51 Chapter 51
◎Two chapters in one◎
"I don't know what these scoundrels are looking for. Fortunately, the palace is heavily guarded, otherwise if they succeeded, it would be no joke." Fu Gui complained.
It is indeed a good thing for a person to be beautiful, and sometimes he or she can get more attention than others. However, being too beautiful, or even making the beauty known to others, can bring certain disasters.
Huiyin said, "It's just right that I don't have to go out. I'm too lazy to go out anyway. These people are just in a whim. If something new happens, this matter will be over."
Fugui looked at Huiyin and said disapprovingly: "I'm afraid some scoundrel will break in—"
"No, even if there is, I am not afraid. With so many people protecting me, he can still come. Doesn't it prove that the guards are not strict? It can help me pick out those who are serious about their work and those who are just taking advantage of the situation." She thought that Li Cheng might come back. With Li Cheng around, no one dared to mess around.
Unconsciously, she thought that she still believed in her husband in her heart. After all, he was brave and thoughtful. Now she could understand more and more what her mother meant. In troubled times, finding someone who makes you feel that he can protect you is better than anything else.
As she spoke, her stomach moved a little, and Huiyin couldn't help laughing: "The one in my stomach must be a little naughty, otherwise it wouldn't always kick me."
The maids around laughed quietly.
The wet nurse brought Jing'er in from outside, but Huiyin was so pregnant that it was difficult for her to hold the child, so she let him sit on the couch. Unfortunately, Jing'er was not obedient. He kicked off his shoes and got up on the couch to make trouble.
"He's almost two years old, he can't play like this anymore, you should teach him to speak more often, and pay attention to his daily life and diet." Huiyin touched her son's head. The child's head was so good, not bumpy at all, full and round, with his cute belly. No matter how she looked at her son, she thought he was cute.
Jing'er could already speak. He rolled over on the couch and stood up again, holding Huiyin's shoulders: "Mom, I want to eat rat cake."
"What is rat cake?" Huiyin thought that there was no such name. Then she suddenly had an idea and said with a smile, "Are you talking about Su-yang snacks?"
Jing'er looked at the wet nurse, and Song quickly said, "You sent some flower cakes here the other day, but we didn't dare give the prince too much, so we said to put the Su-style cakes away first. I wonder if the prince heard it?"
Huiyin ordered someone to go to the kitchen to make two fresh snacks. The happiest thing for a child is probably to eat delicious food. The child could eat some chestnut cake and taro cake happily. Naturally, the child felt sleepy again right after eating. After a while, his head was like a chicken pecking at rice. She had to let the wet nurses take the child back.
Before she knew it, she was also feeling sleepy, and fell into a deep sleep. When she woke up, she found she couldn't see her hand in front of her. She reached out and found a person lying next to her. She sat up immediately, terrified, with a lot of thoughts in her mind.
"It's me, don't be afraid."
A clear male voice came, and Huiyin breathed a sigh of relief: "You scared me to death. You came back without telling me."
Li Cheng's voice was a little muffled again: "I came back specially because it was too late. I didn't go to Uncle Wei's place, so I ran back first."
Huiyin yawned and became a little worried: "What's wrong with you? You are not allowed to come back without an imperial edict. Aren't you afraid of what the King of Wei will say to you?"
"Huiyin..." He didn't say why, nor did he answer the question, he just called Huiyin's name.
"What's the matter?" Huiyin stroked his cheek and felt it was a little prickly. It was probably because he didn't have time to shave.
In fact, she knew very well why her husband came back, and this was the effect she wanted. Why are you men the only ones who are fought over every day and make women worry? From now on, you have to worry about me. Moreover, she used this incident to give herself a plausible reason to go to Xuzhou.
Li Cheng sat up and said, "I had a nightmare last night and I feel uneasy all the time."
"It's okay. Don't you have me here? Even if everyone in the world betrays you, I won't." Huiyin leaned on him.
