Chapter 10 Chapter 10 “It’s not just men who can do that…
"He said the Third Prince was a pretty good person. He never acted like a prince in the army, obeyed General Hao's orders, and didn't compete for credit. He led the troops in battle and his archery skills were not bad—don't underestimate the word 'not bad'. There aren't many people who Ji Liulang would recognize as being not bad."
Zhou Congshan propped his chin on one hand, listening to Fang Ying's praises with a smile before he said slowly, "Aren't we getting along really well? I've only been back a few days, and you've already told me so much."
"...It's not what you think. I tried every possible way to get these things out of him. Don't just ignore them. Pay attention to them." Fang Ying could almost be said to be giving sincere advice.
"What should I care about?" Zhou Congshan looked puzzled.
As expected, she didn't listen. Fang Ying reminded her, "Aren't you going to be out of mourning at the end of the month? Your birthday is over, and you'll be eighteen next year. Can you really postpone your wedding until next year?"
When Zhou Congshan heard this, the smile on his face immediately disappeared, and he said with a dull look, "You're talking about this? It's useless for me to care about this matter. But you mentioned the Third Prince to me as soon as you came..."
Fang Ying nodded heavily, and Zhou Congshan found it quite amusing: "I thought you were too embarrassed to mention Ji Liulang directly, and used this as a starting point."
"What's there for him to mention? What matters now is you. We're sisters, and I'm speaking from the bottom of my heart," Fang Ying reached out and held her friend's slightly cold fingers. "Remember the departed in your heart, and live well with that in your heart. That's the only way to truly do justice to them."
Zhou Congshan met her gaze, and seeing the genuine concern in her eyes, his heart warmed. He raised his other hand and patted the back of his friend's hand, "I know. But regarding my marriage, not only me, but even my father can't decide. Everything depends on the government's wishes."
"But the government won't force you—even if it's just for show—they'll at least ask for your opinion, right?"
Zhou Congshan thought about it and chuckled, "It's just for show. When my cousin passed away, I said I wanted to become a monk, but they refused to agree."
Of course he would not agree to this. Becoming a monk does not mean he cannot return to secular life. What if an ambitious man comes along and insists on marrying Zhou Congshan to gild his reputation, saying that he is destined to be an emperor?
"I think the emperor must marry you into the royal family as his daughter-in-law."
Zhou Congshan frowned upon hearing this. Fang Ying grabbed her fingers and shook them, saying soothingly, "I know you don't like the princes very much, but if you were to pick a general from among the dwarfs, you'd always be able to pick one who's less annoying, right?"
"No. They're not good!"
Fang Ying didn't refute her, but nodded in agreement: "That's right, what good can a man have?" Then she changed the subject, "But among bad people, there are some who are really bad and some who are not really bad, for example..."
As she spoke, she looked around, leaned closer to her friend, and whispered, "The Second Prince and the Third Prince, one is completely bad, and the other is not completely bad."
"The Second Prince? What does this have to do with him? Didn't Princess Yan give birth again?"
"Yes, she gave birth to another daughter. I heard that before the baby was even one month old, the imperial concubine selected two more sons from good families and sent them to Prince Yan's mansion."
Zhou Congshan showed disdain on his face: "She's always been petty-minded." He was also thankful, "Luckily you were brave and decisive back then and secured this marriage with the Ji family. Otherwise... I'm really scared just thinking about it."
"Without your help, no matter how brave and decisive I am, I won't be able to escape."
When Fang Ying thinks back on what happened two years ago, she doesn't feel scared at all. She just feels that she is very lucky.
She always seems to be like this. Whenever she encounters a disaster, there is always someone to help her.
After her mother passed away, Li took her to the Ji Mansion. Not only did she take good care of her food and daily life, she also hired a female teacher to teach them how to read and write. Fang Ying felt that she could now understand some principles and strategies, all thanks to her enlightenment to reading.
