Chapter 33 Earth Instruments.
On the fifteenth of August, Chu Heng was to attend a family banquet at the palace. There were many members of the royal family, and he was too lazy to deal with them all. Since everyone said that the Emperor and Empress Dowager favored him, Chu Heng, having assumed the title, naturally had to enjoy the benefits. Therefore, he always sat quietly and never socialized with anyone.
As for etiquette and rules, Chu Heng only needed to remember not to be impolite when facing the Emperor, Empress Dowager, and Empress.
The Empress Dowager smiled helplessly at an old concubine and said, "Heng'er has been spoiled by the Emperor and me. Look at him, he doesn't even know how to stand up and say a word to anyone."
The Dowager Empress smiled and said, "The youngest son is naturally more spoiled, and besides, the Prince has always been filial. Your Majesty is truly blessed to have such good children!"
"With more children comes more worries, but thankfully they are quite sensible," the Empress Dowager said with a smile. "After Heng'er's marriage is arranged next year, we'll find a good family for Yongkang, and then my worries will be over."
The Dowager Empress squinted at Yongkang, who was talking with her sisters, and smiled, "With the Empress Dowager here, she will surely be able to find a perfect family for the princess. However, both the prince and the princess have found their partners in two years, so the Empress Dowager has achieved the best of both worlds!"
The Empress Dowager laughed heartily and said, "I also hope they all have a good outcome!"
“I think the princess looks more and more like the Empress Dowager when she was young, but if we’re talking about resemblance to the Empress Dowager, it has to be the Prince,” the Consort Dowager said with a smile. “It’s not that I’m being presumptuous, but His Majesty looks like the late Emperor, and the Prince resembles his mother. No wonder the Empress Dowager dotes on him the most.”
Chu Heng listened to their conversation and clicked his tongue inwardly, but even if he was dissatisfied, he had to admit that his face did indeed look too much like the Empress Dowager.
But the Empress Dowager's so-called affection for him had nothing to do with this.
"Fifth brother, come here!" Suddenly, the emperor beckoned to him from the seat above.
Chu Heng had no choice but to get up and go over, bowing at the foot of the steps and saying, "Your Majesty."
The Emperor smiled and said, "I was just speaking with my great-uncle. He is getting old and wants to go home to enjoy his grandchildren and retire from his duties. Someone needs to take over all the affairs of the Court of Imperial Clan Affairs. Great-uncle, what do you think of Prince Duan?"
The Imperial Clan Minister lowered his head and smiled, "If His Majesty says it's good, then Your Highness is naturally good. If there is anything wrong with it, Your Majesty will teach you a thing or two, as the eldest brother is like a father."
Why is the emperor using the same trick twice? Chu Heng muttered to himself. Wasn't he already hurt enough by what he did to the Empress Dowager last time?
Chu Heng cupped his hands and smiled, "I am willing to share your burdens, Your Majesty, but I am not capable enough. I am afraid I cannot shoulder the heavy responsibility of the Court of Imperial Clan Affairs. Perhaps I should learn for two years first, and then slowly learn how to handle affairs from the bottom up, so as not to cause trouble and trouble Your Majesty."
The emperor laughed twice and said, "My younger brother isn't incompetent or lacking in ability, but he's just lazy. If he studies for three or five years, he'll come up with a new excuse to get rid of me, and he'll go off to slack off again!"
Everyone around him laughed along with the emperor, but Chu Heng looked embarrassed and said, "Your subject dares not."
Hearing the commotion, the Empress Dowager asked the palace servants, raised her voice, and said with a smile, "Emperor, don't make things difficult for your brother. He's not well, and although he's feeling better now, he still needs to rest more."
The emperor turned around and smiled, “Mother is right. I’m just seeing that my fifth brother is getting better. I was thinking that he might get restless if he has nothing to do all day. So I’d like to give him a leisurely job to pass the time.”
The Empress Dowager nodded and smiled, "Thank goodness you're so thoughtful. I was just saying that you brothers have always been good friends, it sounds like I'm just bragging."
The Dowager Consort continued with a smile, "Who doesn't know that His Majesty and Prince Tang are deeply in love..."
Yongkang slipped over to Chu Heng's side and whispered, "What kind of show are you putting on now?"
Chu Heng said with a forced smile, "You're envious? How about we build a stage and you sing by yourself?"
Yongkang stuck out his tongue and laughed, "Such good fortune, Fifth Brother, you should enjoy it."
Having finally gotten the better deal, Yongkang was about to slip away again when Chuheng said, "Mother just mentioned your marriage."
"Varied……"
Yongkang took a step back and was called to the Empress Dowager's side. As for the marriage, she didn't have time to ask clearly, and could only watch with regret as Chu Heng returned to his original seat with a smile.
...
After the Mid-Autumn Festival, the weather grew colder day by day, and the embroiderers of the Jia family rushed to make winter clothes for their masters, with the most important being for Miss Lin.
Daiyu never urged him, but recently Prince Duan sent people to deliver things twice, one of which was several baskets of silver bone charcoal for Lin Daiyu to use in the winter. That same day, Grandmother Jia sent someone to urge the progress of Lin Daiyu's winter clothes. Qingwen, who was in Jia Baoyu's room, was also called over to help because she was very good at needlework.
Because Lady Wang changed the location of his confinement, Jia Baoyu was able to stay in the main courtyard, but the number of maids around him was greatly reduced.
Seeing him surrounded by a bunch of beautiful women, Jia Zheng was extremely displeased. After discussing it with his mother, he dismissed half of them, leaving only a few honest servants.
The first person to be transferred away from Jia Baoyu's side by Grandmother Jia was Xiren. Naturally, she was extremely unwilling, but Jia Baoyu dared not plead for her, so she had no choice but to accept it.
