Chapter 48: A sapling that doesn't pull won't grow straight

Holding the Imperial Edict with both hands, "Cao Sir, receive the edict."

Cao Hai's whole body was like something fished out of water; the strength on his body, at this moment, seemed to have been drained away.

Originally it was just a three-month dismissal, but now it is……

One year!

It's over! Why! It's all over!

Under the name of filial piety, dismissed for one year, does the Cao family still have a day to rise?

On the other side, Jiang Yunchu took a good bath, her whole body relaxed.

Only a crying child gets candy; how could she not know that?

She is a soldier, a battlefield medic, coming from artillery, going through gunfire,

But! She is an orphan, and when her wings were not yet full, she had grown accustomed to the wickedness of human hearts, and also to those who took people in, watching them as if they were merchandise.

"Princess Consort, it's time to get up, you've been soaking for two quarter-hours." Zi Su shouted from outside the door.

Jiang Yunchu sat up, pulled the towel beside her, wrapped her body, then slowly put on her everyday clothes; indeed, this short style still suited her best.

That white robe just now, almost stepped wrong; if it flew to the wrong place, it would be embarrassing to the extreme.

"All right." Jiang Yunchu pushed open the door, "Anything to say?"

Seeing Zi Su's hesitant expression, she furrowed her brows, thought, and said, "Cao Mansion?"

How did it keep lingering like a ghost?

"Replying to Princess Consort, it's the Cao Mansion, but it's not the Cao Mansion looking for trouble." Zi Su smiled, looking at the Princess Consort's impatient expression; it was hard to imagine the Princess Consort still having that side from just now.

After all, the last time Jiang Yunchu cried on the Golden Throne Hall, those two maidservants were outside, naturally they couldn't see her throwing a tantrum.

"What is that about?"

Zi Su, while wringing her hair, chuckled and said, "There is an Imperial Edict at the Cao Mansion."

"Oh?"

Jiang Yunchu was actually somewhat surprised; although she wanted to arrange people at the Cao Mansion side, the usable people around her were really too few, and they were all familiar faces, making it inconvenient to place them there.

This idea was temporarily shelved.

But……

How could the news arrive so quickly?

"Xi Gonggong proclaimed the edict directly at the gate of the Cao Mansion; not only the Cao Mansion people, but anyone passing by our gate to watch the excitement heard it."

Jiang Yunchu didn't expect it to be like this?

She was about to turn back, but Zi Su was wringing her hair, and it immediately hurt a bit.

Zi Su quickly said, "Princess Consort, please sit a moment, it'll be fine soon; or you can move first, and after you move I'll wring your hair."

Jiang Yunchu was also somewhat surprised; she didn't expect this Ning Emperor to be so dark!

No way!

The Cao Mansion just came looking for trouble, and the Ning Emperor already got the news? Is the news too fast?

The best case: someone in the Cao Mansion.

The usual case: among the common people, mixed with the Emperor's ears.

The worst case……

There are the Emperor's people in the Wang Fu.

This cannot help but be investigated.

"What is written on the Imperial Edict?" Jiang Yunchu asked.

Since everyone heard it, this shouldn't count as prying into privacy, right?

"Saying Cao Elder is a filial son, a model of Da Ning, so the Emperor specially permitted Cao Elder to be dismissed for one year to fulfill filial duty before his widowed mother." Zi Su clearly stated the outside news, word by word.

Moreover, fearing the Princess Consort would move, she deliberately paused, saw the Princess Consort had no intention to move, then changed to a clean cloth and began wringing the hair.

"It's just a one-year dismissal." Jiang Yunchu thought, what's filial or not filial?

They're just nice-sounding excuses.

"Yes." Zi Su smiled, feeling relieved in her heart as well.

This Cao Mansion is like a flea, hard to catch and disgusting.

Now the Emperor's Imperial Edict can be said to be greatly satisfying to the people.

But Jiang Yunchu closed her eyes, "Order Du Er, the Wang Fu must strictly control recently; any stranger is not allowed to enter the Wang Fu."

"Things going in and out of the Wang Fu must be strictly inspected."

"Also, several children, during this period, are not allowed to leave the mansion."

"Kang Wen and Kang Wu's side, if they don't listen, let Bai Zhi deal with them, no need to be polite, anyway they've signed the Life-Death Contract."

Beating to death, that's impossible to beat to death.

But……

We must let the disobedient children taste a bit of hardship!

"Won't that be too harsh?" Zi Su had already finished wringing the Princess Consort's hair; the hair was about to dry, she used a wooden comb to gently comb the Princess Consort's hair.

Don't even mention it, the Princess Consort's hair is jet-black and especially smooth, unlike mine; when combing, it always won't go through.

The Princess Consort's hair, once combed through, is already smooth.

She also used a hairpin to coil a lock of the Princess Consort's hair; after half a year of contact, Zi Su has a rough understanding of the Princess Consort's preferences and temperament.

"A sapling that doesn't pull won't grow straight." Jiang Yunchu said indifferently.

"But when we were young masters……"

Zi Su thought of Ning Hanmo; although the Princess Consort is harsh toward the Young Master, she has never actually laid a hand on him.

Every day the Young Master gets all puffed up with anger, but none of the schemes he uses have any effect on the Princess Consort.

Moreover, several times he ended up trapping himself.

But…

Is it appropriate to hit the Kang Fu clan's child like this?

"Ning Hanmo is different from Kang Wen and Kang Wu." Jiang Yunchu shook her head, her hair already done up, and she stood up directly.

"Ning Hanmo grew up with the Imperial Consort from childhood, fatherless and motherless, lacking much sense of security."

"If I had acted from the start, he would truly have suffered mutual destruction."

Jiang Yunchu smiled; that brat's temperament could really pull off something like this, which would no longer be just a prank.

That child is very kind, but his environment has already determined many flaws in his character.

He is like Yue Yue, and even being older than Yue Yue, he lacks even more sense of security.

"So for such a child, the only way is to make him genuinely convinced from the heart."

"But those two mischievous kids are different."

"Their parents love them dearly, their household is harmonious, they have the capital to be willful, and their obstinacy and stubbornness also stem from being spoiled by their family."

"And yet here, you still want to indulge them?"

"Dreams are easier to realize."

Each child's temperament differs, requiring different ways to grow; teaching according to aptitude is a lesson the Dean's mother gave her, which she will never forget in her lifetime.

"So that's how it is."

Zi Su suddenly understood, finally grasping why the Princess Consort treated them differently; she had thought the Princess Consort disliked the Kang clan's children, but now it seems it's merely a difference in teaching methods.

"Tomorrow I will leave the manor; please prepare these gifts for me." Jiang Yunchu walked to the desk and wrote down the gift list.

But the most important gift…

…but she needs to make it herself.

"Yes, I'll attend to it right away, maid."

After Zi Su bowed and paid her respects, she hurriedly left the room.

At that moment, Jiang Yunchu directly shouted, "An San."