Chapter 10
In fact, the Queen Mother and the Empress had no interest in the Prince of Chu and others who came from Pingzhou. When Wei Zhen came to pay his respects, he asked the Queen Mother and the Empress if they wanted to meet him.
But it is interesting that Wei Zhen brought up this matter on his own initiative.
This is especially interesting when the Prince of Chu and his wife arrived first, while Wei Zhen and Princess Pingyang arrived late.
There are two people, a man and a woman.
No palace servants followed.
Wei Zhen was always cautious about matters between men and women, not even glancing at the maids who served him. Sometimes, when he attended banquets and encountered some wealthy ladies who dared to approach him, he would always avoid them with a cold face.
Such a person first asked them if they wanted to meet the Prince of Chu and his family, and then walked alone with Princess Pingyang from the imperial study to Changqiu Palace.
It was impossible for the empress dowager not to be interested in this. Even the confused queen looked at Wei Zhen with confusion, thinking that he was so weird.
The innocent Queen blinked and asked, "Ah Zhen, don't you never let girls get close to you?"
“…”
The Queen Mother is a very nice person, but sometimes what she says is a little hard to handle.
Wei Zhen glanced at the slightly surprised Chu Miaomiao, and replied with a hint of sarcasm: "Princess Pingyang is naturally different."
These words were actually a bit ambiguous, but to the Chu family, it sounded like they had completely offended the Crown Prince. Princess Pingyang was indeed different. After all, most people wouldn't dare force the Crown Prince into marriage and then abandon him, right?
Chu Canglang looked at his sister with pity and a bit of self-pity, only to see Chu Miaomiao frowning and shaking her head at him. It seemed that the apology was not successful.
Regardless of how resentful the Chu family members were, the Empress Dowager suddenly became much more energetic, and the Queen also looked at Chu Miaomiao curiously.
"Is your name Miaomiao?" asked the queen.
"yes."
Although Chu Miaomiao was afraid of the Crown Prince, she didn't show it on the outside. Since the Queen was curious about her and wanted to observe her, she allowed it to happen openly, and at the same time, she was also observing the Queen.
Although she was in Pingzhou, she had heard of the Empress in the capital.
It was said that the Empress was born in a noble family, was beautiful, kind, and simple, and was a very easy person to get along with. However, her biggest problem was that she was not very smart and behaved like a child.
Originally, such a woman could not become the mother of a country. I heard that the late emperor deliberately arranged such a princess in order to suppress the saint who was still the prince at that time.
Everyone thought that the saint would be ashamed of this, and after he ascended the throne he would definitely replace the harem with a dignified, virtuous and kind queen.
However, unexpectedly, not only was the queen not replaced, but she became even more favored by the sage. Even though the queen had been childless for many years, the sage not only had no complaints, but even withstood the pressure and adopted a child from the royal family to raise with them.
Thinking of these rumors, Chu Miaomiao subconsciously looked at Wei Zhen.
The current Crown Prince is the adopted son.
"Your name is so cute," the queen said with a smile. "Miao Miao, it sounds like a kitten's meow."
“…”
Wei Zhen smiled, a rare gesture, and responded, "It's quite cute."
Chu Miaomiao laughed dryly twice.
"Aran, I will be unhappy if you say my name like that." The Queen Mother said gently.
Chu Miaomiao still tried hard to maintain a decent smile on her face.
I dare not be unhappy. It’s enough for you to be happy. Especially the prince is happy, which is very important.
"You've just arrived in the capital from Pingzhou and I'm afraid you're still a little unaccustomed. If you need any help, please feel free to ask." The Queen Mother said to Miaomiao with a smile, "If there's anywhere you want to go, you can ask Azhen to accompany you."
The Chu family smiled and thanked the Queen Mother for her kindness, but in their hearts they were afraid to do anything. They were all hated by the Crown Prince, so how could they dare to ask him to guide them to the capital?
The Queen Mother was unaware of the conflict between the Chu family and Wei Zhen. The last sentence was actually meant for Wei Zhen to hear. She simply wanted to test Wei Zhen's attitude towards Chu Miaomiao. Although he was old, gossip was not limited to age.
Sure enough, she saw Wei Zhen curl his lips and said, "Of course."
It seems that Princess Pingyang is indeed different, as she can make Wei Zhen, who dislikes entertainment, voluntarily agree to put down his official duties and books.
Speaking of touring the capital, there was no need for His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to condescend to act as their guide. The next day, Chu Miaomiao took her brother and sister-in-law to go shopping.
Even if he had offended the Crown Prince, he wouldn't come to settle the score today. Instead of sitting at home worrying about retaliation all day, it would be better to go out for a walk and relax. Maybe he could find a way to avoid disaster.
What's more, this is the capital of the emperor. The prosperity of Pingzhou City cannot be compared at all. Isn't it worth a visit?
Chu Miaomiao always had a bunch of twisted ideas when it came to having fun. Chu Canglang, sympathetic to her being wronged at home, naturally didn't want to keep her under control when they finally got out, so he reluctantly took his wife and sister out with him.
