The Empress gave birth to a Little Prince, the Empress Dowager and the Emperor were both delighted, and a general amnesty was declared.

"Panpan, you..."

Panpan had been guarding the little baby, tilting her head and staring at him on the left and on the left again, not looking away for even a moment.

Chun Nuan was getting ready to leave the Imperial Palace, but she still stayed there without moving.

"Second Aunt, you don’t need to mind me, I want to stay with my little imperial nephew." Panpan said, "I also want to play in the palace for two more days."

Chun Nuan froze for a moment: this child, could she be using the Little Prince as an excuse because she doesn’t want to go back to study?

"Panpan, don’t forget you’re studying. By then, your Uncle An and your cousin will have gotten ahead of you."

Panpan... oh no, she’d forgotten she still had to study medicine.

So she couldn’t stay and play with her little imperial nephew.

"Little imperial nephew, be good. Let your aunt go make some little pills for you. Once you wear them, you won’t get bitten by mosquitoes and bugs." Panpan looked at the tiny baby. "Imperial Sister-in-law, you should have the Imperial Physician keep an eye on him. If my little imperial nephew starts turning yellow, send someone to tell me."

"All right, I’ll listen to Panpan."

The Empress didn’t ask why, just nodded very docilely.

Chun Nuan also nodded.

Newborns turning yellow a few days after birth could be a big issue or a small one.

For Panpan to remember this at such a young age showed she was attentive.

In the end, Chun Nuan still brought Panpan back to the Xiao family.

The Xiao Family, upon hearing that the Empress had safely given birth to a Prince, all cried out that the Bodhisattva had blessed them.

The moment Chun Nuan entered the palace, everyone at home had been on edge with worry.

Mrs. Xu and Mrs. Xu (of the Xiao family) had both gone before the Bodhisattva to pray, asking the Bodhisattva to bless the Empress to deliver safely and bless Nuannuan to return safely.

Seeing Chun Nuan and Panpan return, their hearts finally settled down.

With all this to-ing and fro-ing, Chun Nuan was mentally and physically exhausted.

"Today’s lesson ends here. You all go read your books properly and learn to recognize herbs. I’ll come test you tomorrow."

The three of them nodded repeatedly in agreement.

Panpan was also heading back to the General Mansion.

"This child is far too lively."

Chunyu was a bit worried.

"She said she’d follow Second Aunt to study medicine, but look, all she remembers is playing. She hasn’t studied seriously at all." Chunyu had gone to check. In the study, Chun An and Muyang had been reading the whole time. "Guess what Panpan was doing?"

Chunyu said to Mrs. Xu.

"What was Panpan doing?"

"Sleeping."

"Sleeping?" Mrs. Xu was astonished, then laughed. "She’s still young. Besides, she’s a girl. Don’t be so strict with her."

"For a young girl, the freest time is when she’s still a daughter at home. Once she grows up and marries, as someone’s wife, someone’s mother, someone’s daughter-in-law, she has to be considerate in all directions, thinking of everything and everyone until there’s no self left." Mrs. Xu sighed. "Panpan has this blessing. Letting her have a bit more joy is also a good thing."

"Mother, she’s like this and you still indulge her?"

Chunyu was truly surprised. Mother used to be so strict with them.

"Panpan has her Princess status as a protective shield, and she’s the eldest young lady of the General Mansion. A girl like that won’t suffer much when she grows up." Mrs. Xu said, "Studying medicine doesn’t necessarily require bitter, hard reading. It’s a good thing if she wants to learn a bit. If she doesn’t, just let her be. Besides, Nuannuan as her teacher doesn’t even control her, what are you worried about?"

"Nuannuan spoils her a bit too much."

"If she’s not afraid of Panpan ruining her own reputation as a teacher, what are you still worried about?"

Chunyu... Sometimes her mother really didn’t make sense; she truly doted on the children too much.

