Chapter 349: Chapter 350: She Likes This World
Looking at Hua Manman’s proud and cheerful expression, Li Ji remarked with deep emotion.
"How wonderful."
’She’s still alive. How truly wonderful.’
Hua Manman blinked, looking at him in confusion.
Li Ji didn’t explain, just pulled her into his arms and held her tightly.
He had finally recovered his lost treasure.
The empty space in his heart, which had been there for days, was finally filled.
After dinner, Madam He and Si Yun gave Hua Manman a sponge bath. Madam He also wanted to help Manman change her bandages, but Li Ji politely declined.
"Please go and rest, Mother. Leave the rest to me."
Madam He looked at Prince Zhao, then at her own daughter, and smiled, pressing her lips together. "Alright."
After seeing Madam He off, Li Ji took out a medicine bottle and gauze and began to carefully change Hua Manman’s dressing.
Even though he was as gentle as possible, Hua Manman still felt the pain.
Li Ji glanced at her tightly furrowed brow and suddenly spoke.
"Your sister gave birth to a prince."
Enduring the pain, Hua Manman replied, "Mhm, Father and Mother already told me."
Li Ji: "Do you want to go to the palace to see them?"
Hua Manman’s attention was immediately diverted.
She asked uncertainly, "Can I go see them?"
Li Ji: "Of course you can. You probably don’t know, but your sister has been extremely worried about you ever since you disappeared.
I heard her premature labor might even be related to your disappearance.
She would be very happy to see you."
Hua Manman was very surprised.
She never knew she held such an important place in Hua Qingqing’s heart.
’Could it be that a "plastic sisterhood" can bear the fruit of genuine affection?’
’That’s so unscientific!’
Then, Li Ji brought up something else.
"After learning you were missing, the people from the Zhong’an Bo Mansion and the He Family were worried sick. They searched Shangjing City back and forth several times.
Princess Anshun also had her own servants and guards search for you.
Feihua Zhenren sent out the Daoists from the Seven Stars Temple to help look for you as well...
I’m telling you all this so you know that everyone was very worried about you."
A warm feeling spread through Hua Manman’s heart.
Ever since her maternal grandparents passed away, she had been all alone in her world.
Even after she transmigrated, she didn’t feel much attachment or reluctance to leave, because she knew there was no one left in that world who cared about her.
But in this world, she had unknowingly gained so many people who cared for her.
She couldn’t help but smile.
She liked this world.
Hua Manman’s attention was completely captivated by Prince Zhao’s words, making her temporarily forget the pain from her wound.
Only when the dressing was changed did Li Ji end the conversation.
The next morning, Li Ji did something that shocked the entire mansion—
He ordered Gao Shan to send all the women in the rear courtyard back home within three days.
Gao Shan stood frozen, muttering in disbelief.
"The Prince didn’t drink during breakfast, did he?"
Li Ji stared at him, his expression blank.
"Do I look drunk to you?"
Gao Shan shuddered under his gaze and immediately snapped back to his senses.
He asked cautiously.
"When the Prince says ’send them back,’ does that mean sending them back to their families? Or sending them back to wherever they came from?"
Most of them had been given to Prince Zhao as gifts. How could a gift, once given, be returned? The Prince’s action was tantamount to throwing the givers’ reputation on the ground and stomping on it.
If he sent those women back where they came from, it would be no different from forcing them into a dead end.
Li Ji: "Send them home, of course."
Gao Shan secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
He was not a cruel person. Letting those women return home was naturally for the best; at least it would give them a way to live.
Gao Shan immediately asked, "Some of them are orphans with no parents or other family. What should be done with them?"
Li Ji frowned and replied impatiently.
"You figure it out."
Gao Shan’s expression was one of pure agony.
’I’m just a servant, how am I supposed to ’figure it out’?!’
In the end, with no other choice, Gao Shan could only go and ask Princess Consort Zhao for guidance.
Hua Manman was cracking melon seeds with Madam He.
Madam He had roasted these melon seeds herself. Besides the basic original and five-spice flavors, there were also caramel, walnut, and Sichuan peppercorn flavors, all roasted according to Manman’s request.
Madam He said with a laugh, "Only you could come up with so many different ways to eat melon seeds."
When Hua Manman saw Gao Shan arrive, she had Si Yun grab a handful of melon seeds for him.
Gao Shan accepted the seeds with both hands, smiled, and expressed his thanks before explaining the purpose of his visit.
After hearing him out, Madam He was stunned.
Prince Zhao was actually going to dismiss all the women in the rear courtyard!
’Doesn’t that mean Hua Manman will be the only woman by Prince Zhao’s side?!’
Hua Manman was also stunned for a moment.
’So that damn man wasn’t just teasing me last night.’
She spat out a seed husk and said calmly.
"Why don’t you go ask the women what they want? See if they want to go home or marry someone else.
Send back the ones who want to go home, and for those who want to marry, find them a suitable match.
If any of them refuse both options, send them to the country estate and have them learn to farm."
Gao Shan was dumbfounded. "L-learn to farm?"
’Those delicate women, whose skin was so tender you could practically squeeze water from it—how could they possibly farm?!’
Hua Manman didn’t think there was anything wrong with her approach at all.
She said slowly.
"Farming might be a bit hard, but it’s a way to make a living.
As long as they can grow crops, I can give them each two mu of land later so they can be self-sufficient.
Of course, if they have other interests or hobbies, as long as they’re reasonable and legal, they can mention them, and I’ll consider them on a case-by-case basis."
This arrangement was so thorough that even someone as shrewd as Gao Shan couldn’t find any fault with it.
He hurriedly replied, "This servant knows what to do now."
After Gao Shan left, Madam He fretted over her daughter.
"Oh, you. You’re just too kind-hearted. If it were the mistress of any other household, she’d be considered benevolent just for letting them live, let alone giving them so many choices."
Hua Manman: "The world isn’t easy for women. We should help them out when we can."
Madam He paused for a moment, then sighed.
"That’s true."
When the women in the Prince Mansion’s rear courtyard learned they were to be dismissed, their reactions varied.
The majority of the women agreed without a second thought.
They had been in the Prince Mansion for a year, and in all that time, Prince Zhao had never once even seen them, let alone favored them with his attention. If they were to remain, the only outcome would be to see their youth fade away and grow old in solitude.
Rather than let that happen, it was better to leave quickly and find a better path for themselves.
However, there were a few who were reluctant to leave.
They knelt on the ground and begged Gao Shan to put in a good word for them, pleading for Prince Zhao to let them stay.
Watching these beautiful young women weep so pitifully—a sight that would stir pity in anyone’s heart—made Gao Shan feel quite sympathetic.
But no matter how sympathetic he felt, he would not defy Prince Zhao’s orders.
