"Why is it so noisy in the yard outside?" Princess Jing was sitting under a tree in the inner courtyard reading a book. When she heard the laughter coming from outside, she frowned and put down the book.
"My lord, it seems to be Princess Huai's place. Do you want me to go and take a look?"
"No need." Princess Jing shook her head: "Let her be."
Rumors were spreading in the palace, and the eldest sister-in-law and a few young palace maids were forcing themselves to smile and find joy in misery. Why should she be the bad guy?
A locust flower fell on the page of the book, she picked it up and laughed.
"I can't do it anymore. I can't do it anymore." Princess An held onto the table and panted, "Fifth brother's wife, you run too fast. Even if I grow a few more legs, I can't catch up with you."
"I told you earlier, don't compete with Fifth Brother's wife to see who can run faster. Come over here and have some tea and rest for a while." Princess Huai poured tea for the two of them and asked Jiuzhu and Princess An to sit down and rest for a while.
"Thank you, sister-in-law." Princess An picked up the tea and drank it quickly. She turned her head and looked at the next room for several times. She hesitated for a moment and suppressed the doubts in her heart.
"Don't worry, Third Sister-in-law is a quiet person. No matter how much you guys make trouble, she won't come over." Princess Huai held the teapot and refilled her tea. "Although my eldest sister-in-law is incompetent, no one dares to say anything when you guys make trouble here."
Even if the third brother's family likes quietness, they would still come and sit for a while if the place was so lively in the past. There are only a few rumors in the palace now, but the couple is trying to avoid them. This is too heartless.
"Third sister-in-law likes quietness, and the three of us like excitement, so it's better not to disturb each other." Jiuzhu smiled while holding a teacup: "If there was no wind today, we could still fly kites."
"Don't mention kites. Last time we flew kites back, Mother said we were young and brave enough to fly kites in the palace. If it was during a special period, the three of us would have been arrested as undercover agents in the palace." At this point, Princess An laughed first: "Then Mother said that since we started it, she would also go fly kites in a few days."
"It's still good now. The world is peaceful and the people live and work in peace. We who live in the palace don't have to be so cautious about everything." Princess Huai sighed: "My father and mother are both generous people, otherwise..."
Ever since the rumors about His Highness's background spread, she has been feeling uneasy. She was afraid that her father would dislike her and her husband, and that the Queen would take this opportunity to bring His Highness down upon himself.
But all these worries were put to rest after Jiuzhu came to the door in person.
If the Queen really wanted to deal with them, she would not allow the Fifth Brother's wife to behave like this today.
As the future Crown Princess, Jiuzhu's words and actions represent the Queen's intentions in the eyes of others in the harem. Her standing here was equivalent to announcing to everyone in the harem that His Highness was the biological son of his father, the Emperor, and everything else was absurd rumors.
People in the world only know how to add icing on the cake, but how many people are willing to help others in times of need?
She kept this affection in her heart. If she just said "thank you", it would be shallow.
"Empress Xu has arrived."
Outside the courtyard gate, a young eunuch in a blue robe announced in a hurry. Just as Princess Huai had time to stand up from the stone bench, she saw Concubine Xu hurriedly walking in.
"Mother." Princess Huai stepped forward and knelt down to pay her respects to Concubine Xu.
"Just now I heard from afar that it's very lively here. As my son's princess, you are still in the mood to play with the palace maids..."
"Meet Madam Xu."
Seeing who was coming, the coldness on Concubine Xu's face was instantly replaced by a polite smile. She reached out and helped Jiuzhu up: "So Princess Chen is here too, please stand up quickly."
Only then did she notice that in addition to Princess Chen, Princess An was also present. At such a critical moment, the second son's wife and the fifth son's wife actually came here?
In this world, is there actually a prince's consort in the palace who does not add insult to injury, but instead helps others in times of need?
Even though they were helping her own son, Concubine Xu still couldn't help but wonder if these two princes' wives were not quite smart.
