When Shen walked into her daughter's yard, she saw Jiuzhu under a tree, bending over and playing with the snow, with her head and body covered in white snow.
Seeing her come in, Jiuzhu raised her head and grinned at her, the snow on her head falling down: "Mother."
"It's snowing so heavily, what are you doing squatting outside?" She walked quickly to Jiuzhu and wiped the snow off her daughter's hair and body with concern: "Are you cold?"
"It's not cold." Jiuzhu sniffed, "It's fun."
"The snow is so cold, what's the use of it..." Shen swallowed the words she hadn't finished. She took out a handkerchief and wiped Jiuzhu's red, frozen fingertips. "What's the point of playing alone? Let mother play with you."
She forgot that it almost never snows heavily in Lingzhou in winter. The snow, which the people of the capital had long been tired of, was a completely different sight for Jiuzhu.
"Spring Equinox, get the young lady a thick cloak." Shen bent down and squatted like Jiuzhu: "When mother was a child, the snowmen she made were the most beautiful among all the sisters."
"Really?" Jiuzhu's eyes widened: "Mom, please make one for me."
"Just wait." Shen took off the jade bracelet on her wrist and started making a snowman for Jiuzhu.
Jiuzhu helped Shen shovel snow and fetch stones from time to time, and the snow was covered with footprints from her running around. Shen raised her head and looked at her daughter's skipping figure, with a gentle smile between her eyebrows.
"Mother." Jiuzhu ran to Shen and spread out her red, frozen palms, which contained a few black stones. "Use these to make eyes for the snowman."
Eight small stones, covered with snow water melted by body temperature.
"Okay." Shen took the stone and pressed eyes on the four snowmen.
"Mother." Jiuzhu squatted beside Shen, holding her face with both hands, and asked curiously: "Does my brother look more like you or father?"
"He looks like your grandfather." Shen thought for a moment and said, "His personality is very similar to your father's. He will be very happy to see you when he returns to Beijing."
"My daughter heard from father that His Majesty has issued an order for my brother to return to the capital." Jiuzhu wiped the snowflakes off Shen's shoulders with a handkerchief. "I wonder if my brother will have difficulty walking on his way back because of the snow?"
"Not so soon." Shen smiled, "He can only leave after the new officials sent by the court take over your brother's position. Calculating the date, even if he walks faster, it will be after the New Year, so you don't have to worry about him."
Ever since Jiuzhu was brought back to Beijing, Ming Jiyuan often sent things and letters back, and the letters were full of concern for Jiuzhu.
"I hope my brother can come back soon." Jiuzhu picked a plum blossom and placed it on the head of the snowman representing Ming Jiyuan.
Shen smiled and put a hand warmer into her red, frozen hands: "The snow will continue to fall for two days, let's go have breakfast first."
Jiuzhu noticed that there was snow in Shen's hair and nodded quickly: "Okay."
"Where have you two gone?" Ming Jingzhou was sitting in the dining room. He looked up and saw his wife and daughter walking in covered in snow. He quickly asked the maid to take off their cloaks and said, "Go to the kitchen and bring two bowls of ginger soup for the lady and the young lady to drink."
"Don't make such a fuss." Shen pulled Jiuzhu to sit down and told the servants to serve the meal: "I just made a snowman with my daughter."
"Why don't you ask me to come with you?" Ming Jingzhou scooped two bowls of hot soup and placed them in front of the two of them: "Warm up your stomach first."
"It's rare that your husband has a day off today, why don't you sleep a little longer?" Shen took a few sips of the soup, then turned to Jiuzhu and said, "After breakfast, go change into the winter clothes that I asked the embroiderer to make for you a few days ago."
"Okay." Jiuzhu agreed immediately. It would be more appropriate to wear new clothes to meet His Highness: "Mother, I want to go out later."
"It's snowing so heavily, where are you going?" Shen looked out the window at the snow falling heavier and heavier.
