Chapter 4: The couple broke more than a dozen of their rulers
As soon as the sky brightened, the servants of Qinghui Hall began to get busy.
Qing'er looked at the face of the person in the mirror and felt extremely uncomfortable.
Lin Meizhu had a faint red mark on the side of her face, neither too long nor too short. She had tried to cover it up with powder several times, but it hadn't gone away. She was very fair, so the faint red mark on her face was particularly offensive.
Lin Meizhu stopped her useless efforts and said, "Let's put on some pink makeup today."
Qing'er said happily, "Young Madam is so smart! This way it won't be noticeable from a distance!" As she spoke, she took out some rouge, smeared it on her palms, and gently applied it to her cheeks.
Today, besides paying respects to her parents-in-law, she also had to go to the palace to express gratitude. Lin Meizhu didn't want to show off, so she applied her rouge slowly and thinly over several times. Seeing nothing unusual in the bronze mirror, Lin Meizhu looked up at Qing'er and asked, "Is it done?"
Qing'er was stunned and didn't respond for a moment. Lin Meiju looked at her and asked what was wrong.
This was the scene that Nanny Sun saw when she walked into the room. The beauty had her hair combed high in her bun, and the sunset reflected in the clear pond, she was as beautiful as delicate peach blossoms, filling the whole room with the warmth of spring.
Nowadays, women's makeup focuses on achieving a delicate and elegant look. For example, tear makeup, where a light touch of powder is applied to the corners of the eyes, creates a look of sorrow after sobbing, which is endearing. Nanny Sun keenly sensed that after today, the forgotten pink makeup would become popular again in the capital.
Thinking of Chen Changfeng's hasty departure on their wedding night, Nanny Sun felt a little disappointed and decided to give Lin Meizhu another warning. "Miss, breakfast is almost ready. Should we send someone to invite the prince to join us?"
Nanny Sun and Qing'er were both chosen by Aunt Chen for Lin Meizhu's dowry. Aunt Chen specifically told Lin Meizhu that she should listen to Nanny Sun whenever something happened.
Thinking of what Shen Changfeng had said to her last night, Lin Meizhu felt a pang of bitterness well up in her heart. He had already made his point very clear, so why should she bother to complain? She secretly took a deep breath, trying to make her tone sound less unusual. "Mammy, just send someone to invite him."
Nanny Sun was somewhat disgruntled, but she also knew Lin Meizhu's temperament. This girl, seemingly delicate, was actually quite resilient, a person who would yield to soft tactics rather than hard ones. When she was asked to cut off contact with the people in Lingnan, she had even gone on a hunger strike and secretly escaped. It took nearly a year of both soft and hard tactics to tame her temper. Furthermore, everyone knew full well that Shen Changfeng wasn't even in the mansion.
Qing'er noticed the atmosphere was off, so she tried to smooth things over, "I heard today's breakfast is quite sumptuous, with wormwood sauce, steamed pig's trotters, and fried goose with minced meat..."
Lin Meiju's stomach churned when she heard this, and she frowned and endured the discomfort.
In the end, she didn't get to eat a proper meal last night, not because the kitchen was deliberately making things difficult for her, but because nowadays the banquets of wealthy families were handed over to the four departments and six bureaus.
By then, it was past midnight, the banquet had long since dispersed, and the people from the four departments and six bureaus had already packed up and left the palace. How could there be ready-made hot food? The palace kitchen, upon hearing the Crown Prince's wife's order, immediately wanted to light a fire to knead the dough and cook the soup, but Lin Meizhu herself refused.
After four o'clock in the morning, she had to dress up and go to the main courtyard to serve tea, and then go to the palace to express her gratitude. The kitchen had time to prepare it, but she had no time to eat.
Finally, Lin Meizhu ate a few cakes with tea and hurried to sleep.
Seeing that Nanny Sun had no intention of leaving, Lin Meizhu knew that she had not given up, so she said, "Nanny, when you have time, go and get the list of dowry and gifts. Categorize the contributions from the Lin Mansion and the contributions from the Wang Mansion according to the list. I have my own needs."
