Too high to reach

Chapter 190 Getting by
After dinner, Mo Yi went to bed early.

With no one around, it felt like I was back in my room.

I slept so soundly that when I woke up in the morning, I found that all the fatigue from before had subsided.

I dressed up and went to the dining room for breakfast.

Yesterday, I had Hongyan notify all the courtyards that we would be gathering in the dining hall today. She arrived relatively early, but Consort Tian, ​​Qianqian's daughter, and Concubines Xu and Wu arrived even earlier.

Upon seeing her enter, he quickly bowed.

The little girl, Qianqian, seemed quite outgoing, and cheerfully called out, "Mother!"

There was a maidservant beside her who bowed and said, "Your Highness, this servant is Xiaofang from Concubine Mei's courtyard. Concubine Mei has a fever and is afraid that she might catch a cold if she goes out, or that she might catch a chill from her illness. So she asked me to come and ask for your leave."

Before Mo Yi could speak, Consort Feng brought Shao Ge'er in.

"Your Majesty," Shao Ge'er said with a light curtsy, still a little sleepy as she pulled him along. "Your Majesty," he called out as well.

Mo Yi nodded.

Consort Feng turned to Xiao Fang and said, "In a little while, Doctor Zhuang will go and examine Aunt Mei."

He turned and instructed the maid following behind him to fetch a doctor.

She then said to Mo Yi, "Aunt Mei is in poor health and needs to see a doctor frequently. However, it's nothing serious; two doses of medicine will make her better. Your Highness, you don't need to worry about it."

This is what I said...

It might be true, but it sounds... like Aunt Mei did it on purpose...

Mo Yi smiled and said, "Okay. Once the doctor has finished examining you, send a copy of the medical record to my courtyard."

Consort Feng was taken aback, but still nodded and smiled, "Yes."

Everyone sat down around the table.

Mo Yi said, "I just joined the family and have been busy with family introductions these past two days, so I haven't had time for anything else. I invited everyone over today so that we can get to know each other while the Prince is away."

I'm young and inexperienced, yet I bear the responsibilities of a princess. Therefore, I hope you can all offer your support and guidance. Especially for those with children or those in poor health, and with the Lunar New Year approaching, mistakes are unacceptable. Please feel free to point out any shortcomings in my approach. You can also share your thoughts with me directly.”

Consort Tian thought to herself: This doesn't make sense!

As a princess, her way of speaking was perfectly acceptable, even quite down-to-earth and friendly to everyone, without a trace of arrogance. Otherwise, if she were truly particular, she would have the right to call everyone over and reprimand them every day.

Therefore, this statement is both respectful and proactive.

But at the same time, she doesn't manage the household... What am I reminding you of? What ideas would be helpful to you?

I don't understand... I'll just agree first, so she nodded enthusiastically in agreement.

"Consort Feng, please find some time later to tell me about the daily life in the manor," Mo Yi said again.

"Yes." Consort Feng smiled sincerely, but inwardly she cursed, "They really treat me like a housekeeper."

“Xiangxiang, I heard you haven’t started classes yet. If you’d like, you can come to my study to play. There are some interesting things there… you can take a look,” Mo Yi said to Li Xiangling.

Is this a deliberate attempt to flatter the legitimate son? Consort Feng must have quite a few thoughts running through her mind…

Li Xiangling's face remained tense and unmoved. "Your Highness, Xiangling wishes to return to her maternal home."

Everyone's hearts tightened. The princess had not only rejected the princess's overtures, but she had also been quite disrespectful...

Mo Yi thought about it seriously for a moment: "Xiangxiang, your father is only away for two or three days, he'll be back soon. When he's home, he definitely wants the family to be together. Besides, the New Year is just around the corner..."

Li Xiangling remained silent.

What good is it if Father is at home? He's been back for a year, and we've only seen each other a limited number of times.

Not only is she not close to me at all, but Aunt Jiu can't even stay with me anymore...

Living in a large courtyard with only a maidservant—how desolate that must be!
However, her maternal family… though young, she knew that her aunt and father's marriage hadn't gone through with it, and her maternal family was unhappy. That's why they weren't coming to pick her up anymore…

Thinking of this, she wanted to cry, but she couldn't.

"If Xiangxiang misses them, I'll send someone to send a message, arrange a time, and then I'll go with you to see them, okay?"

