Chapter 63.2

Now the key point was how should the consort, as the main wife of His Highness, react? Men shouldn't get involved in the back house, especially for a low-born nanny. This wasn’t merely disciplining but a slap in the face.

This was slapping Consort Jin in the face!

Mother Zhou was extremely unhappy, and she immediately hated Yaoniang. She felt that she had made a wrong move picking Yaoniang to enter the mansion.

She naturally didn't forget to remind Consort Jin, but Consort Jin didn't say anything.

Compared with Siyi Courtyard, Liuchun Pavilion and the other courtyards reacted much more intensely. They either sneered or simmered in anger and resentment.

The entire residence was in a panic, startling at the mere rustle of leaves in the wind, and all this was for a nanny.

Afraid no one would believe it.

But Yaoniang didn't know about this at the moment. She had slept all afternoon and had just woken up.

After Yaoniang woke up, she found her son was missing. Yuchan walked in and told her that Xiaobao had been taken to play in the yard.

Yuchan helped Yaoniang to dress.

Yaoniang was still a little unaccustomed to others serving her so she tried to do it herself. Yu Chan said, "Madam, you should get used to these. The things that are for servants to do, should be left to the servants. This is not a matter of whether you know how to do it, but that you must show others you are the master.”

Of course, Yaoniang could tell that Yuchan was teaching her. In fact, it wasn’t that she didn’t understand, but in her previous life, her servants were arranged by the consort. The way she had climbed her way up wasn’t honourable and with her guilty conscience, she couldn’t bear to order others. Die'er was also lazy, so there were a lot of things that she ended up doing herself if she could.

Maybe she should change her attitude.

Yaoniang stretched her arms and asked Yuchan to help her put on clothes then went to the dressing table to get her makeup done. Yuchan wasn’t very skilled at this, so Hong Chou was called in.

Hong Chou was a maid with a round face and apricot eyes, fair skin and delicate hands. She took a comb to help Yaoniang brush her smooth long hair, then asked her what hairstyle she wanted. Yaoniang said she was fine with anything, so she quickly helped Yaoniang fashion her hair into a bun. Then she secured it with a scarlet and golden silk thread and added a butterfly hairpin.

This hairpin was taken out of the jewelry box by Yuchan. This jewelry box seemed to have been delivered from the Internal Affairs Office. Yaoniang hasn't opened it yet, so she naturally wouldn’t know what was inside. But this hairpin, she recognized. 

In her last life, Jin Wang also bestowed her with such a hairpin and she had worn this hairpin when she died.

For a long time, Yaoniang hadn’t wanted to recall how she had died in her previous life. She didn’t dare to think about it. She had lied to herself that she was the only one who died in her last life, that her sister and Xiaobao still lived a good life. Xiaobao may have led a difficult life because of his missing mother, but otherwise, he must be fine.

But seeing this hairpin, Yaoniang couldn't lie to herself anymore.

Unless she was mistaken, she had died of poisoning in her last life. Before her death, the only thing she had eaten was the dishes that the consort had rewarded her.

Not only did she eat that dish, but her sister had also eaten it. After she had eaten it, she also fed some to Xiaobao…

Yaoniang closed her eyes and reached out to touch the hairpin. The butterfly’s mouth was inlaid with a red jewel. Although the size of it wasn’t big, the colour of it was extremely beautiful, capable of making people’s hearts tremble.

Seeing that Yaoniang's expression was a bit weird, Hong Chou asked nervously, "Madam, is the hairstyle not to your liking?"

Yaoniang looked at herself in the mirror. She stretched out her delicate finger and touched the hairpin again, then smiled. "Very good, very beautiful." 

Hong Chou felt relieved inside then started to boast, "It’s Madam who is beautiful.”

Yes, she was born pretty, and that was how everyone praised her ever since she was young.

Now, her only merit was her beauty.

Hong Die hurried in and said, "Madam, His Highness is coming."

Yaoniang did not delay and was rushed out by her group of maids.

The people in Rongxi Courtyard seemed to be very happy, and the girls all wore smiles on their faces. It seemed that Jin Wang’s coming was something worth celebrating.

Yaoniang stood by the door and looked off to the distance.

It was evening, and the sky was full of red clouds, so everything before her eyes was shrouded in crimson.

He had a straight and tall figure and with a step like a dragon's gambol and a tiger's stride, he walked towards this place.

This was the first time in Yaoniang’s current life to welcome Jin Wang with such an identity. Upright and out in the open, she wasn’t very used to it, so was in a bit of a daze.

As she was thinking about this, he had come closer, and a shadow fell over her.

Jin Wang had seen a woman standing by the main entrance from very far away. She was wearing a bright red peony dress, standing tall and graceful

Upon moving closer, he could see her snowy skin with black hair, watery eyes and red lips. She was as soft and charming as water, standing in a weak but coquettish manner. Jin Wang’s impulsive heart was finally relieved, and he planned to reward the steward of the Internal Affairs Office once he went back.

What impeccable taste.

This was how the little nanny should be. Dressed in beautiful and finely crafted clothes, instead of the clothes that women from the countryside wore all day long. She shouldn’t be doing those sordid tasks and covering up all her beauty.

This was what the woman that he, Jin Wang, took a fancy to should be like!

Jin Wang stepped forward and grabbed her by the hand. Walking inside with her, he asked, "What are you thinking?"

Yaoniang was taken aback. She lowered her head and said, "I wasn’t thinking of anything."

Jin Wang obviously didn't believe it but didn’t say anything. The two of them entered the East Chamber, sat down on the Luohan bed, and a maid came in to serve some tea.

Jin Wang drank half a cup of tea, set aside the cup, and ordered Fucheng to bring over the meal.

Naturally, this meal would not come from the main kitchen but would be brought over from Zhaohui Hall.

After Fucheng went out to give orders, a little eunuch half lifted the hem of his robe and rushed towards Zhaohui Hall. The food had been prepared on the stove in advance. Soon, there was a line of several little eunuchs carrying carved red lacquer rosewood food boxes in their hands. Rushing like the wind to Rongxi Courtyard, they attracted a lot of attention from the various people in the manor.

Their run was also very particular. It was the first skill for eunuchs from the palace to learn. Their legs seemed to be sprinting like the wind, but their shoulders were not swaying and their hands were still. This skill was practiced to the utmost perfection until they could run a few laps between the various palaces with a porcelain plate filled with water on their heads. It was necessary to maintain speed and to prevent the water from spilling.

So when the meal was put on the table, not a drop of the soup had been spilled. It was still steaming as if it had just come out of the pot.

There was a servant girl to serve the meal, so the two sat next to each other. This was another scene that had never happened before.

Yaoniang had never been with Jin Wang like this before. In her last life, Jin Wang came to her to do that and occasionally kept her for a meal. But he would be the one eating while she stood to serve him. Yet, now the two of them could eat at the same table.

Yaoniang couldn't help feeling a little dazed and at the same time, she was more sure of what she should do next.

Since he liked her, she would try to make him like her even more and to continue to like her. If one day he stopped liking her, maybe by then Xiaobao would have grown up.