Chapter 49 Chapter 49 I vaguely felt that besides the fragrance of flowers, there was something else...
"It's really time to die."
When the Qin King heard the news of the tragedy, some of his confidants could not help but murmur.
The King of Qin was frowning in thought, but upon hearing this, he immediately became solemn and warned, "Be careful with your words!"
The confidants bowed their heads and pleaded guilty, and the King of Qin took the opportunity to reprimand them, "Second brother must be deeply grieved by the passing of my second sister-in-law. Be vigilant and don't get involved in any trouble. If you anger him now, even if I go and apologize, it won't be easy to resolve the situation."
Everyone responded in unison. The King of Qin told them to disperse and went out to the King of Yan's tent with only an eunuch.
It was just past noon, but the sky was already thick with dark clouds, shrouding the vast landscape in a gloomy darkness that blocked out any sunlight. A north wind whipped up the accumulated snow, whipping it around the campsite. A single snowflake smacked anyone's face, stinging them painfully.
The King of Qin lowered his hood and quickened his pace. Just as he was halfway there, someone strode over from a distance. They bowed and saluted, saying, "Your Highness the King of Qin."
He recognized the person by the voice, stopped, turned around and said with a smile: "Liu Lang? Where have you been?"
"I have a letter from home and just went to get it." Ji Yanlang's armor was bright red, and his face was red, perhaps from the cold or the snow. Only his eyes were black and bright, full of joy.
The King of Qin smiled and said, "No wonder you look so happy. A letter from home is worth a thousand pieces of gold. Go back and read it quickly. I'm going to visit my second brother."
Upon hearing this, Ji Yanlang's smile faltered. He took two steps closer and whispered, "I heard that the Princess of Yan passed away."
The King of Qin suppressed his smile and nodded, "I will go and comfort my second brother."
Ji Yanlang looked at him and said only one sentence: "Your Highness is kind." He then stepped aside to ask the King of Qin to go first, and watched him walk all the way to the King of Yan's tent before he took a step and went back to his own tent.
The tents set up in the wilderness were pitch black no matter what time it was. Fortunately, there was a faint flame still flickering in the stove, so people could see what was happening.
Ji Yanlang lit the oil lamp by the fire, sat down on the sheepskin rug beside the fire, and took out a thick letter from his arms.
He didn't rush to open the letter, but put it aside. He picked up the tongs and fiddled with the stove, adding a few pieces of firewood. When the fire got bigger and his hands were not so stiff and cold, he tore open the envelope and poured out the letter inside.
The recipients were written on the back of the letters. Two were for him, one was for his father, and the last one was for his third brother Ji Yanchang.
Ji Yanlang leaned over to the lamp, identified the handwriting, and opened the letter from his second brother first. As usual, the letter said that everything was fine at home and what instructions his mother had given him. It then said that it was getting colder in the capital, but there had not been any heavy snow yet, and there was a slight drought. The water level of the Bian River in the city had dropped a lot. After that, it briefly mentioned the outcome of the Zhang Xiong case, and the rest was words like asking him to take care of himself.
Putting the letter down, Ji Yanlang picked up the carefully folded flowery paper and put it to his nose. A strong and sweet fragrance rushed into his lungs. Seeing that this letter was thicker than the last time, his mood suddenly improved.
When he opened the letter and saw the word "Ji Lang", Ji Yanlang's face was filled with a silly smile.
"I was delighted to receive your letter. I was surprised to learn so many anecdotes during the march, which made me smile. It's been cold in Beijing lately, making it difficult to go out. Only yesterday, when the Wang family got married, I went with my mother and sister-in-law to congratulate them, and I heard a couple of amusing stories from the Zhou family's sister..."
Fang Ying's letter described it as a funny story, but Ji Yanlang frowned after reading the following paragraphs about various parties' thoughts on the Zhang Xiong case. He couldn't help but laugh. Instead, he laughed a few times when he read the next page about how her father-in-law, because of his involvement in the Zhang Xiong case, refused to allow Fang Ying's uncle to visit. Her uncle was so angry that he cursed Fang Ying outside the closed door before leaving.
"Although my uncle was furious, the family finally found peace and quiet, and Second Mother's literacy also improved considerably. Therefore, I specially invited the Zhou family's sister to my home and gave her a banquet.
As for Aunt Deng, thanks to Ji Lang's previous reminder, they've changed the practice to sending someone to visit her every day. Aunt Deng caught a cold the other day, and she immediately asked the doctor to prescribe her some medicine, and she's recovered now. Sister Hehua is doing fine, too. Her shoes have been made and sent to me, and they fit perfectly."
