If the one sitting here today was Li Yue, he probably wouldn’t have noticed these small movements from Nanny Liu, but more likely, he would have already left when he heard the imperial physician say that the little prince was fine.
The Empress Dowager lowered her gaze and looked at Nanny Liu without speaking. Nanny Liu kept her head down. She could feel the Empress Dowager’s gaze lingering on her, and for some reason, her heart suddenly tightened, and she had a sudden sense of foreboding.
She consoled herself in her heart: “It won’t happen, I didn’t say anything. Even if the Empress Dowager noticed something, she can’t convict me just because of that.”
The Empress Dowager had lived in the palace for so many years and had given birth to two children. Naturally, it was impossible for her not to notice that Nanny Liu just now had the intention of trying to see the emperor’s reaction.
Why would she do that? Was it because she knew something, or was she deliberately trying to arouse her suspicion?
The Empress Dowager glanced again at Meng Fu. Meng Fu sat there calmly, expression cold and indifferent, without joy or anger—it was as if she hadn’t seen Nanny Liu doing anything at all.
The Empress Dowager’s eyelids slightly drooped, and she also had her own thoughts. If she chose to believe Nanny Liu, then this matter might indeed be related to the emperor. If she chose to believe the emperor, then those little actions Nanny Liu made just now were worth thinking about carefully.
Though Nanny Liu was indeed favored by the Empress Dowager, the emperor was the one who had stayed in her womb for ten months—flesh fallen from her body—between the two, she naturally leaned more toward the emperor.
Previously, her suspicions toward the emperor stemmed from Nanny Liu’s words, mainly because she believed the emperor might still hold resentment over that year’s events. But after observing these past two days, the Empress Dowager realized that the emperor didn’t seem to have much dissatisfaction toward Xiao Jiu.
The room fell into silence. Nanny Liu grew increasingly panicked in her heart. Why was the emperor still staying here? In the past, whenever he heard palace servants crying, he would hurry to leave, as if he feared their tears might flood his ears.
As just a wet nurse of a prince, Nanny Liu had no way to make the emperor leave. She could only cry and say:
“Niangniang, this servant really doesn’t know anything. This servant has been bedridden these past few days. It is this servant who is at fault, it is this servant who failed to properly care for His Highness. May Niangniang punish this servant.”
“If this servant had stayed by His Highness’ side the entire time, His Highness wouldn’t have… wouldn’t have ended up like this…” Nanny Liu wept more and more pitifully.
Seeing Nanny Liu like this, the Empress Dowager also softened a bit. Xiao Jiu was raised personally by Nanny Liu; seeing him fall ill must also have pained her deeply. The Empress Dowager comforted her: “You don’t need to blame yourself so harshly, get up first.”
Meng Fu, who had not spoken all this time, turned to Gao Xi behind her and said: “Go call all the palace attendants who serve at Ninth Prince’s side.”
The Empress Dowager gave a glance and didn’t stop her. Since the emperor wanted to get to the bottom of this matter tonight, she naturally would cooperate to the end. As a mother, she even more so wanted to know what exactly happened to the injuries on Xiao Jiu.
When Nanny Liu heard this, a trace of panic flashed in her eyes, but her head was lowered, so no one noticed.
The other palace attendants soon arrived outside Cining Palace, kneeling in two neat rows. When asked about how the little prince got injured, they all shook their heads and said they didn’t know.
Nanny Liu let out a breath of relief.
This one didn’t know, that one didn’t know—Meng Fu didn’t believe it. Could it be that the bruises on Ninth Prince’s body were pinched out by ghosts?
The little prince doesn’t cry out in pain. Anyone who had interacted with him could have caused those injuries. Worse still, someone might have snuck into his room at night, and the little prince wouldn’t have noticed a thing.
Meng Fu sighed inwardly. The little prince couldn’t always go on like this. Right now, he was being bullied without uttering a sound—what about in the future? Neither the Empress Dowager nor the emperor could stay by his side every moment of the day. He must be made to understand worldly matters, and at the very least, be taught how to protect himself.
