"What book?" Prince Chen looked at the walnut kernels piled up into a small hill. He picked up two walnut kernels and threw them into his mouth, then moved closer out of curiosity.
Jiuzhu moved aside to make room for Prince Chen to sit. "I don't know. I haven't opened the book to see it. There are only two little people on the cover."
Prince Chen did not take it seriously and summoned the palace maids and eunuchs to help the two of them wash up.
The palace maids were making the beds, and the two sat side by side to soak their feet, even the footbath basins were next to each other. The Prince turned his head to look at Jiuzhu's basin, stretched out his wet feet, and placed them on the back of Jiuzhu's feet.
"Your Highness?" Jiuzhu turned to look at him.
"Let me try the water temperature here."
It turns out that a girl's instep is much more tender and softer than a man's.
"There's no difference, it's all the same." Jiuzhu imitated the King Chen and put her feet into his basin. The King Chen raised his big toe, which tickled her feet and made them itch.
"Itchy." Jiuzhu lifted her feet, wiped them, and climbed onto the bed: "Your Highness, this bed is really big."
Prince Chen touched his nose uncomfortably and waved away all the palace servants in the room: "This is the bed for the two of us to sleep on, of course it's big."
Yun Duqing, relax, this is your princess, the princess who will eat, sleep and live with you in the future.
"Your Highness." Jiuzhu sat cross-legged and picked up the picture book that he had thrown aside: "Your Highness, throw the book aside."
"Why is there a book on the bed?" Prince Chen took the book. He wondered if the maids in Qilin Palace would be able to do anything. Who would have the mind to read a book on the wedding day?
He followed Jiuzhu's example, sat cross-legged, opened the book carelessly, and stared at the contents on the screen, without reacting for a long time.
"Your Highness, what is painted on it?" Jiuzhu poked his head over curiously.
"This is not suitable for a little girl to read." The Prince of Chen blocked her head with his hand and closed the book stiffly: "There is nothing interesting to read."
"It's nothing good to see, but at least let me have a look." People are like this. The more someone close to you doesn't want you to see something, the more you want to take a look at it.
"What are you reading? Aren't you sleepy after a tiring day?" Prince Chen hurriedly threw the book under the bed, pushed Jiuzhu onto the bed, and pulled the quilt over himself and her head: "Go to sleep."
"I'm sleepy." Jiuzhu stuck her head out from under the quilt, grabbed the edge of the quilt with both hands, and whispered, "But I can't sleep."
"Why?" Prince Chen hesitated for a moment, reached out his hand from under the quilt, and pressed the quilt behind Jiuzhu to prevent the cold wind from blowing in and making her back cold.
"I have slept alone since I was a child. This is the first time I share a quilt with someone. I am not used to it." Jiuzhu glanced at the King of Chen: "But don't worry, Your Highness. I sleep very well. Master said that the same posture I lie down in at night will be the same posture when I wake up in the morning. I am very obedient."
Seeing her timid look, Prince Chen sighed, lifted the quilt and prepared to get out of bed.
"Your Highness, where are you going?" Jiuzhu grabbed his wrist.
"Go to the cupboard and get a quilt." Prince Chen looked down at her hands and yawned, "Lie down and have a good sleep."
"No need." Jiuzhu dragged Prince Chen back into the quilt, and Prince Chen found that he was unable to struggle.
"You're not used to it now, but it should be fine if you sleep a few more nights." Jiuzhu patted the blankets on the two of them: "Husband and wife should sleep together."
Prince Chen did not tell her that the prince and princess each had their own courtyards and did not live in the same courtyard every day.
Her eyes were pure and innocent, and she was ignorant of matters between men and women. In his heart, the Prince was struggling fiercely between being a beast and being worse than a beast.
"Your Highness." Jiuzhu put her arms around his neck and said softly, "Go to sleep."
Prince Chen took a deep breath and said, "Are you sure you want to hold me while sleeping?"
"Isn't it the wedding night that you should sleep in each other's arms?" Jiuzhu was puzzled: "Is the posture wrong?"
