Chapter 33

Chapter 33

◎Second Update◎

The next morning, Huiyin was dressed and ready before dawn broke and went alone to pay her respects to Grand Dowager Wu. She arrived with a long line of servants, disturbing the Grand Dowager Wu, who had just fallen asleep.

The Grand Dowager Wu had a splitting headache. "What's happening? It's still dark outside. Why is anyone here so early?"

Nanny Fan hurried out. Though she was elderly and suffering from back pain after a sleepless night, she had no choice but to go out. When she went out, she saw Huiyin smiling.

"Young Princess, the Grand Dowager Wu has a light sleep. It was hard for her to fall asleep. If she’s woken up, she may not be able to fall back asleep," said Nanny Fan.

Huiyin smiled. "Then it's my fault. I was only thinking about the morning and evening greetings but didn't consider grandmother's daily routine. I’ll come later from now on, but could you let me know the best time to visit?"

Nanny Fan was in a dilemma. "This servant doesn't know either."

She hadn’t been serving in the room for some time, mostly managing things for the Grand Dowager Wu, offering advice, and keeping her company.

Huiyin looked at Nanny Fan and nodded slightly. "Then I'll have to trouble you to ask. I like to do things by the book. Otherwise, if I come early every day and Grand Dowager Wu is resting, it wouldn't be good."

Nanny Fan had no choice but to agree.

Huiyin gracefully returned. Once she left, the Grand Dowager Wu was awake and couldn't really go back to sleep, but there wasn't much she could say. After all, she couldn't exempt Huiyin from the greetings. No, that wasn't possible. The morning and evening greetings were the rules for the younger generation.

But did Huiyin really not understand? Of course, she did.

Because elder Madame Xu had once subjected Madame Ji to similar treatment. Madame Ji had said that when she was pregnant, she had to serve carefully. Even when she was sitting the month after childbirth, someone was sent to bring her son Wuheng to Madame Ji’s side. It wasn’t until elder Madame Xu fell ill that Madame Ji was finally able to regain custody of her son. Therefore, she had a deep dislike for elder Madame Xu.

To handle someone like Grand Dowager Wu, you had to fight fire with fire.

After returning from the Dowager's quarters, Huiyin had breakfast and then called over the housekeeper. "Who is in charge of affairs in Huaiyin Mansion now?"

Soon, several older women came and knelt to pay their respects.

"I called you all here not for anything else. The prince asked me to bring the heir back. He is still young, and you all need to be cautious. If I find out that anyone is neglecting their duties, I will not let them off easily," Huiyin said. She used to think her tall figure made her stand out, but now, her tall and strong build made the women show fear when she stood up.

This was Huaiyin Mansion, and she was the Princess of Huaiyin. Eventually, she would take back all the authority here.

For now, she had to endure a little.

Jing'er woke up and vomited milk today. Huiyin had no mood to deal with the Grand Dowager Wu. If the child's vomiting wasn't carefully managed, it could easily lead to coughing and even lung problems. Children were very fragile.

"Why is he vomiting milk? Did you hold him improperly or feed him too quickly?" Huiyin asked the two wet nurses.

Nurse Song quickly explained, "The young prince ate in a hurry on the carriage yesterday, and it was hot..."

Huiyin sighed slightly. "There's nothing to be done. His great-grandmother insisted on seeing him, and as descendants, we have to oblige. However, the child is too young. You all need to be more attentive. Today, I won't go out. I'll take care of him."

She then took a cotton cloth to wipe the vomited milk from Jing'er's neck and mouth.

No matter how good the wet nurses were, if the mistress was inattentive, they might slack off or cause trouble. If the mistress was meticulous and sharp, they wouldn’t dare to misbehave.

It was like setting up a supervisory censor in the court. Without supervision, officials would be corrupt and act recklessly without anyone knowing.

Currently, the emperor was weak, and Empress He was greedy. These people were only concerned with consolidating power, ignoring the people’s welfare and failing to oversee the officials. No wonder there were uprisings and fragmentation everywhere now.

Nurse Song and Nurse Huang knew this young princess well. She truly understood children and took great care of them. Otherwise, despite the journey, Jing'er remained healthy and strong because of her attentiveness.

As for the Grand Dowager Wu, she didn’t wake up until noon. After waking up, she heard that the young prince had vomited milk and was uncomfortable from the journey, with Princess Zheng taking care of the child.

"Isn't she putting me in an awkward position?" Grand Dowager Wu thought to herself. But this thought only lingered for a moment. She still believed that Princess Zheng was making a fuss and didn't know how to take care of the child. Besides, young children were prone to illness and disaster.

Nanny Fan felt a chill in her heart for a moment. When her great-grandchild was unwell, the Empress Dowager actually blamed Princess Zheng. Regardless, Princess Zheng had always been a caring mother. In the past, Grand Dowager Wu at least put on a decent show, but now her thoughts were becoming increasingly narrow. To argue over trivial matters, she had lost her humanity.

These masters always treated their servants like objects. But after all, everyone had emotions and desires, and were made of flesh and blood.

After three days of Huiyin's care, Jing'er recovered. Many invitations were sent out, and it was mentioned that members of the Jiang family had sent gifts. Huiyin invited Jiang Bipbo to come and speak with her.

When they met again, Jiang Bipbo's eyes were noticeably more determined. She smiled, "I heard that you came to Jianye from Xuzhou. I was thinking of visiting you earlier, but I was afraid you needed time to rest after your journey, so I came a few days later to thank you."

