The carriage was luxurious and comfortable. Even the cushions were embroidered with intricate floral patterns. Jiuzhu reached out and touched it. It felt soft, like clouds and smoke.
She lifted a corner of the curtain and the prosperity of the capital city came into view.
The sound of horse hooves came from afar. The closer we got to the carriage, the slower the sound became. It must be the rider slowing down the horse.
"Whose carriage is that in front?"
"Your Highness, it seems that they are from Mingyue Palace."
Jiuzhu has had good hearing since she was a child. She leaned her head forward to look at the person who was speaking.
The man in brocade clothes riding on horseback raised his eyes and met her gaze.
Jiuzhu nodded slightly at him, and when she lowered the curtain and sat back, she did not forget to touch the phoenix hairpin on her temples.
The gold hairpin was still there, and she felt relieved. It was still worth its weight in gold.
The carriage went straight into the palace gate. When the guards learned that the person in the carriage was the future Princess Chen, they let her pass without even checking the carriage carefully.
After walking a little further, Jiuzhu got off the carriage, and the people from Mingyue Palace prepared a sedan chair for her.
As the daughter of a court official, almost no one dared to ride in a sedan chair in the palace. However, Jiuzhu had just returned to the capital, and her family treated her like a lost treasure and never took her to a venerable to be wronged. Naturally, she did not understand these things.
When she saw that the empress in the palace had prepared a sedan chair for her, she sat on it obediently and even praised the beautiful carvings on the armrests of the sedan chair.
The female official smiled kindly: "The queen also likes this pattern. She said that this kind of flower is lively and rich, and makes people happy when they look at it."
Jiuzhu thought to herself, she is worthy of being the most favored concubine of His Majesty, even her beauty is so outstanding.
Her aesthetic taste is as good as the Empress's, which shows that she is also a person of high taste.
She was originally a little nervous, but now she straightened her back and was filled with infinite confidence.
At the Ming family's residence, Chunfen was very worried about the young lady who had already entered the palace.
"Madam, the young lady doesn't understand the rules of the palace. What should we do if she displeases the noble concubine?"
"Don't panic." Shen looked through the accounts in the treasury: "Jiuzhu is the only daughter of my husband and me. If she really did something inappropriate, the palace will turn a blind eye. If the concubine is unhappy, then she can be unhappy."
That's not bad. Even if the two of them are tired of each other, maybe there's still room for improvement in the marriage.
In the Mingyue Palace, the incense burner was emitting a faint smoke. Concubine Su was leaning lazily on a carved soft chair, looking at the door without joy or anger. It was unknown what she was thinking about.
Until she heard footsteps outside the door, she sat up straight and gently stroked the jade bracelet on her wrist.
"My lady, Miss Ming is here."
Concubine Su raised her eyelids and looked at the girl who came in. After just one glance, she found it difficult to move her eyes away.
There is a kind of beauty that is the most rare among women in the world. This kind of beauty can make men feel pity and love them, and also make women feel likable.
I never thought that a conservative civil official like Ming Jingzhou could have such a rare daughter.
"Your humble servant pays respect to Her Majesty the Imperial Concubine." After Jiuzhu saw Imperial Concubine Su's face clearly, her eyes smiled like crescent moons.
She had seen this lady before.
"No need to be polite, sit down and talk." Concubine Su signaled the maid to help Jiuzhu up. After Jiuzhu sat down, she asked, "I heard that you were in poor health when you were young and were fostered in a Taoist temple. Are you used to it now that you are back in the capital?"
This was only the Ming family's statement to the outside world, but the current emperor knew the truth. The three brothers of the Ming family were exiled to a bitter cold place for the sake of the current emperor, so this matter has been kept strictly secret, and no one knows about it except the current emperor and the Ming family themselves.
"Everything is fine." Jiuzhu thought for a moment: "My mother and father treat me like a pearl, and my uncles and aunts also care about me from time to time..."
