Flowery Hair: A Maidservant

Chapter 566 Bringing them into the palace to be raised

Meng Shu's timing was impeccable, choosing a time when the Emperor was heavily relying on the Marquis of Lin'an. Otherwise, the Emperor would certainly not have allowed Consort Chun to so easily take charge of palace affairs.

Consort Shun comes from a good family and doesn't have the aloof and reserved nature of Consort Mu. Furthermore, she has never made a mistake since entering the palace. Consort Qi, though from a humble background, gets along well with lower-ranking concubines like Lady Yun and Consort Zhao, and has only one princess. Given the Emperor's consistent mindset, if Meng Shu were to retire due to illness, he would likely choose one of these two...

"This is not to give Wan'er face, but to show favor to the Marquis of Lin'an."

This illness was destined to last for a while. When only the green willows remained in the palace, Meng Shu lowered her eyes and said this softly.

Green Willow moved to the window and looked out, then turned around and said softly, "Your Highness has been lying down for many days. Shall I help you walk around a little by the window? Xia'er is keeping watch in the front courtyard, so it's alright."

Meng Shu sat up, her expression relaxing slightly: "That's good, I'm so tired from lying down."

Green Willow stepped forward to help her, and the two of them slowly strolled to the west window.

A clump of green bamboo grows outside the window, its tips swaying gently in the wind. The summer heat is gradually dissipating, and the wind carries a hint of coolness.

Light footsteps echoed from the corridor. Donggua and Dou'er, a maid from the small kitchen, had just returned from Xiefang Garden. The two carried a large bunch of freshly picked seasonal flowers, some to be used in cooking, and others picked at Meng Shu's request. Before the New Year, the sixth young lady of the Marquis's mansion had sent her several incense-making recipes. Meng Shu, who was ill and had nothing to do, thought she would use them to pass the time.

Donggua looked up and saw Meng Shu standing by the window. She then instructed Dou'er to take the other flowers to the small kitchen in the back, while she herself carried a few balsam flowers and quietly entered the bedroom.

“Shushu, look, how beautiful the color of this balsam is,” Donggua handed the flower branch to Meng Shu. “When I went to the flower garden in Xiefang Garden just now, these flowers were in the best bloom. When I saw them, I was reminded of the last time I came to the palace.”

Meng Shu took a branch and ran her fingertips over its rouge-like petals.

"Now that you mention it, Your Highness hasn't painted your nails in a long time. The last time was two years ago," Green Willow said with a smile as she watched from the side.

Donggua paused, a rare touch of emotion in his voice: "In the blink of an eye, two years have passed. It's been a full four years since we entered the palace."

Upon hearing this, Green Willow smiled and said, "That's right, time flies by so fast. It's already mid-July, and in two more months, our Winter Melon Sister will be released from the palace to get married in style."

Winter Melon blushed slightly, but she wasn't shy at all: "Then Sister Green Willow, you must prepare a wedding gift for me. I'll have my future child recognize you as his godmother."

Meng Shu smiled and said, "Winter Melon's idea is good, Green Willow, you should take it seriously."

Green Willow glanced outside and tugged at Winter Melon's sleeve: "You're not married yet, so you should be more careful."

"What, you don't want to?"

Green Willow pretended to glare at her: "After you get married, you should have two more children with Imperial Physician Jian. I will pick one and bring it into the palace to raise. When it grows up, it will be a good helper to our prince."

Meng Shu coughed lightly: "We're getting off-topic."

Donggua was stunned for a moment after hearing this, then blurted out, "That's a great idea! It's settled then!"

Meng Shu and the joking Green Willow both fell silent: "..."

After a moment, Green Willow's eyes flickered slightly, and her tone became more serious: "If Physician Jian agrees, that would be truly feasible..."

Upon hearing this, Meng Shu raised her hand and tapped each of them on the head.

......

Qingliang Hall.

Consort Chun sighed softly as she looked at the account books on the table. The expenses of the six palaces, the arrangements for festival rewards, the performance evaluations of the palace servants in each hall, and even the etiquette for the interactions between the ladies of the inner and outer palaces—each and every matter was intricate and meticulous. These palace affairs were usually handled by Meng Shu, but now they had suddenly fallen on her shoulders. Although it wasn't too strenuous, it was a different story to be able to handle them independently.

