Jiuzhu thought that His Highness would take her to some fancy music hall, or some favorite place of talented men and beautiful women, but unexpectedly His Highness took her to a bridge.
There were a few lonely red lanterns hanging on the bridge, and few people passed by, making it very quiet. On the river, lights drifted slowly, like lazy shooting stars.
"Your Highness, what are you taking me to see?" Jiuzhu looked around curiously.
"Hoo, here they come." The King pointed to the bridge below, where a wooden boat was slowly going upstream, with two people on board. Jiuzhu noticed that the two people were holding fishing nets.
"We go fishing on the Lantern Festival. Are there any fish in this river?" Jiuzhu looked around curiously.
Then she saw the two men using fishing nets to catch the lights floating on the river one by one.
Jiuzhu: “…”
"Every year, many people release lanterns on the river, causing countless garbage to float on the river. Later, Jingzhao Yin came up with a solution and sent people to secretly pick up the lanterns downstream of the river." Prince Chen did not tell Jiuzhu that he had also released river lanterns once when he was young and ignorant.
"Sincerity is the key to success. Sincerity is the key to success." Jiuzhu pinched her fingers to perform a Taoist ritual: "God will understand everyone."
Then the two of them just lay on the side of the bridge and watched the lanterns for a long time.
Ever since he found out that his lantern was being picked up by others, Prince Chen developed a hobby of watching other people's lanterns being picked up. Every year he would stand in a secluded place and watch people picking up lanterns, so the other brothers all thought that he did not want to join in the excitement of the Lantern Festival.
"It's almost midnight." Prince Chen took out two red ropes from his sleeves, took Jiuzhu to a tree, and handed one of the red ropes to her: "Here, tie this to the tree."
Jiuzhu followed his example and stood on tiptoe to tie the red rope to the branch: "Your Highness, what does this mean?"
"It means peace and safety, no illness or disaster." Prince Chen let go of his hand, looked at the red rope that tied the two together, and smiled: "Let's go, I'll take you home."
As soon as he finished speaking, he saw a pair of lovers standing under the tree, kissing each other, with a red rope tied in a crooked way.
"My dear, we are tied together with a red rope, and we will never be separated again."
"Of course, you are the only one in my heart."
Prince Chen coughed and said, "Let's go. These two must be outsiders who don't understand the customs of the capital."
"Oh." Jiuzhu turned around to look at the lovers, nodded slowly, and chose to believe what His Highness said.
Only the dragon guards following behind the two of them felt like they couldn't hold back their laughter.
Who among the locals in Beijing doesn’t know that during the Lantern Festival, lovers tie a red rope together to represent a long-lasting love that will never be separated?
The easier it is to lie now, the more embarrassing it will be when you are caught later.
Men are always in high spirits when they are telling lies, but they look around and talk about other things when they are exposed.
Prince Chen held Jiuzhu's hand and walked slowly, but they still reached the door of Ming's house. He asked the dragon guard to knock on the door, and only let go of Jiuzhu's hand when the door of Ming's house opened: "Go back and go to bed early."
Jiuzhu nodded obediently, lifted her skirt and stepped onto the stairs. Prince Chen stood there looking at her.
"Your Highness." Jiuzhu raised the puppy lamp in her hand: "Thank you for the lamp, Your Highness. I like it very much."
Prince Chen looked down at the lamp in his hand and said, "I like this lamp, too."
Although she walked several streets and failed to buy it, he bought it.
Maybe this is what it means to be in sync with each other.
Jiuzhu walked into the yard with the lantern in her hand and saw her father, mother and brother all sitting there. They all turned to look at her and asked, "Are you back?"
She was so scared that she took a step back: "You all are back?"
"Come and sit down." Shen glanced at the lamp in Jiuzhu's hand and waved for her to sit down next to her.
"Did you have fun playing with His Royal Highness Prince Chen?" She touched her daughter's hand and felt relieved to find that she was warm and not cold.
