Qiao Jinniang frowned. She didn’t even know that Qiu Su had been hating her since they were in school.

  Qiao Jinniang said softly, “People should love and respect themselves. You look down on yourself. Why do you blame me?”


  Qiu Su laughed crazily and said, “Haha, Qiao Jinniang, you rejected the son of the prefect because he had too many concubines.

  “But His Royal Highness will definitely have many concubines in the future. I will wait and see how you end up!”


  A smelly sock was stuffed into Qiu Su’s mouth and she was dragged down.

  No one dared to say a word. For Qiao Jinniang’s sake, Lu Chen withdrew Old Madam Qiao’s honorary title and demoted Governor Zhong. Who would dare to mess with her again at this moment?

  ness

  Seeing the sleepy look on Qiao Jinniang’s face, Lu Chen said to her, “You didn’t have a good rest last night. Go take a nap.”


  Qiao Jinniang slept late at night and had the habit of taking a nap at noon.

  Back in the courtyard, she closed her eyes and slept.

  When she was woken up by Nuomi, it was an hour later.

  Nuomi whispered to Qiao Jinniang, “Miss, Miss Qiu Su committed suicide in jail.”


  Qiao Jinniang frowned and her sleepiness was instantly gone. Qiu Su would be locked up for three years at most.

  Even if she couldn’t stay in Chang’an anymore, she could go to other places.

  Back in Lin’an, who would care if she had offended the crown princess!

  Why did she commit suicide?

  Nuomi said, “The Zhong family didn’t go to collect her body. Her maid Xiaolan came to beg me, and I gave her 10 taels of silver to collect Miss Qiu’s body.”


  “Xiaolan said that Miss Qiu had been instructed by her parents to marry an official’s son since her childhood.

  “Miss Qiu originally wanted to marry the son of the prefect although he looked like a fat pig… but unfortunately, the son of the prefect didn’t like her.

  “Later, she married Governor Zhong’s son who was born by his concubine. I heard that the betrothal gift was only 2,000 taels of silver, but her family gave a full 100,000 taels to the Zhong family!

  “But after she was married, her mother-in-law didn’t like her, and her husband raised a lot of concubines outside with her money.”


  Nuomi said indignantly.

  Qiao Jinniang frowned and said, “No wonder she resented me so much.”


  When Qiu Su knew that Qiao Jinniang would be the Crown Prince’s second concubine, her sympathy for her didn’t seem to be fake, but when she found out that Qiao Jinniang would be the crown princess, her mentality was completely distorted.

  Why was she so stupid?

  Qiao Jinniang said, “Give one hundred taels of silver to her maid, so that she can return to Lin’an and be buried at her hometown.”


  Nuomi said, “Yes.”


  After Qiao Jinniang got up and walked out of the courtyard, she saw Lu Chen coming. She looked at Lu Chen and said, “Why are you still here? I had thought you were gone.”


  Lu Chen said, “I was waiting for you to wake up to take you into the imperial palace and choose two mammies to teach you court etiquette, and to pick some imperial maids by the way.

  “Nuomi is not suitable to be brought into the imperial palace. You should find some imperial maids and eunuchs first.”


  Hearing him mention mammies who were to teach her court etiquette, Qiao Jinniang sighed in horror.

  Lu Chen laughed. “You don’t have to learn etiquette very well. Don’t worry.”


  Qiao Jinniang was thinking about the maids she would bring into the East Palace. She had five close maids now.

  “Hongling is the same age as me. She is already nineteen and her character is suitable for her to stay in the imperial palace.

  “Although Yuyan is too outgoing, she is good at snooping information, and there is no gossip that she does not know.

  “Luhe is diligent and good at housework. I want to keep her with me.

  “Yingtao doesn’t talk much, but she can manage the little maids well, and she is also a very good hairdresser.

  “It seems that only Nuomi is not suitable for the imperial palace, but she grew up with me. If she is left outside alone, I will be worried about her.”


