5 Chapter 5

◎Wedding reception◎

The winter solstice is the most important day in the Daye Dynasty besides the Chinese New Year. Only at this time will the whole family gather together. Huiyin and her brother followed their parents to pay their respects to their grandmother, Madam Xu.

Not to mention that the old lady disliked Ji and hated all the family members, she loved the only male in the family, Zheng Wuheng, very much. Before she even finished bowing, she called out, "Brother Heng, come to grandma quickly."

Zheng Wuheng said, "Grandma, I'll just sit here and not take up your seat."

He is not stupid. The old lady treats him well because she sees that he has grown up and will inherit his father's title and military power in the future. A few days ago, she asked him to get closer to his eldest sister, saying that they are all family. Who is family to her? The second sister is his real sister. He usually bullies her mother and sister, but now she remembers that they are family.

Huiyin looked around and stood up and said to Madam Xu, "Grandma, this is the headband that I embroidered for you. I hope you can forgive me for my poor craftsmanship."

In her previous life, she really thought that her mother had taken away Xu's position as the legal wife, so she was more tolerant of her elder sister. Even though her embroidery skills were not inferior to hers, she would not show them to others. Even after she became the empress dowager, she took her elder sister to the capital because she was afraid that she would be bullied in her fiefdom.

Now that she knows the truth, she realizes that Xu was trapped in her own trap. And since Zheng Deyin is stealing other people's lives, she will naturally no longer be the sister who always gives her a chance.

People only saw that there were two different headbands, one had an eyebrow band with a phoenix and peony pattern, and the other had a dark blue satin base with auspicious cranes and cloud patterns embroidered on it. Both looked intricate and complex, and had good meanings.

Anyone with a discerning eye would know that this was all good. Madam Xu was partial, but she felt that Huiyin had ulterior motives and was deliberately using these things to please her so that she could pave the way for her with the King of Wei.

Yes, Ji was just the daughter of the General of the Central Army of Pingyang County, while the Xu family of Donghai had three dukes in their second generation. They assisted the King of Wei as the emperor's younger brother and shepherded the people on behalf of the emperor, which was the most legitimate. With Hui Niang's little tricks, at most she was like her mother, and could only deceive her own son, who was so soft-hearted, but not the children of real noble families.

But in front of her son, Mrs. Xu didn't say much, and just said lightly: "You don't need to worry about all this time."

Huiyin was not annoyed, she just smiled and said: "It's not a big deal to do your best for the elders. I learned it from my elder sister. My elder sister made knee pads to honor my father, so I did some needlework to honor the elders."

Yes, you don't allow others to show their filial piety, but you didn't stop Zheng Deyin.

When Zheng Deyin heard Huiyin mention her, she remembered that she had gone to see her biological mother Xu a few days ago. Xu had been depressed these years. When she first heard that she had become the Crown Prince's Consort, she was very happy. The Consort was second only to the Crown Princess. When the Crown Prince ascended the throne, her daughter would be the Imperial Consort or the Imperial Consort. But when she heard that Huiyin married the Prince of Huaiyin, and that her uncle was the matchmaker, she felt that it was a bargain for the Ji family and their daughter.

"Back then, Ji was so humble in front of me and regarded myself as a concubine. Unexpectedly, she got pregnant with your father secretly, leaving me, the principal wife, with nowhere to live in peace. Now her daughter is going to be the princess, but you have to be inferior to the crown princess..." This was what Xu cared about most in her life.

Deyin had no choice but to say, "The Prince of Huaiyin is only a county prince, how can he be compared with the crown prince? Besides, the water in the Prince of Huaiyin's mansion is very deep. I heard that the Prince of Huaiyin has someone he loves, and she is suffering."

Then Xu said, "I am imprisoned, but I see my enemy's children rising step by step. How can I not be angry? Your words make me feel less angry."

In Deyin's opinion, she and Huiyin had no deep hatred, and Ji had never treated her harshly. At most, she was better to her own children, which was understandable. In the future, she would marry into the Eastern Palace, and even become the Empress Dowager in a few years. It would be easy for her to take her mother out.

Ji Shi just lets her jump around for a few days now, there is no need to worry about it.

Things are accomplished through secrecy, and ruined through disclosure; those who accomplish great things keep their mouths shut!

Pulling her thoughts back, she smiled when she saw Huiyin saying this, "Sister, your craftsmanship is really good, but I rarely saw you embroidering before. In the future, we sisters can embroider together."

This actually meant that Huiyin had never been so filial to the old lady before, and now she was only doing it because she wanted to compete with her. Huiyin understood what she meant, and she smiled and said, "Big sister is right. If you like, you can come to my room. You haven't been there for a long time."

Deyin thought to herself, she was just pretending to be close to me while claiming to be a sister. She looked up at her grandmother for help. Many times she didn't need to fight for anything, her grandmother always took her side.

As expected, Madam Xu said, "Second girl, you are the younger one, and you should come to see your sister more often. How can you let your sister come to see you?"

Huiyin immediately said respectfully: "Grandma is right, I will take note of it."

Mrs. Xu was satisfied, but when Ji saw her daughter giving things to the old hag and the hag scolding her daughter, she was of course filled with hatred, not to mention Zheng Wuheng.

But Ji didn't know why her daughter would try to please someone so coldly.

The problem is actually Huiyin's way of proving that she will no longer give in to Deyin. If she marries the King of Huaiyin in the future, she will definitely not let her brothers work for him.

