Upon hearing that his daughter was returning to Beijing today, Sheng Qingyun got up early in the morning to make arrangements. He directed the servants to clean the courtyard and prepare the banquet. He also specially invited his sister Sheng Qingluan to come and welcome his daughter home with her.
The two sisters waited from morning till noon, and finally their lover came back. Each of them held one of their daughter's hands, tears streaming down their faces. However, before they could reminisce about the past, the young Duke Su Xian told them that the Emperor had ordered Xie Nanjia to take charge of the harem.
Not only Sheng Qingluan and her sister were there at the time, but also everyone in the Su family, young and old, were there. When they heard that Xie Nanjia would be moving into the palace the next day and would not be able to return home until Concubine Shu had given birth and was out of confinement, everyone was stunned.
"Why should Xiu'er be in charge of the harem? She suffers a lot outside. Can't she be allowed to rest at home? How can the emperor be so cruel?" Sheng Qingyun felt sorry for his daughter and was quite dissatisfied with the emperor's decision.
"That's right. Xiu'er has been gone for so long, and we miss her every day. You should at least let our family be reunited for a few days. Your Majesty is really something. Is there no one else in the palace except Concubine Shu?" The Fourth Lady was as outspoken as Sheng Qingyun.
"Ayun, Fourth Madam, don't talk nonsense." Sheng Qingluan reminded the two in a low voice. Although she also questioned the emperor's decision, it was wrong to talk nonsense about the emperor.
The old lady also warned her two daughters-in-law not to offend their superiors, and then said: "In my opinion, Xiu'er will be in charge of the six palaces sooner or later, so there is nothing wrong with practicing in advance. The only bad thing is that the time is too tight, and we don't have time to teach her something."
"Yes, yes. Xiu'er grew up on a farm and never learned how to manage household chores. After she came back, she has been running around all the time, and I haven't had the chance to teach her. The harem is so big and the affairs are so complicated. Can she do it?" Sheng Qingyun said worriedly.
Sheng Qingluan looked at Xie Nanjia silently and thought to herself, you may not have taught me, but I have!
She was not worried about this. She knew better than anyone how capable her daughter was. The only thing she was worried about was that Xie Nanjia and Zhao Jingyu had not yet married, and some people might think that it was not right for her to be in charge of the harem.
"Your worry is justified, sister. Xiu'er hasn't even gotten married yet, but she's going to manage the emperor's concubines. Will people gossip about her?" Sheng Qingyun said.
"No, mother, don't worry. I have thought of everything you can think of, and I have also thought of a plan to deal with it. I won't let anyone gossip about it." Seeing that her relatives were worried about her, Xie Nanjia smiled and comforted everyone.
Previously in the hall, she had declined several times in vain, so she proposed to the emperor on the spot that the Empress Dowager should take over the affairs of the six palaces temporarily. She could live in the Cining Palace to accompany the Empress Dowager and assist her with some small matters within her ability. This way, she could solve the problem of her embarrassment no matter where she lived, and she could also stop people from saying that she was not qualified.
Song Wanji was surprised at her clever mind and praised her for her thorough thinking. He said she was obviously capable of taking charge of the household and he felt completely assured that she would be assisting the Queen Mother.
The so-called assistance was just to cover up the truth. The empress dowager was old and had no energy to take care of everything. In the end, Xie Nanjia had the final say.
"To put it bluntly, I am just taking advantage of the Empress Dowager's title to bully others." Xie Nanjia teased herself with a smile.
After hearing her thorough considerations, everyone fell silent for a moment, and suddenly felt that their previous worries were unnecessary.
Xiu'er has even captured King Yuze alive, so what else can't he handle
Furthermore, now that Queen Meng is no longer domineering in the palace, the other concubines get along relatively harmoniously. They have no sons anyway, and their only hope for the future is Zhao Jingyu. What else is there to fight for
Thinking in this way, everyone felt relieved and stopped dwelling on the matter. They happily held a banquet to welcome Xie Nanjia and celebrate his success.
Because she was going to the palace the next day, after lunch, Xie Nanjia did not rest but went directly to Dingyuan Marquis Mansion to see her son.
I haven't seen the child for a long time. The child has learned to walk. Boys love to play by nature. As long as they are awake, they refuse to stay in the room for a moment and always go to the garden to play.
The garden was lush with vegetation and had a pond. The old lady and Marquis Dingyuan were worried about him and told Xiu'er's mother to bring more people with her. Therefore, whenever the child went out, he would be followed by a dozen maids and servants. It was a very grand scene.
Xie Nanjia did not inform the Marquis' Mansion in advance when she came. After she arrived, she was led by the little maid to look for someone in the garden. She heard a child's giggling from a distance, and her heart melted.