Talking about what happened after returning to the capital, Jiuzhu's eyes were filled with happiness: "It's just..."
Her eyes dimmed slightly: "I kind of miss my two masters."
Watching such a pair of bright eyes dim, Concubine Su Gui couldn't help but start to think about how to get those two masters back to the little girl, seeing how aggrieved the child was.
"If you miss them, I will help you bring them to the capital."
"Thank you, Madam, but they prefer to live in Lingzhou."
In fact, the two masters' original words were that the capital city was crowded with people and full of turbid air, making it unsuitable for health preservation.
Jiuzhu naturally wouldn't say that the two masters disliked the Feng Shui of the capital and didn't support people. A smart girl like her would definitely know what to say and what not to say: "The masters are all cultivators, and I don't want to force them."
"Lingzhou..." Concubine Su recalled that she had accompanied the emperor to this place a few years ago. The mountains and rivers there were picturesque, and the river was always filled with clouds and mist in the morning: "It is indeed a good place."
"Your Majesty." Jiuzhu looked at Concubine Su with curiosity: "I heard that you have a precious painting here. I wonder if I have the honor to see it?"
Jiuzhu is a little excited to learn what precious paintings look like even though she has grown up like this.
Concubine Su paused as she was holding the tea. Appreciating paintings was just a pretext for inviting people into the palace. Who would take it seriously?
Who among the ladies of the court didn't know that she had no interest in poetry, calligraphy, or painting?
She looked at Jiuzhu's expectant eyes, then slowly turned to look at her personal maid: "Go to my private storehouse and take out the famous painting."
After two sticks of incense were burned, the palace maid brought the scroll and carefully opened it in front of Jiuzhu.
Jiuzhu stared at the painting carefully, trying to admire the magic of the famous painting.
What is this thing in the painting?
It is true that plum blossoms are in full bloom in the cold winter, but why are there butterflies flying around?
It's so cold, why is the cat sleeping on the snow? Aren't cats afraid of the cold?
But this is a famous painting, and there can be no mistakes in famous paintings. If there are mistakes, it must be because I fail to appreciate it properly.
Jiuzhu looked at the painting, then secretly glanced at the noble concubine who was admiring the painting with her, considering how to start the conversation so as not to embarrass herself in front of such a beautiful concubine.
"This cat is very cute and smart." Jiuzhu said with gritted teeth.
"Yes." Concubine Su took a closer look, "The eyeballs are also drawn round."
The female official looked at the painting carefully. The round black spots were not eyes, but balls of hair on the cat's face.
"The plum blossoms are well painted. Even in such a cold winter, they can attract butterflies. This shows how bold the painter is in his brushwork."
"Well, you are right. The bamboo shoot under the plum tree is also well drawn. It looks fresh and tender. It must taste good."
"And the snow." Seeing that the Royal Concubine also agreed with her, Jiuzhu suddenly realized that this was the legendary talent. Although she knew nothing about this painting, she could still express the essence of the painting in one sentence.
What does this show?
This shows that she is a rare talent in painting.
"What's wrong with the snow?" Concubine Su asked curiously.
"As the saying goes, auspicious snow means a good harvest." Jiuzhu affirmed, "This painting clearly says that there will be good omens in the coming year. The queen is really beautiful and kind-hearted like a fairy. Even the paintings she collected are looking forward to the good scenery of the coming year."
Concubine Su chuckled: "What fairy? Miss Ming is joking."
The civil officials in the court all loved to say in private that she was a seductive concubine. This was the first time that she was praised as a beautiful and kind-hearted fairy.
"Your Majesty, I am not joking." Jiuzhu repeated very seriously: "Your Majesty is a good person like a fairy, and your child is a fairy boy."
"He is so old, how can he be called a fairy boy?" Concubine Su laughed again. She looked at Jiuzhu tenderly and said, "I heard that your maiden name is Jiuzhu. How about I call you Jiuzhu?"
