Liu Ying put away the pulse pillow. She looked calm and said to Ning Er, "The young lady has been doing very well recently. The amount of ginseng in the prescription needs to be reduced by one qian."

Ning Er smiled and said, "Thank you for your concern, Sister Liu. I also feel that I feel a lot lighter after the Spring Equinox."

Liu Ying nodded and reminded, "It's just that now that spring has arrived, you have to be careful not to get asthma."

Ning'er asked Chuncao to serve tea, and asked Liuying to stay for a while longer. "This is the Langyuan Songluo before the Qingming Festival. Lingzhi said it is a rare and good tea. It's a pity that I can't drink it. Sister Liu will try it for me."

Liu Ying picked up the celadon teacup and took a sip. "This is really excellent tea." She smiled and said, "Take good care of it this year. Next year, you won't have to avoid certain foods and can drink such good tea."

Next year seemed so far away in Ning'er's mind that it seemed like the next life. She asked in distress, "Doesn't that mean I have to take medicine for the whole year?"

Liu Ying nodded and said, "I've seen Doctor Ge's prescription. Originally, it would be enough to take it until around the Dragon Boat Festival. But after what happened last time, don't even think about stopping the medication until the Spring Equinox next year."

Ning Er was suddenly frustrated: "That doesn't make sense, I feel fine!"

Liu Ying held the teacup and squinted at her: "You're still talking about that. I don't know who was drunk after drinking Baihua Lu. Fortunately, the wine was mild in nature, otherwise, if you drank a few cups, you would have wasted half a month's worth of medicine."

Ning Er smiled shyly. She held Liu Ying's hand and chatted with her: "Sister Liu, have you heard about it?"

Liu Ying asked her back, "What did you hear? Was it that Second Master Shen was appointed an official in the Honglu Temple, or was it that First Marquis Shen was going to take a concubine?"

"I'm afraid even the parrots hanging under the corridor in the mansion know about it now. How could I not know about it?"

Her words were playful, and Chuncao and the others all laughed along.

Ning Er liked her humor and smiled, "I met Miss Song at the old lady's place yesterday. She is about the same age as Sister Liu."

"She is very pretty, but," Ning'er glanced at Liu Ying's pretty face, "she is still a little inferior to Sister Liu."

Liu Ying laughed out loud and said proudly, "There are only a few people in the palace who are prettier than me!"

Ning'er agreed with this, and then she heard Liu Ying say, "The old lady has put a lot of thought into this new concubine. Did you know that she even had her eyes on me?"

Ning'er opened her eyes wide: "Is there such a thing?"

Liu Ying nodded calmly: "Your Majesty rewarded me to enter the Marquis' Mansion, so the old lady naturally regarded me as the Marquis's person. At that time, the girl had not yet entered the mansion, and the old lady called me to her side to ask questions. Seeing that I was good-looking, she became interested in me."

Ning Er asked hurriedly: "What happened next?"

Liu Ying raised her eyebrows and said, "Of course it didn't work out. I don't want to be your Lord's concubine."

She leaned back in her chair, crossed her arms, and smiled: "I just told her that I am already a woman and cannot deserve the old lady's favor. She was speechless and gave up the idea."

Ning Er was shocked. She looked again and again, but could not tell that Liu Ying was a woman. "Is Sister Liu married?"

Liu Ying said, "Of course not! I entered the palace when I was four years old. Where can I get married?"

Ning Er thought she understood. She lowered her voice and said, "Could it be His Majesty..."

Liu Ying cried out, "My little ancestor, please don't make wild guesses. His Majesty is a heavenly being. How can we slaves and maids dream of him?"

Ning Er was surprised and said, "I thought it was like what was written in the opera, that all the palace maids and servants were the emperor's women."

Liu Ying couldn't help laughing. She said, "It's hard for ordinary palace maids to even see His Majesty. The scholars outside are ignorant and wrote those absurd words."

She said solemnly, "Let's not talk about the past dynasties. The wisdom and bravery of the present emperor will be known when you have the honor to meet him one day."

Ning Er laughed and said, "Sister Liu, you are joking. How can I ever see you in person?"

Liu Ying glanced at her and said, "People outside the palace think that the emperor is so majestic and that we who serve in the palace have to worry about our heads all the time. In fact, the emperor is very kind to servants like us."

She hooked her finger, motioning Ning'er to come closer, and whispered in her ear, "I have a lover in the palace."

Ning'er was surprised, but also felt that this was very consistent with Liu Ying's character.

But she was an innocent little girl after all, and she pushed her with a red face: "Can you tell this to others?"

Liu Ying was very relaxed in front of Ning Er: "You know if it's important, you won't report me."

Ning Er felt that she had shared Liu Ying's secret, and she had a heavy responsibility. She hurriedly assured him, "Don't worry, Sister Liu. I will never let anyone else know."

Liu Ying touched her cheek and said with a smile, "Of course I'm relieved. I'll stay in the Marquis' Mansion for a few more years, and I'll probably still return to the palace."

Ning'er always treated what happened a few years later as if it never happened and never cared or thought about it.

Now she was only thinking about the small banquet at Songshou Hall in the evening.

In her limited life experience, she had never experienced such a situation of wives and concubines fighting each other.

But Ning'er keenly felt a subtle atmosphere surging in the air.

After dusk that day, the old lady ordered the banquet to begin.

Mrs. Luo sat at the top with her mother-in-law. She wore a pomegranate red round-necked jacket embroidered with golden plums and a gold collar button with tassels and corals. She looked dazzling and looked very smart.

There was an empty seat to her right, and below her were several older girls sitting in order of age.

What surprised Ning'er was that behind Luo Miaoyun stood a woman whom she had never seen before. She was dressed as a woman and looked to be in her twenties, but she had a head full of tangled white hair.

When the woman saw Ning'er looking at her, she smiled at her and continued to stand behind Mrs. Luo with her head lowered and her eyes submissive.

It was Aunt Ye.

Madam Xiang arrived the latest, followed by a lady in pink with delicate eyebrows. She greeted her mother-in-law and sister-in-law, then led the girl to the crowd and said with a smile:

"This is my cousin's daughter from my mother's family. Her surname is Song and her maiden name is Qiu Xin. She will be nineteen years old after the Chinese New Year."

Then he asked her to greet everyone.

Everyone understood what the old lady meant, but no one spoke out loud.

Luo Miaoyun looked at Song Qiuxin's appearance and figure. The smile on her face froze for a moment. In front of the old lady, she nodded and forced a smile, "What a lovely girl. Since she is my sister-in-law's niece, she is just like my niece."

Xiang Mengxuan said jokingly, "How can she be worthy of being my sister-in-law's niece? It's her blessing to be able to clean and serve my sister-in-law."

After hearing this, Mrs. Luo relaxed her brows slightly, took Miss Song's hand, stroked it carefully, and said:

"How can I bear to teach such a well-behaved girl to do rough work? If you are willing, come back with me and enjoy your life."

From Ning'er's angle, she just happened to see that Aunt Ye, who had been standing behind Madam Luo with her brows lowered, smiled a slightly sarcastic smile when she heard what was said.

Old Madam Zhu smiled and said, "There is no formality today, daughters-in-law, just sit down." Madam Luo and Madam Xiang sat down as she was told. She pointed at Song Qiuxin and said, "Your niece is still a girl, so please sit down and have some too."

They picked up their rice and placed their chopsticks on the table, and sat down one by one. There was someone standing beside the table to make room for them. While they were eating, they heard a voice outside the door.

A maidservant dressed in bright clothes came in with a happy look on her face: "Madam, Madam, the Marquis has returned home and is heading to Songshou Hall!"

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