"Before you got married, the nanny sent by the Ministry of Rites told you this?"
Jiuzhu recalled carefully: "Mammy said that some things are for others to learn. The Queen treats me like her own daughter. If there is anything I don't understand after the wedding, Her Highness will teach me."
That really treats you like a dear daughter, and I am a cheap son-in-law picked up from outside.
"Did Madam say anything wrong?" The smile on Jiuzhu's face gradually faded, and she loosened her hand on Prince Chen's neck.
"She's right." Prince Chen sighed deeply in his heart and held her in his arms: "Go to sleep. I will teach you slowly every night from now on."
As for today...
Seeing the girl's charming face smiling again, he decided to be worse than a beast for once.
In less than two incense sticks of time, the girl who had been saying she couldn't sleep, had fallen asleep with even breathing.
Prince Chen moved the arm that was pressed by her. The stories in the novels about sleeping with the arm as a pillow all night were all false. In just a moment, his arm began to feel numb.
He cautiously pulled his arm away, and when he saw the girl frown uncomfortably, he immediately gave up the struggle.
Looking at the auspicious embroidery of dragons and phoenixes on the bed curtains, he leaned over, kissed her gently on the forehead, and slowly fell asleep.
When he woke up the next morning, he was lying on the edge of the bed, and Jiuzhu was lying on the bed at an angle with her head resting on his chest, taking up most of the bed.
He bent his arm and it was fine, not broken, and he could still use it normally.
It was already bright outside the window. Prince Chen took Jiuzhu's hand that was stretched outside the quilt and gently tucked it back into the quilt.
Although he only occupied a small half of the big bed, he still didn't want to get up on this quiet morning.
Outside the door, the palace maids and eunuchs had changed the warm water in their hands several times, and no one dared to make a sound.
"Miss Chunfen." The chief eunuch of Qilin Palace walked over and asked Chunfen in a low voice: "I don't know what the princess usually avoids. Please give me some pointers, so that we can please the masters in the future."
After yesterday's wedding, everyone knew that the prince valued the princess. Everyone in the Qilin Palace was on high alert, fearing that the princess would be unhappy.
"Don't worry, Eunuch Yang. When the princess is at her parents' home, she is very gentle. As long as everyone does their job well and does not violate palace rules, the princess will not be willing to punish you." Chunfen smiled politely. As the first-class maid that came with the princess' dowry, all the palace maids in Qilin Palace had to respect her.
"Yes, yes, the young lady is right, we are all loyal and dedicated people." After just a few sentences, Manager Yang knew that the young lady next to the princess was not someone who could be easily fooled.
Nearly half an hour later, there was finally some movement in the house. Manager Yang and Chunfen politely walked to the door and invited each other to come in first.
Finally, the two of them walked in at the same time with satisfied smiles on their faces.
"Congratulations to the prince and princess on their wedding."
"Everyone, get up." The Prince of Chen looked unusually gentle, and said to everyone, "The servants of Qilin Palace will all receive an extra two months' salary.
He saw Chunfen standing next to Yang Zongguan and knew that she was the head maid among Jiuzhu's maids. "Miss Chunfen is the princess's attendant. She will be treated according to the rules of a first-class maid in the future. Yang Yidu, go to the Palace Department today and register Miss Chunfen as a sixth-rank female official and bring back her badge."
"As you command." Yang Yidu looked at Chunfen with envy. It was good to follow the right master. In a blink of an eye, she was promoted from a maid in the Minister's Mansion to a sixth-rank female official. He entered the palace at the age of thirteen, and now he is only a sixth-rank steward.
"Thank you, Your Highness, for your great kindness." Chunfen of course understood what a sixth-rank female official represented, and she prostrated herself before the Prince of Chen with a great salute.
"You are the princess's personal maid. If you don't have an inner court official rank, others will look down on the princess." The prince made no secret of the fact that he gave her a female official rank just to flatter Jiuzhu: "You don't need to thank me, just serve the princess well."
