Chapter 40
◎Two chapters in one◎
The first Plum Blossom Snow Banquet organized by Huiyin has arrived. The theme of "plum" is emphasized everywhere in the palace. The first visitor today is the young lady of Wu Xinglu's family. She is young and usually has been flattered by some wives of middle-level officials. However, for an occasion like the palace, she has to come early to flatter.
People are one face to the upper hand and another to the lower hand, isn't that the case?
She entered from the west corner door, and a warm sedan had already been brought to carry her. When Madam Lu was about to get on the sedan, she discovered something different. The curtain of the sedan had a chrysanthemum red base color and crisscrossed ice patterns, which was exactly the pattern of joy, and it had a kind of subtle fragrance and purity.
When I got on the sedan chair again, I could smell a faint fragrance. The plum blossom scent was very light and usually you couldn't smell it unless you listened carefully. But maybe it was because all the air in the sedan chair was gathered in one place, so there was always that faint fragrance, mysterious yet hard to capture.
After getting off the sedan chair, another group of maids came over. These people did not wear any clothing with plum blossom patterns, but they all had earrings with various plum blossom patterns on them.
Take Madam Liu who came to pick her up, for example. She was about thirty years old and was a maid, but she wore yellow plum and green branch earrings on her ears, which looked very unique. This made Madam Lu feel that this was indeed a royal palace, and it was extraordinary.
Not to mention the corridor where I usually come to pay my respects. It used to be very spacious, but in winter it was drafty on all sides, so screens were used as barriers. These screens all had plum blossom patterns, which were unique yet not cumbersome.
Entering the Yunxiao Pavilion for appreciating the plum blossoms, there were indeed golden and jade curtains, misty air and cold snow. Madam Lu saw a person in the room, wearing a light green silk palace dress with double-nest cloud geese patterns, and a gold and silver crown on her head. She was sitting in the midst of gold and jade, looking very elegant.
Seeing that the first person to come was Madam Lu, Huiyin nodded secretly in her heart. In the past, when she interacted with people, she always hoped to convince everyone. As long as there was one person who was not convinced, she would feel that she had not done enough. Now she doesn't think so. She has to choose two people who are more supportive of her first. These two people must also be quite prestigious and can help her gather a group of people. When their husbands and sons encounter difficulties in their careers, they can let Li Cheng help as appropriate. This will win people's hearts, and all the credit will still be on her.
This young lady Lu is the best candidate among them, but you have to let her get close to you. Last time she found that among those grandmas and young ladies, young lady Lu kept looking at her.
"I, Lu Hong, pay my respects to the young princess." Madam Lu knelt down hurriedly to kowtow.
After Huiyin stood up, she pretended to be puzzled and asked, "Have I met you before? I wonder who you are from?"
Madam Lu was originally terrified, because these big shots looked so difficult to serve, but seeing Huiyin's puzzled look, she was delighted and said, "I grew up in Jianye since I was a child, and I have never been far away."
"Oh, then just assume that I was wrong. Please sit down and talk." Huiyin said lightly.
However, Madam Lu felt that her chance had come. She did not think that this was Huiyin's way of showing goodwill, but rather that it was a good opportunity for herself.
So Madam Lu immediately started chatting with Huiyin. She always felt that although the little princess was high and mighty, they had a lot in common to talk about, and when other guests came, she would still consider her, which made Madam Lu feel proud.
Many people came one after another. There was Mrs. Gao who came with her three girls, and Mrs. Huo who came with her daughter-in-law and two daughters.
Mrs. Huo smiled and looked around, "This place is well chosen. From here, you can see a field of red plum blossoms. The little princess is wearing a good dress today, red plum blossoms and green clothes."
"Madam, thank you very much. You ladies can try this tea first. It is made from melted snow from plum blossoms." Huiyin said with a smile.
Everyone started drinking tea, some had good taste, while others were just naive.
But as long as tea drinkers know that the tea has gone through a complicated process, they will definitely think that it must be good. Even if it is not good, they will think that they do not know how to appreciate it.
