lady, please calm down

It was mid-spring in April, twelfth year after the founding of the Chu State.

At the middle of the You hour, when the lights were on in the palace, Chen Chu, who was processing and reading memorials from various places in the Wende Hall in the front court, saw his nine-year-old daughter Chen Ni holding the hand of Qin Grandma, the head maid of Baoyi Palace, and walking in over the high threshold of the hall door with difficulty.

At Huang Doudou's reminder, Chen Chu looked up and couldn't help laughing, "Why is Ni'er here? Have you had dinner yet?"

"Ani has met the emperor."

Chen Ni knelt on the ground and kowtowed, speaking in a childish voice with a slight baby tone.

"Get up, get up. Why are you doing this kind of ceremony?"

Chen Chu had already stood up from the dragon throne and waved his hand repeatedly, as if he was afraid that his daughter would hurt her knees.

"Giggle."

After laughing almost identically to her mother's, Chen Ni stood up and ran to her father on the imperial steps.

In the eleventh year of Fuchang in the previous dynasty, Yunong gave birth to the eldest daughter of the emperor, Princess Rao of Shu; in the first year of the founding of the Great Chu, she gave birth to the third son of the emperor, Jun; in the fourth year of the founding of the country, she gave birth to the ninth daughter of the emperor, Ni; in the seventh year of the founding of the country, she gave birth to the sixth son of the emperor, Zhan. In total, they had two sons and two daughters.
The ninth princess, Chen Ni, has the Chen family's first child, elder sister Chen Rao, and the Queen's legitimate son, Crown Prince Chen Ji. She also has a younger brother from the same mother, and there are also younger brothers and sisters in other palaces who are younger than her.

It is said that this neither-upper-lower ranking is the most likely to be ignored by parents, especially Chen Chu who is busy with all kinds of affairs.

But at this moment, seeing His Majesty holding his daughter on his knees and Chen Ni giggling, it was clear that the father and daughter had a deep affection.

Chen Chu temporarily put aside the memorial and talked with his daughter.

But the little girl said with a distressed look on her face: "Father, mother just had a heart palpitation again and didn't even have dinner."

"Oh? Have you sent for the imperial physician to diagnose and treat him?"

"The imperial physician has examined her, but my mother has no appetite and does not want to eat."

As Chen Ni spoke, she raised her head and blinked her innocent big eyes, as if she was worried, but also a little bit like she was begging her father to go to Baoyi Palace to coax her mother to eat well.

"Yes, Daddy knows. You go back with Grandma Qin first, and Daddy will come over later."

Seeing that her goal had been achieved, Chen Ni chuckled, but then, as if afraid that Chen Chu would regret it, she held out her little finger and said, "Daddy, pinky promise!"

"Are you still afraid that daddy will cheat?" Chen Chu smiled and shook his head, but he extended his little finger lovingly to complete the 'pinching promise' process with his daughter.

Only then did Chen Ni feel satisfied and followed Grandma Qin out of the Wende Hall. Just as the little figure disappeared, the little girl opened the door and revealed her little head in two buns. She emphasized with concern: "Daddy must come. Once mother sees Daddy, her illness will be half cured."

"Don't worry, Daddy has already made a promise with Ni'er."

Chen Chu smiled.

Six years ago, after giving birth to the sixth prince, Yunong suffered from palpitations and chest tightness. The imperial physician diagnosed it as "chest pain", and there was no good way to treat it except to avoid overwork.

From then on, Yunong often used her heart palpitations to coax Chen Chu to visit her in Baoyi Palace. However, every time she "had an attack", it would be in the evening but before the time for the Siqi Bureau to invite cards.

In other words, at this time Chen Chu was about to take a break after a busy day's work, but he had not yet decided where to sleep.

After this happened a few times, who could still not see through Concubine Yi's clumsy little tricks?

But the Emperor pretended not to know, and the Empress did not expose it. From then on, this became the exclusive privilege of Concubine Yi.

At one o'clock in the evening, the palace lanterns continued to light up.

In the Chu harem, there were no more than a dozen concubines, and most of them knew each other when they were still young. The atmosphere in the harem was much more open and relaxed than in previous dynasties.

It was late spring and the temperature was neither too hot nor too cold. After dinner, the Queen's legitimate daughter, Princess Ran of Zhao, the Imperial Concubine's only daughter, Princess Ying of Wu, and a group of younger sisters, including Princess Jiao of Zhongshan, who was the daughter of Ru'er, who was promoted to one of the nine concubines the year before last, all gathered in Baoyi Palace.

