Chapter 77
Xu Lan has seen Zhao Chen.
When his father discussed the marriage with Marquis Yanping, she was not as dissatisfied as her mother. Although Zhao Chen had been raising him in the countryside, he was the eldest son of the Marquis' Mansion. Looking at Marquis Yanping's attitude, he personally organized a marriage for him, and obviously he still valued him. Besides, Marquis Yanping himself, he had already taken the position of Right Minister of the Ministry of Revenue and had real power. If it weren't for the suppression of the Duke's Mansion, with the status of Marquis Yanping, he would not have looked down on his own family, who had money but no real power.
But she was not very disappointed when a man who had disappeared in the capital for several years, so she had no hope for the marriage. However, after the palace change, the Zhao family rose with the rise, and she felt a little more anticipated, but she waited for news that Zhao Chen had already gotten married.
Xu Lan was inevitably curious about a man who almost became her husband. When she went out to visit, she accidentally heard people mention the matters of the Zhao family. Then she knew that Zhao Chen was shining in the yard and was awarded the title of the third-rank commander. The third-rank, Zhao Chen was only eighteen years old!
Xu Lan couldn't help but think more and more about what would happen if the marriage was done, but that was impossible. Zhao Chen had already married, and she could not marry him again. Xu Lan could only hope that Zhao Chen would not be good-looking, so that she would feel better. On the day the emperor returned to Beijing, she couldn't wait to go to the streets to see people, and could not wait to see an ugly man so that she would no longer feel sorry for the failure of the marriage. But she found that Zhao Chen was not ugly at all. There were so many guards around the emperor, none of whom could compare to him, like a shining pearl exuding a cold air, confusing people's minds.
After returning home, Xu Lan kept wondering why Zhao Chen fell in love with a country girl. She pretended to ask Guo Baoyan casually. Guo Baoyan praised Lin's beauty, and his eyes faintly revealed that Lin's beauty was more beautiful than her. Xu Lan didn't believe it, but today she saw it with her own eyes, she was jealous, jealous of Lin's beauty, jealous of her good luck, and even more hated that she had robbed her son-in-law!
So she wanted to teach her some lesson.
Xu Lan raised her chin slightly and waited for the other party to answer that a country bumpkin who had never seen much of the world would have to see how she dealt with it.
Aji frowned.
She always felt that whether some people can make friends can be seen in the first meeting. Just like the grandma Qin Shi, the best lady, they pretend to be kind, and occasionally an inadvertent look can reveal what they think, even their words. Some words that obviously fool children can succeed, are they just sure that she is superficial in her knowledge and can't hear the true falsehood?
Aji doesn’t understand where these people’s confidence comes from, so are the villagers all fools?
"Baozhu!" He grabbed Guo Baozhu who wanted to come forward to reason. Aju did not ask who the other party was. He looked at the little maid kneeling there and was still slapping, and explained calmly: "This girl, your maid ran out from the front with rashness. Ruyi was worried that something would happen to me, so she stopped her..."
"She stops people, so why do you want to push my maid on purpose?" Xu Lan interrupted coldly, glaring at Ruyi, "I don't understand the rules at all. This is the royal palace, not a place to show off your strength!"
Ruyi's expression remains unchanged, as if she hasn't heard it.
The girl has a very bad temper and is too arrogant. Aji smiled and asked back, "Since the girl knows that this is the royal palace, why do she allow her to run around? I just heard that she had an urgent matter to do it for the girl. I guess it was not intentionally breaking the rules, but Ruyi is my maid. Naturally, she is mainly based on my safety. It is understandable that she accidentally pushed her when she protects me. Otherwise, we would be able to blame the happy days of the royal palace, right?"
Xu Lan didn't expect Aji to be so good at speaking, and couldn't help but look at her in surprise.
Guo Baoyan took the opportunity to smooth things over and said apologetically to Aji: "Sister-in-law, don't be angry. My cousin is straightforward and always protects his shortcomings. He thinks that his own people are bullied. Are you okay? Did you get frightened just now?"
Aji didn't deal with Guo Baoyan many times, and it was only today that I knew why Guo Baozhu didn't like her. I really wanted to persuade her to fight, so Guo Baoyan should show everyone's identity before Xu Lan spoke. She was more or less a relative. No matter how arrogant Xu Lan was, she wouldn't make a fuss at the palace banquet. As for Xu Lan, thinking about her mother Su's vague hostility towards her, Aji couldn't help but think a little more.
Just now, Xu Lan's maid suddenly ran out. Was it intentional or intentional? If it was intentional, what kind of hatred between them would make Xu Lan want to harm the child in her womb?
