Chapter 46
◎Two chapters in one◎
"Really?" Deyin had no idea there was such a layer.
She thought Li Heng had a special liking for her, and wanted to copy her sister's path to power in her previous life, so she married him without hesitation, and was afraid that her sister would snatch her away from the marriage. Unexpectedly, the prince...
Huiyin didn't want to say bad things about Li Heng in the East Palace, but it was annoying that Li Heng always asked Deyin to stir up trouble. To put it bluntly, men's affairs are men's affairs, and it is you, Li Heng, who should show your sincerity.
Therefore, what Huiyin had to do was to make Deyin say that the He family was not contributing, so that the relationship between Li Heng and the He family would also fall apart. As the saying goes, when the world is in chaos, the situation will be good.
"Why would I lie to my sister? I will be going back to Jianye soon, and I'm afraid I'll never see my sister again. I also hope that my sister can rise to a higher level from now on, and as her younger sister, I can also benefit from it. But think about it, if father follows the prince to fight with Lu Wei, and both sides suffer, and the He family marries their daughter to us, then who will we be doing the wedding dress for?" Huiyin found that Deyin didn't seem to understand when she used the example of the overall situation, so she used the simplest explanation.
Sure enough, Deyin's eyes turned stern after hearing this: "But Uncle He doesn't have a daughter?"
Huiyin laughed and said, "A little maid in the He family can get pregnant. Moreover, if there is no daughter, there is a niece. As long as she has the surname He, what can I do in the future?"
The sound of virtue is terrifying.
Although he didn't want to admit it, it was true. The prince wanted the Zheng family and even Li Cheng to join forces to deal with Lu Wei, but how could Lu Wei be so easy to deal with? If both his father and brother were killed, wouldn't the He family be the beneficiaries?
Seeing Deyin's expression change, Huiyin said, "Sister, if Dad can preserve his strength, your position will always be there. Why can't we just sit on the sidelines and watch? Only if the Lu and He families are both defeated, can sister stand out."
Deyin thought it was a good idea. She thought to herself that Huiyin had lived a good life in both her past and present lives, and that she was indeed quite capable. However, she did not want Huiyin to be proud, so she said, "Sister, please be careful with your words. These are not words that women like you and me can say. I think the banquet is almost over. Let someone take you there."
"Okay, I'll take my leave now." Huiyin didn't want to linger.
The East Palace was not far from the Lijing Palace, otherwise Huiyin would not have agreed to come. Even if it was for celebration at this time, no one dared to make a loud noise. She stood at the door of the palace for a moment, and then went in quietly.
Everything in the palace tonight seemed like a beautiful bubble. However, after the bubble was burst, most of what one saw along the way were hungry people, and bandits were everywhere on the hills. Look, Li Cheng had just driven away a few bandits who were abducting women, and ordered the soldiers to send them home.
Some of these women looked like they were of marriageable age, some were still little girls, and some were even young women like her. Even if they smeared black on their faces, it would be useless. Huiyin thought that if she had no status and was beautiful, it would be difficult for her to survive.
"Why didn't your grandmother come back with us?" Li Cheng asked as he entered the carriage.
Huiyin smiled and said, "She and my sister probably have a lot to talk about. It has always been like this. Grandmother treats my elder sister as her own daughter."
Sure enough, Madam Xu was talking to Deyin in the East Palace about Huiyin: "She is just a mean person. I wanted to see her son, but I didn't expect a big party to happen. She even asked me to show my respect and put on airs. I don't know how she bewitched the Prince of Huaiyin. The Prince of Huaiyin always speaks for her."
Deyin lowered her eyes, "I heard from the Crown Prince that the Prince of Huaiyin came with her to visit her parents, and he was very kind to her. I don't know how my granddaughter is inferior to her, but she ended up like this. Don't worry, I'm much better now."
Perhaps it was Huiyin's coming that stopped Deyin from complaining and instead ignited his fighting spirit, and his previous fear was much relieved.
Madam Xu sighed, "It's also because Grandmother is incompetent and can't persuade your father."