Once Panpan returned to the General Mansion, she plunged headfirst into her own pharmacy.

Yes, the General Mansion also had a pharmacy belonging to Panpan.

"Miss, whatever medicinal ingredients you need, this maid will fetch them for you."

"No need, you all go out. I’ll do it myself."

Panpan first pulled out a pile of medicinal herbs and fiddled with them for a bit before stopping, then switched to another batch to fiddle with. After thinking for a while, she gave up again and changed them once more.

"What is she doing by herself in the pharmacy?"

When Chunyu heard she had come back and locked herself in the pharmacy, she was quite worried. "Go and have a look?"

"Madam, Miss won’t let the maids get close. She says she’ll handle it herself."

Chunyu sighed. Eight or nine times out of ten, this child was making some sort of pills for those people in the Imperial Palace again.

Who knew what she was making; anyway, whenever she was making pills for the palace, she would drive the servants out and lock herself inside to tinker on her own.

Sometimes Chunyu was afraid she’d get into trouble, but year after year, Panpan only became more opinionated, and seemed not to have caused any mishaps, so Chunyu gradually relaxed.

"I’ve got it. I’m really brilliant."

In the pharmacy, Panpan suddenly praised herself loudly.

The maids couldn’t help but laugh, and Chunyu also laughed despite herself.

Where would you ever see a child who praised herself like that?

When she praised herself she wasn’t shy in the least: "I’m so pretty, I’m so smart, I’m so brave..." She’d change the wording every time.

Chunyu was both amused and helpless: with a temperament like that, what kind of family could she marry into in the future without being disliked?

Then she thought again: she was a Princess.

The Empress Dowager, the Emperor, and the Empress all adored her. When she came of age she would surely have her own Princess Mansion, and then they’d simply recruit a Prince Consort. It really wouldn’t be much of a problem.

While Panpan was busy in the pharmacy, Chun Nuan was also in the Zhao Mansion pharmacy writing prescriptions.

When Panpan mentioned that the Prince might turn yellow, Chun Nuan kept it firmly in mind.

"Fetal jaundice" is a condition in which a newborn develops yellowing of the skin all over the body, the sclera, and dark yellow urine after birth, and it is related to pregnancy and fetal factors.

The reason Panpan brought this up must be that she’d noticed something and was deliberately giving the Empress advance warning.

So, this prescription of hers would definitely come in handy.

"Nuannuan, seeing you this busy really makes my heart ache."

Zhao Minghua hadn’t expected that after returning to the capital, Chun Nuan would be so busy she barely had time for him and the child.

"You’ll just have to bear with it a bit more," Chun Nuan said. "Now that the Empress has given birth to a Prince, I’ll probably be very busy these next few days."

"You still have to enter the palace?"

"Most likely."

Zhao Minghua let out a sigh.

"Are all those Imperial Physicians in the palace just eating for nothing?"

"I can understand them." Chun Nuan said, "First, their skills really aren’t up to much, and many problems they simply can’t solve. Second, they have to keep treatments very conservative and don’t dare take the slightest risk. If anything goes wrong, it’s a matter of losing their heads."

Back then her grandfather had been wronged to death in just such a way.

"And you’re not afraid...?"

The Imperial Physicians take their salaries; they ought to share the ruler’s worries, otherwise what are they there for?

They’re afraid of losing their heads, and you’re not?

"I’m afraid too," Chun Nuan said. "It’s just that I’m a bit more confident than they are. Taking precautions before something happens is also a form of self‑protection."

As long as things hadn’t reached the point of no return, if she intervened early and did things her way early, there would definitely be no problem.

So, this muddy water was something she was destined to wade into.

After Chun Nuan finished writing the prescription, her son immediately pounced on her.

Babbling "yi-yi-ya-ya" endlessly, Chun Nuan picked him up and laughed.

"So you’ve got opinions now? Do you miss your mother? Or do you want to talk? Or maybe you want Mother to cook something tasty for you?"