Chapter 1457: Chapter 1433 Digging and Digging (Added content for the book friend "Imperial Family Eldest Princess" as a reward)
The Crown Princess lowered her head to look at her flowers and finally understood why Zhou Man was so confident yesterday.
Manbao generously placed the flowers on the table for the Crown Princess to choose from.
The Crown Princess picked a multicolored flower, and a palace maid cut it and pinned it onto her hair.
Manbao smiled and said, "I’ll take the rest to give to the princesses."
The Crown Princess nodded with a smile, "They will certainly love your gift."
The group then moved to the Imperial Garden.
The Crown Princess rode over in her sedan chair, and Manbao hopped on to go with her.
Upon reaching the Imperial Garden, it was still quiet, but the princesses were already there. Their invited friends were outside the palace and needed some time to arrive.
Seeing the flowers Manbao was carrying, Little Princesses Changyu and Mingda were stunned and quickly gathered around to look.
Changyu instantly abandoned the flower she had chosen early in the morning and picked a purple one to pin on, tilting her head to look at her reflection in the bronze mirror with the palace maid’s help. She smiled and said, "It’s truly beautiful, are you really willing to cut such a beautiful flower?"
Manbao smiled and said, "The Crown Princess said as long as we’re happy, it’s fine."
Changyu preferred leaving the flowers in the pot to enjoy them slowly. Even if she liked them a lot, she was reluctant to pin them on her head.
The ones she chose to wear were usually her second favorites in her heart.
Mingda and the other two little princesses also picked their favorites and had them cut, but the two little princesses were too young, and the flowers they picked couldn’t be pinned, so they planned to take them back and put them in a vase.
They weren’t familiar with Zhou Man, so after chatting briefly, they shyly ran over to the Crown Princess to talk.
Changyu and Mingda stood together talking.
Changyu glanced at the Crown Princess not far away and asked Manbao with a smile, "Doctor Zhou Junior, is Brother Crown Prince’s illness better? I see Brother Crown Prince and my sister-in-law have been in good spirits these past few days."
Manbao smiled and said, "He’s still undergoing acupuncture, but he’s improving."
Since treating the Crown Prince, she had been saying this consistently, never changing her words, and people outside couldn’t tell if it was true or not.
Mingda then pulled Manbao to change the topic, saying, "I heard earlier that you love plants and flowers, and that my sister-in-law gave you many precious ones. I thought it was just a rumor, but now it seems you’re indeed talented in horticulture. I remember you mentioned last year that you wanted some flowers and plants from the palace?"
Manbao’s spirits lifted, and she happily said, "I love collecting flowers and plants I haven’t seen before. Cultivating and studying them like this is very fulfilling."
Manbao thought for a moment and said, "Everything in this world can be used as medicine. It’s just about the strength of its properties and suitability. I think cultivating flowers and plants is just like studying medicine."
Mingda nodded, holding her hand and said, "I’ll take you to see them; which ones do you want?"
Manbao didn’t expect Mingda to be so accommodating, and she was overjoyed. She turned around, holding hands, and ran off with her.
Changyu: ...
She was hesitating whether to follow them or to talk to the Crown Princess when the palace staff came to report, "Your Highness, the ladies from the Liu and Li families have arrived."
Changyu immediately said, "Please bring them over quickly."
She turned to go greet her friends.
The Empress had allowed the princesses to hold a flower banquet, but didn’t plan to appear herself. After all, if she appeared, the other concubines in the harem would have to come out as well.
By then, the children would feel uncomfortable, and much time would be wasted on formalities.
So not only did she not come herself, but she also ordered the concubines not to appear.
And as the princesses’ sister-in-law, the Crown Princess’s role was to oversee the event.
Usually, for such activities among the princesses in the palace, the Crown Princess would oversee things without needing to do much, just sit and be a reassuring presence to keep the kids from getting too chaotic.
Manbao had already run off with Mingda, and with Keke leading the way, Manbao pulled her straight to the flowers and plants she wanted to collect.
A group of palace maids and eunuchs followed behind them, some of whom had cleverly brought flower pots and small spades.
Mingda told them not to come too close, waving them away and took a small spade to dig flowers and plants with Manbao.
Manbao planted the rooted plants into flower pots, handed them over to the palace staff, and then pulled Mingda along to the next plant.
Soon, she stood under a tree full of blossoms, looked up at the lush and beautiful flowers, and couldn’t help but exclaim, "These magnolia liliflora are even prettier than peonies."
Mingda turned around to glance at the pale yellow peony pinned in her hair and smiled, "Do you like small flowers?"
Manbao nodded, "Large flowers can be placed in a pot for viewing, but they don’t look good pinned to the head."
Mingda pointed to the magnolia liliflora blooming all over the branches and asked, "Do you want them?"
"Yes!"
The magnolia liliflora had pinkish-purple centers, with pale pink flowers, distinctly layered. Each branch had about twenty flowers, unevenly spaced but very beautiful.
Manbao loved flowers like these the most.
The two of them didn’t need help from the palace staff; they just cut down the flower branches themselves.
Mingda selected the most beautiful branch for her. Both of them weren’t tall, so they tiptoed and pulled down the branch to cut it.
After finally cutting it down, Manbao took a sniff and was overjoyed, "The fragrance is pleasant too."
The two of them continued walking with the flowers, and the palace staff stayed far behind them. Mingda then asked Manbao, "How has my mother been lately?"
Manbao nodded, "Her Majesty’s condition is under control; as long as she doesn’t have an episode, she’s fine."
Mingda held a flower in her hand and sighed, "Mother is always overthinking, which probably won’t let her be at peace."
Manbao then turned to her with a smile, "You’re also not in the best of health and still young, yet you love to worry."
She said, "Since you know that overthinking is bad for your health, why bother thinking so much?"
Mingda hadn’t considered herself and argued, "This is a physical ailment, not due to overthinking. I’m only a year or two younger than you, and with your medical studies, don’t you think and worry at least as much as I do?"
Manbao shook her head, "I study, but I rarely worry."
She said, "Worry drains energy, don’t stress too much."
Mingda thought for a moment then nodded, "Alright, then let’s not think about anything today and just play?"
Manbao happily nodded, "Sure."
The two of them then released all restraint and played, scouring the Imperial Garden under Keke’s guidance and digging up plants they hadn’t seen before.
After they finished in the Imperial Garden, Mingda looked at the garden center, which was now bustling, and pulled Manbao to go outside, "Suddenly it seems rather dull, why don’t we check other places for more plants you want?"
"Okay!"
And off they ran.
The palace maids and eunuchs followed them, some carrying the dug-up plants in pots, others wrapped them with leaves for the palace staff to carry.
When the Empress finished handling palace affairs and inquired about the children, she found out that Mingda and Zhou Man were not in the Imperial Garden. Instead, they were running around the palace digging up things, even rumored to have reached the front hall of Taiji Hall.
The Empress: ...
She rubbed her forehead and said to Aunt Shang, "Go quickly and bring the two children back; the front is where the officials come and go. It’s not good if they cause any disturbance."
Aunt Shang promptly responded and turned to find the princess and Zhou Man.