Chapter 78. There was absolutely no one else in Chapter 78.
It snowed all night, and when I woke up the next morning, the yard was covered in white. The sky had cleared, and the sunlight reflected off the snow onto the glass windows, making it dazzlingly bright.
While washing up, Daiyu calculated the days: "With this much snow, it's not good for us to go down the mountain. If we wait for the snow to melt before returning to the capital, it will take more than half a month."
Chu Heng blinked and smiled, "I'm actually hoping for another snowfall, so I can delay my return to the capital a little longer."
"Although a timely snowfall is said to promise a good harvest, too much snow can cause disaster." Daiyu looked at him in the mirror and said softly with a smile, "You'll just have to suffer more."
Chu Heng took the hairpin from Zijuan and put it in Daiyu's hair, then smiled and said, "Who told our princess to be so kind? I'll just have to endure this little hardship."
When I went out after breakfast, the snow in the yard had already been cleared, and there were still people busy sweeping snow and clearing the road outside the yard.
Daiyu said, "Tell the kitchen to prepare some hot soup."
The stewardess who was following her hurried off to give the orders, and returned a moment later to report: "Your Highness, they say they want to kowtow to you."
Daiyu smiled and said, "No need."
Chu Heng looked up at the snow hanging on the branches: "Let's have some hot soup too, it's much colder today than yesterday."
Daiyu touched his hand: "Are you cold? Your hands are warmer than mine..."
"Your hand warmer is cold." Chu Heng took her hand warmer and handed her his own. "Shall we go inside?"
Zijuan took the hand warmer and went inside to change the charcoal. Daiyu took a breath and said, "It's stuffy in here. I'd like to stay a little longer."
Chu Heng took a breath, mimicking her: "It is indeed refreshing, but it's too cold. I'm afraid you'll get cold."
Daiyu patted his arm reassuringly: "We'll go back in a quarter of an hour. Are your hands cold?" As she spoke, Chu Heng took her hand in his.
"It's not cold." Chu Heng squeezed her palm. "There's no other way to avoid staying indoors in winter. Once it gets warmer next spring, you can go out freely."
After two consecutive sunny days, the snow gradually melted, and at noon Chu Heng and Daiyu went out for a stroll, and they didn't feel very cold anymore.
On such a peaceful and beautiful day, Daiyu was quite reluctant to leave. Chuheng then said, "Let's come again next year. After a few more years, when we are no longer tied up with worldly affairs, let's go to the mountains to escape the summer heat and stay at the hot spring resort in the winter. How about that?"
Daiyu smiled and said, "If we could cultivate a small vegetable garden, the pleasures of rural life would surely be quite unique."
"Okay," Chu Heng replied solemnly.
The carriage slowly drove away from this brief paradise.
...
After resting for half a day in the capital, Chu Heng and Daiyu went to the palace to pay their respects the next day. They also presented the emperor, empress, and empress dowager with the potted flowers they had brought back, and sent gifts for the newborn princess.
Chu Heng smiled and said, "We heard that my brother has had another little princess, and we were about to come back to congratulate him. But it snowed that day, and the mountain road was difficult to travel, so we were delayed."
"It's more important that you all stay safe and sound, so your mother can rest assured. Everything else is trivial," the emperor said with a smile.
The Empress Dowager nodded and smiled, "These flowers are nice; it's kind of you to put in the effort."
"It was Daiyu who wanted to show filial piety to her mother, and she heard me say that her mother likes peonies. Luckily, the flower room had this pot growing, so we rushed to bring it to you." Chu Heng smiled and glanced at Daiyu before looking at the Empress Dowager, "I'm glad Mother likes it."
The Empress Dowager smiled and said, "You are all good children." Then, she changed the subject, "Your brother has both a son and a daughter, and you? You are not in a hurry, but I am anxious."
Chu Heng smiled and said, "Mother just had a little granddaughter, and I'm afraid if I had another one, Mother would be so happy that she wouldn't know which one to look at."