"Grandma, I think Lu Wei is very powerful. Dad has always had a good relationship with Prime Minister Lu, and I also have a good relationship with the Crown Princess. On the contrary, it is Uncle He and Prime Minister Lu who are fighting for power. If they want to fight, let them fight. Your granddaughter doesn't have to worry about it. Anyway, I won't be pregnant in the next few years, so why worry about it?" Deyin listened to everything Huiyin said.
Mrs. Xu didn't know Huiyin had come yesterday, and thought Deyin had figured it out. She thought it made sense: "Liang Di has lived in the deep palace for a long time, but she sees things clearly."
"Grandma, you should worry less about me in the future and take care of your health first." When the situation is different in the future, she will let her grandmother and mother enjoy life.
Mrs. Xu felt more and more relieved.
But Madam Xu was different from Li Heng. Madam Xu thought Deyin was good in every way and would support whatever she said. However, the prince saw that Deyin was not keen on what he said that day and did not try to please the Prince and his wife Huaiyin, so he tried to find out more.
But to Deyin, these had a different meaning. The prince and Huiyin were very loving in their previous life and were even better to her than she was. If Deyin let Huiyin come over again, what if their old love was rekindled?
Therefore, in order to verify the truth of Huiyin's words, Deyin only said: "Yesterday I asked my sister to come over, and she asked me to thank the prince, saying that you helped her back then."
Li Heng knew about this, of course. At that time, Zheng Fang was under the orders of Lu Wei and had killed Queen He's men. Queen He was naturally unhappy with the Zheng family's daughters, and she was deliberately making trouble for them. He happened to be able to save Zheng Fang's two daughters in order to win the favor of the Zheng family. As it turned out, he was successful.
But he glanced at Deyin and said with a smile, "If you hadn't mentioned it, I would have almost forgotten about it. I just happened to pass by and saved her."
If Huiyin were here, she probably wouldn't believe his words. However, Deyin believed it without a doubt and even wondered if the prince saved Huiyin because she was her sister. This was enough to show that the prince was kind-hearted.
"I see. Well, it's not that I don't want to keep my sisters, but they are in a hurry to go back. They said they are going back after attending my brother's wedding." Deyin smiled and thought of a reason.
Li Heng folded his folding fan and said, "In that case, why don't we go back to your mother's house together and attend your brother's marriage. Last time we went back, we had something to ask for, and your father looked down upon you. This time, we must return home in glory."
Deyin always felt something was strange. She didn't know whether Li Heng was trying to win over Li Cheng, or for Huiyin, or whether he really wanted to accompany her back.
But she couldn't interfere with the prince, so she had to agree.
But it is said that when Huiyin returned home, she happened to meet the Cui family delivering dowry. Cui Yuehuan was worthy of being from the Qinghe Cui family, and her dowry was unusually rich. The housekeeper and servants beside Cui came to make the bed a day in advance, and at this time, they were answering Ji.
"This is the dowry list that our master and mistress are sending. Please take a look, Madam Marquis." Although the Cui family is not as powerful as when Cui Xun was a general, their status as an aristocratic family is still superior to that of Jizhou, and the dowry can also reflect the Cui family's background.
Ji looked through the dowry list and saw that many of the items on it were Princess Shouchang's rambutan-inlaid gemstone target mirror, Gu Kaizhi's flower and bird paintings, Madam Wei's calligraphy, etc. All of these dowries were of great origin, which was enough to show that the Cui family's background was different from that of ordinary wealthy families. She slightly and asked these people to go back to work.
After they left, Huiyin came out from behind the screen.
Ji laughed and said, "You are the princess, why do you have to act so strangely and hide behind the screen as if you are hiding from them?"
"Mom, I'm afraid of trouble. With my status here, it will take a long time to pay my respects. Let's just forget it." Huiyin waved her hand.
The mother and daughter smiled at each other. Ji was busy with her son's marriage, but she was also worried about her daughter's departure. She asked, "Are you leaving so soon?"
If they were not married, it would be most comfortable to stay at home, but Li Cheng had his responsibilities on his shoulders, and it was already very good to be able to accompany her back this time. Staying in Beijing for a long time was not a good thing either. I don't know if anyone has interfered with Xuzhou's military and political power, and the people in Beijing are sharpening their knives against Lu Wei.