Just as Meng Fu was about to question more thoroughly, Gugu Chen came out and said that Ninth Prince inside had awakened.
Meng Fu instructed the palace attendants who served the little prince to kneel by the door, so that the little prince would see them as soon as he lifted his eyes.
When she went in, she saw the little prince lying in bed, his big round eyes staring wide, seemingly confused about why there were so many people in the room. After a while, he finally realized—this didn’t seem like his own room.
The Empress Dowager came over and sat by the bed, rolled up his sleeve, pointed at the bruises on his arm and asked him, “What happened here?”
The little prince lowered his head, looked at the bruises on his own arm, and, just like every time the Empress Dowager asked him in the past, didn’t say a word.
Seeing his indifferent expression, as if it had nothing to do with him, the Empress Dowager suddenly had the urge to cry. If she couldn’t even protect him now, then what would happen after she was gone?
Meng Fu noticed the Empress Dowager’s sorrow. If the little prince didn’t get better, no amount of comfort would be of much use.
She beckoned with her hand to call over Gao Xi. Gao Xi quickly handed the two books that had been prepared earlier to Meng Fu.
Meng Fu took the books, walked to the bedside, and then opened the book in front of the little prince. The Empress Dowager looked at Meng Fu’s actions with confusion. She completely couldn’t understand what the emperor was doing.
The things written in the book were things she herself couldn’t understand—what use was there in showing it to the little prince? Could it be meant for the little prince to tear up for fun? But then the emperor must not understand Xiao Jiu very well. Compared to tearing books, the little prince should prefer playing with mud.
But what the Empress Dowager did not expect was—the little prince’s gaze was immediately drawn over. He lifted his head and stared fixedly at the numbers and diagrams in the book, as if he wished he could grab a pen and start calculating on the spot.
Yesterday, when Meng Fu returned, she had already thought of using an arithmetic book as bait to guide this little prince, and today the opportunity came—and it seemed to be working rather well.
The arithmetic books in the little prince’s room were most likely given to him by Nanny Liu, but Nanny Liu was merely a prince’s wet nurse. The resources she could access were limited, and the books she could get her hands on were average at best. The books in Meng Fu’s hands had been specially chosen by Chief Eunuch Gao from the Imperial Library. Since the little prince liked arithmetic so much, there was no way he could ignore them.
Meng Fu flipped two more pages in the book and asked the little prince: “Do you like it?”
The little prince didn’t speak—he only looked eagerly at the book in Meng Fu’s hand. Everyone present could tell that the little prince liked the book tremendously. The Empress Dowager was rather surprised. Just now she thought the emperor didn’t understand Xiao Jiu. Now it seemed that perhaps it was she herself who didn’t understand him enough. She had never known that Xiao Jiu would like such things.
Meng Fu said to the little prince: “Tell me how you got the injuries on your arm, and I’ll give you these two books.”
He didn’t care about coercion, so she could only try luring him with benefits.
The little prince tilted his head—it seemed he couldn’t quite understand what Meng Fu meant, only catching the latter part: “give you two books.” So he reached out his hand, wanting to take the books.
Meng Fu dodged the little prince’s hand and handed the books behind her to Gao Xi. The little prince looked at Meng Fu with quite a bit of resentment—his expression actually looked a little pitiful.
He’d been pinched to the point of bruising like that and still wore an “it-has-nothing-to-do-with-me” blank face. But now, when he couldn’t get the books, he finally showed some urgency.
Meng Fu thought for a moment and changed her way of asking. She pointed at the bruise on the little prince’s arm and asked: “Who has touched here?”
The little prince still didn’t speak. Meng Fu let go of his arm, turned her head slightly to glance at the books in Gao Xi’s hands, and said with a trace of coldness: “If you don’t want them, forget it. Chief Eunuch Gao, let’s go.”