The roads in the capital were wide and paved with stone slabs, making them easy to walk on even in rainy and snowy weather. The widest north-south street in the city, Suzaku Tianjie, led directly to the imperial palace. On either side were neatly arranged market streets, with clear canals flowing through them.
In the southeast corner of the capital lies a large expanse of water known as Cangming Lake. It's said to have once served as an imperial garden, but now it's a popular spot for the city's residents to enjoy the scenery. Winter has arrived, and Cangming Lake is covered in thick ice, a vibrant scene of tourists skating and having fun.
The Chu family was still able to move around together two days ago and enjoy the scenery of the capital, but the weak Chu Canglang soon fell ill in bed due to fatigue, and the Crown Prince's wife needed to take good care of her husband. In the end, only the energetic Chu Miaomiao went out every day.
Although the emergence of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is unpleasant, it is time to relax and have fun without thinking about those annoying people and things.
In recent days, Chu Miaomiao took Chu He to walk around the streets all day long. Today they went to the most famous restaurant in the capital to taste fresh dishes, tomorrow they went to Changyuanfang to enjoy the most fashionable singing and dancing acrobatics, the day after tomorrow they stayed in the teahouse to listen to the storyteller tell legendary stories they had never heard of, and the day after tomorrow they went to the gambling house because they were itching to play, but their luck was so good that they were "invited" out.
It was a cold day. The master and servant stood on the busy street, looked at each other and laughed.
Interesting, the capital is a very interesting place.
Who is the prince? I don’t remember!
But no matter how much fun or noise she made, Chu Miaomiao was still worried about a serious matter when she went to Beijing this time.
It was a sunny day. Two young girls dressed in Hu clothing and a middle-aged man in ordinary clothes set out from the city gate on their horses, galloping towards the western suburbs of the capital.
They drove all the way and finally stopped in front of a manor with closed gates.
"This manor was once the private property of an official in the imperial court. Later, he was convicted and sentenced, and the garden was confiscated. From the government to our agents, the source is absolutely clean, so you can rest assured."
After getting off his horse, the manor's agent opened the door quickly and invited Chu Miaomiao and Chu He in.
After passing the screen wall, they arrived at the front yard, where fallen snow piled everywhere, making it difficult to make out anything. The village headman ushered them into the backyard, introducing them to the two of them attentively.
"There are ponds in both the front and back yards. When the pear trees planted by the ponds bloom in the spring, you can enjoy the flowers by the lake. It's very elegant. There's also a pavilion with flying eaves in the garden, from which you can overlook the beautiful farmland."
The broker kept chattering, and Chu Miaomiao simply reached out to interrupt him.
The manor before me was vast, its buildings exquisite, with winding corridors, elegant rockery and ponds, pavilions and towers. Although it was currently covered in snow and lacked any striking beauty, it would surely come alive in the spring after a proper tidying up.
"How much?"
Seeing the customer's straightforwardness, the broker smiled until his eyes were invisible. He raised three fingers and said, "Three thousand taels."
Chu Miaomiao smiled: "This manor looks good, but I feel the feng shui is not right."
The dentist's smiling face froze.
"It was originally the private property of an official, but was later confiscated after he committed a crime. If it were a Feng Shui treasure land, how could such a thing happen? I believe the wealthy and powerful in Beijing would also be superstitious about it."
Chu Miaomiao walked to a room, stretched out her finger and gently pushed the door. The door opened inward, and soon the hinge on it broke.
"Look, this house is so dangerous."
Chu Miaomiao smiled kindly, but her words were sharp: "We just walked around a few places, and the paint on the doors and beams was peeling. What's more, this door is about to fall off. This garden must be quite old."
"..." It was winter, but the yamen worker felt sweat on his forehead when he heard the words of the girl in front of him.
"Although housing prices in Kyoto are high, this place is considered a remote suburb. Furthermore, it's the most taboo property of a criminal, and it's been in your hands for several years. It's now far less than its original value."
Chu Miaomiao looked at the brothel worker with an unnatural look on his face with a smile.
"I'm not in a rush to buy it. Besides, you're not the only family in the capital dealing in land and property. I'll just look for another. But it's different for you. Who knows if this garden will ever find another buyer? Even if a buyer does find one, how long will it take?"
The broker gritted his teeth secretly. He had thought that these two young ladies from other places would be easy to trick, but he didn't expect them to be so difficult.
"So what price would you say is appropriate?"
"I don't want you to waste your time. How about we both make some concessions?" Chu Miaomiao gestured with her hand, "One thousand taels, including all taxes payable."
The broker gasped. How dare this girl bring this up! Is this what they call a compromise?
"You're going to kill me! Two thousand taels!"
"One thousand taels unchanged."
The dentist almost bit off his back teeth: "One thousand and ninety taels, it can't be any lower!"
"One thousand taels unchanged."
The broker's face flushed red. "One thousand eight hundred taels! This price can't be any lower! Otherwise, I won't be able to report to my superiors!"
Chu Miaomiao's lips curled up into a smile of triumph. "Okay, then I'll give you 1,800 silver taels including tax. Prepare the deed, and I'll sign it tomorrow."
Chu He looked at her princess with admiration, while the broker looked helpless.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
