As the chief eunuch of the Taiyang Palace, Liu Zhongbao was always cautious in his words and deeds. Even the civil officials who were always picky about the eunuchs rarely spoke ill of him.
The Emperor chose Miss Ming to be the Fifth Prince's princess consort. What he was attracted by was not Miss Ming's character and appearance, but her identity as a Miss Ming.
It is said that the heart of an emperor is unpredictable, but the emperor is also a human being. When it comes to his favorite children, he always gives them a lot of consideration and paves the way for them.
The door of Ming's house was wide open, and he saw a young girl in a flowery collared skirt standing next to the minister's wife. The girl is like the tender buds on a willow branch in early spring, full of vitality. Especially those eyes, which are like a clever cat under the moonlight, so endearing.
"Madam, Miss." Liu Zhongbao bowed respectfully and looked up to see the little girl from the Ming family kneeling down to return the greeting. Her twinkling eyes were filled with undisguised curiosity and an innocent smile.
Liu Zhongbao winked at her and smiled back.
Jiuzhu covered her mouth and laughed secretly. She turned around and saw that her mother and sixth brother were not paying attention to her. She quickly put her hands down. She was that well-behaved little girl again.
Seeing that Liu Zhongbao did not bring the imperial edict, Shen welcomed him into the main hall and ordered the servants to prepare fruits and snacks: "I didn't know that you would come today, my husband is still in the Ministry of Rites and cannot come to entertain you. Please forgive me."
"You are too polite, Madam." Liu Zhongbao took a sip of tea and said in a friendly tone, "Mr. Ming is loyal to the emperor and patriotic, and he performs his duties faithfully. It is a blessing for Dayu to have such a good minister. Even His Majesty often praises Mr. Ming."
"I am here today to run errands for your majesty and the Imperial Concubine." Liu Zhongbao smiled kindly, as if he were an old man who was easy to get along with. "Since the Fifth Prince and your daughter got engaged, your majesty has been busy with government affairs and has not had the chance to meet Miss Ming. Tomorrow is the Imperial Concubine's birthday. Your majesty is concerned that Miss Ming has just returned to the capital and is worried that some things are not fully prepared, so he asked this old servant to bring some things over."
Shen smiled and thanked: "Thank you, Your Majesty and Your Majesty, for your kindness."
"It's good as long as Madam and Miss don't mind." Liu Zhongbao raised his hand, and the palace servants filed in, some holding, some lifting, some carrying, and soon the entire main hall was filled to the brim.
Looking at the room full of things, Shen couldn't help but wonder how poor their family was in the eyes of the royal family that they had to rely on their future in-laws for financial support every other day.
There were gold and silver jewelry, silks and satins, books and paintings, pens, ink, paper and inkstones, musical instruments, chess, jades and all kinds of items, and even toys that unmarried girls would like.
"Your Majesty learned that the young lady was very accomplished in painting, so he specially prepared the best paints, paper and pens for her." Liu Zhongbao opened one of the boxes, which was filled with small boxes of paint.
Ming Cunfu, who was sitting next to him, couldn't help but reveal an envious look.
"And these calligraphy and paintings." Liu Zhongbao opened another large box filled with painting tubes filled with scrolls: "Leave them for Miss to enjoy."
Shen thought of the paintings her daughter had made in her spare time, then looked at the paints and famous paintings, and let out a long sigh in her heart.
"Thank you, Your Majesty and Your Majesty. I like them very much." Jiuzhu's eyes lit up when she saw the box full of paint.
"As long as the young lady likes it." Liu Zhongbao looked at Shen and suddenly asked, "I remember that Lord Ming's ancestors also inherited the title?"
"My ancestors once had a baron of the lowest rank. I'm sorry to make you laugh." Shen smiled and said, "But my husband and the child's uncles have been separated from the Lingzhou family tree and have established their own family. The glory of our ancestors should not be mentioned anymore."
"Madam, there is no need to be modest. Nowadays, when people mention the Ming family, they naturally think of the Ming family in Beijing. What does it have to do with others?" Liu Zhongbao smiled: "What the ancestors can do, how can the descendants not do it? Maybe they can even surpass the ancestors."
Without waiting for Shen to speak, Liu Zhongbao stood up and said, "I have the Emperor's orders and dare not stay any longer. I will take my leave now."
"It's lunch time, please have some tea and food before leaving." Jiuzhu tried to persuade him to stay.
"Thank you for your kindness, young lady. Next time if I have the chance, I will definitely taste your delicious food." Liu Zhongbao smiled and bowed to Jiuzhu: "Please come to the palace early tomorrow, young lady. The queen misses you very much."
