And so Jiang Yingcheng settled into Changning Palace.
She no longer even had to attend morning court.
Feeling guilty, she neither fussed nor cried nor threw a tantrum, but she kept plotting how to sneak out and rescue the bandit uncles she had landed in prison.
The process, however, did not go particularly smoothly.
On the first day, a eunuch in her great-grandmother's courtyard forcibly lifted Jiang Yingcheng down from the wall and delivered her straight to her great-grandmother.
Before she could say anything, a wooden fish drum was thrust into her hands.
The Empress Dowager wore a kindly expression and spoke gently, but her attitude was decidedly "unyielding," leaving the little girl no chance to refuse. "Great Rui's army will soon march to war. Come pray with Great-Grandmother for the soldiers heading into battle."
With that, she turned around, closed her eyes, and began praying, reciting scriptures Jiang Yingcheng could not understand.
After several failed attempts to find an opening to speak, Jiang Yingcheng could only sit with her all day.
On the second day, Jiang Yingcheng had just been about to crawl through the dog hole in the rear courtyard when a eunuch called out in alarm and delivered her straight to her great-grandmother.
This time, there was no chanting.
Looking frail, the Empress Dowager said her chest hurt today and that she wanted the little girl to look after her.
Jiang Yingcheng was so anxious that tears swam in her eyes. She spent the entire day rushing about in frightened concern, completely forgetting her plan to go rescue the men.
She kept reassuring herself that Uncle Xu Jiu and Uncle Liaochen knew the whole story anyway, so her imperial father would not be too harsh on the bandit uncles.
On the third day, she was caught and