Chapter 2 Chapter 2 The day after tomorrow morning, Ji Liulang will follow the master...
Fang Ying, who was deeply "inspired" by her good friend, was completely calm when she returned to her mother-in-law, Mrs. Ji Li.
Li is over forty years old. Her face is wrinkled by the ravages of time. Her black hair has turned white due to the pain of losing her sons one after another, but she is still a stunning beauty.
"Why are you back so soon? It's rare for you sisters to meet, so talk for a while. I have nothing to do here." Li spoke first when she saw Fang Ying come in.
Fang Ying walked over to her and sat down, pouting, looking fakely angry, and said, "I don't want to talk to her anymore."
"What's wrong? Are you two still arguing with each other?" Li turned her head to look at her daughter-in-law and asked with a smile.
Fang Ying wanted to say something but hesitated. Li did not urge her. She just looked at her with a smile and waited for her to think it over before speaking.
"Mom, Liu Lang..." Fang Ying paused for a moment and asked cautiously, "Is he really safe and sound? Is he on his way back?"
Her eyes were filled with hope, but her expression was more of trepidation. Li Shi's heart ached. She reached out and embraced Fang Ying, saying softly, "It's true. Didn't your second uncle say so? Before the Cold Dew Festival, Liu Lang returned with the army."
Fang Ying smiled embarrassedly: "I always dare not believe it. I am always worried until I see the person..."
Li's heart ached even more. No one could empathize with Fang Ying's feelings more than she could. She gently stroked her daughter-in-law's frail shoulders and said with a smile, "Early this morning I asked your second uncle, 'Is this true? Are we just dreaming?' He said, 'The Third Prince wrote this report himself, how could it be false?' He told me to put my heart at ease."
Fang Ying exhaled softly: "So mother also... Amitabha, Buddha bless the army to return to the capital quickly, so that Liu Lang can return soon..."
Having said this, she suddenly paused, lowered her head uncomfortably, and looked quite shy.
Li and the maids standing in the room all laughed. Li even teased her, saying, "You can't stop praying to the Buddha halfway. Let Liu Lang come back soon. What's next?"
"...After that, of course, there will be family reunion and peace for the whole family." Fang Ying replied in a low voice without looking up.
Li smiled, patted her head, praised her, and said, "I'm more greedy than you. I also pray to the Buddha to bless you two to live in harmony and have children soon."
This time, Fang Ying's face really turned red - no matter how harsh her words were or how many calculations she had in her heart, she was still an inexperienced girl after all, and it was inevitable that she would feel embarrassed when talking about things like having children.
Seeing her cheeks flushed, Li glanced at the maids and motioned them to retreat to the outer room. She patted Fang Ying's hand and whispered, "Mother has been so happy and absent-minded these past two days that she didn't even bother to ask you—Ying'er, are you afraid that Liu Lang will come back and refuse to acknowledge you as his wife?"
Fang Ying hesitated for a moment and nodded slightly.
"Don't be afraid, silly child. I'm here. Although Liu Lang is a bit rough, he's not ungrateful. When he comes back, I'll tell him all about your kindness. He'll definitely be grateful and treat you well."
"But... ever since he was little... Liu Lang has been particularly displeased with children..."
She has always been articulate and generous in her speech, and rarely hesitates like this. This is only the case when it comes to her youngest son, the troublemaker.
Mrs. Li smiled and comforted her daughter-in-law, "That's not just about you. Liu Lang has a bad temper and never bothers to talk to young ladies. But that's also his advantage. Men who are always flirting with other women are really not to be desired."
Fang Ying waved her hands hurriedly. "I don't mean to blame him. Actually...it's actually my fault. That year, General Wu of Fengzhou returned to Shu. Everyone laughed at General Wu for being a descendant of generals who had surrendered for generations. Liu Lang especially looked down on General Wu. He even conspired with Sun Qilang and Yu Shiyilang to tease General Wu while he was visiting my father."