As the eldest daughter of the emperor, Rao'er is already nineteen years old, which is definitely considered late marriage at that time.

If everyone in the palace didn't know that Concubine Yi had served the emperor for more than twenty years and was still favored, they would probably think that Your Majesty was not interested in Rao'er's marriage.

Fortunately, the day before yesterday, His Majesty finally issued an edict, granting the marriage between the Princess of Shu and the grandson of the Prime Minister and the son of the Minister of Commerce, Cai Kun, to be completed within the year.

This is the first daughter of the royal family to be married, so naturally the sisters from all the palaces will come to congratulate her.

In the entire harem, Yunong was the only one who had ever led this group of maids to do things like climbing trees to rob bird nests and going to the river to catch fish and shrimps. This might be fine in an ordinary family, but in the eyes of Mao'er, who was determined to train all his daughters into ladies, it was simply nonsense.

Therefore, when they were in Caizhou, Aunt Chen was often punished to kneel in the ancestral temple with the children.

Many years later, these things have become the most interesting childhood memories of the children.

Naturally, they, including boys like Ji'er who had become the crown prince, were all close to Concubine Yi and regarded Baoyi Palace as their base. Baoyi Palace also became the most lively place in the harem.

Rao'er and her sisters were not unfamiliar with each other. When they saw Ran'er presenting them with a twisted silk hairpin with kingfisher feather beads, they couldn't help but scream in surprise, giving Ran'er full emotional feedback.

Then Ran Er held up another brocade box and said with a smile, "Brother Ji was going to come here in person, but in the evening, my father had something to do for him, so he asked me to bring a gift."

"Ran'er, go back and thank the prince for me."

As soon as the conversation ended, Ying'er, unlike the other sisters, did not put the gifts in exquisite brocade boxes. She just stuffed a dragonfly white jade hairpin into Rao'er's hand.

This hairpin features a dragonfly made with filigree craft, perched on a leaf carved from white jade. When it is pinned in the hair, the dragonfly's two thin wings sway slightly up and down without any movement.

It is both exquisite and interesting. When the two sisters were young, Rao'er saw this dragonfly hairpin for the first time and was very envious.

He once took a bunch of his own ornaments and wanted to exchange them with Ying'er, but was rejected by the latter.

Unexpectedly, this time the other party actually gave it to her on his own initiative. Rao'er excitedly hugged Rao'er again and again, saying, "Ying'er is so generous!"

Unexpectedly, Ying'er said calmly: "This is a gift from my father to my mother in the early years. I give it to you now. When my elder sister marries my cousin, please keep a close eye on her and don't let my second aunt fool her away."

Ying'er has long and narrow eyebrows, and looks 70% like Cai Huan. He even inherited her sharp tongue. When talking about his dear second aunt, he shows no mercy at all.

"Hahaha, don't worry! I will definitely keep our things safe!"

Ying'er handed over the gift she brought, and turned to look at the eleven-year-old Chen Jiao, who immediately stepped forward and said politely, "Eldest sister, this is Jiao'er's gift. I wish you and cousin a long and happy marriage."

"Hey, Jiao'er is thoughtful."

Rao'er pretended not to see the eye contact between the third and sixth sisters and answered with a smile.

Even though the harem of Great Chu was not that complicated, there were still differences between sisters. Jiao Jie'er's mother was a maid of Concubine Cai, so it goes without saying that the two were close.

But this kind of relationship inevitably reflects on Sister Ying and Sister Jiao.

Since childhood, Jiaojie'er has been Yingjie'er's little follower, and Ying'er always protects Jiao'er, who is three years younger than her. But when the two sisters get along, in addition to the respect that Jiao'er has for Ying'er as an older sister, there is always something else.

On the other hand, when Rao'er, Ran'er and Ying'er get along with each other, they are obviously more equal.

Just as she was thinking about it, she saw a pair of sisters who were about the same age as Jiao'er coming forward hesitantly. One of the maids said, "Sister Shuguo, this is a gift from Yao'er and me. Mother and the nobleman carefully selected it for us. Sister Shuguo, please don't despise it."

After saying this, the sisters stood there timidly.

Among the sisters present, they were the only ones who called Rao'er by her title.

They emphasized that "mother carefully selected it" and also carefully said a slightly polite "sister, please don't dislike it". It can be seen that they seemed to lack confidence in their gifts and were afraid of offending Rao'er.

These two little girls are the daughters of the nobles Shiqing and Huayi respectively. Their mothers are twin sisters, and they were born only one day apart. Not only do they look very similar, but they are also of similar age, and their body shapes and dress are almost the same.

