Chapter 540 - 519 First Update
"Commandery Princess, there’s no one here." The small peasant’s courtyard was in disarray, with fallen farm tools, racks, and a few chickens flying atop the walls.
The rebellion instigated by the Wen Family had long since driven the villagers near the Imperial City to flee with their families. The occupants of this house had left in a hurry; the several rows of vegetable seedlings outside revealed that they were a diligent and honest peasant couple, with even a child among them—a wooden horse lay toppled inside the door, and the simplicity and sturdiness of the tables and chairs inside made them seem quite robust.
"Commandery Princess, I found some clothes," said Nanny Yun as she brought out a bundle from the inner room, clearly something the farming household had not managed to take with them. Nanny Yun selected a few clean pieces and glanced at her own Commandery Princess, feeling that this plan might not work after all.
Standing inside the main room, Zheng Nianru found that this place, which she had imagined as a worry-free enclave for living, differed somewhat from her expectations. The tables and chairs lacked ornamentation, with even the edges being rough to the touch, somewhat prickly. Zheng Nianru stood there in a daze—could it be that the life she was determined to lead in her past life was actually like this?
Nian Xia thought the Commandery Princess wanted to sit, so she took a handkerchief and carefully wiped down one of the chairs until it was clean.
"Commandery Princess, you must be tired. Why not rest here a while?" suggested Nian Xia. Although they had experienced several good years, they had also known times of clothing shortages and hunger within the Qishun Building, sometimes unable to light a fire and forced to eat cold buns as children.
Zheng Nianru turned to look at the clothes in Nanny Yun’s hands, thinking that since she had entertained the idea, she might as well give it a try to see just how disheveled she could be and to reflect on how ridiculous her thoughts from her previous life were.
If she could not bear it herself, let alone Zheng Congyuan who had always lived a life of luxury.
"Let me have a look—" As Nanny Yun was about to put the bundle away, convinced that her Commandery Princess would never wear those clothes, how could the princess, who was picky even about wearing silk, tolerate such coarse garments?