Aji had no clue and decided to ask Zhao Chen clearly in the evening.
"Baozhu, let's go." If you don't want to stay with these cousins anymore, Aju looked at Guo Baozhu and said.
Guo Baozhu hugged Aji's left arm in a protective posture, deliberately circled around the side away from Xu Lan's two girls, and whispered: "Sister-in-law, be careful. The reputation of noble girls in Beijing sounds nice, but in fact they are of different quality. Some ladies do decent behavior, while others are very vulgar, and they don't understand the rules at all. They even rely on their loud voices to turn black and white."
Aji pursed her lips and smiled without looking back at Xu Lan's reaction. She gently pinched Guo Baozhu's hand: "Okay, don't be right and unforgivable. If it is reported, we seem to be petty." Because we couldn't determine whether we were intentional and had an argument, everyone was not good-looking. Xu Lan was arrogant and rude, but she didn't want to accompany her.
Guo Baozhu looked at her and said from the bottom of her heart: "Sister-in-law, you have a good temper and it's very comfortable to be with you. No wonder my aunt likes you so much. Only a girl like you can live with a cold person like him. If it were me, I would probably have to fight him every day!"
Zhao Chen is cold and bingbing?
Thinking of her husband's entangled sweet words in private, Aju only found it funny and asked back: "What kind of husband does Baozhu want to marry?"
Guo Baozhu's smile froze, and suddenly pointed to a hibiscus flower in the distance and said, "The flowers on my sister-in-law are beautiful, let's go there and see..."
Knowing that she didn't like to listen to such words the most, Aji smiled but said nothing, and walked slowly with her.
When the lunch banquet officially began, everyone moved to Princess Jing's main hall.
Although so many people were invited, the ones who could actually go to the hall to accompany Princess Jing for dinner were all the royal family members. Such nobles or wives as Madam or official wives sat in the small garden outside the hall. Everyone had similar identities and fewer rules, so they were leisurely and contented.
Aji sat obediently beside the lady. Except for others asking her, she basically said nothing. She always had a gentle smile on her face and a quiet and gentle look, which made many of her wife secretly applaud her. The lady was very satisfied with this. The grandson's wife was pretty good on the surface, especially when she replied to Princess An before, it must have been her man's instructions for her early instructions. She could say it word by word, and it was not useless.
The laughter of men came faintly in front of them. Not long after, a group of nannies and maids surrounded the wet nurse and carried the emperor Changsun back and went straight to the main hall. The female members sitting there all looked at the emperor Changsun until they could not see it, and they all started talking.
The lady turned her head and whispered to Aju: "The princess is so lucky to be a man in one fell swoop. Since you are here today, I hope you can get more joy so that you can give birth to a big fat grandson for me."
Aji lowered her head and pretended to be ashamed.
The banquet was over soon, and the guests were about to say goodbye. The lady of the priest stood up and was about to lead Aji out, when a nanny in her blue clothes suddenly came out of the main hall, looked around and headed straight for the priest.
Everyone stopped for the time being and looked at the madam curiously.
The blue-clothed nanny walked to Aji with a smile and said blessedly: "Are you the wife of Commander Zhao, the Marquis of Yanping's Marquis' Mansion?"
Aji seemed to have returned to the moment she had just walked into the palace. She was at a loss in the face of Princess Jing's kindness arrangement for the soft sedan chair, so she could only nod instinctively.
"The princess asked the wife to go to the inner hall to speak, and asked her to follow me." The blue-clothed nanny turned around with a smile, stretched out her hand to signal Aji to leave first.
The women's eyes looked at Aji were immediately filled with envy.
King Jing is not as powerful as King Rui, but he is the emperor's only legitimate son after all, and now he has a eldest grandson. I heard that Long Yan is very happy and has won many good things in the past month, and King Jing's mansion has become lively again. With so many female relatives in the yard, Princess Jing has only shown uniqueness to Aji. How can this honor not be seen differently?
Aji didn't have time to think so much. Under the complicated gaze of the lady, she followed the blue-clothed nanny to the inner hall. Ruyi was a little unsure whether to follow her, and Cuiyu quietly shook her head.
In the inner hall, Princess Jing was sitting on the couch in her dress, and was smiling softly at the emperor's eldest grandson in her arms. Princess Rui, Princess An, sat on her left and right heads, softly praising the emperor's eldest grandson. In addition to King Jing, Rui, the emperor also has two princes. The fourth prince is a palace maid. She is fifteen years old and will not open the palace after she chooses a concubine next year to get married. The fifth prince is the brother of King Rui, who is just nine years old.
When Aji came in, the three princesses looked up at her.
