Chapter 45
◎Two chapters in one◎
Huiyin didn't know what Mrs. Xu was feeling when she left, but she felt much better. Although she said to Li Cheng, "You shouldn't bring up my elder sister. She is a concubine in the East Palace. I heard that she is not happy. My grandmother is angry. Seeing our love, she will inevitably say something bad."
"That's not her reason to say that about you. Is it that only your elder sister is her granddaughter, and you are not?" Li Cheng was naturally indifferent to family affection, especially between relatives. If they could not help each other and even slandered Huiyin in front of him, it showed that Madam Xu was not a good grandmother.
Huiyin smiled and said, "Okay, I get it. You are doing this for my own good. Let's not talk about this anymore. You said you wanted to go to your uncle's house. I will go and prepare gifts. If it is feasible, we can go there."
Li Cheng nodded: "Then you draw up a list and I'll see what to add or subtract."
"Okay." Huiyin didn't think Li Cheng was questioning him. When the couple handled things, they didn't have that kind of exclusive mentality and were easy to accept other people's opinions.
Li Cheng was about to say something when he heard the voices of Pei Shuo and Zheng Wuheng from outside. Huiyin pushed him and said, "You can go with them. It's not good for you to accompany me all the time."
In fact, at Li Cheng's age, he is more mature than adults, which is not reasonable. Years of scheming and scheming will make people corrupt. Going out more often will make him more clear-headed.
Li Cheng smiled and said, "Okay, then I'll go out and see what they want me to do. If there's nothing, I'll come back early."
Of course he didn't come back earlier, Huiyin could have expected that, so she drew up a list first. In previous years, the gifts that Uncle Cui sent to Xuzhou were also quite generous, so they couldn't give less this time.
It was getting dark again when Li Cheng came back. He looked in a good mood. Huiyin showed him the list she had prepared. Li Cheng had no objection. He fell on the bed, resting his head on his head, and looked at her and said, "The emperor's birthday will be in a few days. We have to go to Qinghe quickly and can't delay on the road any longer."
"Well, let's leave the child at my house. I'll feel at ease with my mother looking after him." Huiyin said with a smile.
Li Cheng clapped his hands and smiled: "That's great, our son won't have to travel with us, this is a good thing."
After the two men discussed it, they decided to send a fast horse to inform the Cui family the next day, and then they would follow behind. It took about a day and a half to get from Jizhou to Qinghe.
Originally, in Huiyin's imagination, Cui Xun should be a handsome man in his forties, because even if his mother-in-law Wu lived to this day, she would only be in her early forties, but Cui Xun is already in his sixties. Even if he takes good care of himself, you can see that his hair is gray and his skin is wrinkled.
But fortunately, he was of great stature, worthy of being a once-conferred general.
"Uncle." Li Cheng saw the Cui family and their group welcoming him at the door and quickly dismounted and stepped forward.
Huiyin followed Li Cheng in and met her aunt Li. It was strange that her uncle Cui Xun was nearly sixty years old, while her aunt Mrs. Cui Li was in her forties and looked like an old man and a young wife.
But she would never ask directly if someone wants to continue the song, as that would be too rude.
Therefore, Huiyin just sat down and talked to Mrs. Cui about some irrelevant things: "I got married a few years ago, but I didn't expect that your family would become more closely related to us."
I originally thought it was another person with the surname Cui from the same room, but it turned out that it was Cui Xun's daughter who was going to marry his younger brother.
Madam Cui obviously loved her daughter very much: "My daughter is a plain girl, but she is favored by the Marquis. This is her blessing. The two families will be engaged soon, and it just so happens that the Prince of Huaiyin and the Princess will be attending the ceremony. This is also her blessing. Why don't I ask my daughter to order a cup of tea for you to taste."
Obviously, he wanted his daughter to win the favor of her future husband's family. Huiyin was pleased: "Why not? I want to meet her, too."
Miss Cui wore a white jade crown with light purple flowers in her hair and a dress of the same color. She had a pretty face and graceful manners. Huiyin said "good" to herself and drank the tea she brought over.
Just now I saw her add tea soup seven times. The soup was pure white like milk, and the soup foam was even and fine. Her technique was quite good.
She took another sip: "Mm, it tastes good, has a subtle aroma, and looks good. Not bad, not bad."
