"County Lady, His Highness said that he can't leave the palace in the next few days. If you have anything to say, you can write it in a letter to him." The eunuch in blue carefully looked at the future Princess Chen and said, "This is a letter from His Highness to you. Please take a look."
Jiuzhu took the letter, turned around and saw her brother and mother looking at her, so she paused in opening the letter.
"I'll go to the kitchen and take a look." Shen stood up and gave her daughter some free space.
Ming Jiyuan stood up reluctantly: "I'm going to the study to read a book."
The two of them went out for a walk until midnight last night and then came back. In total we haven't seen each other for only five or six hours. Is it necessary to write a letter?
Jiuzhu opened the letter and read the contents of the letter written by His Highness word by word. She asked the eunuch who delivered the letter, "Your Highness cannot leave the palace before the second day of the second month?"
The eunuch in blue replied respectfully, "Please rest assured, my Lord, His Highness will write to you every day. If you have a reply, I will wait here for you to finish writing and then take the letter back."
He prayed silently in his heart that the county lady would definitely reply to the letter, otherwise he would not be able to explain to His Highness when he returned.
"Please wait for a moment, eunuch." Jiuzhu stood up, called a maid to take the eunuch in blue to have tea, and hurried back to the room with the letter.
She felt that she had nothing to write, but she also had a lot to say to His Highness.
For example, the spring orchids in the yard bloomed, the nanny sent by the Ministry of Rites praised her, and she found some interesting travel books in her brother's study.
She wrote a lot of random things, and finally wrote a few words at the end of the letter.
[Everything is fine, Your Highness, don't worry.] 】
After blowing the ink dry on the letter paper, she folded the letter and put it in the envelope. After thinking for a while, he took out another piece of paper, drew a spring orchid and put it in the envelope.
The new year brings new hope, and the blooming of spring orchids represents a new beginning.
"Princess, Aunt Bai Shao is here."
Sun Caiyao put down the book in her hand and looked at the woman who walked in front of her. She has a pretty face, a respectful demeanor, and her eyes and eyebrows show that she is a very stable person.
"I am Bai Shao, the servant, paying my respects to the Crown Prince's wife." Bai Shao performed the great ceremony of master and servant to her.
"No need to be so polite." Sun Caiyao stepped forward and held her hand. Her hands were rough and strong, probably caused by the rough work she had been doing during her time in Qianyi Pavilion. The smile on his face deepened: "Aunt is serving Mother. No one in the palace can do better than Aunt."
"Your Highness and I are not in a good situation right now, so I'm sorry to have to put you in such a difficult position for a while." Sun Caiyao returned to her chair and sat down. "Aunt is a first-class maid registered in the palace, and she is still the same here."
"Thank you, Princess." Bai Shao bowed deeply in gratitude.
"Go and rest first. If His Highness summons you, you can go and pay your respects to Him." Sun Caiyao had mixed feelings towards Bai Shao. Logically speaking, there was nothing wrong with the other party, but she couldn't feel close to her.
Bai Shao waited in the room for several hours, but did not receive a summons from the Fourth Prince. The servants of Zhangliu Palace were all directly arranged by the Palace Department. She felt panic-stricken as if she had nowhere to go.
"Have you heard that last night, a maid in the clothing department ate something wrong and wailed in agony for a long time before she died. Even her facial features were distorted after she died."
"Hush, keep your voice down. Don't let His Majesty the Fourth Prince and the Fourth Imperial Concubine hear you. It is said that this maid used to serve the Fourth Prince's biological mother."
"Zheng had offended the Empress when she was alive. How could anyone around her get any benefit?"
Bai Shao, who was about to push the door open to go out, suddenly became stiff.
Hongmei is dead?
She certainly didn't think that hearing these words was just a coincidence.
There are no coincidences in the palace, only deliberate actions.
The palace maids who were whispering outside had already left. Bai Shao wiped her face with cold water, straightened her clothes, and then walked out of the room as usual.
"Aunt Bai Shao, I was just looking for you." A young palace maid hurriedly walked up to her and said, "The Highness has summoned you. Please follow me."
When she met the Fourth Prince, he didn't say anything to her. She kowtowed to him and left the yard.
In the outer courtyard, Prince An and Prince Jing were appreciating paintings. Prince An glanced at Prince Chen who was sitting in the corner, his mind dominated by curiosity: "Fifth brother, last time you asked us to take out your sister-in-law's paintings for us to appreciate. I wonder if we can do that today..."
"Today's weather is bad, not suitable for viewing paintings." Prince Chen refused mercilessly: "If the second and third brothers are bored, they can go to the Imperial Garden for a walk."
"Where are you going and what are you doing?"
"It's spring, the grass is lush, it's just right for you to go and pull the weeds."
As soon as he finished speaking, he saw the eunuch who had delivered the letter coming back. He stood up and raised his chin: "My two royal brothers, please enjoy the painting slowly. I will go back to the courtyard first."
Prince An looked up at the sun in the sky. Isn’t the weather good enough today?
"Forget it, second brother." Prince Jing smiled gently: "I guess fifth brother is reluctant to take out his sister-in-law's paintings."
"The more he refuses to give it to me, the more curious I become." Prince An sighed, "I will find a chance to ask when my fifth brother's wife enters the palace."
Prince Jing smiled. Just like his title, he is a quiet person.
"By the way, my fifth brother is getting married to Princess Ming. Should we send someone to deliver a gift to the Ming family?" Prince An pondered in his mind. His fifth brother's biological mother is the queen, so his fifth brother is very likely to be the future crown prince, and Ming Jiuzhu is the crown princess. As an elder brother, shouldn't he get close to the crown princess's family as soon as possible?
