Chapter 486 Newcomers

Chapter 486 Newcomers

Chapter 486 Newcomers
In the Prince Jin's Mansion in Jiangdu, several months of treatment had paid off. Xiaoqing became pregnant, which made her extremely happy. She would even wake up laughing in her dreams.

As the mistress, Cui Yu immediately hired an experienced midwife to take care of Xiaoqing every day. She also arranged for a special doctor to visit her regularly to take her pulse and prescribe nourishing medicine.

In ancient times, the average life expectancy was only about 40 years old. Not only was the life expectancy of adults short, but more importantly, the infant mortality rate was too high. If a child caught a cold while taking a bath and contracted pneumonia, that was basically the end of him.

Therefore, people generally did not take a bath in winter. Not only was fuel expensive and people could not afford it, but they were also afraid of getting sick. Once they got sick, even the children of the Song Dynasty emperor could not be saved, let alone poor families.

When we hear someone is ill, we all show concern for them. Even if we haven’t seen each other for a long time, we will ask “How are you?” When we meet, we will ask each other “How are you?” Since ancient times, getting sick is a big deal. If you are not careful, you will die.

Pregnancy and childbirth are even bigger events, and wealthy families are very particular about them. From the beginning of pregnancy, they enter an extremely meticulous pregnancy and childbirth period. The couple can forget about having sex. Pregnant women have to take all kinds of medicines, and take care of themselves, and pay special attention to the fetal position. Experienced midwives are specifically responsible for stabilizing the fetal position.

Therefore, women from wealthy families rarely suffer from difficult labors. The key reason is the meticulous perinatal care they receive.

That morning, Princess Cui Yu received a letter from her husband. After reading the letter, Cui Yu pondered for a moment and told her maid, "Go and invite the second wife!"

Currently, only Cui Yu and Xiao Qing are in the mansion. Zhang Qiao has already gone to Beijing. She originally planned to go to Beijing at the end of the month, but after she took the medicine last time, the swelling in Yang Zhao's hands and feet gradually subsided, and the pigment on her back began to turn black. This is because the toxins are forced out of the body, and the detoxification is effective.

Empress Xiao was extremely excited. She sent several eunuchs, a dozen palace maids and three hundred guards to Jiangdu by boat in advance to invite Zhang Qiao to come to the capital. Zhang Qiao arrived in the capital five days ago with several female guards.

Not long after, Xiao Qing came to Cui Yu's room, bowed and said, "Madam, are you looking for me?"

Cui Yu pulled her to sit down and asked, "How do you feel?"

Xiaoqing nodded and said, "Overall it's fine, except that I don't sleep very well and I always wake up in the middle of the night."

Cui Yu laughed, "That's normal, it's like this in spring, I don't sleep well, it's the same for me."

Cui Yu picked up the letter and said, "I just received a letter from my husband. I have something to tell you. This time, a sister will come to the mansion."

Xiaoqing was stunned for a moment, but still nodded.

"This time it's the daughter of the Wujun Lu family. My husband told me before that he wanted to get the support of the Jiangnan family, and marriage was the best way."

"I understand!"

Xiaoqing is very smart. She doesn't dare to talk nonsense in front of the lady. She would never say anything like "there are too few children" or "we should take more concubines".

Cui Yu smiled and said, "But this time she is here to teach me how to play the piano. We will spend a few months together, and then send her back. We will then send a ship to marry her. The Lu family has this request, and we will try our best to respect it!"

After a pause, Cui Yu smiled and said, "My husband said that Miss Lu is very tall. I am very interested."

Xiao Xia's ship arrived at Jiangdu Wharf, where several carriages were already waiting. Xiao Xia asked his personal guards to escort Lu Xieting and Xiaowanzi and several other maids back to the palace first, while Xiao Xia went directly to the General Manager's Mansion. The situation in the south was not good, and he had to make arrangements immediately.

Lu Xieting was indeed a little nervous, even though Xiao Xia repeatedly comforted her and said that she had already written a letter to the princess and that the princess would warmly welcome her.

Xiaowanzi smiled and said, "Miss, just think of it as teaching the princess how to play the piano yourself."

Lu Xieting smiled bitterly and shook her head. She was actually worried that she was too tall and would make the princess uncomfortable.

