Ci'an Palace.
The Empress Dowager had the habit of chanting scriptures early in the morning. As the head maid of Ci'an Palace, Su Lian had to get up even earlier than the Empress Dowager.
When Su Lian heard the news that the Empress had come to pay her respects, she was startled. She subconsciously looked out of the window, where it was still pitch - black.
The days were long in summer. Since it was still dark outside, Su Lian let out a sigh of relief. It wasn't that she had gotten up late; it was just that the Empress had come too early.
Su Lian quickly walked to the front hall. She bowed to the Empress and said, "This slave pays respects to Her Majesty the Empress. Your Majesty..."
The Empress helped Su Lian up and said tearfully, "Nanny Su is the most trusted person by the Empress Dowager. How could I let you bow to me?"
"I've come to bother the Empress Dowager so early. It's really out of necessity."
The Empress stopped there, leaving the rest to her maid.
Zhu Yue and Su Lian were both maids of rank in the palace. In terms of official position and seniority, Zhu Yue was inferior to Su Lian. She stepped forward and bowed, saying, "This slave pays respects to Nanny Su. Our Empress suddenly thought of something important last night. Because of this matter, she didn't sleep well all night and came to find the Empress Dowager before dawn."
Su Lian's eyes flickered slightly. She understood what Zhu Yue meant. Now it was time to talk about the important matter.
She first sent the palace maids on night - watch in Ci'an Palace outside the hall. Then she led the Empress and Zhu Yue into the side hall and behind the screen.
After making sure there was no one around, Zhu Yue told the story of Lady Cui swapping the children and hesitated before saying that the Fourth Prince and Princess Anning had similar eyes. "When the Empress first learned of this, she was heart - broken. She felt a bit better in the past two days and asked her brother to visit the Prince. Yesterday, her brother sent a letter saying that the Prince's eyes were similar to Princess Anning's."
The words "Princess Anning" shocked Su Lian. She asked urgently, "Really?"
Zhu Yue nodded. "Absolutely. Princess Jingning also thought they were similar."
After getting a positive answer, Su Lian immediately turned around and went into the inner hall to wake up the Empress Dowager and told her about it.
Su Lian had served the Empress Dowager for many years and had a very high status. One could tell this from her bold act of waking up the Empress Dowager directly.
Taking advantage of the moment when there was no one around, Zhu Yue whispered to the Empress, "Your Majesty, did we really have to come so early?"
The Empress gently patted Zhu Yue's hand. "Anning's eyes were the purest. When the Prince wakes up early and is still a bit drowsy, he looks most like her."
Just as the Empress had expected, after hearing Su Lian's account, the first thing the Empress Dowager said was, "Where is the Fourth Prince? I must see him."
...
The Princess's Mansion.
It was just getting light when the door was pushed open.
The slight noise woke the Fourth Prince from his sleep. Instinctively, he wrapped himself in the quilt and curled up in the corner. He listened carefully to the movements in the room, ready to defend himself.
Princess Jingning supported the Empress Dowager into the room. Afraid of waking up the Fourth Prince, they both tiptoed in and tried not to make a sound.
As they got a bit closer, Princess Jingning looked at the ball - like figure wrapped in the quilt on the bed and felt puzzled. She remembered that the Fourth Prince had always had a good sleeping posture. Why was he in such a strange position today? Worried that something had happened to the Fourth Prince, Princess Jingning stepped forward and pulled the quilt away.
As the quilt was lifted, the Fourth Prince seemed to have lost his protective shield. He sprang up, rolled over, grabbed the small bag beside the bed, and fled through the window.
The whole action was smooth and flawless.
The light in the room was dim. Not only did the Fourth Prince fail to recognize Princess Jingning, but the Empress Dowager also didn't see the Fourth Prince clearly. She only felt something flash in front of her. When she looked again, the bed was empty.
The Empress Dowager tightened her grip on Princess Jingning's hand and asked anxiously, "Where is the Fourth Prince?"
