Flowery Hair: A Maidservant

Chapter 432 Empty

Consort Qi chattered on for a while, and also got to try some of the new dishes that Donggua had made. As always, she was very thoughtful, and not only did she not forget to praise them, but before leaving, she also forcibly put a very fine jade bracelet on Donggua's wrist.

That's really forced.

Because we dared not harvest the winter melon, and also because the winter melon's wrist was chubby... When we finally managed to put it in, it looked like a golden hoop was put on a lotus root section.

The two had been dodging and chasing each other, making Mingyue and Lvliu, who were watching from the side, cover their mouths and laugh.

Finally, Meng Shu coughed lightly and said, "Since it is Consort Qi's kind intention, you should accept it."

Winter Melon blushed and thanked him.

After Consort Qi and her servants left Cuiyu Hall, Green Willow served Meng Shu a cup of tea to rinse her mouth and said with a smile, "I've never seen Consort Qi talk so much before. She's really a wonderful person. She must have wanted to thank Your Highness, so she found an excuse to give the jade bracelet to Donggua."

Meng Shu smiled faintly: "It also depends on our Donggua's good cooking skills and whether the dishes suit her taste. I'll make a few of her signature desserts and send them to Dieqiong Pavilion another day."

Donggua rubbed his reddened wrist, feeling delighted. His mouth moved faster than his brain: "It seems I still have to take the Lightness Pill that Physician Jian gave me. This jade bracelet is a waste on my thick wrist."

Mingyue interjected, "I'll teach you a set of boxing techniques tonight, and I guarantee you'll lose weight in three months. My senior sister used to be even rounder than you, but after practicing for half a year, she became as thin as a willow branch."

Upon hearing this, Meng Shu's eyes flickered slightly, and she asked softly, "Ming Wu... has she gone to the Northern Frontier?"

“That’s right…” Mingyue sighed and shook her head as she cleared the dishes: “She ran away in November before the New Year. Last time she was chasing Junior Brother Chen in the Northwest, but Master caught her by the ear. This time she just infiltrated the military supply convoy and headed to the Northern Frontier.”

Donggua's eyes widened, and he seized on the key point to gossip: "Chase him? Well... Chen Lin's face is indeed more handsome than a woman's..."

Green Willow was speechless for a moment, then sighed, "So this is what it means to be a chivalrous person in the martial world, so...unrestrained and bold."

Mingyue looked around and whispered, "You don't know, if it weren't for Senior Sister Mingwu stopping us back then..." She made a scissor gesture, "Junior Brother Chen would almost have been castrated and sent to the palace to become a eunuch."

"what--"

Mengzhu and Donggua both gasped in shock.

Meng Shu wasn't surprised.

The women carefully selected by the brokerage firm back then were either made maids in the mansions of the Duke of Qing or sent to places like the Duke of Qing's mansion as undercover agents; the men with excellent physiques, like Chen Lin, trained under Zheng Shan and Master Zhou to become secret guards. The rest underwent rigorous training and were castrated before entering the palace, serving in all four departments and six bureaus. Otherwise, how could the matter with Yun Jin have been handled so discreetly?

How mysteriously the wheel of fate turns.

Who would have thought that Chen Lin was able to escape this calamity because of Ming Wu?

When you reach a certain crossroads in life, you may only need to meet one person, and from then on, your paths will diverge completely.

What would Meng Shu's life have been like if she had never met the second young lady of the Tang family?

Perhaps she was caught red-handed while plotting her escape from Chunfeng Tower and died quietly. Or perhaps she rose slowly from a lowly maid to a first-class maid in the Langya Courtyard of the Tang Mansion, just to save enough money to buy her freedom, only to find on the day she left the mansion that the outside world offered her no place. Or perhaps, like Huaying before the old lady, she reached her twenties and was married off to a servant, thus becoming a head maid in the deep confines of the mansion...

Regardless of the possibility, she was nothing more than a drifting duckweed, floating with the current. It wasn't until she met Wan'er that her destiny began to surge forward like a spring stream breaking through the ice.