In troubled times, it is best to take control of your own rights first.
"It's time to go. I can't bear to leave my parents, but being able to come back and see you is better than anything else." Huiyin held Ji's hand, feeling regretful.
Although she misses home, she knows what is important and what is not. As long as everyone is doing well, it is better than being together every day.
The wedding was to take place tomorrow, and Zheng Wuheng had changed into two sets of wedding clothes. When Huiyin came in, she saw his silly look and laughed, "You, you are so happy."
"Sister, I'm not happy. What's the good of getting married and having a tigress controlling me? It's just that when I'm not married, everyone treats me like a child." Zheng Wuheng was a little depressed.
Huiyin said: "Your brother-in-law was not married at that time, but he also occupied Xuzhou..."
"My sister is now comparing me with my brother-in-law more and more. My brother-in-law is older than me, and more capable than me, too." Zheng Wuheng was still a little unconvinced.
Huiyin begged for mercy: "It's my fault. You are still young and haven't been to the battlefield yet. You must be good in the future. I don't expect you to dominate the world, I just hope you are safe."
Thinking of the brother who took the poison arrow instead of Li Heng in the previous life, Huiyin's eyes were red. Whoever she married, her brother would be kind to that brother-in-law. Li Cheng, who had just come in, saw it. He thought that after Zheng Wuheng got married tomorrow, they would have to go back to Xuzhou, so his wife was reluctant to leave, and sighed in his heart.
When Li Cheng's father and mother were alive, he was also doted on, but after his parents passed away, he had to rely on himself for everything, and he hadn't had this kind of family warmth for a long time. At his parents-in-law's house, they loved him like a child. When they went out together, his father-in-law even sent him a saddle, fearing that he didn't have enough to eat. His two uncles also tried their best to entertain him, but they still felt it was not enough.
They treated him like one of their own and were very kind to him. Even when he told his father-in-law about his plan, he agreed without hesitation.
The next morning, Zheng Wuheng dressed up, said goodbye to his parents, sister and brother-in-law, and went to Cui's house with his guards to pick up someone.
Huiyin wanted to help, but Ji refused: "If I ask you to help, it would be a burden to you. You are a delicate guest, just rest at home."
"Okay, then I won't be busy anymore." If she were an ordinary lady, she could go back to her parents' home to help with welcoming and seeing off guests, but now she is the Princess of Huaiyin, and if she does so, people will say it is inappropriate.
Moreover, she had to rush on the road, sleep in the open air, and have a reversed day and night cycle. Her period became irregular again. She had her period for five or six days, and then two days later, she had a small amount of bleeding again.
I was not feeling well and of course I was in a bad mood. When I returned to my room, Li Cheng came over and asked me, "Is Xiao Rizi gone?"
"Again?"
"This won't work. I still need to see a doctor later." Li Cheng was very worried.
Huiyin smiled and said, "It's okay. I always had pain during my period before I got married, but now it's much better than before." After that, she added, "I have someone packing things now. We will leave tomorrow after we meet the bride."
Li Cheng had no choice. It was not that he did not love his wife, but he was also concerned about Xuzhou. Without the general, he was afraid that the people under him would change their minds.
Huiyin changed her menstrual belt and went out with Li Cheng. She ran into Rong Ma, the dowry of the Cui family. When she saw Li Cheng, she hurried forward to greet him. Li Cheng seemed to recognize her and asked, "Why did you follow me?"
Nanny Rong smiled and said, "I heard that you and the princess have returned home. Now I can finally pay my respects to the young master."
Li Cheng introduced her to Huiyin, "This was my mother's personal maid. She stayed in the Cui family before my mother got married. I met her once when I was a child."
"Now that we are all together as a family, it shows that we are destined to be together." Huiyin said with a smile.
Nanny Rong couldn't help nodding, and looked at Li Cheng with a loving gaze.
Li Cheng wanted to say something, but then he said that the prince and Deyin had returned, and Zheng Fang asked everyone to go and pick them up, so everyone had to go. It was strange, because Deyin had never been told that they would return to attend the wedding, but now the prince brought her back with him, and he didn't know what was going on.
