18 Fun Facts
◎The person I met that day was my cousin Wei.◎
Xu Qinghe tied her hair into a bun again, dressed neatly, and rushed to the hall.
At that time, Princess Yongyan was sitting on a rose chair drinking tea. She was wearing a long red dress that was elegant and luxurious. The gold embroidery on it painted a vivid phoenix, making her look noble and unparalleled, which was very consistent with her status as a princess of the royal family.
But when he looked up at Xu Qinghe, her autumn-blue dress was plain and elegant, her hair was simply tied up without any hairpins or jewelry, her face was bare but it made her look even more beautiful, her skin was so white that it seemed to glow, making her look like a fairy who had strayed into the mortal world but remained untainted by the dust.
Compared with her, I seem to be a bit deliberately ostentatious.
Her skin color was not as white as hers. When the two of them stood together, others would definitely praise Xu Qinghe by saying that she was like a lotus emerging from the water, and would only say that she was a noble princess.
Yongyan gritted his teeth secretly.
Before she was fifteen, she was the most honorable princess in the royal family. Not only was she praised by her elders, but many young men in the capital also vied with each other to propose to her. But when she was fifteen, Xu Qinghe suddenly came from the southern border.
The Nan'an Palace clearly no longer existed. She was just an orphan without a father or a mother, but she attracted the attention of the entire Kyoto with just her face.
Within half a year, no one in the entire capital praised her as the princess of the royal family anymore. All they mentioned was the Princess Qinghe who was treated with great courtesy by the royal family. Even her father and grandmother loved her very much and gave all the things that originally belonged to her to Xu Qinghe.
Now, she is a princess who has been divorced once and whose future home is unknown, while the other party is a princess who is about to marry the number one son in the capital and will enjoy unparalleled praise.
How could she feel balanced and not feel resentful?
"I wonder what Princess Yongyan has come to see me for?"
She was brought back to her senses by his words. She suppressed her anger and said calmly, "It's nothing serious. I just heard something interesting recently and wanted to share it with you, my lady."
Would she be so kind as to share interesting stories with me?
Xu Qinghe didn't believe it.
Yongyan has been making things difficult for him overtly and covertly over the years, so this time it will definitely not be that simple.
However, one should not hit a smiling person. Since the other person approached her with an intimate look, she couldn't just keep him away.
She waited for Yongyan to speak himself, but Yongyan was also waiting for her to ask. They were silent for a long time before they realized that neither of them seemed to want to speak first.
Finally, Yongyan lost his patience and spoke first, "I heard that on the New Year's Eve banquet, the princess left the table to sober up and happened to run into Prince Wei."
Xu Qinghe's hand trembled, and the tea in the porcelain cup also shook.
First it was Queen Wei, then Yongyan. How many people saw her meet Wei Che on New Year’s Eve?
Even Queen Wei would point it out implicitly, but Yongyan pointed it out directly. What was his reason?
She and Wei Che were both not yet married, not to mention that the emperor and the empress were already in opposition, and the Wei family and the Wei family were also at odds with each other. She was born under the protection of the Queen Mother Wei, so how could she be related to Wei Che?
But Xu Qinghe was certain that the other party had no evidence, and even if there was witnesses, she would still firmly believe that it was a false accusation. So she calmly replied, "Princess, you are joking. It is true that I left the New Year's Eve banquet because I was drunk, but when I went out to sober up, I met my cousin Wei. I have never seen the son of the Duke of Fuguo before."
Yongyan's face had a meaningful look on it. She lowered her head and brushed away the tea foam in the cup. In her heart, she scoffed at Xu Qinghe for being stubborn, and then she said:
"If the princess says she doesn't know him, then so be it. But Qinghe, as your elder sister, I still want to remind you that you are the wife of the Wei family chosen by the Empress Dowager. Don't lose your sense of propriety and get involved with some other man, especially one with a bad reputation. Otherwise, you will bring disgrace to the Wei family and the Empress Dowager will be furious."
Xu Qinghe is walking on thin ice in Beijing, but that doesn't mean she will accept such a lesson. She and Yongyan have been enemies since childhood, so there is no need to pretend to have a deep sisterly love now.
Then she said, "I have never been married and am still a girl. Unlike you, the princess, you are a married woman and know the rules. Thank you for your guidance."
"you!"
Yongyan was furious and slammed the teacup on the table, splashing the tea in the cup. Her carefully selected red dress was immediately soaked in large areas, leaving several deep and shallow stains.
Xu Qinghe was used to poking at her sore spots, and was clearly mocking her about her divorce. This really touched Yongyan's heart, and she angrily stopped sharing interesting stories with her and turned around and left with a group of servants.
Nanzhi breathed a sigh of relief when he saw her leave in a hurry.
This princess is the daughter of Concubine Zhao and the eldest daughter of Your Majesty. She has always been loved and even when she asked for a divorce, Your Majesty never rebuked her. Now she is finally gone.
But she also felt a little worried.
"The princess just said something like that. Will Princess Yongyan go back and complain, angering Concubine Zhao and causing trouble for the princess?"
Xu Qinghe stood up and couldn't help but untie her hair as she walked towards the bedroom.
She didn't sleep well last night, so she had a headache today. It was even more uncomfortable to have her hair piled on top of her head, which was far less comfortable than letting it down.
"She's not a child anymore. Why would she go to the Imperial Concubine for support over such a trivial matter?"
But Xu Qinghe still couldn't figure out why she came to him today to give him some advice for no apparent reason.
But it was definitely not out of good intentions as she said. He came here specifically to remind her to stay away from Wei Che so as not to ruin his reputation.