If she was the prince's consort, if she didn't take advantage of such a good opportunity to kill the eldest prince, her marriage into the royal family would have been in vain.
Just as she was thinking, footsteps were heard outside the door. She turned her head and saw Prince Chen and Prince An walking in. Prince An and Prince Chen were talking non-stop, while Prince Chen had a stern face and it was impossible to tell whether he was happy or angry.
"Empress Xu?" Prince An felt that his relationship with his fifth brother had taken a step forward. Seeing that Concubine Xu was also there, he bowed to her in a good mood.
Prince Chen raised his eyelids and bowed to her. His attitude was quite acceptable.
King Huai came out of the small kitchen and saw that Yun Duqing had really come before noon as his fifth brother's wife had said. He forced a warm smile and exchanged greetings with his two younger brothers: "Knowing that you were coming, I brought out all the fine wines that I have collected for many years today. We must have a few more drinks later."
Concubine Xu, who was forgotten by her son, coughed lightly. The smile on King Huai's face faded a little, and he bowed respectfully to Concubine Xu.
When the mother and son stood together, Jiuzhu discovered that Prince Huai looked more like his father and had nothing in common with Concubine Xu.
Concubine Xu has fair skin, while Prince Huai has wheat-colored skin. Concubine Xu has delicate and gentle eyebrows and eyes, while Prince Huai has sharp eyebrows and eyes, with a slight air of a general.
"I came here today just to see you. Since you brothers are having a party, I won't disturb your fun." Concubine Xu looked at Yun Duqing with complicated eyes. As the future crown prince, why did he come here to rescue his eldest son at this time?
King Huai was silent for a moment, and did not try to persuade him to stay. Instead, he said, "I will see you off."
The mother and son walked in silence all the way out of the gate of Zhangliu Palace, and everything became quiet. Concubine Xu turned to look at Prince Huai and said, "You'd better take care of yourself."
"Mother, I know what I have to do." Prince Huai bowed deeply and looked at Concubine Xu's skirt. "Mother, your health is not good. You should not worry too much. Please rest well in the palace."
"Look up."
King Huai raised his head and Concubine Xu slapped him in the face.
"Thank you mother for your teachings. Please take care. I will take my leave." After being slapped in the face by Concubine Xu in front of the palace maids, Prince Huai, who always cared about his reputation, frowned, bowed hastily to Concubine Xu, and turned away.
"Stop!" Concubine Xu didn't expect that King Huai would dare to treat her like this: "Did I let you go?"
"Mother, I have guests waiting for me to entertain in my courtyard. Bye."
Looking at her son's departing back, Concubine Xu took a deep breath. This useless son is not like her at all!
When King Huai came back, everyone noticed a red mark on his cheek, but everyone was tactful enough not to ask any questions and sat down around the table in a lively manner.
"Brother, where do you hide your good wine? Hurry up and bring it out for us to taste." The second prince, Prince An, was still thinking about the wine. He hit the cup with his chopsticks, making a clinking sound.
"Fortunately, you have reached adulthood and have been crowned king, otherwise you would be in trouble if the ceremonial officer saw you hitting the cups and bowls with chopsticks." King Huai clapped his hands a few times, and the eunuchs brought two jars of wine.
As soon as the wine jar was opened, the aroma of wine filled the air.
"Brother, you are so unfair. You have kept such a good thing hidden and never showed it to us." Prince An sniffed his nose, scooped a cup impatiently, tilted his head back and drank it to taste it.
"Good wine!" His eyes lit up and he quickly scooped two more cups and handed them to Prince Chen and Prince Huai.
"Brother, I know why you are here today." King Huai stood up and raised his glass: "As the saying goes, a friend in need is a friend indeed. I will drink three cups myself first."
After three cups of wine, King Huai's eyes were clear: "This cup, I toast to my second brother and his wife, and my fifth brother and his wife. My eldest brother has a bad temper. If I have done something wrong in the past, please bear with me."