Huiyin said, "In the future, you don't need to bring gifts. I didn't stop you before because I wanted others to know we had contact. Now, I'll just call for you when I want to talk."

"These are not worth much. Since you acknowledged me and wrote a personal letter to the Prince of Wei, even if Hu Qi was furious, he wouldn't dare to come to your door easily." Jiang Bipbo hadn't expected the young princess to have such influence.

Huiyin waved her hand, "There's no need to mention this. As long as I'm here, I'll definitely protect you."

Seeing Huiyin say this, Jiang Bipbo was deeply moved. The young princess had even given her two brand-new brocade clothes as a gesture of closeness. She wasn't after money; she helped because she wanted to.

Jiang Bipbo felt even closer and began to talk about the various restaurants, bookstores, and cloth shops in Jianye. She also mentioned that a silver coffer owned by her family was destroyed during the war in Qingzhou.

"You always seem to have the latest news," Huiyin asked. "What's really going on in Qingzhou?"

Jiang Bipbo, who might not have shared such secrets with others, first looked around and, after Huiyin dismissed the servants, said, "It looks like the Prince of Wei is going to lose. The crown prince's forces are fierce, and with Qingzhou being in the north, the major clans are aligning with the capital."

"I understand." The situation was the same as in her previous life. After this victory, Li Heng would be even kinder to her. It was also because of the temporary pacification of the Qingzhou rebellion that the Xuzhou battle happened two years later.

As for Xie Jiuyi, she had no idea what had become of him.

Jiang Bipbo sat for a while longer before taking her leave.

Huiyin flipped through the invitations again, and one of them was for the birthday of the elder lady of the Huo family. She thought about it and decided to consult Grand Dowager Wu.

Grand Dowager Wu was reciting scriptures and, hearing that Huiyin had come, closed the book and came out with the help of a servant.

"Your granddaughter-in-law pays her respects to grandmother. Jing'er is much better today, and I trouble you to send inquiries." Huiyin bowed and greeted her. She thought about how, during the days when the child was spitting up milk, Grand Dowager Wu had blamed her for not taking care of him, never mind that it was she who had insisted on their return. But Huiyin endured this for now, appearing without resentment.

Grand Dowager Wu smiled, "It's good that the child is well. You don't know how worried I've been these past few days, fasting and praying. It must have been the Buddha's blessing."

How ironic. It was because of her meticulous care that the child had recovered, and now it was being credited to her.

But Huiyin continued to smile, "It's all thanks to you."

This made Grand Dowager Wu feel much better. She had a plan in mind and had Nanny Fan bring over a box she had prepared to give to Huiyin.

Huiyin was surprised to see that the bracelets were indeed quite valuable.

"Grandmother, this... is too precious, I cannot accept it." Huiyin declined immediately.

Grand Dowager Wu thought that you have to give a little to get a little, and she insisted that Huiyin take them, saying, "These were bestowed upon me by the late emperor when I was pregnant with your father-in-law. They are tribute from the Annam Kingdom. I give them to you now because you are Cheng'er's wife and the mother of the future heir."

Only then did Huiyin say, "Then I thank you, grandmother."

After putting away the gift, she brought up the main topic, "The Huo family sent me an invitation for the elder lady's birthday. What do you think, grandmother? Should we go?"

Grand Dowager Wu, who had lived in the palace for a long time and rarely socialized, usually only talked with Wei Imperial Consort or played cards and listened to theater. Wei Imperial Consort still had grandchildren to dandle, and since the Prince of Wei was filial, her life was better than Grand Dowager Wu's.

With her granddaughter-in-law present and the Huo family's invitation, Grand Dowager Wu glanced at Huiyin and said, "Just send some gifts. There's no need to go in person."

"Grandmother, the elder lady of the Huo family is not an outsider. She is the mother of the Prince of Wei's aunt." Huiyin reminded her.

Grand Dowager Wu knew very well that back in the day, it was the Prince of Wei and the Prince of Wu who collaborated to occupy the Jiangnan region. After the Prince of Wu passed away, his descendants became vassals like Xie Jiuyi and the others, which was truly a pity.

Coincidentally, since Huiyin was right, Grand Dowager Wu felt increasingly irritable, but she found solace in the thought that it wasn’t she who needed to curry favor with the Huo family. With that, she felt relieved.

"Then go ahead."

Seeing that Grand Dowager Wu had no objections, Huiyin felt relieved. Noticing that Grand Dowager Wu did not indicate for her to leave, Huiyin chatted casually and asked, "I heard from my sworn sister today that Lady Xie intends to go to Qingzhou. In such a war-torn place, she will need the Prince of Wei to send someone to escort her there. I wonder if the Prince of Wei will permit it?"

When Grand Dowager Wu brought up this matter, she immediately thought of her own strategy and said, "She means well. Since General Xie is unwell while away, having his wife personally go to care for him will surely speed up his recovery."

She thought this way because she wanted Huiyin to follow suit. However, Huiyin replied, "It’s indeed inappropriate. It’s a major taboo for a woman to enter a military camp so casually. General Xie is away, and he must be concerned about his parents and children. The mistress of the household should take care of the family, especially the elders and children, so he can recover faster without distractions. Besides, Lady Xie is not a divine healer. If she goes and is captured to threaten General Xie, it could be disastrous."

Grand Dowager Wu was once again left speechless. She regretted giving such a valuable bracelet. It was her gold-inlaid jewel!