Transmigrated into an Ancient M-Preg Novel as the Scumbag Alpha (GL) - Chapter 7
Yun Chenghuai, in the study of the front courtyard, was unaware that a dagger could, at any moment, pierce her heart.
Even if she knew, wasn’t she already working hard to change Shen Liunian’s mind?
At least, she needed to prevent Shen Liunian from leaving the princess manor before she could guarantee herself from being confined.
After all, Shen Liunian’s departure was the Emperor’s reason for confining her.
Yun Chenghuai sat at the desk and casually picked up a book, flipping through it.
She didn’t haphazardly search the study. An Yuan was by her side, and if she appeared too curious, she might expose herself.
What she needed to do next required a safe and private environment.
“An Yuan.”
“Your Highness.”
Whenever she spoke, An Yuan always responded immediately. She was truly reliable.
“Go pick out some suitable tonics for pregnant women and send them to the Princess Consort.”
For pregnancy, one should eat things that are nourishing but don’t cause weight gain; otherwise, if the baby gets too big, it won’t be good for the pregnant woman.
Just as An Yuan was about to leave, she added, “Remember to show them to the manor physician to confirm if a pregnant woman can eat them.”
“Yes.” An Yuan nodded coldly, turning to leave without hesitation.
Yun Chenghuai watched An Yuan leave. There were still two guards outside, and many servants, but they wouldn’t come in unless she ordered them to.
Undisturbed, she put down the book and walked around the study.
The study was quite large, filled with books. She knew from the original owner’s memories that there was a secret room within the study.
The secret room wasn’t big and contained some important items.
Some were left by the Empress Mother, and some by the old Grand Protector. When she had time, she would organize them and see if they were useful.
There were many things in the study. Since the original owner hadn’t held any important positions and was more like an idle princess, there wasn’t much of value.
Of course, it wasn’t without gain; the original owner’s memories in her head became clearer.
Yun Chenghuai sat back down at the desk and selected a decent-looking brush from the pen holder.
Fortunately, she had practiced calligraphy in her childhood and occasionally wrote as an adult, so she was not unfamiliar with a brush. Combined with the original owner’s memories, including muscle memory, her handwriting was 80-90% similar to the original owner’s.
After writing a few characters, she felt there was no problem. With more practice, it should become indistinguishable.
Her personality could change gradually, but details like her handwriting and small habits required constant attention.
Fortunately, she would be under house arrest in the princess manor for a month. A month was enough time for her to familiarize herself with the original owner’s memories.
House arrest wasn’t a good thing for others, but for her, a newcomer, it begrudgingly gave her time to adapt.
To write more easily, Yun Chenghuai wrapped her wide sleeves several times and tied them with a string.
There were arm-bindings in the study, but unfortunately, she didn’t know how to use them and didn’t want to call anyone in, so she decided to make do.
After writing a few characters on the paper, just as she was about to get to business, she suddenly realized that if the finished papers weren’t handled properly, they could expose a lot.
After thinking for a moment, she decided she could write half in Pinyin and half in Chinese characters, and occasionally even use English. That way, no one would understand it.
She first wrote the initial letters of her name in Pinyin, a shortened version of her name, so that if someone found it, they wouldn’t think she was plotting something.
There were many spies from various factions within Princess Chuxiang Manor.
Yun Chenghuai centered her thoughts on herself, sorting out her current situation.
The Southern Qin Emperor had been on the throne for twenty-six years, having changed the era name to Shenlong in between. This year was the eleventh year of Shenlong.
The current Emperor was considered good. Her grandmother was a maniac for changing era names, doing so every three to five years at the longest, or every one to two years at the shortest. She had dozens of era names in her lifetime. During peacetime, the Ministry of Rites was the busiest of the six ministries.
Her imperial mother, the current Emperor, did not like changing era names, but she did enjoy having children.
Twenty-one imperial daughters, seventeen princesses, and even more county princesses. The eldest, the Crown Princess, was thirty-two, and the youngest was less than one year old. Seventy or eighty children in total—she was truly prolific.
Having been Emperor for twenty-six years, a child was born every year.
The eldest legitimate daughter was the current Crown Princess, Yun Chenghuai’s biological elder sister—Yun Chengji.
Her name implied inheriting the ancestral legacy, showing the Emperor’s expectations for the Crown Princess.
Perhaps because the Emperor had so many children, by the third generation, among the married imperial daughters, all but one (the eighth imperial daughter) failed to give birth to a Qian Yuan. There were only two or three Kun Zes, but many He Yuans were born.
The Crown Princess had known the Crown Princess Consort since childhood, and their relationship was very good. The Eastern Palace only had the Crown Princess Consort, and to this day, only one Kun Ze.
The Emperor once asked the Crown Princess to take a secondary consort, but the Crown Princess and the Crown Princess Consort were deeply in love and couldn’t tolerate another person between them. Later, she also considered herself to be in poor health, so she wouldn’t delay a good family’s daughter.
As for Yun Chenghuai’s remaining imperial sisters, for some unknown reason, although they had many spouses in their households, they had few children.
The Second Imperial Daughter was thirty-one this year, with two He Yuan children. The other imperial daughters were about the same.
The imperial family had a rule that after three years of marriage, one was not allowed to take a concubine. Otherwise, the original owner would have planned to marry a bunch of concubines and have children after marriage. Fortunately, there was this Kun Ze; otherwise, Yun Chenghuai would have died of headaches watching the women in the manor vie for attention.
The imperial family was pure for three generations, but the second generation was fighting to the death. Among the twenty-one imperial daughters, excluding the young ones, everyone was interested in the throne.