When she reached marriageable age, her father Fang Chengxun did not get a real job after arriving in Tokyo, so the family was in financial difficulty and it was difficult for her to get married. Later, Fang Chengxun listened to the instigation of Fang Ying's uncle and wanted to send her to the Prince of Yan's mansion to be his concubine.
You have to know that at that time, the Princess of Yan had just given birth to her first child. Just because it was a daughter and not a grandson of the emperor, Concubine Zhang and the Prince of Yan could not wait to select the daughters of low-ranking officials and send them to the prince's palace, hoping to give birth to the eldest grandson of the emperor before the prince's wedding.
Not to mention how ruthless and shameless this mother and son were, their ambitions were too obvious. With Fang Ying's limited knowledge, she felt that they would never be able to succeed. The boasts made by her uncle and her father about their so-called wealth and glory were just illusions in her eyes.
"No, it's up to you to have the guts to think and act. When I heard you say you wanted to marry someone who disappeared after the war, I thought you were crazy."
"I've been forced into a corner." Fang Ying couldn't help but laugh when she recalled Zhou Congshan's eyes widening after he told her about her plan. "Originally, I just wanted to find a chance to beg our wife. If she could come forward and even say a few words to my stepmother, asking her not to give her daughter to a man like the Prince of Yan as a concubine, my father would at least hesitate and reconsider."
But unfortunately, when Jiaozhi submitted its surrender and sent back the captives, Ji Yanlang was not among them.
It was obviously inappropriate to ask Mrs. Ji for help with such a small matter at this time. Fang Ying was forced into a desperate situation, and suddenly an idea came to her mind: it would be great if she could marry into the Ji family to bring good luck. Her mother-in-law would be kind and gentle, her sister-in-law would be easy to get along with, and the best thing is that she doesn't have a husband!
"Alas, to put it bluntly, you still need your mother to love you." Zhou Congshan sighed and couldn't help but sneer, "Like your father and your uncle, they just want to sell you out. My father... let's not talk about him."
Fang Ying held her hand tightly and said nothing.
Li said that she and Zhou Congshan became friends because they shared the same suffering. This was true, but the "sickness" they shared was not the "loss of husband" as Li thought, but the loss of their mother in childhood.
Fang Ying lost her mother at the age of eight, and Zhou Congshan lost his mother even earlier, when he was seven. The two met when Fang Ying came to Xiangguo Temple to pray and ask for divination from her biological mother. Zhou Congshan was touched when he heard her say, "Mom, if my father and uncle force me again, I will go to the underworld to find you, okay?"
"So we have to make our own plans!" Thinking of the previous scene, Fang Ying suddenly perked up again. "Look at me, I know that leaving everything to fate is not a good idea. Everything depends on human effort. If you really despise the Third Prince, we can still inquire further. But I'm afraid that the emperor intends to make Prince Yan the crown prince. I'm also afraid that Master Lu's words will come true and they will ask you to marry Prince Yan..."
"That's impossible, isn't it? Prince Yan has married, and the Princess is the daughter of Imperial Tutor Yu."
Fang Ying said, "Grand Tutor Yu only has the title of Grand Tutor to the Crown Prince, but he hasn't held any real position for over a year. Besides, there's suddenly no princess in the palace, and they're saying it's postpartum illness or something. Is there anyone who would investigate?"
Zhou Congshan couldn't help but shudder and wanted to say that it wasn't necessary, but before he said it, he knew in his heart that there was nothing these people couldn't do.
Fang Ying released her hand, poured her another cup of hot tea, and handed it to her before saying, "What I'm going to say next may be a little shocking."
Zhou Congshan glanced at her, picked up the tea and drank it, then put the teacup away and sat up straight, saying, "Go on, I'm sitting tight."
Fang Ying burst into laughter, but quickly straightened her expression. She leaned closer to her friend and said in a very low voice, "Since the royal family has recognized you as the so-called 'empress', then whoever becomes your husband will be the crown prince, right?"
"You can say that." Zhou Congshan nodded.