The Zheng family knelt on the ground. Madam Xu knelt willingly. Looking at the noble prince and the charming granddaughter, she glanced at Li Cheng and Huiyin. No matter how arrogant they were, they had to kneel before the prince.
After the prince came in, Zheng Fang and Li Cheng entertained him. On Deyin's side, Madam Xu and Ji invited her to sit at the top, and Huiyin sat below her. The status of the princess was certainly not inferior to that of the concubine, but the prince's status was higher than that of the prince. Fortunately, Deyin wanted to go see her mother, Xu, so Huiyin didn't have to accompany her here.
Deyin definitely wanted to go see Xu. It was easy for her to meet Mrs. Xu, because the Crown Prince and Empress He wanted her to influence her family, so Mrs. Xu handed in a name card and was able to get in line quickly. However, Xu was in the nunnery, so she couldn't see her. There were many people today, and with her sister, the Princess of the County, everyone's attention was not on her, so she wanted to see her mother.
As for Huiyin, she simply went to take a look at Zheng Wuheng's new room. Unexpectedly, Nanny Rong was there. When she saw her come in, she hurried over.
"You go about your business. I'll just come here to take a look." She looked at her brother's new house and felt a little dazed for a moment. Her brother was also going to get married and start a family.
Nanny Rong was very interested in Li Cheng and came over to ask, "Hello, Princess. I am so happy to see that the prince has grown up so well."
"Yes. The prince is both wise and brave, and he is also good at fighting. He handles big and small things, and everyone around him is satisfied with him." Huiyin praised Li Cheng with ease.
Aunt Rong said in a very excited tone, "That's good, that's good."
Somehow, Huiyin remembered that Princess Wu made Yin Lifang the princess before her death. She also heard that the Yin sisters entered the palace as companions at a very young age. She found it very strange, but not many people knew about it in the Huaiyin Palace. Even when Mother Chao sent someone to ask, Mother Chao didn't seem to know the answer.
There happened to be such a person, Huiyin looked at her and said, "Mammy, I actually have something to ask you."
"Please speak, Princess. I will tell you everything I know." Nanny Rong said sternly.
Huiyin smiled slightly: "Don't be nervous, I'm just asking some small questions."
"Did you know that the Xiaoyin family and the Cui family are related by marriage?"
Aunt Rong immediately shook her head and said, "We don't know anyone with the surname Yin."
"Oh, maybe I was wrong." Huiyin said.
Nanny Rong looked bewildered.
The bride, Cui Yuehuan, came into the bridal chamber at dusk. As the Cui family's senior housekeeper, Nanny Rong had already inquired about everything here. After the groom lifted the veil, Nanny Rong told her everything.
"We live in the east courtyard of the mansion. There are guest rooms on both sides and the back room at the back. The wife of the family is a secluded person who rarely goes out. She usually stays at home to worship Buddha. The wife of the Marquis, Ji, has a straightforward temper. The only two aunts are both members of the royal family. I'm afraid it will be rare for you to meet them."
Cui Yuehuan smiled and said, "When we were getting married just now, I met the Crown Prince, Concubine Zheng, and the Huaiyin Prince and his wife. Concubine Zheng was smiling all the time and looked very friendly. The Huaiyin Princess was in high spirits and her eyes were sharp."
Nanny Rong said, "We can't judge things by appearances. Concubine Zheng is very favored, which is naturally related to her personality, but the fact that the Princess of Huaiyin can make the Prince of Huaiyin accompany her all the way back to visit her parents is also not to be underestimated."
"Mammy, didn't my aunt write to you before and tell my cousin to marry a girl with the surname Yin? How come he ended up marrying someone from the Zheng family—" Cui Yuehuan was still young and had many doubts.
Li Cheng is her cousin, but the two families don't have much contact. He is a young, handsome and protective marquis. Even she is jealous of him, especially since she is going to get married soon. She is very scared. Her mother uses the example of the Prince of Huaiyin and his wife, saying that there are very loving couples in the world.
When Aunt Rong heard this, her eyebrows jumped: "Please don't mention this, it would be bad if someone heard it."