Li Cheng felt that her words were like a stream of warmth flowing into his heart, but how could he have done that? He even asked expectantly, "Why are you so nice to me?"
Huiyin smiled and said, "Aren't you worthy?"
"Then you come with me this time, okay?" Li Cheng wanted to hold his wife by his side.
Huiyin smiled calmly: "Okay."
Needless to say, the couple talked affectionately and even got up to have a meal. Li Cheng felt furious when he thought about the lecher he saw outside when he came back.
Besides, the other couple had just finished being affectionate. Zheng Fang and Ji were already an old couple. Although Ji had fine wrinkles at the corners of her eyes, she was still slim and fit, with a fair complexion. At this moment, she was asking, "In my opinion, the prince hated Lu Wei so much that he killed all of Lu Wei's family, leaving no one alive."
"That's right. If you don't remove the roots of the grass, it will grow again in the spring breeze. There is nothing wrong with what the prince did. He inherited part of the He family's army to defend the capital, and he treated me with respect. But after I told him that I wanted to be the prime minister, the prince said that it was not that he didn't want to, but that Wei Duo didn't allow it." Zheng Fang hesitated.
Although he now occupies a large area, it is not easy to manage it. There was a commotion in the Northwestern Army just now. After he went to deal with it, the Jizhou Army had things to deal with again. His energy is no longer as good as it used to be. Fortunately, there is Zheng Wuheng, but this boy is too young and is bullied by his subordinates. He has to go through a few battles before he can establish his position.
As for David, he actually felt guilty.
Ji also frowned when she heard Wei Duo: "He, if it is him, it is not surprising. He has long coveted Lu Wei's power. Now Lu Wei has been eliminated by you, and He Guojiu's subordinates do not listen to you. I am afraid that it will be a thankless task in the future. However, it is good that we have obtained the land north of Jiahu Pass. We did not have this land before."
She was well aware that her husband had grown older in recent years and had been drained of his body by alcohol and sex, and was no longer as strong as he used to be.
Zheng Fang said: "That's impossible. I have finally taken control of the armies of the Lu and He families. I don't want to be a wedding dress for others."
"Then what will you do? Don't forget that the Lu family still has a Crown Princess. Although some of those soldiers are on your side, they are just fence-sitters. Once something happens to you, they will also side with others." Ji couldn't help but feel worried.
In fact, he hasn't mentioned the King of Wei yet. Zheng Fang's road will definitely not be so smooth.
Zheng Fang patted Ji's hand and said, "Let the Crown Prince Feng Deyin be the Crown Princess first. This will give me a better chance."
Ji couldn't help but nod. Although she and Deyin didn't agree, it was a long time before the Crown Princess Lu's family fell. However, she also advised: "Actually, if you ask me, why should we take action? Empress He's brother was killed by Lu Wei. Can she still tolerate Lu?"
"Yes, yes, I forgot about that." Zheng Fang is not so stupid now. He is not so stupid to rush forward in everything. Last time, he killed Lu Wei and He Guojiu and escaped unscathed, which means he kept himself out of the matter and was fine.
Ji smiled and said, "It's getting late, let's rest. My daughter-in-law is pregnant, and I have to send some supplements over tomorrow. Heng'er is going to be a father, and I hope he can be more stable in the future."
Zheng Fangye was very happy when talking about his son: "I hope he can take my place soon, so I can rest. It's just that my son is too young, otherwise he would have been lying down all day."
Ji shook his head, there was nothing he could do.
After a good night's sleep, Huiyin opened her eyes and saw Li Cheng staring at her. She was shocked: "What's wrong?" She hadn't washed up yet, and her face was swollen. She felt weird being stared at like that.
But seeing that Li Cheng seemed to be sulking and unable to express himself, she seemed to understand his feelings: "Are you waiting for me to wake up?"
Li Cheng nodded secretly. He didn't know what to say, but he just didn't want Huiyin to leave him.
