Chapter 9 Chapter 9 "Besides your good looks, what else can you...
"A-choo!" Fang Ying, who was sitting in Li's room, suddenly sneezed.
"What's wrong? Did you catch a cold? Are you not wearing enough clothes?" Li asked with concern.
Fang Ying covered her mouth and nose with a silk handkerchief and replied with a smile: "No, my nose is just itchy." It was probably that bastard Ji Yanlang who was saying bad things about her behind her back.
However, Mrs. Li still felt that Fang Ying was not wearing enough and asked her to put on an extra jacket. Fang Ying agreed obediently, but Mrs. Li felt that she might not have a jacket suitable for this season, so she asked the housekeeper to find a tailor and make new clothes for all the girls.
"The clothes you wore before were too plain. When I was your age, I only liked to wear red and green. I wouldn't even look at light colors."
After hearing what her mother-in-law said, Fang Ying looked down at her crimson satin jacket and said with a smile, "Isn't this jacket red enough?"
"This is the only outfit you have. Listen to me this time and make a few more red jackets and red skirts."
Fang Ying knew she was happy about her son's safe return—she had never been in this mood before. She always let her and Yue Qing'e discuss the next season's clothes—so she smiled and agreed, "Okay, I'll listen to you. Mother should make a few bright-colored sets too, seeing as we have several banquets coming up."
"You're right. We should make some new jewelry. I don't know if it's too late." Li was concerned and asked someone to talk to Yue Qing'e and ask someone about making jewelry.
She also took Fang Ying to the warehouse and took out several pieces of her fine Shu brocade, saying that she would give them to Fang Ying and Yue Qing'e to make clothes.
"I was lazy in the past. I should have taken out these good things to make clothes for you sisters-in-law. Otherwise, they would just go bad if they were left there."
Fang Ying happily agreed, and Li's interest grew even higher. Thinking about how the furnishings in the room hadn't been touched in the past two years, she found a few rare ornaments, some for herself and some for Fang Ying to take back. She also specifically stated, "Put them in your room. Don't give them to Liu Lang. These were made in the Shu Palace. Putting them in the side rooms would ruin them."
After finishing the work and returning to Li's room, before the tailor arrived, she opened the box and took out a pair of Hetian jade bracelets, a box of pearls, and several gold hairpins inlaid with gemstones. She gave them to Fang Ying, "I'm afraid the style of these hairpins is not new from time to time, but they are inlaid with red and blue sapphires. Wearing them at a banquet will be enough to impress people."
Fang Ying fiddled with the golden hairpin while laughing, "In just a short while, I've gotten so many good things from my mother."
"How can you call this unjust? I should have given it to you a long time ago." Li sat down and drank a cup of tea, then continued, "I've never given birth to a girl in my life, so I've always treated you and your second sister-in-law as my own children. I'm not reluctant to give you anything. But when I think about it, I think about how much we let those ungrateful people get away with it."
Although she was not born a princess, her biological mother was Princess Changning of the former Qi Dynasty. The State of Chen obtained its territory from the State of Jin. The current emperor was originally the adopted son of the Jin Dynasty's great ancestor, who was once the governor of Qi with a large army and usurped the throne from Qi. Li had previously told Fang Ying that the Zhou family had been prominent for three dynasties, referring to the Qi, Jin, and Chen dynasties. Her father was the governor of Xichuan guarding Shuzhong. He had been extremely rich since childhood and did not take these worldly possessions seriously.
In addition, influenced by Princess Changning, Li regarded virtues as virtuousness and magnanimity. Not only did she never treat concubines harshly, she also treated her illegitimate children equally. No matter in terms of food, clothing, housing, transportation, study, martial arts, or even marriage, there was no obvious difference between them and legitimate children.
Who would have thought that she didn't make any distinction in her heart, but others did, and even added insult to injury when she was in the most pain - what Li could not forgive the most was that even though there was no confirmed news, the illegitimate son's wife, and He concubine all thought that Liu Lang was dead.
"When you wear it openly for me to see, if someone gets jealous, that's a sight to behold."
Fang Ying didn't expect that after Ji Yanlang came back, her mother-in-law would be tougher than before. She responded cheerfully, "Hey!" After she responded, she thought, yes, the person is back, and there is no need to think about avoiding trouble and doing good deeds for him. It's time to teach those people a lesson.
Afterwards, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law waited for the tailor to come, happily chose the style and measured the sizes, had snacks together at noon, and took a nap separately. When they woke up in the afternoon, Yue Qing'e also called the manager of the silver shop.
As the lady manager said, if we make the jewelry now, it will take at least two months to make it, but their silver shop has some ready-made jewelry, all of which are the most popular styles at the moment, and you can choose from them for Madam.
Li picked out a hairpin for Fang Ying and Yue Qing'e respectively, as well as a pair of gold bracelets inlaid with gemstones, a ruby for Fang Ying and a sapphire for Yue Qing'e, and also picked out a few pairs of earrings.
After sending the silver shop's people away, the Fang family finally replied, "My in-laws said they saw Liu Lang yesterday when they went out of town to greet him. They were very happy to know that Liu Lang was safe and well. However, the government office has been very busy these days, and it's always late when they get home from work. If Liu Lang has nothing else to do, we could get together."
