Chapter 202: Chapter 202

She was thinking about the time when she first entered Cining Palace and Nanny Zhang’s face didn’t look good...

Usually, when she saw Nanny Zhang in Cining Palace, Nanny Zhang always appeared full of vigor. Proud, confident. Never like today, as if worried about something, or as if she had suffered a heavy blow, looking very disheartened, low-spirited.

Jun Ning casually asked the Empress Dowager, "Grand Empress Dowager, have you been giving Nanny Zhang a hard time lately?"

The Empress Dowager asked with a confused look, "When did that happen? How come I don’t know about it?"

Nanny Liu, who was serving nearby, said, "Your Highness the Princess, have you misunderstood something? Our Empress Dowager is kind-hearted and never makes things difficult for anyone in the palace. Especially like me and Nanny Zhang, we’ve been with Her Majesty for a long time, she would not make things difficult for us at all."

The Empress Dowager smiled upon hearing this.

Indeed, that was the case.

She was getting old, and due to her poor health, she seldom lost her temper or made things difficult for others. Unless someone did something too excessive, crossing her bottom line, only then would she take it seriously.

"Oh." Jun Ning scratched her head and said embarrassedly, "Then I might have misunderstood."

"It’s alright." The Empress Dowager patted Jun Ning’s head, then patted the head of Jing Shu, who was obediently sitting on the side, "Little girls, is there anything else you would like to eat? Tell me, and I’ll have the small kitchen prepare it."

Jun Ning had eaten several mung bean pastries and was almost full, not wanting anything else.

But Jing Shu, on the other hand, was usually strictly controlled by the Crown Princess Consort in the Eastern Palace.

She had specific rules about how much to eat at each meal to maintain her figure, and she wasn’t allowed to be picky.

Now, hearing the Empress Dowager say this, she touched her little stomach, feeling a bit tempted, but she dared not say it out loud.

She sat there properly and orderly, with an air of being void of desires and not wanting to trouble the Empress Dowager, much less make her angry.

"We are all family, what are you pretending for?" Jun Ning pinched Jing Shu’s little face and said.

Jing Shu got anxious at once, "Yi Yi, you actually pinched my face, see if I won’t pinch you back."

Jing Shu reached out her hand towards Jun Ning’s face to pinch her, but Jun Ning ran away.

Seeing this, Jing Shu quickly chased after her.

The two little girls chased and frolicked, one in front of the other.

Cining Palace echoed with their noisy voices and happy laughter.

The Empress Dowager smiled kindly and said to Nanny Liu beside her, "That girl Jing Shu has become much more lively lately."

"The eighteenth princess has a lively nature, and the little Commandery Princess often plays with her, naturally she’s influenced."

The Empress Dowager sighed, "I was worried that they wouldn’t get along before, but now it seems I was overthinking."

Jun Ning and Jing Shu ran around chasing each other without stopping.

Until they ran into a corner of Cining Palace and bumped into Nanny Zhang, who was hiding there crying secretly.

They looked at each other and curiously halted their steps, looking at Nanny Zhang, who was crouching in the corner, her shoulders trembling, suppressing her sobs.

Nanny Zhang was a strong-willed person. Jun Ning often came to Cining Palace, yet had never seen her cry. This was the first time.

Jing Shu saw nothing interesting about it and pulled Jun Ning to go back and eat something yummy.

Jun Ning told her to go back first, then she walked towards Nanny Zhang and asked, "Nanny Zhang, what’s wrong, why are you crying?"

"I..." Nanny Zhang, suddenly caught showing her vulnerable and embarrassing side, felt very awkward. She quickly stood up and wiped her tears, returning to her previous cold and aloof demeanor.

But she couldn’t hide the concern in her eyes when she saw Jun Ning had run out with only a thin gown on.

"Your Highness the Princess, it’s cold outside, shall we go inside quickly?"

"I’m not cold." Jun Ning felt hot after running around with Jing Shu for so long, not cold at all.

"Still no good." Nanny Zhang picked Jun Ning up with one swift motion, carried her back to the warm room, and wanted to dress her in more clothes.

The Empress Dowager stopped her, "No need to worry about the little girl, she’s quite warm from playing. Adding more clothes wouldn’t be suitable."

"...Alright." Nanny Zhang put down the clothes and left.

She seemed a bit off.

Even though Jun Ning was sweaty from playing, she wanted to dress Jun Ning with more clothes—was it due to her concern throwing her into disorder?

No, she seemed more like she was absent-minded, the whole person in a trance.

Jun Ning noticed as Nanny Zhang turned to leave, she was wiping her eyes, presumably tears.

From this, it could be inferred something must have happened to Nanny Zhang’s personal life, that’s why she seemed so abnormal. Official source ıs 𝗇𝗈𝗏𝖾𝗅•𝖿𝗂𝗋𝖾•𝗇𝖾𝗍

Jun Ning asked around to everyone in Cining Palace but still didn’t find out what was wrong with Nanny Zhang, until she ran into a little maid from the Imperial Kitchen who was very close to Nanny Zhang and found out what happened in Nanny Zhang’s life.

It turns out it was Nanny Zhang’s son outside the palace who had met with trouble.

Her son was ambitious since young, liked to study, passed the Scholar exams, and he always told Nanny Zhang he would work hard to achieve fame and fortune, then take her out of the palace to enjoy life, never having to serve anyone again.

Nanny Zhang was very gratified, she sent her entire monthly stipend to her son outside the palace, for him to study hard, hoping someday he’d achieve fame and fortune. Yet his father wasn’t good, habitually taking the silver Nanny Zhang gave her son to gamble.

Even though he lost every time he gambled, he still had to gamble.

In the end, gambling away everything and owing a mountain of gambling debt.

He sent word through Nanny Zhang’s son, telling Nanny Zhang to help him clear the gambling debt before the fifteenth of the month. If not, he would sell Nanny Zhang’s son to Xianggu Hall to pay the debt.

What kind of place is Xianggu Hall?

It’s similar to a brothel, only it’s a male brothel, catering to female clients.

If Nanny Zhang’s son went to such a place, even if he managed to get out in the future and earn fame, he’d be criticized. Worse yet, someone might impeach him for that and have the Emperor dismiss him from his official position.

So, going to such a place was absolutely unacceptable.

But her son, who looked like a frail scholar, powerless against his big and burly father.

If his father insistently wanted to sell him to such a place, he couldn’t escape at all.

The only way to avoid it was if Nanny Zhang helped pay off the gambling debt.

But gambling was a bottomless pit, even if Nanny Zhang strained every nerve to help once, could she do it five times, six times, or even ten times, eight times?

Because most of Nanny Zhang’s life savings had been spent on her son’s education, how could there be any money left?

Even the money to help pay off the gambling debts for her son’s father this time, she couldn’t gather enough.

Seeing the fifteenth approaching, if she couldn’t gather enough money to help pay off the gambling debts, her son would be sold by his father to Xianggu Hall to take clients!

Could Nanny Zhang not be anxious? Could she not be worried? Could she not be despondent?