Chapter 34 The Wedding Banquet: A wedding feast that only happens once in a lifetime...
"presumptuous!"
Shen Yujiao reprimanded them, took a deep breath, and then stood up and said to her sisters-in-law, "These servants are spreading rumors without thinking. It seems that Sixth Brother is overjoyed today and is playing with the Crown Prince. I'll go to the front and take a look. Sisters-in-law, please sit down and relax."
The commotion was definitely not as simple as brothers playing around. Otherwise, Prince Huan wouldn't have sent someone so urgently to invite the Crown Princess. It was indeed inappropriate for too many people to attend this scene, so the princesses could only nod in agreement and watch Shen Yujiao leave.
On the way to the front yard, Shen Yujiao's heart was pounding until she was suddenly pulled as she passed the corner of the corridor, and her heart sank completely.
"Let go!" Shen Yujiao glared angrily at King Huan.
Seeing her so agitated, Jiang Yu didn't hold her arm tightly. But as soon as he let go, Shen Yujiao strode forward, and he had to pull her back again: "I have something to tell you."
Shen Yujiao gritted her teeth and turned her head, forcing a smile, and said, "But I have nothing to say to you."
"Ah Jiao..."
“Prince Huan!” Shen Yujiao interrupted him, her tone serious but with a hint of threat: “Don’t forget your identity, and don’t forget that I am now the Crown Princess.”
“Okay,” Jiang Yu released his hand and nodded, “Then let’s not talk about it here, we…”
Shen Yujiao interrupted him again: "Didn't Prince Huan say that Prince Tai and the Crown Prince had a falling out? I'm going to the front to find the Crown Prince now."
"Sixth Brother only drank a few more cups of wine with the Crown Prince; you don't need to go over."
"So, Prince Huan deliberately tricked me into coming here in front of all the princesses?"
"I didn't lie to you..."
“Okay,” Shen Yujiao said, ignoring his continued questioning, “Since you didn’t lie to me, I’ll definitely go ahead and take a look.”
Having said that, Shen Yujiao stopped arguing with him and quickly walked out of the corridor, heading towards the front courtyard without looking back. She was angry as she walked, angry at Huan Wang's audacity and angry at herself for not controlling herself earlier. She always lost her temper when facing Huan Wang...
But in the blink of an eye, before her wild thoughts could continue to circulate, when she saw the scene of the male guests at the banquet, her mind went completely blank—
The Thai king, dressed in a red wedding robe, was currently wrestling with Jiang Chen. From a distance, it didn't look like they were playing around; they seemed to be really fierce, with both of them delivering punches that landed squarely.
Seeing a crowd of people standing around watching, Shen Yujiao shouted anxiously, "Hurry up and pull them away!"
Hearing her voice, these people rushed forward and pulled the person apart. It wasn't that they were just watching the show, but that the Crown Prince and the King of Tai forbade anyone to come forward. The only person here with the right to speak, the Prince of Huan, was nowhere to be found. How could the rest of them dare to disobey the Crown Prince's order?
Fortunately, the Crown Princess arrived.
"What exactly happened?!"
Shen Yujiao walked over quickly and stopped in front of the two fighting. When she got closer, she saw that although the two had hit hard, they were fortunately unharmed. However, neither of them answered her questions.
"Sixth brother," King Huan returned to the front courtyard at some point. He immediately reprimanded King Tai for his disrespect, "Today is the day you get married and start your career. How can you be so insensible on such an important occasion?"
But the King of Thailand is not the King of Zhao; how could he possibly listen to his rules?
The King of Thailand broke free from the grasp of several noblemen who were trying to break up the fight. His face was flushed and his eyes were bloodshot. He glanced at the Prince of Huan indifferently and said, "I will go to the Emperor to apologize tomorrow. Elder brother, there is no need to take my side and scold me here."
His arrogant and unruly demeanor undoubtedly offended King Huan, but King Huan didn't care about his little temper: "Since whether or not you apologize is a matter for tomorrow, then apologize to the Crown Prince today."
"If I've made a mistake, I should be punished. I'll accept whatever punishment Father Emperor gives me. Today, my mistake was that I was overjoyed and drank a bit too much with the Crown Prince. But as for an apology..."
The King of Thailand sneered at the King of Huan, then turned and looked around the room before bowing to Shen Yujiao and saying, "Sister-in-law, I'm sorry."
The apology was truly insincere, but since the King of Thailand had spoken, everyone had no choice but to help turn the page. Although Shen Yujiao felt uncomfortable, she knew that if word got out that Jiang Chen and her brother had fought, it wouldn't do any good. It was better to say that the two of them had drunk too much.