When I got closer, I saw the child chasing butterflies happily in the shade of the flowers with his chubby little legs. Xiu'er's mother was afraid that he would fall, so she followed closely behind him with her hands propped up, shouting repeatedly: "Kang Kang, slow down, Kang Kang, slow down..."
Xie Nanjia waved her hand to stop the little girl from reporting and asked her to go down first. She stood there quietly for a while, feeling mixed emotions.
Watching her son running unsteadily and listening to his bell-like laughter, at this moment, she felt that all her previous efforts were worth it.
She spent so much time and effort to clear out all the people in the house who might be harmful to her son, wasn't it just to create a carefree environment for her son to grow up in
She did it, so she felt very satisfied.
"Kang Kang!" she called softly and strode towards her son.
When Xiu'er's mother heard her voice, she turned around in surprise, pulled the child to her side and pointed to him: "Kang Kang, look who's here!"
The child turned around, stared at Xie Nanjia who was walking towards him quickly with wide eyes, looking confused.
"It's my aunt, Kang Kang, it's my aunt who is here." Xiu'er's mother said happily.
Perhaps she always mentioned her aunt in front of the child. The child blinked and ran towards Xie Nanjia with his little hands open.
"Aunt, Aunt..." he called in a baby voice while running.
Xie Nanjia couldn't hold back her tears anymore, so she stopped, squatted on the ground, opened her arms to him, and waited for him to run over.
She had imagined this scene countless times, and today it finally came true.
The child stumbled over and threw himself into her arms.
Xie Nanjia burst into tears.
"Kang Kang!" She held the child to her chest, close to her heartbeat, with her chin resting on his soft hair, and whispered softly, "Kang Kang, Auntie misses you so much, misses you so much..."
Xiu'er's mother came over, stood beside them, lowered her head and wiped her tears with her sleeves.
Xie Nanjia picked up the child, came to her, and gently held her with one hand: "Mom, you have worked hard during this period."
Xiu'er's mother cried like a tearful person.
"Mother is not tired, mother just misses you and worries about you day and night. Every time I see the Marquis, I want to ask him about you, but I dare not ask him, for fear of asking bad news... Thank God, the Bodhisattva blesses you, you finally come back safely."
"Yes, I came back safely, so mother should be happy." Xie Nanjia said.
"I'm happy. I'm so happy that I'm crying." Xiu'er's mother choked up and said, "This time when you come back, you must stay at home and don't run around anymore. Otherwise, I really can't stand it."
"Yes, yes, I won't run away." Xie Nanjia said, "I can't run away even if I want to. The emperor asked me to go to the palace tomorrow to stay with the empress dowager for a while!"
"Go into the palace? Then will you be able to come out?" When Xiu'er's mother heard that she was going to the palace, she began to worry that she would never see her again.
"Yes, I am in the palace, not in prison. I can get out if I want." Xie Nanjia said, "Whenever mother misses me, let the marquis send me a message."
"I don't dare to do that." Xiu'er's mother said, "You should just stay in the palace. At least it's safer than outside. Even if I can't see you, I won't worry about you anymore. This is good."
The mother and daughter kept talking to each other sweetly, which made the child very anxious. He twisted and turned in Xie Nanjia's arms, trying to get out.
Xie Nanjia put him down and asked him to continue catching butterflies, but he held Xie Nanjia's fingers tightly and insisted that Xie Nanjia go with him.
Xie Nanjia asked the maid next to her for a round fan and accompanied him in catching butterflies.
The child could not speak much, except laughing and calling him aunt. Although Xie Nanjia regretted that she could not hear him call her mother, she was already very satisfied that they and her son could have the same life today.
After playing for a while, the child was finally tired and fell asleep in Xie Nanjia's arms before returning to Sijinyuan.
Xie Nanjia carried him all the way back and her arms were sore from fatigue.
After coming out of the children's room, Xie Nanjia said goodbye to Xiu'er's mother, talked with Feng Lun for a while in the yard, then went to pay a visit to the old lady, and then went to the manager's office to visit Luliu Hualou and Zhao Lanzhi.
After walking around for a while, it was already evening.
The whole Su family was eagerly waiting for her to come home for dinner, so she didn't want to stay for long, so she said goodbye to everyone and left.
Lvliu and Hualou escorted her out of the mansion together. On the way, when no one was around, Xie Nanjia said, "You have now established your foothold in the mansion. I will talk to the general's wife and ask her to adopt you two as her adopted daughters. After I get married to the second young master, I will find a way to make you my legal daughters. So before that, you have to wait patiently for a while."
Lvliu's eyes turned red when she heard her say this: "The young lady was in critical condition in the delivery room at that time, and she was still thinking about me and Hualou, and wanted us to recognize the general's wife as our stepmother, but we only wanted to avenge her and take care of the young master for her, so no one listened to her. I don't know if her spirit in heaven will be angry with us."