Xiren was originally a head maid in Grandmother Jia's room. Although she was given to Jia Baoyu, her monthly allowance still belonged to Grandmother Jia's room. Later, she sought refuge with Lady Wang and received the monthly allowance that Lady Wang gave her as a concubine. This was the first reason why Grandmother Jia disliked her.
Now that Lady Wang no longer receives her monthly allowance as the head of the household, she naturally has no money left for Xiren. Since Xiren is not officially recognized as a concubine, and the number of head maids in Grandmother Jia's quarters is already full, she has become someone without a title or status, and doesn't even know where to collect her monthly allowance.
Grandmother Jia kept her in her room as a maidservant who received a monthly allowance of five hundred coins. Xiren was truly heartbroken.
Zijuan and Xiren had some old friendship. That day, when Zijuan went to the main room with her mistress to pay their respects to the old lady, Xiren quietly pulled her aside and spoke to her. When they returned, Zijuan told Daiyu that Xiren wanted to compete for the position of a maidservant to accompany Miss Lin in her dowry.
Daiyu chuckled, "I've become the most sought-after person."
Zijuan sighed, "Xiren isn't stupid, she just took the wrong path. Now she wants to turn back and find another way, but I'm afraid..."
Back then, Xiren was a first-class maid, and the old lady gave her to serve the most precious young master Bao Er in the mansion. Later, the madam even arranged for her to receive the allowance of a concubine. Everyone thought that Xiren would definitely become a concubine of young master Bao Er in the future.
She was bought from outside, yet she was better than many born-in-laws; how glamorous she was back then!
Who would have thought that things would change so drastically? Now, Xiren is not young anymore, but has become a little maid who boils water and feeds birds. In less than two years, she will be married off, which she naturally does not want, so she has started to consider marrying a young lady.
Thinking of this, Zijuan couldn't help but look at her mistress. It wasn't surprising that Xiren would have such thoughts, since she had never been very polite to her mistress. However, because of Master Bao, her mistress had never looked down on her and treated her as one of Master Bao's concubines. Therefore, she assumed that her mistress was soft-hearted and easy to bully.
"What did you say to her?" Daiyu asked.
Zijuan hurriedly said, "I said that marriage is a major event, and it is always the elders who make the decisions. It is useless for her to talk to me. Even if she begs you, you will not be able to say anything. If she really has this intention, she should ask the old lady. Once the old lady speaks, you will have no room to say anything."
Daiyu nodded: "That's fine then." She looked at Zijuan, "Do you think I'm being too heartless?"
Zijuan hurriedly shook her head: "You have never wronged Xiren before. Now she wants to come to you for help, not because of any affection, but because she sees you are going to be a princess. If you really take her... Xiren is a big-hearted person, and who knows what trouble she will cause in the future."
“What happened in the past is only natural, I don’t blame her.” Daiyu lowered her eyes, also somewhat sighing. “I don’t need to comply with her unreasonable demands. Let’s not talk about anything else in the future.”
Zijuan said, "I know what you mean, Miss. I've already told everyone in our room. Lately, countless people have their eyes on you, Miss, wanting to go to the Prince's mansion with you."
Daiyu shook her head: "Everyone only cares about their own benefits..."
It's not so easy to establish oneself in a prince's residence.
The increasingly cold weather could not dampen the enthusiasm of the servants of the Jia family. In order to become part of the future Princess Duan's dowry, each family came up with many ideas. Unfortunately, Daiyu and those around her did not like to go out, so many people had no chance to curry favor and could only stomp their feet and sigh.
When the first fox fur crane cloak was delivered to Daiyu for her to try on, it was the day for the marriage proposal. This marriage was originally calculated by Master Pingyi, so this step was just a formality.
Two days later, Prince Duan visited again.
This time, he brought more carriages and an invitation.
“Next month’s 28th is Yongkang’s birthday. She went to the palace to pay her respects the day before yesterday. I saw her distributing invitations everywhere, so I brought them for you.” Chu Heng looked intently at Daiyu. “I’ll send a carriage to pick you up that day.”
Daiyu accepted the gift with both hands and said with a smile, "Please thank the princess on my behalf, Your Highness."
Chu Heng smiled and said, "Don't worry about the gift. Just give her something casually. She just wants to find someone to play with."
"I will listen to Your Highness, but if the princess finds my etiquette lacking, I can only say that Your Highness taught me to do so," Daiyu said with a smile.
Chu Heng smiled and said, "Alright, I'll handle her."
As Grandmother Jia watched them chatting and laughing, she couldn't quite grasp the feeling in her heart.
"...By the way, I heard that Miss Lin's ancestral home is Suzhou, and that she lived in Yangzhou for a while, so I sent someone south to buy some trinkets from there." Chu Heng took the booklet presented by Zhao Qing. "Miss Lin, take a look, is there anything you like?"
Daiyu was taken aback and murmured, "Things from the south?"
Chu Heng, noticing her expression and fearing she might be unhappy, said, "If you like it, keep it; if you don't, then..."
"Thank you, Your Highness," Daiyu said, holding the booklet, her eyes misting over.
It turns out that someone really would bring her local specialties from her hometown.
Seeing this, Chu Heng knew she was crying tears of joy. He first breathed a sigh of relief, then felt a pang of heartache, and said softly, "If there's a chance in the future, I'll take you to the south."
Daiyu choked up and repeated, "Thank you, Your Highness."
Chu Heng wanted to make her laugh, so he said, "Miss Lin, thank me again. I won't leave you the cook I brought from the south."
Daiyu was taken aback, and then burst out laughing.
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