Chapter 361

Chapter 361 Taotao faced his Imperial Father's dark expression, grinned widely, and said, "Imperial Father! Hug!" He even reached out his arms toward the Emperor, asking to be held. The Emperor: "..." In the end, the Emperor still picked up Taotao and pinched his nose. "Just as clever and sly as your mother!" He had actually thought the little rascal had been wailing at the top of his lungs for ages! Knowing what Taotao loved, the Emperor quickly had people bring out all sorts of novel trinkets to divert his attention and shut the little one up. With one less person wailing in the Imperial Study, the room instantly quieted down considerably. This made it easier for the old nursemaids to work their magic. Indeed, the palace was full of capable people. In just a few moments, an old nursemaid managed to soothe the Sixth Prince. Holding the tearful Sixth Prince, she stepped forward to pay respects to the Emperor with great composure. The Emperor glanced at her and asked Shi'an, "Which palace does this woman serve in?" Eunuch Shian replied, "Reporting to Your Majesty, she originally served the late Consort Dowager Liu. After Consort Dowager Liu passed away, she was assigned to serve in Yongming Palace." "Last time when the Third Princess raised a ruckus at night, she was the one who managed to calm her down. She has considerable skill in caring for children." The Emperor had just been thinking that this nursemaid seemed quite good with children, wondering why no one had employed her. Now hearing that she had served the late Consort Dowager Liu, he immediately understood. The late Consort Dowager Liu had been quite a figure. She wasn't particularly favored, but she was exceptionally fertile. In the ten years she served the Retired Emperor, she conceived six times and safely delivered four children—though none of them survived to adulthood. They all passed away around the age of five or six. In the end, she wasted away herself, following her youngest daughter to the grave. The Retired Emperor, mindful of their bond, gave her a lavish burial at the Fei rank. The women of the harem envied the late Consort Dowager Liu for her ability to conceive and bear children, but they also feared her for having raised and lost four children in succession. After the late Consort Dowager Liu's death, few dared to employ the people from her palace, and they were all sent to the margins to do menial work. When the Emperor suddenly heard that this old nursemaid came from Consort Dowager Liu's palace, he felt a bit uneasy about it too. However, having grown up in the palace himself, and having read many secret records after becoming Emperor, he knew that the late Consort Dowager Liu's successive losses of three sons and one daughter were all due to scheming—not because she was bad at caring for children. Looking at it from another angle, the late Consort Dowager Liu was exceptionally skilled at raising children. As long as a child was born, she could raise them well. The first three princes who died had all passed away after moving to the Princes' Residence, and there was no need to mention the little princess who came after. For a child born weak from a difficult labor to survive to four or five years old was no small feat—yet she drowned in a single accident and was gone. It was this child that drained the late Consort Dowager Liu's heart and soul. After weeping her fill, she followed her daughter to the grave. The Emperor had already made his decision. "Since you have the skill to soothe the Sixth Prince, you shall stay by his side and serve for a while." "If you serve well, you may remain with the Sixth Prince permanently. If you serve poorly, you may go keep the late Consort Dowager Liu company." The old nursemaid was first stunned, then overjoyed, and quickly thanked the Emperor. In these times, being stationed in a place with no perks in the palace made life terribly difficult. Now that she was growing older, she feared that if she fell ill one day and couldn't get up, someone would wrap her in a straw mat and toss her into a mass grave to die. If she could serve the Sixth Prince, not only would her days be better. If she could hold on for another couple of years and raise the Sixth Prince to adulthood, she wouldn't have to worry about her old age either. The wet nurse who raised the First Prince—that was the greatest honor imaginable. With this old nursemaid in place, Noble Lady Xian finally managed to bring the Sixth Prince back to her own palace. However, when she went to the Imperial Study to fetch the child, she received another scolding from the Emperor. "The Sixth Prince is still young—why must you be