Standing in front of me now, they look like a pair of exquisite porcelain dolls.

But in this deep palace, the situation of the princes and princesses has nothing to do with whether they are good-looking or not, it all depends on whether their mother is favored or not.
Among the concubines in the harem, the Queen and Concubine Cai are of course outstanding, and Yunong is also exceptional thanks to the emperor's favor.

Ayu has her natal family to rely on, while Jiarou and Tiedan also have Liu Qi's old ministers and military generals to help them.

Even Ru'er and Zhuan Yun have the support of Cai Huan and A Yu respectively.

Only the twin sisters Shiqinghuayi, who were sent as gifts in the early years, have no background, so they are still the "noble persons" now.

Mao'er was in charge of the harem, and although no one would bully her sisters, she knew that she had no backing inside or outside the palace, so she developed a cautious character. Naturally, their daughter was influenced since childhood, and she also became cautious in front of her sisters Rao'er, Ran'er and Ying'er.

Although Rao'er was not very old, she could understand all of this. She couldn't help but smile gently at her two younger sisters, and then opened the gift box.

However, one gift box contained a gold hairpin inlaid with lilies and agate, and the other contained a set of six gold and gem-inlaid head ornaments.

These two gifts are extremely valuable.

Shi Qinghuayi is not like other concubines. The queen and the imperial concubine control a large amount of royal assets, so it is not surprising that Ran'er and Ying'er can give out valuable gifts.

Jiao'er is protected by Ying'er. Just from the subtle eye contact between the two just now, Rao'er guessed that Jiao'er's gift was most likely begged by Ying'er from Concubine Cai.

But the two noble ladies, poetic and picturesque, have no property outside the palace. They rely solely on the monthly salary issued by the palace. It can be said that the two noble ladies are cutting off their own flesh and blood!

Rao'er couldn't help but turn her head to look at Yunong's mother who was sitting at the top of the hall. She seemed a little absent-minded today. After her sisters greeted her, she had been in a daze for a long time.

Ni'er, who was sitting nearby and leaning on Yunong, was reading a comic book intently. Both mother and daughter were oblivious to what was happening before their eyes.

Come to think of it, the sisters in front of us are only two or three years older than Ni'er.

But when she looks at her cautious family and then at her clever but willful sister, who is also a princess, there is still a gap between them.

Rao'er grew up with a group of sisters. Although her personality is not as naive as her mother's, she has learned all of her mother's kind nature.

After thinking secretly, Rao'er held the gift and said to Yunong: "Mother, Mother!"

"Ah? What's wrong?"

Yunong came back to her senses and responded hastily, looking confused.

"Mother, look, this is a gift from Yao'er and Zheng'er to my daughter." Rao'er hinted at something, but Yunong, who was daydreaming just now, did not understand what her daughter meant. She cheered up and said to the two little girls, "Yao'er and Zheng'er are so thoughtful. I will thank your mother when I go back."

"I don't deserve Concubine Yi's thanks. My mother said that after she and my aunt entered the palace, Concubine Yi took good care of them. This is a small gift. I hope Concubine Yi and Sister Shu don't mind it."

Zheng'er, who was a bit braver, lowered her head and replied quickly but respectfully.

It looked like he had rehearsed these words several times before coming here.

"Okay, haha, what a good kid."

Seeing that her mother praised the other person and said nothing more, Rao'er became anxious. She quickly walked to the imperial concubine's couch at the top, hugged Ni'er to one side, sat down herself, and whispered, "Mother! The two noble ladies usually rely on the monthly allowance from the palace and the rewards from His Majesty to make a living. This time they are spending so much that even if they don't starve, they will probably spend all their savings! When the two sisters go back later, mother, don't forget to give them some gold and silver, and don't let the two noble ladies suffer because of your daughters."

This is true. In addition to silk, cattle, sheep, wax, sugar, tea and other physical items, the monthly allowance for nobles is no more than ten taels of silver.

Although food, clothing, housing and transportation are free, but living in the deep palace, everyone has to support a few loyal servants, so how can they lack rewards?
"Rao'er is right."

After being reminded by her daughter, Yunong came to her senses and was ready to ask someone to prepare practical gold and silver as a return gift.

Baoyi Palace certainly had no shortage of money. For one thing, she was still the designer of many beautiful women's handbags, and her salary alone was more than she could spend every year.

Besides this, His Majesty's rewards to Baoyi Palace are also the most generous, and he can occasionally ask for favors from the Queen and the Imperial Concubine. With three heads of food for one family, there is no shortage of expenses.

