Although not particularly interested in this old nanny, Yanshu still found the situation quite peculiar.
She asked the system about it: "What's going on here? Why would Nanny Zhuang get involved with that old lecher Duke Cheng'en?"
The system replied: "This goes back about 30 years. As everyone knows, the Zhou family was a prestigious clan. Duke Cheng'en was spoiled from childhood and became a lecherous fellow. Before he was even old enough to marry, he had his way with nearly all the maids around him. But that wasn't enough - he then set his sights on his sister's household, that is, the Empress Dowager's. After all, the Empress Dowager knew how to select people, and her maids were all quite comely."
"But how could the Empress Dowager allow such behavior? Upon discovering his intentions, she immediately sternly warned him and reported it to their parents, who gave him a harsh scolding. However, Duke Cheng'en only pretended to behave on the surface. In reality, he became even more defiant - the more his sister forbade it, the more determined he was. So one afternoon when the mansion was mostly empty, he forced himself on Nanny Zhuang."
Yanshu was surprised: "So Nanny Zhuang was an unwilling victim? Did she tell the Empress Dowager?"
The system: "Tell her what? The Empress Dowager had sensed something was off those couple days and even specifically asked her, but she went to great lengths to cover for that little scoundrel and let the matter slide. After that, she even fell deeply in love with Duke Cheng'en and couldn't extricate herself."
Yanshu: "What? What kind of situation is this? The legendary Stockholm Syndrome?"
System: "More or less."
Yanshu felt utterly confused. She asked further: "But Duke Cheng'en was lecherous from youth to old age, with so many women along the way. Nanny Zhuang never felt hatred born of love?"
System: "As you can see, she never did. Even now she's still exhausting herself thinking of that old lecher's interests, trying to use her own Stockholm Syndrome to manipulate the Empress Dowager."
Yanshu: "...It seems this old nanny's condition is quite severe."
But the problem was, even if she chose to love Duke Cheng'en and sacrifice herself for that old lecher, it shouldn't concern others!
Hadn't the Empress Dowager ever fought for her family's interests?
Hadn't the Emperor ever tried to save face for Duke Cheng'en's household?
What was wrong with her accompanying the Emperor to pay respects to his birth mother? Was that worth such hatred from this nanny?
But come to think of it, how did Nanny Zhuang know she had accompanied the Emperor to pay respects to Consort Dowager Hui today?
System: "Care to guess?"
Yanshu: "...Don't tell me this nanny arranged for someone to follow and spy on me and the Emperor?"
System: "There's no other possibility."
Yanshu felt like vomiting blood.
Good heavens, had this old nanny gone mad? How could she do such a thing?
These people really didn't deserve such a good mistress as the Empress Dowager. If not for her gossip system, wouldn't this misunderstanding fall on her top supporter?
Feeling quite angry, she picked up the teacup beside her, intending to take a sip.
But just then, she heard the system's alarm: "The rim of that cup has been smeared with castor oil. If a pregnant woman drinks it, it's likely to cause discomfort."
What?
Yanshu was startled and immediately stopped her motion.
This movement was rather sudden, and the Empress Dowager noticed, asking curiously, "What's wrong?"
Yanshu thought quickly and pretended to feel nauseous, covering her mouth: "I don't know why, but I suddenly feel a bit sick..."
The Empress Dowager concernedly said, "Aren't you past three months already? Why are you still feeling nauseous? Has the imperial physician been checking on you daily?"
Before Yanshu could speak, Rendong beside her quickly nodded and said, "Your Majesty, Doctor Jiang has been checking on my lady daily. Just yesterday, my lady felt the baby move for the first time, and Doctor Jiang said everything was normal."
The Empress Dowager nodded, but still looked puzzled: "Then what's the matter today?"
As she finished speaking, Yanshu pretended to recover, rubbing her chest with an apologetic expression: "I don't know what happened either. Just now when the tea was brought to my lips, I suddenly felt the smell was a bit off... Perhaps I'm being too sensitive. I've embarrassed myself in front of Your Majesty."
The smell was off?
The Empress Dowager paused upon hearing this, though she said nothing, her mind began to suspect.
"How could the tea smell off? Could someone have tampered with it?"
Yanshu quietly overheard this and felt reassured.
Then she heard the Empress Dowager say to her, "It's getting late. You should go back and rest."
