2 Chapter 2
◎Husband Swapping (Part 1)◎
Jizhou is a northern region. After late autumn, the weather is cold and windy.
In front of the empty mansion, the wind was blowing from all directions. The wind not only blew on the face, but also flowed into the wide clothes and trousers. The young woman tightened the Zhaojun cape on her head and deeply regretted not wearing the shawl on her head, otherwise she would shiver with cold. When she walked through the hall of the mansion, she could still hear the howling of the cold wind.
However, when they arrived at the main courtyard, the maids opened the curtains and a wave of heat hit them. The young woman took off the Zhaojun hat on her head and the fox fur on her body and gave them to the person next to her, then respectfully went into the inner room.
The young woman's maiden name was Xin, and she was called Grandma Xin. She was estimated to be 20 years old. She had an oval face, neatly trimmed temples, and wore a silver-thread bun on her head, surrounded by a golden-thread hairpin and comb, which was very gorgeous.
When she entered the room, she immediately bowed and greeted: "Mother, your daughter-in-law greets you."
Lady Ji, the wife of Marquis Zhaojie, sat at the table on the kang by the east window, leaning against the half-worn Lan Yin pillow. She was an extremely beautiful woman, and even at the age of nearly forty, she was still very charming. Her smile was especially hearty: "Why are you here at this time of year? Didn't I say that you are pregnant now, and you should take good care of the baby."
After Grandma Xin married Ji's eldest son Pei Shuo, they moved to Tonglingfang, not far from Marquis Zhaojie's mansion. Ji was not the kind of person who would bother her daughter-in-law, nor did she like red tape, so she only asked Grandma Xin to come over on the 15th of every month to pay her respects.
"I shouldn't refuse my mother-in-law's love for me, but I came here today because I heard that my sister was sick, so I came to visit." Grandma Xin knew best that her mother-in-law loved her younger sister the most, so she had to come no matter what.
When talking about her daughter, Ji couldn't help but say with distress: "Your sister has suffered a lot."
It turned out that a few days ago, Ji and her mother-in-law, Madam Xu, brought their two daughters to the palace to pay a visit to Empress He. Empress He said that she had no children, so she kept the sisters and several other girls in the palace for another day. But unexpectedly, something happened on that day. It was said that they were boating on the lake and accidentally hit a strange rock. The eldest girl Deyin, who was playing the zither at the bow, was knocked off and fell into the water. The palace maid who was rowing the boat also fell out. There was a moment of chaos. Prime Minister Lu's daughter rowed desperately in a hurry, but she rowed farther and farther away.
Both of them were from the north and could not swim. After they rowed too far, the boat capsized. The daughter clung to a strange rock in the lake all night and was rescued in the morning. She fell ill when she returned.
Grandma Xin put her hands together and said, "It is really Amitabha. Can my sister take the medicine now?"
"She took medicine for a day but the high fever didn't go away. The doctor added Coptis chinensis to it before the fever went away. She is resting now. I will go to see her later." Ji was worried.
Madam Xin stroked her belly, looked around, and seemed to be hesitant to speak. Seeing this, Ji sent the servants away.
"Do you have anything to say to me?" Ji looked at her rather shrewd daughter-in-law.
Grandma Xin said, "Speaking of which, the eldest girl over there is already seventeen, and our girl is already sixteen. The Empress has summoned our two girls to the palace. I have the guts to ask, will the Empress reward them with the title of Crown Princess?"
The emperor was weak and sickly, and Empress He had no children. Her brother was in power in the capital, and was supported by Prime Minister Lu. Because they deposed the original crown prince and appointed the second prince Li Heng as the new crown prince, the crown prince was eighteen this year and had reached the age for marriage.
Although Ji was a capable and straightforward person, there were some things she did not want to tell outsiders, not even to her daughter-in-law, because it was the prince who rescued her daughter from the rockery. The prince ignored Prime Minister Lu's daughter and rescued his own daughter in public. It was hard not to say that he did not have that intention.
