After dinner, Yanran obediently stayed with Tang Zhuyun.
Tang Zhuyun smiled and said, "Mother is fine. You don't need to be so reserved. Take Jiaojiao to play in the garden. Don't worry, the sky hasn't fallen, we're all doing well."
Yanran rested her chin on her hand and asked, "Mother, are we leaving the capital?"
"I'm afraid this is... What, are you reluctant to part with it?" Tang Zhuyun patted the top of her head.
"Would you like to come along, brother?"
"Um."
"That's good." Yanran was happy. "By the way, can I take Jiaojiao with me?"
Tang Zhuyun: "This might work too."
"Okay!" Yanran stood up. "Then I'll go find Cui Xiaoqiu and say goodbye to him."
Tang Zhuyun: "There's no need to be in such a hurry."
Yanran blinked her eyes. "Cui Xiaoqiu's grandfather really likes him."
After saying that, she left.
Tang Zhuyun paused for a moment, then turned to Xiu'er and asked, "Is she trying to find out some information? Am I right?"
Xiu'er said, "That must be it. Didn't you say, Your Majesty, that if we all work together, everything will be fine?"
Tang Zhuyun smiled and said, "Yes. Come, Xiu'er, come and sit down. I want to say a few words to you."
Xiu'er moved over and sat down on the small stool at her feet. Then, she couldn't help but adjust the belt around her waist, saying, "This color isn't bright enough. I'll find you a brighter one to change into later."
"Just sit still and rest for a while," Tang Zhuyun said with a smile. "Today we're going to sort out your dowry. I originally wanted to give you a proper wedding, but it seems I might not be able to make it in time."
Xiu'er lowered her head, twisting her handkerchief with her fingers without making a sound.
"I'm at ease knowing you married Song Jingyang. Look how well you've got him wrapped around your little finger," Tang Zhuyun said. "You're also very clear-headed; you're always the one giving me advice, so I don't have much to say to you."
"Your Highness, please stop, I'm about to cry."
"Why are you crying?" Tang Zhuyun said. "You're going to be the wife of a general, we're all happy. Even though we might be far apart, you must write to me if you suffer any grievances in the future. We still have Xiao Ye, so it's easy for us to keep in touch by letter."
"Hmm," Xiu'er said in a muffled voice.
"This is the dowry list," Tang Zhuyun said, pulling out the list from somewhere. "But when we were preparing it, I didn't know about Song Jingyang's promotion, so I'm afraid we'll have to adjust it now."
She planned to show Xiu'er the process first, and then ask Meng Yulan for her opinion at the end.
In short, although she and Xiu'er were nominally mistress and servant, she had long regarded Xiu'er as her best friend, so she would never mistreat her.
With everyone around her settled, Tang Zhuyun could finally relax, no matter where she went with Prince of Jin.
Xiu'er snatched the gift list away, saying, "You don't need to look at it yet. I'm not one to wrong myself. You should think about how others will arrange things first. I'll leave it to you last."
She didn't want to leave, so there was no need to waste her time.
She didn't intend to tell Tang Zhuyun the truth either; the back-and-forth between mistress and servant was pointless.
Once she's made a decision, she won't change her mind.
Just then, Nanny Jing arrived.
Tang Zhuyun smiled and said, "I don't need your advice. I'll talk to your mother-in-law."
Xiu'er lowered her head, her eyes welling up with tears.
Tang Zhuyun, however, thought she was just shy and continued talking to Nanny Jing with a smile.
Nanny Jing clenched her hands nervously and said, "Your Highness, the Prince..."
"It's alright, Granny," Tang Zhuyun said. "The Prince has his own plans; we just need to listen to him."
Nanny Jing nodded, and after a while, she said, "How come I heard from Jingyang that he's going to Qingzhou to be the general?"
"Yes," Tang Zhuyun said, "I'll have him petition the court for an imperial decree for you, then you'll be a Lady of Imperial Decree."
Nanny Jing's face flushed red. "No need, no need, that's inappropriate. This old servant doesn't understand matters of the court, I just wanted to ask, if Jingyang were to relinquish his position, could the Prince be rescued?"
She held a simple belief: how could a master go to jail while a servant gets promoted and made a fortune?
Xiu'er said, "Granny, we'll just follow the Prince's arrangements and not cause trouble for our master."
Nanny Jing murmured, "I just feel sorry for the Prince... This can't be entirely blamed on him. I've never seen a mother act like that..."
She is a kind and honest person and rarely speaks ill of others behind their backs.
This was already a very serious criticism of Xiao Wu.
Something seemed to flash through Tang Zhuyun's mind, but she said calmly, "Since we have nothing to do, let's chat about the past. Granny, why do you think Noble Consort Jia disliked the Prince back then? Wasn't he her own flesh and blood?"
Nanny Jing said, "This old servant dares not inquire about the master's affairs, I don't know why. But the Seventh Young Lady really dislikes the Prince."
She had never seen such a heartless mother.
When she's in a bad mood, she takes it out on her son, grabbing anything and hitting him.
Nanny Jing protected Prince of Jin, but she also suffered many beatings from him.
"When the prince was a child, he always asked me why the Seventh Young Lady didn't like him and even gave him such a name..." Nanny Jing welled up with tears as she recalled the bright and pitiful child in her Nianhuai.
"This old servant is ignorant and would never know. I can only lie to Your Highness, saying that it is because the Seventh Young Lady wants him to be better that she is strict with him."
"The prince is obedient and ambitious; this child, who's not even as tall as a table, writes a hundred large characters every day and practices shooting three hundred arrows daily."
Tang Zhuyun felt heartbroken upon hearing this.
That was just a child yearning for his mother's approval.
How she longed to go back in time, hug him, and tell him, "You did a very, very good job."
If it weren't for Nanny Jing bringing it up, Prince of Jin would never have told her about these past events.
He was a man who was too proud; his "A-Yun loves me" only ever existed in bed.
He licked his wounds alone.
Tang Zhuyun also gained a deeper understanding of Prince of Jin's feelings for Nanny Jing.
Nanny Jing, this simple and honest woman, gave Prince of Jin irreplaceable care and love.
He loved Song Jingyang because of his affection for him.
Nanny Jing didn't tell Prince of Jin that his mother treated him badly; she said, "Your mother is doing it for your own good; you should become better."
The fact that Prince of Jin did not succumb to depravity and has reached this point is largely thanks to Nanny Jing.
Tang Zhuyun took a deep breath and asked, "Granny, what is the attitude of the other members of the Xiao Family towards the Prince?"
"That would be excellent."
This is precisely what Tang Zhuyun couldn't understand.
If Prince of Jin wasn't Xiao Wu's child, then why did the Xiao Family treat him so well?
What if she boldly hypothesized that Prince of Jin was not Xiao Wu's child, yet still carried the blood of the Xiao Family?
Could it be that Xiao Wu stole her sister's child during their struggle for the emperor?
That doesn't make sense either. Isn't it enough for the Xiao Family to have one madwoman? Are all the sisters insane?
Tang Zhuyun couldn't understand it.