"Then why can't you be the one to choose the crown prince?"
Zhou Congshan: “…”
"Men aren't the only ones who can turn the tide," Fang Ying explained quietly. "Given your situation, you should seize the opportunity and choose someone more to your liking as your husband or crown prince. Manage your life well, open your heart, eat well, sleep well, and you'll live a long and prosperous life. There's a chance you'll even become the empress dowager."
Zhou Congshan's heart was pounding when he heard this. He couldn't help but glare at Fang Ying and said, "Shut up! You dare to say anything. It's a good thing you were born a girl. If you were a boy, wouldn't you be going to heaven?"
Fang Ying smiled and was about to reply when the maid outside called out, "Madam, Madam Fang, His Royal Highness the Third Prince has arrived with the Sixth Prince of the Ji Mansion."
The two exchanged glances, both surprised. It wasn't surprising that the Ji family had come to fulfill their vow today, given that Ji Liulang was already at Xiangguo Temple. So why was the Third Prince here too? Had he heard the gospel? Just a few words to him, and he'd come?
Zhou Congshan called the maid in and asked, "What are they doing here? Where are they now?"
"Waiting at the gate. His Royal Highness the Third Prince said he came today to pray for Concubine Hui and to offer a stick of incense to the Dowager. I heard you're still staying in the temple to mourn for her, so he came to say hello. Ji Liulang is here to pick up Madam Fang."
Zhou Congshan gave Fang Ying a half-smile and said, "I've come to pick you up, and you're still pretending with me."
"It must be our wife who asked him to come." Fang Ying stood up, rolled her eyes, and said to Zhou Congshan, "It's just right, let's go out and meet him together."
Zhou Congshan received her glance, but he was not very happy. "He wants to burn incense for the lady, just send someone to take him there. Why should I go to see him?"
"Just think of it as meeting Ji Liulang." Fang Ying, for the sake of her friend, risked being teased by her, "You haven't met him yet, have you?"
Zhou Congshan was indeed somewhat tempted. Fang Ying struck while the iron was hot and called the maid who brought the news, "Quickly bring your madam a veil hat."
The maid left with a smile. Fang Ying took the opportunity to whisper to her friend, "Think carefully about what I just said." Then she called Lichun in and helped her put on the veil hat, and then she went out hand in hand with Zhou Congshan.
When I walked out of the room, I saw two tall and handsome men standing at the courtyard gate. The one on the left wearing a black robe was Ji Yanlang, and the one on the right, wearing the prince's casual clothes and with an extraordinary demeanor, must be the third prince.
Fang Ying and Zhou Congshan walked forward hand in hand and saluted the Third Prince together. The Third Prince leaned over and said, "Please don't be so polite, I'm sorry for disturbing you."
His manner of speaking was indeed as Ji Yanlang had described, humble and amiable.
"How have you been, cousin?" The third prince greeted Zhou Congshan first.
"TOEFL, not bad." Zhou Congshan replied lightly, his eyes already on Ji Yanlang who was standing beside him.
Although separated by the veil on the veil, the Third Prince was only three steps away and could still see where her gaze fell. He smiled and said, "This is Ji Liulang Ji Yanlang - but it seems that I should not introduce him."
Zhou Congshan pulled Fang Ying's hand and said, "Yes, why don't you introduce me?"
Fang Ying lowered her head and pretended to be a quail. Ji Yanlang felt as if he had stumbled into some strange place. He hurriedly bowed to Zhou Congshan and said, "Greetings, Miss Zhou."
"Mr. Ji, you're welcome. I've long heard of your great name. I'm also happy for Madam Ji and Sister Fang to see you back safely." Zhou Congshan said this openly, letting go of Fang Ying's hand. "I won't keep you here anymore. When I'm done with my mourning and go home, I'll invite you home to talk."
Fang Ying agreed and walked to Ji Yanlang. After he said goodbye to the Third Prince and Zhou Congshan, she bowed to the Third Prince before leaving with Ji Yanlang.
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