But he was a little afraid of Ming Jinghai's character, because he was a powerful man who could wield a sword and chop down robbers.
"We can wait for the opinion of big brother and big sister-in-law." Prince Jing slowly put away the books on the table, "If big brother wants to send it, we will send it."
Prince An was silent. If he would only follow his elder brother if he was given a gift, how could he still cling to the Crown Princess's family?
At this time, the Ming family was almost filled with dowry gifts sent by various families in the capital. Those royal relatives and nobles were originally relatives of the man, but they also sent a lot of gifts in the name of dowry.
That’s not all. His Majesty and the Empress also sent rewards under various names. Things from the Emperor and Empress’ private treasury were continuously sent to the Ming family. The Palace Department and the Ministry of Rites ran to the Ming family every day and almost broke down the threshold of the Ming family.
His Majesty's obvious preference for Prince Chen was seen by everyone, and they even suspected that the scale of Prince Chen's wedding was almost the same as that of the Crown Prince's wedding.
However, no one in the Ministry of Rites raised any objection to this matter, and no one from the families of the other princes' wives dared to stand up and say a word against it. The wedding slowly took place in an atmosphere where everyone felt that the standards were not right, but no one dared to say anything.
On the first day of February, the Ministry of Rites delivered the bridal dress, which had been modified many times, to the Ming family.
Pearl-inlaid jade dragon and phoenix wedding crowns, auspicious robes with dragon and phoenix patterns, round fans with twin flowers, and various ornaments in pairs.
"Mother." Ming Jiyuan looked at these things without much joy on his face: "This is of higher quality than the wedding dresses that were sent to my sister for her to try out at the beginning."
Normally, when a prince gets married, the bride's wedding crown should have six dragons and six phoenixes, but the wedding crown prepared for Jiuzhu has eight dragons and eight phoenixes.
"Your father is the Minister of Rites. If these things were tampered with, they would not have been sent to our Ming family." Shen looked at the phoenix crown on the tray: "So this can only be the intention of the emperor and the queen."
"Thunder, lightning, rain and dew are all grace from the emperor." Shen picked up the red satin and covered the phoenix crown: "Go and call Jiuzhu, I have something to say to her."
Ming Jiyuan turned and went to his sister's yard.
As a bride-to-be, Jiuzhu is not nervous at all. Instead, she walks her little white horse in the yard. She had raised this horse for more than half a year, but it didn't grow much.
"Brother?" Seeing Ming Jiyuan coming in, Jiuzhu handed the reins to Chunfen: "Why are you here?"
"Mother asked me to take you there." Ming Jiyuan saw that his sister had a simple double spiral bun and didn't even wear many hair accessories. Thinking of the hairpins and jewelry sent by the Ministry of Rites, he began to worry about her thick hair.
"Have all the ladies who came to visit left?" Jiuzhu leaned over the door and looked into the yard.
"They know there's a lot going on today, so why won't they stay long? Don't worry, they've all left." Seeing his sister being so cautious, Ming Jiyuan couldn't help but sigh, "You hate socializing, what are you going to do after you marry Prince Chen?"
"His Highness said that we just need to ignore those people." Jiuzhu asked puzzledly: "What should we do?"
"Silly sister, you don't know men well enough." Ming Jiyuan touched her head: "But brother hopes that what His Highness said is true."
"Your Highness would not lie to me." Jiuzhu said firmly: "Your Highness also said that he would often accompany me home in the future."
Ming Jiyuan laughed. His sister grew up in a Taoist temple and had no idea how harsh the world was to girls. The moment she got married and stepped out of her parents' door, in the eyes of the world, she was no longer a member of her in-laws' family, but a member of her husband's family.
He believed what Prince Chen said at this moment and did not lie to his sister. But life is too long and people's hearts are so changeable. Not everyone is like our father and mother, who stay with each other and know each other and love each other as before.
"What if His Highness lies to you?" Ming Jiyuan looked at his sister: "Jiuzhu, I hope you can be a little more selfish and love yourself more. As long as you are well, it's better than anything else."
Jiuzhu stepped into the main courtyard, was silent for a moment, and looked back at his brother seriously: "If he really lied to me, then let him lie."
Master said that the most difficult thing in life is to do what you want.
She didn't think it was difficult.
There are many things in this world that you can choose to do over again, but you only have one life.
His Highness saved her life at Huaxi River, accompanied her through the mountains and rivers of the capital, and enjoyed the moonlight and lights of the Lantern Festival.
"Brother." Jiuzhu smiled: "I don't know what will happen in the future, but I choose to believe in Your Highness."
"Everyone in the world can change. To me, Your Highness is the most special one." Jiuzhu pulled Ming Jiyuan's sleeve: "So brother, don't worry about me. There are thousands of men in the world, and every one of them will be the beloved man in a woman's heart."
"Prince Chen, is this the lover in your heart?" Ming Jiyuan always thought that his sister was raised in a Taoist temple and was naive and ignorant, but he suddenly felt that his sister knew everything and understood everything. Unlike many people, she had a heart that was content with fate.
Prince Chen is her destiny.
"Brother, Your Highness is not only the lover in my heart." Jiuzhu walked forward with a smile, and her bouncing back was still that innocent girl.
Pushing open the door, Jiuzhu looked at the neatly stacked wedding gowns with dragon and phoenix patterns, and sighed softly, "How beautiful."
"Do you like it?" Shen looked at her with a smile.
Jiuzhu nodded.
"As long as you like it." Shen picked up the wooden comb on the table: "Jiuzhu, come, I'll comb your hair."
When a woman gets married, her biological mother will comb her hair and wish her all the best in marriage.
Royal weddings do not follow folk customs, but as a mother, she still wants to give her the blessings that other people's daughters have.
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