"Your Highness also misses me very much." Jiuzhu knelt down and returned the greeting: "I will definitely go to Mingyue Palace early tomorrow to pay my respects to Your Highness."
Shen: “…”
My daughter, you probably don’t know that there are some words in the world that should not be taken seriously, and they are called polite words.
"That old servant will welcome the young lady in the palace." Liu Zhongbao took the palace servants away, and Ming Cunfu quickly sent them out the door.
"Mr. Ming, please stay." Liu Zhongbao looked up at the plaque on the gate of Minister Ming's residence, smiled and said, "Please rest assured, His Majesty and His Majesty both like Miss Ming very much."
After seeing Liu Zhongbao off, Ming Cunfu was puzzled: Did the imperial steward make such an exhausting trip just to give Jiuzhu a gift? As for the matter of the horse farm, you neither ask nor mention it?
People say that the royal family is suspicious. What are they suspicious about?
What happened today was not royal at all.
Jiuzhu didn’t know how suspicious the royal family was, but she was very happy now that she had a lot of paints.
She felt that she could paint a picture of thousands of miles of mountains and rivers, but unfortunately, before she even started her painting plan, she was persuaded to go back by Shen.
She wanted to try on the palace dress, jewelry and shoes she would wear when she entered the palace tomorrow.
"Don't make any mistakes on your body." Shen rarely spoke to Jiuzhu in a serious tone. She looked in the direction of the imperial city and said, "Jiuzhu, when you step into Mingyue Palace tomorrow, in the eyes of others, you will not only be the daughter of the Ming family, but also the future Princess of Chen."
Jiuzhu stared at Shen in a daze.
"Don't be afraid." Shen smiled and stroked her daughter's head, her movements extremely gentle: "Mother will always help you."
"Don't be sad, mother." Jiuzhu looked at the smile on Shen's face. Although her mother was smiling at this moment, she knew that she was sad because her mother's eyes were full of her.
"My daughter is not afraid." She squatted in front of Shen seriously, not wanting her to miss the slightest expression on her face: "The sage Lao Tzu once said: True words are not beautiful, beautiful words are not true. Good people do not argue, and those who argue are not good. People's hearts are complicated. My daughter may not be able to see through people's hearts, but my daughter knows how to protect herself. Don't worry, I'm smart."
"Yes, our Jiuzhu is very smart." Shen smiled, "There is no girl in the world smarter than you, right?"
"Yes." Jiuzhu nodded.
"You, you." Shen was helpless and amused. Which smart child would say that he is smart? Just like a drunk person will never admit that he is drunk.
She hugged her daughter, whom she had found with great effort, with a determined look in her eyes.
The candlelight was dim. Sun Caiyao listened to the sound of the wind outside the window, and could not even feel the coldness on her fingertips.
Tomorrow is the birthday celebration of Concubine Su in Mingyue Palace, but in her dream, the celebration ended before it even began, and the entire Mingyue Palace was hung with mourning clothes.
Everyone said that Concubine Su was crazy. As an elder, she set up a mourning hall for the younger generation.
She only remembered the strips of white silk in her dream, entangled with the autumn wind in the cold night, cold and creepy.
"Miss, it's time to go to bed."
The fingertips that had long been frozen trembled slightly, and when Sun Caiyao came to her senses, she found that her back was soaked with cold sweat.
Before dawn, Jiuzhu climbed out of bed and sat in front of the bronze mirror, waiting for the maids to help her dress up.
She is going to meet the Fairy Lady today, so she must dress herself up beautifully.
"Miss." Chunfen yawned and looked out the dark window: "Did you get up too early today?"
"I promised Eunuch Liu that I would go see the queen early today." Jiuzhu smiled at Chunfen and the maids and said, "Thank you for your hard work, sisters."
spring equinox:"……"
My dear lady, there is no need to take polite words so seriously.
In Mingyue Palace, Concubine Su got up and dressed, and the palace maid brought her a new box of jewelry. She picked out a few items, and suddenly picked up a dragonfly standing lotus hairpin and said, "This hairpin is very suitable for Jiuzhu."
She handed the hairpin to the female official: "Put it in a box and wait for Jiuzhu to come, and give it to her secretly."
There are many female guests at the banquet, so it would be inappropriate to just give Jiuzhu jewelry as a gift. But if he didn't leave this beautiful thing to his future daughter-in-law, would he give it to an outsider?
