Chapter 14: Chapter 14
In the evening, An Ning raised an eyebrow upon seeing the exceptionally rare and exquisitely crafted hair ornament set before her, quickly instructing someone to put it away. She then spoke gently to Suoma, who had been particularly meticulous about etiquette since entering:
"Please convey my gratitude to the princess consort for her generous gift. I will bring the Eldest Young Master to pay respects another day."
An Ning had always followed the principle of reciprocity - if someone showed her respect, she would return it in kind. Since the princess consort had extended this courtesy, she saw no reason to be deliberately difficult.
Especially since the current state of affairs in the residence suited her quite well. Unless something unexpected happened, she had no intention of disrupting this balance.
As expected, Suoma's smile became noticeably more genuine upon hearing this.
Time flew by until the annual palace banquet arrived. This marked An Ning's first return to the palace since leaving.
During the previous year's banquet, she had still been in confinement after childbirth.
Due to the Grand Empress Dowager's serious illness, this year's celebration was more subdued, with the princess consorts only paying respects outside the Cining Palace.
"My, is this Prince Zhuang's Eldest Young Master? What a handsome little fellow! No wonder Yaliqi keeps praising him to me all the time!"
"Indeed! In all my years, I've never seen such a beautiful child. They say the Ninth Prince is good-looking, but compared to this little one, he'd be like a shriveled gourd roll." A radiant beauty in palace attire beside the Empress Dowager chimed in.
"Imperial Consort Yi, you jest! If the Ninth Prince is a shriveled gourd roll, what does that make our Third Prince?"
When the Empress Dowager spoke, the concubines naturally piled on the compliments. Of course, they were all tactful enough to direct their praise solely at the child and occasionally the princess consort.
As for the birth mother? Unfortunately, they genuinely didn't recognize her.
This banquet is anything but friendly, An Ning thought to herself.
Strangely enough, Consort De, who usually enjoyed some favor with the Empress Dowager due to the Ninth Princess, maintained nothing more than her signature smile today, offering only minimal responses.
But An Ning couldn't care less about what this powerful figure was thinking. She wasn't a palace concubine who needed to curry favor. Seeing the Empress Dowager maybe once a year meant there was little real influence she could exert over their household. Besides, historically this old dowager was famously low-profile and long-lived.
Whatever her intentions, right now it was her precious child receiving all the praise!
Thus, An Ning sat comfortably in her seat, eating and drinking without restraint, occasionally exchanging reassuring glances with her little bun up front, even finding time to gossip with her system.
"System, quick, check if there's something wrong with Consort De's health?"
Surprised by her host's perceptiveness, the system soon reported: "Host guessed correctly. Consort De has been dosed with an emotion-amplifying drug, and her body can no longer bear children."
This shocking revelation nearly made An Ning lose control of her expression.
If Consort De couldn't have children, what about the future General Prince, the Fourteenth Prince? Had he been butterflied away?
And if she remembered correctly, this should be the year the Sixth Prince died young in history!
Impressive, my palace intrigue heroine.
Truly adding insult to injury!
As for why it was Noble Lady Zhangjia - wasn't it obvious? And she had some guesses about this heroine's golden finger.
An Ning deliberately probed: "Looks like the imperial physicians can't detect it."
The system remained silent, confirming An Ning's suspicions.
But this Consort De was truly remarkable. An Ning genuinely admired how, burdened with so many negative effects, she could still maintain such graceful composure and firmly retain her position as one of the Four Consorts. Had An Ning not been paying special attention for various reasons, she wouldn't have noticed anything amiss.
As for the heroine, An Ning's gaze casually drifted to a certain spot at the banquet.
After struggling for so long, she was still just a noble lady! Not even an honorary title - if not for the Twelfth Prince, she wouldn't even have been allowed through the door today. Seated so far away too - An Ning didn't believe for a second Consort De wasn't behind this.
Truly the cutthroat competition of Kangxi's harem, where bloodless killings were the norm.
An Ning sighed inwardly, wishing she could witness the drama firsthand.
In her consciousness space, the system was equally baffled - why did its host seem to know everything despite it not violating rules by revealing plot points?
While secretly enjoying this juicy gossip, neither An Ning nor her system noticed a gaze lingering on An Ning from a corner for a long time before finally withdrawing.
The tedious and uninteresting banquet finally concluded, and An Ning carried her little treasure, who had grown noticeably plumper, preparing to leave. Perhaps to make up for earlier neglect, the Empress Dowager bestowed upon them a gemstone hair ornament set with gold trim, along with a superior mutton-fat white jade pendant for the child.
Merely gifts for the younger generation.
Free things were not to be refused, so An Ning happily accepted them.
Her natural attitude even made the princess consort speechless. This Ma Jia woman... over the years she'd truly become incomprehensible - sometimes stubbornly principled to the extreme, other times seemingly carefree without limits.
But she had one virtue - once a matter was over, she didn't hold grudges, nor did she encourage the Eldest Young Master to distance himself from his official mother.
Well, this was already good enough. Recalling her aunt's earlier words, Borjigit felt melancholy.
These Mongol noblewomen, for all their status, in this vast Forbidden City where they might not see family for years - weren't they practically orphans aside from their titles?
Fortunately, An Ning couldn't hear these thoughts, or she'd have objected - the only reason she didn't hold grudges was because she settled scores immediately when possible.
As for those she couldn't confront yet - just wait until her golden finger became more powerful, like that heroine's. Then see if she wouldn't take revenge!
As for distancing from the official mother - that wasn't kindness but pure practicality. Though small, her child was clever. No matter how sweetly he smiled or how well-behaved he appeared elsewhere, try taking half a pastry from him!
In the entire residence, only An Ning herself could do this - perhaps along with that cheap father who came to "clock in" daily.
After the banquet, An Ning and the princess consort quickly returned to their peaceful coexistence. Winter brought colds to many children in the capital. Taking advantage of the New Year holiday, Prince Zhuang packed up and brought his entire household - mother and child, his frail eldest daughter, and a large entourage of servants - to a hot spring villa in the outskirts.
The Prince Zhuang residence was truly wealthy - this estate alone was half the size of a small town. In land-scarce Beijing, no less!
While the heroine was still toiling in cramped palace quarters scheming, An Ning was comfortably soaking in hot springs, eating fresh vegetables from the greenhouse, occasionally strolling about with her little one, and when bored, unlocking thrilling palace intrigue dramas through her cheap system.
What a blissful life!
Her only annoyance was the occasional artistic whims of the child's father. It seemed every man harbored some didactic tendencies - like now.
Feeling the guiding hands on hers, An Ning mustered all her limited artistic talent to paint the black chrysanthemums as beautifully as possible.
Alas, the finished product made even her little bun, who had been ready to cheer with tiny fists, choke back his prepared applause.
Even children had basic aesthetic standards - especially one constantly exposed to his father's artistic influence, with the actual flowers right before them.
"Not bad for a first attempt, A Ning. Your foundation is just a bit lacking," came the tactful comment.
An Ning: "..." Did he think she couldn't recognize empty consolation?
Days passed amidst An Ning's growing pile of discarded sketches. Just as mother and son were thoroughly enjoying themselves, several months later, startling news arrived from the capital:
"Wait... my lord, what did you just say? Cowpox?"