Currently, with the Crown Princess still in place, the struggles weren’t too obvious.
They were mainly divided into three factions: those supporting the Crown Princess, those supporting the Fourth Imperial Daughter, and those supporting the Seventh Imperial Daughter, the current Empress’s daughter.
Everyone formed small cliques. Even if they had their own ideas, on the surface, they strongly supported the leader of their own clique.
But the original owner, like an idiot, not only fought alone but also never got close to the Crown Princess.
Their mothers were both the former Empress, so they should have naturally been close. If anything happened to the Crown Princess, as her biological younger sister, wouldn’t all of the Crown Princess’s connections and resources be hers…?
“Ugh~” Yun Chenghuai sighed. Forget it, it’s too late to say anything now. The outcome is still the same. What I need to do is not repeat the past.
Among the imperial children, Qian Yuan were enfeoffed as Imperial Daughters, Kun Ze as Princesses, and He Yuan as County Princesses, to distinguish their different statuses.
Imperial Daughters, Princesses, County Princesses, the Emperor’s consorts, plus the maternal families of the Imperial Daughters—who supported whom in the court, and who were loyal officials.
Yun Chenghuai spent the entire morning sorting this out, and she was almost done. It was truly not easy to remember so many people one by one.
—
“Someone!” she called out.
An Yuan immediately came in and said, “Your Highness.”
“Light a brazier in the courtyard. I’ll be there shortly.”
“Yes.”
Some things had to be burned, even if she was sure that no one, even if they read the papers, would understand their content.
But what if someone used these things against her? She’d have to go to the trouble of explaining, wouldn’t she?
With the brazier lit in the courtyard, Yun Chenghuai picked up the papers and walked out, then tossed them into the brazier, stirring the papers with a stick until they were all burned to ashes. Only then did she turn and return to the study.
She had one more important matter to arrange.
She gestured for An Yuan to follow her into the study. “I have something for you to do.”
An Yuan did not respond, waiting for her to continue.
“Now that the Princess Consort is pregnant, and those imperial sisters have difficulty conceiving children, there’s no telling what trouble they might stir up. You are responsible for cleaning up the entire princess manor. No matter who it is, you handle it.”
An Yuan’s eyes flickered. She knew that Her Highness felt the manor was unclean, allowing any news to leak out, and was determined to thoroughly clean it up.
She had brought this up before, but Her Highness was too confident, telling her to simply do her duty and not make unfounded accusations.
Her Highness believed those retainers were her confidants. She, a person from the Grand Protector’s manor, was merely there to monitor Her Highness on behalf of the old Duke, to prevent her from causing trouble for the Crown Princess.
An Yuan, as if fearing Yun Chenghuai would change her mind, quickly knelt on one knee and said, “Yes, Your Highness.”
“Remember, no matter who it is,” Yun Chenghuai added, worried An Yuan might have reservations.
“What about the Princess Consort’s side?”
Shen Liunian had many people who came with her as part of her dowry. Those people would certainly prioritize Shen Liunian.
“You don’t need to concern yourself with the Princess Consort’s people. Just keep a close eye on them.”
If she interfered with Shen Liunian’s people, who knew what consequences might arise?
Moreover, in the novel, Shen Liunian leaves the princess manor in three days, so she will definitely meet with Crown Princess Li Zhaoxian of Northern Qi during these days.
With An Yuan monitoring Shen’s servants, she would be able to know immediately if anything happened, preventing her from being too passive.
“Oh, and one more thing: you must carefully observe anyone entering and exiting the manor on the Princess Consort’s behalf.”
“Yes.”
Such loyal guards were excellent. They would only obey orders and wouldn’t ask why, so she didn’t need to explain.
Yun Chenghuai smiled contentedly and casually untied the rope on her sleeve. “Let’s go. Time to find the Princess Consort for lunch.”
An Yuan: “…”
Just now, when she delivered the tonics, the Princess Consort’s expression was very displeased upon hearing they were from Her Highness.
In the main courtyard, Shen Liunian looked at the mountain of tonics piled on the table, wondering what scheme Yun Chenghuai was brewing.
“Young lady, Princess Chuxiang has changed too quickly.” It was frightening.
Wet Nurse Xu stepped forward and covered Shen Liunian’s legs with a blanket, somewhat worried about Yun Chenghuai’s change.
A princess, wanting to kill them who had no roots in Southern Qin, could do so without guilt, as long as it was done cleanly and without public gossip.
Yet, Yun Chenghuai had been vicious before, acting as if she wanted to kill them, and today she suddenly changed. Such a sudden change for no reason must indicate an underlying motive.
Shen Liunian picked up the tea beside her, taking a small sip. The fragrance of the tea spread through her mouth.
“Tell Xu Da that the shops and money aren’t important. Just ensure people can leave at any time.”
Xu Da was Wet Nurse Xu’s daughter, a He Yuan, and worked with another steward, helping Shen Liunian handle external affairs.
She had long intended to escape. It was easy for one person to leave, but the hundreds of people who had accompanied her to Southern Qin as part of her dowry would become fish on someone else’s cutting board.
So she had been secretly sending her people out one by one. Too many leaving at once could arouse suspicion.
But she had overestimated Dog Yun; over a hundred people had already left without Dog Yun noticing.
However, Yun Chenghuai’s actions today, the sudden drastic change, could not be that simple.
If Yun Chenghuai discovered her intention to leave Southern Qin, how would she treat her and the hundreds of people who came with her? Should she strike first?