But now everything is not settled, she just shook her head: "I don't know about that, she has her elder sister above her, how can our second daughter have a chance to enjoy the good things? The Madam has never liked me, and the Marquis is always obedient to his mother. The eldest daughter is raised by the Madam, so she will definitely be biased towards her. It's hard to say."
Grandma Xin thought that although the old lady of Zhaojie Marquis, Madam Xu, did not like her mother-in-law, her mother-in-law gave birth to the only son of the Zheng family, Zheng Wuheng. Although her husband Pei Shuo was the son of Ji and her ex-husband, he had already served in the Jizhou army and was also cultivated by the Marquis. Although the eldest girl's mother, Xu, was Madam Xu's niece, she had already passed away and was not the same as her mother-in-law.
She wanted to say something, but when she saw Ji stand up, she hurriedly took her leave.
Ji called her and said, "Take my warm carriage and go back. Don't catch a cold. Take good care of your baby when you go back."
"Yes." Grandma Xin bowed again before leaving.
After Xin Da Niang left, Ji went to the back room to see her daughter and walked in with a bitter smell of medicine. Originally, the smell here was either the scent of ink or a faint smell of medicine. Huiyin was filial and obedient. Whenever her father and brother came back from the war and were injured, she would stew medicinal food for them to recuperate.
The daughter was still in a coma, and seemed to be having a nightmare, with her hands tightly grasping the mattress beneath her.
Ji sat beside the bed and gently patted her daughter's shoulder: "I'm here, mother is here, my baby, please be well."
"Madam, how come the eldest girl has woken up a long time ago and even went to the palace to express her gratitude from Jizhou to the capital, but our girl is still groggy." Ji Xue, the maid of the second girl Huiyin, was very anxious.
She saw with her own eyes the prince carrying her daughter down from the rockery. The girl said that the prince didn't even look at Miss Lu, who was of a higher status, which showed that he treated her differently.
As the time for selecting a crown princess is approaching, the girl cannot fall ill.
Just as Ji was about to speak, she heard a moan from the bed and her daughter woke up.
"Huiyin, my Huiniang, you finally woke up." Ji said with a smile.
Zheng Huiyin looked at her mother in front of her, a little dazed. She listened to her mother chattering about her falling into the water, and looked at her makeup and the familiar dormitory. She actually returned to the age of sixteen.
Only her mother would call her Hui Niang.
Then I heard Ji say: "Your grandmother and your elder sister have already gone to the palace to thank you, but you are ill. But it is better this way, so as to avoid the trouble of traveling. It's a pity that -"
It took Hui Niang an hour to finally accept that she was truly reborn.
When she heard her mother say it was a pity, Hui Niang smiled and said, "What's a pity?"
"The prince wants to marry a wife. Your elder sister entered the palace to thank him, but you didn't. I'm afraid you have no chance." Ji said.
Hui Niang didn't know why she felt like vomiting when she heard the name of the prince. In her previous life, it was also at this time that her elder sister followed her grandmother into the palace to thank her for her kindness. Unfortunately, at this time, the King of Wei was looking for a wife for his nephew, the King of Huaiyin. As the saying goes, when two powers are in conflict, the more important one should be chosen. The King of Huaiyin was originally the son of the King of Wu. He and his uncle, the King of Wei, were of similar age and had similar interests. When the King of Wei started a rebellion, he led his troops to help.
Later, because the King of Wu and his wife died one after another, he went to the King of Wei, who was very happy and gave him troops and horses, and asked him to guard Xuzhou, which has always been a battleground for military strategists. At that time, the King of Huaiyin was only 20 years old. It is said that he was filial to his grandfather and parents, and he had not married at the age of 20. The King of Wei wanted to make friends with his father, so he sent Xu from Donghai, the uncle of my eldest sister, to persuade my father to marry a daughter to the King of Huaiyin.
My father originally wanted his eldest daughter to be the Crown Princess, and it was also possible for his second daughter to be the Princess.