"My daughter wants to go to Prince Chen's Mansion." Jiuzhu was afraid that her parents would worry, so she explained, "I'll only be gone for a short while."
After the maids brought the meal and ginger soup, Shen raised her hand to let the servants leave the dining room, and then she said, "Jiuzhu, mother has never asked you properly what you think of Prince Chen."
"Your Highness is fine." Jiuzhu drank half a bowl of ginger soup in one breath. The strange spicy taste made her frown slightly: "Why does mother ask this?"
"I'm just a little surprised that Jiuzhu actually likes Prince Chen so much." Shen raised her hand and gently wiped the corner of Jiuzhu's mouth with a handkerchief: "Before you got engaged to Prince Chen, you had never seen him. How did you know about him?"
The hand that wiped the corner of her mouth was gentle and warm. Jiuzhu lowered her head and looked at the bowl of ginger soup: "My daughter... met His Royal Highness Prince Chen a long time ago."
Shen and Ming Jingzhou looked at their daughter in shock: "What did you say?"
Looking at her parents' shocked expressions, Jiuzhu remembered what the Imperial Concubine and His Royal Highness the Prince said to her when they left.
"When someone is so cruel as to murder a child like you, it means that you have inadvertently learned a secret that you don't even know."
"It was fate that my son saved you. It was just a piece of cake for him. But if you don't want to be involved in trouble in the future, you must not mention this matter again. There is no impenetrable wall in the world. Only by making the person who killed you think you are dead can you gain complete peace. Many secrets will bring disaster if they are spoken out."
"As a child, living well and growing up well is a way to repay your gratitude."
"If you have the opportunity to visit the capital in the future, you must remember that it is a place without secrets. It doesn't matter if you don't understand, just remember this sentence firmly."
"Eight years ago, my daughter went to Lingzhou City with her master to buy things, and saw the Imperial Concubine and His Royal Highness Prince Chen giving money to beggars and old people and children." Jiuzhu lowered her head and held the bowl, whispering, "At that time, my daughter only thought that the Imperial Concubine was as beautiful as a fairy from heaven, and His Royal Highness Prince Chen was like a fairy boy in front of an immortal. It was not until that day when the Imperial Concubine summoned my daughter to the palace that I realized that the fairy and fairy boy I saw a few years ago were the Imperial Concubine and Prince Chen."
"Eight years ago..." Ming Jingzhou recalled that eight years ago, when the emperor went south, he did stay in Lingzhou for a few days, and Concubine Su and her son were accompanying him.
If it were eight years ago, he had accompanied the emperor south and met Jiuzhu in Lingzhou City, how great it would have been. That way he could take Jiuzhu home early and no longer suffer the pain of separation.
"It turns out that when Jiuzhu was so young, she liked good-looking people." Shen smiled gently: "When you go out later, remember to bring the hand warmer with you, don't get cold."
"Thank you, mother." Jiuzhu nodded happily: "I will definitely take good care of myself."
Shen looked at her daughter with eyes so gentle that they almost dripped with tears.
"Madam." After returning to the main courtyard, Ming Jingzhou poured hot tea for Shen: "It's snowing so heavily outside, are you sure our daughter can go out?"
"As long as she is happy, it's better than anything else." Shen held the teacup, "I would rather she marry into the palace with beautiful expectations of Prince Chen than to let her be disappointed early."
“Life is short, and one more day of happiness is a blessing.”
"Madam, you are right." Ming Jingzhou bowed and said, "I will always listen to you."
The streets were covered in snow and sparsely populated, so when the two carriages met, they stood out.
Jiuzhu lifted the curtain of the carriage and met eyes with Sun Caiyao who had also lifted the curtain.
"Ms. Sun." Jiuzhu was in a good mood. Seeing that it was someone she knew, she gave her a sweet smile.
"Ms. Ming, Miss Ming." When Sun Caiyao saw Ming Jiuzhu for the first time, her hand holding the curtain trembled slightly: "Where are you going in such a heavy snow?"