The Empress Dowager said, "You're not young anymore. You should pay more attention to the matter of having offspring. Don't always try to fool me. Otherwise, at my age, do you expect me to worry about you?"
Daiyu's fingers curled up. Did the Empress Dowager mean to bestow a concubine upon Chu Heng?
Chu Heng seemed not to have noticed anything: "My son married late, so naturally his offspring will also be later than others. Mother is too anxious." As he finished speaking, he gently pressed down on Daiyu's hand.
This is meant to reassure her.
Daiyu couldn't interfere in such matters. After all, people have always expected women to be virtuous and gentle. Not to mention the Empress Dowager, just the position of mother-in-law alone meant that if she really wanted to add someone to Chu Heng's side, Daiyu could only accept it and couldn't say anything else.
The Empress Dowager was not pleased: "It is precisely because you married late that I am even more anxious."
Chu Heng lowered his eyes, concealing the impatience in them: "This matter cannot be rushed."
The emperor slowly took a sip of tea and said gently, "Mother, my fifth brother was unwell a few years ago, which delayed his marriage. Now he is much better and married. It's only a matter of time before he gives you grandchildren. Why are you in such a hurry?"
The Emperor understood perfectly well that the Empress Dowager's so-called anxiety about Prince Duan having an heir was simply because she disliked Princess Duan and was using this as a way to give her a warning.
Thinking back to the last time they made a scene, the Emperor really didn't understand the Empress Dowager's thoughts. Did the Princess Consort of Duan have any benefit for her?
However, the emperor was happy to see this happen. He didn't care about his brothers' offspring, and it didn't matter whether they had any or not. But he knew that Chu Heng cared about his princess, and the empress dowager's criticism of her was tantamount to pushing Chu Heng toward the emperor.
The Emperor wondered what the Empress Dowager was up to. "Could she really be getting senile?"
When the Empress Dowager saw the Emperor speaking to Chu Heng, she said, "Your Majesty's words are easy to say. Only you, not being a mother, would not understand my thoughts."
The Emperor personally served the Empress Dowager a cup of tea: "Mother, I understand your kindness, and my fifth brother understands as well. But children and grandchildren have their own blessings. You should just enjoy your old age, and good news will naturally come."
The Empress Dowager's gaze slid from the Emperor to Chu Heng. She knew that too much of a good thing could be bad. If she wanted the Fifth Prince to be indifferent to his wife, she had to proceed gradually.
The Empress Dowager took the teacup: "You should side with him."
That was the end of the topic. Afterwards, the Empress Dowager asked Chu Heng and Daiyu to stay in the palace for a meal, but he refused repeatedly. The Emperor continued to chime in, and in the end, the Empress Dowager could only suppress her anger and watch them leave.
The Empress Dowager rubbed her forehead for a while before asking Shuangyun, "Have you given the order?"
Shuangyun bowed and said, "Yes, only one came today, and I have already told her."
The Empress Dowager reclined on the soft couch, a smile finally appearing on her lips: "I'm not in a hurry, let's take it slow."
Shuangyun lowered her head and covered the Empress Dowager's legs with a blanket, but in her heart she was shaking her head. The Empress Dowager had initially only wanted the Princess Consort of Duan to take the initiative to beg for her protection, and wanted the Princess Consort of Duan to be as obedient to her as the Empress. However, she had repeatedly run into obstacles with the Princess Consort of Duan, and the accumulated unhappiness and depression had changed the Empress Dowager's mind.
Although the Empress Dowager's current methods are not drastic, over time, the prince will only become more and more estranged from her.
Shuangyun sighed silently, but dared not advise the Empress Dowager. After all, she would never agree to let the Empress Dowager admit defeat to her daughter-in-law.
However, as an outsider can see clearly, Shuangyun knew that the Empress Dowager was not fighting with her daughter-in-law, but clearly fighting with her son.
Still fighting with both sons at the same time, Shuangyun felt a chill despite being in the warm room.
...
Inside the Prince Duan's residence, Granny Zhao was reporting to Chu Heng and Daiyu about the Empress Dowager's arrangements for the day.