Mrs. Cui and Miss Cui looked at each other and were very happy.
Miss Cui's nickname was Yuehuan. The little girl also learned how to socialize like an adult. "This kind of tea is called Lingcha. If the princess likes it, we will have someone send some to you."
"Okay, then pack two packets for me. I can't finish more than that." Huiyin said with a smile.
Mrs. Cui was also very happy to see this, and continued, "I just got married and my sister-in-law got married. Although we didn't spend much time together, we also cared about each other. We have been separated for many years. When we heard the news of Princess Wu's death, our old man was so sad that he couldn't go to the funeral. Our old man kept this in his heart and never forgot it."
"It's so hard for you to be unable to move and have to travel a long distance. I don't think my mother-in-law in heaven will blame me." Huiyin thought that if they really had a good relationship, it would be impossible for her not to go. She heard Li Cheng say that Princess Wu had only one brother.
Like when she returned home, her brother went out to greet her for three hundred miles.
Mrs. Cui heaved a of relief when she heard Huiyin say this. She sighed had been determined to make this marriage happen. Zheng Wuheng, the son of Marquis Zhaojie, was young and handsome. He was both the crown prince and the only son. Jizhou was also under the jurisdiction of Marquis Zhaojie. This marriage would be very good for both her daughter and the Cui family.
For lunch, the Cui family prepared fine wines. Li Cheng ate some and was about to leave, saying that he was going to the capital. The Cui family did not want to keep him. However, Huiyin and Madam Cui said, "We will be relatives in the future, so it will be more convenient for us to visit each other. We will have a chance to meet again."
After getting on the carriage, Huiyin frowned. Li Cheng saw her like this and asked curiously, "What's wrong with you? Are you not satisfied with my cousin?"
"No, it has nothing to do with this. I just think that your uncle is old enough to be Mrs. Cui's father? Is this Mrs. Cui the continuation?" Huiyin was curious.
Li Cheng waved his hand, "Of course not. You don't know that in this dynasty, the nobles must marry someone of equal status. My uncle lost his father when he was young and lived with his sister, who is my mother. My uncle is eighteen years older than my mother, and he almost raised my mother. He is ambitious and comes from a famous family. Only when he was over thirty and was given an official title, did he qualify to marry a member of the Li family of Longxi, one of the five surnames."
"So that's how it is. Huiyin is not from a noble family, so she doesn't understand these things." Huiyin finally reacted.
Li Cheng couldn't help but say, "My uncle and aunt had two sons and one daughter after they got married. My eldest cousin was recruited by Wei Duo, so it can be said that a tiger father will have a dog son."
Huiyin held her chin up, feeling strange: "If your uncle had never made it, wouldn't he have never had a woman? How would he manage the family?"
"If there is no wife, there are concubines." Li Cheng didn't find it strange.
After visiting Li Cheng's uncle, they first returned to the Zhaojie Marquis Mansion in Jizhou. The couple was most concerned about their son, and were surprised to see Jing'er lying obediently in Ji's arms.
Ji smiled and said, "When you just left, the child cried for half an hour, and then he became very attached to me. He has been sleeping with me these past few days."
"It seems that it's not the children who can't live without adults, but we adults who can't live without children." Huiyin tickled Jing'er, making Jing'er giggle.
Women are more concerned about the affairs of the rear house. On the surface, Li Cheng seems to be out playing with his uncles, but in fact, Li Cheng and Zheng Fang are discussing Uncle He's plan to get rid of Lu Wei.
It took only a day to travel from Jizhou to the capital, and the streets of the capital were already decorated with lights and lanterns to welcome the arrival of the Emperor's birthday.
This time, Ji Shi did not come. She usually went to the palace quite often and was impatient to deal with Empress He. She always said that Empress He was full of tricks, so she reported an old illness and stayed at home to take care of Jing'er. On the contrary, Madam Xu, who was so old, still wanted to go. Why? Everyone knew it.
Actually, entering the palace meant nothing to Huiyin, but to Li Cheng, it was novel and gave rise to strange thoughts.
He was born in a vassal state and grew up in Jiangnan, but he was also the descendant of Emperor Taizong and had the blood of Emperor Taizong in his veins. Seeing the sickly emperor behind the curtain and the majestic Prime Minister Lu Wei, he thought that if he were the emperor, he would definitely kill such a rebellious person. As soon as this thought came to his mind, he felt that he seemed too ambitious.