At that moment, she was deep in thought about something when Mengzhu lifted the curtain and came in from outside, softly reporting that Donggua had picked a lot of flowers and had just sent someone to say that dinner would be vegetarian and that it would be delivered to Qingliang Palace once it was ready.

Upon hearing this, Consort Chun looked up from the account books: "Using flowers in cooking? It seems Donggua has come up with a new dish. Do you know which flowers were picked?"

"There are lotus flowers, osmanthus flowers, jasmine, tuberose... Ruizhu said there's also a bunch of balsam."

Upon hearing the name "Fengxian," Consort Chun's eyes lit up. She put down the account book in her hand, a smile appearing on her lips: "My eyes are getting tired from looking at the accounts. Let's go see Shuer. She's been sick for almost half a month, but her complexion started to improve yesterday."

Consort Chun stood up, straightened her sleeves, and walked out of the study with a light step.

Since Meng Shu claimed to be ill, Consort Chun had visited her every day. With Imperial Physician Jian secretly taking care of things, and Consort Chun never suspecting Meng Shu, she was completely unaware that the illness was just an act.

Upon arriving at the bedchamber, Consort Chun was delighted to see that Meng Shu's complexion was indeed better than yesterday.

Mengzhu and Lvliu exchanged a glance, understanding each other perfectly, and silently withdrew to prepare everything needed for dyeing their nails. Kangge'er also followed, and after warmly greeting Mengshu, he was led by Hongyu to the side hall to play with Yunu'er.

Consort Chun sat down by the couch and carefully examined Meng Shu's face: "Are you sure you don't need to call Imperial Physician Jian to take a look again? I see that although your complexion has improved a bit, it is still far from what it used to be."

Meng Shu shook her head: "I just took his pulse this morning, and Physician Jian carefully changed the prescription, saying it would be fine."

The two chatted for a while, and then Consort Chun sighed softly: "Father has been busy all day since he returned to the capital. Fortunately, my brother and sister-in-law should be back by the end of the year. At that time, my third sister will get married at the end of the year, and my sister will be formally engaged to the Earl of Wuxing on the fifth day of next year... In the blink of an eye, only my sixth sister and my seventh sister will be left in the family."

As an aside, the fourth young lady of the Marquis's mansion was eccentric and disliked by others. In the third year of her confinement in the Lin'an estate, she contracted a strange illness and passed away.

When it comes to matters of the Marquis's household, Meng Shu always knows her place and listens quietly without saying much.

However, she made a request for Donggua: "Wan'er, Donggua's master, Steward An, should be living in retirement in Jinnan now? She is still a member of the Marquis's family. Donggua is getting married in September. When that time comes, please send a message to Madam and have someone bring Steward An over."

“Of course,” Consort Chun said gently. “I originally intended to give Donggua a house as part of her dowry, but now that she is with you, I know you will not mistreat her. So I will leave this favor to you.”

Meng Shu first thanked Donggua on her behalf, and said with a light smile, "Madam is kind and generous. She gave Donggua half a percent of the profits from Yongxing Restaurant a long time ago. She is quite wealthy. The house is a bit too big. I will prepare some other things to add to her dowry."

As she spoke, she suddenly remembered something: "The Mid-Autumn Festival is just a month away. I heard that the Emperor intends to hold a banquet at the imperial palace this year to celebrate with his officials."

Therefore, the emperor specially postponed his return to the palace.

Consort Chun nodded. "I received the imperial decree yesterday. The Emperor has instructed that the banquet be held at Qionghua Garden."

A thoughtful look flashed across Meng Shu's eyes: "Qionghua Garden is situated by the water and has a wide open space, making it more suitable for moon viewing than the palace. However, on such an occasion, ladies of the court and officials, as well as their relatives, are all required to attend. The imperial palace is not as well-regulated as the palace, so the arrangement of the ceremony will probably require some thought."

“These are all fine,” Consort Chun suddenly sighed softly, “but I reckon there will be a troublesome matter later.”

Meng Shu looked up.

Before she could ask, Consort Chun said slowly, "Yesterday, Mother sent a message saying that Consort Qu, who has been practicing asceticism at Puji Temple, has recently made some moves... The Third Prince went to the temple with her not long after he was born, and he is now a year old."

Meng Shu frowned slightly: "She... wants the Third Prince to make an appearance at the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet?"