"Yes." Chunfen glanced inside the bed curtains and saw the young lady moving. He whispered, "My Lord, the princess doesn't like too many people to serve her when she gets up."
"Yang Yidu will stay with you, everyone else leave." Prince Chen straightened his sleeves, opened the bed curtains and sat on the edge of the bed. Seeing Jiuzhu sitting with sleepy eyes and hugging the quilt, he stretched out his hand and pinched her cheek: "Are you awake?"
"Your Highness?" Jiuzhu slowly came back to her senses from the unfamiliar environment. She tilted her head and stared at Prince Chen. She and His Highness are now a family.
"Drink some honey water." Prince Chen took the honey water from Yang Yiduo and fed it to Jiuzhu's mouth: "Open your mouth."
Jiuzhu drank two sips obediently and asked in confusion: "Your Highness, when did I fall asleep last night?"
"Do you want to drink more?" Prince Chen was reluctant to answer this question.
Jiuzhu shook her head.
"Two sticks of incense later when you said you couldn't sleep." Prince Chen handed the cup to Yang Yiduo and poked her forehead with his hand: "Liar."
"Normally, I can fall asleep after one stick of incense." Jiuzhu looked away guiltily, "So two sticks of incense is barely enough to make me fall asleep."
Prince Chen looked at her with a half-smile: "Really?"
"Yes!" Jiuzhu nodded vigorously to prove the truth of what he said.
Chunfen lowered his head and tried to hold back his laughter. Normally, the young lady would indeed fall asleep as soon as she lay down on the bed, so it wasn't a lie.
"Okay, I believe you." Prince Chen chuckled and said, "Get up and have dinner. I'll take you to meet my father, the emperor, and the queen mother later, and then take a stroll with your four brothers."
He rubbed two fingers together and said, "There should be something good to take."
Jiuzhu suddenly became energetic: "Okay."
On the first day of her wedding, Jiuzhu dressed up beautifully. The eight-tailed phoenix hairpin in the middle of her hair was so exquisitely crafted and gorgeous that Jiuzhu actually held it down.
"The phoenix matches the peony." Prince Chen drew a blooming peony between her eyebrows and nodded with satisfaction.
"The princess is truly a goddess descended from the heavens, her beauty is stunning." Yang Yiduo flattered him, "The peony flower that Your Highness painted is just right, and the two of you standing together are a match made in heaven. Looking at the entire capital, apart from Your Majesty and the Empress, there is no one more compatible than you two."
"Well said." Prince Chen threw the brush for drawing the flower ornaments to Yang Yiduo: "You are rewarded."
The palace ladies in Qilin Palace have better eyesight than those in Zhangliu Palace.
"Our princess is indeed a fairy from the Ninth Heaven who came down to earth." Prince Chen took Jiuzhu's hand, raised an eyebrow and asked Yang Yiduo: "Do you know why she went through so much trouble to come down to earth?"
Yang Yidu shook his head blankly.
"Of course it's to meet me." Prince Chen laughed with high spirits and picked up a shawl to put on Jiuzhu: "Ming Xiaozhu, follow me."
In Mingyue Palace, Empress Su finished her breakfast absentmindedly. Emperor Longfeng fed food to her mouth, but she didn't react.
"Mei Dai." Emperor Longfeng smiled and said, "Du Qing likes to sleep in, how can he get up so early?"
"Today is different from the past." Empress Su pushed away Emperor Longfeng's hand and said, "I don't know if they saw the book I asked someone to put under their pillows."
"Alas, I want them to see it, but I don't want them to see it either." Empress Su held her cheek with her bare hands and said, "When I entered the backyard of the palace, I was only as old as Jiuzhu."
"In my eyes, you are the same as in previous years." Emperor Longfeng said quickly: "You got up so early in the morning and didn't even eat properly. Eat more."
"No, I have no appetite." Su Hou pushed his hand away again: "No matter what is in front of me now, I have no appetite."
"Then I'll have someone go and urge Du Qing..."
