40 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 stubbornly blooming 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 ostentatiously, 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. He was the only one who had the power to do so. By then, both Qingzhou and 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."
人都把別人的生死看的很淡，很會勸別人，對自己卻未必如此。
又說徽音在參加這些宴會之時，又讓屬人在建業附近的吳中、會稽等地都開了拉面店，依舊是市井之中，門店半舊不新，價錢偏低。
今年因為在建業過年，年禮她還差人送了一份給同時出嫁的那位新娘子胡燕燕，她不知道自己這份禮物是雪中送炭，幾乎挽救了胡燕燕。
參加了別人的幾次宴集，徽音發現其實這裏也不是一開始就這麽聽魏王的話的，魏王看起來人有雅量，但實則是更聰明更有手段，先拉攏歸順他的，再讓他們自己人鬥自己人，鬥到最後，都歸順他。
他的确有心機手段，李澄和他相比就稚嫩了些，也太有人情味了一些，是個外冷其實內熱的人。興許也和兩人成長環境有關，吳王夫妻只有這一個孩子，因此千疼萬寵，養出來的孩子自信大方有擔當，但總覺得自己地位高，所以外拽內熱，心軟的很。但魏王年紀不大，一直在各種勢力下就藩，年紀雖然小，卻經受許多，故而城府頗深。
“小王妃，陸少奶奶和高夫人一起過來了。”有人回秉。
徽音笑道：“請她們進來吧。”
這兩人就是她選的代理人，陸少奶奶進來就笑道：“方才我進來，見小王妃廊下的雀兒黃莺叫的歡，我們倆今日是有件喜事告訴您的。”
徽音讓人看茶，又道：“不知我喜從何來？”
高夫人道：“您上次還和我們說本地的茶好喝，正好有一茶商要出手，我們就來與您說一聲。他一聽說是您要買，說直接送給您就是了。”
“那不成，我派人去問問他是不是真的要出手，若真的要出手，該多少銀錢就多少銀錢。”徽音見過太多強買強賣的了，以權勢欺壓百姓，這樣可不成。
所以有的時候她覺得自己和李澄也挺像的，什麽都知道，但不一定忍心做。
她買下茶園之後，還要請經濟幫忙打理，自然這都是明年的事情了。只不過去魏王府的時候，聽魏王妃打趣道：“聽說你最近還做起生意來？”
“我是吃着這茶好，提了一嘴，正好有人說有茶園要賣，我去看了看，的确打理的很好，也就買了下來，讓嬸子見笑了。”徽音笑道。
魏王妃道：“咱們女人哪個手裏沒個體己，就是我出嫁時也是如此，只是你遠嫁過來，恐怕沒有置辦，如此甚好。”
徽音颔首：“嬸子說的是。”
她是過來送節禮的，李澄原本說好了回來，但是又來信說他有事情回不來了，所以徽音心裏空落落的，還好有些事情做才好許多。
然而這個時候又聽說殷麗儀有了身孕，她和殷麗儀關系一般，但是李澄和謝九儀關系不錯，所以，她也親自上門探望過一次。
她這次因為見到了謝夫人，謝夫人人很好，對殷麗儀就跟自家的女兒似的，徽音心想若是呂笑能夠嫁到這樣的人家就好了。之前她不知道殷麗儀為何能嫁到謝家來，畢竟兩邊身份差距還很大，現下才知曉這樁親事也是魏王作主，殷次妃讓魏王妃幫忙說話，再者謝九儀也的确很喜歡，所以二人才喜結連理。
這殷次妃不讓娘家父親得官職，卻把妹妹嫁給渤海太守這樣的實權官，實在是高，當然，這是徽音陰謀的想法，即便是殷次妃成人之美，那也說明她的運氣好，有時候運氣也是人最好的一部分。
鄭德音也感嘆自己沒有那個運氣，也沒那個福氣，太子現在總來她這兒，她也沒有身孕。
卻沒想到連枝驚恐的進來道：“良娣，不好了，那個……那個董氏被呂丞相所殺……殺了。”
鄭德音吓的跌坐在地。
那邊東宮正殿，太子李珩正在求情：“丞相，董氏他兄長絕對不是故意的。”
看着李珩苦苦哀求，呂威笑道：“太子，這董家一來不尊敬太子妃，太子妃都無身孕，卻讓庶孽先出，此為其一，其二便是其兄想刺殺于我，汝還有何言？”
