Chapter 239

Chapter 239

Nanny Du was so angry she nearly laughed, "Your mistress waited on the Prince last night, and today she sends gifts to my mistress—who exactly is she trying to brush off?"

"Or is your mistress so happy she's decided to hand out rewards to my mistress?"

Nanny Du had raised Sun Cefei from the time she was a baby and had never seen her girl treated so shabbily.

This Shufei Hua—seducing the Prince to her bed on the wedding night was bad enough, but not satisfied with that, she even sent a maid to their doorstep to humiliate them?!

Enough is enough!

Zhiqiu was so anxious that sweat broke out on her forehead, "Sun Cefei is a Ce Fei, and my mistress is a Shu Fei—there's a difference in rank. We'd be too busy showing you respect to even think of rewarding you?!"

Nanny Du let out a cold laugh, "She says she wouldn't dare, but who knows what your mistress is really thinking?"

Nanny Du continued slowly, "I hear your mistress refused to serve the Prince at first, saying she had to observe mourning. Now that there are more people in the household, she's suddenly forgotten all about filial piety..."

Nanny Du even imitated the maid's words, speaking in a very serious tone.

But Zhiqiu was easily embarrassed, and knew that Shufei Hua serving Prince Jing while in mourning was a bit shameful. Her face turned bright red, and she nearly burst into tears.

Only then did Sun Cefei slowly wave her hand to dismiss Nanny Du, "Zhiqiu, take this fan back to Qiufeng Court."

"Nanny Du has my best interests at heart. Her words may have been a bit offensive, but she's not wrong."

"Shufei Hua serving the Prince was the Prince's wish. For Shufei Hua to send gifts and apologies now is a breach of etiquette—it's bound to cause talk... I wouldn't dare accept this gift."

Sun Cefei was indeed level-headed, but as a Ce Fei, she didn't have to put up with everything.

Whatever Hua Yu did, whether on purpose or not, was humiliating.

If Sun Cefei actually accepted Hua Yu's gift, she'd be a total doormat with no spine.

Zhiqiu wiped away her tears and went back to Qiufeng Court, telling her mistress everything Sun Cefei and Nanny Du had said, word for word.

Hua Yu had felt a little guilty at first, but after hearing all this, she was furious.

"What she said isn't even wrong—it wasn't an official marriage. The Prince can stay in whichever courtyard he wants, and he wasn't required to spend the night in hers."

"I only thought that since she's a Ce Fei and the Prince spent the night here, it made her lose face. I thought I'd go apologize and smooth things over a bit."

"She doesn't know what's good for her—if I go crawling back to her, wouldn't that just make me look desperate?!"

"Forget the gift—whatever happens, happens!"

Zhiqiu said softly, trying to reason with her, "Mistress, Sun Cefei is after all a Ce Fei. You can't afford to offend her too much."

Shufei Hua shot back, annoyed, "How exactly did I offend her?"

She picked up the fan and examined it, saying with regret, "This bamboo-silk fan is as gorgeous as brocade and as thin as a cicada's wing. The Prince gave it to me when I first entered the household—even the noblewomen in the palace don't have one."

"I was willing to part with this treasure for her—that's a real sacrifice. Not only does she not appreciate it, she even mocks me..."

Zhiqiu braced herself and said, "I know I'm overstepping, but you shouldn't have sent anyone to her place..."

Shufei Hua's face fell, "Wasn't I just doing what you all advised, trying not to offend her too much?"

Zhiqiu was stumped by that retort and gritted her teeth, forcing herself to keep going.

"Mistress, never mind that Sun Cefei is a Ce Fei and you're a Shu Fei—even if she were just a lowly concubine, you waited on the Prince last night, and today you suddenly send her gifts... You may feel guilty, but no matter how you spin it, other people will see it as showing off."

Shufei Hua wasn't having it, "How is it showing off? If I wanted to show off, why would I send you? Wouldn't it be even better if I went myself?"

Zhiqiu thought to herself that if her mistress went in person, Nanny Du would probably chase her out with a broom.

Zhiqiu said earnestly, trying to talk some sense into her, "Mistress, please don't mind me speaking out of turn."

"Think about it—yesterday Shufei Jiang announced she was pregnant. If today she came running to our courtyard to apologize for getting pregnant before you, how would that make you feel?"

This isn't something a servant should say to her mistress.

But Zhiqiu was genuinely scared of Shufei Hua's reckless stupidity, afraid that one day she'd do something dumb and offend someone, dragging Zhiqiu down with her.

If her mistress had a hard time, how could she, a servant, have it any easier?

Shufei Hua's first reaction was also to feel uncomfortable, but she still argued stubbornly, "Jiang Baobao is so stuck-up. Now that she's pregnant, she wishes the Prince would worship the ground she walks on—how would she ever come apologize to me?"

Seeing that her mistress wouldn't listen to reason, Zhiqiu nearly choked on her own frustration.

After a moment, Shufei Hua leaned in, lowered her voice, and asked, trying to act like she didn't care, "So what do you think I should do about this?"

Zhiqiu finally managed to swallow her frustration, "Mistress, you don't have to do anything."

Hua Yu blinked her big, innocent eyes and looked at Zhiqiu, a bit confused.

Zhiqiu analyzed for her, "Fighting for the Prince's attention is just how things work in the inner court. If the Prince wants to spend the night at Qiufeng Court, could you really refuse?"

"Logically speaking, you've done nothing wrong at all—you didn't need to apologize to anyone in the first place. And as for offending Sun Cefei... well, that's already happened."

Hua Yu had been pretty happy listening until she heard about offending Sun Cefei, and then she shut right up.

"Anyway, you were never going to be best friends with Sun Cefei. So what if you offended her? As long as you don't slip up, she can't do anything to you."

Hua Yu's brain finally started working a little, "The Princess Consort put her in charge of the household—could she use that to come after me?"

Zhiqiu explained it to Hua Yu like she was teaching a child, "The Princess Consort didn't just put Sun Cefei in charge—Cefei Xie is also keeping an eye on her."

"Besides, she just entered the household and has no foundation or support. How would she dare to pull anything?"

"If she dares to shortchange you on your things, you can just go to Cefei Xie and the Princess Consort to get justice. She'd be more worried about not doing a good enough job and ruining her own reputation."

Hua Yu nodded earnestly, "So not only does she not dare to bully me, she actually has to take good care of me now?"

Zhiqiu nodded quickly, finally having gotten through to her mistress.

Xie Run hadn't expected the Princess Consort to act so fast.

She'd only made her suggestion yesterday, and today the Princess Consort had already brought in two nannies from the palace.

Judging by how fast the Princess Consort works, Xie Run seriously suspected that the Princess Consort was also scared of Jiang Baobao.

Scold her and she won't change, talk to her and she won't listen—and now she's got a child in her belly as leverage.

If they didn't do something soon, Jiang Baobao would be getting too big for her britches.

Early in the morning, Xie Run led Nanny Yan and Nanny An, who'd come from the palace, out of Qingsong Court and toward Jiang Baobao's courtyard.

Passing by the main kitchen, she sensed the atmosphere was off, so she decided to take her maids and go in for a look.

She'd barely reached the doorway when she heard a maid shouting with her nose in the air, "My mistress said she wants to drink the king flower beef bone soup—a specialty from southern Fujian—and it has to be made with fresh king flowers."

"She also wants Mizhou's peach blossom cakes and shrimp dumplings, and they have to use fresh peach blossoms and fresh shrimp. You're paid by the Prince's household—don't tell me you can't make these?"