Chapter 32: The choice is burdened by affection.
When Xie Xuanlan heard that Congying had accepted Madam Xie's gift, his heart immediately brightened up again, and he wished he could bring the betrothal gifts into the Jiang family right away.
Mrs. Xie warned him: "You better restrain yourself. Ah Zhu is very sad now."
A Zhu is the pen name of Miss Xie Liu.
If she was unhappy or angry, that was normal and Xie Xuanlan would not bother to pay attention to it, but Mrs. Xie used the word "sad".
His sister is heartless. If he could hurt her feelings, something terrible must have happened.
So Xie Xuanlan asked seriously, "Who bullied her?"
He was too protective of his own shortcomings and had always disapproved of Ah Zhu's marriage. Mrs. Xie didn't want him to interfere and simply said, "Don't bother her. It will be fine in a few days."
Xie Xuanlan: "Is it Xiao Zezhen?"
Mrs. Xie: ...What a dog nose.
Prince Huai Xiao Zezhen and Xie Miaozhu are cousins who dislike each other. Xiao Zezhen dislikes Xie Miaozhu's arrogance and dominance, while Xie Miaozhu dislikes Xiao Zezhen's frivolous behavior. Yet, the two are engaged despite their hesitations, as Xiao Zezhen hopes to leverage Xie Xiang's power to seize the throne, while Xie Miaozhu aspires to become empress.
Xie Xuanlan looked down upon the plans of these two people, but Xie Miaozhu was, after all, his younger sister who he had raised since childhood.
Xie Xuanlan found out the whole story, then went to Xiao Zezhen's villa in the south of the city with a Yanzhi knife, overturned the guards who were blocking the way, and kicked open the gate of the villa.
In the yard, the mess made by Xie Miaozhu had not yet been cleaned up. Xiao Zezhen was holding a girl with a swollen face and comforting her with soft words.
He looked up and saw Xie Xuanlan. He subconsciously wanted to run, but stopped abruptly. A look of frustration and anger appeared on his face. "What are you doing here? You, the Xie family, should not go too far!"
Xie Xuanlan lifted him up with one hand and said, "You're going too far? Do you believe I can castrate you and feed you to the dogs?"
"Are you crazy? My last name is Xiao——"
Before he could finish his words, a slap hit Xiao Zezhen's face, and he spun around and fell to the ground.
Xie Xuanlan's voice was as cold as ice: "You dare to fight with Ah Zhu now? If you get married, how will you treat her?"
When Xiao Zezhen heard the sound of the long sword being unsheathed, he finally realized that this man was lawless and was frightened to death: "Third brother, if you have something to say, please talk to me nicely, Third brother——"
"Stop it! Brother!"
At that moment, Xie Miaozhu rushed over and stopped Xie Xuanlan from committing atrocities. She was so flustered that she had no time to tidy up her appearance. Her left cheek was still swollen and covered with tear marks.
Xie Xuanlan also got angry when he saw her expression: "What's the point of hitting his lover? Why didn't you hit him back when he hit you?"
At that time, Xie Miaozhu was only concerned with shock and grievance, so how could she have the energy to fight back? Besides, Xiao Zezhen was her nominal fiancé, and she had fought with him before the marriage. If the news got out, would she still be able to maintain her reputation as a noble lady?
Xie Xuanlan usually couldn't stand her domineering behavior, but he didn't expect that the way she endured her anger was even more offensive.
He shook off Xie Miaozhu and pointed at Xiao Zezhen: "We can't afford the Prince of Ying's Palace, so it's better to call off this marriage."
Xie Xiang and the King and Queen, who had rushed over after hearing the news, overheard these words. Xie Xiang's expression changed, and he stepped forward and slapped Xie Xuanlan in the face: "You bastard, do you still have respect for the rules of etiquette?"
Xie Xiang was the first to lash out, and the King and Queen couldn't say anything. Seeing their son being beaten like this, the King's face turned very ugly, but the Queen's wife hugged Xie Miaozhu, wiped her tears, and whispered comfort.
Xie Xiang said, "Children, don't let your quarrels damage the harmony between the two families. If you have anything to say, why not talk it out now?"
Xiao Zezhen covered her face and complained, "Yuqing was sent to me by Wang Shisanlang. His brother, Wang Silang, had just won a victory in the northwest and was on his way back to the capital to be crowned. How many people wanted to curry favor with the Wang family but couldn't find a way? How could I ignore the person he sent to me?"