Seeing Li frown, Fang Ying hurriedly continued, "I happened to overhear their discussion and couldn't help but say a few words. We were young and ignorant at the time, so we imitated the elders' lectures on some profound principles. Naturally, they didn't accept it. Sun Qilang and Yu Shiyilang both argued with me, and somehow they brought Mr. Qiu along... I heard that not only did Mr. Qiu punish them by making them copy books, but my father also personally taught Liulang a lesson..."
Mr. Qiu was the tutor that Li and her husband had hired for their children in their early years. When Li heard this, everything came back to her. She couldn't help but laugh out loud. She lightly tapped Fang Ying's forehead and said, "So it's you! I didn't know about this until today. Isn't this a marriage destined by heaven?"
"..." What does this have to do with a marriage destined by heaven? Fang Ying just wanted to set an ambush for her mother-in-law before Ji Liulang returned, so that he wouldn't come back and say bad things about her and affect Li's opinion of her.
"Don't be afraid, Ying'er. You did the right thing." Seeing her dazed and at a loss, Li felt pity and fondness for her. She embraced Fang Ying again and said with a smile, "If you really let these naughty kids act recklessly and embarrass General Wu, your father will not only teach him a lesson, but will also be doing him a favor if he is not beaten so hard that he cannot get up for three days."
Fang Ying couldn't help but smile as well.
"At the time, I only heard that it was a little girl who spoke up for justice. Unfortunately, Mr. Qiu didn't recognize you and couldn't tell you where the child came from."
"As soon as Mr. Qiu showed up, the boy ran away." Fang Ying said with a smile.
Li touched her hair and suddenly remembered that year seemed to be the year Fang Ying lost her mother. She had been assisting her husband wholeheartedly during those years. When she heard that the wife of the magistrate of Yangzhou, under her husband's jurisdiction, had passed away, leaving behind an eight or nine-year-old daughter with no one to take care of her, she had someone bring her to the mansion and arranged for maids to take care of her for a while, just like she treated the orphans of her husband's other subordinates.
I never expected that such a small act of kindness would lead to such a story and eventually lead to the marriage of my youngest son. It really is true that there is a cause for every effect.
"You are really good at keeping things in your heart. You actually kept it to yourself until today." Li had no impression of Fang Ying back then, but it was rare for a little girl who had just lost her mother and was living under someone else's roof to have her own opinions. She even dared to speak frankly to the young master of the master's family and even "fight the majority with the minority". She really found a treasure when she chose this little daughter-in-law two years ago.
"In the past... I was afraid that telling you would only make you sad." Fang Ying didn't know what Li was thinking and smiled shyly.
That's right. When there was no news about Liu Lang, these children didn't dare to mention him to her. Li held Fang Ying's hand and said with a smile, "Okay, mother got it. If that brat doesn't know what's good for him and dares to bring up this old matter, mother will definitely help you deal with him!"
Having achieved her goal, Fang Ying smiled sincerely.
Unexpectedly, Li suddenly asked, "You ran back from the young lady of the Zhou family, but did she make fun of you because you told her all this?"
Fang Ying pretended to be surprised: "How did you know?" But what she was thinking in her heart was: Madam can indeed make the connection, this plan works.
"Why else could you two be so upset?" Mrs. Li smiled and instructed her daughter-in-law, "It was just a joke, don't take it to heart. Go see her again tomorrow when you come, but don't mention Liu Lang anymore."
Fang Ying agreed first, then asked, "Mother, are you afraid that she'll remember the late Crown Prince after hearing this?"
Li sighed, "Indeed. When you first met, you felt a certain sympathy for each other. Now that Liu Lang has returned safely, we are finally at peace. But His Royal Highness, the Crown Prince, is gone forever."
"Yes, I've made a note of it. Seeing that she is about to make a filial piety to Madam Zhou, mother, will Congshan's marriage eventually be arranged with someone from the royal family?"
"Probably, unless she doesn't allow anyone else."
Even if there is no such saying as "three queens from one family", it would be difficult for her to marry someone else after being betrothed to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.