Meng Shu, supported by Lv Liu's arm, went to the inner room and sat on the soft couch in a daze for a while.

Only when her eyes gradually regained their focus did Green Willow cautiously inquire, "Your Highness asked about Mingyue earlier, did you already know about Mingwu...?"

Meng Shu nodded gently, "Back then, you were still in Jinnan. I accompanied Wan'er to the Princess's poetry gathering, which was held at a manor outside the capital. At that time, I noticed that Mingwu's gaze towards Chen Lin was strange."

Meng Shu then stopped mentioning it. She turned to look out the window and said softly, "It's already this late. Wan'er should be settled in Yichun Palace by now... We won't see her for a long time to come."

Upon hearing this, Green Willow suddenly realized, "Speaking of which, ever since you went to work at Yunyi Courtyard, you and Consort Chun have never been apart."

They used to live in the same courtyard, and many times when they were on night duty, they would sleep side by side. Later, after entering the palace and having their own palaces, they would always get together every few days. They were never separated.

"Hmm. I felt a bit empty after coming back from Huining Palace this morning..."

Meng Shu gave a soft "hmm," the rest of her sentence turning into a soft sigh that dissipated in the spring breeze that swept through the hall.

At the end of the Wei hour (1-3 PM), Jian Zhi came to take his pulse as usual.

Green Willow busied herself preparing soft pillows. After taking the pulse for a moment, Jian Zhi's brows relaxed: "Your Majesty's pulse is stable, and the dragon fetus is safe and sound."

He put away the pulse pillow and said gently, "Judging from your pulse, your due date is about a month and a half away. You need to be extra careful during this period. Firstly, your diet should be light and you shouldn't take too much tonic. Secondly, you should take slow walks every day to improve your blood circulation. When sleeping, you should lie on your left side..."

Finally, he carefully instructed, "If Your Majesty feels any pain in your lower back or abdomen, or experiences any bleeding, immediately have Miss Green Willow summon me."

Just as Meng Shu was about to thank her, she suddenly felt a movement in her stomach.

Seeing this, Jian Zhi smiled and said, "The baby has been moving frequently lately, which shows that it is a lively and healthy baby."

"I'm used to it now," Meng Shu chuckled, stroking her belly. The first fetal movement occurred at night. That night, the Emperor stayed at Cuiyu Hall, and as soon as his palm touched her lower abdomen, he was kicked solidly, as if the child could sense it.

Jian Zhi packed up his medicine box and was about to leave when Dong Gua peeked out from behind the screen, holding a carved red lacquer food box in his hands, and said hesitantly, "Two plates of snacks... um... could you give me two more bottles of the Lightness Pill?"

Meng Shu, Lü Liu, and Ming Yue smiled knowingly, looking just like spectators watching a play.

Jian Zhi paused, not taking the food box, but instead carefully observing Donggua's complexion. He said gently, "The Light Body Pill is cold in nature, and prolonged use can damage the spleen. Miss Donggua, your eyes and lips are rosy, and your pulse is likely more balanced than last month. If you don't mind, please allow me..."

Before she could finish speaking, Meng Shu smiled and pointed to the other side of the soft couch, "Since Physician Jian has spoken, why don't you take a look at them all? A few days ago, Lvliu caught a cold and couldn't sleep well at night."

......

"My apprentice's medical skills have improved quite a bit. He must have learned a lot from Physician He..." The Zhen family physician stroked his beard and nodded repeatedly at Consort Chun's recent medical records. Although his words were teasing, the smile lines at the corners of his eyes could not hide his pride.

Inside a side hall of Yichun Palace, Consort Chun sat on a soft couch, where the Zhen family physician had just taken her pulse.

Mengzhu gently removed the plain gauze covering her wrist, and smiled as she heard this, saying, "The other day when Physician Jian was examining Her Majesty in the palace, he said that it was all thanks to Master's excellent teaching back then."

The physician from the Zhen family placed the medical record on the table, his eyes filled with relief. "When the head of the family picked him up from outside, the boy was covered in injuries. I thought it would be a blessing if I could save him..." He shook his head. "Who would have thought he would be such a good candidate for medicine?"