Hua Dingzong's mind raced.
If Prince Zhao didn't want Hua Manman, he would offer his eldest daughter instead.
In looks, figure, temperament, and talent, his eldest daughter was a cut above his second.
Surely Prince Zhao would be willing.
As for his eldest daughter's birth date and time, he could just find a way to alter them.
Just then, Hua Dingzong saw Prince Zhao's lips curl into a smile. His tone was inscrutable.
"Don't hit her again. She is, after all, my future nanny."
...
Hua Dingzong respectfully saw Prince Zhao and his entourage out the main gate of the Uncle's Mansion.
Even after they were long gone, Hua Dingzong remained in something of a daze.
Hua Manman had just thrown a fit and tried to kill herself right in front of Prince Zhao. Yet, not only did the prince show no anger, he acted as if nothing had happened and continued to discuss the wedding date with him.
'The mind of Prince Zhao is truly beyond the ken of ordinary men.'
Hua Manman's courtyard was named Youlan Residence.
She had changed her clothes by now and was being comforted in the arms of this body's mother, Mrs. He.
Mrs. He said, "Oh, my child, how could you be so foolish? If something was upsetting you, you could have told me! How could you lose hope and try to kill yourself by jumping into the lake? You're the precious child I carried for ten months. If you died, how could I possibly go on living?!"
A far cry from her earlier desperation, Hua Manman snuggled obediently in Mrs. He's arms and dutifully admitted her mistake.
"Mother, I was wrong. I'll never do it again."
The original owner of this body had been arrogant and domineering, so she wasn't well-liked in the family. In the entire Uncle's Mansion, only Mrs. He had protected her with all her heart.
Hua Manman felt a pang of guilt.
Her reckless actions had caused Mrs. He so much fear and worry.
Seeing her daughter so uncharacteristically obedient, Mrs. He assumed the slap from her father had frightened her, and her heart ached for her even more.
"Good girl. As long as you know you were wrong, that's what matters. Don't you worry. As long as I'm here, I won't let you suffer the slightest bit. You get some rest. I'm going to find your father right now and make him call off your engagement to Prince Zhao."
'Even if Mother doesn't bring it up,' Hua Manman thought, 'Prince Zhao is certain to call off this engagement anyway.'
The only reason Hua Manman had been chosen as a candidate for Prince Zhao's nanny was thanks to Princess Ningyang.
Princess Ningyang was the current Emperor's paternal aunt and also the maternal grandmother of Prince Zhao, Li Ji. She was a truly formidable figure.
She had hired a master to perform a divination for Prince Zhao and learned that the Prince's destiny was heavy with a malevolent aura. To suppress it, he had to marry a woman born on the fifth day of the fifth month—the Dragon Boat Festival—as a consort.
This Princess Ningyang was quite a character.
Adhering to the principle of "the more, the merrier," she had found four eligible, unmarried women, all born on the Dragon Boat Festival.
However, none of the four possessed a status befitting a match for Prince Zhao.
So, Princess Ningyang selected the two with the highest status to be appointed as nannies, while the other two were taken as lesser concubines.
Hua Manman happened to be one of the two chosen to be a nanny.
According to the plot of the original novel, after she created a scene by attempting suicide in the lake, Prince Zhao was supposed to cancel the engagement with her.
Afterward, Hua Manman and her older sister were to enter the palace together to attend the imperial selection for concubines.
Both sisters would be chosen and remain in the palace as the Emperor's concubines.
And that... was the opening of the main storyline of *Palace Intrigue*.
Just as Mrs. He reached the door, she saw Hua Dingzong stride into the room.
Wiping away her tears, Mrs. He demanded, "What are you doing here? Did you come to slap Manman again?"
Hua Dingzong had no desire to waste his breath on this simple-minded woman.
He strode directly to the bedside. Looking at his second daughter, one side of her face grotesquely swollen, he spoke in a rigid tone.
"The wedding date is set for the third of next month. Until then, you will stay in your room and recover. I will have people watch you. You are forbidden to take a single step out of Youlan Residence without my permission!"
Hua Manman was stunned.
'What wedding date?'
'Didn't Prince Zhao cancel the engagement?'
...
In this novel, the hierarchy of a Prince's Mansion's inner court includes one main wife, two nannies, ten lesser concubines, and an unlimited number of bed-servants, singers, and dancing girls.