Cui Yuehuan knew her limits, of course: "Okay, I understand. By the way, Mammy, my elder sister is getting married today, and she is treating her harshly just like my mother did, very petty. She was born out of wedlock, and grew up away from home with her biological mother, and was later brought back, but my mother never treated her badly."
Cui Yuehuan thought that all the sons of the noble families would take concubines to take care of the marriage in order to marry a woman of equal status, and then send the concubines away when they got married.
The eldest sister's mother refused to accept her fate and even wanted to compete with the first wife. She deserved it.
…
It was getting late and the dew was heavy. Huiyin yawned and couldn't help asking Li Cheng, "What are you doing here today, Prince?"
Li Cheng curled his lips: "The prince wants to get something for nothing."
"Oh, then what are you going to do?" Huiyin looked at him.
Li Cheng yawned, "I have discussed this with my father-in-law, but we still have to report this to the King of Wei, so we have to travel day and night to get back tomorrow. I'll have to trouble you to take care of Jing'er."
Huiyin smiled and said, "Of course. Oh, by the way, guess what my brother and his wife are doing now?"
She wanted to ask whether they were eating or drinking, but Li Cheng said ambiguously: "Of course we are doing things that husband and wife can do. It's a pity that you are not in good health now, so I have to wait."
"You..." Huiyin blushed.
Speaking of marriage, she looked at Li Cheng and said, "Let me ask you, why did your mother and you both choose Yin Lifang? Your mother's brother preferred to wait until he was over 30 to marry a daughter of an aristocratic family who was well-matched with him, and you are also very particular about rules. I really don't understand."
Until now, she still felt that Li Cheng's desperate rescue that day to sever his connection with Yin Lifang was too great a sacrifice. Perhaps he was decisive in part, but she still wanted to know the root cause.
If Li Cheng didn't tell her the truth, she would never be able to open her heart to Li Cheng completely. Even though she actually liked Li Cheng very much, she still had some reservations.
If she really liked Yin Lifang before, she would be confident that she could make Li Cheng fall in love with her. Now Li Cheng already likes her very much, but if it is something else, she still needs him to make it clear.
Li Cheng didn't expect Huiyin was still brooding over this matter until now. He thought she had believed it that time.
"I'll tell you on the way tomorrow." Li Cheng patted her shoulder, but he couldn't tell her now.
Huiyin had no choice but to nod.
The next morning, the newlyweds came to pay their respects. Huiyin saw that Zheng Wuheng was tall and handsome, while Cui Yuehuan was charming and lovely. They complemented each other very well, and she thought they must have been in harmony last night.
"I wish you a happy marriage and a son soon." Huiyin said with a smile.
Cui Yuehuan felt a little embarrassed when she heard the words "give birth to a noble son soon". She used to be a grown-up girl and had always felt uncomfortable. After hearing these words, she felt like she had become an adult.
She was shy, but Zheng Wuheng was not shy at all. He smiled and said, "Then I will accept your words, sister. What you say is always true."
Everyone will smile.
Seeing the couple like this, Huiyin felt relieved and went home. Ji wanted to ask Pei Shuo to send them off and prepare to go on a journey, but Huiyin stopped her.
"My sister-in-law just came home and the family is busy. Just leave us alone. We are in a hurry to go back now." Huiyin didn't want to bother her family because she also wanted to know what Li Cheng said yesterday.
Huiyin was eager to return home, and Ji Shi could not keep her any longer, so she prepared five carts of local products for them to take back. After getting on the carriage, Li Cheng rode outside first. At the first post station, Huiyin looked at him and did not even say a word of concern, but just said, "Hurry up and tell me."
"I've never met a woman as persistent as you. If I hadn't told you, it would have been a thorn in your heart. So I'll tell you now." Li Cheng thought it didn't matter if he told her now that they were far away.
Huiyin prepared tea and snacks, and looked at him with her chin in her hand: "Go ahead."
Li Cheng was not going to tell this secret, after all, he was doing it for the sake of his respected wife. But now he knew that if he didn't tell her, his wife would probably always be alienated from him.
【Author's words】
Let's see if I can update it tomorrow with 10,000 words
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