This sentence the little prince seemed to understand. He lifted the covers, wanting to get up from bed, but was pressed back down by the Empress Dowager. He stretched out his little arms and tried to struggle, but his strength was too small, not enough to make a fuss.
Meng Fu saying she was leaving was just talk—she lowered her head and looked at the little prince on the bed. Worried the little prince wouldn’t understand, she deliberately slowed her speech and asked him again: “Who touched you here?”
The little prince raised his head and looked straight at Meng Fu. In his dark pupils, Meng Fu’s reflection could be clearly seen. He seemed to be weighing whether those two books were worth answering her question.
Meng Fu wasn’t in a rush either. She stood where she was, quietly waiting for him to make his decision.
After a long while, the little prince raised his hand and pointed toward Nanny Liu, who was kneeling at the doorway.
The Empress Dowager and Gugu Chen were shocked. They turned their heads simultaneously to look at Nanny Liu, completely unable to believe that the person the little prince pointed to would be her.
Nanny Liu opened her mouth, wanting to explain herself, but before she could speak, Meng Fu signaled to have her mouth covered. At first, Nanny Liu could still let out some muffled “mm-mm” sounds, but when she saw His Majesty frown, the palace attendant applied more force, and Nanny Liu couldn’t make a sound at all.
The Empress Dowager was frozen in shock and couldn’t recover for a while. Meng Fu’s expression, on the other hand, remained calm—as if she had already anticipated this outcome. She pointed to another bruise on the little prince’s arm and continued to ask him: “What about here?”
The little prince raised his hand again—still pointing at Nanny Liu.
“And here?”
“And here?”
“And here too?”
Each question, each raised hand, all pointed toward Nanny Liu.
If it were just that Nanny Liu had touched one or two of the injuries, that could still be justified. After all, she was the little prince’s wet nurse. When she saw the little prince injured and looked him over carefully, she would definitely have touched him. The little prince was somewhat foolish, and couldn’t fully understand Meng Fu’s questions—it’s possible he wronged her by mistake.
But it couldn’t be that every injury had been touched by this Nanny Liu, right?
Moreover, when Nanny Liu entered Cining Palace and was questioned by the Empress Dowager, she said she didn’t know about the injuries on the little prince’s body.
“These places—have they been touched by anyone else?” Meng Fu asked calmly.
“This is the last question. If you answer it, I’ll give you the book.”
The little prince glanced at Nanny Liu, then looked at the book in Gao Xi’s hands. He slowly shook his head.
With that, everything became clear.
Each time the little prince pointed at Nanny Liu, her expression darkened one degree. When at last she saw the little prince shake his head, Nanny Liu understood in her heart—it was over for her. Her body went limp and collapsed to the floor.
In truth, she had considered the possibility that what she had done would one day be exposed. She had imagined that perhaps a palace servant would accidentally witness her harming the little prince and report her. She had imagined being quietly found out by the Empress Dowager.
She had never imagined it would be the little prince himself, personally, who would point her out.
How could it be like this?
Right now, the Empress Dowager was thinking much the same as Nanny Liu.
Up until this point, the Empress Dowager had never once suspected that Nanny Liu would harm the little prince. She had suspected the palace servants around the little prince, had suspected ghosts or spirits at work, had even suspected the emperor himself—she had just never suspected Nanny Liu.
Why? Why was that?
Back when the late emperor was still alive, she had been willing to give up her own life to protect Xiao Jiu. Now that Li Yue had ascended the throne, even though her status as Xiao Jiu’s wet nurse hadn’t changed, within this palace, aside from the emperor, there was no one above her anymore.
What grievance did she hold, that she would harm Xiao Jiu like this?
The Empress Dowager truly couldn’t make sense of it.
All these years, she had left Nanny Liu by the little prince’s side with absolute peace of mind. Now, when she thought about all the times she hadn’t been watching—how Nanny Liu might have left even more wounds on the little prince—her heart felt as though it was about to shatter.