The Lin family was short of money and could not afford a decent dowry. They could only scrape together 20 or 30 dowries. Even though Wang later gave half of the dowry that was given to her daughter Lin Youan to Lin Meizhu, it was still not enough. The Wang family could not bear it and added 100 dowries to the dowry.
Nanny Sun was anxious. Why did they have to separate them? Since the palace had been given to her, wasn't it hers? She should have locked it up as soon as possible!
She opened her mouth to explain, and said earnestly, "There's a reason for doing this, Ma'am, do you understand?"
Nanny Sun rolled her eyes, understanding. She couldn't afford to lose sight of the greater good for the sake of a small gain. If she locked up the entire dowry without asking for permission, she might be gossiped about. She hadn't expected this girl to be so thoughtful.
Lin Meizhu continued, "After consulting with my parents-in-law, I will hand over the management of the warehouse and other matters to Madam. Please don't refuse when the time comes."
Nanny Sun's eyes flashed with brilliance, and she agreed humbly.
Qing'er had overheard some of the conversation in the room last night and knew that Lin Meizhu was unhappy. Seeing that Nanny Sun had been sent away, she felt relieved. She carefully inserted the last of the golden phoenix hairpins into her bun, looked at the person in the mirror and said with admiration, "Alright... Young Madam is so beautiful."
Lin Meizhu looked at the dazzling white earrings on her ears, feeling blinded. She suddenly said, "No pearls."
"Take off your earrings too." His tone was firm.
Qing'er tried to persuade her, saying that these were rare Beihai Nan pearls, round and large, with a translucent luster, coveted by many dignitaries. She also said that these gold-inlaid pearl and jade earrings were gifts from the imperial palace, specially selected by Nanny Sun from the storehouse. However, a glimpse of the resolute look in Lin Meizhu's eyes stopped her, and she opted for a pair of gold-inlaid jade gourd earrings instead.
After quickly eating a few bites of breakfast, Lin Meiju walked towards Rongxi Hall surrounded by a group of servants.
As I walked along, I found many maids carrying out boxes of various sizes.
Lin Meiju suppressed her doubts and walked into the main hall, where she immediately saw Shen Zhongda and Li Jieyi sitting at the first seats.
Lin Meiju knew that the Shen family had three branches. The eldest son, Shen Boyuan, died on the battlefield, and the title was inherited by the second son, Shen Zhongda. Shen Zhongda had no concubines, only one concubine, Yi Niang Liu, with whom he had a son, Shen Chali.
The third son, Shen Jikang, had relied on his father and brother's meritorious service to secure a sinecure in the Ministry of Revenue. He indulged in pleasure, taking in three concubines besides his wife, Zhang, and keeping dozens of singing and dancing girls. Even though she had been mentally prepared, Lin Meizhu still felt a pang of fear at the sight of a room full of children.
The children in the third room were all very curious about Lin Meizhu, and they poked their heads out to secretly look at her.
Among these children, Lin Meiju noticed a boy of eight or nine years old who was particularly quiet. He had a sallow complexion, a thin body, and seemed a little timid. He looked up from time to time.
Standing beside Shen Zhongda was a young woman wearing a pea-green, stand-up collared, double-breasted gown. She was of medium build, thin and fair, and she was giving him a reassuring look. Lin Meizhu thought to herself, these must be Concubine Liu and Shen Chali.
Shen Zhongda was a man of broad shoulders and broad waist, with a voice as resonant as a bell. He wasn't as strong as he once was due to lack of training in recent years, but it was still easy to imagine his graceful demeanor on horseback. But to Lin Meizhu's surprise, Shen Changfeng looked more like his mother, Li Jieyi.
Li Jieyi looked to be in her thirties, but she was even more striking than Concubine Liu. She was tall, with her hair in a long, elegant bun, and wore a moon-white silk Taoist robe over a dark blue gauze dress. Despite her simple attire, her eyes shone with a heroic spirit and arrogance. Her phoenix eyes, identical to Shen Changfeng's, were quietly sizing up Lin Meizhu.
Lin Meizhu served tea to Shen Zhongda and handed over the prepared tea gift. When she was about to serve tea to Li Jieyi, Li Jieyi suddenly said, "I don't like people calling me Princess."