"This pair of earrings has bright colors and will make girls look more beautiful when they wear them. I'll keep them for Jiuzhu as well." Concubine Su picked out a bunch of things and prepared to leave them for her future daughter-in-law.
The female official was hesitant to speak, "Your Majesty, putting so many things together will make the target too obvious, and it will be difficult to deliver them "secretly".
"Liu Zhongbao said that Jiuzhu will come early today. You should arrange for someone to pick her up at the palace gate. There are many female relatives entering the palace today. She has just returned to the capital. I am worried that this blind person will let her suffer."
At this point, Concubine Su already had a picture of someone bullying Jiuzhu in her mind: "Send two more female officials with high ranks, and go now."
Female personal officer: "..."
Your Majesty, people from a family of civil officials are most polite and considerate when speaking, but they are very methodical when doing things. How could the Ming family let their daughter enter the palace so early and gain a bad reputation as a fawning concubine?
But seeing the serious look on the queen's face and the box full of jewelry, the personal maid did not dare to discourage the queen's interest: "Your Majesty, I will go to the palace gate to welcome Miss Ming in person."
If she went there, she could find an excuse to cover it up, at least not to disappoint the Empress too much.
"Okay." Concubine Su nodded: "I trust you the most when you do things."
The personal maid left the room and ordered two palace maids of high rank to follow her.
"Aunt Xiangjuan, who are we going to pick up?" The palace maid was puzzled. With the status of the empress, who was worthy of being welcomed by Aunt Xiangjuan in person?
"No talking." Xiang Juan said expressionlessly, "Just do what the Queen has arranged carefully, and don't ask any more questions."
"Yes." The palace maid didn't dare to ask any more questions and followed Xiangjuan obediently.
"Isn't this the scented silk from Mingyue Palace?" On the palace road, Concubine Ning sat on the sedan chair and said, "Today is the Imperial Concubine's birthday. Why are you not serving her? What are you doing here?"
Xiangjuan knelt down and bowed without saying anything.
Concubine Ning lowered her eyelids and said, "It's the Imperial Concubine's birthday. I'm afraid my unpromising nephew will cause trouble, so I ordered him to stay at home. I wonder if the Imperial Concubine is satisfied?"
Xiang Juan knew in her heart that Concubine Ning was still resentful about sending the young master of the Zheng family to be "taught a lesson" by the Princess of Qi.
She bowed deeply and said, "Thank you, Madam, for your understanding."
Concubine Ning's expression changed slightly, but she forced herself to swallow her anger.
Everyone in Mingyue Palace, from top to bottom, will die sooner or later because of this arrogant temper.
Let's wait and see.
After seeing off Concubine Ning who was trying hard to suppress her anger, Xiangjuan stood in front of the palace gate. It was still early, and the palace gate was silent except for the guards on duty.
Xiangjuan lowered her eyelids slightly and no longer looked forward. She was not at all surprised by this result.
Suddenly, the sound of a carriage was heard in the distance.
She raised her head suddenly and looked into the distance. Reason told her that even if a carriage came, it might not be Miss Ming, but she still held a glimmer of inexplicable hope in her heart.
The carriage stopped in front of the palace gate. The driver placed a footstool in front of the carriage. The first to get off were two maids.
The curtain of the carriage was lifted, and a girl wearing a wide-sleeved palace dress and a lily-like bun walked out.
She raised her head, met Xiang Juan's eyes, and smiled innocently: "Aunt."
Xiang Juan's hand hanging in front of her belly trembled slightly. She walked up to the girl and bowed: "Hello, Miss Ming."
"I'm not late, am I?" Jiuzhu pointed to her head and said, "It took me half an hour to comb this bun."
"The young lady is very beautiful today." Xiang Juan reached out her hand, held Jiuzhu's arm, and said respectfully: "The queen is looking forward to the young lady's coming, so she sent this servant to greet you."
The palace skirt was complicated, so Jiuzhu didn't dare to walk too fast: "Thank you, Your Majesty, for caring about me. I am sorry for making my aunt suffer."
"I'm not tired." Xiang Juan smiled, "It's good to be able to pick up the girl."
"Little girl from the Ming family, stand there and don't move."
There was the sound of horse hooves behind him. Jiuzhu heard the familiar voice and looked back. King Chen was riding a horse and galloping towards him.
The horse ran to Jiuzhu, and Prince Chen pulled the reins, jumped off the horse, his cloak fluttering in the air, looking very imposing.
"Your Highness." The shawl on Jiuzhu's arm was slightly swayed by the wind caused by the Prince of Chen dismounting from his horse. She looked up at him.
His Highness is so tall, he seems to be half a head taller than her.
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