Chapter 549: Jade Hairpins
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“This…” Rong Momo was timid. Although she knew His Highness was the master, the Wangfei was her true mistress. She didn’t dare to go against her.
Yuwen Chu was accustomed to reading people’s minds and naturally understood what Rong Momo was thinking. He didn’t blame her, just said, “If you don’t do it, I’ll let someone else do it. You decide for yourself.”
Who knew if others’ medicine was reliable or not? Instead of letting others do it, it was better to do it herself for peace of mind. Rong Momo struggled for a long time and asked softly, “May I know why, Your Highness?”
“There’s no particular reason, just don’t want Wangfei to harm her health. Isn’t this what you do? Isn’t this how things are done in other mansions? Why does it become strange when it comes to me?” Yuwen Chu said, feeling tender inside. Women of wealthy families didn’t want to breastfeed, firstly because of tradition and customs; secondly, they wanted to have more children to secure their status; thirdly, they were afraid of their figure changing after breastfeeding, fearing they would lose their husband’s love in the future. So the children were all raised by wet nurses, including him, and had never tasted their Mother’s milk.
Mingzhu understood, but she was more willing to pity Zhuang Zhuang, so she didn’t care about these things. There were very few people who tried so hard to love others like her, whether it was for her parents, family, the Great Empress Dowager, the children, or him, she tried her best. So he had to do more for her, couldn’t let her be willful, even if she would be unhappy, he had to do it.
Rong Momo didn’t know what Yuwen Chu was planning, but thought he wanted Mingzhu to have more children while she was young, so she agreed cautiously, “I understand, Your Highness, rest assured.”
Yuwen Chu sent Rong Momo away and called Wei Tiande, “Send this document to the Great Empress Dowager’s palace now. Remember, it must be delivered directly to the Great Empress Dowager’s hands.”
The document contained issues related to Liang Youyi.
There were too many people in the palace waiting to instigate the relationship between him and the Great Empress Dowager. That was also the reason why he knew Liang Youyi had problems but had never acted against him. But this time Liang Youyi must die, otherwise, the situation would become more and more chaotic in the future, and he didn’t want the Great Empress Dowager to suddenly go crazy and harm Mingzhu and Zhuang Zhuang.
Wei Tiande cautiously said, “Your Highness, rest assured, this servant will deliver the document directly to the Great Empress Dowager.”
After arranging things, Yuwen Chu originally wanted to go and see Mingzhu again, but thinking that she might plead with him again, and he might not be able to resist, he decided not to go. Instead, he took a pair of transparent and translucent jade hairpins and put them in a brocade box, letting Xiangli take them to Mingzhu, “See if the Wangfei is asleep, come back quickly and report.”
Xiangli hurriedly took the brocade box over, and returned shortly after, saying, “The Wangfei hasn’t fallen asleep yet, she’s sitting at the head of the bed thinking about something. After receiving the jade hairpins, she said thank you to Your Highness.”
Since she hadn’t fallen asleep, he decided not to go. Yuwen Chu went to Tingxue Building again. This time, the assassination of Fu Mingzheng and Madam Cui in the street was not a small matter. Even if most of the assassins involved were killed on the spot, it was still not enough. Anyway, he had already taken people into the palace and openly killed Liang Youyi. He didn’t care if his reputation became worse. Therefore, tonight, he still had actions to take.
Mingzhu leaned against the pillow and examined the jade hairpin sent over by Xiangli, flipping it over and over. The hairpin was made of exquisite jade, warm to the touch, with two blooming magnolia flowers at the top, one in full bloom and the other half-open, leaning against each other. The flowers were large, and it was hard to imagine how much valuable material went into making them. Inscribed on the end of the hairpin were two lines of small characters: one line read “Ruyi,” and the other line was engraved with the time of birth of Zhuang Zhuang, with the character “Chu” at the end.
It was Yuwen Chu’s handwriting. The hairpin had been prepared long ago, but the characters were engraved only after Zhuang Zhuang was born. Despite the busy days recently, he still remembered to prepare a gift for her.
Suddenly, Mingzhu felt a pang of emotion in her eyes. She silently placed the jade hairpin back into the brocade box and asked Su Lan to put it away.
Su Lan tried to cheer her up, holding the box and saying, “Wangfei, look at these two flowers on the hairpin, leaning against each other. Don’t they resemble you and His Highness?”
Mingzhu hadn’t thought about it before, but hearing Su Lan’s words, she couldn’t help but take another look. Indeed, upon closer inspection, she felt that there was some meaning to it. The fully bloomed magnolia flower stood tall and majestic, while the half-opened one was delicate and shy, leaning against the fully bloomed magnolia. Didn’t it resemble her and Yuwen Chu?
Several other maids also gathered around to admire. They praised endlessly, “It’s said that Wangfei is good at dressing up, but it’s His Highness who has the best taste. Every item he picks for Wangfei is the most suitable. This magnolia hairpin has such large flowers, which only Wangfei’s lush hair and snow-white skin can match.”
Mingzhu actually liked it very much but pretended to be indifferent. “It’s so heavy; it might pull on my scalp.”
Su Ju, always straightforward, said, “It won’t…”
Su Lan glanced at her, indicating that Wangfei was just being coy and not serious. Su Ju didn’t say anything more, and Mingzhu saw the expressions of the maids and knew they were silently criticizing her. She didn’t bother to say more. “Tell Li Quanxin that the fires in the kitchen must not be extinguished these days. Someone must always be there to ensure that hot water and meals are ready at all times, especially for His Highness. Make sure to prepare some light, refreshing dishes for him that are not too cold. Understand?”
Su Mei smiled and complied, hurrying off to make arrangements.
Mingzhu inquired about Zhuang Zhuang’s condition again before finally feeling at ease enough to sleep. She slept until dawn, first checking on Zhuang Zhuang, then asking about Yuwen Chu’s situation. “What is His Highness doing?”
Su Lan whispered, “He hasn’t slept all night. I heard from the servants that people have been coming and going from the mansion all night. It seems there’s a big event.”
Mingzhu was silent for a moment, then made up her mind. There were many kinds of love, and although she wanted to breastfeed Zhuang Zhuang herself, given the current tense situation, she really needed to recover quickly. She needed to get her body into the best possible condition and do everything she could to take care of Yuwen Chu and the child, as well as her family on the maternal side.
Rong Momo came in to massage Mingzhu’s belly, and Mingzhu endured silently. When Rong Momo saw her cooperation, she brought over the soup for huinai again with a smile. Just as she was feeling guilty, she heard Mingzhu say, “Go make another batch of huinai soup.”
“Okay.” Rong Momo heaved a sigh of relief. This was great! She finally didn’t have to struggle anymore. Although a batch of huinai soup wasn’t much, she was acting on the orders of the Wangye. However, if Wangfei found out that she had no milk, she would still be implicated! Not to mention that the Wangye and Wangfei would surely have a falling out because of this!
Rong Momo happily served Mingzhu the huinai soup, then hurried out to fetch another bowl of tonic soup. “Wangfei, please have this.”
Zhuang Zhuang seemed to know that his food source was about to disappear and started crying loudly next door. Mingzhu endured and quickly drank the tonic soup. Then she smiled and said, “It seems Zhuang Zhuang misses his Royal Mother. Bring him over, and I’ll spend some time with him.”
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