Rebirth: The Journey of an Heiress

"Hmm... don't really like them much." Bai Qingyan said, though recently, she had taken a liking to eating some spicy and fresh things.

Although there is an old saying, "sour for a boy, spicy for a girl," Mrs. Dong looked at Bai Qingyan's extremely nimble appearance after getting pregnant and thought it might be a boy. At the moment, she really didn't know what kind of clothes to prepare for her soon-to-be-born grandchild.

Nanny Qin covered her lips with a handkerchief and smiled: "The Empress Dowager is worried about what kind of little clothes to prepare for the unborn royal heir."

"Those few bright colors from before might not be of use. Let's switch to some plain colors, suitable for both boys and girls!" Mrs. Dong said with a smile.

Now Mrs. Dong's heart was full of the child in Bai Qingyan's belly, eagerly looking forward to the child's birth!

Mrs. Dong laughed as she touched Bai Qingyan's belly, her eyes turning to the young girls laughing and shouting outside. Someone's kite got tangled, and couldn't fly high... they had to give up, and started urging their cousin to hold her ground.

"Your Majesty..." Fu Ruoxi quickly came up from the wooden steps covered with the red carpet and knelt on one knee outside the canopy, saying to Bai Qingyan, "Your Majesty, the guard Yue Shi, who is with the royal husband, has come, saying he is here by your order to organize and bring over the royal husband's books."

Upon hearing this, Mrs. Dong looked at Bai Qingyan, wondering if Murong Yan was using this as an excuse to send a message to Bai Qingyan.

Bai Qingyan did not expect Yue Shi to arrive so quickly, nodded, and said to Fu Ruoxi: "Let Yue Shi come over!"

"Yes!" Fu Ruoxi answered and went to call Yue Shi.

Soon, Yue Shi arrived, greeted Bai Qingyan, and said: "Your Majesty, the books of our master have been organized by Yue Shi and have been brought to Your Majesty. Yue Shi has also brought a letter from the master's nephew to Your Majesty for your perusal."

Yue Shi stepped forward, bent over, and handed the letter he carried to Bai Qingyan with both hands.

Nephew?

Bai Qingyan received the letter without showing any emotion, it seems... that after Xiao Rongyan's death, his nephew, the world's wealthiest merchant, is going to take over his business.

"Wei Zhong, give him a seat..." Bai Qingyan said while opening the letter.

Wei Zhong responded by bringing a cushion for Yue Shi to kneel on.

In the letter, Xiao Rongyan inquired about Bai Qingyan and the child's health. He also mentioned that Xiliang had already sent envoys to the Yan Kingdom to request food, and the Yan Kingdom planned to sell it to Xiliang at prices several times higher than the market rate.

He also mentioned that he had organized all of Empress Ji's books, not missing a single one, and had Yue Shi bring them all over. He advised Bai Qingyan... even Empress Ji said these methods were too advanced to govern and she didn't recommend her brothers to study them, so he believes Bai Qingyan could just skim through them, as they don't hold much reference value.

Following this, Xiao Rongyan expressed his longing for Bai Qingyan, urged Bai Qingyan to take good care of herself, and conveyed deep affection.

Reading it made Bai Qingyan's ears slightly red. After reading it, she folded the letter back up, looked at the solemnly seated Yue Shi, and smiled: "In that case, I shall write a reply to the royal husband's nephew, I'll trouble you to take it back."

"Yue Shi will definitely fulfill the mission." Yue Shi straightened his back and said, clasping his fists.

·

Mrs. Fang and Nanny Guan supported Mrs. Wang as the sounds of laughter gradually faded. Mrs. Fang said to Nanny Guan: "Nanny... please first go to the carriage to get some clothes for the Fourth Madam, I'll escort her to the dressing tent, so she doesn't catch a cold. Otherwise, this commoner would be guilty beyond forgiveness."

Nanny Guan glanced at Mrs. Fang, feeling suspicious, but heard Mrs. Wang say: "Nanny, bring me that set of brass-green dress and skirt..."

"Yes!" Nanny Guan was still worried and entrusted Lingyun and Lingxiu to take good care of the lady before going to retrieve Mrs. Wang's dress.

Mrs. Fang watched Nanny Guan leave, then smiled and said: "The Fourth Madam is going to wear the brass-green dress later, which doesn't match particularly well with the jewelry on her head. It so happens that I brought a set of jewelry, I hope the Fourth Madam won't mind accepting it!"

"There's no need for that..." the Fourth Madam kindly said, "The Clan Leader's wife meant no harm!"

Mrs. Fang immediately had tears in her eyes: "I still ask the Fourth Madam to accept it! Otherwise... this commoner will surely be blamed by the Clan Leader upon return! This commoner feels guilty and uneasy. A set of jewelry isn't worth much, likely not even the amount of silver coin that can cover the damage done to your clothes, but it can give this commoner peace of mind. Please grant this commoner this wish."

Mrs. Wang had no choice but to agree, thinking to find an opportunity to reward the Clan Leader's wife with a set of jewelry in return, to avoid the Clan Leader's wife feeling uneasy about it.

Mrs. Fang quickly turned her head and said with a smile: "Then I'll trouble one of the two young ladies to go to my canopy and find a maid named Puliu to bring the white jade and emerald jewelry set I brought!"

Lingxiu glanced at Lingyun: "Then I'll go! Lingyun, you take good care of the madam... I'll be right back!"

"Thank you, young lady!" Mrs. Fang said with a smile.

In the few temporary tents built in a secluded spot, soft five-blessing rugs were laid down for the nobles to change clothes...

Further back, there were tents for the nobles to relieve themselves and change clothes. There weren't many guards arranged here, and the imperial guard was stationed far away. Mrs. Fang had arranged for someone to wait here ahead of time, and now only a gentle and weak maid was left next to Mrs. Wang, who was easy to deal with.

Mrs. Fang supported Mrs. Wang as she entered the large tent for changing, the servant girl Lingyun following behind them suddenly felt a sharp pain in her neck, and she fainted.

Mrs. Fang glanced back, seeing Lingyun being dragged away, her lips curled into a very faint smile as she helped Mrs. Wang sit down, her eyes falling on the small lacquered golden three-legged mythical beast incense burner and the sweet porcelain teapot.

"I'll pour a cup of tea for the madam!" Mrs. Fang said.

Mrs. Wang nodded, untying the cloak and casually laying it aside, she asked: "Why can't I see the maid and nanny serving here?"

Mrs. Fang smiled as she poured tea for Mrs. Wang, saying: "Perhaps they went elsewhere to slack off, but it's alright, this commoner will serve the madam, please don't treat this commoner as a stranger, it was originally this commoner's mistake, having the chance to make amends is a relief."

"You weren't intentional, there's no need to take it to heart." Mrs. Wang twined the Buddha beads around her slender wrist and took the tea cup handed over by Mrs. Fang, sipping it.

White mist rose from the incense burner, carrying a sweet and greasy cosmetic aroma, unlike the usual incense used in noble households...

Mrs. Fang sat beside Mrs. Wang, dabbing her lips with a handkerchief, and discreetly covered her nostrils.

Shortly after, Mrs. Wang's eyelids drooped, feeling extremely drowsy, she only had time to set the sweet porcelain gilded tea cup on the small table, before her vision went black, and she fainted.

Mrs. Fang covered her nose with the handkerchief, quickly opened the lid of the mythical beast incense burner, doused the incense with tea water, wrapped the incense ash in the handkerchief, and poured out the tea in the teapot before calling loudly: "Someone come!"

Soon, a few strong women entered from outside.