As soon as these words were spoken, the main hall fell silent. The children who had been whispering to each other were signaled to be silent by their mothers. Shen Zhongda paused in drinking his tea and did not respond, but looked a little annoyed.
Lin Meizhu readily agreed: "Princess, please have some tea."
Li Jieyi nodded lightly and listened indifferently to the polite words that Shen Zhongda gave to Lin Meiju.
Afterwards, Lin Meizhu greeted the people from the third room one by one.
Seeing that the atmosphere had warmed up, the dozen or so children in the hall started chattering again.
Li Jieyi raised her eyebrows slightly and said simply, "Noisy."
Seeing the situation was not looking good, the Third House's Madam Zhang hurriedly said, "It's getting late. The Crown Prince's Consort will have to come to the palace to pay her respects later. We won't be staying any longer."
Aunt Liu also said: "Then I also..."
Li Jieyi said, "Stay here, I have something to tell you."
Shen Chali had been terrified since Li Jieyi's loud talk, hoping his mother would take him away. When he heard they were staying, he fidgeted with his sleeves. This was seen by Shen Zhongda, who disliked his timidity and coyness, so he took him aside to ask about his homework, leaving the women to talk.
After the throng of people from the Third House left, Rongxi Hall seemed much emptier. Li Jieyi murmured, "If I had a husband like this, I would just pray for an early death and a new life."
Her voice was not loud, but loud enough for everyone to hear.
Shen Zhongda's voice scolding Shen Chali became even more fierce.
Few women in the world would dare to say such outrageous words, and Li Jieyi is one of them.
Li Jieyi was the daughter of the late emperor's younger brother, Prince Yong. Prince Yong, blessed with a daughter in his twilight years, naturally doted on her. Li Jieyi preferred military attire to red dresses, and Prince Yong offered her apprenticeship. Before her marriage, Li Jieyi served as a sword-bearing lady-in-waiting at the Empress Dowager's side. The late emperor, impressed by her acumen, greatly favored her and granted her special permission to build a temporary palace, a private treasury, and imperial guards.
It's true that the Shen family's military achievements were earned through blood and sweat. However, in recent decades, the pro-peace faction in the court has gained the upper hand, and the late emperor has implemented a policy of rest for the people. The Shen family's cavalry battalion has been useless in the north, and after Shen Zhongda married the princess, he voluntarily surrendered his military power.
It can be said that the Shen family is just an empty shell with many flowers and brocades, but the Fengling Guards in Li Jieyi's hands are real.
Lin Meiju knew that she must not offend Li Jieyi, so she concentrated and waited for instructions.
Li Jieyi said, "Since you are the wife of the Shen family, it is you who should be in charge of the household affairs. However, you are still young and unfamiliar with the affairs of the mansion, so... I will hand the key to the storehouse to Concubine Liu today. You will first learn the household affairs from her, and then..."
She ordered, “Go and call Chief Steward Shen.”
She introduced Shen Ling to Lin Meizhu and said, "This is the Shen family's steward. If you have any questions in the future, feel free to ask him."
Lin Meizhu agreed and presented the list of gifts she had prepared. Before she could say anything, Li Jieyi waved her hand and said, "Just keep it for you."
Then he stood up and said, "Come on, I'll take you to the palace and bid you farewell to the emperor."
Lin Meizhu then realized that the servants were carrying Li Jieyi's boxes, but where was she going? Li Jieyi took a few steps and caught a glimpse of Shen Zhongda following slowly behind her. She asked him, "What are you doing?"
Shen Zhongda said casually: "I'm going to court, later..."
"I won't be going back home later. I'll go straight to Taiqing Monastery." Li Jieyi glanced at him and said, "Shen Zhongda, you won't be reluctant to leave me, will you?"
Shen Zhongda glanced at Lin Meiju who was busy looking at the flowers, left two words "absurd", and then left in a huff.
Lin Meiju had heard that Shen Zhongda and Li Jieyi were a couple who had a crush on each other, but she also heard that they were childhood sweethearts. During the Battle of Zhenning, Shen Zhongda was besieged in Xuanfu, and it was Li Jieyi who led the Fengling Guards to rush to rescue him. Why did they end up like this today?
Thinking of this, Li Jieyi's voice came to my ears again, "You are unlucky to marry Shen Changfeng."
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