Madam Lu felt that the little princess looked at her differently, and she was filled with warmth in her heart. Naturally, she praised her in front of others and behind their backs, "The little princess has decorated this place really well. Look, there are lanterns hanging on the plum blossoms over there. It looks like a winding path deep and secluded, but it also looks open and bright. When I look at the plum blossoms from this place, I always feel that I can see the plum blossoms blooming stubbornly in the cold winter."
As they were talking, the Princess of Wei and others came over. Huiyin stood up to greet them. The Second Concubine Yin and the Second Concubine Xu also brought gifts. When they came, Huiyin asked people to start the banquet first.
The sounds of music from drums, harps, Qiang flutes, konghous and guqins can be heard from not far away, so it's not too noisy and you can still enjoy the music.
Everyone was amazed to see that the tables and chairs were all made of golden nanmu wood. Yin Liyi whispered to her sister, "The Huaiyin Palace is really extremely wealthy. It's much better than what you usually use, sister."
Yin Lifang uttered a "tsk" and looked at her sister lovingly: "You, you already have a child, and you still talk so irresponsibly."
"I'm only talking to you, my sister. I won't say anything to anyone else. Look, there are so many dishes prepared." Yin Liyi was attracted by the food again. She saw the cold dishes on the table first, including Emerald Goose Silk, Crystal Slices, Jade Dew Fragrant Picture, etc. She heard that some of the dishes were delicacies from the palace.
Yin Lifang took a sip of wine and saw that Zheng, who was sitting next to Princess Wei, seemed to be surrounded by people and had a calm expression, as if she was born to be rich and elegant. It was great that she was like this, her status certainly gave her the capital to act so ostenatiously, but she also managed the house very well.
She didn't want to mess up other people's houses because of her.
Huiyin was smiling as she toasted Princess Wei. Princess Wei took a glass of wine and praised Huiyin for doing a good job.
After the banquet, people gathered in groups of three or four to admire the plum blossoms, play the game of double-sixes, or drink tea and snacks, all of them feeling very happy.
Huiyin had a few boxes of palace-made flowers brought over. She had not originally planned a poetry meeting, but seeing that there were many young ladies coming, she had a table prepared and asked Princess Wei, "Who among these ladies is the best at writing?"
Princess Wei mentioned a few names, and Huiyin readily agreed, saying to them, "This time we are hosting a plum blossom banquet, and I have a prize for the first place in poetry."
"You don't have to come up with something, I have it here." Princess Wei took out a white jade plum blossom hairpin.
Huiyin clapped her hands and laughed, "It couldn't be better to have someone as magnanimous as Aunt Wang."
Everyone laughed again. Huiyin was the host today and had set a question and limited the rhymes. In the end, the third daughter of the Huo family was chosen as the winner. This banquet was considered a complete success.
After the flower banquet, Huiyin received many invitations to banquets. She wanted to write to Li Cheng to ask, because if she asked other people, they might not tell the truth, just like the Princess of Wei, who said high-sounding words but could not be trusted. Li Cheng was a serious person. Sometimes, although he was high and mighty, what he said was still quite reasonable.
The main reason is that there are many factions here, and it is not good to offend any of them. This place is not like Xuzhou, which is Li Cheng's territory.
Li Cheng received the letter she wrote three days later. He was handling official business at the time. After seeing that Huiyin's letter was opened and read first, he was afraid that she was in a hurry, so he wrote back immediately.
After replying to the letter, he read Huiyin's letter again. He saw that her family had sent a holiday gift and she wanted to go home to visit her family. Li Cheng was a little embarrassed. After all, he and his wife were going to Jizhou now, and the timing was not good. In addition, his identity was very sensitive. If the King of Wei wanted to seize Qingzhou, he would be the first choice. Xuzhou would be in his hands.
But it was not safe to stay in Jianye anymore. He had always been loyal to King Wei before and had no other thoughts in his mind. After all, he was very young. Now he had some other thoughts. These thoughts were vague, but seemed to have sprouted.
He wanted to establish his own family, which was something he could never think of before. Lu Wei, He Jin, and Wei Duo were all figures of his grandfather's generation. He originally just wanted to find a place to stay, but now he felt that he might not be unable to trust himself. In addition, Jing'er was in such good health that he might be able to fight as well as he did. When the time came, he would conquer a piece of land for his son, and his son might even be able to unify the world.
