"My Lady is too kind; she is most adept at amusement, never with a serious bone in her body!"
Although the County Princess Consort was reprimanding Mu Xiaoxiao, everyone could hear the amusement in her words. Her Lady's praise was clearly flattery, but she could not accept it directly, lest people think everyone in the Gong Prince's mansion was arrogant and presumptuous.
"Sister-in-law, why be so harsh? My Lin Yuan ladies need not be bound by rules and regulations. They can embroider for leisure, or they can ride horses gallantly; they can compose poetry and paint, or they can travel across mountains and rivers; they can nurture their husbands and children, or they can spread their wings and soar. No one dictates that a woman must be one way."
"I like to see vibrant colors, I like to see blooming flowers, I like lush grass, verdant trees, azure skies, and rushing rivers. Sister-in-law, if a woman in her life can avoid being confined to deep courtyards, not be confined to a small plot of land, with vast skies and seas, fish leaping and dragons soaring, then that woman will no longer care for the disputes within the courtyards and the so-called power and favor. Xiaoxiao has seen the world. My Lady heard Feng Luan mention the story of disaster relief. Your daughter waded through muddy swamps, held tattered children, changed bandages for injured disaster victims, she saw towns swallowed by floods, saw the dead littering the ground, saw mothers eating their own children..."
Nan Shiying paused, she chuckled, and praised with genuine admiration, "She is very good, can even be described as excellent. I like this child Xiaoxiao very much. Of course, Sister-in-law, you need not overthink it. My feelings for Xiaoxiao are not mixed with any utilitarian motives. The Gong Prince's mansion has always maintained neutrality, and so it shall continue to do so. Even for the sake of the late Prince's protection of this Prince, my Prince and I will absolutely not drag the Gong Prince's mansion into this quagmire."
"Enough, I am a bit tired, I shall take my leave."
Nan Shiying adjusted her slightly drooping hairpin. Just as the County Princess Consort was digesting the meaning of her words, she suddenly announced her departure. The County Princess Consort froze for two seconds before coming to her senses and politely invited her to stay, "If Your Lady is tired, why not rest in the guest room of the mansion? Afterward..."
"Thank you for your kind offer, Sister-in-law, but it is not necessary."
Nan Shiying did not let her finish. It was nothing more than polite entreaties, and saying them would only be a waste of time. Seeing that her Lady had said so, the County Princess Consort could only inform the other guests and personally escort Nan Shiying out of the mansion. Only after watching her mount the carriage with the assistance of a maid, and the carriage wheels rolling over the ground in front of the mansion and disappearing, did she turn back.
What exactly did she mean by what she just said?
She could not help but speculate.
The guests on the training ground were still discussing what Her Lady had just said. Some scoffed at it. Her reasoning was simply heretical. Did she think that after becoming the Regent's Consort by sheer luck, she could speak so grandly? What about different flowers, and not being confined to the courtyard, not being confined within the courtyard? Did she want to wander the world, exposed to the elements?
"The cicada does not know the moon's waxing and waning, nor the summer insect the deep autumn."
Shen Man sneered, secretly mocking the ignorance and short-sightedness of these people. Her Lady's words reminded her of the Empress of the Great Yuan three hundred years ago. If only she could have been born in that era, she could have witnessed the Empress's demeanor and served the country as a woman.
"Her Lady spoke wonderfully."
Liu Ling'er sighed to herself. As she listened, something deep within her soul seemed to be stirring. Liu Lan grabbed Liu Ling'er's arm, thus preventing her from making the wrong choice of stepping into the embrace of the ice lake.
What Her Lady said was not as important as *why* she said it, *why* she said it that way, and *why* she said it to the County Princess Consort.
Liu Lan felt that Her Lady's words were definitely not a sudden exclamation or mere talk; they must have a deeper meaning.
After Nan Shiying left, Nan Yuan'er also bid farewell. It was as if her visit was merely to show her face to Nan Shiying.
She did not seize the opportunity.
She still had questions to ask.
But Nan Shiying had already left, so she had no reason to stay any longer.
Nan Yuan'er sat in the carriage, her eyes closed, resting.
The maid beside her dared not breathe too loudly. She even felt that her young lady had seen through her identity during this time.
Her young lady's gaze towards her was always somewhat off.
"Yu Tan."
Nan Yuan'er suddenly opened her eyes and looked at the maid shrinking in the corner. After Cai Huan died, she had chosen one of the second-rank maids serving her who was relatively pleasing to her eye and promoted her to a first-rank attendant to serve by her side. A few days ago, she discovered that this maid whom she had randomly promoted was actually a hidden guard planted by her father in her courtyard.
She recalled the memories in her mind; it seemed even Cai Huan was her father's hidden guard.
Her father had planted hidden guards around her, so what about her brother? If her brother also had hidden guards, then how could her brother have drowned?
Father, Father... you are too greedy. You want your daughter to conceive a dragon heir with Nan family blood, and then what? Will you kill Ji Hong and support my child to inherit the throne, letting me be regent? Or will you plan to discard the mother and keep the child, making yourself the first powerful minister holding the emperor hostage to command the lords? Or perhaps neither, you intend to usurp the throne and become the first monarch of Lin Yuan?
Nan Yuan'er's dark pupils seemed to be quenched with poison. Yu Tan's entire body's cells were frantically warning her. She secretly swallowed her saliva, her hands clenched into fists under her sleeves: "What is it, Young Lady?" she replied.
"Do you think there is a possibility that Nan Shiying is a chess piece placed by Father beside Ji Jinmo?" she suddenly asked, her words making Yu Tan's heart pound.
A chess piece?
Is that possible?
Since the fifth young lady married into the Prince's mansion, how many times had she made a move against the Madam and the young lady? If the fifth young lady were a hidden guard planted by Master in the Prince's mansion, then how hard-hearted would Master be... Yu Tan thought of this, her expression froze, and it felt as if something solid had violently struck her mind.
Her throat felt a bit tight, and she shook her head, denying it: "This servant thinks it is unlikely."
"Oh? Why?"
"Master would not be so heartless."
Master would be, Master is a person who stops at nothing to achieve his goals.
Yu Tan knew this clearly.
She was even somewhat surprised by her young lady's perceptiveness.
Nan Yuan'er seemed to be persuaded by this viewpoint. She nodded and softly said, "Yes, Father, he wouldn't be so cruel."
After Nan Shiying and Nan Yuan'er left one after another, the guests attending the banquet finally relaxed completely. Just now, when the two of them were present, they were afraid that some unforeseen incident would occur at the banquet again.
The County Princess Consort had taken a liking to two young ladies.
One was Liu Wan Jun's granddaughter, Liu Ling'er, and the other was Shen Zhong's granddaughter, Shen Man.
If there was any commonality between the two, it was that their families could maintain their principles amidst the chaotic court.