Consort Feng chuckled inwardly. What a petty fellow! She didn't even understand such basic etiquette: Isn't it impolite of you to come to our door? Who are you? Even the Prince hasn't formally introduced you to the Zhou family!

Li Xiangling was young and didn't know how to handle the situation, so she could only nod.

After the meal, Consort Feng said, "Your Highness, I still have some household matters to attend to. Would you please come and talk to me after I've finished them?"

Mo Yi nodded and smiled, "Okay!"

As they were leaving, Mo Yi called out to Li Xiangling, "Xiangxiang, there are fish and wild ducks in the pond. Shall we take some steamed buns to feed them?"

Li Xiangling hesitated for a moment. Her maid said, "Princess, shouldn't you go back and put on some more clothes? It's cold by the lake..." So she shook her head, "It's cold, Xiangxiang won't go."

Upon hearing this, Shao-ge'er readily agreed, saying, "Mother, Shao-ge'er wants to go!"

Qianqian also said, "Mother, Qianqian wants to go too!"

Consort Feng smiled and said to Li Shaofeng, "It's cold today, let's go when the sun is shining at noon."

Although Li Shaofeng was unwilling, he was still obedient enough to follow the maid...

So, Mo Yi took Consort Tian and Qianqian to the pond.

The three people, holding steamed buns, were happily feeding the fish and ducks.

Li Xiangling returned to her courtyard, still preoccupied with the matter, and went out again to watch from a distance. Hearing Qianqian scream, she laughed heartily…

Mo Yi and Consort Tian fed her for a while, and then they discovered that Qianqian had put the steamed buns in her purse...

"This was given to you by the Princess Consort, your favorite. Wouldn't it be dirty to use it to hold steamed buns?" Consort Tian reminded her.

Qianqian, though small in stature, was quite wealthy: "It's alright, Her Majesty will still give Qianqian more..."

Mo Yi and Consort Tian smiled at each other.

"After the New Year, the shop will reopen, and there will be many purses available for you to choose from."

"Your Highness, what kind of shop?" Consort Tian was skilled in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, but she wasn't interested in any of them. She was only interested in business.

So Mo Yi started chatting with her.

The two of them ended up having a lot to talk about.

Consort Tian, ​​being from a merchant family, was indeed very knowledgeable and had some understanding of various fields.

Mo Yi was overjoyed and humbly asked for advice. Consort Tian, ​​who loved to teach, simply talked about these things.

The two of them weren't satisfied with just standing there talking, and they were also cold, so after Qianqian finished throwing away the steamed buns, they both went back to the main courtyard.

Upon entering, Mo Yi instructed the maid to brew tea and fetch snacks, and then led Consort Tian into the study.

The large study was piled high with things.

"I haven't had time to tidy up since I moved here. The shop will probably sell these items..." She had a good idea of ​​what these items were, so she picked them up casually and explained them offhand.

Consort Tian and her daughter watched with shining eyes.

The mother and daughter ate lunch at Mo Yi's place.

Consort Feng arrived in the afternoon.

"Your Majesty..." She held several sheets of paper in her hand.

"Look, this is the Princess's monthly allowance and treatment, including regulations on clothing, meals, social engagements, travel, and so on, as well as the standards for receiving and giving gifts and how to handle the accounts. Please take a look. If there is anything you don't understand, please ask me."

Mo Yi took it and looked at it...

She only had her own standards, and there were no distinctions between concubines and secondary wives. It seems that Concubine Feng believed it was none of her business…

Not urgent.

"For example, regarding meals..." Consort Feng continued to explain, "This is your standard, this is the scope. Beyond this, if you have any special requirements, you need to place an order at least one day in advance, and also... you will need to pay for it yourself."

"Let me take a look at these first, and I'll ask you if I don't understand anything."

Consort Feng nodded in agreement.

"I have some matters to attend to that require me to leave the residence frequently. One is the arrangement of the carriage guards, and the other is that I might not be able to eat at the residence. What should I do about that?"

Consort Feng really wanted to make things difficult for her, especially...

But she can't.

She smiled and said, "You can suggest a plan, and I will arrange everything for you."

Mo Yi nodded in agreement, and that was the end of the conversation.

Consort Feng took her leave and was about to go out when Mo Yi called her back, "Has the doctor examined Consort Mei?"

"...I just finished reading it and wrote a prescription. I'll have someone bring it over in a bit!"

“Okay.” Mo Yi hadn’t forgotten about it.

(End of this chapter)