On the side, Ni'er, who was reading a comic book next to her mother, was suddenly taken to the side by her overbearing elder sister. She angrily pushed from her elder sister's armpit to her mother's side, and complained to her mother: "Mom, mom, my elder sister took Ni'er's place, mom, please control my elder sister."

But at this time, Yunong was thinking about how to return the gift and had no time to pay attention to the little girl.

Seeing her mother and elder sister, who usually held her in the palm of their hands, whispering together and ignoring her, Ni'er couldn't help but burst into tears in anger, "Mother and elder sister teamed up to bully Ni'er, Ni'er will go to father to complain. Ni'er will tell father that mother is not sick, mother tricked father to come here to eat father's intestines"

"."

Listen to this, what kind of vicious words are these?

Yunong immediately stood up quickly and swiftly like a frightened rabbit, hugged her little daughter in her arms, and covered the little girl's mouth.

“Woo woo~woo.”

Ni'er was still struggling, and Yunong quickly leaned over to her ear and whispered in a threatening voice: "Don't cry! If you cry again, mother won't take you back home!"

"."

Ni'er stopped crying immediately, stared at her mother with tearful eyes, and nodded continuously, indicating that she would not cry anymore and that her mother must take her back to her hometown to play.

Ni'er has no memory of her hometown, as she was born in Tokyo. But on weekdays, she always hears her sisters and brothers talk about the various fun things in her hometown in Caizhou, such as fishing, climbing trees, and picking fruit in the orchard.

Whenever they talked about these, the sisters and brothers were always beaming with joy, making Ni'er extremely envious.

Over time, her hometown became a paradise in Ni'er's mind.

"Oh, you sisters are gathered here with Concubine Yi to chat again today?"

The mother and daughter had just agreed on the terms when they heard a cheerful male voice outside the hall.

Upon hearing the voice, Yunong quickly pushed away her little daughter who had been clinging to her side, and immediately raised her hand to cover her chest, pretending to be Xishi holding her heart.

Ni'er, who had just been coaxed, was caught off guard and fell on the chaise longue. She couldn't help but grin and was about to burst into tears, but her mother glared at her and said, "If you cry again, I won't take you with me!"

"Meet the Emperor, Father."

After a round of untidy greetings, Ran Er stepped forward and said with a smile: "Father, my elder sister and Brother Cai are getting married, and we have come to Baoyi Palace to congratulate you."

In the blink of an eye, more than ten years have passed, and those clingy little monkeys have now grown into big girls.

Chen Chu was relieved, but also felt a sense of indescribable sadness. He just looked at Rao'er as if jokingly, "Daddy originally planned to raise my son for a few more years."

In fact, there is nothing wrong with Rao'er's marriage. She and Cai Kun have known each other since childhood and are in love with each other. With the relationship with Cai Huan, they are even closer relatives.

But like most ordinary fathers nowadays, Chen Chu has a bit of an eldest son or daughter complex.

It’s not that he didn’t love his other children, but Rao’er, as the first child of the Chen family, allowed Chen Chu to experience the joy of being a father for the first and only time in his life.

Later, as he had more children, Chen Chu became more and more skilled in his role as a father, but he was clumsy the first time he changed a child's diaper, the first time he coaxed a child to sleep; the first time he saw the little person in his arms smile at him, and the first time he heard the vague word "Daddy".

It all comes from the eldest daughter, Rao'er.

Father and daughter are connected by heart. Rao'er could hear the reluctance in her father's words. Although the wedding would be held at the end of the year, she couldn't help but feel a lump in her throat. She hurriedly replied, "Father, my daughter is married and will come back to the palace to visit you every day."

After revealing his emotions for a moment, Chen Chu smiled generously and said, "Just live your life well. You don't have to come back every day. I miss you and will bring your mother to the Cai family to see my Rao'er."

It was a simple sentence, but it contained some deep meaning. The daughter returning to the palace and Chen Chu visiting the Cai family from time to time were two completely different concepts.

To the outside world, this was an expression of extreme love for the Princess of Shu; to the Cai family, the daughter-in-law's father came to visit the family every now and then, which was an obvious sign of supporting his daughter.

The father and daughter chatted for a while. Rao'er noticed that her mother, who was frowning and looking sickly, had no interest in power at all. Although she was a little obsessed with money, she was not greedy. In this life, she only hoped that her father would be alive.

Rao'er naturally would not deliberately ruin her mother's business, so she took the opportunity to invite all her sisters to her place to chat.

