Newlywed life
A look of hatred caused by heartache flashed across Xiao Bo's face, but it passed in a flash and no one caught it.
There was no substantial progress in the relationship, and it was inconvenient to have physical contact, so Xiao Bo touched her clothes with the back of his hand.
"The most difficult of the princes to deal with is the Marquis of Huaiyang. Huaiyang is too close to the imperial city of Nanjing and is rich in resources. He hasn't come to the capital to pay his respects in many years. Your Majesty is determined to show his ability and will definitely deal with the most troublesome prince near the capital. However, Your Majesty doesn't want to invite trouble. I guess you will either push us out or push Xiao and Cheng out and sit back and watch the fight."
Pei Zhaoying said with emotion: "With your insight, you will be able to achieve great things no matter who you serve."
She still hasn't figured out why Xiao Bo was so stubborn about joining her.
Xiao Bo's hand stroked the orchid embroidery on Pei Zhaoying's cuff, lingering there again and again, and he mustered up the courage to hook her little finger.
"Well, but I only wish to go with you. Don't worry, no matter what the situation is, we are together and we are in this together."
Pei Zhaoying couldn't fully accept the strange warmth rising from her little finger, but she didn't shake off Xiao Bo's hand and gradually adapted herself.
Then, she pushed her hand further into Xiao Bo's palm.
The emperor had exploited the marriage to the extreme. Pei Zhaoying had nothing to say and just smiled tiredly.
Xiao Bo tightened his grip slightly.
He knew that Pei Zhaoying had some sisterly affection for Pei Heng, but he only had hatred for those people.
It sounds extremely treasonous for a minister to hate his king.
The fact is, those people are contributing to Pei Zhaoying's tragedy.
Pei Heng was weak and repeatedly pushed Pei Zhaoying forward. It seemed glorious to outsiders, but in fact, it attracted countless attacks to Pei Zhaoying.
The carriage wheel ran over a stone, causing the carriage to shake.
Pei Zhaoying bumped into Xiao Bo's shoulder.
The sore spot was hit hard again.
Xiao Bo didn't say a word of displeasure, but touched the back of Pei Zhaoying's head.
After maintaining this posture for a while, Pei Zhaoying said in a muffled voice:
"Help me, straighten it up..."
Xiao Bo realized it later and helped her sit up straight, feeling a little embarrassed. "It was my negligence. I won't do it again next time."
Pei Zhaoying was heartbroken and angry, and tugged at his sleeve fiercely: "I am like this. I can't take care of myself for food, clothing, housing and transportation. I need someone to take care of me and adjust me when I sit crookedly or feel uncomfortable. Are you still willing to do these trivial things by my side and stick with me through thick and thin?"
"Yeah." When it comes to expressing loyalty, Xiao Bo never likes long speeches.
His every word is always better than others' false performance.
Pei Zhaoying didn't want to give him a good face so quickly, so she didn't say anything, with relief and joy slowly dancing in her eyes, and then she introduced the situation in the Princess's Mansion to him.
He told Xiao Bo everything about the management personnel, the overall planning, and the personnel arrangements.
She herself hadn't even entered the newlywed state yet, but she was already worried about Xiao Bo and didn't want him to feel uncomfortable in her house.
These matters were very detailed and tedious. Pei Zhaoying talked about whatever came to her mind. Sometimes she talked about which pavilions and waterscapes in the mansion were beautiful, and sometimes she said she wanted to prepare a small kitchen for Xiao Bo that suited his taste.
Xiao Bo listened patiently, his heart filled with the ordinary warmth of the world.
Pei Zhaoying always makes plans for the people around him before he gets out of the predicament himself.
Xiao Bo had never seen such a stupid yet kind woman.
So I will never forget it.
When the carriage arrived at the palace gate, Xiao Bo jumped down without asking anyone for help, then easily and steadily carried Pei Zhaoying down along with the wheelchair, his movements smooth and fluid.
In the past, it took two or three maids to lift it up and down, which made the people around them sweat, and Pei Zhaoying couldn't sit comfortably.
For Xiao Bo, it was a piece of cake.
Pei Zhaoying didn't express her compliment out loud, but looked at him with bright eyes.
Xiao Bo did not take credit for it and a smile appeared on his face.
Qiluo praised him at the right moment: "The Prince Consort is very skilled. With the Prince Consort by his side, we old people in the mansion feel much more at ease. The Prince Consort and His Highness are really a perfect match."
Pei Zhaoying lightly scolded her: "Little girl, the newly arrived prince consort has bribed the people around me, right?"
Xiao Bo adjusted the beads for her, making sure they didn't get caught in her hair at all.
There were eunuchs watching at the palace gate, all of whom were Pei Heng's eyes and ears. Pei Zhaoying didn't say much, and accepted her husband's care like a little bird, maintaining the intimacy of a newlywed couple and paying her respects to the emperor and the empress dowager.
The Queen Mother simply thought that Pei Zhaoying had played a role in successfully alienating the Xiao brothers. She said a few considerate words as an elder and rewarded them with several valuable treasures.
Pei Zhaoying hated the empress dowager's hypocrisy, but there was no need to go against money and treasures. She took the time to wink at Xiao Bo cunningly.
