Chapter 266: Chapter 266
"Yo-Your Highness, you've returned!"
"Your Highness must be tired. This servant, this servant will immediately order someone to fetch water!"
After spending some time as usual at the Taiqing Hall (one of the Northern Song imperial library locations), An Ning returned rather late. Despite this, all the palace servants who had been attending her earlier remained dutifully waiting in the outer chamber, not daring to show the slightest impropriety. The earlier laughter and playful banter had completely vanished without a trace.
Even her usually chatty wet nurse, Lady Han, didn't dare say an extra word at this moment.
For a while, the vast Yufang Hall became extremely quiet, with only the careful movements of the palace servants breaking the silence.
Before long, all bathing necessities had been prepared. Apparently the hot water had been ready well in advance, showing efficiency that far surpassed previous times.
An Ning remained expressionless, clearly quite accustomed to this treatment.
People always praised the current emperor for his benevolence - how when walking, if palace maids forgot to bring water, he would endure thirst rather than punish the serving palace staff; how when attendants accidentally spilled boiling water on him, his first concern was whether they got burned; how when he bit into sand while eating and his teeth bled, he worried about the cook being punished and instructed palace staff not to speak of it...
Such behavior earned praise for his compassionate virtue from both contemporary and later generations. But didn't anyone consider that regardless of his attitude, the fact these incidents kept happening was itself problematic?
Shouldn't utmost caution and thoroughness at all times be the primary principle of serving one's sovereign? If they neglect things enough to let sand get into food this time, wouldn't they risk accidentally mixing in other things next time?
One incident might be called an accident, but when multiple occurrences could be lightly dismissed and even celebrated as admirable stories...
Thinking of the unidentified foreign object she accidentally encountered in pastries when she first arrived here, well...
On the warm water's surface, newly picked red plum blossoms released their fragrant aroma, filling the modest bathing chamber with misty fragrance.
Beside the bathtub, last year's freshly brewed fruit wine was placed nearby as usual.
Only after confirming everyone had left did An Ning take the opportunity while drinking the fruit wine to mix in a few drops of Spirit Spring Water along with a tiny bit of Marrow-Cleansing Pills powder.
Before long, slight pain sensations spread through her body, accompanied by barely visible impurities slowly seeping out through sweat. As these sweat stains were expelled, the young girl in the bathtub's complexion noticeably improved.
Though the change was minimal and hardly noticeable to ordinary observation.
When everything finished, An Ning finally breathed an almost imperceptible sigh of relief within the bathtub.
Truth be told, although she was an imperial princess, the body she inhabited in this lifetime—as An Ning had carefully examined earlier—was truly inadequate.
Besides the Zhao family's hereditary heart condition and weak constitution buff, even cardiovascular aspects weren't particularly healthy, compounded by issues with palace construction materials. With multiple buffs stacked together, it was truly remarkable that this body had managed to grow up at all.
Even for An Ning, using top-quality elixirs supplemented with Spirit Spring Water, it took over half a year of recuperation just to barely restore normal health.
Cultivation? Several times more difficult than in her previous life.
But to outsiders, it definitely appeared that with more exercise and better nourishment, Her Highness had grown increasingly healthier over these past six months.
That evening, just as An Ning was happily dining, a beautiful woman in palace attire hurried into the palace chambers with a group of servants, immediately grabbing her daughter's hand:
"Fu...Fukang...you today...today..."
Even the usually bold and arrogant Lady Miao was so frightened she couldn't speak properly, showing how shocking the earlier incident had been.
However, what made An Ning most speechless was...
My dear father, what happened to that agreement about keeping this quiet?
Although it was true that the training grounds had many eyes and ears, and the ladies each had their own informants and intelligence channels, for the deterrence power of a nation's emperor to reach this level was truly astounding...
Fortunately, An Ning had never held much hope in this regard, so she naturally remained unflustered. Taking a plain handkerchief from a servant, the ten-year-old girl at the dining table calmly wiped the corners of her mouth as if nothing had happened:
"Today? Is Jiejiejie referring to Uncle from the Li Family?"
"Ah, such misfortune! This Uncle Li was truly unfortunate—they say when entering the palace, he accidentally fell down the steps and passed away before the imperial physician could arrive!"
"Actually, I heard this news from the attendants beside Father!"
As she spoke, the ten-year-old girl's face showed nothing but genuine regret.
When did her daughter's skin become so thick?
However, someone who could think of poisoning the Imperial Son-in-Law with wine when divorce proved impossible, who could act arrogantly and domineeringly in the palace despite not being particularly favored, who routinely disrespected the Empress and thoroughly offended people—clearly Yuan Shen's birth mother Lady Miao wasn't exactly a gentle soul either.
Understanding her daughter's meaning that the official had already made his decision, Lady Miao stopped dwelling on it. Instead, she tightly grasped her daughter's hand, her charming and stunning face filled with happiness and pride:
"This is wonderful! That dreadful, rotten marriage is finally gone! My child is so clever!"
She then added with some regret: "Such a good method—why didn't Jiejiejie think of it earlier?"
Considering her daughter's various changes over the past six months, growing increasingly withdrawn day by day, with no trace of her earlier smiles visible on her face—if Lady Miao had merely disliked this marriage before, now she utterly loathed it to the core.
Thus, upon first hearing this news, aside from concern for her daughter regarding the official's attitude, her remaining feeling was immense joy—she practically wanted to slap her thigh in celebration.
Ah, this person's death was truly excellent.
"Nannan is indeed clever! To achieve such archery skill in just half a year!"
A single arrow striking the throat from dozens of meters away—how remarkable! All those calluses from daily practice over these past six months hadn't been wasted.
Such a pity she didn't witness that scene herself.
Lady Miao expressed her regret.
Now she finally understood why her birth mother, despite having such looks and the emotional bond of having nursed her daughter, still ended up in this state within the palace!
The only few promotions she received all relied on Yuan Shen being her only surviving daughter.
Staring fixedly at her birth mother's stunningly beautiful face, An Ning set down the cotton towel and quickly corrected with a smile:
"What is Jiejiejie saying? My archery accuracy is notoriously poor, as everyone knows!"
Eh, wasn't that just an act?