Thinking of this, he shook his head. He was a pragmatic person and couldn't be too similar.
For lunch, he ate the toasted buns that Huiyin brought over. The mutton inside was fragrant. Li Cheng wiped his face and thought, "No, a man cannot be so useless and think about his wife like this."
After receiving Li Cheng's reply, Huiyin looked at the several pages filled with words and couldn't help laughing: "This is written too carefully."
Fu Gui said jokingly: "That's because the little prince loves you more than anything else, so he replied quickly after seeing your reply."
"I really wish the time would pass faster so he could come back." Huiyin opened the letter he wrote again, extracted the key characters, found the posts and compared them, picked out a few families, and decided to have good exchanges with them.
Mother Nan brought a cup of hot tea and placed it in front of Huiyin: "Little Princess, have some tea."
"Okay." Huiyin saw that Nan's mother was hesitant to speak, so she smiled and said, "Just say whatever you want to say."
Nan's mother shook her head: "I always feel that our little prince is too loyal to the King of Wei. I think the King of Wei is an ambitious man. Governor Xie has failed in his campaign. I am afraid that he will have to rely on our little prince in the future. I am afraid that the little prince will go to the battlefield."
Huiyin was a little worried, but she smiled and said, "It's just like this as a soldier. If you don't hit others, they will hit you. Look at my father. Every time he goes out, my mother is worried to death. After all, it's a life-and-death situation."
People take other people's life and death lightly and are good at advising others, but they may not be the same about themselves.
It is also said that when Huiyin attended these banquets, he asked his subordinates to open ramen restaurants in Wuzhong, Kuaiji and other places near Jianye. These restaurants were still located in the market, the shops were half-old and the prices were relatively low.
Because she was spending the New Year in Jianye this year, she also sent a New Year gift to the bride, Hu Yanyan, who was getting married at the same time. She didn't know that her gift was a timely help and almost saved Hu Yanyan.
After attending several banquets hosted by others, Huiyin discovered that in fact, people here did not always listen to the King of Wei. The King of Wei seemed to be a magnanimous person, but in fact he was smarter and more resourceful. He first forced people to submit to him, and then let them fight among themselves, and in the end, they all submitted to him.
He is indeed scheming and manipulative. Compared with him, Li Cheng is a little immature and too humane. He is a person who is cold on the outside but warm on the inside. Perhaps it is also related to the environment in which the two grew up. The King of Wu and his wife only have this one child, so they dote on him. The child they raised is confident, generous and responsible, but he always feels that he is in a high position, so he is warm on the inside and soft-hearted. But the King of Wei is not very old and has been a vassal under various forces. Although he is young, he has experienced a lot, so he is quite cunning.
"My little princess, Madam Lu and Madam Gao are here together." Someone replied.
Huiyin smiled and said, "Please invite them in."
These two people were the agents she had chosen. Young Madam Lu came in and said with a smile, "Just now I came in and saw the birds and orioles singing happily under the corridor of the little princess. We have a happy news to tell you today."
Huiyin asked someone to look at the tea, and then said, "I wonder where my joy comes from?"
Madam Gao said, "You told us last time that the local tea is delicious. There happened to be a tea merchant who wanted to sell it, so we came to tell you. When he heard that you wanted to buy it, he said he would just give it to you directly."
"No, that won't work. I'll send someone to ask him if he's really going to do it. If he is, he'll pay the right amount of money." Huiyin had seen too many forced sales. It was not okay to use power to oppress the people.
So sometimes she felt that she and Li Cheng were quite similar. They knew everything but didn't necessarily have the heart to do it.
After she bought the tea garden, she had to hire an economic helper to take care of it, so naturally this would be next year's matter. But when she went to the Prince of Wei's mansion, she heard the Princess of Wei jokingly ask, "I heard that you've started a business recently?"
"I just liked the tea and mentioned it a little bit. Then someone said there was a tea plantation for sale, so I went to take a look. It was indeed well-managed, so I bought it. I'm sorry to bother you, auntie." Huiyin said with a smile.
Princess Wei said, "All of us women have our own private treasures. I had the same thing when I got married. But you came from far away and I'm afraid you haven't made any arrangements. This is very good."
Huiyin nodded: "Auntie is right."