"We ate too much last night. How about we have some porridge this morning? It's made with milk, almonds, peanuts and walnuts. It's delicious." Huiyin pulled his hand and got out of bed.
Li Cheng was originally a person who dared to think and speak, but he also had a strong sense of self-esteem. If someone disliked him and showed disdain for him, he would not be nice to that person anymore, thinking that he was wasting his efforts.
But Huiyin was always particularly patient and considerate to him, so he followed her obediently. After the two of them washed up separately, the people below served them hot porridge for breakfast.
"The porridge cooked with milk has no fishy smell or strange taste, and it tastes delicious." Li Chengcai said the first sentence after waking up.
Huiyin touched her belly and said, "After getting pregnant, I feel better about my morning sickness this time, but I always want to eat some soup. I used to hate soup the most. I would rather eat cakes that would make me choke. I don't even like to drink soup when I eat noodles..."
In fact, Li Cheng has eaten everything, but he thinks the porridge tastes better when he eats with Huiyin. He also eats a meat bun: "This kind of baked bun is also delicious."
"If you like, eat more. Do you want some ramen?" Huiyin looked at him with concern.
After all, she had some calculations in this matter, but she just wanted to make Li Cheng anxious, and never thought of making him crazy...
Li Cheng shook his head: "No, just get ready to pack your things later!"
"Are you serious?" Huiyin's eyes widened.
Li Cheng actually laughed at this moment: "Who is joking with you? After packing the boxes, we will take the boat back. The garden of the Xuzhou Palace is very spacious, not like here. I can also teach Jing'er to ride a horse by then."