It means that the mansion has new income.
Xiao Bo stood next to her, smiling with his eyes narrowed, and the years were peaceful.
The political value brought by Pei Zhaoying's wedding far exceeded Pei Heng's expectations.
There hadn't been any big happy events in Jinling for a long time, so Pei Heng organized them with great fanfare and forced the princes who were granted fiefs by the royal family to come to the capital.
Pei Heng said with a pleasant expression, "Sister, many princes and uncles have come to the capital to offer gifts and congratulate you on your wedding. They have stayed a few days longer. You must make more contacts for me. Especially the Marquis of Huaiyang, who is considered our uncle. We cannot appear to be ignorant of etiquette and do not know how to entertain our elders."
Pei Zhaoying thought about it and realized that Pei Heng meant that she should take advantage of the princes' visit to the capital to quickly catch them making mistakes and punish them.
Pei Heng couldn't change his habit of pushing the dirty work onto others. Perhaps this was the necessary balance for an emperor.
Pei Zhaoying resisted the urge to roll her eyes and didn't want to respond.
Xiao Bo handled the situation for her: "Your Majesty is right. I will do my best to serve you."
In order to allow Xiao Bo to free up time to handle royal affairs, Pei Heng asked the Dali Temple to grant Xiao Bo a long vacation on the pretext of his marriage.
When Pei Heng heard Xiao Bo express his stance, he felt relieved and called him "brother-in-law" several times.
Pei Zhaoying pinched his legs hard, not bothering to care about empty words. The accidental poisoning had stimulated a slight sense of consciousness. Pei Zhaoying just wanted to wait until his legs could walk fast again, and then decisively leave the royal mess behind and fly away.
Seeing this, Xiao Bo covered her hand to prevent her from using too much force and hurting her skin.
His palm was broad and just enough to wrap around Pei Zhaoying's hand, conveying a sense of security made of flesh and blood.
Pei Heng and the Queen Mother exchanged glances, and were very satisfied with the love between the newlyweds.
After the two thanked him and left, Pei Heng laughed with relief.
"It's done, mother. My sister's beauty trap has dragged Xiao Bo into this and put him to death. She has also restrained Xiao and Cheng. All we have to do is wait for the biggest disaster, internal strife."
The Queen Mother recalled the trouble caused by the Xiao family a while ago and was still frightened:
"Emperor, don't be too happy too soon. Do you know that Xiao Bo won't become the second minister to bully the emperor?"
"Don't worry, mother. Civil officials have always been different from military commanders. How can a mere scholar without military power achieve anything without my support? At court, my sister and her husband have been entangled with the Grand Marshal. I hope there won't be any unrest in the local area."
When the country fell into Pei Heng's hands, it was already in a precarious situation.
He was unwilling to be at the mercy of others as the emperor.
Since the ministers and princes had their own thoughts, he instigated conflicts among his subordinates, gave them some sweet treats, and watched others get hurt.
If the ministers do not fight and protest, they will turn their spears against the emperor.
The important task fell on Pei Zhaoying. As the person who actually had to carry out the task, it was not easy for her. She had to arrange the banquet and drinking party according to the solar terms.
Pei Zhaoying was impatient because he had to personally review the post and affix his private seal, so he gave half of the task to Xiao Bo. The two of them sat opposite each other with their pens in hand, each occupying half of the desk.
Xiao Bo took a post and crossed out the name of Pingxi Hou:
"The Marquis of Pingxi resigned yesterday and left the capital. He left in a hurry, as if he was worried that he would not be able to leave if he was late."
Pei Zhaoying sneered, "He doesn't even rank among the princes. The one with the most powerful army and horses is the Marquis of Huaiyang. If Your Majesty wants to deal with him, he will take them one by one. He really thinks too highly of himself."
Xiao Bo reminded: "Marquis Pingxi also left the capital by boat. When he left, the waterline of the boat was much deeper than when he came."
"They are so greedy and greedy, and they are so rich! How many parasites are there in the imperial court?"
Pei Zhaoying was anxious, so his handwriting was messy and the strokes were sloppy. His wrist was weak and he couldn't lift the strength. It was not right whether he put pen to paper or not.
Xiao Bo naturally took the ink-dripped brush from her hand, dabbed it twice on the inkstone, and began to write:
"If Your Majesty does not rise to power, the court officials will either surrender to the Grand Chancellor, cling to the powerful families, or form alliances with the princes to seek other solutions. It's all a matter of judging the situation. Your Majesty, if you work hard to govern the country and put the court in order, will the people win over."
Pei Zhaoying checked the written posts one by one. She didn't want to bring intrigue into her home, so she set the banquet at Yaoyue Tower.
The Marquis of Huaiyang was the one the emperor specifically wanted to deal with, and he was the guest of honor at this banquet.
Pei Zhaoying was worried that he couldn't shock this old fox, so he specially moved Xiao Yucheng over to fight against him.
But Xiao and Cheng's intentions were unpredictable, and she was not sure whether they would turn the tables and attack her.