He also took Ni'er away with him, as she was reluctant to leave and wanted to stay here.

The bedroom was suddenly quiet.

Chen Chu then remembered the purpose of this trip: to visit Yu Nong who was not feeling well.

"Chest tightness and palpitations again?"

"Hmm~"

Yunong responded with a humming sound, her chubby lips slightly pouted, as if she was annoyed that Chen Chu was so busy talking to his daughters that he noticed her, the "patient", so late.

Chen Chu laughed, sat on the chaise longue next to Yunong, and said with a smile: "Tell me, what's the matter?"

Tonight, Yunong sent her daughter to Wende Hall to "trick" him to come here. There must be something going on.

Yunong hesitated for a moment. Today, she received a letter from her hometown saying that Zhuzi, the owner of Tongshan Sitong Passenger Transport, and eleven merchants from Huaibei have built a "Journey to the West Paradise" in the northwest of Shizipo, Luliuwei, and would like to invite Concubine Yi to come and cut the ribbon.

If it were any other matter, it would be fine, but Yunong was very concerned about this matter and even a little excited.

To others, Journey to the West is a story of strange adventures, but to her, it has a different meaning. It can be said to be a token of love between her and Chen Chu. After all, the two of them got together because of this story that was known to everyone in the Great Chu.

Therefore, Yunong really wanted Chen Chu to go with her.
But the young master now is no longer the idle Ma Kuai who worked for half an hour every day and then went home to relax. Just when she didn't know how to start, Yunong suddenly remembered another thing.

But she suddenly called out: "Grandma Qin, Grandma Qin"

When Grandma Qin came in from outside the hall, Yunong said quickly: "I almost forgot something. Go and get two hundred Guan of notes as a return gift to Zheng'er and Yao'er."

Chen Chu was a little surprised, and Yunong started to explain himself, which was actually just repeating what Rao'er had just said.

Understanding Yunong's painstaking efforts, Chen Chu couldn't help but sigh: "It's rare that Yunong can pay attention to these details. Yunong is not only innocent and kind, but also extremely virtuous."

Virtuous?

Ouch, when did this kind of advanced vocabulary have anything to do with the cute and naive Concubine Yi!
But when she heard Chen Chu's praise, Yunong grinned and giggled, swallowing the words "Rao'er reminded me", and thus embezzled the praise that should have belonged to her daughter.

In order to conform to the "virtuous" character, she even got into the role and said seriously: "Your Majesty, you should also go to the sisters Shiqing and Huayi on weekdays. Even if you can't treat them equally, you should get closer to Zheng'er and Yao'er. After all, they are all your blood, so as not to be estranged."

Really very virtuous.
Chen Chu couldn't help but feel a little guilty when he heard this. Even if he tried to be as fair as possible to his children, it was impossible for him to do exactly the same.

When I think about it carefully, I haven't been to Xiqingzhai where the twin sisters live for more than two months. Naturally, I haven't seen my two daughters for two months.

Just now, compared to Rao'er and Ran'er who were very intimate with him, Zheng'er and Yao'er were obviously not at ease in front of him. They were not in the state that daughters should be in when facing their fathers.

Chen Chu secretly sighed and said, "I neglected it. Thank you Yunong for reminding me."

"hey-hey."

Yunong curled her eyes in triumph, but just as she finished laughing, she saw Chen Chu stand up and say, "I'll go to Xiqingzhai now."

what?
"."

The smile on Yu Nong's oval face has not faded yet, and her little mouth is slightly open. She has overacted the role of "virtuous"!

After Chen Chu stood up and took a step, he felt a slight resistance behind him and couldn't help but look back.

However, Yunong, who was still sitting on the chaise longue, looked up at Chen Chu pitifully with her innocent eyes, and held tightly the jade pendant hanging from Chen Chu's waist with her outstretched hand.
"What's wrong?"

"Your Majesty, you can visit your two sisters another day, Nunu."

As he spoke, his brows furrowed again, and his other hand covered his chest again, "My chest feels stuffy, Your Majesty, can you rub it for me?"

"."

Chen Chu glanced at the pitiful face of Yunong with doubt, and couldn't help laughing, "You are a mother of four children, in your forties, and you still imitate other girls to speak with a pinched voice!"

But he sat back down again.

"Where does it hurt?"

"Here, here, Your Majesty, rub here."

Outside the palace, Qin's grandmother, who had seen similar scenes countless times, knew her madam had succeeded just by the noise. With a glance, two maids came forward and slowly closed the bedroom door. (End of this chapter)