"Happy." Jiuzhu nodded: "Halfway through the journey, Your Highness and I met His Highness Prince Huai, and he said something strange."
She repeated what King Huai had said to her family.
"Prince Huai looks innocent but is actually a careful person. You can only take his words half as true." Ming Jingzhou said, "Prince Huai's wife is the daughter of Wu Mian, the Minister of Works. Although Wu Mian has some small thoughts, he is not a bad person and can be considered a good official. When you interact with Princess Huai in the future, as long as you don't talk about government affairs, you don't have to worry too much about other things."
"Father, you mean that Prince Huai wants to..." She lowered her voice: "Want to sit in that seat?"
"How many princes don't want to?" Ming Jingzhou analyzed several princes and princesses for Jiuzhu: "The fourth prince lost power, and the one who benefited the most was the eldest prince. In the past, the fourth prince was famous for his talent. Although Prince Huai was the eldest son, he was not as popular as the fourth prince."
"He is telling this to the Prince of Chen now, not because he really wants to follow the Prince of Chen's lead, but because he is jealous of the favor of the Holy Empress Su." Ming Jingzhou shook his head: "Compared with the previous generation of princes, this generation of princes is far inferior."
As soon as Su was crowned Queen, the eldest prince showed his goodwill to Prince Chen. This was too eager and too hypocritical.
Unless Prince Chen is a fool, there is no way he would be fooled.
"What does the King say?"
"His Highness didn't say anything. He took me out to play." Jiuzhu remembered that after leaving the wine shop, His Highness told her not to pay too much attention to the eldest prince. She couldn't help laughing: "His Highness doesn't seem to like to pay too much attention to Prince Huai either."
Ming Jingzhou felt relieved. His Majesty was now young and strong. He was afraid that Prince Chen would have other inappropriate thoughts because Su was crowned as queen.
"It's getting late, let the child go to bed." Shen said, "In the past few days, relatives and friends have been sending cosmetic gifts one after another. If you don't sleep well now, you will have no energy to wake up tomorrow."
As the wedding drew closer, she felt empty inside. She checked the dowry list again and again, worried that something might be left out.
Even in my dreams at night, I was worried about my daughter's marriage.
She...can't bear to leave.
It was already late when Prince Chen returned to Zhangliu Palace. The eunuch helped him take off his outer robe and asked, "Your Highness, is it lively outside the palace tonight?"
"It's lively." Prince Chen took off the jade crown that held his hair together and said, "The sparks are shining brightly, quite interesting."
As he was washing his face, he thought of the lamp he brought back: "Please take good care of the lamp I brought back and don't damage it."
"Please rest assured, Your Highness. We have packed everything." Seeing that he looked fine, the eunuch said boldly, "Your Highness is crowned as the Queen today. All the servants in the Zhangliu Palace are very happy. We would like to pay our respects to Your Highness. See..."
"Who mentioned this?" Prince Chen's face darkened. He looked up at the eunuch, his eyes as dark as night. "Five princes live in Zhangliu Palace. All the palace ladies come to pay their respects to this prince?"
The young eunuch was so frightened that he fell to his knees.
"Come here, find out who started this." The Prince of Chen sneered, "After you find out, hand it over to the Palace Department and report it to the Chief Eunuch Liu Zhongbao. I don't want to get involved in these trivial matters."
Ever since my father ascended the throne, no one dared to say anything even if he walked around the harem with a swagger. Would he lack the courtesy of a few palace servants?
Early the next morning, what happened in Zhangliu Palace reached Liu Zhongbao's ears.
"Your Highness, the Prince of Chen is such a noble man, why would he care about the flattery of these things?" Liu Zhongbao sneered: "It has come to this, and you are still not content, and you all want to follow in the footsteps of the Zheng family?"