Aji kept in mind the rules taught by Madam Jiang, lowered her eyebrows and looked straight and didn't dare to look at the noble man. She bowed her knees and gave a big gift.
Princess Jing ordered the nanny beside her to support her, "Mrs. Zhao is pregnant, so these red tape will be spared."
Aji thanked him thanked him with gratitude.
Princess Jing introduced the two noble ladies beside her. Aji wanted to salute her. With Princess Jing exempted the gift first, they naturally both of them also exempted Aji's gift.
After sitting down, Aji quietly looked at the person in front of her. Princess Jing looked like she was in her twenties. She had just given birth to a child. Her cheeks were white and red, her complexion was very good, and she was gentle and dignified. Princess An Aji didn't look at her much. As for Princess Rui, she should be slightly two years younger than Princess Jing. The ruby wind-tail hairpin on her head made her look bright and imposing, and her smiling eyes seemed to be very happy.
Aji lowered her eyes and remembered Zhao Chen's words. Princess Rui had not given birth to a child for three years.
Aji didn't want to find out how true Princess Rui's joy was, but Princess Rui smiled and spoke to her, "I heard from the emperor's sister-in-law that during the Lantern Festival, the emperor and Mrs. Zhao had a relationship?"
Aji was slightly stunned, looked up at Princess Jing, saw her smiling and nodding, and stood up and said, "My wife is indeed lucky to have seen the princess once, but unfortunately she was unable to meet her on the spot. I would like to forgive her if she is rude."
Princess Jing raised her hand and signaled her to continue sitting, and said with a smile: "We were wearing regular clothes at that time, so the lady naturally didn't know her. This time, she invited her wife to come over to thank her in person. That night, the lady and Lord Zhao watched the lantern before us and waited for a long time. The prince and I should have taken the initiative to let the lanterns, but because I was a selfish person, she gave up Mrs. Lau."
Aji hurriedly said, "The princess is so polite. In fact, you should have the lanterns. The master said early in the morning that lanterns are for children to play and have fun. The princess is well deserved. It is a shameful thing for her to guess lantern riddles with her wife and husband."
"Mrs. Zhao is right, please don't be polite anymore, sister-in-law." Princess Rui smiled and interrupted the two of them's politeness, leaned over to see the emperor Changsun, "That's our Brother Fu'er's lantern. Brother Fu'er grows up quickly to see what kind of good lantern your father has won you."
Huang Changsun looked at her with his big black eyes, and a bubble spitted on the corner of his mouth.
Princess Rui felt soft and sore, but she started to praise her.
Princess Jing gently wiped the corner of her son's mouth and said to Aji: "I have been hanging that lamp in the house. Last month, I gave birth to him safely. The prince praised the lamp for good luck, and I feel the same way. Now that my wish is done, my wife is just pregnant with Liujia. If the wife doesn't dislike her, how can I send the lantern back to her?"
How could Aji dislike it? Not to mention that lantern with special significance, even Princess Jing can give her any gift, it is her honor.
She thanked her happily.
Princess Jing asked someone to take out the lamp, and gave Aji some baby nourishing supplements, so she left. It was not particularly warm, as if she saw her just to return the lantern.
Aji was very happy, holding the still brand new fox lantern in the carriage and couldn't let it go, but when the carriage arrived at the Marquis' Mansion, Aji slowly calmed down his joy. When he walked out of the palace, the lady's mouth kept pursing, as if she was not very happy.
"What did the princess say when she asked you to go in?"
The grandma sat upright on the couch and asked with a solemn look. In the eyes of others, it was a great honor for Princess Jing to invite Changsun’s wife to enter. The grandma also thought this was a good thing, but Princess Jing only called Changsun’s wife and did not call her. Perhaps Princess Jing had no deep meaning, but the grandma felt that her face was so hot that it seemed to be slapped on the face. She was the grandma of the Marquis’s wife. She should come forward if she had any kindness and rewards from the Marquis’s wife!
Aji didn't quite understand where the madam's anger came from, but she didn't do anything wrong, so she briefly mentioned the reason.
She looked calm, and the lady became more angry when she saw it, and she shouted loudly: "For such a big thing, why didn't you say to me in advance? Do you think I, an old woman, die?" Compared with the outdated King An, King Jing is a real dragon son. It is rare to have the opportunity to get in touch with King Jing's mansion. She was actually kept in the dark?
Ajise shrank, lowered her head, and told the truth: "Grandma, don't be angry. In fact, after I sent the post from the prince's house, I realized that the prince and the princess that night had met. My husband had never told me before. After receiving the post, he told me not to speak out, so that others would not think that I was willing to cling to the dragon and the phoenix, so I didn't dare to say more."