"Go visit Prince Chen's Mansion." Jiuzhu did not hide her intention, "Where is Miss Sun going?"
"Go to the suburbs to burn incense."
Jiuzhu noticed that Sun Caiyao's cheeks were a little pale, and she didn't know if it was because of the cold or the powder she applied. But going to the suburbs to burn incense in this snowy weather is too pious.
It seems that not only the empress in the palace has a sincere heart towards the gods in heaven, but the daughters of noble families in the capital are no less sincere.
"The roads are slippery due to heavy snow, please be careful, Miss Sun." Jiuzhu raised her hand and signaled the coachman to drive the carriage aside and let Sun Caiyao go first.
"No, no." Sun Caiyao seemed to be stimulated by something and said quickly: "Miss Ming, please go first."
Now when she saw Ming Jiuzhu, she was frightened and dared not offend her in the slightest.
Jiuzhu was stunned by Sun Caiyao's big reaction. Miss Sun was rushing to the suburbs to burn incense. What was wrong with letting her go first?
While she was stunned, the Sun family's carriage had already moved to the side.
"Miss Ming, please." The cold wind blew snowflakes towards Sun Caiyao's face. She tried her best to force a smile towards Jiuzhu.
"Then... I'll go over first?" Jiuzhu vaguely felt that this Miss Sun seemed a little afraid of her.
"Thank you, Miss Sun." After lowering the curtain, Jiuzhu touched her face. Did she do something excessive to Sun Caiyao that made her so scared?
Forget it. Many people in the capital do things in a strange way. As a normal person, she can't bother with them.
After watching Ming Jiuzhu's carriage go away, Sun Caiyao realized that her hands, which were holding the curtain, had been frozen to the point of losing consciousness.
"Sister Sun." Zheng Zhen, wearing a thick cloak, walked out of the shop next door: "Ming Jiuzhu has the support of the imperial concubine, do you also want to avoid her edge?"
Sun Caiyao took the hand warmer into her arms and asked, "What do you mean, Miss Zheng?"
Zheng Zhen sneered and said sarcastically, "How many people in the capital city dare to ask Ming Jiuzhu to avoid them?"
Looking at Zheng Zhen who was acting so weird, Sun Caiyao recalled the incident when she was reprimanded by Concubine Su at the Pingyuan Marquis Mansion not long ago.
No wonder Zheng Zhen's words were so sarcastic. There were indeed not many people who could make the future Princess Chen avoid them on the street. Not everyone was as brainless as the Marquis Pingyuan. As for what Zheng Zhen was thinking about her cousin, the King of Qi, she saw it clearly.
No woman would like a woman who has feelings for her fiancé. Even a fool wouldn't be fooled by such a simple and crude method of provocation.
"Miss Zheng is really good at joking." Sun Caiyao smiled: "Miss Ming originally wanted me to go first, but I volunteered to let Miss Ming's carriage go first. What's the problem with that?"
"It's just that when someone shows respect, I will show respect back." Sun Caiyao chuckled, "Miss Zheng, don't you think so?"
Zheng Zhen pondered for a moment: "Are you laughing at me?"
Sun Caiyao continued to smile: "Ms. Zheng is really thoughtful."
"I am the cousin of His Royal Highness the Prince of Qi, how dare you laugh at me?" Zheng Zhen said angrily, "If you have the ability to laugh at me, then don't get out of the way of Ming Jiuzhu's carriage!"
Sun Caiyao spoke slowly: "Miss Ming is innocent and kind, beautiful and lovely, and amiable. I only regret that I am not a biological sister to her. I am happy to let her go first, why should I ask her to go the other way?"
Look, is this idiot speaking human language? Who with any brains would offend Concubine Su and Prince Chen, who are both favored by the Emperor?
What's more, a cruel and ruthless woman like Ming Jiuzhu should never be provoked.
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