The Daily Life of Influencing the Empress [Transmigration into a Book GL] - Chapter 10

The Empress did not have many children, yet it was easy for her to forget one, as there were too many things in the palace demanding her attention.

“Who taught you to play music with a leaf?” the Empress asked, though she already had the answer in her heart. There was once someone like that many years ago.

“I taught myself,” Wen Ping replied.

The Empress was a little suspicious, perhaps even disbelieving. Xiao Yunlan had also asked this question. Her personal view was that Wen Ping had nothing to play with in the Cold Palace and figured it out herself.

“Where are the palace servants around you?” the Empress asked. She recalled leaving people behind, as the child was, after all, her own.

Wen Ping shook her head, clearly having no concept of this palace servant. “I have only met Wet Nurse Zhao, who brings me food.” Changchun Palace was considered unlucky, so naturally, few people wanted to set foot there. After Wet Nurse Zhao got a job, she willingly took over the delivery task, which others were happy to let her do.

“Why is Consort Xiao here?” After a moment of silence, the Empress turned and asked.

“Replying to Your Majesty,” Xiao Yunlan said, “Your subject was passing by here and noticed the pear blossoms blooming beautifully, so I came to take a look and happened to run into the Princess.”

Princess? While this should be Wen Ping’s proper title, it sounded very out of place when spoken here.

“In that case, is this the first time Consort Xiao has seen—” The Empress suddenly realized she couldn’t remember the child’s name, so she spoke vaguely.

“No, it’s not,” before Xiao Yunlan could answer, Wen Ping spoke first. “Mother, your child got lost in the palace yesterday, and this Lady was the one who brought me back.”

If you ignored the people and only listened to the voice, you would think this was an anxious parent talking about their child going out, but right now, everything about the scene was unsettling.

“Your child had nothing to give in thanks,” Wen Ping looked at Xiao Yunlan, her eyes clearly full of happiness. “So I wanted to play a song.”

“I apologize for the trouble, Consort Xiao,” the Empress said.

“It is my duty,” Xiao Yunlan replied formally.

“After all these years,” the Empress turned back to Wen Ping. “Is it lonely living here all by yourself?”

Wen Ping glanced in the direction of Changchun Palace and replied, “It is not lonely. Your child likes this place very much.”

“Is that so?” the Empress said. “You saw your younger sister Yue yesterday, didn’t you?” She knows about it after all, Xiao Yunlan thought with a shock. Fortunately, she had not deliberately hidden anything from either the Empress or her brother.

“Mhm,” Wen Ping nodded, looking quite envious.

“Do you feel wronged?” The Empress naturally saw the expression on her face.

“Your child does not feel wronged,” Wen Ping said. “This Lady said that Mother holds your child in her heart; it’s just that you are busy with state affairs and cannot attend to me.”

When did I teach her to say that? Forced to be associated with those words, Xiao Yunlan could only meet the Empress’s gaze and nod in affirmation.

The Empress looked back and forth between the two of them. “This is Mentor Xiao,” the Empress said. “From now on, I will let her teach you to read. Is that agreeable?”

“Your child thanks Mother,” The child couldn’t hide her emotions and immediately expressed her delight. Xiao Yunlan watched the scene unfold, dumbfounded.

“I have other matters to attend to,” the Empress suddenly stood up. “The two of you continue to enjoy the scenery here.”

“Mother, aren’t you going to look anymore?” Wen Ping saw her about to leave and looked up, asking in a tender voice.

“I won’t look anymore,” the Empress beckoned. Wen Ping walked forward two steps. Although nine years old, she stood at about the same height as Wen Qiyue.

The Empress’s voice softened slightly. “Are you willing to move to a different place?”

“Your younger brothers and sisters are in Chonghua Palace,” the Empress said. “You can go and be with them.”

“Your child will obey Mother,” Wen Ping lowered her head and replied submissively.

“Mhm.” The Empress nodded, looking quite satisfied. Just as she turned to step off the platform, she added an instruction, “The address ‘Mother’ is not proper.”

Wen Ping was momentarily at a loss for how to address her. Chun Chan prompted her from the side. “Princess, you should address Her Majesty as Imperial Mother (Mǔ Huáng).”

“Your child respectfully sends off Imperial Mother,” Wen Ping quickly corrected her address.

Truly clever, not only did the Empress praise her, but even Chun Chan looked at her with new respect. She had originally thought that a child from the Cold Palace would know nothing, but unexpectedly…

“Respectfully sending off Your Majesty,” Xiao Yunlan quickly bowed. The Empress’s figure disappeared down the long corridor. After another half an hour, Xiao Yunlan finally turned her gaze back.

“Fuzi,” Wen Ping stood carefully to the side, her voice timid, yet her eyes were bright, like a child waiting to be praised. “Was what I just said correct?”

