The Self-cultivation of a Salted Fish Concubine

After reprimanding Concubine Ning, Prince Jing went straight to the Princess's Qingsong Courtyard and told her about his plan to find a nanny.

As expected, the princess did not agree.

"I myself have no experience in taking care of children, so where can I find an experienced mother?"

The princess glanced at Prince Jing's sullen expression and said calmly, "In my opinion, why not ask mother for two people?"

King Jing knew that his princess had always acted cautiously and stayed away from trouble.

He didn't force it, "Since that's the case, you can do whatever you want."

While they were having dinner, Prince Jing suddenly said, "I don't think Ning can take care of two children. Why don't you take Ying'er to your yard and raise her for a few days?"

The princess was stunned, then suddenly laughed, "Your Highness, you're joking. It's not that I'm unwilling to fulfill my responsibilities as a legitimate mother. Firstly, I've never given birth before, so I have no experience and I'm afraid I won't be able to take good care of a child. Secondly, they say a child is the apple of their mother's eye. If you bring Ying'er to me to raise, I'm afraid Concubine Ning will be unable to sleep at night."

King Jing pursed his lips and said nothing more.

He just mentioned it casually, but who would have thought that the princess would reject it so decisively.

Seeing that Prince Jing was unhappy, the princess said magnanimously, "Your Highness, I heard that Concubine Fang seems to have caught a bit of a heat stroke recently and has been feeling unwell. Why don't you go and see her?"

Prince Jing wiped his mouth with a handkerchief and said, "If she is not feeling well, the princess can arrange for a palace doctor. I am not a doctor."

Princess Jing is a well-known virtuous person both inside and outside the palace. She is kind and generous, and behaves prudently and appropriately. There is no fault to be found in her.

But even with such a perfect princess, King Jing just couldn't like her.

King Jing knew that his princess did not care about offspring or favor. The only thing she cared about was her dignity and rights.

The relationship between the two is not like that of a husband and wife, but more like that of colleagues.

After dinner, King Jing wrote for a while and then went to bed soon.

King Jing was not in a good mood today, so he did nothing.

The next day was a day off, and King Jing didn't have to attend the morning court, so he got up a little late.

When I was about to go out after finishing my meal, I happened to meet two little girls coming to Qingsong Courtyard with a tray.

King Jing glanced at it casually: "What is this?"

Qiulan was very happy, "Your Majesty, our master has just found something good and is here to present it to the princess."

King Jing raised his eyebrows. When he saw this girl, he barely remembered that he had seen her in Concubine Fang's yard.

"What are they?"

"These are the new rouge and powder from Jiangnan Shop, shipped from Jiangnan overnight. There are only two sets in total. The master kept one set for herself, and the other set was specially presented to the princess."

Jiangnanfang is the most famous rouge and powder shop in the entire south.

It is said that a box of powder is worth one or two taels of gold.

There was exactly one set in this tray, a total of twelve boxes, which shows that Concubine Fang was generous.

Prince Jing knew this so clearly because Jiangnanfang was a property that the emperor secretly bought for Concubine Chen, and it was registered under the name of the Eighth Prince, who was only thirteen years old.

The eighth prince, also the youngest son of the emperor, is very much favored by the emperor.

King Jing only glanced at him and said, "Your master is very generous in honoring the princess."

Qiulan said cleverly, "My master heard that the prince loves tea, so he spent a lot of money to buy a lot of fine tea from Jiangnan, saying that he was just waiting for the prince to come and have a sip."

King Jing frowned and said, "Your master is quite good at disciplining people."

Qiulan's cheeks turned red from the praise, and before she could say a few more words, King Jing had already taken his men away.

He didn't say whether he would go to Concubine Fang's place or not.

Many people knew about the incident at the gate of Qingsongyuan, but no one took it seriously.

The princess sent Concubine Fang away and lazily sat on the couch trimming flowers. She glanced at Mother Li beside her, hesitating to speak, and said calmly, "Mother, just say whatever you want to say."

The princess was a princess sent by the Great Xia Dynasty to marry a foreign prince. The current emperor gave her to King Jing as his princess with a wave of his hand.

The people around her all came from the Xia Dynasty, so their feelings are particularly different from others.

Mother Li looked at the princess with heartache, "Princess, since the prince mentioned that he wanted to bring the second young master to your place to raise him for a few days, why did you refuse? If he could really be raised forever, you would have someone to rely on for the rest of your life."

The princess chuckled softly, "Mom, do you believe this yourself?"

Mother Li fell silent for a moment.

Princess: "If the prince wanted me to raise the child, he should have brought it to my courtyard when it was born. Now Concubine Ning has raised the child until he is two years old, and he only mentioned that he wants me to raise him. The child already recognizes his mother, so why ask me to raise him again?"

Thinking of this, the princess snorted coldly, "Back then, the prince took pity on Concubine Ning and disregarded my reputation, making an exception and allowing Concubine Ning to raise the child with him. Did he ever consider that I was the child's legal mother?"

"Now that Concubine Ning can't raise a child, the prince has thought of me... Although I don't have any children, I don't bother raising other people's children."

The princess lowered her eyes, hiding the dark glint in them. "Besides, the prince relies on me now because I don't have my own children and I act fairly and justly. If I really raise Concubine Ning's child, I'm afraid his heart will turn to Lanxiangyuan again."

It is a man's nature to pity the weak and the poor.

Mother Li sighed, "Concubine Ning is so ungrateful. She finally had two sons, but she only cared about securing the position of Crown Prince for the eldest son, completely neglecting the upbringing of the second son... It would be so wonderful if you could have a child of your own, even a daughter."

Concubine Ning was assigned to King Jing at the same time as the Princess.

King Jing initially respected the princess and made it clear that no illegitimate son would be born until the princess gave birth to a child.

Unexpectedly, the princess had not been able to get pregnant for three years after entering the palace. Seeing that the legitimate sons and illegitimate sons of other royal palaces were leaving one after another, King Jing allowed the concubines and imperial concubines to get pregnant.

Concubine Ning gave birth to two sons in succession. She was the only one with two sons in the palace and was very strong-willed. She had made the princess very angry in the past few years.

Later, it was because Concubine Ning relied on her two sons, became arrogant, and repeatedly caused trouble, that she was alienated by King Jing.

The princess cut off the last flower, her eyes a little melancholy, but also very calm.

"When it comes to children, fate is everything. If it's not there, you can't force it."

"Mom, you're confused. Even if I don't have children, who dares look down on me?" The princess put down her scissors, her eyes full of pride. "I was married to the prince by arrangement with the current emperor, and I hold the diplomatic relationship between our two countries together. As long as I do my duty, even if I don't have favor and children, no one can make my life miserable."

Mother Li disagreed in her heart and wanted to persuade her a few more times.

The princess had already stood up. "Since mother is free, find someone to tell Lanxiangyuan what the prince said last night. Although I won't raise the child, it's good to let Concubine Ning hang a sword over her head."

The princess did not care about the prince's favor, but she also remembered the humiliation that Concubine Ning had brought upon her.

Now that I have the opportunity, I naturally have to vent my anger.

If Concubine Ning heard that the prince intended for her to raise the second young master, she would probably be unable to sleep at night.

Mother Li's eyes lit up, "I'll do it right away."