Nan Feng maintained a very dignified demeanor as she walked toward the interior; if nothing went awry, her entrance should have been quite impressive. However, Xiaobao, finding herself among strangers, became shy. Yege wanted to hold Xiaobao, but in such circumstances, Xiaobao would only be held by Nan Feng. Without a choice, Nan Feng had to abandon her impressive image and return to that of a virtuous wife and good mother.
After paying respects to the Emperor and Empress as well as the virtuous consort, Yege and Nan Feng began to take their seats.
As Nan Feng sat down, she noticed that opposite her, there was an elderly man and a young lady, roughly fifteen years old—likely grandfather and granddaughter.
Nan Feng found it curious that in such an occasion people did not bring their spouses, but instead came with their grandchildren. Yet, upon reflection, she realized there was no rule stating couples must attend together, and perhaps the young lady was of marriageable age and needed to be seen to find a suitable match among princes and nobles, while also gaining worldly experiences.
Nan Feng was observing the young lady, and the lady was also looking at her. Nan Feng nodded at her as a greeting, but the lady’s gaze moved past hers, ignoring Nan Feng, and settled on Yege, filled with curiosity and scrutiny.
With Yege’s identity, it was normal for everyone to be curious about him, so Nan Feng didn’t think much of it.
Xiaobao eventually overcame her timidity and began to interact with Nan Feng and Yege. However, being only one year old her speech wasn’t very clear, and she suddenly took an interest in the silver cups and bowls on the table, grabbing one to play with and occasionally banging it to produce a clinking sound.
Sometimes, when the Emperor spoke, Xiaobao would suddenly bang her silverware, or she would interrupt him by banging it again midway through his speech. Yege came to the rescue, “Father, Xiaobao thinks you’re speaking wonderfully.”
The embarrassment was temporarily defused.
But when the Emperor finally finished speaking and announced that the dishes could be served, Nan Feng suddenly smelled a foul odor.
Nan Feng couldn’t help but look at Xiaobao, who looked back at her with an innocent and aggrieved expression. She then remembered that Xiaobao had just stuck her bottom out at her, but Nan Feng did not think much of it, assuming Xiaobao was just being playful. When Xiaobao normally needed to poop, she would cover her nose, but this time she had stuck out her bottom—it was too many mixed signals.
Yege smelled it too, and so did the people at the neighboring table. At this point, Nan Feng could have had the palace maid behind her take Xiaobao to be cleaned, but Xiaobao surely wouldn’t want a palace maid to hold her now since there were too many people around and she felt insecure.
Moreover, Nan Feng couldn’t possibly hand Xiaobao to Yege and remain seated herself, as that would make others look down on Yege, thinking him henpecked. Women should know how to give men face in public.
With no other alternative, Nan Feng had to take Xiaobao back. Even though she was careful, her newly tailored luxurious dress still got stained with some poop, and she could only curse her luck silently.
See, no matter how beautiful a mother is, what does it amount to in the end? Isn’t she brought back down to earth by her child in an instant?
And the people around them even made way, clearly out of disgust for Xiaobao’s mess.
…
Nan Feng and two palace maids took Xiaobao back to the palace, heated some water, gave her a bath, and changed her into a fresh set of clothes. After all the motion, Xiaobao was ready to sleep again.
Nan Feng thought that the birthday celebration should be nearing its end, and she didn’t need to join in the bustle anymore. She decided to just wait for Yege to return, otherwise Xiaobao might cause another embarrassing situation.
Back at the birthday feast,
when the Emperor suggested that some people should e forward to add to the festivities, Minister Jiang stood up and said, “Your Majesty, my little granddaughter Lanxin has been good at playing the zither since she was young. Why not let her perform a piece for Your Majesty?”
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