"Why are you urging them?" Empress Su raised her voice and said, "No one is allowed to disturb them. How can you, as a father, not understand the rules at all?"
Emperor Longfeng didn't dare to say anything. He silently picked up the bowl and drank the porridge.
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, the Prince and Princess are here."
"Let them in quickly." Su Hou stood up and motioned Xiangshen to take out the gifts she had prepared.
"Father, mother, are you eating?" Prince Chen walked in with Jiuzhu, glanced at the breakfast on the table that had not been cleared away, and said with a smile: "Your son and the princess have come to pay their respects to you. Please accept our greetings, father and mother."
"The ground will be cold, and a girl's knees cannot get cold." Empress Su asked the palace maid to bring a cushion and place it in front of Jiuzhu.
Prince Chen looked at the empty floor in front of him, seeming to want to say something but stopping himself.
Doesn't the prince deserve a futon?
Jiuzhu moved the cushion to the middle and pulled King Chen to kneel down with her on the big cushion.
"Father, please have some tea." Jiuzhu picked up the tea and held it high above his head.
"Okay." Emperor Longfeng took a sip of the tea, picked up a few property deeds and put them in Jiuzhu's hand: "I don't have anything to give you. This is my private hot spring villa and garden. If you have some free time in the future, you can stay in these places for a few days."
"Thank you, Father."
Prince Chen glanced at the land deed and said, "Father, I also like this hot spring manor."
"It's useless even if you like it. It belongs to your wife now." Emperor Longfeng laughed, "Didn't you take enough things from me in the past?"
"Your Highness, it's okay." Jiuzhu whispered in the ear of the King of Chen: "What's mine is yours."
"Mother, please have some tea." After handing the house deeds and land deeds to Prince Chen for safekeeping, Jiuzhu offered tea to Queen Su.
"Okay, okay, okay." Su Hou said several good words, picked up the tea and took a big sip, then bent down and helped her up with her own hands: "Come, sit down and talk."
"Your Majesty." Xiangshen handed the tray to Queen Su, signaling her not to forget these gifts.
"I almost forgot." Su Hou rubbed his temples and said with a smile: "Your father gave you the house deed and land deed, and I will give you a few shops in the city and a three-story courtyard house. If Du Qing dares to make you angry in the future, you will move to the courtyard house. Remember, men can't get used to it."
"Cough, cough, cough." Prince Chen glanced at Queen Su and said, "Dear mother, please understand that I am your biological son, not a son-in-law."
"If your throat is dry, ask the kitchen to make you a bowl of Sichuan Fritillary and Snow Pear Paste." Su Hou looked at him with disdain: "Don't bother me while I talk to Jiuzhu."
Prince Chen: “…”
He walked over to Emperor Long Feng and sat down, and Emperor Long Feng patted him on the shoulder.
My son, married men should learn from the weeds at the foot of the wall and be strong and resilient.
"You just arrived at the palace. If there is anything you are not used to, please tell me." Empress Su said to Jiuzhu, "You are the prince's consort. There are not so many rules when you leave the palace. Let Du Qing accompany you outside the palace more often."
"Your Highness." Jiuzhu couldn't help but laugh: "Your Highness is very kind to me."
"Why are you calling me empress again?"
"Mother." Jiuzhu blushed.
"Have lunch here." Empress Su was delighted. "I'll ask the kitchen to cook your favorite dishes. Then we'll go to Zhangliu Palace to meet your brother and his wife in the afternoon."
Jiuzhu nodded. She looked at Queen Su, then at Prince Chen who was sitting with His Majesty, her eyes full of smiles.
In Zhangliu Palace, several princes sat in the yard waiting anxiously. When the sun was high in the sky, someone from Mingyue Palace came to say that the Emperor and the Empress had invited Prince Chen and his wife to have lunch, and the couple would come to visit them in the afternoon.
"Huh." Prince An breathed a sigh of relief, his straight back instantly slumped, and he stood up slowly: "I'll go back to the house first, and play chess with my brothers in the afternoon."
