Chapter 7 The past is gone and cannot be retrieved

"It's not your fault, Xue'er." Jiang Yu hugged her, his eyes full of pain.

Three years ago, it snowed heavily in the capital for half a month.

The snow grew thicker and thicker, and during that heavy snow, Yuxue and her brother's eldest brother died of illness.

The entire imperial city was in mourning.

The eldest prince Jiang Chen, as his name suggests, is as bright as the stars. He is a man of integrity and prudence. He was once the popular candidate for the crown prince of the Daji Dynasty.

However, just three years ago, he died suddenly of illness.

The imperial physician diagnosed that it was a sudden onset of disease and the blood was not flowing back to the heart. Everyone thought it was because he was too hardworking, going to the Shangshufang to handle government affairs for the emperor before dawn every day.

But Jiang Xue knew that if it weren't for her willfulness, Jiang Chen would not have died.

"Xue'er," Jiang Yu choked up several times, "It's not your fault. He is gone, and my eldest brother would not want to see you suffer again and again."

If he is wrong, how can he be innocent?

If he hadn't introduced that person to Xue'er, if he hadn't repeatedly urged Xue'er to bravely pursue the one she loved because of his unruly character, if he hadn't trusted that person too much -

My eldest brother will not suffer for this!

Let the past be buried in the snow forever and ever.

Jiang Xue burst into tears.

Jiang Yu whispered to comfort her while supporting her and slowly walked towards Changle Palace.

She had moved out of Changle Palace for several months. Before getting married, the princess had to live in Shunde Hall and be taught by the palace Shangyi to learn the wedding etiquette. She was also taught "Woman's Virtue" and "Woman's Etiquette" by the aunt. Three months later, she got married from Shunde Hall and had a grand wedding.

Everything in Changle Palace was the same as before. The palace servants in the outer courtyard were sweeping the place in an orderly manner, and when they saw the two men coming, they all bowed down.

"Your Highness, Second Prince, and Your Highness, Princess, may you be safe and sound!"

Before she got married, she went to the Emperor and Empress to ask for favors. The palace maids in the royal family were very dignified and they were afraid that bringing her to the Gu residence would make the prince consort feel inconvenient, and that the Gu family would think she was too spoiled.

So he asked the Emperor and Empress to allow the two of them to run a new house, and all the servants would be arranged by the Prince Consort.

Fudong and Xiaochun, who had served her personally before, returned to Changle Palace after she got married to be ready for her return to the palace.

"Get up. Where are Fudong and Xiaochun?"

"Your Highness, Aunt Dong came earlier to deliver the Queen's decree, and the two young ladies are preparing for the relevant matters in the inner hall."

"No need to pass the message, we can go in by ourselves."

Jiang Xue brought Jiang Yu into the hall.

"What decree did the Queen Mother issue?" Jiang Yu wondered.

"Nothing, I just wasn't used to the servants that the Gu Mansion bought, so I asked my mother to assign me some palace maids who were used to serving, to go back to the mansion with me in the evening."

"When I went to pay my respects to my mother this morning, I heard her worrying about you not bringing the palace maids with you. I hope you can figure it out yourself," Jiang Yu said helplessly.

"What's the matter with the prince consort's face? If he really respects you, honors you, and loves you, then it doesn't matter if you are a little more arrogant."

Seeing that she came back to ask for the person, it seemed that this prince consort did not respect, honor or love her very much.

Jiang Xue smiled and didn't want Jiang Yu to see too much. There were some things that she could handle on her own, so she shouldn't let her family worry about them.

"Brother, don't make fun of me. What about you? Have you met any woman you like in the past few years at the border?"

"Where did this woman from the border come from? You only know how to make up stories."

The two chatted and laughed as they walked, and the atmosphere gradually became relaxed.

"Your Highness is back!" A smart girl wearing a purple palace dress, holding a few ordinary servant clothes in her hands, was about to walk out of the palace. Her eyebrows were raised, and her voice was full of joy. It was Fu Dong.

"I've met Her Royal Highness the Princess! I've met... the Second Prince?! The Second Prince is back!!!"

Jiang Xue burst out laughing, "Look, my brother, you haven't been back for so many years, even Fu Dong can hardly recognize you!"

"Get up. Fudong is still the same, but he has grown a little taller. You still have a personal maid?"