so impatient?" "If you hadn't rushed to snatch the child away, how could you have frightened him into refusing to leave Zhaohua Palace?" "He is a small child—he grows close to whoever treats him well. If you had coaxed him properly and visited Zhaohua Palace daily to spend time with him, why would this have become a laughingstock across the Six Palaces?" "You used to be a composed person—why have you grown so restless lately?!" In the end, the Emperor was simply dissatisfied with Noble Lady Xian's eagerness for quick results, which had frightened his precious son. Noble Lady Xian was scolded into a bitter expression, and by the time she left the Imperial Study, her back was drenched in cold sweat. Still, the matter of raising the Sixth Prince was finally settled. Yet after Noble Lady Xian got what she wanted, her days were not much easier. Despite the old nursemaid's help, the Sixth Prince would still occasionally cry and demand Xie Run. And when he cried, he called out "Mother," which pierced Noble Lady Xian's heart like a knife every time. Noble Lady Xian was deeply unsettled by this. Once the Sixth Prince stopped crying and fussing, the first thing she did was send back all the servants Xie Run had previously arranged to attend to the Sixth Prince. Of course, the reasons given for sending them back were all pleasant-sounding. Either she was worried that Xie Run's palace didn't have enough hands, or she was concerned that the Fifth Prince lacked proper attendants. She sent one back every two or three days, until finally even the wet nurse was returned—which made Xie Run laugh in sheer exasperation. "Her table manners are a bit too ugly, aren't they?" Lady Lu couldn't help but complain to Xie Run. "The Emperor already disliked her eagerness for quick results. Now that she's gotten the Sixth Prince, she's not even pretending anymore." "Does she really think no one knows about her sending people back? The entire harem is laughing at her right now—only she's still smugly congratulating herself." "If this reaches the Emperor's ears, she'll get another scolding and lose the chance to raise the Sixth Prince!" Lady Lu spoke up for Xie Run. "I used to think she genuinely cared for the Sixth Prince, but now it's clear she has ulterior motives and doesn't care about him at all." "If she truly cared for the Sixth Prince, how could she bear to send away everyone familiar to him one by one?" Noble Lady Xian's scheming had completely erased the sincerity she had shown when she was humiliated in front of the Emperor's study. It wasn't just Lady Lu who thought this way—almost everyone in the harem believed Noble Lady Xian was raising the Sixth Prince purely out of selfish desire. In winter, fragrant tea simmered on the stove, bubbling with steam and filling the room with a hint of tea fragrance. Xie Run toyed with the small tangerines placed nearby and said slowly, "Perhaps she truly wanted to raise the Sixth Prince at first, but with everything piling up, it's come to this." Xie Run also understood that Noble Lady Xian sending back everyone Xie Run had placed by the Sixth Prince's side wasn't necessarily out of smugness—it was narrow-mindedness compounded by fear. She was narrow-minded, unable to bear seeing Xie Run's people remain by the Sixth Prince's side, and she also feared that Xie Run's people might whisper a few words and make the Sixth Prince continue to grow close to Xie Run instead of her. No one wants a child they've raised with their own hands to call someone else mother. Especially when the child isn't even her own—she'd be even more sensitive to such matters. Xie Run could understand Noble Lady Xian's psychology. Noble Lady Xian had initially wanted to raise the Sixth Prince as her own son. But first, the Sixth Prince refused to acknowledge her and called Xie Run his mother. Then, because of the Sixth Prince, she was reprimanded by the Emperor several times and became the laughingstock of the Six Palaces. Even after finally getting the child by her side, the child cried daily, demanding Xie Run. It would be strange if Noble Lady Xian's temper were even-tempered. She probably even looks at the Sixth Prince with some resentment now. But understanding was one thing—Xie Run still wouldn't tolerate such treatment. She immediately brought her people to the study to seek an audience with the Emperor. Xie Run openly lodged a complaint with the Emperor. "The Sixth Prince is already wary of strangers, and she's sent away all the attendants he's familiar with—is she trying to force the Sixth Prince to grow close to her?" "But with such actions, where is there any sign of genuine concern for the Sixth Prince?"