Huiyin was puzzled: "Why did you suddenly ask me to go to Xuzhou? What about the King of Wei..."
Li Cheng said angrily: "Those writers are really redundant. They should just write "Jianye Fu" properly, but they chose to use your name and let those scoundrels covet you. Even I feel upset when I see it."
“原來你是因為這事兒啊，你是吃醋了嗎？”徽音低笑。
李澄看了她一眼，嘴硬的很：“我沒吃醋，我是怕你不安全。”
“好，你怕我不安全，之前還敢說喜歡我，現在吃醋都不敢說了啊？”徽音忍不住打趣，無論如何，看到李澄正常起來比什麽都好。
李澄又不說話，只是咧着嘴笑，他就特別喜歡徽音這樣，什麽都能理解他。
就是沒想到李澄去見魏王的時候，他還沒說話，魏王反而對他道：“你回來正好，我有一件事情要和你說，此事，我已經和霍家都說好了。”
李澄不明所以：“叔父，什麽說好了？這件事情和霍家有關系嗎？”
魏王笑道：“你小子好福氣，你嬸娘的妹妹今年正值花信之年，待字閨中，算得上才貌雙全。我想為你求娶她做次妃，如此讓你王妃留在建業照顧老太妃，她又能陪你去徐州。”
“叔父，你不是開玩笑的吧？”李澄有些生氣。
魏王擰眉：“我都和霍家說了，怎麽會是開玩笑的呢。”
……
魏王妃正和霍老太君還有殷次妃一起打牌，有宮女進來說小王爺去拜見魏王了，她還一喜，殷麗芳觑着魏王妃的臉色，又恭喜霍老太君：“您家又要出一個王妃了，恭喜恭喜。”
“殷娘娘這是哪裏的話，折煞老身了。”霍老太君心裏未免覺得遺憾，若自己孫女成郡王妃更好，那她們霍家可就出了一個親王妃，一個郡王妃了，偏偏只是個郡王次妃。
但無論如何，淮陰王現下年輕，身份尊貴，又手握實權是一方諸侯，比什麽都強。
殷麗芳倒是很為李澄高興，能娶霍家的女兒也是好事，這說明他能如虎添翼，将來分量也不同，倒是她那個妹妹還覺得做王爺也可憐，想娶誰都不能自己定？
是的，殷麗儀聽謝九儀說起李澄回來，還問道：“那他這次回來是真的要娶霍家的三姑娘嗎？”
“板上釘釘的事情，魏王都拍板了，霍家的人也知道了，還怎麽改變呢？”謝九儀笑着。
殷麗儀感嘆：“你說那鄭氏懷有身孕呢，那麽些人為了看她一眼，日日夜夜守在她家門口。我過去看吳太妃，吳太妃還說她紅顏禍水，如此，小王爺又另立了別人做次妃，他們夫婦恐怕看着也不長久了。”
謝九儀不明白：“何以這麽說呢？不過是納個次妃，還夫妻不和了啊！”
“你不知道，那鄭氏不是個能夠容人的。荀柔你可知曉？我當年在徐州時打聽到一件事情，說的是荀柔奉太妃之命去，你也知道荀姑娘是小王爺嫡親的表妹，曾經也是很得吳王妃歡心的，甚至吳王妃生病時，她還用血抄寫經書，把整個王府調理的一片人都叫好。可惜後來她露出分毫要做次妃的意思來，鄭氏就趁着小王爺在徐州練兵，讓流民把荀姑娘蹂躏了，那荀姑娘受不了就回京了。”每次提到這些，殷麗儀對鄭徽音也沒有半點好感。
她覺得有些女子有手段，那也很正常，內宅之争嗎？不是東風壓倒西風，就是西風壓倒東風，就連她姐姐也有些身不由己的事情，可鄭氏手段太狠了，也太突破下限了。
正常人的宅鬥都不會去毀掉別人的清譽。
謝九儀沒想到還有這般的事情：“這種事李澄知道嗎？”
殷麗儀搖頭：“我想肯定不清楚她，而且鄭氏之父如今掌控冀州青州還有涼州三地，我想有些事情就像你說的，恐怕無能為力。”
“可霍氏進門，只怕是兇多吉少啊。”謝九儀如此想着。
殷麗儀站起來道：“所以我說這是霍家打錯了算盤，恐怕霍家的女兒進門，将來被吃的骨頭都不剩。想起來那霍家女兒，生的也是秀麗可人，真是可憐。”
她天生就有一種路不平就要鳴的沖動，謝九儀趕緊道：“他內宅的事情我不好多說，但我會讓人去提醒他，怎麽着也不會讓一個無辜的女子死于內宅。”
最重要的是謝九儀知曉魏王讓霍氏女嫁給李澄是為了叔侄關系，這是有重大意義的，他作為魏王的幕僚，也不能讓霍氏女進門沒多久就人沒了。
不過，他笑道：“我聽說魏王想讓霍姑娘跟着去徐州，那鄭氏在建業，王不見王，想怎麽着也使不上力啊。”
魏王也是這麽說的，他聽到李澄拒絕，就立馬道：“你不必擔心，霍氏随你去徐州，替你操持徐州的事情，我不明白你這有什麽好拒絕的？難道是對我的任命不滿嗎？”
