Chapter 245 - 241: Hedgehog_1

Translator: 549690339

“No, I…I just miss home.”

Chen Tiantian wiped her eyes and stood up: “Xiao Langjun, please don’t go, she hasn’t really bullied me. But…but serving the Crown Prince in the inner hall was the Empress’ decree, and I’m afraid she will blame me if she finds out that I didn’t obey her order.”

Xiao Chengjun knit his brows tighter, pondered for a moment, and said, “Come with me.”

Chen Tiantian silently followed behind Xiao Chengjun, all the way to the entrance of the main hall.

Xiao Chengjun spoke to the two eunuchs guarding the hall: “I’ve brought someone to visit the Crown Prince.”

He was the Empress’s own nephew and the Crown Prince’s companion, so his movements in and out of the main hall were rather casual.

Bringing a palace maid into the hall now, the gate-guarding eunuch naturally had no right to stop him.

So, Chen Tiantian followed Xiao Chengjun into the inner hall.

In the inner hall, Crown Prince Murong Xian was reclining with his eyes closed. Hearing the eunuch announce Xiao Chengjun’s arrival, he opened his eyes and said with a smile, “Cousin, you’re here.”

Xiao Chengjun grunted in affirmation, lifting his robe to sit on a chair next to the large bed, and asked, “Xian, how are you feeling? Better?”

Murong Xian nodded, “Much better, Yingbao said I can go for a walk tomorrow. Ahem, cousin, I have to thank you and cousin Mo for recommending Yingbao. She indeed has exceptional medical skills.”

Xiao Chengjun was silent for a moment, then said, “That Yingbao is just a few years old, what medical skills could she possess? She merely relies on her family’s secret ancestral prescriptions.”

The Crown Prince laughed, “Regardless, she saved me. Having secret ancestral prescriptions is still a show of her abilities.”

The two chatted for a while, and then a eunuch brought in a bowl of meat porridge, “Your Highness, this chicken shred porridge has just been sent from the Imperial Kitchen. Please eat a little.”

Murong Xian nodded, and the eunuch by his side hurriedly helped him sit up, taking the bowl of porridge ready to feed him.

Xiao Chengjun turned his head to Chen Tiantian standing behind him, “Aren’t you going to serve the Crown Prince?”

“Yes.” Chen Tiantian walked to the bedside. She stole a glance at the gaunt Crown Prince then quickly lowered her gaze.

The Crown Prince waved his hand, “No need, you can leave.”

Chen Tiantian stepped back, looking quite lost as she turned her gaze towards Xiao Chengjun.

Xiao Chengjun frowned and said to Murong Xian, “Xian, why would you not even keep a palace maid in your palace? The eunuchs aren’t capable of a woman’s delicate attentiveness. This maid should stay in the inner hall to serve you, especially as it is my aunt’s wish.”

Murong Xian looked at Chen Tiantian without speaking.

He knew his mother had sent a palace maid over and had even commented that the maid had a prosperous fate and asked him to keep the girl in his palace to serve him.

But he could clearly see the maid’s reluctance and fear of him.

Seeing Murong Xian’s silence, Xiao Chengjun added, “Xian, don’t blindly listen to Jiang Yingbao’s nonsense. What does she know? She just has a feud with this palace maid and wants to take revenge. Does a master of the Qin Tianjian know any less than a few years old child?”

Murong Xian replied indifferently, “Then let her stay.”

He paused for a moment and then said, “First, let her follow the nanny to learn some rules.”

So, Chen Tiantian was taken to meet Murong Xian’s nurse, Madam Rong.

Madam Rong was in her early to mid-thirties, her face was pale and kind, and she lived in a side hall of the Qingyang Hall.

She was sitting on an arhat bed, putting down the embroidery work in her hands. She looked up and down at Chen Tiantian and asked, “How old are you?”

Chen Tiantian bowed her head and replied softly, “I’m ten this year.”

Madam Rong asked again, “Where are you from? Are your parents both alive?”