"I, the humble servant Li Cheng, the Prince of Huaiyin, and my wife, Princess Zheng, are here to congratulate the Emperor on his birthday. I wish the Emperor a long life."
Huiyin followed Li Cheng in paying respects, and raised her eyes slightly. She saw that the hall was brightly lit, as if it was daytime. She could see the Crown Prince Li Heng standing next to the Emperor, with Li Heng and Lu Wei on his left and right. Li Heng was still as elegant and noble as ever, with a smile on his face. The shadow under the light covered half of his face, making him look a little more mysterious.
As for Li Heng, Huiyin now sees him as no different from a stranger.
The emperor was very weak and coughed for a long time. His tone seemed to be full of joy: "You are the son of Prince Wu's younger brother. You are also my nephew. Come closer and let me take a look."
Li Cheng stood up, pulled his coat, and walked forward, looking more and more outstanding and overwhelming. Li Heng seemed to have just noticed his cousin, the King of Huaiyin. He heard that he was sent by the King of Wei to the capital to celebrate his birthday. He had been training the navy for the King of Wei and was famous in Jiangnan at a young age.
More importantly, he married the eldest daughter of the Zheng family, while Li Cheng married the second daughter of the Zheng family.
While he was thinking, he saw Li Cheng coming up the stairs towards the light, with two rows of candles paving the way for him. Li Heng looked up at him, and Li Cheng stopped and greeted him with a smile.
The emperor looked at Li Cheng for a moment, then smiled and said, "The Huaiyin King is a man of great talent, worthy of being the son of the Wu King. You have come from your fiefdom to celebrate for me, and I cannot let you return empty-handed."
The emperor's attendants read out a long list of gifts. Li Cheng thanked him, but he was actually a little disappointed. He thought the emperor would ask him what he did on a daily basis, or whether he would be given a fiefdom after his father passed away. It was obvious that he was just a candidate for the emperor to show his harmony.
But at this time, Li Cheng still had to maintain his impeccable identity as King of Huaiyin.
After Li Cheng came off the stage, Huiyin took a seat with Li Cheng. Today, the emperor was celebrating in the three main halls, and royal relatives like them were in the Lijing Hall, celebrating together with the emperor.
"You performed very well." After Huiyin sat down, she whispered to Li Cheng while people around her were not paying attention.
Li Cheng felt warm in his heart. Everyone else was concerned about his identity and whether he would get the reward, but Huiyin was the only one who was afraid that he would be nervous and was concerned about him as a person.
The couple smiled at each other, but Deyin, who was sitting opposite them, saw them. She was caught off guard by seeing Li Cheng. Because Li Cheng had never been to Beijing until his death in his previous life, he and Huiyin had never even met in their previous life, but now they seemed like a loving couple, which really hit her even more.
If her grandmother had told her about the relationship between Huiyin and Li Cheng in advance, she would have been able to ease the shock a little, and the shock would not have been as great as the sudden one. After the prince took his seat, he even whispered, "I heard from your father that the Prince of Huaiyin came to accompany your sister home to visit her parents. You two sisters haven't seen each other for several years. Why don't you go and talk to her?"
No wonder, it turned out that Li Cheng came back with his sister to visit relatives and attend the Emperor's birthday celebration.
In her previous life, she and Li Cheng were rarely together. Even when he returned to Jianye, he only had a quick glance at her and the two had no interaction at all. However, he was very caring towards Yin Lijun's daughter who was a clerk. But even though he was nice to Yin Lijun, he never made a special trip to accompany the woman to do things.
"Really? I'm always in the East Palace and I know nothing about what's going on at home. It's all thanks to the prince for telling me." Deyin put on a smile and pretended to be virtuous and generous.
Li Heng also wanted to win over Li Cheng. Between him and the King of Wei, he certainly had greater advantages. Once the emperor passed away, he would be the legitimate crown prince. The King of Wei lived in a remote corner, and he could only dream of claiming legitimacy under the name of a royal relative.
But to be fair, what he can give to Li Cheng now is not as much as what the King of Wei gave. But if Li Cheng can be loyal to him, the two of them can join forces, Jizhou, Qingzhou and even Xuzhou can all be in his pocket.