"The Empress Dowager instructed us to mention the matter of having children more often to the Prince, and to steer the conversation toward the Princess Consort, so that the Prince would think that it was because the Princess Consort had not given any good news that the Empress Dowager and others kept urging him to do so. Also, we were to find opportunities to have pretty maids get close to the Prince, but we were not to let the Prince succeed. We were to say that the Princess Consort was not virtuous, was jealous, and could not tolerate anyone else around the Prince."
Chu Heng chuckled: "Anything else?"
Granny Zhao said, "No, that's all."
"Go down and collect your reward," Chu Heng waved his hand.
Daiyu shook her head: "To sow discord, the Empress Dowager's actions are rather... despicable."
Chu Heng said, "The Empress Dowager doesn't understand us, so naturally she thinks this method is useful."
What Daiyu saw in the deep palace... After thinking about it, she could understand the Empress Dowager's thoughts. How deep and heavy could the affection be?
The Empress Dowager did not understand that some deep affections are immeasurable.
“If one plan fails, the Empress Dowager will surely have other tricks up her sleeve. There are many underhanded ways to harm people in the inner palace.” Chu Heng said with concern, “I had previously tried to distract the Empress Dowager with other matters, but it seems that this method has not worked.”
Daiyu pondered for a moment: "I remember when the marriage was arranged last year, the Empress Dowager tried every means to bring us closer."
Chu Heng said, "That's how the Empress Dowager is. She had a part in the marriage decree, so we couldn't be on bad terms. Besides, it was related to my safety back then. Now that I'm doing well, if we're too close, she won't be happy either."
They had discussed the Empress Dowager's problem many times; it was nothing more than her desire to control everyone. Therefore, Daiyu remained silent this time, simply looking at Chu Heng.
After a moment, Chu Heng suddenly realized: "Master Pingyi, since he brought about our marriage, he can't just sit back and do nothing now."
Daiyu nodded and said, "But how should we go to see him? Because of our affair, the Emperor and the Empress Dowager both think that Master Pingyi has supernatural powers. If we go to see him rashly, I'm afraid they will be unhappy. Besides, we shouldn't bring trouble to the master for no reason."
"It's alright." Chu Heng smiled. "At the end of the year, the monks and Taoists from the royal temple will all come to the capital for the sacrificial ceremony. We have a past relationship with Master Pingyi, so it's only natural for us to visit him then."
"Didn't he say that you and I were destined to be together in our past lives, so he has to protect us?" Chu Heng raised an eyebrow and said.
Daiyu did not respond to that, but instead said, "The Empress Dowager is right about one thing."
Chu Heng was taken aback: "What?"
Daiyu looked at him and said, "I really can't stand having other people around you."
Chu Heng smiled contentedly, then leaned down and kissed Daiyu's lips: "So good."
“I used to think that it was common for aristocratic families to have three wives and five concubines, nothing to be ashamed of,” Daiyu said calmly but resolutely. “But you can’t.”
"Yes, I can't." Chu Heng's smile widened. "Because you want me to belong only to you, right?"
Daiyu pinched his cheek with a hint of displeasure: "I'm talking to you seriously, so you're not allowed to be all smiles."
"I'm so happy," Chu Heng said joyfully. "I belong to you alone. There is no one else between us."
Daiyu, with her exquisitely beautiful features, smiled gently and said, "Mm."
"No!" Chu Heng suddenly said again, "There are other people involved, and we'll have children in the future, won't we?"
Daiyu blushed: "You're talking nonsense again, I'm ignoring you..."
Chu Heng pulled her hand and embraced her: "Let's talk about something serious. I'm not in a hurry about having children. I was just joking with you. After all... I wish it were just the two of us for the rest of my life, with no third person."
Daiyu smiled shyly and said, "The child is now a third person too."
"Hey..." Chu Heng chuckled, looking down, "Who's talking nonsense now?"
Daiyu turned her head away, but someone followed and gently bit her lip: "Then let's do something serious, hmm?"
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