As expected, both the Queen and Concubine Chen sent invitations to Ye Qiu for this Spring Banquet.
Ye Zhou and Tang Miao explained again and again, but their daughter still disappeared after the banquet.
It was two hours later when Xuanyuan Huaiyu and Ye Qiu were found. Although nothing had happened, both of them were dressed neatly.
But after all, a single man and a single woman stayed in the same room for too long, so there were bound to be some rumors.
What's more, when the two were found, they were both in a daze, which made people think of something.
After the incident, Xuanyuan Hao and Ye Zhou looked unhappy. Chen Fei and Tang Miao both lowered their heads.
After Ye Zhou led Tang Miao and his daughter Ye Qiu back home from the palace, Xuanyuan Hao looked at Chen Fei and asked, "Do you want me to investigate, or do you want to tell me yourself?"
Chen Fei burst into tears: "Your Majesty, Huaiyu is like this now because I didn't teach her well.
He planned to live like this for the rest of his life, and let his third brother's children take charge of two royal palaces in the future.
I... whatever punishment Your Majesty intends to give me, I will accept it..."
Xuanyuan Hao also remained silent. At the end, he said to Zhang Ru, "Go ask Ye Zhou's daughter what she thinks."
Then he said to Concubine Chen, "If the girl is willing, then that's fine. If not, you can discuss the punishment later."
Ye Zhou returned home and went straight to the study. He neither looked for Tang Miao and her daughter to question them nor did he lose his temper.
Tang Miao felt uneasy and took the initiative to go to the study to find Ye Zhou. Ye Zhou said, "Now that things have come to this, let's wait for someone from the palace to come and talk."
What happened next was just as Ye Qiu had expected. Once the marriage was confirmed, his father finally made his mother his legal wife.
The favorite concubine for decades finally became the principal wife in the family tree, and my brother and Ye Qiu became legitimate sons and daughters.
My father also arranged a wedding ceremony for my mother that was neither too grand nor too small. After all, when he took a concubine, the current empress dowager just sent her over in a sedan chair.
His father quickly asked for his brother to be named the Crown Prince. After he was granted the title, the wedding date of Ye Qiu and Xuanyuan Huaiyu was also set.
Brother Ye Feng asked Ye Qiu: "Are you willing?"
Ye Qiu said, "I'm willing."
Ye Feng continued, "Are you taking this step for your brother and mother?"
Ye Qiu said: "It's also for my own sake, my status as a legitimate daughter and a proper family."
Ye Feng sighed and said, "But this may not be good for your reputation, my mother's reputation, and mine. I think..."
Ye Qiu said, "Brother, don't let outsiders' nonsense confuse you. Some people say that the current emperor's succession to the throne was not legitimate and was not the will of the late emperor. What does it matter?"
No matter what you do in this world, there will always be people who will say something.
Even if you don't want anything and don't fight for anything, even if you voluntarily give up the position of crown prince, there will still be people who say that you were forced, that you are not as good as others, that your father originally wanted to choose someone else, and that you were just saving face for yourself.
Brother, you should be a good prince and be steady, which is better than anything else. In the future, you will support the Xiangguo Mansion like your father did, and also for mother and me."
When everything was settled, Tang Miao seemed to understand something. Although it seemed like happy events were happening one after another, she still felt uneasy.
A mother is honored by her son, and a son is honored by his mother. After all, it was because I was lacking in some way and couldn't help my child that I let him...
Xuanyuan Huaiyu felt that the whole thing was ridiculous. He didn't want to do this, but he had no choice. Otherwise, how would this matter end? What would happen to his mother?
So, he and Ye Qiu tacitly agreed to try to reduce the scale of the wedding ceremony and the number of guests.
Ye Qiu was also very sensible. She hardly went out before and after marriage. She never left her parents' home or her husband's home. She decided to wait until the storm had passed.
After they got married, they lived in separate courtyards and lived in peace.
After Ye Qiu felt Chen Fei's expectations, he thought that since he had already taken the benefits, he still had to do the work.
So Xuanyuan Huaiyu gradually found that life was indeed comfortable and convenient, and his residence in the East and West Camps was also brand new.
The food, clothing, and supplies were all perfectly prepared; a palace managed by a mistress was different after all. He had initially felt irritated when he saw Ye Qiu doing these things, but Ye Qiu did it without approaching him.
Xuanyuan Huaiyu relaxed again. He saw the garden in the mansion that he had grown tired of seeing, and the potted plants had all undergone fresh and interesting changes.
The servants were also more diligent, and everything was in order. However, Ye Qiu would never touch the courtyard where Wang Xipei originally lived and the garden he built for Wang Xipei, and he would never even enter it.
This Ye Qiu is really...that's it.
Time and habit have terrible power. After about a year of not seeing each other again, perhaps because of a sudden visit from Concubine Chen, the two of them changed from having separate meals to having meals together.
Xuanyuan Huaiyu thought it was good. It was rare that he didn't feel lonely or embarrassed. The food she ate was strange, so he tried hers in addition to his own. He thought it was not bad.
Another year had passed since they became dining partners. The two had become familiar with each other, and they had become more tacit in various public occasions such as palace banquets, and had more topics to talk about.
In the third year after their marriage, because they were still pregnant and had no children, Concubine Chen sent the imperial physician and several aunts to live in the palace, saying that they would not leave until the couple got pregnant.
The two were forced to sleep together.
Although they lived in the same room, one of them always slept on the small couch.
But Xuanyuan Huaiyu seemed to have touched upon something and behaved very abnormally.
Ye Qiu was confused, thinking he'd been scolded by Concubine Chen about the issue of having children. But she was under a lot of pressure herself. Looking back, she realized that if she wanted to secure her position as Princess, she needed children.
After more than two years of getting along, this...isn't that difficult, is it? Why not speak up first and resolve this?
Ye Qiu mustered up his courage and spoke in a humble manner. But these words were like a thunderbolt. Xuanyuan Huaiyu just stood there in a daze before rushing out the door.
All he could think of was the third year of their marriage, when Wang Xipei still didn't know why she'd married him. Because they couldn't conceive and had no children, she'd once, feeling wronged, not taking the initiative to sleep on the couch. Instead, she blushed, lowered her head, and begged him to give her a child so she could find her feet.
He understood what she meant from the beginning, but he deliberately let her stutter and finish her words before giving her a completely humiliating response.
When she heard this, the color drained from her face, leaving it pale and her eyes wide open in shock.
He felt happy at the time, and every time he recalled the scene since then, it still pierced his heart. Now, such a similar scene shattered his heart, making the seemingly peaceful days of the past two years disappear like the receding tide, leaving only scars scratched by reefs.
He left in a hurry, mounted his horse and was about to go to the East and West camps. Those desperate aunts came to stop him, thinking that the young couple was quarreling. He told the truth in anger and then rode away.
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