The Qing Palace Never Meets Spring

After a princess is born, she will be assigned a wet nurse, and some close relatives will also call the wet nurse "Momo Enie". In addition, she will be assigned a chief eunuch and four eunuchs to better take care of her life.

When she turns two years old, two more eunuchs and several mothers will be added. These mothers will be older so that they can better take care of the princess.

Everyone else would be replaced frequently for various reasons, but the wet nurses were those who had been by the princess's side since childhood and would even follow her when she got married. In some cases, the princess and princes would also be responsible for the care of these wet nurses who had accompanied the princess and princes as they grew up.

Qingwan had met Yihuan's wet nurse, but the two only addressed her as "Grandma" and did not use any more intimate terms. Yi'an's wet nurse was a quiet woman who rarely spoke.

She had never seen or heard of Yinxiang's wet nurse, so naturally she wouldn't ask.

As for Yi Huan's wet nurse, she had only seen her from afar twice before, and today was the first time she had a formal encounter with her.

After Yi Huan's wet nurse entered, she gave a perfunctory bow and went straight to Yi Huan. On the way, she saw the plum juice that Qing Wan had put down, which was still emitting cold air. She stood next to Yi Huan and said, "Princess, your spleen and stomach have been weak since you were a child. It was not easy to get better. How can you eat whatever you want?"

Even after the shock, the Thirteenth Prince's wife was his sister-in-law from the same mother. This servant thought he should be more careful than others, so why did he still…”

The sound of Yi Huan slamming down the cup was loud enough to attract the wet nurse's attention.

The wet nurse noticed the still-sloshing milk tea in the cup Yi Huan had put down, and swallowed the words she was about to say. She then continued...

"Princess, you must have been frightened. I have already had someone prepare some calming medicine. Princess, you should go back and drink it and rest for a while."

After she finished speaking, there was no response for a long time. When she looked up, she saw Yi Huan raising her hand and pointing to the bracelet on her wrist with a smile, showing it to Qing Wan. Neither of them intended to pay attention to her.

Just as she was about to say something, Xunmei tugged at her sleeve: "Granny, why aren't you going back? You're disturbing the princess and the princess's wife with your talking."

After saying that, he looked up at the eunuchs and maids beside Yi Huan and said, "You guys have no sense of propriety. Why don't you help the old lady back? It's under the scorching sun. How can we let the old lady go out on her own? I'll deal with you when we get back."

"Yes." The palace maids around Yi Huan naturally stepped forward to help her leave. The wet nurse turned around and saw that Yi Huan seemed not to have heard her and was only talking to Qing Wan. She felt a little uneasy.

After everyone left, Qingwan raised her chin and pointed at the departing people: "What happened here?"

Yi Huan said with some disdain, "I was taken to Consort Rong's side when I was only a month old, and Consort Rong also found a reason to replace the wet nurse who was assigned to me when I was born."

That old lady from the Cao family was just one of the Khan's wet nurses, not even the one who cared for him the most, yet the Khan treated her so well. Because of this, the people in our palace also valued their wet nurses more. Those who were more ambitious naturally had their own ideas, and I, as one of them, was one of them. Besides, did my sister-in-law even know which family my wet nurse came from?

Qingwan didn't even need to think before asking, "Could it be Ma Jia Shi?"

Yi Huan laughed and said, "That's right, so Rong E'ne naturally hopes that I can treat her cousin from the clan, whom I don't know how many twists and turns it took to get in touch with her, well."

"So, all these years..."

"Don't worry." Yi Huan chuckled, not hiding the coldness in her words: "I'm not made of clay. She's just a wet nurse. No matter whose power she's relying on, I can keep her in check."

"How about I talk to your brother and we find another way to deal with him, so you won't have to go against Consort Rong?" Qingwan said with some worry.

"It's alright, I can handle it. I've replaced almost everyone around me over the years, but I'm keeping her here to 'report' to Consort Rong."

Qingwan nodded. Seeing Yihuan's confident demeanor, she didn't say anything more. Over this period of time, she had come to understand that although the two princesses had good personalities, they were not innocent little rabbits.

The two talked for a while longer before Yi Huan got up and left.

After returning home, Yi Huan first lay on the daybed, feeling a bit bored, and said, "Find a book."

When Xunmei opened the trunk, she caught a glimpse of a book with a very familiar cover and pointed to it, saying, "Let me see that one."

Xunxiang took the book out and handed it to Yihuan. Yihuan frowned as soon as she took it: "Why did you bring this book with you?"

It turns out that this book is a volume of "Neize Yanyi".

"Neize Yanyi" is a book compiled by Emperor Shunzhi in the thirteenth year of his reign, under the instruction of Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang. Its purpose was to "set an example of inner virtue and inner education for the palace".

One volume of the book records the virtuous and filial deeds of princesses throughout history, intended to provide role models for the princesses of the current dynasty. Unfortunately, this is the volume that Yi Huan has in her hands.

Xunmei said, "Perhaps the maid who was tidying up didn't notice and let it in. This servant will find another one."

Yi Huan casually flipped through two pages: "Never mind, just take a look. Call the nanny over."

After Ma Jia entered, she naturally bowed to Yi Huan first. According to the old custom, Yi Huan did not call her up but she got up on her own.

When Yi Huan was young, under the guidance of Consort Rong, she didn't show much respect to Lady Ma Jia. As she grew older, she realized it was inappropriate and mentioned it a few times. Later, Consort Rong gave her "reminders," especially after Consort Min passed away and Yin Zhi was demoted. These reminders became more frequent, and she just let it go.

Yi Huan held up a book to cover her face, making it impossible for anyone to see her expression. Only Xun Mei, who was next to her, could catch a glimpse of it. Xun Mei had been with Yi Huan since childhood and had overheard Qing Wan's conversation today. She understood that Yi Huan was angry, so she pretended to be embarrassed and said...

"Granny, the princess hasn't been woken up yet."

Ma Jia glared at her: "This is a courtesy the princess has specially given me, who gave me the right to speak?"

Xunmei sneered inwardly, then lowered her head and said, "What you say is true, Granny."

Seeing that Yi Huan didn't speak, Ma Jia felt relieved. She thought to herself that she had Consort Rong and her wet nurse behind her, so even if she was impolite in front of the Thirteenth Prince's wife today, she would only be scolded a few times and then nothing would happen.

Yi Huan slightly curled the corners of her lips at the end of the book and said, "Granny, when we left the palace, Eleventh Sister was sick. It was said that her wet nurse mistreated her. What did Father do about it? We left in a hurry, so I didn't hear anyone mention it."

You have a lot of information, tell me about it.

Ma Jia hesitated for a moment, feeling somewhat flustered, and said to cover it up, "This servant doesn't know either. I suppose you should send the imperial physician to treat her properly."

Yi Huan said, "I see."

After refilling Yi Huan's tea, Xunmei said, "Granny, you haven't found out as much as I have."

That's not all. The Emperor first rebuked the wet nurse for her "rudeness and neglect" towards the Eleventh Princess, then issued an edict to exile the wet nurse's entire family to the army, and assigned servants to attend to the Eleventh Princess, strictly ordering them to take good care of her. Even the Empress Dowager who raised the princess was reprimanded by the Emperor.

Princess Eleven's birth mother, Consort Wang, may not survive this year, but seeing how much His Majesty values ​​Princess Eleven, he can probably rest assured.

It's clear that no matter how much we value the wet nurse, she's still a servant, and we must never overstep our bounds. The old woman thought my last sentence was quite right.