The Grand Secretary's Child-Raising Diary

Consort Zhao's idea was good, but she hadn't yet reached the point where she could control everything in the palace.

The Empress casually mentioned it to Emperor Chenghe, and in less than a quarter of an hour, Eunuch Chao had already reported the events that had occurred at Chongwen Hall the previous day to Emperor Chenghe in detail.

The emperor had also studied at the Chongwen Academy. In his youthful arrogance, he even led his study companions and several brothers from the imperial clan into a brawl. Therefore, he did not take Xiao Shizhen and Xiao Shubai's petty squabble to heart, but instead focused on another matter.

"Did the Zhao family members enter the palace yesterday but fail to pay their respects to the Empress?"

The eunuch responded with a "Yes," then added after a moment's thought, "They said they were afraid of disturbing Her Majesty the Empress's recovery, so they didn't go to bother her, but they also didn't send anyone to inform Kunning Palace."

Emperor Chenghe smiled and said, "I think Zitong looks quite well; her health should be almost fully recovered."

"Go to my private treasury and select some items that the Empress and Crown Prince like, then send them to Kunning Palace. Also, inform the Empress that now that she has recovered, she shouldn't be lazy and delegate palace duties to others."

The Empress suffered a miscarriage during the New Year and was in poor health. She had to recuperate intermittently for more than half a year. The affairs of the six palaces were then handed over to Consort Zhao and Consort Hui for assistance. Now that the Empress has recovered to a considerable extent, the affairs of the palace should naturally return to normal.

Xiao Shizhen escaped the Emperor's punishment, but Consort Zhao's world collapsed.

Seeing Eunuch Shun coming from Zichen Palace to convey His Majesty's decree, Consort Zhao said mournfully, "But what have I done wrong that His Majesty wants to take back my post as assistant in charge of the six palaces?"

Eunuch Shun was very humble and hurriedly said, "Your Highness, what are you saying? His Majesty has seen your hard work in managing the six palaces for the past six months. However, now that Her Majesty the Empress has recovered, it is only natural that Her Majesty the Empress should make the decisions regarding matters in the palace."

Even if Consort Zhao was reluctant to relinquish her power to assist in managing the six palaces, the one in Kunning Palace was ultimately the rightful Empress.

After seeing off Eunuch Shun, Consort Zhao hurriedly instructed Xiao Zhuozi: "Go and find out what happened and why His Majesty suddenly wants to take back my power in the palace."

Xiao Zhuozi accepted the order and left. These palace officials all had their own ways of gathering information, and they soon found out the details and returned to Changshou Palace.

Consort Zhao burst into tears upon hearing this: "It sounds so nice that I have worked so hard to manage the palace, but all I have received are a few words. The Empress has been staying at home for half a year, yet rewards have been sent in like a flowing stream. Even Consort Hui has received rewards."

"Your Majesty is openly slapping me in the face. How am I supposed to hold my head high in the palace from now on? What have I done to offend Your Majesty?"

Consort Zhao couldn't figure it out herself, but fortunately, she had a clear-headed nanny by her side to give her some pointers.

"Your Highness, please don't be sad. Since His Majesty hasn't explicitly reprimanded you, in my opinion, it's not a big deal. As for the task of assisting in the management of the six palaces, now that Her Majesty the Empress has recovered, it's only a matter of time before it's handed back."

"You should take this opportunity to get closer to His Majesty. The most important thing would be to bear him another prince or princess, since the current one is no longer able to have children."

With the nanny's words of comfort, Consort Zhao finally felt a little better, but she was still sullen.

But what upset her didn't end there. Later that evening, someone from Kunning Palace came to deliver a message that the Empress had recovered and that the ladies could resume their greetings the next day.

In short, starting tomorrow, no matter how late you are the night before, you must get up early and wait at Kunning Palace for the Empress to give you a lecture.

Second day

Consort Zhao, filled with resentment, felt like she was sitting on pins and needles in Kunning Palace, enduring the onlookers' gazes from the other concubines. A censor from the previous dynasty had impeached the Zhao family. The matter wasn't a big deal, but it was still quite embarrassing to talk about.

Consort Zhao's father, drunk on wine and women in the red-light district of the south of the city, got into a fight with someone and, in front of everyone, shouted that he was the Emperor's father-in-law and told the other person to go ahead and report it to the authorities.

The person who attacked him, after sobering up, was naturally afraid and wouldn't actually report it to the authorities. But the censors' job was to monitor all officials, especially in the capital. For the father of a concubine to dare to claim to be the emperor's father-in-law, especially in a brothel, was nothing short of openly tarnishing His Majesty's reputation.

Thus, the reprimand that Consort Zhao and the Eighth Prince had failed to receive came to pass through the Zhao family. Because of their patronage of prostitutes, the Emperor issued an edict reprimanding the Zhao family, causing them to lose all face. The servants of the Zhao family even wished they could cover their faces before going out to buy things.

Consort Zhao didn't receive a single harsh word from the Emperor or Empress, but she still lost face completely, and even stopped going to the Imperial Garden, which she used to love.

Lu Youning moved back to his own residence at Chongwen Academy. Xiao Shubai rushed to see him as soon as get out of class ended, hoping to chat with Lu Youning about their flawless plan that day. However, he was first startled by the ointment on Lu Youning's face. After realizing what had happened, Xiao Shubai burst into tears.

"Waaah, Aning, are you disfigured? Will you be ugly forever? What will I do?"

Xiao Shubai's sorrowful words were sincere and heartfelt, but Lu Youning's forehead was covered in black lines as he listened. He had long since realized that this chubby boy was clearly a complete sucker for good looks.

He deliberately said, "What's it to you if I'm disfigured?"

Xiao Shubai's nose was red from crying. Hearing this, she sobbed and said, "If you become ugly, how can I play with you?"

Lu Youning: "Oh, so you want to play with me because I'm pretty."

Xiao Shubai's sobs subsided, and he wanted to retort but couldn't open his mouth. After all, if Lu Youning hadn't been the most handsome child in the Dingzi class, he wouldn't have bothered with the Eighth Prince's affairs.

But now that he and Aning are good friends, if he were to tell her, wouldn't that hurt Aning's feelings? This really put him in a difficult position.

Although Lu Youning always thought of Xiao Shubai as "Little Fatty," in reality, in his eyes, the chubby boy looked like a rosy glutinous rice ball when he sat there, which was quite endearing. Moreover, this little chubby boy was truly loyal.

Seeing that he was really conflicted, I stopped teasing him.

"Alright, the imperial physician said my injury will heal in seven or eight days and won't disfigure me, so we can still play together."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Shubai immediately stopped crying and started laughing, and dared to look Lu Youning in the eye again.

He was raised innocently by the Prince of De's mansion and felt at ease in the palace as if it were his own home. After telling Lu Youning about how his stomachache from eating too much that day had caused their plan to be exposed prematurely, Baba apologized to Lu Youning.

Lu Youning didn't comment on the guy's gluttony: "It's a good thing you ate so much, otherwise I really would have died out there that day."