无翼乌工口里番无色无摭挡

After saying, “Take care of yourselves,” Li Hongyuan left with a flick of his sleeves.

The old woman then let go of Chunlai.

Chunlai rushes to Jiang Ning and sobs uncontrollably.

After Jiang Ning finished coughing, she rubs her forehead wearily and says, “Don’t cry, it’s giving me a headache.”

“Princess Consort, are you alright?” Chunlai asks between sobs, wiping her tears.

“I’m fine. Help me lie down for a while.”

The two of them help her up from the wheelchair and lay her down on the bed.

Huang Ying brings water for her to sip on.

“Princess Consort, should I seek a doctor to examine you?”

“No need, I did not ingest anything, I threw it all up.” Jiang Ning turns her body to face the interior of the bed and closes her eyes, “Both of you may leave, I will take a nap.”

“I will be outside, call me if you need me.” Huang Ying lowers the curtains around the bed and leads Chunlai out.

Xiachu and Dongxie were outside waiting, they hurriedly interrogate them, clearly enraged.

Dongxie sighs, “Our Princess Consort has just arrived, and there’s already so much trouble. I’m afraid that life in this mansion will be difficult from here on.”

Chunlai wipes her tears,”They say that the Prince of Yu is handsome, leading one to think he must also have a good temperament. Who knew that he could be this… We hail from the Prime Minister’s family, and our girl takes after such beauty. She’s being oppressed just because her legs are not well. If we had known, we wouldn’t have joined the selection process. The Prime Minister and Madam love our Princess so dearly that it would greatly sadden them to learn of her plight.”

But Huang Ying was the most calm among them,”What’s the use of saying all these things now? We are already here, we should think about how to handle the situation. It is very hot today, and the Princess Consort has woken up in a sweat. First, we need to get some refrigeration.”

This was indeed the most pressing matter at hand.

First, they had to ensure they could live comfortably before thinking about anything else.

“I’ll go ask the housekeeper for it,” Dongxie says.

She leaves but soon returns, empty-handed and despondent.

“Where’s the ice?” Huang Ying asks.

“The housekeeper said there’s no more ice today. We need to be early if we want any next time.”

“It’s the very beginning of the day and there’s no ice left?” Dongxie fumes, “This is a royal mansion after all, isn’t it inferior to the Prime Minister’s Mansion? Back there, we could always get ice at any time, even in the middle of the night. This must be outright bullying!”

“They are all a bunch of snobs, belittling us because the Princess Consort is not favoured.” Huang Ying asks her, “Who’s in charge of household affairs now?”

“Currently, the household affairs are being temporarily managed by Madam Zhao and Maid Fang.”

It suddenly occurs to Chunlai, “Isn’t it time that they should be coming to kowtow and pay respects to the Princess Consort?”

By tradition, upon the mistress’s arrival, the palace maids and other wives must come to kowtow and pay respects.

After all, the main wife is the master, and the concubines are servants.

They are supposed to serve the mistress.

But it was already morning, and they hadn’t caught sight of any of them.

Chunlai cries in frustration, “The Prince caused such a commotion, embarrassing us in front of the entire mansion. Isn’t he deliberately making the Princess Consort look bad and leaving her with no way out?”

The maids were filled with anger, and concern.

They were unsure about how they would endure the days to come.

Huang Ying, the eldest of the bunch, and thus the most experienced and level-headed among them, advised, “Calm down, everyone, the Princess Consort must make the decisions in this matter. We are her servants and we cannot make decisions without her consent. It might cause her trouble.”

Jiang Ning takes a long nap, waking up due to hunger.

After barely eating breakfast and going through all that, the room was stuffy and warm.

She sits up, drenched in sweat, instinctively touching her belly.

Now, she could already feel the faint movements of the baby inside her, like a small fish swimming in the water, gentle and subtle..