"Brother, your words are too serious." Prince Chen held his wrist, raised his wine glass and clinked it with his, then drank the wine in the glass first: "We are brothers, we can quarrel as much as we want behind closed doors, but we can't let outsiders talk about us, otherwise how can we, the other princes, save our dignity?"
Seeing this, Prince An also drank the wine in his glass and said, "That's what I meant."
"Don't just drink, eat the food." Princess An pulled Prince An's sleeve.
There were even more dishes of his favorites in Prince Chen's bowl, all of which Jiuzhu secretly picked for him.
King Huai looked at his two younger brothers and secretly glanced at Princess Huai out of the corner of his eye.
Princess Huai impatiently threw a piece of goose paw meat into his bowl. Looking at the goose paw meat, he actually felt tears of gratitude in his heart.
When the time came, his original wife was still good to him.
"This wine is a bit strong, don't drink too much." Prince An served Princess An a bowl of soup: "Drink this, it will keep you healthy."
"The tendons are soft and delicious. Come, I'll feed you." The Prince of Chen held the tendons, blew them cool, and fed them to Jiuzhu: "Is it delicious?"
"It's delicious." Jiuzhu nodded with a smile: "I want more."
Then King Huai saw his fifth brother, who was always very arrogant, obediently pick up some food for his sister-in-law, and blow it to cool it down before feeding it to her.
He looked left and right, not knowing what his princess liked to eat, so he awkwardly picked up a pearl fowl leg and put it into Princess Huai's bowl.
Princess Huai looked down at the contents of the bowl. What did Yun Liuan mean?
Other princes would either scoop up health-preserving soup for their princesses or feed them their favorite dishes, but he, on the other hand, gave her a piece of ginger for seasoning? !
What? Are you mocking her for not being as fresh and young as her two younger siblings?
She grinned through gritted teeth, picked up the ginger and stuffed it into King Huai's mouth: "Thank you for your kindness, Your Majesty. You can try it too."
He was clearly picking up a guinea fowl leg, how could it be ginger? !
Prince Huai wanted to vomit, but his wife held his chin and said, "Don't vomit, swallow it."
King Huai: “…”
The world has changed, and although his princess still cares about him, she has become more aggressive.
He turned his head to look at his fifth brother's wife, and recalled the scene when she picked up Sun Caiyao. He couldn't help but wonder, could it be that the princess had learned bad things from his fifth brother's wife?
"Brother, do you like ginger?" Prince Chen smiled, picked up a piece of ginger from the bowl and put it in Prince Huai's bowl: "Come on, eat more."
Just eat your food, why are you staring at his wife?
"Don't let my fifth brother down." Princess Huai stuffed the ginger into the king's mouth and said, "It's delicious. If you don't have enough, there's more."
King Huai’s eyes widened.
Princess Huai lowered her eyelids and whispered, "I have been married to the prince for several years. Even if I have not made any contributions, I have worked hard. If the prince loves me, he will definitely not dislike the food I pick up for you, right?"
King Huai swallowed the spicy ginger into his throat with tears in his eyes.
Princess Huai smiled, it seemed that the fifth brother's wife was right.
Women, be nicer to yourself.
If you treat yourself well, men will naturally be obedient.
Look, how obedient Yun Liuan is now.
"Princess." King Huai picked up another pearl bird leg and put it in her bowl: "I looked carefully this time, it is definitely not ginger."
"I didn't expect that my eldest brother is quite henpecked." Jiuzhu whispered in the ear of the King of Chen: "I used to think that he was not good to my eldest sister-in-law."
"As for men, even if they are disobedient, they can be taught to be obedient." Prince Chen answered casually.
"Oh." Jiuzhu nodded thoughtfully: "I understand."
Prince Chen suddenly came to his senses and turned to look at her.
What do you understand?
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