"All is up to you, Your Majesty." Jiuzhu nodded: "Your servant can do whatever you want."
"The word 'Zhu' is good." Concubine Su took Jiuzhu's hand and sat down: "You are very lucky. I think your parents love you like pearls and regard you like jade, so they gave you this name."
Literary officials in the capital have always loved elegance and grace. When naming their children, they like to quote from classics and cannot tolerate any vulgarity.
The name Jiuzhu is both elegant and vulgar, which shows the parents' anticipation and joy for the arrival of this child.
"Your Majesty is so amazing." Jiuzhu looked at Concubine Su with admiration. Just from the name, one could tell how much her father and mother loved her.
The masters said that when they found her in the wilderness, the swaddling clothes were made of patchwork fabrics, some good and some bad, but they were sewn very finely.
They often told her that her parents were expecting her to be born, but it was a trick of fate that separated her from her parents.
At that time, the court was in turmoil, and countless officials and generals were dragged into the conspiracy because of the struggle between the princes. Some families were destroyed, some were separated from their wives and children, and some were even killed and their entire families implicated.
The masters were moved and since there were no notices looking for baby girls in the city, they adopted her.
On the cloth strip sewn inside the swaddling cloth were her birth date and name. The master told her, "I guess your parents were in a hurry and entrusted you to someone else, but they were afraid that they would not remember your name and birth date, so they specially prepared this."
So she knew from a young age that she was brought into this world by love and was not a superfluous person.
Ming Jingzhou stood respectfully in Yu's study. Even though His Majesty looked at him with particularly friendly eyes today, it did not make him feel good.
"Mingqing," the emperor said in a long voice, "You are a pillar of the court, and you raised a young man who is a talented person. I believe your daughter will be as outstanding as you and your wife."
"Your Majesty, my daughter grew up in the mountains and has no knowledge of etiquette. She is not fit to be a royal wife."
"What a coincidence! Our Xiaowu is also a free-spirited person who doesn't mind etiquette." The emperor's smile became more obvious: "It can be seen that they are a perfect match."
Ming Jingzhou: “…”
Isn't this an insult? Who is the perfect match for Prince Chen?
"Mingqing, there is no need to be so humble. I have already decided that your daughter will be my daughter-in-law." Emperor Longfeng put down his brush, walked in front of Ming Jingzhou, and patted him on the shoulder gently: "If you continue to be so humble, I will think that you look down on our Yun family bloodline."
"I dare not." Ming Jingzhou slowly bowed, his face pale.
Emperor Longfeng laughed out loud: "I was just joking, my dear, there is no need to be nervous. We are relatives, so there is no need to be so reserved in private."
Ming Jingzhou wanted to express his condolences to the eighteen generations of the Yun family, the royal family, but he didn't dare to say it out loud.
Knowing that continuing to speak would only anger the emperor, Ming Jingzhou had no choice but to leave.
After ordering the eunuchs to escort Ming Jingzhou out of the palace, Emperor Longfeng tilted his head and asked the eunuch next to him, "Did Mingyue Palace send someone here just now?"
"Your Majesty, just now the Imperial Concubine sent someone to borrow a painting from Your Majesty. I saw Your Majesty was discussing matters with Lord Ming, so I took the initiative to get a painting for Your Majesty."
Emperor Longfeng was not angry, but felt touched. It seemed that his beloved concubine was very satisfied with this marriage. In order to get along well with his future daughter-in-law, she even took the initiative to appreciate calligraphy and paintings.
"Which picture did you take?"
"A masterpiece of the previous dynasty, "Four Seasons of Wild Plays"."
"Yes." Emperor Longfeng nodded with satisfaction. This painting was originally created to satirize some people who paint without knowing the changing of seasons and who mix up the objects in the painting. The painting is simple and easy to understand, weird and interesting, and very suitable for beginners to appreciate.
"very good."
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