Chapter 1459: Chapter 1435: Do Not Intervene
Manbao pulled her hand out and even thoughtfully smoothed the mud out a bit, making it more even.
She withdrew her hand, looked down at the already murky stone vat, and turned to smile at Mingda, "Wait for the mud to settle, the water will be clear."
Mingda stood on tiptoe to peek but could only see the topmost bit of water, which appeared very cloudy.
Manbao jumped off the stool, took a stool from the stack, and offered it to her.
Mingda then stepped onto the stool and saw that the water was not ordinarily murky.
She felt worried, "Can the water really become clear again? Should we change the water?"
"No need," Manbao replied confidently, "When we were young and played by the river, the water would become murky from the mud and sand. But if you step out and wait a bit, the water becomes clear again."
She explained, "The mud and sand are heavy; eventually, with time, they will settle down."
Manbao let her sleeve down and noticed she had been too close to the vat, wetting her clothes a bit. Thinking it over, she brushed her wet hands against her skirt, and after drying them, she rubbed her hands to warm them and said, "Let’s go over there and take a look."
The emperor, who had been silent, gave a light cough.
The two on the stools turned their heads left in unison, and the emperor sternly asked, "Mingda, what are you doing?"
Princess Mingda joyfully jumped off the stool, returned the tuber she was holding to Manbao, and rushed toward the emperor, "Father, what brings you here?"
As Mingda hurried over, the emperor couldn’t maintain his serious expression, smiling as he held her hand and said, "I came to relax with the Crown Prince and Minister Feng, only to find you two misbehaving here."
Manbao moved to the side and bowed, "Greetings, Your Majesty."
The emperor waved his hand for her to stand and smiled, asking, "Zhou Man, why did you dig up my lotus flower?"
Manbao: ...
She glanced at the tuber in her hand and hesitantly said, "Shall I replant it for you?"
Now it was the emperor’s turn to be speechless.
Mingda shook the emperor’s hand and coyly said, "Father, I wanted to give it to Zhou Man."
The emperor tapped her nose lightly, saying, "It’s a chilly springtime, the water is still cold, how can you touch the water?"
"I didn’t; Zhou Man did."
The emperor turned to Zhou Man and said, "I heard you have a knack for growing plants. Since you like them, I’ll gift you a vat then."
Beside them, Gu Zhong noted it down and would later have someone send a vat of lotus flowers to Zhou Man.
Manbao promptly gave her thanks.
Only then did the emperor lead everyone off the corridor and also went over to the stone vat to take a look. Seeing the vat of muddy but settling lotus flowers, he shook his head with a smile, "This vat of lotuses has suffered enough; let’s leave it here and send a better one to her later."
Gu Zhong agreed.
The emperor gazed at the lotus flowers in the vat, lost in thought for a while, and suddenly turned to ask Zhou Man, "You split the lotus tuber in half and left only this much for the lotus; can it still live?"
Manbao was startled but realized he had noticed earlier. Feeling slightly embarrassed, as it was indeed his flower, she replied, "It should be able to..."
She racked her brain for good words, "Lotus flowers not only emerge out of mud untainted, but they are also very resilient. I think as long as we don’t interfere with it too much, it can come back to life on its own and might even grow better."
There are soaking solutions buried beside the tuber; as long as no one tries to change the water and mud, she was confident that it would be a vibrant lotus again by the next night.
Yet, the emperor was contemplating the somewhat wilted lotus in the vat, pondering, "No interference?"
Manbao nodded repeatedly, also seeing the lotus stems and leaves in the vat had wilted slightly due to their earlier efforts. She quickly added, "This is just temporary. If we don’t disturb it, it will be fine in a day or two, and might even grow better."
The emperor thought it over and then smiled, nodding, "Alright, then let’s wait a couple of days to see."
The Crown Prince standing at the back lowered his eyes, also glancing at the lotus in the vat.
Minister Feng and Yin Li exchanged glances, ceasing their argument.
Indeed, they had been arguing in the study room earlier, almost coming to blows in front of the emperor.
Last night a thief visited the Ministry of Justice, and not only did the Ministry not catch the thief, but the capital prefecture did.
Minister Feng lost face, starting the morning in a foul mood, though Tang He persuaded him and he felt the Ministry was too negligent, so he restrained his anger.
But after the morning court, not only did the censors impeach him, but even the Ministry of Justice and Punishments joined the fray, stripping his dignity and trampled his reputation, so Minister Feng couldn’t hold back and argued, dragging Yin Li to make the waters muddier.
Coupled with the Crown Prince’s new self-examination memorial, everyone then changed ground, bringing the argument to the study room.
The Crown Prince had never been gentle, and not only joined in but fanned the flames, almost causing a fight before they came.
Zhou Man’s words might have been unintentional, yet they struck a chord with the Crown Prince’s intentions, as the fate of this vat of lotus now held significant weight.
Manbao and Mingda knew nothing of this, seeing the emperor and ministers at a serious countenance, not finding it entertaining at all, thus found an opportunity to excuse themselves and quietly slipped away.
Back in the Imperial Garden, Changyu’s guests had all arrived; even Commandery Princess Yunfeng was there, sitting sullenly aside.
Earlier, she and Changyu had argued, rather it was she arguing with Changyu, as Changyu didn’t quarrel with her.
The Empress had told them to avoid conflict with Yunfeng.
Her wet nurse privately told her, "Times are different now. Before when you argued with Commandery Princess Yunfeng, she had the Empress Dowager’s support, and you had the Empress mediating, no matter how fierce you fought, it was alright. But now if you argue with her, people might think you’re bullying her."
The wet nurse advised, "The princess is of age and in these couple of years, a consort will be selected. She is now like a tile, while you are jade. Why clash jade with tiles?"
Changyu thought she was right, so even if Commandery Princess Yunfeng provoked her, she remained calm, not quarreling with her.
The young women invited by Changyu and Mingda weren’t necessarily all their friends, but they managed to get along, and they didn’t enjoy playing with Yunfeng, thus sidelined her.
Young ladies can gather to chat and play according to their likings, but the Crown Princess couldn’t, so she sat beside Commandery Princess Yunfeng, chatting with her with a smile.
She had only just said a couple of sentences when Manbao and Mingda returned holding hands, and Commandery Princess Yunfeng’s expression darkened upon seeing them, glaring fiercely at Zhou Man before rising and leaving without even bidding farewell to the Crown Princess.
The Crown Princess’s expression darkened ever so slightly but soon was replaced with a smile as she waved to Mingda and Manbao who came running, jokingly asking, "Look at you two, your clothes are stained with mud, where have you been?"