Don't be a salted fish, the daily life of the concubine in the palace

The princess left the Prince of Yan's mansion in a haughty manner and took a carriage to the Tantai family in Yanjing City. Today was her mother's birthday, and the house was bustling with people coming to give gifts and celebrate her birthday.

Looking at the magnificent gate, the princess felt a surge of pride in her heart. A century-old family, this was a height that the Shen family, who came from a humble background, could never reach in their lifetime.

The princess supported Aunt Liu's hand and walked down the carriage with a proud look on her face. The servant at the door kowtowed respectfully and happily welcomed the princess into the house.

The birthday party hasn't started yet.

The princess first went to pay respect to her birth mother, Madam Tantai. Under the guidance of the maid, the princess went to her mother's residence in the back hall. The door was decorated with lanterns and colorful decorations, and the old lady with gray hair was in the yard, holding her little granddaughter Yuan'er's hand and chatting with her eldest daughter's family.

Madam Tan Tai had four children, two daughters and two sons, and Princess Tan Tai Shu Ya was the youngest. When the old lady married into the Tan Tai family, she gave birth to a daughter and two sons. Ten years later, at the age of 34, the old lady unexpectedly became pregnant again and gave birth to the youngest daughter, Tan Tai Shu Ya.

Having a daughter in middle age, the whole family has always been particularly fond of Tan Tai Shu Ya.

"Mother."

The princess stepped forward joyfully and called out.

Madam Tan Tai was stunned for a moment, then quickly and happily took the princess' hand and said, "Shu Ya, you are here really early. Come in and sit down."

The corners of the princess' lips rose, and she glanced at her elder sister, Tan Tai Shu Qin, with a haughty look. Tan Tai Shu Qin was the eldest daughter of the old lady, and although she was the elder sister, she was more than ten years older than the princess.

Tan Tai Shuqin married the top scholar of the dynasty and gave birth to only a daughter. The princess often secretly despised her elder sister, who had a good reputation for being "virtuous" but unfortunately did not have the blessing of giving birth to a son.

After entering the main room, the maids brought the precious Qingxin tea from Jiangnan.

Old Madam Tan Tai held the princess's hand the whole time, asking about her well-being with a smile on her face, the kindness between her brows almost overflowing.

"Who is this?" Tan Tai Shu Ya saw a strange young man in the room. He was in his early twenties, handsome and gentle, with a strong scholarly air.

The elegant young man bowed and said, "My lord, I am Zhang Fenghua, the editor of the Hanlin Academy."

The princess was not involved in court affairs and did not know this new noble, but she felt that the name sounded familiar.

Madam Tan Tai smiled and said, "Zhang Fenghua was the top scholar in last spring's imperial examination. He was born in the Zhang family of Yanjing and is the second top scholar in the Zhang family since the founding of the Daqing Kingdom. I plan to marry Yuan'er to Zhang Qing."

Yuan Er is the only daughter of Tan Tai Shu Qin. She has already reached the age of marriage and is waiting to be married. Tan Tai's old lady discussed with Tan Tai Shu Qin's family and selected the young talent Zhang Feng Hua as her son-in-law.

Yuan'er took after her mother, with a beautiful face. Her cheeks flushed, and she glanced shyly at the handsome Zhang Fenghua, then quickly lowered her head.

The princess then remembered Zhang Fenghua's name. Last year, Zhang Fenghua was the top scorer in the imperial examination, and Shen's brother was the second.

The princess knew something about the Zhang family in Yanjing.

The ancestor of the Zhang family served as Si Tianjian in the imperial court, an official of moderate importance, in charge of astronomy and divination. Later, smoke came out of the Zhang family's ancestral tomb, and a top scholar was born. The top scholar of the Zhang family had a prosperous career and became the prime minister of Daqing at a young age. The Zhang family has since prospered.

Unfortunately, the Zhang family was unlucky. While escorting Princess Taihua to her marriage, Prime Minister Zhang was forced to become the emperor's husband. He was never allowed to return to Daqing in his lifetime, and the Zhang family fell into decline from then on.