It was not until the third day of March that Xu Qinghe finally understood Yongyan's purpose that day.
Early in the morning of that day, everyone in the palace had packed up and went to the palace where the coming-of-age ceremony for the seventh and ninth princesses would be held.
Because it was a coming-of-age ceremony, everyone was dressed formally. Xu Qinghe wore a sapphire blue dress, with her long hair tied up in a lily bun. She only pinned a few pearl flowers of the same color and did not wear any hairpins. This suited the formality of the occasion without stealing the limelight from the other princesses.
When she arrived at the palace, Princess Jing'an had already arrived. The last time they met was at the palace banquet on the Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the first lunar month, which was more than a month ago.
Jing'an came towards her warmly, and Xu Qinghe also took her hand with a faint smile.
It was a slightly chilly spring day, and Jing'an was still holding a hot water bottle in her hand, because when she was young, Yongyan forced her to soak in cold water for several hours. Later, she developed a fear of colds and suffered from many illnesses.
But today, when she looked at her carefully, she found that she seemed to have gained weight recently, her face was rosy, and she no longer looked as sickly as before.
At this moment, the coming-of-age ceremony had not yet begun, so the two of them went together to the octagonal pavilion next to the palace.
"It seems that the prince consort has taken good care of you."
Although he knew that she was just stating the facts and had no intention of joking, Jing'an, who was thin-skinned, couldn't help blushing.
She avoided the topic and asked a few questions about Xu Qinghe's recent situation.
After Xu Qinghe answered all the questions one by one, he told her to tell Wei Ming that he wanted to go out for an outing together.
Jing'an only needed to think about it for a moment to guess what Queen Mother Wei meant, but Xu Qinghe was not someone who was so fond of fun, and he would not take the initiative to ask Wei Ming for help. Why did he act so out of character this time?
She couldn't help but ask, "Tell me first, why did you go out this time? Who did you want to meet? Or what did you want to do?"
To be precise, Xu Qinghe wanted to meet someone and ask that person to help her do something.
That day, Lin Xiao said that Meng Chen wrote a confession before his death and handed it to the Minister of Justice. The Minister of Justice at that time was Wei Ming's father Wei Siting. Since the confession was not made public, Xu Qinghe guessed that it was most likely hidden by Wei Siting and kept at home.
Today, she wanted to meet Wei Che in the suburbs of Beijing and ask her to find a layout map of Wei's house for her.
Jing'an thought, in addition to the coming-of-age ceremony for girls during the Shangsi Festival, men and women also went on outings together in the suburbs, which could be considered as a way of seeing each other. She knew that Xu Qinghe had never been interested in Wei Ming, so who was she going out for this time?
Seeing her eyes becoming more and more hesitant, Xu Qinghe knew what she was thinking. She stretched out her slender fingers, tapped her forehead, and said angrily, "What are you thinking about? I haven't left the palace for a long time. I just want to go out and have some fun. Is that not okay?"
Jing'an was skeptical.
She hadn't left the palace in over three months. Jing'an had grown up in the palace, so what was the point of living in the square sky? The hustle and bustle of life outside the palace was more joyful and reassuring.
"I understand this. After the coming-of-age ceremony is over, I'll go find my cousin and have him quickly pass on the message to the palace. But that's bound to make him think twice. And your marriage... Qinghe, your marriage is now decided only by the Empress Dowager. She's clearly betrothing you to your cousin. If he weren't so busy preparing for the imperial examination, you two would have been married long ago. Now that the Spring Examination is approaching, and so is your marriage to her, what are your thoughts?"
What can Xu Qinghe think?
She felt depressed in the deep palace and could not find any comfort. Queen Mother Wei was determined to make Wei Ming happy, so she had no choice but to sacrifice her.
She was no longer pursuing so-called love, but what would happen after marrying into the Wei family? Would she switch from the square sky of the palace to the even smaller square world of the Wei residence?
"Jing'an, if possible, I don't want to marry Wei Ming, nor do I want to marry anyone else."
"Are you...thinking of that person again? ...your childhood fiancé?"
When they were young, Xu Qinghe had opened his heart to her and let her know the general outline of Xie Qi. The high-spirited young general was indeed a perfect match for Qinghe, the intelligent princess. Unfortunately, fate played a trick on them. Before they could fulfill their engagement, the Southern Border Army was killed in battle and the Xie family colluded with the enemy.
Unexpectedly, Xu Qinghe shook her head and said, "After he dies, I will no longer seek love in marriage. It doesn't make any difference to me who I marry. It's just a change from the harem to the backyard.
"It's just that Jing'an, whether in the harem or the inner chambers, such a life is too depressing. In the past five years, I have always been reminded of the southern border when I was young. There, the world is vast and there are few constraints. My mother fought in the battlefield as a woman, and was admired by all the soldiers and built her own career.
"Instead of being trapped in the palace all day like me, barely leaving the palace for three months."
But in Kyoto, whether it is the concubines in the harem or the ladies of high-ranking families, who is not like this?
The two of them looked at each other in silence, feeling only sorrow.
Jing'an was better off than Xu Qinghe after all. As the wife of the deputy commander of the imperial guards, she would always be invited to banquets held by various families. She knew a lot about what was happening in the capital, so she told Xu Qinghe some interesting stories outside the palace.
A delicious restaurant on the street inexplicably closed down, a noble family in the capital had twins in their old age, or which place in the suburbs of Beijing has the best flowers in spring?
"By the way, there's also the Fuguo family. I heard they're currently arranging a marriage for the Crown Prince."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
