Chapter 9 Brother, brother, sister-in-law wish you a Happy New Year
The word "brother" completely baffled the two of them.
The three stood facing each other under the corridor. Neither Jiang Chen nor Shen Yujiao dared to speak first, fearing that this was an acquaintance and would reveal the secret again. However, they had never heard that the Empress had a daughter. For a moment, only whispers could be heard under the corridor.
"Your Highness," Zhu Yu, who was following behind, suddenly ran over, holding a red lucky bag in both hands and handing it to Jiang. He then whispered a reminder: "This morning, when I saw that you hadn't mentioned it, I took the liberty of preparing it for you. You used to send Princess Yong'an a lucky bag every New Year's Eve. This morning, I put all the strings of pearl flowers that you instructed me to put in it."
"Ah, right, this..." Jiang Chen took the lucky bag from Zhu Yu's hand, squatted down and handed it to the little girl in front of him, "Yong'an, this is a gift from your brother, Happy New Year."
Princess Yong'an, a tiny child, saw the two people in front of her squat down to look her in the eye. Her eyes seemed to sparkle like stars. She took the lucky bag from Jiang Chen and sweetly said thank you.
The little girl looked so adorable that Shen Yujiao felt a surge of affection for her. She searched her body a few times and took off a yellow jade pendant from her waist. The pendant was made of pure, lustrous, and delicate jade, exuding elegance and beauty.
She fastened the restraint belt around the little girl's waist, then straightened the hem of her dress and said softly, "This is a gift from your sister-in-law to Yong'an. It was a bit rushed today, and your brother, the Crown Prince, didn't tell me beforehand. Next time, your sister-in-law will give you an even better one."
Princess Yong'an raised her small hand and carefully stroked the forbidden gate, then smiled and shook her head, curtsied and said, "Thank you, sister-in-law. Yong'an will prepare a gift for you next time."
"Okay." Shen Yujiao raised her hand and ruffled the top of her head a few times. The little girl seemed a little shy, bowed to the two of them again, and then ran away with the gifts in her arms.
Watching the small figure disappear into the distance, Jiang Chen slowly stood up. Turning around, he saw Shen Yujiao still squatting in a daze, so he reached out and helped her up. "What are you doing? It's time to go back. We have to go to the palace again before dawn tomorrow."
“Jiang Chen,” Shen Yujiao said, her eyes filled with pity as she looked into the distance, “that child’s winter clothes are as thin as his autumn clothes, the sleeves only reach his wrists, and the hem of his dress is patched up.”
Before Jiang Chen could speak, Shen Yujiao asked Zhu Yu, "What's going on with Princess Yong'an?"
Upon hearing this, Zhu Yu glanced at Jiang Chen with some difficulty, and then recounted Princess Yong'an's situation in detail.
Princess Yong'an was the current emperor's fifteenth daughter and the only child of Consort Rong. She was born around the same time as Consort Yao's sixteenth princess. Unfortunately, the sixteenth princess was born weak and died before she was a hundred days old. The emperor bestowed the title of Yong'an upon the surviving fifteenth princess, meaning eternal peace.
However, because Consort Yao lost her beloved daughter, the emperor was unable to attend to Consort Rong's affairs at the time. Before long, the New Year arrived, and Consort Zheng gave birth to her seventeenth daughter.
Because the seventeenth princess was born prematurely, the emperor couldn't help but think of the sixteenth princess who died young. Out of pity, he bestowed upon his daughter the title of Yongshou, hoping that his youngest daughter would live a long and healthy life.
In just a few months, children were born and children died in the palace. The emperor was still thinking about Consort Yao, who had recently lost her beloved daughter, and he was also thinking about Princess Yongshou, who had just been born. Princess Yong'an, born to the little beauty, was really forgotten by him.
As time went by, the emperor naturally forgot that he had such a daughter, and the concubines and princesses who were forgotten by the emperor naturally had no reason to worry about their situation.
Back when Crown Prince Chen was still a prince, he had seen Xiao Yong'an being bullied a few times. He didn't dare to protect her rashly, so he would pretend to bump into her from time to time and give her a small lucky bag on New Year's Eve. Sometimes it contained gold in the shape of small animals, and sometimes it contained some precious trinkets. The little girl was always overjoyed when she received it.
This year, Crown Prince Chen became Jiang Chen, and naturally, he forgot about sending a gift.
On the carriage back to the East Palace, Jiang Chen and Shen Yujiao were both silent. After returning to their chambers, they changed and washed up separately. After turning off the lights, Shen Yujiao sighed and said, "How could we grow up so carelessly?"
When Shen Yujiao closed her eyes, she saw the image of Yong'an receiving the gift. It was something Princess Yongjia had casually given away, but in her hands, it was treated like a precious treasure. Even a small forbidden area was worth treasuring like that. This little girl was a princess, after all...
"Her father doesn't care for her, her mother doesn't compete for favor, her younger sister who was born at the same time died young, her older sister was more favored, and her mother, who was born later, was more capable. Isn't she just like a nobody?"
"If you give birth to her and then she's not fed or clothed, what's the point of bringing her into this world?"
"Perhaps this is how the royal family is. Besides, this isn't the first time you've seen something like this."
In the darkness, the two exchanged a glance, and Shen Yujiao instantly understood what Jiang Chen meant.
There was a little girl in the military compound where the two elderly people lived. She was very shy, but she loved playing with them. Her family never cared about her when she was little. Even when the children went home for dinner, she would sit alone in the courtyard. Grandma Jiang, Grandma Shen, Grandma He, and their other old friends took pity on her and often invited her to eat at their homes.