She came to give a holiday gift. Li Cheng had originally said he would come back, but then he wrote to say that he had something else and couldn't come back, so Huiyin felt empty inside. Fortunately, she had something to do, which made her feel much better.
However, at this time she heard that Yin Liyi was pregnant. Her relationship with Yin Liyi was average, but Li Cheng and Xie Jiuyi had a good relationship, so she also visited them in person once.
This time, she met Madam Xie, who was very kind and treated Yin Liyi like her own daughter. Huiyin thought it would be great if Lu Xiao could marry into such a family. Before, she didn't know why Yin Liyi could marry into the Xie family, after all, there was a big gap in status between the two families. Now she knew that the marriage was also arranged by the King of Wei, and the Second Concubine Yin asked the Concubine of the King of Wei to help speak for her. In addition, Xie Jiuyi really liked her, so the two of them got married.
This Concubine Yin did not allow her father to get an official position, but married her sister to a powerful official like the Governor of Bohai. This was really brilliant. Of course, this was Huiyin's conspiratorial idea. Even if Concubine Yin helped the other party, it also showed that she was lucky. Sometimes luck is the best part of a person.
Zheng Deyin also lamented that she did not have that kind of luck or blessing. The prince always came to her place, but she was not pregnant.
But Lianzhi came in in a horrified voice and said, "My dear Lady, this is bad. That...that Dong was killed...killed by Prime Minister Lu."
Zheng Deyin was so frightened that he fell to the ground.
Over there in the main hall of the East Palace, Crown Prince Li Heng was pleading, "Prime Minister, Dong's brother definitely didn't do it on purpose."
Seeing Li Heng begging desperately, Lu Wei smiled and said, "Prince, the Dong family doesn't respect the Crown Princess. The Crown Princess is not pregnant, but they let the illegitimate child be born first. This is one reason. The second reason is that his brother wants to assassinate me. What else do you have to say?"
Li Heng had never been so humiliated before, but now he had to beg. There was no other way. At least he could go out to fight now. In the future, he might not even be able to fight and would be directly imprisoned.
Dong Yu Niang originally thought that she would be soaring to fame after she got pregnant, but she didn't expect that she would die so soon. She begged Li Heng: "Prince, you told me to serve the Crown Princess more after I got pregnant. I am carrying your child in my belly, right?"
Li Heng glanced at her, feeling somewhat reluctant, but still said, "I can't protect myself either."
Dong Yu Niang was originally looking forward to it, but after hearing this, she closed her eyes and burst into tears. Lu Wei called for someone to come and took the person away. This was also the first time that Zheng Deyin saw someone who was alive and well before, and even secretly provoked her, become bloody. She was sick.
Madam Xu and Ji both went to the palace to visit. Madam Xu had of course heard the rumors, but the Zheng family was not like the Dong family, a family of servants without any foundation, so they were afraid that Lu Wei would do something wrong.
"Grandma, it's so terrible, it's really so terrible..." When she was in the Huaiyin Palace before, although she was sent to Jianye to live with Concubine Wu, Xun Rou and others, and had no husband to love her, but at least there was no threat to her life. Even after Li Cheng died, someone continued to take care of her life.
She once thought that marrying Li Cheng was purgatory, but she didn't expect that Li Heng's place was full of blood and gore. But if only her father had killed Lu Wei, it would be fine.
"Grandma, let Dad kill Lu——"
Before she finished speaking, Ji slapped her in the face: "Liang Di, you have many eyes and ears here. Prime Minister Lu is the benefactor of our Zheng family. Why do you have to say this?"
Although Madam Xu complained that Ji was too rude and might have deliberately taken advantage of the situation, she could not say such things carelessly. Lu Wei was not so easy to kill. She might even fail to kill the tiger and end up being killed by it. So, she did not say anything.
Deyin was stunned by the slap, and thinking of Dong Yu Niang's death, she couldn't help but say, "Grandma, I want to go home and live for a while."
Madam Xu looked at her and said in embarrassment, "You are now a concubine. Even the Crown Princess of the Eastern Palace cannot go home, let alone you. The palace is in trouble right now. You will be fine. I asked your father to guarantee it."
"But I'm afraid..." She was really afraid.
