The main courtyard is located on the central axis of the mansion.
It's on the same line as the Crown Prince's residence in the front courtyard, though, to avoid any taboo, it's slightly off-center.
However, it is still the best and largest place in the entire backyard.
The Jiyue Pavilion, where the wild geese return south, is located on the east side of the backyard. To get to the main courtyard, you have to walk past a pavilion and then cross a bridge.
This is a stream of fresh water brought in from the mansion, one of the three bridges.
The place beyond is Mingyue Pavilion, now inhabited by Ning Chenghui, who is none other than the Crown Princess's cousin.
She was an illegitimate daughter of her uncle's family. She entered the household in the same year as the Crown Princess, but was not favored.
Of course, this is all explained by the fragrance.
The largest pavilion in the northeast corner of the backyard was Wangchun Pavilion, where Consort Su lived.
Currently, Consort Su is the most favored. She was originally the daughter of a minor official in the north. She was a woman sent to serve the Crown Prince when he went on an inspection tour in the north two years ago.
Because of her outstanding appearance, she was brought back. She was even given the rank of Liangdi (a high-ranking concubine), which was quite amazing.
As they spoke, they arrived at the main courtyard, where people were already waiting outside. Upon seeing her arrive, they stepped forward to pay their respects.
Yan Nangui followed all the rules and entered with a smile.
There were already several people there, but the Crown Princess had not yet come out, which was not surprising.
Those men all stood up, bowed to her, and addressed her as Liangyuan.
A maid introduced her: "This is Consort Luo."
This person only met Pingli, which clearly shows that they are of the same status.
Yan Nangui returned a simple gift in return.
"This is Ning Chenghui. This is Zhang Chenghui, this is Han Chenghui. This is Ding Zhaoxun. These three are Wang Fengyi, Liu Fengyi, and Xia Fengyi."
Yan Nangui nodded to each of them.
Just by looking at these few low-ranking individuals, you can tell who is favored and who is just average.
At least Xia Fengyi must be favored, otherwise she wouldn't be so glamorous. Wang and Liu are definitely not that great. Their eyes don't even seem very confident.
As they were talking, another beautiful woman entered. What was most striking about her were her eyes, which had an exotic flair, like those of a Uyghur, but with an even more captivating charm.
"This must be Sister Yan. She is truly beautiful and charming," the newcomer said with a smile, appearing extremely kind.
"Greetings to Consort Su, Consort Su is truly beautiful. I am ashamed to admit my inferiority," Yan Nangui said with a smile.
“Look, another one who recognized me by sight, even though we’ve never met before,” Su Liangdi said with a smile.
Just then, another voice came: "Sister Su, with such outstanding eyes, it's hard not to recognize you. There aren't many like you in our Great Yan Dynasty."
The newcomer wore a bright red dress, her hair styled in a high bun and adorned with jewels. She was quite beautiful, and her beauty complemented the jewelry and clothing well.
In the Dayan Dynasty, there were no rules that said concubines couldn't wear bright red or use peony patterns. As long as you didn't embroider dragon patterns on your body or use nine-phoenix hairpins or patterns on yourself, you were fine.
Everything else is fine.
"This concubine has met Consort Ye," Yan Nangui said with a smile.
"No need for formalities." Ye Liangdi was clearly not as polite as Su Shi.
She looked Yan Nangui up and down a few times, snorted, and remained silent.
Yan Nangui sat down and chatted with Madam Su, but it was just idle talk.
This mansion is truly wonderful.
The wild geese fly south, and so I think.
The two young ladies were both quite interesting.
This Lady Ye is naturally the Empress's niece. She entered the palace with the Crown Princess two years ago, even on the same day.
To outsiders, it was a favor, but internally, the Ye family and the Ning family were of similar status. The Ye family had already chosen the Ning family member as the primary wife, and the Ye family member as the secondary wife.
Tsk tsk.
No wonder the Crown Prince wanted to bring in another woman from the Su family.
That's really interesting.
The Crown Princess finally emerged, dressed in a pearl-embroidered brocade gown, predominantly gold, with intertwined floral patterns embroidered along the edges, all outlined in gold thread.
The skirt is also very large, making it look very gorgeous and beautiful.
She wore her hair in a large bun, adorned with gold ornaments, and inlaid with a set of crimson agate stones.
Her face still looked somewhat youthful, but she was also very dignified. She was already nine out of ten beautiful.
"Greetings, Your Highness the Crown Princess." Everyone greeted her.
She waved her hand and smiled, "Now that the new bride is here, do you all know her?"
Everyone said they knew each other.
Yan Nangui got up, and someone had already brought her a cushion. She didn't hesitate and knelt down.
Having paid her respects to the Crown Princess, she became a concubine in this household.
She didn't have any complaints about becoming a concubine instead of a legitimate wife. This was an ancient dynasty, after all; what more could she possibly want?
Things that require patience must be endured; just ignore them. Treat it like visiting a grave.
Of course, the Crown Princess hasn't done anything yet, so let's just consider it as paying respects at the dog emperor's grave.
The Crown Princess politely asked the nanny to help her up, gave her some gifts, chatted with her for a while, and asked if she was comfortable in the accommodations before telling everyone to leave.
"You should all come early tonight. Today's family banquet is also to congratulate Consort Yan. His Highness will also be attending," the Crown Princess instructed.
Everyone busied themselves, especially those who hadn't seen the Crown Prince for a long time, who were all very happy.
After leaving the main courtyard, Madam Su said with a smile, "I won't invite you today. Come visit me another day."
“Yes, since my sister has said so, how could I dare not go?” Yan Nangui said with a smile.
Ye Liangdi looked down on their hypocrisy and turned to leave.
It was cold, and Yan Nangui wasn't in the mood to stroll around, so he went straight back.
After returning home and changing his clothes, he sat by the fire and, feeling warm, asked, "Are these two ladies usually at odds?"
“Yes, Consort Ye. His Highness favors Consort Su and visits her the most. Consort Ye naturally has grievances,” Jiang Xiang said.
"Hmm, so Ding Zhaoxun and Xia Fengyi are favored?" Yan Nangui asked again.
“Replying to Lady Liang, Ding Zhaoxun is just average, not particularly favored. Xia Fengyi, on the other hand, has been quite favored these past few months. Therefore, she lives alone in Yihu Residence, which is considered a very nice residence,” Jiangxiang said.
"Xia Fengyi's temperament isn't very good either, and she doesn't get along well with others, but she does know how to behave appropriately. It's just that Ding Zhaoxun, although he's not favored enough, does have a really bad temper."
"Okay, just don't mess with me." Those above, considering their status, can't do anything too casually.
If you provoke her, just fight back. There's no need to be too polite.
Jiangxiang nodded: "You must be tired too. Take a rest first. I'll have someone prepare lunch. Also, the clothes and jewelry you'll wear tonight."
Yan Nangui smiled, thinking that she would be seeing her husband that night, and felt a little excited.
She'd heard the Crown Prince was a handsome man; she'd like to see if he was the type she was looking for. Revenge wasn't something that could be done in a day; it might take ten or twenty years. She couldn't just focus on revenge. She still needed to see the handsome man.
Although this handsome man is certainly an extremely dangerous partner.
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