Therefore, he now needs Deyin to help him thread the needle.
Deyin also understood what Li Heng meant. She looked at Huiyin opposite her, but was a little stunned. In her previous life, the prince doted on her sister more. She was also pregnant and gave birth to a child smoothly. Later, she became the empress dowager. In this life, Huiyin was also deeply loved by Li Cheng. She really wanted to know what means her sister used?
As an elder sister, she really shouldn't be so jealous of her younger sister, but she thinks she is not inferior to Huiyin in any way.
Thinking back to the past, she had many friends, but her sister was a loner. She was often approached by many men, and those who wanted to marry her were either rich or noble, but her sister had only bad luck in love. Even though her talent and fame spread far and wide, her sister was still unknown.
Later, when Ji saw that her sister was inferior to her in every way, she proclaimed herself the most beautiful woman in Jizhou and praised her daughter's beauty everywhere.
How come their respective marriages led to such different situations? In the final analysis, it was because her sister had a brother that she was better than her. If she also had a brother, how could she end up in such a situation with no one to help her?
This is innate, not because I am worse than her.
Huiyin didn't think so. She drank a cup with Li Cheng and enjoyed the singing and dancing. Especially after the emperor left, everyone in the hall relaxed. People kept coming to toast Li Cheng, including the emperor's uncle. Huiyin saw that the two of them were smiling and greeting each other, but there seemed to be something deep under their smiles. What was it? Huiyin didn't ask much, nor did she look aside, trying not to attract other people's attention.
Li Cheng saw everything she did and admired her even more. He had never told her about certain military and national affairs, but Huiyin seemed to have a natural tacit understanding with him.
"Uncle He, Xiao Wang knows what you said." Li Cheng said with a smile.
Uncle He raised his glass and said, "Then I will take my leave. I will invite you to my house to have Sanhuazui in the future."
Li Cheng politely sent him away, and the people around him didn't take it seriously. Li Heng soon got in touch with He Guojiu, who said, "The Prince of Huaiyin agreed to persuade Zheng Fang to rebel, but there is one request, Qingzhou is divided into two, with Zheng Fang and him each taking half."
"He's trying to get something for nothing." Li Heng was unwilling to agree.
He had conquered Qingzhou with great difficulty, and it was impossible for him to give it up.
He Guojiu said with a smile: "Prince, you are a man of your word, but did you know that when Qin's Prime Minister Zhang Yi tricked Chu into abandoning Qi, he used 600 miles of land as a bargaining chip? But in the end, did Qin give it to you?"
This is a story from the Warring States Period. At that time, Qin Prime Minister Zhang Yi was sent to Chu. In order to lure Chu and disintegrate the Qi-Chu alliance, Zhang Yi offered Chu the return of 600 li of Shangyu as bait. Chu then broke off diplomatic relations with Qi. After breaking off diplomatic relations with Qi, Chu sent envoys to Qin to demand the return of Shangyu in accordance with the agreement, but Zhang Yi flatly denied it. Finally, King Huai of Chu, who was humiliated and angry, sent troops to attack Qin. He was defeated in three battles, and Chu's status as a great power was shaken from then on.
Just agree to it now. Qingzhou is occupied by the He family and the Lu family anyway. When Lu Wei dies, the place will belong to the He family. It will be up to them to decide whether to give it to Li Cheng or not.
In He Guojiu's opinion, the biggest threat to him now is Lu Wei.
As long as he kills Lu Wei, he will be able to easily deal with Zheng Fang, and the world will almost certainly be his in the future.
Li Heng also laughed when he heard it: "Uncle is right, then I will agree to it first."
Li Heng even had a plan that would kill three birds with one stone. He would use Qingzhou as a bargaining chip and let the He, Lu and Li families fight each other. By then, the balance point would be on him.
It has to be said that Li Heng is also a master at calculating people's hearts, just like now Deyin personally invited Huiyin to the East Palace, and said with a smile: "My sister came back a long time ago, and she didn't come to the palace to see me, which made me miss her very much."
Such heartwarming words would certainly be a good thing if they were between a pair of sisters who usually get along well with each other. However, the relationship between Deyin and Huiyin has always been very indifferent, so such words are very unusual.