Princess Jingning was also a bit dazed. She was surprised by the Fourth Prince's agility. While comforting the Empress Dowager, she asked Hong Shen to find the Fourth Prince.
Hong Shen outside the house also saw the figure of the Fourth Prince. After receiving the order, she immediately chased after him.
No matter how vigilant the Fourth Prince was, he was still an untrained child. Hong Shen easily found his figure. But the Fourth Prince was very nimble. Before Hong Shen could pay attention, he disappeared in a courtyard.
Hong Shen instinctively climbed over the wall and chased in, but then she heard someone call her.
"Sister Hong Shen!" A little maid standing at the door called out crisply.
Hong Shen was stunned. She looked around and found that this was Shen Baozhu's courtyard, and the room the Fourth Prince had slipped into was Shen Baozhu's bedroom.
Shen Baozhu was also awake. She heard the noise outside the door, rubbed her sleepy eyes, and opened the door. "Aunt Hong Shen, you're here too."
Dragon King: [What's going on? Why is everyone coming to find the little cutie?]
Dragon King: [The Fourth Prince first looked scared, and then there's Hong Shen... Could it be that Hong Shen is bullying the Fourth Prince?]
Immortal Qingyun: [It's unlikely.]
Hong Shen caught the meaning in Shen Baozhu's words and asked, "What do you mean by 'too'? Is His Highness the Fourth Prince here?"
Shen Baozhu nodded. "Yes. The Fourth Prince said someone was bullying him and came to me for help. Since I've taken him in, I'll definitely protect him well!"
Dragon King: [I knew the little cutie would be a qualified master!]
Hearing Shen Baozhu's words, Hong Shen felt something was wrong. She repeated them and finally found the problem.
Hong Shen bent down and said seriously, "This is not right. It's not that you've taken him in, but that you've saved him.
"His Highness the Fourth Prince has his own parents. Before, bad people stole him and secretly abused him. Now that the Fourth Prince's background is clear, the Empress will take good care of him.
"And most importantly, the treasure - hunting rat and the little phoenix were gifts from the immortals to you, but the Fourth Prince is not a gift. He is a proper person."
Suddenly, a figure appeared in the room. The Fourth Prince pinched the palm of his hand and said with difficulty, "I'm Baozhu's gift. Baozhu will take care of me."
Dragon King: [Just as Hong Shen was educating the little cutie, the Fourth Prince came out himself to undermine her.]
Immortal Qingyun: [The Fourth Prince is temporarily staying in Shen Haiyan's courtyard. Hong Shen is Princess Jingning's maid. Why are they both in Baozhu's courtyard? Did the Princess send her to find the Fourth Prince?]
Seeing her mother's name, Shen Baozhu asked curiously, "Aunt Hong Shen, did mother send you to find the Fourth Prince?"
Mentioning this, Hong Shen wanted to laugh. "Yes. The Empress Dowager from the palace came out and wanted to see the Fourth Prince. As soon as she entered the room, the Fourth Prince ran out. The Princess asked me to find him."
Dragon King: [Did the Fourth Prince mistake the Empress Dowager for a bad guy and run out to seek the little cutie's protection?]
Dragon King: [He's quite smart. The little cutie is really reliable!]
Dragon King: [Where's Lin Yu?]
Immortal Qingyun: [He should be sleeping.]
Dragon King: [Tsk, humans are so useless. They even need to sleep. Why don't you sleep, Immortal?]
Immortal Qingyun: [For those who cultivate immortality, occasional meditation is enough.]
Looking at the Dragon King's subtitles, Immortal Qingyun kindly reminded him, [Baozhu is human. She also needs to sleep.]
The Dragon King had his own set of judgment standards and was very double - standard. [The little cutie is different. She's cute!]
The Empress Dowager rarely left the palace, so Shen Baozhu didn't have much impression of her. She only remembered that the Empress Dowager was very kind and that the pastries in the palace didn't taste very good.
Seeing that the Fourth Prince was scared, Shen Baozhu simply changed her clothes and didn't even comb her hair. She took his hand and went to see the Empress Dowager.