"Your Highness, the Wu'an commander selected by Aunt Dong has arrived at Changle Palace to wait for orders. Xiaochun is preparing the list of people leaving the palace. She asked me to get some ceremonial clothes for the palace ladies for the gentlemen to change into."

"You asked your mother for Wu Anlang?"

Jiang Yu frowned. She always said nothing was wrong to comfort herself. But she made so many arrangements on the first day back in the palace. No matter how she looked at it, there must be something else going on.

"I will be walking around the palace more often in the future, and I also want to learn some business management skills, so I will have to go to the market more often," Jiang Xue patted the back of his hand and said:

"I saw that the servants of the Gu family were of average talent, so I mentioned this to my mother today."

She walked to Fudong's side and reached out to fiddle with the clothes in Fudong's hand.

"Fudong, take it first. We will leave the palace before dinner."

Fu Dong nodded and slowly walked out of the hall.

"Why are you in such a hurry? The Queen Mother must have wanted to keep you for dinner. I heard that the Prince of Dongyang had hunted a cage of mullet in the south and brought it back to the capital. I heard that she had told the Imperial Kitchen to prepare the stew early this morning."

"Let's save the Luogu soup for you, my second brother, to nourish your body," Jiang Xue smiled, "I have been pampered in the palace all day long, so I don't need such a nourishing soup."

Jiang Xue smiled so brightly that Jiang Yu was reluctant to ask more questions for fear of interrupting her joy.

"I haven't finished speaking just now. I originally asked my mother to give me only a few servants, but my mother felt sorry for me, so she specially assigned Wu Anlang to me." Jiang Xue said again.

Jiang Yu felt heavy-hearted, but knowing that she said this to reassure him, he could only pretend to smile and gently reached out to rub her hair.

"knew."

"Brother, will you accompany me to see these Wu'an Lang? With your skills, you can help me test them a little bit."

"Let's go."

"Someone come." Jiang Xue called the palace maid and asked Wu Anlang to change his clothes and wait in front of the hall.

The brother and sister drank a cup of tea, and then Fudong and Xiaochun came into the hall to report.

"Your Highnesses, the servants are ready. The young men of Wu'an are waiting for your orders in front of the palace."

Jiang Xue nodded, and the brother and sister looked at each other, then stood up and walked towards the front of the hall.

Ten strong young men stood side by side.

Jiang Xue asked, "Didn't the Queen Mother say that four or five would be enough?"

Xiaochun replied, "Aunt Dong said that the queen said that although quality is more important than quantity, these ten were carefully selected. The queen thinks they are all good. Since the princess has brought one, it doesn't matter if she brings one more, or four or five more..."

Jiang Xue didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Her mother was still worried about her, so she brought ten guards with her, plus palace maids and servants - wouldn't it be a huge disgrace to the Gu family if she brought such a large group of people back?

What she feared most was that the scene would be too big and would alert Gu Lintan.

What if these people's every word and action in the future causes the Gu family to be targeted - alerting the enemy, and what she has to do will become even more difficult.

Jiang Xue looked at Jiang Yu with pleading eyes. Jiang Yu nodded slightly and walked in front of the young men.

Jiang Yu stood in front of the ten people, looking at them one by one, and said to the first one on the left: "Start with you."

"Wu'anlang Chen Jin, greetings to the two princes!" The young man knelt on one knee and saluted with a clenched fist.

"Wu'an Lang Liu Heng greets the two princes!"

"Wu'an Lang Chen Xiu greets the two princes!"

Jiang Yu saw that he was somewhat similar to the first person, and asked, "You and Chen Jin?"

"Your Highness, Chen Jin is my elder brother."

Jiang Yu nodded and motioned to continue.

"Geng Zhi."

"Jiang Bin."

The group of people reported their names one after another. Jiang Xue really couldn't remember so many names, and seeing that Jiang Yu had other plans, she asked Fu Dong to move a chair for her to sit down.

"I know that Wu Anlang is a skilled fighter who is one in a hundred, so what I want to test now is not your skills."

The ten young men looked calm and collected, just waiting for Jiang Yu's order.

"I came back from the battlefield and understood a truth. On the battlefield, whether you can win or not depends on your skills only 30%, and the remaining 70% is luck."

"Today, I will try your luck as well."

Jiang Yu's eyes were cold.

"The luck of life and death."