The game of chess was played in a disorganized manner, but it was just for show for the fifth brother to see. Now that the fifth brother is not coming, they are not interested in pretending anymore.
Prince Huai swept all the chess pieces on the board into the chess box. The black and white pieces were mixed together in a mess.
"Big brother." King Jing glanced at the chess piece and smiled bitterly: "My younger brother will go back to the house first."
Prince Huai waved his hand, signaling him to hurry up.
"Brother." Yun Yanze took out a chess piece from the chess box and placed it in the middle of the chessboard: "Brother, I'll play with you."
Prince Huai raised his eyelids and looked at him, sneering: "Fourth brother is very thoughtful, and as an elder brother, I am no match for you."
"I've already lost everything." Yun Yanze changed the position of the chess piece. "It's not surprising that big brother doesn't want to play chess with me. It's a pity that fifth brother doesn't like to play chess, otherwise big brother could compete with him to see who is better."
"Fourth brother, you are wrong." Prince Huai picked up the chess piece and threw it into the chess box: "Fifth brother is different from us. He doesn't need to play chess."
Yun Yanze laughed meaningfully. We were all chess players, so why was Yun Duqing an accident?
"Don't be unhappy. In this life, one doesn't want to believe in fate, but has to accept it." Prince Huai didn't like this kind-looking but cruel brother. "Also, have you ever heard a folk story, fourth brother?"
Yun Yanze looked at him calmly.
"It is said that there was an old man in a village who hated cats and dogs. Whenever he saw them, he would throw stones at them. One day, a cat took advantage of his inattention and scratched his hand. A few days later, the old man suddenly became crazy and bit anyone he saw. He was afraid of water. People said that this was the retribution for bullying cats and dogs." Prince Huai smiled and asked in a low voice: "Fourth brother, do you know what this disease is?"
Yun Yanze smiled faintly and shook his head: "Could it be that big brother knows?"
"This disease is called mad cat disease." Prince Huai lowered his voice and said, "It is said that people who have this disease can see the tragic deaths of various cats every day and cannot rest in peace until they die. Fourth brother, are you afraid?"
Yuan Yanze picked up the tea on the table and took a sip: "Those with a clear conscience will naturally not be afraid."
"Heh." Prince Huai sneered, "Fourth brother, you are right." After saying that, he turned around and went back to his own yard.
Reaching out and grabbing a handful of chess pieces, Yun Yanze scattered all the pieces on the chessboard and touched his wrist.
"Nonsense."
With a sweep of his wide sleeves, countless chess pieces fell to the ground.
"It's dawn." Ming Jiyuan lay on the wall and said to Ming Cunfu on the other side of the wall, "I wonder if Jiuzhu has been wronged."
"Third brother, you've been mumbling about this all morning." Ming Cunfu leaned against the wall, dying. He really wanted to say, if it really doesn't work, you can go get a wife to take care of me.
But thinking of the strength of his third brother, he didn't dare to say it.
"People in the palace are deep-minded and they say one thing but mean another. She has four sisters-in-law above her, and I don't know if they can get along well with them." Ming Jiyuan pinched the wall hard: "And there are those palace servants. Jiuzhu is kind-hearted by nature. Will the servants pretend to obey her but secretly disobey her?"
"Brother, stop squeezing us. If you do, we will have our monthly salary deducted!" Ming Cunfu used all his strength to pry Ming Jiyuan's wrist. "Of the five princes in the palace, only Prince Chen is the legitimate son. How dare the servants in the palace disobey my sister? Have you forgotten Prince Chen's character? With him around, who dares to bully our Jiuzhu?"
"It's better to rely on yourself than on a man. The Prince of Chen can't always be by Jiuzhu's side, and there are all those conspiracies and tricks..."
"Third brother, you have only been with Jiuzhu for a short time, so you may not know her well enough." Ming Cunfu blushed, and did not open Ming Jiyuan's hand: "Don't look at our Jiuzhu as cute and naive on weekdays, she is very smart at critical moments."