She agreed, letting Rendong support her as she rose, bowed to the Empress Dowager, and took her leave from the Palace of Benevolent Peace.
As for who had tampered with her teacup, there was no need to guess.
The moment she stepped out of the hall, she could still hear Nanny Zhuang anxiously thinking, "Is this little hussy really unwell or just pretending? I only rubbed a tiny bit on the cup rim with my fingertip, how could she smell it?"
Yanshu silently listened, inwardly scoffing.
This old woman was courting death with her actions and certainly couldn't be allowed to remain in the palace. By rights, if she had made a scene right then, the Emperor would have had more than enough grounds to sentence this old woman to death.
But unfortunately, she was the Empress Dowager's servant.
If it became a big issue, it would likely implicate the Empress Dowager.
So she could only hint like this, letting the Empress Dowager investigate for herself.
At this time, as she stepped out of the hall, Nanny Zhuang immediately wanted to call someone to clear away the cup Yanshu had used.
But the Empress Dowager stopped her.
The Empress Dowager, showing no emotion, said, "Call in the people from the tea room."
Nanny Zhuang hesitated, but had no choice but to comply and go fetch them.
Not long after, two palace maids from the tea room, Mei Xue and Dan Shuang, arrived in the hall.
After they bowed, the Empress Dowager asked, "Who brewed the tea today?"
Mei Xue immediately said, "Your Majesty, I brewed the tea."
The Empress Dowager showed no change in expression, but asked further, "What tea did you brew for the Worthy Consort?"
Mei Xue quickly replied, "I brewed Liu'an Guapian tea for the Worthy Consort, the kind she usually drinks."
Dan Shuang nodded in agreement beside her, both looking completely open and honest.
The Empress Dowager then gestured to where Yanshu had been sitting and said, "Go and see if there's anything wrong with that cup of tea."
They complied and went over together, carefully examining the teacup.
Suddenly, Mei Xue said, "Your Majesty, there seems to be some oil on the rim of the cup."
Dan Shuang had already rubbed the oily substance between her fingers and after careful inspection, nodded and said, "It does appear to be oil."
The Empress Dowager's expression turned cold as she asked, "Then whose hands did this cup of tea pass through?"
Mei Xue quickly knelt and said, "Your Majesty, we personally delivered the tea to the hall entrance. It was Nanny Zhuang who brought it inside. Other than that, it didn't pass through anyone else's hands."
The Empress Dowager remembered this scene and immediately turned to look at Nanny Zhuang.
In that moment, her gaze was as cold as a knife.
Nanny Zhuang faltered, then quickly knelt and said, "I've been wronged, Your Majesty."
But the Empress Dowager only gave a cold laugh and said, "Not sending you away directly back then was my biggest mistake. In this hall today, I can trust anyone but you."
As she finished speaking, Nanny Zhuang immediately began crying and said, "Your Majesty's words truly wrong me. I have always acted for Your Majesty's sake! Do you know that yesterday the Emperor went to Yongfu Palace again to pay respects to Consort Dowager Hui, and the Worthy Consort accompanied him the whole way? Your Majesty treats the Worthy Consort so well, but even while pregnant she still accompanies the Emperor. How can she have you in her heart?"
The Empress Dowager frowned and said, "Just because of this, you would disregard the imperial heir? How could you bring yourself to do such a thing?"
But Nanny Zhuang shook her head vigorously and said, "No, please understand, Your Majesty. I only smeared a tiny bit of castor oil on the cup rim. Even if the Worthy Consort had drunk from it, it would have been an insignificant amount. At most it would have given her slight diarrhea, it wouldn't have affected the imperial heir at all."
What?
Just a bit of castor oil?
Upon hearing this, the Empress Dowager immediately became angry: "She's carrying twins now and can't risk any carelessness. How can you speak of this so lightly? Why on earth did you do this?"
Nanny Zhuang cried again and said, "I only wanted to let the Worthy Consort know that she shouldn't go to that place, to make her truly loyal to you in the future and not dare to have any disloyal thoughts."
The Empress Dowager was at a loss for words. She closed her eyes, sighed, and said, "Isn't this just human nature? Consort Dowager Hui is the Emperor's birth mother. If the Emperor doesn't even care for his birth mother, how could he truly be filial to me? The Emperor is the Worthy Consort's husband. If she doesn't consider her husband's feelings, does that mean she agrees with you? You've lived for decades, but what have you really learned?"