Then she wrote a few lines about trivial matters at home. "A few days ago, the yellow plum blossoms in the back garden suddenly bloomed one after another. Their color resembled beeswax, brilliant yet elegant, and the whole garden was filled with fragrance. My sisters-in-law and I took my mother into the garden to admire the flowers. Mother was delighted but also felt a sense of loss. When I and my sisters-in-law asked her about it, she said in a dialectical way that she feared the blooms would be over by the time the army returned victorious. I felt a pity for her, so I picked a few petals and pressed them into a piece of paper, as a way of sending you this beautiful sight from home, so that you can enjoy it together."
Petals? Ji Yanlang didn't see any petals, so he quickly turned the page. Sure enough, he saw a few tender yellow petals neatly pressed into the blank space on the last page. The fragrance was rich and refreshing.
He picked up one with his fingertips, brought it to his nose, took a deep breath, and vaguely felt that besides the fragrance of the flowers, there was another scent that made him miss Bian Jing particularly.
Ancient people wrote poems saying that red beans are the best symbol of lovesickness, but in Ji Yanlang's opinion at this moment, nothing in the world can carry the lovesickness better than this small tender yellow petal on his fingertips.
Fang Ying was completely unaware of this—she'd written about the plum blossoms purely to make up the page. The idea of pressing the petals was also a sudden inspiration; it made the page appear heartfelt and full, while also allowing her to write fewer words without leaving any blank space. It was a win-win situation.
At this time, she was in the back garden of Ji's mansion, walking in the snow with several sisters-in-law, looking for plum blossoms and having fun.
"I heard that after the imperial concubine got the news, she couldn't believe it. She went out of the palace to visit Prince Yan's Mansion in person, and cried for a long time while holding her baby granddaughter in her arms. She was persuaded to return to the palace by everyone." Yue Qing'e and Fang Ying walked side by side in the plum forest, talking as they searched for the plum branches they wanted.
"Where's Madam Yu? Has she been to Prince Yan's Mansion?"
"Go ahead. The royal family members all went to pay their respects yesterday."
Fang Ying looked around and saw that the other three sisters-in-law were not close, so she leaned closer to Yue Qing'e and asked quietly, "Didn't the Yu family suspect anything?"
Yue Qing'e's heart skipped a beat. She raised her hand and shook it across her chest. "The imperial physician said it was postpartum fever. What can the Yu family say? The funeral was presided over by the imperial concubine's female officials and eunuchs. Ah, I heard that the imperial concubine took the two daughters born to the Princess of Yan back to the palace to raise them."
"..."Yes, for a daughter who is married off, let alone marrying into a royal family, even if she marries into an ordinary family, if her daughter is abused to death by her husband's family, few of her parents will seek justice for her. Even if a fight really breaks out, those who refuse to give in are mostly after money.
Fang Ying's playful mood suddenly faded. Seeing her melancholy expression, Yue Qing'e grabbed her hand and said, "Everyone has their own destiny. We can't control so much. Just live your own life well. Here, I think this one is good. What do you think?"
She pointed ahead. Fang Ying looked up and saw a slender branch of yellow plum blossoms, some in full bloom and some in bud. She nodded, "That's right."
Yue Qing'e turned around and asked the maid to come forward, pull down the plum branch, take the scissors and cut it off herself.
Fang Ying took advantage of this opportunity to cut two branches from a nearby tree and gave them to Lichun.
"Let's go. I'm a little cold. Let's go back to the warm room and sit down." Yue Qing'e turned around, took Fang Ying's hand, and walked towards the warm room. "I think the wine is warm now."
Fang Ying was still somewhat dazed - as a woman, could she only accept the fate of having no control over her life and death?
It wasn't until she entered the warm room and felt the heat hit her face that she came to her senses. She took off her coat, sat down next to Yue Qing'e, and warmed her hands with a cup of hot tea. She said, "It really has nothing to do with us, but... I'm afraid someone is getting restless."
"Hmm?" Yue Qing'e had already put aside what she had said before and didn't understand what she meant for a moment.
Outside the warm room, the sound of An's laughter could be heard faintly. Apparently, they were also heading back. Fang Ying said nothing more, but smiled and shook her head: "Nothing. I just feel that this snowstorm won't stop so soon."
Yue Qing'e was stunned. When she was about to ask for details, she heard stomping sounds outside the door. She had to swallow her words back and watched as the door of the warm room opened. An, Cheng, and Gao came in one after another.