"Those who don't know any better don't need to stay in the palace." Liu Zhongbao raised his hand and said, "Deal with them according to the palace rules. Don't let any blood be shed. Your Highness is getting married soon. Don't let these bastards dirty the palace."
"Eunuch Liu, a maid from the clothing department was missing last night."
"Oh?" Liu Zhongbao rubbed his temples, and immediately a young eunuch came forward to serve him attentively.
"What's your name? Where did you serve originally?"
"This maid's name is Hongmei. She was originally a senior maid of honor by Zheng's side."
"Hongmei?" Liu Zhongbao had some impression of this palace maid: "How did she die?"
"He ate something by mistake and wailed for half an hour before he died."
"Then bury her. Don't make any noise. Hang a two-foot red cloth in her room to avoid bad luck." Liu Zhongbao sighed with an ambiguous tone, "In this harem, those who betray their master will never have a good ending. All of you should remember this. No matter which master you follow, you should serve him well. When the master humiliates the servant, the servant dies. When the master is happy, the servant is happy. When the master is sad, the servant is worried. If anyone forgets this, there will be trouble for you."
"Thank you for your teachings, eunuch." The young eunuchs were silent.
"Little Li, Little De." Liu Zhongbao pointed to the two eunuchs and said, "You two should accompany Zajia to see how the Qilin Palace is being cleaned up. His Royal Highness Prince Chen is getting married soon, and there can't be any mistakes."
Qilin Palace is where the princes live. Since the founding of Dacheng, five princes have lived here, and each of them is deeply loved by the emperor.
If it weren't for the beloved Qilin, how could there be the name Qilin Palace?
When you step into Qilin Palace, you will find that every blade of grass and every tree inside is new, the door porch and pillars are freshly painted, and the best incense is used to repel mosquitoes and ants every day.
Because Prince Chen specifically stated that there should be no incense in the house, all the rooms were filled with fresh flowers and fruits, which were replaced every three hours, so the entire Qilin Palace was filled with the fragrance of flowers and fruits.
Red candles, red silk, red lanterns, and even every palace servant serving inside were carefully selected. Liu Zhongbao wiped every corner carefully with a white silk handkerchief, and finally nodded with satisfaction: "Not bad, everyone cheer up, if anyone messes up, don't blame me for being merciless."
"Eunuch." A young eunuch walked up to Liu Zhongbao and whispered, "Eunuch, the Fourth Prince's wife sent a message saying that she wants a maid who serves in Qianyi Pavilion."
Liu Zhongbao shook his whisk and said, "Since it is the Fourth Prince's wife who asked for it herself, I must give her face and send her over."
He remembered that Zheng had a maid named Bai Shao by her side, and this might be the person the Fourth Prince wanted.
Bai Shao was standing outside Zhangliu Palace carrying a package. She straightened her half-worn clothes and walked into the gate of Zhangliu Palace with her head lowered.
In the outer courtyard, several princes were doing their own things, and when a palace maid came in, no one paid any attention to her.
"Your Highness." An eunuch hurried past her and walked quickly to the side of Prince Chen: "Your Highness, the Palace Department says they don't have what you want."
"If you don't have it, make it now." Prince Chen said with a sigh, "It must be done before my wedding."
Bai Shao came back to her senses in a daze. The wedding of Lord Ming and His Royal Highness Prince Chen would be held in a few days.
"Wait a minute." Prince Chen called the eunuch back and said, "Go to the palace for me and deliver this to the Lord of Ming County."
Bai Shao looked around and saw that what His Royal Highness Prince Chen was holding seemed to be...
Is it a letter?
"Your Highness, there is only a letter, nothing else?"
"Why are you wasting so much time talking?" Prince Chen frowned slightly. "If the county magistrate wants to write back, you should wait at Ming's house. When she finishes writing, she can bring the letter back to me."
After all, the servants in Zhangliu Palace were not as good as the attendants and servants he was used to.
Tsk, you have no sense at all!
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