"I don't know who told her that Liu Niang Xie rushed in and started attacking me, saying that Yu Qing was pregnant with my bastard child—Uncle. Could it be that in Xie's eyes, even people with the surname Xiao are inferior to me?"
These words were so serious that Xie Xuanlan frowned deeply upon hearing them.
Xie Xiang, however, remained tolerant and gentle, smiling like a fox: "How could that be? Xiao is the most noble surname in our Great Zhou, and Xie is the family name closest to me. Ziheng, you are a person of the highest rank and dearest kin. You shouldn't belittle yourself, nor should you take your cousin's angry words seriously."
Hearing this made people feel relieved. Xiao Zezhen hummed softly, "Uncle really still cares about me?"
Xie Xiang said, "A nephew is half a son, and a son-in-law is half a son. In my heart, I treat you as my own son. If I don't think about you, who else can I think about? Although you shouldn't have attacked Azhu today, after all, Azhu was the one who made the mistake first - Azhu, come here and apologize to your cousin."
Xie Miaozhu's face turned ugly. Xie Xuanlan said, "If you can't swallow this, come behind me."
Xie Miaozhu shook his head, walked up to Xiao Zezhen, and knelt down, "Cousin, Ah Zhu was wrong. You shouldn't be so jealous and cause trouble for me."
Xiao Zezhen bowed in return: "I am also wrong. I shouldn't have taken action."
Xie Xiang glanced at Xie Xuanlan: "You go and apologize too."
Xie Xuanlan scoffed: "Why not just kill me?"
The King of England finally stepped forward to smooth things over: "Forget it, let's just leave it at that. We are family, why make such a fuss?"
Prime Minister Xie nodded and said yes, but with a half-smile he looked at Miss Yuqing who was huddled at Xiao Zezhen's feet and said to the King of Ying, "Do you think the toy given by Thirteenth Prince Wang is more important than the daughter of my Xie family?"
The King of England said, "Don't worry, Prime Minister Xie, I will take care of it."
After a long day of chaos, the mess was finally resolved.
After returning to the Xie Mansion, Mrs. Xie took Xie Miaozhu away, and Prime Minister Xie and Xie Xuanlan closed the study door to discuss matters.
Seeing that Xie Xuanlan still looked unhappy, Xie Xiang was both angry and amused: "Does your face still hurt?"
Xie Xuanlan said, "You should ask Ah Zhu instead of asking me."
Xie Xiang said: "This matter is because the Yingwang Mansion is too bullying, but we can't fall out with them at the moment. Unless your aunt in the palace can give birth to a real prince, otherwise Xiao Zezhen will be unable to support the wall, and this will be the only choice for the Xie family."
Xie Xuanlan said, "The Ying Palace doesn't necessarily consider the Xie family their only nemesis. There were times when Ah Zhu went even further, and Xiao Zezhen never dared to say a word. But today, he's making trouble over the woman sent by the Wang family. Clearly, he's trying to warn us that the Xie family isn't the only one capable of heating the stove. This idiot, he's already trying to tear down the bridge before he's even crossed the river."
Prime Minister Xie said, "As long as he hasn't become the crown prince, he can't tear down this bridge. Let Ah Zhu marry him next year. It would be best if she gave birth to a son to stabilize their family. In the future, it wouldn't be a bad idea to let the son go and keep the father."
Xie Xuanlan: "Father, are you trying to emulate Wang Mang?"
Wang Mang killed Emperor Ping of Han and established his son Ru Ziying as the new emperor. He controlled the government and eventually usurped the throne.
Xie Xiang sneered: "Why, do you think you are unworthy of being a father?"
Xie Xuanlan said in a deep voice, "For this selfish motive, Father has already harmed my second brother, isn't it enough? Now he wants to involve my sixth sister as well?"
"Selfishness, you actually said I was selfish?"
Prime Minister Xie laughed in anger, then raged, "Everything I do is for the prosperity of the Xie family! I only regret that I was unable to kill the emperor and establish myself thirty years ago. The Great Zhou should have been named Xie long ago—"
Xie Xuanlan stopped him: "Father, be careful with your words!"
The atmosphere in the study froze for a moment, and just when the stalemate was about to begin, Xie Miaozhu pushed the door open and walked in.
She washed her face, changed her clothes, and used makeup to cover the swelling on her face. Except for her eyes which were still a little red, she looked no different from the usually proud Lady Xie Liu.
She looked at her father and brother who were at an impasse, and spoke in a shocking tone: "Being the Empress Dowager would naturally be more glorious than being the Empress. How dare Xiao Zezhen, a mere prince, look down on the Xie family? Don't forget, he's not the only one in the royal family with the surname Xiao."