  Nuomi was two years younger than Qiao Jinniang.

  Jinniang remembered very clearly that when she was six years old, after a big storm, the whole Yin County was flooded.

  Many refugees from Yin County came to Lin’an, and Nuomi, Huixiang, Bajiao and the others all came to Myriad Taste at this time.

  They didn’t know if their families were still alive, and they had nowhere to go.

  Little Nuomi didn’t even know her own name. At that time, although she was a child, she ate five big sticky rice balls alone.

  So Qiao Jinniang’s adoptive mother called her little Nuomi (means sticky rice in Chinese).

  Later, she took them back to Yin County to look for their families, but little Nuomi couldn’t remember where her home was, and because of the flood, few people survived in Yin County.

  In the end, they simply let Nuomi and the others stay in Myriad Taste and be their maids and servants.

  Later, Nuomi also went to Yin County to look for her family herself, but failed.

  Knowing that Nuomi and Qiao Jinniang had deep affections, Lu Chen said,

  “You can bring Nuomi into the East Palace. Just tell her not to leave the East Palace. After all, you are the only master in the East Palace.”


  Qiao Jinniang shook her head. “No, let her stay outside the imperial palace.

  “Nuomi loves freedom by nature. It would be better for her to live a care-free life outside the imperial palace.”


  Qiao Jinniang followed Lu Chen onto the carriage and asked Lu Chen, “By the way, isn’t it inappropriate for me to choose the mammies and imperial maids by myself?”


  Lu Chen said, “There’s nothing wrong with it, only those you choose can become your confidants.

  “Also, although my mother is in charge of the imperial palace, it’s difficult to guess the minds of the people in the imperial palace.

  “Instead of letting others play tricks in the choice of the mammies who are to teach you court etiquette, it’s better to weed out those who have ulterior motives in the first place.”


  After seeing all kinds of people when she was running the restaurant, Qiao Jinniang was a good judge of character.

  More importantly, if she chose the mammies herself, she could directly send them back to the imperial palace if there was something wrong with them.

  And she wouldn’t have to consider many other elements.

  Qiao Jinniang asked, “Why did you say you wanted to weed out those who have ulterior motives in the first place?”


  Lu Chen said, “The Empress Dowager didn’t like my mother, so before my mother married into the imperial palace, she sent some mammies to give my mother a hard time in the name of teaching her court etiquette. Because of the requirement on filial piety, my mother could only endure the abuse of those mammies.”


  Qiao Jinniang understood. She sighed and looked at the majestic palace in front of her.

  Becoming a crown princess was probably much harder than being the shopkeeper of Myriad Taste.

  Lu Chen held Qiao Jinniang’s hand. “Afraid? Even if you’re afraid, you can’t regret it anymore.”


  Qiao Jinniang snorted. “How could I be afraid?”


  Lu Chen smiled.

  After Qiao Jinniang entered the imperial palace, she went to the Queen’s palace and saluted the Queen. “Your Majesty.”


  The corner of Queen Zhou’s lips curled slightly. “Why do you still call me ‘Your Majesty’? You should call me ‘Mother’ now.”


  Qiao Jinniang lowered her head and said shyly, “Mother.”


  Queen Zhou said to her, “The officials of the Ministry of Rites have been punished.

  “I don’t have a suitable mammy, so the mammies were picked from the Shanggong Bureau.

  “In case someone makes use of this matter to sow discord between us, I told Chen’er to let you pick mammies yourself.”


  Only then did Qiao Jinniang know that this was arranged by Queen Zhou. She was really the best mother-in-law in the world.

  “Empress Dowager arrives!”


  A eunuch’s voice came from outside the palace.

  Lu Chen clasped Qiao Jinniang’s hand tightly and frowned slightly.

  “I heard that the Crown Princess came to choose mammies to teach her court etiquette today, so I specially brought Mammy Bai over. Mammy Bai has been in the imperial palace for more than 40 years, and will certainly teach the Crown Princess rules well!”