When soone is soothed, they naturally feel at ease, and the Empress Dowager Wang is no exception. Smiling like a chrysanthemum, all her worries dissipate.
The palace maids and eunuchs following her secretly marvel that the one who can make the Empress Dowager happiest is probably this Madam Song. She can flatter so well, so unobtrusively, so naturally.
Song Ci looked at the admiring expressions of the palace maids and eunuchs, thinking to herself that all her past experiences in social circles weren’t for nothing; her skill in conversation has indeed been honed.
The two distinguished individuals sat at the pavilion enjoying tea as they watched the rain.
"Autumn is here, and it seems like another year is slipping by quickly," the Empress Dowager Wang sighed softly.
Song Ci, also looking at a ginkgo tree already starting to turn yellow, said, "Indeed, ti flies so fast."
In the blink of an eye, she had been in this world for three years. Who knows how long she could stay in this world?
Suddenly, Song Ci’s expression turned a bit forlorn.
"Your Majesty, may I ask you a favor?"
The Empress Dowager Wang, sowhat surprised, turned her head: "What matter requires my favor?"
"It’s nothing really. If in the future I’m gone, Your Majesty, for the sake of our past friendship, could you sowhat protect the little ones of my family?" Song Ci said with a smile.
The Empress Dowager Wang’s eyebrows knitted together as she put down her teacup and said, "Why would you speak of such inauspicious things without cause? Is there sothing wrong with your health? Eunuch Li, go to the Imperial Hospital and have the Imperial Physicians co and check Madam Song’s pulse for peace of mind."
Song Ci hurriedly stopped her, "There is nothing major wrong with . The doctor by my side takes my pulse twice daily, and there’s nothing amiss. Calling the Imperial Physicians here would only frighten them."
She shook her head at Eunuch Li and continued speaking to the Empress Dowager Wang, "I’m just preparing in advance, asking for a favor, after all, I’ve almost reached sixty, who knows when..."
"I don’t like hearing such words, they’re inauspicious. Don’t speak of them again," the Empress Dowager Wang said, covering Song Ci’s mouth with her hand.
Song Ci smiled, moved her hand away, and said, "Alright, alright, I won’t say it. Then I consider you agreed."
The Empress Dowager Wang: "..."
No, I’ll have to instruct the Imperial Hospital to check on her daily at Song Mansion.
...
Yangxin Hall.
The Emperor Chu looked at the chubby little boy and asked with surprise, "Was he really born with difficulty? He looks quite sturdy and not at all like a weak newborn."
Song Zhiyuan, feeling displeased, took his son from his hands and said, "All thanks to his grandmother, who demands ticulous care in raising this child."
The level of detail is even finer than raising a daughter, even though when he was young, he grew up rolling in the mud.
"Attention to detail is just that, isn’t the family capable of it?" The Emperor Chu smiled and said, "But I thought Madam Song would raise him with a rough-and-ready approach, isn’t it said that children raised like that grow stronger?"
"My mother’s thods change from ti to ti. I see she’s even compiled stories and had so illustrated for the maids to read to the boy." Song Zhiyuan bounced his son a couple of tis, playing with him a little, and when he saw the little guy yawn, he said, "He’s going to sleep, your Majesty, what do you think?"
The Emperor Chu waved his hand, "Take him back to Madam Song. Look at how anxious you are; soone who doesn’t know better might think it’s your grandson."
Song Zhiyuan handed the child to the nanny to take away, then said to the Emperor Chu, "At my age, I don’t have grandsons. I’ve only had this child in my later years, so naturally I cherish him. Unlike you, who already has many imperial grandchildren."
"Oh, that sour tone, did you have vinegar with your al? If you want a grandson so much, shouldn’t you find a proper match for your eldest son?" The Emperor Chu leaned back on the dragon throne and asked with a laugh.
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