“My father passed away from illness, my mother is still alive.” In fact, Chen Tiantian’s father had escaped from forced labor during the bandit disturbance and his whereabouts had been unknown ever since.

Han Yueniang assumed that he was dead, so she remarried a widower in his sixties, named Pei.

Old Man Pei was a sorcerer, commonly known as Mr. Fortuneteller. He was skilled in astrology and enjoyed favor in the eyes of Xiao Chengjun’s father, Xiao Weizhong, the Supervisory History of Luzhou.

It was Old Man Pei’s recommendation to Xiao Weizhong that got Chen Tiantian brought into Beijing.

Madam Rong nodded, instructing the senior palace maid Baoping next to her: “You will be responsible for guiding this child from now on.”

“Yes,” Baoping responded, but her gaze towards Tiantian was noticeably unfriendly.

She herself had come to serve Nanny Rong at around ten and had now reached her sixteenth year. Just when she’d finally become a second-tier palace maid, another girl of about ten arrives at the palace, sent over by the Empress’s orders. This made Baoping feel threatened.

In another two to three years, the prince would need to choose some innocent and beautiful palace maids to serve him, and this Tiantian was her most formidable rival.

Baoping introduced Tiantian to a few palace maids and had her work and keep watch with them.

Tasks like sweeping the floors within the palace, dusting the objects, taking care of flowers in flower pots, washing clothes, and even keeping watch at night.

“Once you’ve learned all these, you can learn other things.”

Baoping, holding her head high, warned: “Once you are here with nanny, you can’t just walk around freely. Even getting water from the Imperial Kitchen requires two people. If you get caught running around alone, be ready to get spanked.”

Chen Tiantian: …

After all this hassle, it would have been better to stay in her previous maid quarters, at least she would not have to work during the day and keep vigil at night.

After several days of confinement at Qingyang Hall with no chance to step foot in the Qilin Hall, Tiantian started to get anxious.

However, she didn’t dare venture out alone to seek Xiao Chengjun’s help, fearful of punishment upon her return.

Meanwhile, Yingbao…

These past few days she was swamped with work, often leaving the palace for the Imperial Pharmacy to fetch medicines, then returning to join the Imperial Physicians in studying the prince’s case.

This itself was not a problem, but she constantly ran into Xiao Chengjun every time she visited Qilin Hall. Listening to his unkind words had irked her, and she wondered why he was always hanging around the East Palace instead of heading home.

Only after querying Changxiu, she found out that Xiao Chengjun had been serving as the prince’s companion since childhood and ordinarily resided in a side-hall of the prince’s Qilin Hall.

His prior departure from Beijing to suppress bandits was also arranged by his grandfather.

The original plan was to gild him with exploits, thereby securing an official position from the emperor. However, the decision narrowly caused the demise of his grandson.

Luckily, Xiao Chengjun survived and was granted the status of a functioning Seventh-grade Colonel, a rank and a half lower than his elder brother Xiao Mo’s.

“No wonder,” Yingbao mumbled, strolling around the orchard while listening to Changxiu’s explanation.

Changxiu was carrying a bamboo basket filled with ripe grapes in her hand.

“All the Xiao lords hold an official position; my lady doctor, please don’t spar with them. We don’t want to be accused of disrespecting our superiors”

Changxiu kindly advises, “Moreover, the young ladies of the Xiao family often visit East Palace for fun. Should you run into them someday, try to avoid them as much as possible.”

Yingbao nodded, “Thank you for the reminder, Sister Changxiu.”

She wasn’t a fool, why would she pick a fight without any reason?

However, that Xiao Chengjun was too annoying. If she didn’t think of a way to prank him, she probably wouldn’t even get a good night’s sleep.

Suddenly, she noticed a hedgehog munching on a fallen fruit under a fruit tree.

Yingbao’s eyes lit up, she thought of a perfect plan to prank him.

She ran over urgently, shouting, “Sis Changxiu, come help me catch it! I want to raise it.”