184 Grievances (Part 1)
◎ "Is there no me in your heart anymore?!"◎
The second day after Xu Qinghe returned to Jizhou City was the seventh day of the seventh month.
Before she set off back, she had already instructed Nanzhi to hold a banquet on that day to invite the officials and their wives in Jizhou City to visit the princess's mansion.
That night the moonlight was as bright as water, and a crescent moon hung on the branches. In the dark night, there were a few other stars shining. Although they could not compete with the bright moon, their number was large, and they spread across the dome, which was another kind of beautiful sight.
The princess's mansion was decorated with lights and lanterns of various colors were hung on the eaves and branches, which looked colorful and eye-catching.
Unmarried girls would go in groups of two or three, either praying to the moon for good luck or vying to see the beautiful lanterns.
When the banquet began, everyone had already toured the princess's mansion under the guidance of the servants and was now hungry.
Looking at the dishes in the princess's mansion, each one is delicious and tasty, making one's mouth water just by looking at them.
However, even if everyone was extremely hungry, it was difficult for them to take their eyes off the main seat, let alone pick up their chopsticks to eat.
It was because at this moment, next to their Princess Zhaoning, there was a little girl of four or five years old!
The little girl was as cute as ice and snow, wearing a silver-red gradient skirt. Her little face was white and cute. From a distance, she looked like a plump lychee.
Seeing how the princess was taking good care of the little girl, there was a lot of whispering at the table.
"Whose little girl is this? How come she looks so much like the princess? They could be cut from the same mold."
"I saw this little girl at the city gate yesterday. The princess had just returned from Yingzhou. I heard her calling the princess "mother."
"So, this is the princess's daughter? But the princess has been alone all these years, where did she get a four or five-year-old daughter?"
"Hush, you forgot that the princess was married once."
Everyone then remembered that when their Princess Zhaoning came to the capital to endure hardships and suffer hardships to find out the truth about her parents' death in battle, she had indeed married someone.
And that person was not someone else, but the Major General Xie Qi who had been engaged to her and who had changed his name and surname and was also sleeping on straw and enduring hardships.
"But later...didn't the two of them divorce?"
"What's wrong with a divorce? It won't affect the fact that the child's age coincides with the year of the princess's divorce."
"No, no, that's still not right. If this child is the princess's and Marquis Xie's, then she should have been born the same year the princess returned. But we all remember that the princess at that time didn't show any signs of pregnancy. Not only was she busy supervising the construction of the hero's tomb every day, but we also never heard of the princess giving birth afterwards."
"And what's more, if this is the princess's daughter, why haven't we heard a word about her in four or five years?"
"But this child looks so much like the princess. If she wasn't the princess's child, why did the princess bring her here today? And why did she even host this banquet?"
…
There were many different opinions at the table for a while. After everyone had guessed most of the answers, Xu Qinghe finally raised his cup and spoke.
She first celebrated today's Chinese Valentine's Day, sent good wishes to all the ladies and unmarried girls, and then answered everyone's questions.
"As you can see, this is my biological daughter with Dingnan Marquis Xie Qi. Her name is Xu Ping'an."
She looked at her daughter beside her lovingly, smiled faintly and touched the top of her daughter's head: "In just over a month, our Ping An will be five years old."
Ping'an was very well-behaved. She rubbed her mother's palm with a smile and said hello to the aunts and sisters sitting below.
In fact, as long as her parents are always around, Ping An doesn't care whether others doubt whether she is their daughter.
As long as she knows who her parents are, that's enough.
As soon as these words were spoken, there was another uproar at the table.
Before anyone could ask, she started to speak out the words she had prepared in advance.
She said half-truthfully, "I'm sure you all know that when I was in Kyoto, I married the Marquis of Dingnan. Back then, for the greater good, we divorced to conceal our involvement, and ultimately joined forces to capture the Wei thief."
"However, the Wei thieves still have their followers lurking in the dark, so the two of us simply took advantage of their situation and continued to search for the remaining thieves. We did not get married, so we could not even bring our only daughter to the public.
"Now that the Wei thieves' followers have been eliminated, and it's the Qixi Festival, I will bring my daughter out to avoid you all meeting each other in the future and not recognizing each other, which would make a fool of yourself."
"As for production..."
She suddenly stopped, as if waiting for something.
"Let me tell you about this!"
It was her old friend who stood up from the table.
She has always been a lively person, and today she is wearing a goose yellow chest-length skirt, which makes her look even more charming.
Everyone was waiting for her to explain, but she asked instead, "Can you guys see any changes in me?"
Those at the table who knew the inside story had already guessed what she was going to do, so they kept silent.
Those who didn't know were even more confused and shook their heads.
She smiled and said, "Madam Luo is a very skilled doctor. Could you please take my pulse?"
Mrs. Luo took her pulse as instructed. She was stunned at first, then congratulated her, "Madam, you are already eight months pregnant. You should be more careful."
Eight months pregnant?!
But she looked at it and it was clearly the same as before!
Amidst the astonishment of many, Madam Luo explained, "Some women have slender waists, and even when they're pregnant, they don't show it. Just like you, Madam, with your skirt covering it, you look just like an ordinary person. The princess has always been slender, so I suppose you're the same way."