The carriage slowly stopped in front of the palace gate. The housekeeper and a dozen female guards were waiting at the door to greet them. When Lu Xieting got off the carriage, the housekeeper was shocked. The future fourth lady was really tall.

The housekeeper stepped forward, bowed and said with a smile: "Miss Lu, you have worked hard on the journey. Please follow me. The princess is waiting in the mansion!"

"Thank you!" Lu Xieting followed the housekeeper into the mansion, followed by Xiaowanzi and several maids.

The group arrived at the courtyard and saw the Princess of Jin, who was dressed in rich and elegant clothes, waiting in the yard surrounded by a group of maids.

Lu Xieting understood immediately, and hurried forward to perform a thousand-fold bow, "Lu Xieting pays respect to the princess!"

From the Qin and Han Dynasties to the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the Han people were not short in stature, especially the aristocratic families who had adequate nutrition and both men and women were very tall. It was only after the Song and Yuan Dynasties that the Han people's bloodline was influenced by the Dongyi people such as the Khitan and Jurchen, who were generally shorter in stature, and the average height gradually decreased.

Xiao Xia's wives and concubines are all tall. Cui Yu and Xiao Qing are about the same height, around 1.65 meters, while Zhang Qiao is taller, at 1.7 meters.

So although Lu Xieting is tall, her stature is not exaggerated. She is only half a head taller than Cui Yu, not as tall as her husband as Cui Yu thought.

Lu Xieting and Cui Yu both breathed a sigh of relief. Cui Yu stepped forward, took her hand and said with a smile, "Prince Jin has already made it clear to me in his letter. You are welcome to come to Prince Jin's mansion. Please teach me how to play the piano for the next two months."

"I'm actually not very good at playing the piano, and the princess will laugh at me."

"It's better than me not being able to play the piano!"

Only then did Lu Xieting realize that the princess didn't know how to play the piano, so it would be easy to teach her.

Cui Yu introduced Xiaoqing next to him to Lu Xieting, and they both bowed to each other with a smile.

At this time, Cui Yu looked at Xiaowanzi and saw that her face was cute and round, so he smiled and said, "You have a round face, I guess you are Xiaowanzi!"

Xiaowanzi blushed and bowed quickly, "Your servant Xiaowanzi greets the princess."

"Not bad! Very well behaved. No wonder His Highness likes you so much. You should continue to stay with him in the future."

"Thank you, Princess, for the arrangement!"

Cui Yu then took Lu Xieting to the back house and introduced her along the way, "Our palace is very simple, I only have two sisters, Xiaoqing you just met, and another one is called Zhang Qiao, she is good at medicine, she happened to go to Beijing two days ago, and will be back in a few days.

Although our house is a royal palace, there are not many rules. King Jin hates complicated etiquette and rules. As long as we can respect the hierarchy and order, we don’t need to pay too much attention to other details. "

Cui Yu brought Lu Xieting to a courtyard. "This is your courtyard. We are just a temporary palace here. In the fall, after the emperor inspects Jiangnan, we will move back to the original palace. You take a rest first, and we will talk later."

"Thank you, Princess, for the arrangement!"

Cui Yu smiled and said, "You're welcome. Have a good rest. Xiaowanzi, follow me!"

Cui Yu left with a group of maids and Xiaowanzi.

Lu Xieting walked into his own yard. The yard was very large. The garden alone was one acre in size and there were seven or eight houses. It was grand and elegant. Lu Xieting fell in love with it at once.

More than a dozen female guards brought dozens of pieces of luggage. These female guards were all tall and strong. Some of them were even taller than Lu Xieting. However, their height was completely different from Lu Xieting's. They were the height of northern women, with big bones, strong physique, thick and round waists, and very agile bodies, just like men. You couldn't see the soft curves of Jiangnan women like Lu Xieting in them.

At this time, the housekeeper and several maids brought them several large buckets of hot water. Lu Xieting had traveled by boat all the way, and it was not very convenient for her to wash. Now she could finally wash herself up, change her underwear, and comb her hair again.

At this time, Cui Yu sent a maid to invite her. Lu Xieting had to simply tie up her hair and pin it with a hairpin. She also changed into a new dress. There was no time to put on makeup, so she had to follow the maid to the princess's main courtyard with her bare face.

(End of this chapter)