Chapter 14 (Revised)
In the depths of winter, the weather was getting increasingly cold. Even Chu Miaomiao, who couldn't stay at home, stayed in her bedroom, insisting on not going out unless necessary.
"Winter in Pingzhou is still more bearable. It's not as cold as in the capital."
Chu Miaomiao and her servant sat under the bright window, sorting out silk threads and chatting idly. Speaking of Pingzhou, Chu Miaomiao pursed her lips, unwilling to admit that she missed her family and friends in Pingzhou City.
Not to mention her father, whose mind was so devious that she couldn't figure out where to go. She would get angry just thinking about him, but her mother—
"With big brother not around, mother must be very lonely." Chu Miaomiao sighed softly.
Chu He suggested, "Why don't you write a letter to the princess? Princess Yukang recommended a good doctor to the prince a few days ago. Maybe his health will improve. If the princess knew about this, she would be very happy."
That's right. My mother was most concerned about my eldest brother's illness, so this was a comfort to her.
"And the young master of the Jin family was very close to the princess when they were in Pingzhou, but they stopped communicating after entering the capital. Besides, we bought the manor in the name of the young master Jin, so we should inform him about this as well."
Chu Miaomiao slapped her forehead and said, "Oh, I forgot because I was busy earlier. Go and help me grind it. I'll write it now."
Chu Miaomiao, who is in the capital, is worried about her family, and the Princess of Chu, who is far away in Pingzhou, is also worried about her children.
"I wonder how they are doing in the capital." Princess Chu sighed softly, "With Miaomiao's temper, I wonder if Canglang will get angry and even get sick."
Lian Yue comforted him, "The princess cares about the prince the most. She must be concerned about his health and won't dare to do anything reckless. Princess, please rest assured."
The Princess of Chu missed her children, and the King of Chu rarely thought of his daughter, but it was not out of longing, but anger and resentment.
Ever since Tang Zhen, who had been brought into the palace by Chu Miaomiao, had run away from his marriage and disappeared, the King of Chu sent people to Changzhou to inquire about this Tang family member. Unexpectedly, the people sent back reported that the Tang family, a family of merchants in Changzhou for generations, did not have a Tang Zhen. Thus, Tang Zhen seemed to have vanished from the face of the earth.
King Chu and Chu Xinxiu regretted deeply. They really shouldn't have arranged this marriage so rashly and told each other their secrets so openly.
The King of Chu, who had always thought his second son was the most intelligent, now had deep doubts about his intelligence for the first time. Although he wouldn't claim to be incredibly smart, he always had a good idea of what to do and what not to do. How could he have given birth to such a fool?
Chu Xinxiu felt deeply aggrieved that his father thought he was a fool.
"How can this be my fault? It was that crazy girl Chu Miaomiao who dragged me into the mansion and said she wanted to get married! My fault is that I treated this future brother-in-law as my own family."
Aunt Zhou was gently rubbing the temples of the King of Chu, who had a headache. The King of Chu let out a long breath and felt better.
Xin Xiu was right. Chu Miaomiao was the culprit who had complicated matters and forced them to be so cautious. He wondered which deity he had offended in his past life, to have a daughter like her bring trouble upon him.
"Your Highness, there is no need to be so angry. The princess is young and knows nothing. Please be more tolerant of her." Aunt Zhou said softly.
The King of Chu snorted coldly, "She's already old enough to get married, but she's still so young? It's simply because the princess didn't discipline her properly that she grew up like this. It's a shame she comes from a prestigious family, yet she raised such a crazy girl!"
"Dad, what should we do now?"
Now the court's attention is still on them, and there is also an annoying prefect who invites them to drink tea and appreciate paintings from time to time, but in fact he is monitoring their movements in disguise. This has made them cautious in the past six months, for fear of being caught.
The King of Chu, enjoying the massage from Aunt Zhou with his eyes closed, remained silent for a long time before slowly opening his eyes and saying, "This year, the Emperor summoned the military governors from all over the country to report back to the capital. I heard that the military governor of Xiangzhou didn't come to the capital either?"
"Yes, Dad, why are you asking about him?"
The King of Chu did not say anything else, but silently calculated in his mind.
*
On New Year's Eve, the whole country celebrated, and even the usually solemn and solemn palace was filled with a joyful atmosphere. On this day, the palace also held a grand banquet, partly to welcome the important officials who had come from afar, and partly to show the emperor's grace and celebrate the new year with his officials.