But at that time, Madam Xu and the Xu family thought that the Prince of Huaiyin was young, promising, and powerful, much better than the puppet Crown Prince Li Heng who depended on others for support. Moreover, the Prince of Huaiyin was also a member of the royal family. Li Heng could be deposed at any time, but the Prince of Huaiyin held great power, so Madam Xu let her eldest sister marry the Prince of Huaiyin.
In her previous life, Hui Niang thought that she would marry a local noble so that she could save her life in such a chaotic world. However, she never expected that Empress He would summon her and say that the prince liked her very much and was willing to grant her the position of crown princess. Her father had always been easily influenced and fickle, so she agreed.
But Prime Minister Lu did not expect that he would marry his daughter to the crown prince as his principal wife. She, who was once hinted at as the crown prince's wife, became a concubine. For the sake of his own status, the eldest brother died in a fight with the Lu family, and the younger brother followed Li Heng to attack Xuzhou. When Li Heng was ambushed, it was the younger brother who changed into his clothes and helped Li Heng escape.
This was her biggest regret in her previous life. She could see her younger mother in her new life. She also heard that her elder brother was in the military camp with their father and her younger brother was afraid of the cold and was lazy in the morning and didn't practice shooting. She couldn't help laughing.
"Mother, if there is no chance, there is no chance. The palace is a place of right and wrong. We just went into the palace to accompany the empress for a day, but it has come to this. If we really go into the palace, our future will be dangerous." Hui Niang was very clear-headed.
If the prince had not doted on her so much when she first entered the palace in her previous life, she would not have told her mother about the prince's goodness, and her father, brothers and sisters would not have tried so hard to help the prince.
But in this life...
"Madam, the dowager and the eldest daughter are back. They have brought back an imperial edict, asking our whole family to go and receive it together." Ji's confidant, Nanny Liu, came in and said.
Hui Niang was puzzled for a moment, because she had not received any imperial edicts at this time in her previous life! But she dressed and walked to the front hall with her mother. She saw her younger brother winking at her, her father with tiger eyes, Madam Xu, and her elder sister Deyin, who looked haggard in her previous life but now looked elegant and sensible.
"Kneel down." Ji pulled her daughter down.
Having been the empress dowager for several years, Hui Niang no longer needed to beg anyone on her knees, and she felt somewhat uncomfortable kneeling down now.
"The Emperor, in compliance with the Will of Heaven, proclaims: The foundation of the world lies in talented people, and to be worthy of talented people, one must wait for the beauty of the country. You are the eldest daughter of Zheng Fang, the Marquis of Jizhou, and you are from a noble family. You are the daughter of a noble family, and you are the daughter of a noble family. You are the daughter of the Crown Prince's Consort. The officials in charge have prepared the etiquette and order. I hope you will respectfully follow the ways of a wife and not be taught by your mother. How respectful!"
"Your servant Zheng thanks the emperor for his grace. Long live the emperor." Zheng Deyin walked out calmly, with dignified manners and elegant demeanor, and she glanced at Hui Niang unconsciously.
Hui Niang then understood that during the time when she was unconscious, her eldest sister must have been reborn. In her previous life, she saw her mother Yi Tianxia become the empress dowager and fainted on the ground in anger. Now, she took the initiative to become Li Heng's concubine, hoping to be the mother of the country in the future like herself.
Otherwise, given Mrs. Xu's temper, Jiang Gui would never let her marry the prince even though she was old.
That can only be her own request.
…
"Big sister, congratulations." Hui Niang was the first to come forward to congratulate after the official who announced the decree left.
Zheng Deyin glanced at her younger sister and saw that she seemed to know nothing when she congratulated her. She felt a little guilty, after all, she had snatched her rightful fate. But then she thought that if she could enter the East Palace and let her younger sister marry a good man, it would be a good thing for her. And she would not only be favored by her husband, but also have the supreme status, and in the future she could clear her mother Xu's name. In this way, it would be the best of both worlds.