Nanny Zhuang cried, "I have served you faithfully for decades, with only Your Majesty and the Zhou family in my heart!"
The Empress Dowager shook her head and said, "If you truly had me in your heart, you would never have done such a thing."
She then sighed deeply and said, "Very well, since you are so fond of the Zhou family, you may return to them."
Nanny Zhuang was stunned.
That evening, Yanshu received a system message saying that the Empress Dowager had sent Nanny Zhuang back to the Duke of Cheng'en's Mansion, citing concerns for her health.
She raised an eyebrow, thinking to herself that the Empress Dowager must have uncovered the truth.
Though she had only sent the old woman back to the Zhou family, Yanshu understood the Empress Dowager's dilemma.
After all, Nanny Zhuang was one of the most important people by the Empress Dowager's side. If something major were to suddenly happen to her, it would spark all sorts of speculation.
In any case, as long as that woman was no longer in the palace to irritate her, it was fine. As for the rest... she could only say that now it was good. This Stockholm Syndrome sufferer could now see her lifelong "old man" embracing other concubines and mistresses every day, carousing and indulging in pleasure. Who knows how she would feel about that.
Tsk, in short, it was quite incomprehensible.
After pondering this for a while, the palace servants had already set out the evening meal.
Yanshu was feeling hungry, so she went to wash her hands, ready to eat.
Looking at the table, she saw all her favorite dishes: spicy crucian carp, century eggs with chili, stir-fried kidney, spicy lamb trotters, and so on.
Ever since her morning sickness had disappeared, she had suddenly developed a taste for strongly flavored dishes. If a dish didn't have some special flavor like sour, spicy, or numbing, she didn't want to eat it.
Just as she was about to pick up her chopsticks and start eating with a hearty appetite, she suddenly heard an announcement from outside the hall: "His Majesty the Emperor arrives..."
Oh? The Emperor had come?
Yanshu had to put down her chopsticks and rise to greet him at the door.
"This humble consort welcomes Your Majesty."
Yuwen Lan made a sound of acknowledgment, "No need for formalities."
Saying this, he helped her up, and they walked to the table together.
Yanshu thought to herself that now she could finally eat, and quickly picked up her chopsticks.
However, the Emperor was not in a hurry to eat, but instead asked urgently, "The Empress Dowager just sent Nanny Zhuang out of the palace. Do you know what happened?"
Yanshu had to put down her chopsticks again and, leaning close to his ear, softly reported the day's events.
When she finished speaking, Yuwen Lan immediately frowned and said, "Such a thing happened? Isn't this punishment too light?"
But as soon as he said this, their ears were suddenly filled with curious thoughts from others —
[What happened? What exactly happened? Your Majesties, can you speak a little louder so we can hear too?]
[I knew this Nanny Zhuang must have done something bad to be sent away, tsk, but what bad thing? Your Majesty, please tell us!]
Yuwen Lan: "..."
Yanshu: "..."
She could only wave her hand to dismiss the idle onlookers, while apologizing in her heart that she didn't mean to make them curious.
When there was no one else left in the hall, she finally said to Yuwen Lan, "This humble consort feels that if this matter were to be made public, it would be very unfavorable for the Empress Dowager, but after all, the Empress Dowager is innocent..."
Yuwen Lan sighed, "It's rare for you to have such pure and kind thoughts."
It was also rare for her to have this special ability.
As he spoke, he couldn't help but reach out to touch her belly.
Just as he was thinking about this, he heard her think, [Oh, I heard it! He was just saying 'What kind of people does the Empress Dowager have around her?']
Yuwen Lan was startled and instinctively checked, only to realize that he was touching her belly.
He hurriedly let go and tried to listen again.
But he heard her think, [Huh, why can't I hear anything now?]
He secretly breathed a sigh of relief, silently guessing that it was probably because he had touched her belly earlier?
It must be.
But... why would it be like this?
Could it be because of the little one inside?
This was his child, perhaps because the child had also inherited his mind-reading ability, so she suddenly had mind-reading abilities too?
So when he touched her just now, it allowed her to hear?
Thinking about this, Yuwen Lan felt both proud and amused, and couldn't help but want to smile.