When talking about the past, Hualou also shed tears: "I have never disobeyed the young lady, but I didn't listen to her this time. But I don't regret it. For me, it doesn't matter whether she is supported or not. Even if I have to be a nameless maid for the rest of my life, I will still stay here to take care of the young master. I believe that the young lady can understand our hearts, and she will definitely not be angry with us."
Xie Nanjia felt a lump in her throat and turned her head away for a long while before she suppressed the tears welling up in her eyes. God knew how much she wanted to hug the two girls in her arms and tell them loudly, "I am your lady. I don't blame you, nor am I angry with you. I will remember everything you have done for me forever and ever."
But she couldn't, so she could only hold back her tears and tell them in the tone of a bystander: "You think too much, you two have sacrificed so much for your cousin, she can't thank you enough, how could she be angry with you, since her wish is for you two to recognize the general's wife as her stepmother, you can just fulfill her wish now, isn't this great!"
Lvliu and Hualou bowed deeply to her, thanked her for her help and care over the years, and assured her that they would always protect the young master on behalf of the young lady.
Xie Nanjia was afraid that she would burst into tears the next moment, so she said goodbye to the two of them in tears and got on the carriage back to the Duke's Mansion.
At dinner time, all the masters and sons of the Su family came back, and Su Jincheng specially changed his shift with others and went home to have a reunion dinner with his sister.
His sister's successive accidents made him more and more taciturn. Even when they met again after a long separation, he never smiled.
The other brothers of the Su family were also still haunted by their sister's disappearance. They gathered around Xie Nanjia and talked about how they had searched the whole city for her.
If Zhou Yuncheng had not come to tell them before he left that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince had asked them to stop looking, they might have still posted notices all over the city and dug deep underground to look for her like they did back then.
"Your Highness the Crown Prince is indeed thoughtful." Su Xian praised Zhao Jingyu highly when he mentioned this matter. "Under such circumstances, he still remembered to ask Zhou Yuncheng to come and comfort us. It is really rare."
Zhao Jingyu received the compliment, and Xie Nanjia was very happy, but she said, "He is not that good, he asked Zhou Yuncheng to get the Red Clothes Order and told you by the way."
Everyone smiled and said nothing at her hypocrisy.
Su Jincheng suddenly said, "I don't want to be a royal guard anymore. I want to change my job."
"Why?" The family members were all shocked and asked him what happened.
"You have become the commander of the guards, a job that many people would fight for. Why don't you want to do it anymore?" Su Xian asked.
"It's nothing, I just feel that this job is too restrictive." Su Jincheng said lightly.
"Not free? What kind of a reason is that?" Sheng Qingyun couldn't help yelling at him, "Then what kind of job do you think is free? Going to the street to beg for food is free, would you go?"
Su Jincheng lowered his head and said nothing.
Xie Nanjia looked at him, pondered for a moment and said, "Brother, do you want to change your job because you can't spare the time to look for me after I got lost?"
Su Jincheng suddenly raised his head and glanced at her, denying, "It has nothing to do with you. I'm just tired of doing it myself."
But the more he said this, the less people believed him.
"Although you are thinking about your sister, this decision is too rash." Su Xian said, "Your sister doesn't disappear all the time. Except for the time when she was a child, the two disappearances were under her own control. You don't have to worry about it. Besides, she will live in the palace in the future. If you really care about her, you should work hard in the palace so that you can protect her. Why do you want to stay away from her?"
Su Jincheng remained silent.
Xie Nanjia understood his feelings especially. His only sister was missing and he was extremely anxious, but he also had to protect the safety of others and could not spare time to look for his sister. Even if that other person was the emperor, in his heart, she was not as important as his sister.
"Brother, don't think too much. Father is right. I won't disappear every day. If you want to protect me, you should stay in the palace and work. Because I will live in the palace starting tomorrow, and you are the only relative I can see every day." Xie Nanjia said.
Su Jincheng thought about it silently for a while. He was indeed worried about his sister being alone in the palace, so he temporarily put the matter aside and never mentioned it again.
Xie Nanjia didn't say much in front of everyone. After dinner, she went to his room and sat for a while. She talked to him about some things in the future and asked him to look at the long term. He was the person she and Zhao Jingyu could rely on the most in the future.
Su Jincheng was an intelligent man. Even though his sister spoke cryptically, he could understand the implication. From then on, he never mentioned changing jobs again.
Early the next morning, Si Fangzheng personally led a team to pick up Xie Nanjia into the palace.
Xie Nanjia bid farewell to her family and, accompanied by Su Jincheng, was escorted into the Cining Palace by a large group of people.
(End of this chapter)