Fang Ying's father, Fang Chengxun, was a prosecutor in Kaifeng Prefecture, in charge of prison litigation. He presided over all kinds of trivial cases and had little free time.
"The day off is the tenth..." Li calculated silently and said, "It's perfect. Let's go back on that day."
Fang Ying had no objection. After the main character, Ji Yanlang, returned home, Li talked to him about it, and he agreed: "Okay, I just made a deal with my second brother. Let's go visit uncle together tomorrow."
Li paused for a moment before saying, "Send someone over to tell them first, otherwise I might turn you away tomorrow."
Ji Yanlang smiled and said, "Don't be afraid, my son can climb over the wall."
Li glared at him and said, "You're quite decent! You're already a grown man." Then she asked, "What did the emperor say when he summoned you today?"
"They mainly asked about the overall battle situation and how I'd been getting through the past three years. After listening to them, the emperor praised me profusely, saying I was brave and careful, and 'really like my father.' He also mentioned you and my grandmother, saying that if you look closely, you're actually related." Ji Yanlang deliberately asked, trying to please his mother, "Mother, how are we related to the royal family? How come I didn't know?"
Li thought for a moment before saying, "Even if it's from Madam Zhou's perspective, your grandmother and Madam Zhou are cousins, but the two families haven't had much contact. I'm surprised the emperor knows about this."
"Your Majesty is knowledgeable and has a good memory. I think there is nothing you don't know. When asked about the battle situation in the palace today, you can easily draw the locations of the cities in Jiaozhi through which the Baijiang River flows." Ji Yanlang rarely admits defeat, but he sincerely respects the current emperor.
"Of course, otherwise how could the world be so peaceful now?" Li agreed, then asked, "Hasn't the matter of rewards been mentioned yet?"
"No, the emperor told me to stay home and honor you first, and rest for a few days. I will be given an important task later."
Li laughed and said, "An important task, alright? You can rest at home first. Then we will go to Xiangguo Temple to fulfill our vow the day after tomorrow."
Fang Ying listened, wondering if the emperor hadn't immediately rewarded him because the Third Prince was stuck. Logically, the Third Prince deserved a title of nobility for his contributions, but if the emperor had decided on the Second Prince, Prince of Yan, as his successor, he might have only granted him the title of a County Prince.
She originally didn't care about the royal family's affairs, but her good friend Zhou Congshan was about to remove her filial piety. She had the so-called title of "Queen" on her head, and her father Zhou Guojiu was about to be reinstated as a general, so her future marriage would inevitably be within the royal family.
If it was the Third Prince, it would be fine, after all, the Third Prince has never been married. But I'm afraid that the emperor has chosen Prince Yan... When Fang Ying thought of this, she couldn't help feeling sick. No, she had to find a way to help Congshan find out.
So, after dinner in Li's room that evening, when they returned to their room with Ji Yanlang, Fang Ying asked casually, "You are meeting the emperor today. Is His Royal Highness the Third Prince here with you?"
"certainly."
Ji Yanlang glanced at Fang Ying, who was a step behind him, out of the corner of his eye. He remembered what he had said that morning about her having ulterior motives. Then he received a slap on the shoulder from his second brother and a retort: "Besides your good looks, what else do you have to gain?"
Good-looking? Fang Ying doesn't seem like the kind of girl who would be obsessed with appearance, right?
Just as he was pondering this, he heard her ask again, "What about His Royal Highness the Prince of Yan?"
"Prince Yan? Why is he here? Not everyone can listen to such important military matters."
Fang Ying looked around and saw that they were the only ones on the road. She caught up with them half a step and whispered, "You don't know, ever since the Crown Prince passed away, everyone has been saying that the Prince of Yan will be the crown prince."
Ji Yanlang really didn't know about this. He frowned and asked, "Really?"
"Actually, before you came back, Mother told me that she hoped you wouldn't get too close to the Third Prince. If the Third Prince were to be crowned king, I'm afraid that in the future..."
Ji Yanlang didn't say anything. Seeing that he looked thoughtful, Fang Ying didn't say anything either. She returned to her yard in silence, and then went into the main hall with him one after another.
It wasn't until he entered the room and stood still that Ji Yanlang reacted. He had originally wanted to go directly back to the east wing, but since he was already inside, he turned and walked towards the study, motioning to Fang Ying: "Come in too."
Fang Ying smiled secretly inwardly, ordered the maid to serve tea, followed him in, and asked calmly, "What do you want, my lord?"
Ji Yanlang immediately turned around and glared at her. Fang Ying said in embarrassment: "Then what should I say? Just ask you what's the matter?"
"..." Ji Yanlang couldn't think of how to correct it for a moment, so he had to avoid it, "Did my mother say anything else about the Third Prince?"
The author has something to say:
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The countries mentioned here are similar to the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period in history. Qi and Jin were major countries with their capitals in the Central Plains, analogous to the Five Dynasties; Shu was a local separatist regime, analogous to the Ten Kingdoms.
In terms of the timeline, Shu, or Li's father, proclaimed himself emperor at the end of the Qi Dynasty. After the throne passed to Li's half-brother, the Chen Kingdom was established in the Central Plains and began to unify the world. I'll discuss this later, but I'll just give you a brief introduction here for easier understanding.
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