The spacious Qingyuan Hall was furnished with three rows of seats on each side, and in the center stood three tables, one large and two small. The sage sat in the center, with the empress dowager and the queen on either side.
Starting from the Empress, the first seat on the left belonged to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. Below him were the Princes Su and Huai who had been recalled from their fiefdoms, as well as several important officials of the court. Opposite and to the right were the military governors who had come from distant regions.
Although the King of Chu, who was supposed to accept the emperor's summons to the capital, hid in Pingzhou and refused to show up, Chu Canglang and his sister were representing the King of Chu in the capital, so they also attended the banquet and sat at the last seat on the right.
The Chu family members were very satisfied with this inconspicuous position.
As the palace entertainers danced to the melodious music, Wei Zhen's eyes swept across the faces of the important officials one by one through the gaps between the moving dancers. When his eyes slowly moved to Chu Miaomiao, who was eating by herself, a few faint lines appeared on each face.
The number is wrong.
Yongchao was now divided into twelve prefectures, and five military governors were appointed based on the specific conditions of each region. They were Zheng Wu, the military governor of Yanzhou; □□, the military governor of Yuzhou; Yuan Zhen, the military governor of Xiangzhou; Cai Shan, the military governor of Weizhou; and Shi Xu, the military governor of Wuzhou.
A few days ago, after arriving in Beijing to recuperate, the Jiedushis came to the palace to meet the emperor, and Wei Zhen was also present. At that time, he didn't think there was anything wrong, but at the banquet tonight, he found that there were only four of them.
Yuan Zhen, the governor of Xiangzhou, did not enter the capital.
Why didn't he enter the capital? Did the sage know this? Did he not enter the capital because he had the same intentions as the King of Chu?
As these questions flashed through Wei Zhen's mind one after another, the voice of Prince Su sounded beside him.
"Royal brother, it has been a year since we last met. I would like to offer a toast to you."
"Hey, Second Brother, you're talking as if you're my only younger brother." Prince Huai, who was standing by, heard this and raised his glass to join in the fun, saying, "Big Brother, I'll toast you too."
One called him "Second Brother" and the other "Big Brother", and the way they addressed each other reflected the closeness of King Huai's heart. King Su cursed him in his heart as a "sycophant", but he also maintained a kind smile on his face.
Wei Zhen also raised his glass and smiled at his two brothers, who were not related by blood. "Thank you for your concern. Now that you have returned to the capital, the three of us brothers can see each other more often."
Prince Su and Prince Huai both smiled brightly, but the smiles did not reach their eyes.
After Wei Zhen was enthroned as the crown prince, the two were sent to their fiefdoms. The reason given was that they were to understand the people's sentiments, but in reality, they were ruthlessly kicked out.
As the heirs who survived rounds of elimination and remained in the palace, why was Wei Zhen able to be named the crown prince while they could only go to their fiefdoms and become idle princes with no real power?
This time, they were summoned to the capital by the saint, and they must seize the opportunity to fight a beautiful turnaround!
While Prince Su and Prince Huai each had their own plans, Wei Zhen's thoughts continued unabated. He wondered why the sage had recalled Prince Su and Prince Huai, who had already been enfeoffed. Could it be that he had inadvertently done something to displease the sage?
It seems that the most important thing right now is to continue to keep a close eye on these two troublesome "brothers".
Chu Miaomiao, enjoying the palace singing and dancing while enjoying delicious food, was inadvertently attracted by Wei Zhen. It was clearly a happy day of the New Year, with delicious food and beautiful women before him, so why did he still have such a gloomy expression?
But it was understandable. After all, in her impression, Wei Zhen never seemed to be particularly happy. When Chu Miaomiao thought of this, a look of pity naturally appeared on her face.
It must be very hard to live like a prince. There are very few times when you are truly happy.
After the dance, the sage smiled and said to the military governors, "You haven't been to the capital for many years. Why don't you stay here for a while? I'm also planning to choose good marriages for the three princes and their brothers. It won't be too late to leave after watching the ceremony."
This statement indicated that the Saint might have other plans for them. Even if they had different thoughts, they couldn't express them at this moment and just agreed with a smile.
Upon hearing that the sage was choosing a spouse for their brothers, Prince Su and Prince Huai both showed a touch of excitement, while the Crown Prince remained expressionless. However, if one looked closely, one would notice that the Crown Prince's gaze would occasionally fall upon the beautiful and charming girl in the opposite corner.
*
After the fireworks display ended, the banquet also drew to a close. With the exception of the Prince of Yu's palace, all the other ministers left the palace in twos and threes and returned home. The vast Qingyuan Hall soon returned to its original empty appearance.