But Huiyin did not show any surprise, instead she smiled and said, "Thinking that Zhu Shou could enter the palace, I stopped bothering her. Besides, your East Palace is not an ordinary place, how can others enter?"
As soon as she finished speaking, Lianzhi brought a cup of Jin Junmei. Huiyin picked it up and smelled it: "Sister, you are smart. You even know that Jin Junmei was my favorite drink when I was at my mother's house."
Lian Zhi bowed and said, "It's not me who remembers, it's Concubine Liang."
"It turns out to be my elder sister. I am really ashamed." Huiyin pretended to be speechless.
Deyin was somewhat proud of herself. She had been socializing with Madam Xu since she was young. She knew which lady liked to drink what kind of tea, how to arrange the ladies' seats, and how to quickly socialize and make friends with people. She didn't care about these little tricks.
But she knew that her sister was not good at these things. She always became aloof very quickly when interacting with people. She was not suitable to be a mistress at all and even had difficulty getting along with others.
So, Deyin just said, "You still like to eat lotus cake, steamed pork with rice flour, and peanuts stewed in chicken soup. We are sisters, how could we not know these? After I entered the palace, it was difficult for my family to see me. I remembered more and more that in the past, we sisters never talked properly because of the relationship between our respective elders. Thinking about it, it was also my fault as the elder sister."
"Sister, please don't say that. You are the Concubine of the Eastern Palace, but you still think of me. I am already very grateful." How could Huiyin be really moved by these few words?
Deyin was very good at showing weakness. Seeing that Huiyin didn't seem very excited, she shed tears and intensified her words: "I got married before my sister. My sister already has a son, but I still have no children. Sometimes I really envy my sister."
"Being pregnant is a matter of luck. You are still young, so there is nothing to worry about." Huiyin was about to get up and leave. It was very simple. Deyin suddenly called her to come to the East Palace at the birthday banquet. It must be not only her intention, but also the prince's intention.
After all, Li Heng's so-called scheming was almost entirely directed at women.
Sure enough, Deyin changed the subject: "Alas, I dare not give birth now. A woman in our East Palace was beaten to death by Prime Minister Lu because she was pregnant with the prince's child before the crown princess."
Huiyin was deeply saddened when she heard this: "It has come to this—"
"Yes, so I think if Prime Minister Lu was always here, I would not dare to get pregnant even if I was pregnant." Deyin's voice was soft.
But soon, she took a deep breath and said, "The prince has been controlled enough. If Lu Wei continues to control the government, I am afraid that my father and even Wu Heng will be harmed in the future. Look, Dong Yu Niang's own brother has been implicated."
"Daddy and Wuheng..." Huiyin showed a worried look. She already knew what Deyin wanted her to do. He still wanted to persuade Zheng Fang to kill Lu Wei. She was afraid that Uncle He was talking to Li Cheng about the same thing.
As for why He Guojiu was unwilling to ask Wei Duo for help, it was probably because Wei Duo was too powerful to ask for help. Zheng Fang, on the other hand, first used Zheng Fang. After all, Zheng Fang was brave but not wise. Another reason why he was able to kill Lu Wei was that Zheng Fang was Lu Wei's lackey, and only followed Lu Wei's orders and killed Lu Wei's political enemies. Although Lu Wei was jealous of Zheng Fang's power, the relationship between the two was very complicated.
Zheng Fang is the only one in Lu Wei's army who can command Lu Jia's army.
In her previous life, she had asked her father to help kill Lu Wei without hesitation, and later tied the Zheng family to the prince's boat. Her brother died and her younger brother almost lost his life, but in this life, she would never let her father tie anyone up like this.
Li Cheng is not yet a powerful figure. If his father kills Lu Wei, he will be killed by the He family who are waiting behind. Uncle He has been coveting Qingzhou for a long time, and Jizhou is also a piece of fat meat.
How can we turn the tables? What if Li Cheng also agrees? No, forget about Li Cheng, and let's just go our separate ways.
So, Huiyin raised her eyebrows and looked at Deyin: "Sister, don't trust the prince's words too much. The prince is also hedging his bets. The prince saved you from the water that year, but you didn't know that the prince also saved me the next day. Which one of us sisters is moved first, once she marries her, she can tie the Zheng family to the prince's chariot. I didn't want to say this at first, but now that my sister keeps talking about these things, I have to say it."
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