Pei Zhaoying felt uncomfortable after staying in the same position in the wheelchair for a long time, so she stretched her muscles a little. Xiao Bo had noticed it and stood up to adjust her sitting position and even put a cushion under her lower back.
It's much more comfortable to have something to support my back.
Although the people serving Pei Zhaoying were all women, none of them seemed as sharp-eyed and attentive as Xiao Bo.
"Would that be more comfortable? Or could you get someone to prepare a harder cushion, like buckwheat core?"
Xiao Bo squatted beside the wheelchair, constantly adjusting and observing.
"Much better, thank you."
The distance was too close. Although they had slept on the same bed on their wedding night, they had not crossed the line and were not an ordinary couple. Pei Zhaoying could not adapt to the close contact with such a man.
Especially the scent of orchid incense lingering in Xiao Bo's robe easily made Pei Zhaoying's mind confused and messy.
Xiao Bo was considerate in every way, so she didn't dare to ask him to stay away... lest he misunderstand that she was disgusted with him.
"If you feel uncomfortable, just speak up. Don't let yourself suffer all kinds of grievances just to be considerate of those around you. If you are well, we will be well too."
Xiao Bo tidied up the mat, but did not get up in a hurry. He remained squatting and looked up at Pei Zhaoying.
There is no one in this world who is beautiful but doesn't know it. Xiao Bo knows how useful a face given by his parents is. He also knows that every time he looks at Pei Zhaoying and gives her advice from this angle, she will unconsciously accept everything he says and will not brush it off by talking about other things.
As expected, when they got closer, Pei Zhaoying had no room for pretense and sighed softly as she spoke from the heart:
"I always try to live my life as normal as possible. Even a child can do things like sleeping, turning over, bathing, and going to the toilet, but I need help everywhere. How can I live well? I just bear it."
On the wedding night, Pei Zhaoying was drunk and muttered incoherently that she didn't like lying on her back, but she was also unwilling to trouble the maid to help her turn over.
Xiao Bo had been paying close attention to her these past few days and had noticed that she seldom ordered tea. Even when her lips were cracked from thirst, she would often just hold the teacup to moisten them slightly and steam them with the hot air.
In order to reduce the number of times you are treated as a useless person and avoid being embarrassed openly.
Xiao Bo's heart ached as if it was bleeding, and he quickened his voice to comfort her:
"So what if we ask for help? What are you afraid of? The lives and wealth of hundreds of people in this mansion depend on you. As someone with such heavy responsibilities, it's okay to let others share these trivial matters. Besides, we're only injured for a while, not forever. We have some feeling in our legs now, so we'll be able to stand up again. Let's just accept the help and live a more comfortable life."
Pei Zhaoying covered her face and stammered, "But I'm just embarrassed... It's hard to take care of a patient who can't take care of himself, and it's also hard to expose my need for self-care to others. I don't know how to face it."
It sounds cowardly and evasive.
But Pei Zhaoying just couldn't stand the fact that she was a useless person who needed others to take care of her everywhere.
She would rather suppress her most basic physiological needs for this.
Sometimes, even though she accepted the fact of her disability, she couldn't accept asking someone to accompany her to the toilet or take a bath...
Xiao Bo knows it all.
He couldn't blame her for anything, so he just squatted beside her in anger, like a child:
"Okay, if you don't want to order others around, I'm your consort, so just order me around. At night, I often turn you over, and it's my job to bring you tea, water, and tuck you in. I'm strong, so it's my job to push and lift the wheelchair. If you don't ask, I'll do it myself, and I'll also ask you from time to time if you're thirsty, hungry, or if you want to go to the bathroom..."
"Stop talking!"
Pei Zhaoying had no ears to hear, so she slowly covered her ears.
Xiao Bo reached her wrist, pulled it off, and asked:
"Drinking water, going to the toilet, bathing, do I do it, or your maid? Do you know how to call someone? It's okay if you don't call anyone, I will do it all."
He was really happy to take care of all this for him.
“Nonsense!”
"How can this be called nonsense when it comes to the duties of a prince consort?"
Pei Zhaoying's face felt hot.
Xiao Bo was squatting, maintaining a respectful appearance, closing the distance between them. His invisible attack left Pei Zhaoying nowhere to hide.
"Okay, I won't wrong myself anymore, get up quickly."
Pei Zhaoying coughed dryly while holding Xiao Bo's hand, wanting him to get up quickly.
Her arms were thin and weak, and she didn't exert much strength, but Xiao Bo benefited greatly from them. He used her as a fulcrum and slowly stood up.
Perhaps because his legs were numb from squatting for so long, Xiao Bo finally stood up a little. His knees creaked and he staggered and squatted deeper.
He didn't hold Pei Zhaoying's hand firmly, and it slipped down, finally grabbing a large part of Pei Zhaoying's skirt.
He blinked, innocently enough, not apologetic about it.
Pei Zhaoying was captivated by the beauty and felt that this behavior was inappropriate. However, she could not find any fault with Xiao Bo, so she stepped into the thick fog in a daze.
"Hey, what are you doing? Is this in accordance with etiquette?"
Someone pushed the door open and saw the two bodies overlapping and almost touching each other, and shouted in surprise and annoyance.
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