When Ji asked this question, Huiyin smiled and said, "Mother, I've noticed that grandma has been trying to get along with my brother and elder sister recently. Today, I want you to see clearly what she is planning. She wants my brother to work hard for my elder sister. She still looks down on us from the bottom of her heart. I think the Empress deliberately married girls from both the Zheng and Lu families. I'm afraid that we will have to watch the two sides fight. Father is soft-hearted, and he can only listen to you. Don't watch father charge into the battle. If she really ascends to the throne and takes her mother out, what will happen to your brother and you in the future?"

Don’t say Huiyin has a narrow mind. Now she can only care about her family.

Yesterday, Ji received a pair of purses from Deyin, saying that it was to thank her for preparing her dowry. Ji was actually a person who was kind to her and she was easily moved. Huiyin wanted to tell her the truth today.

"I heard that she went to see Xu a few days ago. You should know best what kind of personality Xu has and whether she is convinced by you or not."

Only then did Ji understand her daughter's good intentions and agreed with them deeply.

After the winter solstice, almost every household was preparing dowries, including precious horses, luxury cars, servants and dowries. Daye has always attached great importance to women's dowries, as the saying goes, weddings and funerals are all splendid and gorgeous.

As one of the most powerful families in the region, the Zheng family was naturally no less powerful.

Ji was the busiest person in the family until the Chinese New Year. Huiniang was constantly being measured for clothes to be made for her, because her spring shirts, winter jackets, fur coats, and skirts were all made in different tailor shops.

She also had to embroider some embroidery herself, such as fan covers and purses, and Deyin naturally did the same. The elders all knew that no matter whether the brides married into the royal family or ordinary families, although etiquette was important, they also had to present gifts prepared by the elders.

At this time, Princess Xinning invited the two Zheng sisters to the capital to attend a poetry meeting. Although there were wars in other places, the rich and powerful still lived a life of luxury and debauchery. Princess Xinning was the adopted daughter of Empress Dowager He and the daughter of Concubine Wang. She married the son of a general who supported the country. It was rumored that she had been married for several years.

In her previous life, Huiyin and the princess did not get along, mainly because Li Heng would ignore you if he loved you. He was doting on her but indifferent to his true love Lu Xiao, which made the usually warm-hearted princess uncomfortable.

Obviously, the person Princess Xinning really wanted to invite in this life was not her, but Zheng Deyin. Princess Xinning and Li Heng have always had a very good relationship. Zheng Deyin is about to move into the East Palace, and she wants to meet her future sister-in-law to give Li Heng face.

The two sisters went to the capital together. Needless to say, the princess's mansion was prosperous and magnificent. Huiyin actually saw Lu Xiao. The two of them could be considered friends in need at that time.

This silly girl even whispered to Huiyin: "Although it's not nice to say this, but I saw His Highness holding you in his arms at that time. Were you sad?"

Huiyin pretended to be confused and said, "Sad? Sad about what?" Not to mention that she was not moved at all at this time in her previous life, but in this life she was even more hateful and disgusting.

Seeing that Huiyin didn't seem to mind at all, Lu Xiao remembered that she was already engaged, and changed the subject abruptly: "I heard that you are already engaged to the Prince of Huaiyin, is it true?"

Huiyin nodded: "You are right, that's it. My sister will be married next month, and I will be married in May. We will marry in Jianye. But sister Lu is now the crown princess, and I haven't had the chance to pay my respects to you yet?"

Even in her previous life, Huiyin did not dislike Lu Xiao. She was as her name suggested, always smiling. For a ruthless person like Lu Wei to have such an innocent daughter was a huge contrast.

Lu Xiao was very frank: "What Crown Princess? It's just a political marriage. Li Heng seems to dislike me. I married him for my father."

Lu Wei liked to wield power, but he wanted to gain control of the emperor in order to command the other princes, so naturally he wanted to do it in a legitimate way.

In such occasions, Deyin is more popular than Lu Xiao. Although Lu Xiao is the daughter of Lu Wei, she is not good at the etiquette of noble families, nor is she very good at socializing. Huiyin just feels that she is not the protagonist today, so she eats quietly on the side.

Deyin also glanced at Huiyin and saw that she was sitting in a corner eating, while she was treated with courtesy by everyone. Originally, among the guests invited today, Lu Xiao should have been the protagonist, but she was really clumsy and out of tune. No wonder the prince in the previous life didn't like her? Deyin didn't want to steal the limelight from the princess, and on the other hand, she felt a little sympathetic to Lu Xiao, but she couldn't stop everyone from being more willing to interact with her.

Many of her former friends came to talk to her. They were about her age and most of them were engaged. Some were married to Yuzhou, and some were married to her father's subordinates. They all had their own troubles.

She also hesitated whether to tell her sister the truth that Prince Huaiyin actually had someone in his heart, but after thinking about it, she gave up. Maybe, if she didn't tell her, she could still be happy for a few days.

In early March, Deyin was about to leave the palace and enter the Eastern Palace to become the new Consort Liangdi.

In May, the King of Huaiyin sent the Chief Clerk Guo Qishan and the General of the Central Army Yuwen as the envoys to present the marriage proposal on behalf of the King of Huaiyin, along with a hundred carriages, twenty horses, a thousand kilograms of betrothal money, and other valuable utensils, cloth, etc.

The Zheng family naturally would not lose either. After Ji's husband Pei Ye passed away, she inherited almost all of the Pei family's wealth. She used some of it to help Pei Shuo get married and buy a house, and also helped him buy land. A lot of it was given to Huiyin. Besides, Zheng Fang was also a local marquis, so his dowry was no less than a lot, and it was extremely extravagant.

Huiyin put on the veil, got on the sedan chair, and headed for a road she had never experienced in her previous life.