Chapter 535: An Innocent Mistake (Part One)
<Previous Chapter<Table of Contents>Next Chapter>
Also, Fu Mingda, the elder brother who was supposed to return after escorting Yuwen Xue to marry the Wusun prince, should have been on his way back by now. However, the family had yet to receive any specific information about his itinerary. In such a situation, there were only two possibilities: either he hadn’t set foot on their homeland yet or hadn’t found a relay station to send word, or he had encountered trouble.
Otherwise, it could be that Jiang Shanshan appeared with her newly improved firearms and caused a lot of trouble.
Or perhaps it was Fu Mingzheng who had encountered trouble?
Mingzhu thought over the possibilities and concluded that only these scenarios were likely to have occurred, but she hadn’t considered Madam Cui encountering trouble. In her previous life, Madam Cui was one of the last survivors of the Fu family.
Seeing Su Lan and Su Jin exchanging glances, Mingzhu could tell and asked, “Did something happen to Fourth Brother?”
Su Lan and Su Jin both breathed a sigh of relief. “Nothing happened. Absolutely nothing. Fourth Brother is perfectly fine. If Your Highness wants to see him, you can summon him anytime.”
As long as he was safe, everything else didn’t matter. Mingzhu relaxed and said, “Bring Zhuangzhuang over.”
Su Jin quickly agreed and brought Zhuangzhuang and the wet nurse over.
There were two wet nurses, one for nighttime and one for daytime, one surnamed Tang and the other surnamed Lin. Both families had served the Fu family faithfully for three generations and were carefully selected. They were familiar with Mingzhu and didn’t feel awkward in her presence, efficiently reporting on Zhuangzhuang’s condition, “The young master is feeding well, strong, and sleeps soundly. He has passed stool and cries vigorously. All is well.”
Mingzhu praised them and then asked them to leave after letting Zhuangzhuang be put in her arms. “Take good care of him. Anyone who dares to cause trouble will have to answer to me.”
Both wet nurses readily agreed and quietly withdrew.
Mingzhu looked at Zhuang Zhuang in the light, and sure enough, he looked different from when he was born last night. He was much fairer, with fewer wrinkles on his face, and even his nose seemed to be higher. Although he was sleeping with his eyes tightly closed, the outline of his eyes was long, and the corners of his eyes were slightly upturned, indicating that he was a child with big eyes, not ugly at all.
Su Lan came over to join in the fun: “I told you before that the boy is handsome, but Wangfei didn’t believe me.”
Zheng Momo also said, “Isn’t he changing every day? Just wait, he’ll look even better later.”
Mingzhu smiled with her lips pursed, feeling incredibly soft inside. In fact, whenever she saw Zhuang Zhuang, she knew that no matter how he looked, he was incomparable and irreplaceable in her heart.
Zheng Momo was afraid that she would tire herself out by holding Zhuang Zhuang all the time, so she advised, “Wangfei, give the boy to this old servant to take back to the wet nurse. You still need to take care of yourself. It’s better to recuperate early so that His Highness can rest assured.”
Mingzhu couldn’t get enough of holding him: “How old is he, I’m not tired.”
Zheng Momo explained: “It’s not about that, but it’s not good to hold a baby for too long. It will develop a habit of needing to be held to fall asleep. Our mansion can certainly afford to have people take care of the boy, but it’s better for him to sleep lying down in bed.”
Mingzhu understood the reasoning and remembered how her nephews and nieces were also raised like this. Madam Cui didn’t even allow them to sleep on too soft beds or be wrapped in too many clothes, saying that it was better to raise children with strong bones. So, she placed Zhuang Zhuang on the bed beside her.
As soon as she laid him down, Zhuang Zhuang opened one eye, but the other remained closed, his black eyes rolling around, looking lost. Mingzhu chuckled, leaned over to kiss him lightly, and softly touched his cheek as she whispered, “Zhuang Zhuang, it’s your mother.”
Zhuangzhuang stared at her for a while, yawned, and then closed his eyes and fell asleep.
Mingzhu laid down, propped herself up on her side, and kept watching him. She felt like she couldn’t get enough of looking at him. Gradually, she felt drowsy but didn’t dare to sleep deeply, so she asked Su Lan to put Zhuangzhuang in the cradle. “Let him sleep in there. I’m afraid I might accidentally smother him if I fall into a deep sleep.”
Both Mother and son slept soundly. Su Lan and Su Jin came in to relieve Su Lan and Su Lan and them exchanged glances, indicating that Madam Cui hadn’t woken up yet.
Mingzhu felt uncomfortable with sweat all over her body and woke up, asking for hot water to wash herself. Just as she finished cleaning up, Su Lan said, “Your Highness, the Great Empress Dowager sent a reward and had someone come to see the young master.”
Since the Great Empress Dowager’s birthday banquet, Mingzhu hadn’t seen the Great Empress Dowager in person. However, she occasionally heard news about the Great Empress Dowager from Yuwen Chu and her family. She knew the Great Empress Dowager’s condition remained stable. At least they hadn’t heard any news of the Great Empress Dowager falling ill again.
It was customary for the palace to reward and send people to see the newborn in the mansion. With Yuwen Chu not around, she had to handle it herself. If the visitor was Mu Gugu, she could also ask her about something. Mingzhu asked, “Who has come?”
“It’s the eldest young lady,” Su Lan said, referring to Fu Zifei. Although Fu Mingcheng had been appointed Marquis Huaiyin and had moved out, Fu Zifei had temporarily stayed in the mansion. It was troublesome to adjust their ranks, so they still called Fu Zifei the eldest young lady, and Wenwen was the second young lady.
“Oh, her.” Because of the previous unpleasantness and Fu Zifei’s deliberate avoidance of her, Mingzhu wasn’t very interested in seeing Fu Zifei but still had to meet her. “Tidy up a bit and then invite her in.”
Shortly afterward, Fu Zifei, dressed in a crimson palace gown and looking radiant, walked in with a smile. She first bowed and greeted Mingzhu, “Congratulations, Aunt. I haven’t seen you for a while. Are you well?”
Mingzhu smiled, “Thank you for your concern. I’m doing well. How is the Great Empress Dowager?”
Fu Zifei smiled, “Royal Grandmother is well. I was just thinking about Aunt and felt so happy when I heard this morning that Aunt and the child are safe. I was so delighted that I asked Royal Grandmother to open her private treasury and personally send some treasures as rewards. Unfortunately, she couldn’t leave the palace, so Royal Grandmother asked me to come on her behalf.”
Without waiting for Mingzhu to speak, Fu Zifei affectionately approached to look at Zhuangzhuang, “He’s so handsome, just like Aunt. He doesn’t resemble Uncle much, more like a girl.”
Hearing this, Su Lan felt uncomfortable and smiled, “The eldest young lady’s eyes are special. Everyone thinks our son resembles His Highness. Even His Highness himself said so.”
Fu Zifei’s expression soured slightly. She glanced at Mingzhu, who smiled and said nothing, not blaming Su Lan’s impoliteness. Fu Zifei collected herself, smiled, and reached out to touch Zhuangzhuang’s face, “He has such a cute little face.”
<Previous Chapter<Table of Contents>Next Chapter>