"Sixth brother..."
She had barely begun to speak when Jiang Chen interrupted her, saying, "Sixth Brother is right! We just drank a little too much while having fun. Today is your big day, so I'll invite you back another day."
Everyone was nearly speechless when they saw that the two of them seemed completely unconcerned.
The King of Thailand remained silent upon hearing this, only pursing his lips as he watched the Crown Prince's gloomy face. Jiang Chen stepped forward, patted him on the shoulder, and said, "Besides, this wedding banquet only happens once in a lifetime. As long as Sixth Brother is happy, that's better than anything else."
It was unclear what the Crown Prince had said that angered the King, but he raised his hand and slapped Jiang Chen's arm away, then gave a symbolic bow to the crowd: "Yan would like to change his clothes first, please continue."
With the departure of the host, the scene instantly became awkward. Everyone looked at the Crown Prince, then turned to look at King Huan. Finally, King Zhao spoke first, inviting everyone to sit down again. This relieved the awkward predicament, and everyone cast grateful glances at King Zhao.
Only King Huan and the Crown Prince remained standing in the middle.
Where did my brother go just now?
"I was feeling a bit tipsy, so I went for some fresh air."
"Hmm... I'm feeling a bit tipsy," Jiang Chen nodded. "Then, brother, please don't drink too much next time. Drinking can lead to trouble."
Jiang Yu smiled gently: "Yes, drinking can lead to trouble, but Father will surely know that it was Sixth Brother who was being irresponsible and will not blame you too much."
Upon hearing this, the two looked at each other without speaking. Although they both had smiles on their lips, the smiles did not reach their eyes. Jiang Chen raised an eyebrow: "Brother, then I will take the Crown Princess and leave first."
After speaking, Jiang Chen nodded to Jiang Yu, reached out and took Shen Yujiao's hand and walked out. Noticing that his fingers were intertwined with hers, Shen Yujiao's fingers stiffened slightly, but she did not pull back in front of Prince Huan.
It wasn't until she got into the carriage that Shen Yujiao struggled to let go of Jiang Chen's hand. Seeing her action, Jiang Chen didn't say anything. After getting into the carriage, he closed his eyes to rest, and the return journey was still silent.
The carriage stopped at the gate of the East Palace, and the two of them went to the study and back to the main courtyard in perfect unison.
Jiang Chen felt a headache coming on as soon as he entered the study and saw the memorials. During the days of their cold war, although he and Shen Yujiao did not meet or communicate, the memorials were always sent to the main study for approval first, and then to the front study for him to see. The two of them went out to a banquet early this morning, so he had not yet seen the memorials that had piled up yesterday.
"Sigh." After struggling with his thoughts for a while, Jiang Chen finally sat down behind his desk. However, before he could finish reading a book, a eunuch came over.
"Even the head steward sent a servant to inquire where Consort Chu's courtyard is located and how it should be renovated?"
Jiang Chen already had a headache from drinking, and hearing his subordinates ask about it only made him more agitated. He had been trying his best to keep himself busy and not think about it these past few days, but people kept reminding him.
He didn't even glance at the young eunuch, replying dismissively, "Arrange it however you like, repair it however you like. Why do you need to ask me about such things?"
"Yes," the young eunuch hesitated for a moment, then asked, "The head eunuch asked if His Highness would mind being accommodated in the Nan Jia Garden?"
Jiang Chen frowned upon hearing this. Nan Jia Courtyard was the closest courtyard to his study, apart from the main courtyard where Shen Yujiao lived. This woman hadn't even married into the family yet, and the servants were already starting to fawn over their new master.
"I have other plans for Nan Jia Yuan. Isn't Jing Tan Ge in the north still empty? Let's leave it there."
The young eunuch was startled upon hearing this. Jingtan Pavilion was so far away; it was just a few more steps away from the palace. It seemed that the Crown Prince didn't really value this new concubine.
Meanwhile, ever since returning to the main courtyard, Shen Yujiao's mind has been replaying the farce at the wedding banquet. She remembers how Jiang Chen suffered after drinking too much at the palace banquet last time, and today he not only drank but also got into a fight with the King of Thailand. She is really worried about him.
After hesitating for a while, Shen Yujiao finally called Mu Jin over.
When Mu Jin handed the prescription from last time to Zhu Yu, both of them looked helpless. Zhu Yu looked at the prescription and felt really bad: "The Crown Princess cares so much about His Highness, why can't she say something nice to him first?"