The latter sentence was naturally directed at Xu Qinghe.
Xu Qinghe looked at her gratefully, nodded in agreement, and then looked at everyone with a smile.
When they met her gaze, everyone was stunned at first, and then the silent table was filled with chatter.
Either they would send belated congratulations to the princess, or they would find various ways to praise the young lady; in short, there were always happy words to say.
After all, the princess herself admitted that this was her daughter, and she found a flawless explanation for what happened that year, so most of them believed it.
Even though they were a little suspicious, they thought that this matter had nothing to do with them and they didn't intend to disobey the princess.
Besides, this little lady is indeed cute and smart.
They all praised him sincerely.
Ping An was flattered for a moment.
These aunts and sisters praised her for everything from her appearance to her manners and even her behavior, down to the few silk flowers in her hair.
They seem to really like her!
As Ping An was praised again and again, he couldn't help showing a bit of pride.
Amidst all the congratulations, a genuine smile finally appeared on Xu Qinghe's lips.
In fact, it would be best to announce the daughter's identity when both she and Xie Qi are present.
But now time is pressing, and she can't really guarantee that Xie Qi can...
If something really happened to him, at least his daughter could still call him daddy openly.
After taking a bath at night, Xu Qinghe leaned on the couch and let Nanzhi wipe his hair, thinking in a daze.
If it were to happen again, why would she have to save face and not tell Xie Qi the truth? At least it would prevent her daughter's identity from being suspected.
However, even though she thought so, Xie Qi was so determined to push her away at the beginning. It was clearly his fault, so why did she have to give in?
Just as I was thinking about this person, a maid suddenly came in from outside to report: "Princess, there is a letter for you, sent from Yingzhou."
Yingzhou?
That must be Xie Qi.
Nanzhi took the letter and handed it to the princess with a smile.
Xu Qinghe saw it and was a little confused: "Why are you laughing like that..."
gloat?
Nanzhi had become much calmer during the past few years of her time in Jizhou, but today he seemed to be watching the fun and was a little excited.
Xu Qinghe was confused and thought Xie Qi wanted to discuss something with her. However, when she opened the envelope, she saw a question.
He asked her in an extremely angry and aggrieved tone, "Does she no longer have him in her heart?"
Xu Qinghe quickly closed the letter.
She looked at Nanzhi, who understood, smiled and temporarily stepped back.
Wasn't she fine when I sent her and her daughter away yesterday? Why has she gone crazy again after just one day of not seeing her?
Xu Qinghe opened the letter and read it alone, and finally understood.
Today is the seventh day of the seventh month, which was originally Xie Qi's birthday.
But she was so focused on her daughter that she forgot about this matter.
But I can't blame her...
After so many years of separation, except for the first year, she always had her daughter to accompany her. Who had the time to remember his birthday?
No wonder when he left yesterday, he picked up the veil hat she had thrown away from the ground, put it on her, and asked her if she had forgotten anything.
At that time she shook her head, which naturally meant no.
I'm afraid this person had already thought of the questions he would ask today.
But I hope that maybe she will remember today, not to mention sending her a birthday gift, at least sending her a message would be nice.
But she hadn't prepared anything.
Looking at the bold and unrestrained handwriting that was so powerful that it could be seen through the paper, Xu Qinghe could imagine the resentment in Xie Qi's heart when he wrote this letter.
She picked up her pen and wrote back to Xie Qi, the gist of which was: I've been thinking about how to prove my daughter's identity to everyone lately, and I forgot your birthday. I'm sorry.
**
Xie Qi received the letter at dusk the next day.
He read the two short lines again and again, and finally sneered: "It's called an apology, but there's not a trace of sincerity!"
She didn't even give him a birthday gift, but he had remembered her birthday all these years and prepared gifts for her every time.
Although it has not been sent out, he has been preparing it!
It's like feeding a dog with all your sincerity!
However, there were three pieces of letter paper in the envelope. He picked up the second one and looked at it, then laughed.
It is a poem she wrote.
On the surface, it is about the stars and the crescent moon on the Chinese Valentine's Day, but in fact, it is using the stars and the moon to express lovesickness.
She was telling herself her longing in a tactful way.
On the third piece of letter paper, there was a wisteria leaf.
This time she wrote more directly: This year's wisteria flowers have faded, I will wait for you to go together to see the wisteria bloom next year.
She was a girl who rarely showed her emotions like this, so Xie Qi felt that these two pieces of paper were even more precious and she wished she could keep them in her heart forever.
However, he did so. When he went to bed at night, he read the two pieces of letter paper again and again, and finally covered them on his chest and fell asleep with his lips curled up.
However, she only took the initiative this once. After that, if he didn't write to her, she would not take the initiative to write to him.
While Xie Qi ordered his men to use money to prepare more weapons, war horses, and some rare medicinal herbs, he felt indignant in his heart.
After taking the medicine early that morning, he took out a pen and paper and wrote a few big words.
"Send it to the Princess's residence. It must be delivered to the Princess before midnight."
【Author’s words】
Today's double update [rainbow fart]
The next update will be before midnight [rainbow fart]
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