However, on second thought, he felt a bit worried —
Does this mean he can't touch her belly anymore in the future?
How can that be?
While he was worrying about this, he heard her pondering in her mind, [Why did I only hear for a moment? What's going on? Is there such a thing as bad signal for this?]
Yuwen Lan jolted and quickly changed the subject, saying, "The food is getting cold, let's eat quickly."
As he spoke, he proactively picked up a spicy lamb trotter for her.
Yanshu made a sound of acknowledgment and temporarily put aside her distracting thoughts to focus on eating.
Wow, the lamb trotter was fragrant, spicy, and melted in her mouth. It was indeed delicious, exactly what she was craving!
Before she had finished eating one, she saw him pick up a piece of kidney for her, saying, "This must be eaten while it's hot, the flavor isn't as good when it's cold."
Yanshu quickly wiped her hands and hurriedly picked up her chopsticks to eat.
As she ate, she nodded and said, "Mm-hmm, that's right. The kidney is tender and crisp now, fresh and spicy. If it gets cold, it will have a fishy smell! Your Majesty should try some too!"
It seemed she had already forgotten about what happened earlier.
Yuwen Lan secretly thought "that was close" and then began to eat with peace of mind.
A few days later, Yanshu received new information from the system. It turned out that after returning to the Duke of Cheng'en's Mansion, Nanny Zhuang had been driven out again by the Duke's wife for interfering in household matters.
Tsk, this outcome was actually within expectations, and Yanshu didn't comment much on it.
She just didn't have the heart to tell the Empress Dowager, fearing it would upset her.
Having lost two servants in a row, Yanshu felt that the Empress Dowager must be feeling a bit lost, so she made an effort to visit the Palace of Benevolent Peace every day to keep her company and talk, offering some comfort.
Fortunately, from her observations, she found that the remaining people in the Palace of Benevolent Peace were all good for now, with no ill intentions towards the Empress Dowager.
This allowed her to feel a bit more at ease.
On this day, while she was keeping the Empress Dowager company and chatting, a palace servant reported to the Empress Dowager, "Your Majesty, Madam Shao from General Wu'an's Mansion is requesting an audience."
Madam Shao from General Wu'an's Mansion?
This name sounded unfamiliar to Yanshu.
She knew about General Wu'an, a famous general who had served since the time of the previous emperor, having fought the Xiongnu for the court with illustrious military achievements.
Come to think of it, this general should be in his fifties or sixties by now.
However, at every palace banquet, she had only seen his daughter-in-law attend. This was the first time she had heard of this "Madam Shao".
The system informed her, [This is General Wu'an's concubine. She doesn't have the status to attend palace banquets, so of course you've never seen her before.]
Yanshu suddenly understood, but saw that the Empress Dowager also seemed surprised and asked the palace servant, "Why has she come to seek an audience with me?"
The servant replied, "This madam says that General Wu'an is gravely ill. They couldn't find a good doctor outside the palace, so she wants to beg for Your Majesty's grace to send an imperial physician to examine the general."
The Empress Dowager was startled, "What? General Wu'an is gravely ill? I hadn't heard any news of this. Quickly, bring her in."
The servant complied and hurried off to bring the visitor.
Soon, a woman in her forties entered the hall.
After paying her respects to the Empress Dowager, she said, "This humble one knows she has no right to see Your Majesty, but the general has been ill for over a month now. We've consulted all the doctors outside the palace to no avail. That's why I dared to come and request Your Majesty's decree."
The Empress Dowager sighed, "At a time like this, why speak of such things? General Wu'an once fought bravely for our country, how could I stand idly by now? I'll have Doctor Jiang accompany you back to your mansion right away. Keep me informed of any news at all times."
Saying this, she instructed the palace maid Hefeng to take her to find someone at the Imperial Medical Academy.
Madam Shao repeatedly expressed her gratitude, kowtowed to the Empress Dowager, and then followed along.
As the hall quieted down, Yanshu was still curious and couldn't help but ask, "May I ask why this madam spoke with such self-deprecation?"
The Empress Dowager sighed and said, "This woman was originally from a brothel. Years ago, General Wu'an defied public opinion to redeem her and make her his concubine. Outsiders have always criticized her background, which is why she speaks this way."
Yanshu paused.
A concubine from a brothel?
Hmm...
It sounds like quite a complex and dramatic love story.