A family that is about to decline, Yuan'er will only suffer if she marries there. The princess looked at Zhang Fenghua and joked, "So you are a descendant of the Zhang family in Yanjing. It is rare that the Zhang family can still produce such a talent a hundred years later."

Zhang Fenghua bowed and said politely: "The glory of our ancestors is beyond the reach of the younger generation. We can only strive to move forward."

The princess had no mood to chat with Zhang Fenghua. She had not forgotten the original intention of returning to her parents' home today - to ask her mother to come forward and take back the housekeeping power that belonged to the princess.

Before asking your mother to do something, you naturally have to try to please her. The princess smiled and said, "Mother, today is your birthday, and your daughter specially gave you a jade Buddha. Madam Liu, bring the jade Buddha here."

Nanny Liu held a large, exquisite box in her hands. When she opened it, she saw a carefully carved white jade Buddha statue inside.

The Bodhisattva has kind eyes and a ruby ​​inlaid between his eyebrows, which is very exquisite.

When Madam Tan Tai saw the jade Buddha, the expression on her face froze for a moment, but she managed to hide it well.

Tan Tai Shuqin, who was standing by, looked a little surprised when she saw the jade Buddha.

Madam Tan Tai smiled, her face still kind: "This gift is quite good."

After taking a sip of tea, Madam Tan Tai changed the subject and asked the princess, "Why didn't the Prince of Yan come today?"

The princess felt embarrassed.

She and Prince Yan had long since separated. In the past few years, Prince Yan would occasionally go to celebrate the birthday of Old Lady Tan Tai. In recent years, the prince has hardly stepped into the door of Tan Tai's house, and has only sent some valuable gifts.

This year, the Prince of Yan didn't even send a birthday gift.

But the princess did not want to make her troubled family affairs public, especially not to let her sister know. In front of the world, she was the noble Princess of Yan, with one daughter and two sons, and her status was unshakable.

The princess remained calm and replied, "Mother, the prince has been busy with state affairs lately and is too busy to attend to him."

Old Madam Tan Tai saw through it but didn't dare to say it out loud. She lowered her head and took another sip of tea to hide the disappointment in her eyes.

It was almost noon and the guests had basically arrived. The steward came to ask Madam Tan Tai to show up and go to the front hall to accept the guests' congratulations.

The princess sat at the table, waiting patiently for the birthday banquet to end.

As soon as the birthday banquet at noon ended, the princess could not wait to return to the inner hall of Madam Tan Tai. Madam Tan Tai had always been in poor health, and the maid brought in the cooked ginseng soup.

"Give me the ginseng soup, and you go out first." The princess took the ginseng soup and sent the maids in the inner hall out.

The princess held the bowl of ginseng soup and personally served her mother the soup. Finding the right time, the princess whispered a request: "Mother... The prince has been bewitched by the vixen Shen in the past year. Shen is so cunning that she used the prince to take away my daughter's housekeeper rights. My daughter can only see her son twice a month..."

The princess talked on and on, describing her miserable experience.

Old Madam Tan Tai looked calm and patiently listened to the princess's account of her experience.

Finished a bowl of ginseng soup.

The princess placed the medicine bowl on the rosewood table, tears of grievance welling up in her eyes. She begged, "Mother, please help your daughter."

Madam Tan Tai was already old, and her health was getting worse day by day. The wrinkles on her face were clearly visible. She raised her cloudy eyes and looked at her little daughter carefully: "Shu Ya, before you got married, your mother taught you to read the account books and learn the skills of housekeeping. Do you still remember?"

The princess nodded: "Of course my daughter will remember."

Madam Tan Tai sighed, "You married the Prince of Yan. Mother was afraid that you couldn't fight against the concubines, so she selected eight capable maids for you to help you take care of the household affairs of the Prince's Mansion. Where are those eight maids now?"

The princess's face flushed with shame.

The princess was afraid that the prince's heart would be seduced by the maids, so she sent all eight maids away with various reasons.

"My daughter knows she was wrong." The princess took the initiative to admit her mistake, "Mother, please help me again."