之前娶鄭氏，其實李澄就有點不滿了，當年他不喜歡鄭放為人，可還是聽了魏王的話娶了徽音，婚後二人鹣鲽情深，妻子才貌雙全，世間罕有之明珠，他心中對她已經是情難自抑，哪裏還有別人的餘地？
況且魏王總是直接給自己安排，這讓他更為不爽。
故而，他道：“王叔好意，允執心領了。實不相瞞，我妻不少人垂涎，原本小侄就內心惶惶不安，還專門派了人看着她，就怕有宵小觊觎。如今因那楊子嘉作《建業賦》，讓我十分苦惱，叔父，我都擔心她被人搶走，又怎麽敢再納呢？況且鄭氏又有了身子，那霍氏女進門後還要屈居人下，還不如找一文武雙全的世家子弟，何必非要入我的府門呢？您也別擔心我，我這次回來就是想把她和璟兒都帶去徐州的，我們那王府外都是些宵小，我真怕出什麽事情。”
魏王是真的對這件親事執着嗎？他可能還想看看李澄會不會和以前那樣服從于他。
他看着面前認真解釋的李澄，有些不悅道：“你說的固然有你的道理，可是我和霍家說好了，你說了不要人家，人家萬一想不開，這可如何是好？”
如果魏王是用道德綁架別人，此事肯定會成功，可恰好他遇到的人是李澄，無理都可以攪三分的人，聽到魏王這般說，他就道：“王叔，您才剛剛和我說要納次妃，怎麽霍家女兒就要嫁給我了？無媒無聘，甚至次妃都要由朝廷請封的。您就別擔心霍家了，王嬸上次到處托我和您說讓您別把蒹葭嫁給衛宵，我可沒管的，這次您就幫我說一聲吧。”
“你呀你，我給你好不容易準備的這場親事，霍家女帶來豐厚之聘禮，霍家在江南地位不一般，我叔侄二人雖然貴為王爺，可到底打仗兵糧還不是要這些世家支持。再者，男子漢，豈能受婦人轄制？”魏王雖然笑着說話的，可是還是沒有這麽快松口。
李澄原本想說其他的，但見魏王如此說，他就直接承認了，想着正好也能洗清上次救李敬之事，遂低着頭道：“叔父，你是大丈夫，我可不是。”
魏王沒想到他還真的承認了，本來三分做戲，氣到了七分，指着他一直道：“你，你……你也太不争氣了。這話你怎麽說的出口的，若是你的屬下知道你是個畏妻如虎之人，誰願意真心跟随于你？”
“叔父，我本來也只想跟着你，我也沒什麽大志向。如今偏安一隅，替你守着徐州，我就已經滿足了。”李澄正好借坡下驢表忠心。
這話魏王聽了倒是受用，見他是真的不願意娶，也只好作罷：“好，此事我和霍家的人去說。”
“小侄就多謝叔父了。”李澄拱手道謝。
叔侄二人午膳在一起用的，魏王妃還專門讓廚房上李澄愛吃的菜，還讓殷次妃做了點心一道送過去，殷麗芳也做的很是認真，她們都以為李澄肯定同意納次妃。對于這樣公侯子弟，納個次妃或者妾侍，就跟喝水一樣簡單。
能娶霍氏這樣出身的高門貴女為次妃，那可是穩賺不賠的買賣啊，看來李澄也肯定同意，否則不會留下來吃飯。
這飯吃了有一個時辰，殷次妃和魏王妃都在照看孩子們，等李澄離開了，魏王妃才過去，她原本是想去讨論妹妹的喜事的，不曾想魏王擺手。
“王爺，這是何意啊？”魏王妃不解。
魏王道：“他不願意現在納次妃，讓你妹妹再擇人家吧，反正兩邊目前也只是起了個頭，沒有真的開始說親。”
本來還覺得妹妹做次妃委屈的魏王妃道：“他為何不願意娶我妹妹啊？我妹妹生的如花似玉，又才貌雙全，我霍家的門檻都快被踏缺了，他為何啊？”
魏王妃想不通，魏王就更想不通了。
夫妻二人面面相觑，李澄倒是很樂呵，騎馬回去時，見自家周圍圍着人，還讓親兵瘋狂驅趕了一回，才覺得內心舒暢許多。
回來時，卻沒見有人擡東西，立馬沖進去徽音房裏：“你怎麽還沒收拾箱籠啊？我不是讓你快些收拾了好走嗎？”
“哎呀，我是怕你沒這麽快嘛！我聽許次妃說你叔父想讓你納次妃呢……”徽音也沒想到他居然這麽快能回來。
Li Cheng frowned: "You also know about this, really, you didn't tell me in advance. My uncle told me and tried to persuade me in every way, but I refused."
"Why?" Huiyin asked nervously.
Li Cheng smiled brightly: "No one in the world can really force anyone to do anything. If I really don't want to, I will of course refuse."