Originally, Mu Jin felt quite sympathetic towards Zhu Yu when she delivered the prescription, but after hearing his words, that sympathy vanished instantly: "Others may not know why the masters are arguing, but can't you, who serves the Crown Prince every day, guess a thing or two? The new concubine is about to enter the mansion, does that mean our Crown Princess should kneel down to welcome her?"
“This—good sister, what are you saying? I didn’t mean it that way, but this stalemate between the two masters isn’t going to work…” He sighed and leaned closer: “I was just trying to advise you, sister. His Highness the Crown Prince is, after all, the heir apparent. If things continue like this, what will happen when Consort Chu enters the palace…”
That's true. If it were when Mu Jin first entered the manor, she probably would have listened to Zhu Yu's advice and rushed to persuade the Crown Princess. But she had been by Shen Yujiao's side for some time and knew that the Crown Princess would not give in first.
"Eunuch Zhu, all I can say is that we can't interfere in the affairs of our masters, but if any of our servants have any ulterior motives, I would appreciate it if you could remind them that our Highness is not someone who can be shaken by just a few people coming into the inner courtyard."
Mu Jin didn't want to say anything more to him, so she shoved the prescription into his hand and turned to leave. Zhu Yu was caught in a dilemma, not knowing whether to go inside or chase after her to explain. He stood there and slapped his thigh hard. What kind of mess is this?!
It's not uncommon for the princes to take in a concubine or secondary wife during the triennial general election. However, everyone in the Crown Prince's palace, from the master to the servants, is quite awkward. The servants are trying to figure out what their master wants to do and are preparing accordingly, not daring to be extravagant. Even the head steward has to consider the Crown Prince's reputation and doesn't dare to let the Grand Tutor's granddaughter live in a shabby place. During this time, the steward is trying to maintain a proper balance so that the Crown Prince can neither eat nor sleep well.
Finally, on the first day of the fourth month, Chu Rou's sedan chair entered through the east gate and was carried all the way to Jingtan Pavilion. Even the head steward was finally relieved, but this time, it was Zhu Yu's turn to be uneasy.
"Your Highness," Zhu Yu knelt down with a thud, holding a copy of "Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art" in his hands. He was almost crying. "Even if we don't hold a wedding banquet today, it is still our wedding night. How can you give a book to my concubine?"
"Just go when I tell you to." Jiang Chen clicked his tongue, his gaze falling on the Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art.
Before this Consort Chu even entered the Eastern Palace, she caused him to have a fight with Shen Yujiao. If Shen Yujiao hadn't insisted on seeing if this person was Chu Rou, he wouldn't have cared about these rules and regulations. And if he wanted to verify whether this person was Chu Rou, this book was enough.
He and Chu Rou often sat at the same desk when they were in school. Although they were both top students, they didn't listen to every class. When they encountered some boring problem-solving classes, they liked to do problems and compete with each other. They were open to all kinds of problems, both ancient and modern, Chinese and foreign, and naturally they did not miss this book, Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art.
So, that evening, the door of Jingtan Pavilion was knocked on. The palace maid, who had been cheerfully going to open the door, froze on her face when she saw that only an eunuch was standing outside.
"A-Jun, what's wrong?" Chu Rou saw her maid return with a wronged look on her face and thought something had happened, but unexpectedly, A-Jun handed her a book from her bosom.
"Miss, look, on this perfect wedding night, His Highness the Crown Prince just dismissed you with a book."
Ah-Jun felt truly wronged on behalf of their young lady. Although she had heard that the Crown Prince and Crown Princess were deeply in love, today was, after all, a special day for their young lady. The Crown Prince's actions not only showed disrespect for their young lady but also a lack of respect for the Chu family!
"Ah-Jun!" After all, they had been mistress and servant for many years. As soon as she spoke, Chu Rou knew what she was thinking. "Now you should be called Liangdi. The rules in the Eastern Palace are very strict. If you continue to be so reckless, I'm afraid I won't be able to protect you in the future."
"I......"
Seeing Ah-Jun lower her head in shame, Chu Rou spoke again: "We have relied on each other since we were young. The only people I can trust besides my grandfather are you. But we will be making a living in the Eastern Palace in the future. If you are not careful, will I still have someone I can trust in the future?"
"Ah-Jun knows she was wrong."
Tears fell onto the table, and Chu Rou felt a pang of pity, but she didn't want to spoil her too much, so she sent her outside to keep watch and reflect on her actions. Once Chu Rou was alone in the room, she began to carefully examine the book in front of her.
"The Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art..."
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