bayedsolid Chapter 141 Three Years Later!
Chapter 141 Three Years Later!
Spring has passed and autumn has come; three years have gone by in the blink of an eye.
The selection of primary and secondary consorts for His Highness the Crown Prince, which the Crown Princess had previously chosen, was temporarily put on hold due to the Empress Dowager's passing. All members of the royal family observed three years of mourning for the Empress Dowager. Of course, the mourning period for royal offspring differed from that of ordinary families. Apart from weddings and other celebratory occasions, other joyous events remained unaffected. For example, the birth of a child simply meant that a large banquet could not be held.
In the three years that followed, many things changed, most notably several major events in Kyoto!
A few days after the Empress Dowager's burial, Lady Li, feeling unwell and confined to bed, unexpectedly discovered she was over three months pregnant. That winter, she successfully gave birth to a son, the fifth son of the household, Mu Qingyang. Since Mu Changping had two other sons, the third and fourth, Mu Qingyang was naturally the fifth.
Luo Yingying was ordered by the Empress to enter the Ming Prince's Mansion as a Zhaorong. Just then, the Empress Dowager passed away, so she was directly welcomed in through a side gate in a small sedan chair dressed in blue. There was no banquet or ceremony, and everything was done as if it were done secretly.
Unexpectedly, Luo Yingying gave birth to a son for Prince Ming two years after entering the manor. This brought her great honor, and Prince Ming was also very happy. The only one who felt somewhat embarrassed was Consort Luo.
As a result, Luo Yingying was promoted to the rank of Zhaoyi, a fourth-grade official. Although her status was not as high as that of Consort Luo, she had the advantage of being young, which was very tempting for Prince Ming!
Mu Xin Nuan was somewhat surprised that Luo Yingying was able to give birth to a son safely and smoothly in the Ming Prince's residence. The Ming Prince's residence was naturally a gathering place for various powerful figures, especially the Ming Princess, whose methods and abilities were in no way inferior to the Crown Princess! How could she tolerate the addition of another illegitimate son to the Ming Prince's household?
To be honest, Prince Ming didn't lack sons, but in the royal family, no prince would complain about having too many sons! Especially Prince Ming, who was determined to seize the throne, would certainly not complain about having too many sons!
Then there's Li Wanqing, the second young lady of the General Zhenguo's Mansion.
It's said that Li Wanqing's aunt somehow obtained a secret recipe that actually made Li Wanqing's hair grow back, little by little! Of course, it only started growing a year ago, and it's growing extremely slowly. The hair strands that have grown are also very fine, more like fine hairs than hair. Unlike ordinary hair, which is thick, black, and resilient, this hair is soft and limp, and it even has a yellowish tinge.
Although Li Wanqing was unhappy, it was still much better than when she was bald!
Then there were Liu Tingting and Liu Zhuangzhuang, a brother and sister, who came to our house three years ago.
Liu Tingting is thirteen this year, a year younger than Mu Xinnuan. Liu Zhuangzhuang has been studying at the Mu family's clan school for the past few years and has made considerable progress! Liu Zhuangzhuang is slightly younger than Mu Qingyuan and started his formal education later. The first few months he attended school were just to let him experience the atmosphere. He only really started learning in the last two years.
Over the past three years, Liu Tingting and Liu Zhuangzhuang have only returned to Yunzhou once a year, during the Mid-Autumn Festival and the Lunar New Year. The rest of the time, they have stayed at the Mu residence. Over these three years, they have come to regard Madam Li and Mu Chang'an as their parents, and have even started calling Mu Xin Nuan "elder sister" along with Mu Qingyuan and the others!
Especially Liu Zhuangzhuang, who, just like Mu Qingyuan, always clung to Mu Xinnuan. Whenever he had time, he would run to Yuexuan. Mu Xinnuan never chased them away; instead, she would often tell them little stories she had read in books, and she would always have some delicate snacks prepared. As a result, the two of them loved coming to Yuexuan even more.
Liu Tingting has changed dramatically in the past three years. Not only is her demeanor completely different from her previous timid and submissive appearance, but her knitting and needlework are also much more outstanding.
Liu Tingting would also go to the clan school every day, where there were seven or eight young ladies studying together things like "Admonitions for Women" and the Four Books and Five Classics.
The girls' lessons only lasted for one morning. In the afternoon, the young ladies would learn etiquette and manners, or needlework and the like.
Of course, this applies to ordinary girls, but Mu Xin Nuan would continue her studies in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting in the afternoon. Her chess lessons were still taught personally by Mu Chang An. On his days off, he would specifically gather the children together and personally teach them chess in his study. And Mu Xin Nuan was the one who progressed the fastest in chess.
After studying for a while, Mu Chang'an realized that Liu Tingting and Mu Xinyao were really not suitable for learning chess, so he soon stopped letting them learn chess.
In these three years, Mu Xinyao was relatively well-behaved. Although she could occasionally see Song Shi, she was no longer lucky enough to get anything out of her.
As for Song Zhaoxun, she was indeed unfortunate. Not long after the Empress Dowager's death, she accidentally fell, which led to premature birth. At that time, the Empress Dowager had not yet been buried, so the Crown Prince, the Crown Princess, and some other concubines of slightly higher rank were keeping vigil for the Empress Dowager. Her fall, which required someone to report to the Crown Princess and make arrangements, naturally caused a delay.
Ultimately, Consort Song did give birth to a daughter for the Crown Prince, but due to premature birth, she was quite weak. Consort Song herself suffered from postpartum hemorrhage due to premature birth and breech presentation, and died less than an hour after giving birth to her daughter.
When Mu Xin Nuan heard the news, she immediately went to tell Song Shi!
As for Madam Song, perhaps she was used to being beaten by Mu Xin Nuan, she actually met her gaze calmly and did not do anything impolite.
Mu Xin Nuan was very unhappy with Song's reaction, so that night, Mu Hua secretly tested the drug on Song again, and this time, she was tormented for three days and three nights!
That day, Mu Xin Nuan was practicing calligraphy in her Moon Pavilion when she heard laughter and chatter outside. She frowned slightly; it was her cousin and younger cousin.
Just as Mu Xin Nuan put down her pen, Mu Hua came in to report.
Mu Xin Nuan left her small study and went to the main room. "Why did you all come together?"
As soon as Liu Zhuangzhuang saw her coming, he went straight up to her and said, "Elder sister, I received praise from the teacher at school today! Look, this is the couplet I wrote, and the teacher praised me several times."
Mu Xin Nuan took it and nodded. "The calligraphy is quite good. The couplet is also fairly neat. Not bad! Have you taken it to Grandfather for a look?"
“I’ve seen it. Look, my grandfather even gave me this as a special reward.” Liu Zhuangzhuang said, raising a black inkstone in his hand.
Mu Xin Nuan glanced at the inkstone and saw her cousin beside her smiling because of Liu Zhuangzhuang's success, her ladylike demeanor shining through.
"Did you go to pay your respects to your grandmother today?"
"Not yet." Liu Zhuangzhuang scratched his head, glancing at Liu Tingting with some uncertainty about whether he should say it.
"My father has arrived." Tingting's voice was somewhat indifferent, without a trace of joy.