Fang Ying thought about Zhou Congshan's unyielding temper and felt a little worried: "But she really doesn't like the concubines in the palace..." and she dislikes the princes born to the concubines even more.
Zhou Congshan's aunt was the second queen of the Zhou family and the first wife of the current emperor. Among Queen Zhou's children, only the former crown prince Yuan Kai grew up, but unfortunately he passed away two years ago.
In her daily conversations, Zhou Congshan had complaints about not only the current emperor's concubines but also the emperor himself, believing that the emperor had been unfair to her aunt and cousin who died young, not to mention the princes born to the emperor and his concubines?
Li was not surprised. "The Zhou family has been prominent for three dynasties. It's only natural for her to look down on the concubines of the emperor's family."
As expected of the Princess of Former Shu, Fang Ying continued the conversation confidently, "The Third Prince performed a great service in the Battle of Jiaozhi. Shouldn't he be crowned king upon his return? The Prince of Yan already has a concubine. Do you think the Emperor will marry Congshan to the Third Prince?"
Li thought for a moment and shook her head, "It's hard to say." After a pause, she continued, "If that's really the case, I'm afraid everyone in the court and the palace will fight for it."
Since the turmoil that engulfed the world seventy years ago and the rise of many heroes, every succession of the throne, whether it was to emperors or rulers, has been accompanied by bloodshed. At this point, no one cares about whether the throne should be passed on to the eldest son or the legitimate heir. The most important thing is to pass it on steadily.
Now that the State of Chen has conquered most of the world and is about to unify China, it seems that it is time to restore the ritual system. Coincidentally, during the expedition to Fujian last year, the second prince was awarded the title of Prince of Yan for his military merits. His biological mother was a noble concubine and was favored by the emperor. The crown prince had passed away, so he became the de facto eldest son. Many people quietly stood on the side of Prince of Yan, wanting to help him ascend to the throne and gain the credit of following the emperor.
But if the emperor really married Zhou Congshan to the third prince who had made great contributions in the southern expedition to Jiaozhi, and also made him a king, then the wind direction would definitely change.
"I hope Liu Lang doesn't get too involved with the Third Prince." Li finally sighed.
Fang Ying was just worried about her friend's fate and wanted to hear her mother-in-law's opinion, but she didn't expect the conversation to be so heavy at the end. She quickly changed the subject and talked about household chores such as making winter clothes for Ji Liulang who was about to return.
The Dharma Assembly was to last seven days, but the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law only visited Xiangguo Temple for the first two days, leaving the rest of the affairs to be handled by Li's second son, Ji Yanshou, and the Ji family's housekeeper. The next day, Fang Ying followed her mother-in-law's advice and went to see Zhou Congshan, but she didn't mention what she had discussed with her mother-in-law. She just casually chatted about some new and interesting things before leaving.
After returning to the Ji Mansion, she accompanied Li and counted the distance every day. Finally, on the second day of September, she received news that the army had entered the capital and stationed there. The next morning, Ji Liulang would enter the city with the commander Hao Shenghui and the third prince.
"The emperor has ordered Prince Yan to lead all officials below the fourth rank in Beijing to go out of the city to welcome him. My son and fifth brother are among them. Mother and sixth brother's wife can wait at home with peace of mind. As soon as you see Liu Lang, send someone to report back." Ji Yanshou said happily.
Li was also very happy: "Okay, okay, we'll wait."
Fang Ying had been calm these days, but when she heard that someone was really about to arrive, she couldn't help feeling guilty. She didn't sleep well for two nights in a row. On the morning of the fourth day, she got up at dawn, dressed up, and went to Li's room.
The author has something to say:
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Ji Liulang: You just keep saying bad things about me while I'm not on stage, right?
Fang Ying: This is not what I said, it was my mother who said it. If you have the guts, go find my mother and argue with her!
Kirokuro: ...
Author: It’s okay, you will appear in the next chapter, just do your best!
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