李珩從未有如此屈辱，現在卻還要哀求，沒辦法，他現在至少還能出去打仗，日後恐怕連打仗都不行，直接被囚禁起來。
董玉娘原本以為自己有了身孕之後會從此一飛沖天，沒想到這般快連她的小命都沒了，她哀求着李珩：“太子，您對我說過的，讓妾身有孕之後，多侍奉太子妃的，妾身的肚子裏可是懷着您的骨肉啊？”
李珩看了她一眼，有些不忍，但還是道：“我亦自身難保矣。”
董玉娘原本極大的期盼，但聽此言，閉眼直流淚，呂威喊人來，直接把人帶走了。這也是鄭德音頭一次看到之前還好好的活色生香，在自己面前甚至暗自挑釁的人，變成血淋淋了，她活脫脫的生了病。
徐太夫人和紀氏都進宮探望，徐太夫人當然聽說了傳言，然而鄭家不是董家那種沒有根基的奴婢，可就怕呂威胡來。
“祖母，太可怕了，實在是太可怕了……”以前她在淮陰王府的時候，雖然被送去建業和吳太妃荀柔等人在一起，沒有夫君疼寵，但至少沒有任何生命威脅，即便之後李澄死了，繼續有人管她的生活。
她曾經以為嫁給李澄是煉獄，沒想到李珩這裏才是腥風血雨，可若是爹殺了呂威就好了。
“祖母，讓爹爹殺了呂——”
話音未落，就被紀氏打了一巴掌：“良娣，您這裏的耳目多的很，呂丞相是我們鄭家的恩人，您何苦說這些。”
徐太夫人雖然埋怨紀氏太過粗魯，可能故意借題發揮，但是這話的确不能亂說，呂威可不是那麽好殺的，甚至殺虎不成反被虎害。所以，她也沒有說話。
德音被一巴掌打蒙了，又想起董玉娘的死狀，忍不住道：“祖母，我想回家住些日子。”
徐太夫人看了她一眼，為難道：“你如今是良娣，東宮的太子妃都沒辦法回家，更何況是你？如今宮裏也是多事之秋，你沒事兒的，我讓你父親保證過。”
“可是我怕……”她是真的怕。
她甚至在想前世有人傳言說董玉娘是徽音殺的，會不會也是呂威殺的？不，不會，因為鄭徽音能說動父親殺了呂威，怎麽到了自己這裏就不成了？明明自己也是父親的女兒。
徐太夫人看了紀氏一眼，紀氏低頭，她不可能接她回去的，說白了，她若是真的有身孕了，也許鄭放還能一博，現在她什麽都沒有，怎麽讓人幫她？但鄭德音不是她的親生女兒，她又何必多言，只要不牽涉到自家就好了。
……
年過完之後，很快就開春了，湖面上的冰破開，船也能行了。
璟兒還有兩三個月就滿一歲了，這孩子和別的孩子不同，勁兒大，甚至都開始吃輔食了，米糊糊、魚糜、肉糜，就連水果泥他也能吃的津津有味。
“你爹肯定都抱不起你了。”徽音笑道。
她前兩天收到李澄的信，說他累的緊，沒日沒夜的操練。
這家夥，沒日沒夜的操練幹嘛？朝廷剛拿下青州，正休養生息呢，不可能那麽快開戰的，他幹嘛這麽勤奮呢。
許次妃那裏卻是先知道了，她是魏王的枕邊人，許多一手消息都是她最開始知道的，連魏王妃對她也不敢過分打壓，就像上次那件事情，要查李敬被人投井，查來查去還是不了了之了。
“沒想到這小王爺還是個癡情種子呢。”她笑道。
她的心腹道：“上次您不是還說他和殷次妃有勾結嗎？以後怕她支持殷次妃的兒子做世子。怎麽又說他對小王妃癡情呢？”
許次妃笑道：“一碼歸一碼，大王身邊雖然看起來可用之人不少，但最欣賞的卻是他這個侄兒，不到萬不得已，大王是不會和他鬧翻的，但是将來就難說了。”
心腹有些聽不懂：“這是什麽意思？”
“狡兔死，良狗烹；飛鳥盡，良弓藏；敵國破，謀臣亡。這句話你不知道嗎？”許次妃冷哼道。
心腹聽了一凜。
卻說徽音帶着璟兒玩了一晌午，這孩子太過折騰了，中午她就受不住了，趕緊睡下了。只是沒想到睡了一會兒，就覺得似乎有人在親她，她吓了一跳，立馬醒了過來，沒想到是李澄。
“咦，你怎麽回來了？也不說一聲。”徽音見他風塵仆仆的，甚至身上還有味兒。
李澄笑道：“你不是說想回家省親的嗎？所以，我這些日子拼命操練軍隊，準備布防，然後主動請纓上京給皇上祝壽，可不就可以帶你過去嗎？”
沒想到他把自己一句話都這麽放在心上，徽音從榻上坐起來拉着他道：“真的嗎？”
“我說的事情還有假的，連魏王叔都同意了啊！”李澄笑道。
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."