Correct? Honestly, everything they wanted, the Empress had granted. There was nothing incorrect about the outcome, but why did she feel that everything about it was odd?

“I,” Xiao Yunlan looked at her and could only say, “You did very well.”

After Xiao Yuntan spoke to her yesterday, Xiao Yunlan had come over to ask Wen Ping if she was willing to leave, just to change her place of residence.

Wen Ping countered with a question, “Can I live with you?”

“No,” Xiao Yunlan shook her head. The girl looked a little disappointed, but Xiao Yunlan knew clearly that even if she left, she could only go to Chonghua Palace.

Princes and princesses in every generation could only stay with their father-gentleman or mother-consort for three years. At the age of three, they had to be sent to Chonghua Palace, where the managing wet nurses were responsible for their daily life. For the current Wen Ping, that was certainly not a good place to be, but if she wanted to leave the Cold Palace, she had to stay there.

Xiao Yunlan explained everything to Wen Ping one by one. The girl remained quiet. After she finished speaking, Wen Ping asked, “Then can I see you?”

“Of course you can,” Xiao Yunlan said softly. “I am teaching. If the opportunity arises, perhaps I will teach you as well.”

“Really?”

“Mhm,” Xiao Yunlan nodded.

She truly hadn’t expected Wen Ping to perform so well under pressure. Normally, when she spoke to her, Wen Ping barely said more than ten words, mostly just nodding or shaking her head, which made Xiao Yunlan think she was naturally reticent and disliked talking to others.

It was like having a habitually silent student who, when you only expected her to state her opinion in a debate, suddenly laid out every point flawlessly.

“Fuzi?” Wen Ping called out softly again. Xiao Yunlan stepped closer and noticed that the girl’s body was trembling slightly.

“What’s wrong?” Xiao Yunlan immediately crouched down and asked.

“I,” Wen Ping stammered, but finally revealed the reason. “I am a little scared. Wet Nurse Zhao told me that if I said those things, I could get pastries every day later on.”

“Wet Nurse Zhao?” Xiao Yunlan asked. “The one who brings you food every day?”

Wen Ping nodded.

“Did she, when did you get to know her?”

“She was Father’s attendant,” Wen Ping said.

An attendant of the Yu clan member. Xiao Yunlan thought she could be trusted. “So,” Xiao Yunlan asked, “Did you tell Wet Nurse Zhao everything I told you yesterday?”

Shaking her head, Wen Ping said in a muffled voice, “No, I didn’t tell anyone.”

“Wet Nurse Zhao told me before that if I ever saw the Imperial Mother, I should say exactly that.” The girl sounded a little discouraged. “But I never saw her.”

Since she had never seen her, those words were naturally never spoken. Wet Nurse Zhao likely taught her those phrases just in case the opportunity ever arose.

“It won’t be like that anymore,” Xiao Yunlan’s mouth felt a little bitter. A child had to use such a method just to gain a tiny bit of maternal affection. But who knew how long this small amount of pity would last?

“From now on, you can go pay your respects to His Majesty,” Xiao Yunlan said. “Then you will have the chance to see her.”

“Then, can I also see Fuzi often?” Wen Ping asked with some anticipation.

Xiao Yunlan laughed. “Since you call me Fuzi, I will naturally teach you from now on. How can I teach you if we don’t meet?”

“Mhm,” Wen Ping nodded obediently. Xiao Yunlan could feel her joy.

“Are you so eager to go to school?” Xiao Yunlan teased intentionally. “School is very hard work! You have to wake up early and study late, and you are not allowed to slack off. If you don’t study well, you might even get spanked.”

“I’m not afraid,” Wen Ping’s voice was low but firm.

How could such an obedient child become the ruthless Empress who stood above ten thousand people? Xiao Yunlan was confused for a moment.

Regardless of the future, she felt relieved for now. Since Wen Ping could leave, it meant everything was changing for the better. The first step now was to help Wen Ping gain some weight.

Xiao Yunlan had every reason to believe that the Empress said the female protagonist was ugly out of jealousy, because her current appearance had absolutely nothing to do with beauty. Aside from her eyes being somewhat attractive, the destined female protagonist must have thoroughly outshone her in looks.

Her appearance was already set, and Xiao Yunlan couldn’t completely change it, but she could make her look a little better.

After all, the current Wen Ping was practically a skinny stick. At the very least, gaining some weight would make her look much better. Plus, with improved diet and living conditions, she might even become a little fairer.

She was usually so wooden, but today she was more talkative and showed some happiness and sadness. If she gained a little more vitality, her whole spirit might improve and she would look even better.

The more she thought about it, the more feasible it seemed. Xiao Yunlan finally suppressed the countless thoughts in her mind and asked, “Shall we go back now, then?”

Are we going to Chonghua Palace? Wen Ping didn’t know but just nodded, completely amenable.

“I will go with you,” Xiao Yunlan said, taking her hand and walking step by step out of the pavilion.