Changsun’s worries make sense. The lady was a little more angry, but she still warned with a calm face: “Of course I can’t mention it to outsiders, but I am your grandmother. If you have anything to say, you can’t tell me? I can still make your decisions. Unlike today, you went in without any preparation. Who knows if you said the wrong thing and offend the princess? Forget it, forget it this time. If you have anything to do in the future, do you have to tell me first. Do you remember it?”
"Remember." Aju whispered.
Seeing that she seemed to be frightened, the lady softened her voice for the long-term plan and sighed: "Don't blame my grandmother for saying so heavily. It's really because you have little experience in your young age and don't understand the twists and turns. Grandma wants to give you some advice while her head is still clear. When your grandmother is confused, you can stand alone. At that time, grandmother will feel at ease to go there, don't you think?"
She spoke sincerely, and Aji felt extremely hypocritical, and had to pretend with her: "Grandma, don't say that, I understand your kindness. In the future, I will definitely give my grandmother a prophet and ask my grandmother to make an idea."
The lady nodded with satisfaction, looked at her belly, waved her hand and said, "Okay, you've been tired for a day, go back and take a break."
Aji bowed and said goodbye.
Back at Wangzhuxuan, after simply cleaning up, Aji leaned against the kang and closed her eyes to recall the events of the day. Madam Jiang taught her to think about everything when dealing with people in the capital. She used to stay in the Marquis' Mansion and didn't feel anything. She encountered so many things when she went out today, so she couldn't help but stay lazy.
She had long understood Princess An's hatred. What she was puzzled was the hostility of Xu Lan and her daughter and the kindness of Princess Jing.
Rui Prince's Mansion.
The couple of King Rui and his wife went to the inner room together. Princess Rui first asked the maid to help her take off the cumbersome jewelry on her head, and then went to serve the drunken prince herself.
Tang Tao lay on the couch with drunken eyes, blinking from time to time, looking at the beautiful princess who served him diligently in front of him. When the maid left, he spoke in a hoarse voice: "It's noisy in front of me, I didn't see clearly the child. You see, you said that he looks like his father, really like him?"
Princess Rui helped the person up, stuffed him the pillow of the embroidered treasure flower to him, and then handed him the sobering tea. Then she chuckled and said, "How can the child who is only a full month old look like?" In her opinion, it was just King Jing who put a gold on his face, and in order to please the emperor, he really used all kinds of tricks.
I don’t know if it was because of sobering up tea, but Tang Tao’s eyes returned to Qingming. He looked at the princess and didn’t speak.
Whether the emperor's eldest grandson looks like it is not up to the emperor's brother. The father and the emperor have seen the child with their own eyes must have felt that he has rewarded countless good things. It doesn't matter, but the father's mind is important. In addition to his status as a legitimate child, he is better than the sick brother, but he loses to his descendants.
He liked this princess, otherwise he wouldn't have let his concubines take medicine for three years, but now, he doesn't want to wait anymore.
It is not good that the status of the emperor's grandson's mother clan is too low, so it is time for him to choose a concubine.
"By the way, I heard that the emperor's sister-in-law met a wife?" After making up her mind, Tang Tao thought of the rumors he heard during the meal.
When her husband asked, Princess Rui said everything about the backyard, and she also had some speculations: "The Zhao family is in full swing. Does the emperor's sister-in-law want to use this to win over the Zhao family?" Otherwise, why bother to just whisper for a long time with a broken lantern?
Tang Tao rubbed his forehead.
So what if I win over it? There is a ladder but it is not too enthusiastic. It is just an interesting story to hear it from my father.
However, Zhao family and Zhao Yunting occupy one of the six ministers of the tribes, and Zhao Chen takes charge of the Jinwu Guard to guard the imperial city, which is indeed worthy of winning.
The Zhao family seems to have no girls of the right age? In the Zhao family's in-laws...
Tang Tao glanced at his wife again and decided to send someone to inquire.
Soon, it was almost dusk, just as the people sent by Tang Tao whispered to the master to report the information they had inquired, Zhao Chen came out of the palace and quickly returned to the Marquis' Mansion. Today, his wife went out alone for the first time as a guest, and he felt uneasy. He had to see someone quickly and see her safe and sound in his own eyes before he could feel at ease.
"Aji, are you okay?" Zhao Chen stepped into the inner room without caring about changing his clothes.
Aji took a nap in the afternoon and was in good spirits. She was leaning against the kang to read a book. When she heard the movement outside the house and wanted to go downstairs to greet the people, the man had already walked in. Seeing that he was sweating profusely, Aji smiled and said, "It's okay..."
Chapter completed!