The snow gradually stopped today. Yue Qing'e saw that the scenery in the garden was very beautiful. She wanted to invite her mother-in-law to come to the garden to appreciate the plum blossoms and drink tea. However, Li said that the weather was cold and she was too lazy to move. She asked her sisters-in-law to come and have fun by themselves. She was also afraid that they would have some concerns and dare not indulge in drinking, so she specially asked someone to send two jars of wine so that they could have fun for half a day.
"Come on, come on, arrange all the flowers and bring them here for comparison." Yue Qing'e said in a hurry.
They had just agreed that each of them would go find two branches of yellow plum blossoms, put them together for comparison, and choose the best one to send to Li's room. The winner would get the prize they had prepared before leaving - the five sisters-in-law would each take out an ornament they were wearing today, and put them together to form the prize for today.
This was originally a fun between sisters-in-law, and Fang Ying didn't take it seriously. She was just thinking about the Princess of Yan, so she just picked two branches at random. At this time, she had no intention of winning or losing, and just chose one based on her own preference.
Yue Qing'e was actually the eldest sister-in-law and the host of today's banquet. She would not compete with her younger brothers and sisters for this victory. Like Fang Ying, she chose a plum branch based on her own preferences, which was found by someone unknown.
After the five people had chosen, the maid who was counting beside them laughed and said, "Fifth Lady won. Second Lady and Sixth Lady both chose Fifth Lady's plum branch. The rest of the people, Second Lady, Third Lady, and Fourth Lady, all voted once."
Gao was a little surprised. She had just paid special attention and chose the plum branch that her second sister-in-law had found. She didn't expect that her second sister-in-law and sixth brother's wife would both choose her.
"Tsk, Second Sister-in-law and Sixth Sister-in-law really are..." An looked around, "They have such a good rapport. Well, Fifth Sister-in-law wins, so I'll trouble you to take the flowers to Madam's courtyard."
Gao was about to stand up, but Yue Qing'e said hurriedly, "No need, just ask the maid to go. It's snowing outside, and walking around inside and outside will make you winded. Besides, it's not nice to be so serious about it."
An snorted and said nothing more.
After the flowers were sent away, Yue Qing'e ordered wine and food to be served. After the sisters-in-law drank a few glasses of wine, the atmosphere became lively again, and she suggested playing a drinking game.
"Okay, but don't do anything troublesome. Guessing the number is best." An responded first.
Everyone else agreed, so Yue Qing'e had the black and white chess pieces presented. "First round, guess the number. If you guess wrong, you'll be fined a glass of wine."
She set a rule of a maximum of three pieces, then placed the chess piece behind her, turned around, blocked it with her left hand, and pried a few times in the chess box with her right hand. Then she clenched her right fist and turned back, smiling at An, "Alright."
An looked it up and down for a long time before guessing, "One."
Yue Qing'e smiled, turned her fist over with the palm facing up, stretched out her fingers, but her palm was empty, not a single finger.
"Second sister-in-law is the one who's cheating!" An refused to agree. "I didn't say you didn't have to hide it."
Yue Qing'e said, "If there's no prohibition, then it's allowed. From zero to three, do I need to say more?"
Fang Ying chimed in: "Third sister-in-law can't deny it. Your Highness is the most powerful. Drink this cup quickly."
As soon as she said that, Cheng and Gao also urged her to drink more. An had no choice but to accept the punishment and drink the whole glass of wine.
Then it was her turn. She hid the chess piece, but instead of asking Cheng, who was sitting next to her, to guess, she held it out in front of Fang Ying, who was sitting opposite her, and said, "Sixth sister-in-law, guess."
"Two." Fang Ying couldn't see any clues and guessed casually.
An opened his hands proudly, and three chess pieces fell onto the table one after another.
Fang Ying didn't say much, accepted the punishment and drank the cup, then went to test Cheng. After a round of this, in the end, among the five sisters-in-law, only Gao guessed correctly.
"Fifth brother's wife's luck today..." An rolled up her sleeves. "No, let's change the game. This round, guess the suit. Two chess pieces, one black and one white, or two black and two white. How about that?"
Since it was all for fun, no one objected. An took out two chess pieces, hid them in her palm, and held them out to Yue Qing'e when the door to the warm room suddenly opened. A maid hurried in and reported, "Fourth Lady, someone from your courtyard has come to report that Concubine Liu has had her period."
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The author has something to say: Writing letters is so slow, I should get Ji Liu back as soon as possible, hmm...
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