She even wondered if there were rumors in her past life that Dong Yu Niang was killed by Huiyin, could it also be killed by Lu Wei? No, it couldn't be, because Zheng Huiyin could persuade her father to kill Lu Wei, why couldn't it be done to her? Obviously, she was also her father's daughter.
Madam Xu looked at Ji, who lowered her head. She couldn't possibly take her back. To put it bluntly, if she was really pregnant, maybe Zheng Fang could still give it a try. Now she had nothing, how could she ask anyone to help her? But Zheng Deyin was not her biological daughter, so why should she say anything more? As long as it didn't involve her family, it would be fine.
…
After the New Year, spring came quickly, the ice on the lake broke, and boats could sail.
Jing'er will be one year old in two or three months. This child is different from other children. Jing'er is old enough to even start eating complementary foods, such as rice porridge, fish paste, meat paste, and even fruit puree. He enjoys it.
"Your father definitely can't even hold you anymore." Huiyin said with a smile.
She received a letter from Li Cheng two days ago, saying that he was very tired from training day and night.
Why is this guy training day and night? The imperial court has just taken over Qingzhou and is resting up. It is impossible to start a war so soon. Why is he so diligent?
Concubine Xu knew it first. She was the King of Wei's concubine, and she was the first to know a lot of first-hand information. Even the King of Wei's wife did not dare to suppress her too much. Just like the last time, when they wanted to investigate Li Jing being thrown into a well, they investigated it over and over again but still could not find a solution.
"I didn't expect that this little prince is such a lovesick kid." She laughed.
Her confidant asked, "Didn't you say last time that he was colluding with Concubine Yin? You were afraid that she would support Concubine Yin's son to be the crown prince. Why are you saying that he is infatuated with the little princess again?"
Concubine Xu Ci smiled and said, "Let's put things in perspective. Although the king seems to have many useful people around him, the one he admires the most is his nephew. The king will not quarrel with him unless it is absolutely necessary, but it is hard to say what will happen in the future."
The confidant was a little confused: "What does this mean?"
"When the cunning rabbit dies, the good dog is cooked; when the birds are all gone, the good bows are hidden; when the enemy country is destroyed, the conspiratorial ministers die. Don't you know this saying?" Concubine Xu snorted coldly.
The confidant was shocked when he heard this.
But Huiyin played with Jing'er for a whole afternoon, and the child was too tired. She couldn't stand it at noon and went to bed quickly. But she didn't expect that after sleeping for a while, she felt someone kissing her. She was startled and woke up immediately. Unexpectedly, it was Li Cheng.
"Hey, why are you back? You didn't even tell me." Huiyin saw that he was exhausted and even smelled.
Li Cheng smiled and said, "Didn't you say you wanted to go home to visit your parents? So, I have been training the army hard these days and preparing for defense. Then I took the initiative to ask to go to the capital to celebrate the emperor's birthday. Can I take you with me?"
Unexpectedly, he took her words so seriously. Huiyin sat up from the couch and pulled him aside, saying, "Really?"
"What I said is not true. Even Uncle King Wei agreed with it!" Li Cheng said with a smile.
Huiyin knew that Li Cheng actually didn't like her father very much, because as a daughter, Huiyin knew Zheng Fang's character better. He was a man who killed his master to get to the top and had rebelled several times. Li Cheng was an upright person and would definitely not be used to seeing that. Now she had to take risks for him. If some people in the capital were to harm him, how could she be worthy of him?
"Silly boy, forget it. I was just saying it casually. I don't really want to go back. I just hope you can reunite with me." Huiyin said.
Li Cheng said quickly: "I am not doing this entirely for you. I also want to go to the capital to see how the situation is changing. If I don't have this courage, how can I lead troops to fight in the future?"
Seeing that Huiyin was still unhappy, he added: "I don't really want to do that. It's not wise to go back now, but I just think you will be happy if we go back together."
"With such a soft heart, how can you become a local lord in the future?" Huiyin burst into laughter. In this respect, he was much better than Li Heng, who was cruel and ruthless.
Li Cheng deliberately put on a stern face: "Don't say so much, time is limited, let's pack up and get ready."
Huiyin said softly, "Yes."
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