Staying up all night on New Year's Eve was a traditional festival. After the banquet, the sage took the Empress and Prince Yu's family to the Empress Dowager's palace to stay up all night. Prince Su and Prince Huai, who had just returned from their fiefdoms, naturally did not miss this opportunity to be close to the sage and the Empress. They immediately expressed their desire to stay up all night with their father, the Emperor, and their mother, the Empress Dowager, with a very affectionate attitude.
Chu Miaomiao, who was about to leave, noticed that the Crown Prince was lagging behind. As if possessed, she approached Wei Zhen and, looking at Prince Su and Prince Huai as they entered the warm sedan chair, said, "Those two princes seemed very affectionate with the Saint, while you seemed rather cold. Aren't you afraid that the Saint will be displeased by this?"
He didn't know why, but Chu Miaomiao took the initiative to talk to him, and her words were full of concern. The haze that had originally shrouded Wei Zhen's heart seemed to be blown away by the night wind.
He curled the corners of his lips, and his tone became involuntarily light: "Are saints so superficial in your mind?"
Chu Miaomiao was startled and hurried to see if the sage had already entered the warm sedan chair, fearing that Wei Zhen's disrespectful words had reached the sage's ears. Seeing that the front of the ceremonial procession had begun to move, Chu Miaomiao finally breathed a sigh of relief, and when she looked at Wei Zhen again, her eyes were filled with a hint of resentment.
"Your Highness, I have offended you, but I am trying to make amends. There is no need for you to hurt me like this, right?"
Chu Miaomiao's resentful look made Wei Zhen chuckle: "Don't worry, the saint is not that narrow-minded."
It would be even better if you are also a broad-minded person.
However, Chu Miaomiao didn't have the courage to speak out loud, so she just casually said, "That's great."
"A saint will not change his opinion of me just because of their affectionate attitudes, nor will he be dissatisfied with me because of my different attitudes. A saint always has his own standards in his heart."
Chu Miaomiao nodded in response, and the pearl tassels hanging from her hair swayed slightly with her movements. The raindrop-shaped vermilion glass hanging at the end of the tassel reflected a bright glow in the moonlight, swaying gently and drawing a soft arc.
"At any rate, it's great that they won't affect Your Highness. You can go to Changqiu Palace to celebrate the New Year's Eve. We will return first."
The girl's beautiful smile was reflected in Wei Zhen's deep eyes.
"Oh, right, there's something I almost forgot." The girl's eyebrows curved, revealing a hint of playfulness. "Happy New Year, Your Highness."
The girl's voice was bright and clear, and every word she uttered broke his eardrum with great force, striking his heart again and again like a bell, making him slightly dazed and his thoughts confused for a moment.
He only knew that Chu Canglang and his wife came over, said goodbye to him, and walked towards the warm sedan with Chu Miaomiao.
Then he heard himself calling out to stop the Chu family, and the voice ringing in his ears was extremely clear.
"Why do you think it's a good thing that Prince Su and Prince Huai won't affect me? Why did you say 'that's great'?"
Wei Zhen's eyes were fixed on Chu Miaomiao, his palms clenched into fists, and his slightly white thumb nail was embedded in the skin.
Noticing the prince's strange look, Chu Canglang and his wife both looked at Chu Miaomiao, who had a bewildered look on her face.
"ah?"
Why? It was just a casual remark. But judging by the Crown Prince's expression, this honest answer clearly wouldn't satisfy him. It might even give him the opportunity to add another insult to Xiao Hei's.
Chu Miaomiao pondered for a moment and replied carefully, "Your Highness is a man of righteousness and integrity. I'm afraid they might be plotting something against you."
Although Chu Miaomiao felt that words like "bright, clear and bright" sounded inappropriate when used to describe the prince, she could not think of a better explanation at the moment, so she had to bite the bullet and say some words against her will.
This was actually a very inappropriate statement, and Chu Canglang's delicate eyebrows were almost twisted together. If Prince Su and Prince Huai knew about this, I'm afraid it would cause an uproar.
"So you're worried about me?"
“…You could say that…”
Is this what she actually meant? Chu Miaomiao herself was also a little confused.
After receiving such an answer, Wei Zhen smiled from the bottom of his heart, which was rare. It was as bright as the warm sun in winter and the flowers in the early spring morning, captivating the heart.
With the beauty before her, Chu Miaomiao's expression was indescribable. She also wanted to ask sincerely: Your Highness, are you okay?
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