Xie Xuanlan had a bad feeling in his heart.
Xie Xiang hesitated: "What do you mean?"
Xie Miaozhu snorted coldly: "Of course it's His Royal Highness Prince Jin. I know he came to see father."
Xie Xuanlan's head buzzed.
＊
The senior and junior brothers of the Jiangxia Guan went to the East China Sea to visit the fairy mountain. Cong Ying was worried that the young female nuns had no one to take care of them, so she asked Ji Caibing to go with them to deliver some food and clothes, and to pay their respects to the Xuandu Temple.
On the way, Cong Ying told her about his troubled thoughts.
Ji Caibing was quite puzzled after hearing this: "Since you and the Third Young Master are in love with each other, and Madam Xie is also kind and tolerant, what else are you dissatisfied with about this marriage?"
"Not dissatisfied."
Cong Ying didn't know how to describe the secret loss in her heart, and suddenly she said, "When I went to the Chuigong Palace, I finally saw Princess Chun'an... She was younger than I thought."
Ji Caibing grasped the key point: "Imagination?"
Cong Ying nodded: "About ten years ago, when I was in Xuzhou, I was imagining what she looked like."
Xuzhou was the fief of Princess Chun'an, where her political ambitions were realized. Cong Ying never imagined that there was a place where such a prosperous girls' school could be established.
"Girls as young as three can learn about literature, history, military strategy, calculations, even medicine and astrology from the moment they start school. Those with outstanding talents are selected through various levels of selection to become female officials and serve their noble masters. I, too, once concealed my name and studied the 'Nu Shu Tong Dian' in school, where my essay was even crowned the top scholar by a female teacher."
When Ying mentioned the past, she raised her eyebrows and showed a bit of pride -
But more of it is disappointment.
At that time, Censor Jiang was exiled to Xuzhou for opposing Prime Minister Xie's attempt to force the succession of an heir. Xie was hoping to use Jiang's collusion with the noble master as evidence to discredit him. Cong Ying, fearing her grandfather's reputation, dared not associate herself with the noble master. So, when the palace ladies arrived to select a successor, she hid outside the academy and did not show up.
I watched helplessly as the female teacher waited eagerly until she became disappointed and finally recommended Gan Jiu to the female official.
Now Gan Jiu is also a female official beside her.
"But I've been looking forward to it. I thought my grandfather had been transferred back to the capital, and I would finally have the chance to go to the noble master and recommend myself. But I didn't expect that my grandfather had already compromised with Prime Minister Xie. He betrayed the noble master, and the Jiang family betrayed the noble master."
During that time, Cong Ying's heart was numb.
She did not feel grief-stricken when her grandfather passed away, nor did she feel particularly happy when she was engaged to the third young master.
Hope is something that, although not yet obtained, cannot be lost. Once lost, the whole heart becomes empty and one does not know where to go.
Ji Caibing listened attentively, feeling his whole heart tightened.
No wonder she felt that Ah Ying had suddenly become much more dull after returning to Yunjing. She was no longer as cheerful as when they exchanged letters, and she often teased her for being a little nerd. Now she regretted it so much that she wanted to slap herself twice.
Cong Ying smiled and said, "Why do you have to look so guilty? It's fate, and you can't blame anyone."
Ji Caibing asked carefully, "Do you blame the Xie family... or do you still hold onto hope and want to find a chance to meet the princess?"
Cong Ying shook his head: "What your lord hates most is betrayal."
The carriage stopped outside the mountain gate, and Ying jumped out and greeted the welcoming nuns. She was smiling, her eyebrows and eyes gentle, like the spring breeze in February, but Ji Caibing's eyes were sore when he saw her.
After sending the girls away to move their things, Cong Ying took Ji Caibing and walked towards the Sanqing Temple.
Instead, she tried to comfort Ji Caibing: "It was all a lie. I feel much better now that I can tell you about it. Besides, I really like the Third Young Master. As a wife of the Xie family, I can also go to Congshan Academy."
Ji Caibing was still in a heavy mood: "Have you really thought it through?"
Cong Ying smiled and said, "I have thought about it day and night for many days, and now I understand it very well."
Ji Caibing sighed, "That's fine. You're already burdened by love. If you lose even that, wouldn't your life be too miserable? I just hope the Xie family will treat you well."
At this point, there seems to be no better choice.
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The author has something to say: Oh, my hand speed... Don't worry, I'm in a hurry first, write faster, write faster! ! ! !
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