The child, who had grown up relying on the kindness of many families, suddenly found herself in the spotlight. The reason was simple: her younger brother had been born and needed care. The couple, with a carefree attitude, entrusted their infant to the care of a six- or seven-year-old girl, raising her until she was a teenager.
The children in the compound all went to and from school together, but she was the only one who stopped studying after junior high school because she had to take care of her younger brother. This caused many arguments between her parents and other families, but ultimately, everyone was an outsider, and it wasn't appropriate for them to interfere too much in such matters.
Jiang Chen and Shen Yujiao both grew up surrounded by love. Although they were only children, they never felt lonely because they had grown up together since childhood. Only that girl, although she also grew up with them, always seemed very lonely to Shen Yujiao whenever she saw her.
If you give birth but don't raise the child, what's the point of giving birth? This is a question that has remained unanswered for thousands of years.
"When she enters the palace, please take good care of her as much as possible. It's not easy for a young girl to live in the palace."
"good."
Finally, the two remained silent, and it is unknown who closed their eyes first, falling into a deep sleep, exhausted.
"Your Highness, it's time to get up."
Mu Jin's voice was soft and gentle, but it sounded like a demonic sound to Shen Yujiao's ears. She wailed and tucked herself back into the covers. She had only slept for less than an hour and now she had to get up. Who could stand that?
After struggling for a while, Shen Yujiao was finally dragged to the dressing table. She stared at Mu Jin, who was doing her makeup, and said with a mournful expression, "Little Mu Jin, please find someone else to wake me up in the morning. I'm afraid I'll start trembling whenever I hear your voice."
Hearing her say this, the palace maids remained silent and held their breath, but they all suppressed their laughter. Mu Jin glanced at them, and the palace maids lowered their heads and continued to do their work, while Shen Yujiao continued to yawn.
Exhausted, after washing and dressing, Shen Yujiao and Jiang Chen were both helped into the carriage. As soon as they entered the carriage, Jiang Chen leaned against the carriage wall and fell into a deep sleep, while Shen Yujiao was protected by two palace maids in the middle, for fear that she would mess up her clothes and hair while sleeping.
The carriage headed toward the palace again. The palace gates on the first day of the Lunar New Year were different from yesterday. Before dawn this morning, carriages and horses had already gathered at the palace gates. On the left were princes and prominent members of the imperial family, while on the right were civil and military officials of the third rank or above. When they saw the carriage from the Eastern Palace arrive, everyone stepped aside and gave way.
Jiang Chen and Shen Yujiao waited in the carriage for a while, when they heard footsteps outside. Then a eunuch stepped forward and said, "This servant greets Your Highness the Crown Prince and Your Highness the Crown Princess. Please move your sedan chairs into the carriage."
The New Year's sacrificial ceremony was held at Tianqi Mountain, where the Great Xia Royal Altar was located. Every year on the first day of the Lunar New Year, the emperor would lead his royal family members and civil and military officials to worship Heaven and Earth, offer sacrifices to the gods, and inform their ancestors, in order to pray for favorable weather and abundant harvests in the coming year and to receive blessings and avoid disasters.
To show their sincerity, everyone would ride in a uniform sedan chair at the palace gate every year. Compared to the carriages of each household, the uniform sedan chair was simple and uncomfortable. Halfway there, Shen Yujiao couldn't help but complain:
"If we're really sincere, we should all go down and hike up the mountain together. Only then will the gods and ancestors show their power."
Jiang Chen closed his eyes and said leisurely, "If you really climb up, you'll give up before you even get a third of the way up. Who cares about whether this sedan chair is comfortable or not? You'll be lucky to even have a seat."
As soon as he finished speaking, the sedan chair lurched violently. Shen Yujiao quickly raised her hand to hold her hair, then glared at Jiang Chen fiercely: "Fine, I don't need to come next year anyway, you can enjoy this rocking horse all by yourself."
The journey up the mountain was not smooth, and everyone looked pale and sickly after getting off the sedan chair. Shen Yujiao was extremely grateful that she hadn't eaten anything that morning, because even a sip of tea would probably have been thrown up by now.
Although the Great Xia Dynasty held sacrifices every year, this was the first time that the Emperor and Empress, along with the Crown Prince and Crown Princess, ascended the high platform together. The reason was simply that the Crown Prince had finally married the eldest daughter of the Shen family, and when it came time to pay tribute to the ancestors, the Crown Princess had to represent the Shen family ancestors and kowtow.
The moment dawn broke, an official shouted, "Kneel!"
Upon hearing this, everyone knelt down in unison, while Jiang Chen and Shen Yujiao followed the Emperor and Empress step by step up the high platform, bowing with each step.
As she climbed the steps, bathed in the first rays of the New Year's sun, each step felt sacred, as if she were being blessed by heaven. Inspired by this environment, Shen Yujiao's every movement was exceptionally cautious and solemn.
The rituals of the sacrificial ceremony were solemn and complicated. Fortunately, when Granny Zhao trained them, Shen Yujiao had dragged Jiang Chen to learn and practice day and night. Now, relying solely on muscle memory, the two of them were able to complete the entire ceremony without any mistakes.
When they came down from the mountain, it was already broad daylight. Jiang Chen and Shen Yujiao first went back to the East Palace to change their clothes, and then went to the palace again for a banquet without stopping. As usual, Jiang Chen went to the front court, while Shen Yujiao went to the inner palace.
As they approached the fork in the road and were about to part ways, the two looked back at each other, their unspoken sympathy evident.
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