Ming Jiyuan loosened his grip on the wall, and Ming Cunfu almost fell over. "Wait two days, when your sister comes home, ask her if she is used to living in the palace."
"You forgot." Ming Jiyuan said in a low voice: "Jiuzhu is a royal wife, there is no rule that she should return home three days after getting married."
Ming Cunfu was stunned. After hearing this, he suddenly realized the heartache that his sister was already married and no longer in the Ming family.
Can’t I even go back home?
He was silent for a moment: "Maybe... maybe His Highness will accompany her back?"
Prince Chen even came in person to welcome the bride, so perhaps he can make an exception for his sister when it comes to returning to her parents' home.
"Even if the Prince of Chen is willing, don't His Majesty and the Queen have any objections?"
"Jiuzhu said that the noble concubine... Empress Su likes her very much." Ming Cunfu still held on to a glimmer of hope: "I don't think it will be for her."
"Many mothers-in-law treat their daughters-in-law differently before and after marriage." Ming Jiyuan hit the wall again, and this time Ming Cunfu didn't have time to stop him.
After a loud bang, a large piece of the wall was missing.
Ming Cunfu quickly took a few steps back, proving with practical actions that this matter had nothing to do with him.
Ming Jiyuan looked at Ming Cunfu with disappointment. Even Ming Cunfu would abandon him to protect himself at the critical moment. How hypocritical could the brotherhood among those princes in the palace be?
"Third brother, it's not that I don't want to share the good and bad times with you, it's mainly because I'm really broke." Ming Cunfu explained as he ran, "If the deductions continue, I won't even have enough money to buy rouge and powder for my fiancée."
Seeing his sixth brother, who couldn't even climb over the wall on normal days but was now walking briskly, Ming Jiyuan sighed, "Humanity."
"Young Master." A servant came hurriedly. He glanced at the wall with a missing corner and took a few steps back. "There is a wandering Taoist priest outside. He said he was entrusted by the young lady's two masters to bring a wedding gift to the young lady."
"Hurry up and come in." Ming Jiyuan came back to his senses and strode out: "Serve good tea, don't be negligent."
He walked quickly to the main hall and saw a middle-aged female Taoist priest wearing a green Taoist robe and her hair tied up with a wooden hairpin. She bowed and said, "I am Ming Jiyuan, Jiuzhu's elder brother. I didn't know that the elder's fairy carriage had arrived. I am sorry for being rude. Please forgive me."
"Mr. Ming, you are too polite." The female Taoist priest returned the greeting and took out a wooden box from her bag. "I am passing through the capital and was entrusted by the two Taoist priests to deliver this to the Ming family. I am glad to have fulfilled your mission. Please accept it, Mr. Ming."
"Thank you, Taoist priest." Ming Jiyuan saw the Taoist priest put down his things and was about to leave, and hurriedly said, "Taoist priest, you have worked hard on the journey. Why don't you stay in my humble home for a few days? When Jiuzhu comes back, I will thank you in person."
"We are outsiders, we gather and disperse as fate dictates, and we don't force anything." The Taoist priest smiled and said, "If you want to express your sincere gratitude, why don't you light a stick of incense in front of the Three Pure Ones statues and donate half a bowl of rice to the beggar, then it will be a merit for you and me."
"The Taoist priest is unwilling to stay, and I dare not force him. Please leave your immortal name, so that I can explain the whole matter to my sister."
"I am an idle cloud and a wild crane. My name is just a code name. You don't have to stick to it." The Taoist priest smiled and said, "Just tell Miss Ming what happened today. She has a connection with Taoism and will understand."
Ming Jiyuan's heart skipped a beat. Is he related to Taoism?
"Don't think too much, young master." The Taoist priest seemed to see through his thoughts: "Those who are at ease and at ease are all related to Taoism. Miss Ming is a very insightful person."
She reached out and patted the wooden box gently: "Just this thing, please hand it to Miss Ming in person."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
