Chapter 5

Chapter 5

I think my child is perfect in every way, except for one thing: she looks too much like the Crown Prince. His Majesty the Emperor and Her Majesty the Empress personally confirmed it.

That day, the two of them came to the Eastern Palace in person. When the noble yet tender-hearted His Majesty the Emperor held his granddaughter, he was so moved that he even shed tears. He kept saying to Her Majesty the Empress, “Empress, look. Our granddaughter is exactly like Ming’er when he was born. A daughter really does take after her father. I suddenly remember the day Ming’er was born.”

Then the Empress took the child and cried as she nodded.

I truly wanted to laugh. The two most honored people under heaven were shedding tears in the Eastern Palace. But thinking about it carefully, they really were such a happy family of three. It seemed Crown Prince Gu Ming had indeed grown up doted on, and just like his imperial father, he was a devoted man.

I gave birth to a daughter, and everyone was delighted. But that was not exactly something worth celebrating for me.

Because after some time passed, quite a few people said, half-mocking, “Lady Ruan truly is such a sensible Side Consort. Not only does she not fight for favor, she even avoided giving birth to a son before the principal wife.”

Yes. Crown Princess Qin Yunnong had given birth to her and Crown Prince Gu Ming’s eldest son.

The Crown Prince personally named him Gu Zhiyi.

Zhiyi-knowing the affection between his parents.

My heart did not stir in the slightest. In fact, I even felt a little like congratulating them.

On the day the Crown Princess gave birth, however, Hu Mianmian held my eldest daughter and looked gloomy for a while. She kept sighing.

After a long time, she suddenly asked, “Yueying, do you think the Crown Princess really sees us as friends?”

I was puzzled and asked why she would say that.

She handed Chan’er to the wet nurse, propped her chin in both hands, and said with an aggrieved expression, “She… she clearly knows I like the Crown Prince, but every time we talk about him, she changes the subject. She won’t discuss him with me.”

I patted her head and comforted her. “You have to understand. She and the Crown Prince love each other. How could she possibly hand the man she loves over to another woman?”

Mianmian lifted her head and asked very seriously, “Not even to a friend?”

I asked her in return, “If the Crown Prince loved you, would you give him up?”

When she heard that, she grew emotional and said with absolute certainty, “Of course! Doesn’t His Highness the Crown Prince belong to all of us? Otherwise, why did he marry us? Besides, if I knew my friend was being neglected every day, I would feel sad for her too.”

I hurriedly soothed her. “You must never say that to anyone else. Besides, in every other respect, Yunnong has treated us well enough. She doesn’t put on airs or make things difficult for us. As for the Crown Prince… when love runs that deep, how can it be yielded?”

She began sighing again, half whining and half complaining. “Yueying, you still have Chan’er, and the Crown Prince often comes to see you. Even though you barely pay him any mind, he still comes to you because of Chan’er. But me? I only get to see him by basking in your reflected light. The Crown Prince has only come to me twice in total, and I’ve been in the estate for over a year. I’m the most pitiful person in the entire Eastern Palace. I, Hu Mianmian, am the Eastern Palace’s number one wretch.”

I quickly comforted her. “You’re not the most pitiful. The most pitiful are Wen Liangdi and Shen Zhaoxun. Neither of them has ever served the Crown Prince.”

For some reason, Hu Mianmian grew even sadder when she heard that.

“It’s not the same. They never saw the Crown Prince carry Yunnong back to her room on a rainy day, and they never saw the Crown Prince hold Chan’er and smile as he looked at you. But I saw all of it, because I’m your good friend. I was right there beside you.”

Hearing her words, I fell into thought. It was true. Ever since I gave birth, the Crown Prince always made time to come see Chan’er. Though I mostly ignored him, when I sat on the soft couch making little clothes for Chan’er, he would hold the child and smile at me. He would even murmur warm, simple things like, “Let’s see what Mother is making for our Chan’er.”

I, too, had once fallen under the illusion that we were a family. But why was it an illusion? Because whenever he looked for topics to chat with me about, they were all about Qin Yunnong.