happiness and good health." Su Limo emphasized the last four words and looked at Jingshun.
"Eternal happiness and good health, eternal happiness and good health," although Jingshun's mouth was full and her words were unclear, she imitated her very well. It was no wonder that Su Limo had asked the nannies to teach her to say "eternal happiness and good health" whenever she had free time.
Sure enough, as soon as Jingshun spoke, the Empress Dowager's face lit up with joy. Delighted, she asked Ruhua to bring a piece of high-quality mutton fat jade pendant as a gift for Jingshun.
The Empress Dowager had prepared the first birthday gift long ago. She had Su Limo take it back when the whole palace paid their respects yesterday. It was a pure gold collar adorned with various pearls and gemstones. Unexpectedly, she received another piece of high-quality mutton fat jade today. It seemed that the Empress Dowager truly liked the little milk dumpling Jingshun. A deep bond had gradually formed between the grandmother and granddaughter.
“Here are five hundred taels of silver. You’ll need money to manage various affairs in the palace. Take it, it will make things easier for you in the future.” The Empress Dowager raised her hand, and Ruhua brought out another five hundred taels of silver, covered with red cloth.
“Chenqie thanks the Empress Dowager for her gift.” Seeing that it was silver, Su Limo didn't even bother to be polite. She directly stood up to thank her and receive it. There was nothing more practical than silver. The gifted jewelry, jade, antiques, and books were all recorded, and the concubines only had the right to use them, not to sell them privately for money. But silver was widely circulated.
After watching the grandmother and granddaughter play for a while, guessing that Jingshun must be hungry and sleepy, Su Limo took her leave and brought Jingshun back to Jingren Palace. In the evening, she had to go to the Chunhua Pavilion, where Qianlong had prepared a first birthday banquet for her.
*
In the afternoon, Su Limo washed up again and sat in front of the dressing table. Looking at herself in the copper mirror, she carefully applied a small amount of high-quality makeup, meticulously drew willow leaf-shaped eyebrows, and used rose juice paste as eyeshadow and blush, blending it evenly on her face. She also applied a bit of lip balm.
Seeing the Guifei niangniang dressing up so carefully, Dong Xue was overjoyed and kept praising her, "Niangniang looks so beautiful dressed like this. You should have shown off your good complexion earlier and combed a fashionable hairstyle, wearing some bright hairpins and hair ornaments."
Hearing this, Su Limo chuckled, "It's enough to comb a simple pair of swallowtail buns. There's no need to break your neck." Fashionable hairstyles were mostly complex and ornate, either big buns adorned with pearls and jade or large hairpieces. It wasn't that she didn't have any bright hair accessories to wear, but wearing such a hairstyle would break her neck before she even left the room. It was more trouble than it was worth.
Hearing this, Shuangjiang smiled and combed a simple bun as Su Limo requested.
Su Limo looked at the hair accessories spread out on the dressing table and chose a set of six butterfly-patterned kingfisher-feather headpieces, as well as two colorful gemstone hairpins. She also added a small velvet flower hair ornament. Although it was small, it was exquisite and would not be easily underestimated by others.
She then chose a low-saturation pink-orange waistcoat with glossy white fox fur trim on the collar and cuffs. The upper body was dignified and noble, a perfect embodiment of a beautiful and noble lady, and it coordinated perfectly with today's makeup. Su Limo looked in the mirror again and saw that there was nothing wrong with her appearance. The time was about right, so she went to the side hall to pick up Jingshun and walked towards the Chunhua Pavilion.
When Su Limo entered the Chunhua Pavilion, six or seven concubines had already taken their seats in the banquet hall. When they saw Su Limo, their eyes lit up. They quickly stood up and greeted her.
Su Limo smiled and nodded, walking straight to the first seat on the left side and sat down. The wet nurse and the maid carried Jingshun and sat behind her.
A short while later, the Emperor and Empress took their seats. Empress Fucha was a little surprised to see Su Limo's attire today, but she quickly put on a gentle smile.
Qianlong followed Empress Fucha's gaze and saw Su Limo, whose face was as bright as the moon on Mid-Autumn Night and her complexion as fresh as spring flowers. The low-saturation orange palace dress made her look even more plump and round, dignified and noble.
Qianlong had always preferred slender, graceful, and charming women. Unexpectedly, for the first time, he found that a plump figure could be so captivating. For a moment, he was stunned.