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◎ "I like Zhang Su's gift."◎
On the twenty-eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, a heavy snow fell in the capital.
The little princess had no memory of the snow last winter. Concubine Li was able to control her daughter who was only two years old. Now the little princess had become very independent. The emperor, the only person in the entire palace who could control the little princess, was happy to indulge her. Concubine Li could only sit in the pavilion of the imperial garden with the imperial concubine to enjoy the snow, and by the way, watch Emperor Xingwu and the children making snowmen outside.
Emperor Xingwu was in charge of piling the snow, while Qin Hong, Qin Bing and Qin Ren transported clean snow from afar. Qingyang surrounded the snowman and took pictures of it to help his father.
"Come here, sister, my second brother found something good!"
When Qingyang heard this, he walked around the fat snowman and saw his second brother standing under a tree with his butt sticking out, as if staring at something. Qingyang immediately ran over.
Emperor Xingwu looked up, opened his mouth, and then closed it again.
Qingyang ran to his second brother and lowered his head to look for goodies in the snow. Qin Bing took the opportunity to kick the tree trunk hard and ran away, leaving his sister covered in the rustling snow that fell from the branches.
Imperial Concubine: “…”
The little princess, stared at by so many eyes, stood up straight, shook her head, and excitedly said to her second brother, who had run to the side for some reason, "That was fun, second brother, do it again!"
Concubine Li: “…”
Qin Bing was dumbfounded: "Is there any snow stuck in your neck?"
Qingyang tried to look at his neck, but all he saw was the snow-white fox fur around the hood of his cloak.
Qin Bing realized the problem and walked back to pull down his sister's hood. He tugged twice when a fist-sized snowball flew towards him and hit him on the shoulder. Qin Bing subconsciously looked towards Qin Ren, only to see his father standing next to the snowman, still clutching a snowball and glaring at him with a half-smile.
Qin Bing didn't dare anymore.
Emperor Xingwu: "Lin'er, put on your hood, and then let your second brother kick the snow."
Of course Qingyang listened to his father and put on his hat obediently.
So, while Emperor Xingwu took Qin Hong and Qin Ren to continue making snowmen, Qin Bing took his sister to kick the trees in the imperial garden.
Qingyang was not satisfied with the lack of snow, so he picked a tree thicker than Commander Fan's waist and asked his second brother to kick it.
Qin Bing, with sweat on his forehead, panted and said, "My legs are numb from kicking. Go find my father. I can't kick this one anymore."
Qingyang turned around and went to find his father.
Emperor Xingwu carefully flicked the snow off his daughter's hat, shoulders, and back, and said, "Your second brother is deliberately bullying you, hoping the snow will fall down your neck. Next time he takes you out to play, be careful of him. You're always so naughty."
Qingyang understood: "Bad second brother."
Emperor Xingwu secretly made a small snowball and asked his daughter to find an opportunity to stuff it into her second brother's neck.
The little princess hid her hands behind her back and stared at her second brother who was shoveling snow from a distance.
Emperor Xingwu: "...Don't look at him like that, he'll figure it out. Pretend you don't have a snowball in your hand and you have no intention of plotting against him."
Qingyang thought about it, then squatted down to watch his father work.
Qin Bing came back from shoveling snow and wanted to leave after dumping it.
Emperor Xingwu winked at his daughter, calling the second son over, and then took advantage of the son's unpreparedness to press his head down by his shoulders. The little princess was agile and nimble enough to rush over and thrust her hand holding the snowball into the back of her second brother's collar. The cold snowball and the cold little hand slid down Qin Bing's waist and back.
Qin Bing yelled, "Father is biased!"
Emperor Xingwu: "As a brother, I saw you bully your sister. I wonder how many times you have bullied Lin'er before."
Qin Bing finally escaped, jumping on the spot, pulling at his robe, and shaking out a flattened snowball.
In the pavilion, Concubine Li whispered, "Your Majesty, this is really something. Bing'er bullied his sister, and now he's bullying his son."
The imperial concubine sighed, "Ever since Yongkang was born, the emperor hasn't had much time to spend with his children. Isn't this also because he loves children?"
It was indeed a scene of harmonious family happiness. Concubine Li looked around and said with regret, "It's a pity that Yongkang is not here."
Imperial Concubine: "I will be entering the palace the day after tomorrow. Let's have a good family gathering on New Year's Eve."
However, on New Year's Eve, the palace hosted a banquet for important officials and their families from the capital. Emperor Xingwu only spoke briefly with his eldest daughter and her son-in-law before retiring to the Taiji Hall. Qingyang found the cold outside unpleasant. She had seen the officials present many times before, and the initial excitement had worn off. Furthermore, knowing Zhang Su wasn't coming, Qingyang remained obediently by her mother's side, only being led out by her eldest sister during the fireworks display.
"Big sister, will you come tomorrow?"
Yongkang smiled and said, "Come, we have to pay New Year's greetings to our father, the emperor, and the mother, and then you pay New Year's greetings to your husband, and he will also give you New Year's money."
Qingyang: "Whoever I wish New Year's greetings to will receive lucky money from me?"
Yongkang: "It has to be your own elders. It's polite to greet elders from outside the family. You can't ask for New Year's money proactively, or you'll be laughed at."
Qingyang remembered it.
On the first day of the Lunar New Year, Qingyang received lucky money from his father, the imperial concubine, his mother, his elder brother-in-law, and the aunt of Prince Yong. On the third day, he went to the home of Duke Cheng of Lu with his elder brother for a banquet. Unexpectedly, he was given lucky money by the wife of Duke Cheng of Lu and other noble ladies who came to visit. There was so much lucky money that Jie Yu's sleeves could not fit it all.
Qingyang secretly asked his third brother who had come with him: "Why did they only give it to me, and not to my eldest brother, second brother, or third brother?"
Qin Ren: "Because we are grown up, and my sister is still young, and my sister is a little fairy, they all like you."
The eldest brother is already fifteen years old and has a noble status. The ladies dare not give him anything. If the eldest brother doesn't have it, then he and the second brother can't have it either.
Qingyang understood, and after collecting some lucky money, she obediently followed her future sister-in-law Lu Wenrong to play with the other ladies.
Lü Wenrong is now twelve years old and is the granddaughter of Duke Chengguo Lü Guangzu. Every time the imperial concubine holds a flower banquet, Lü Wenrong will enter the palace with the elders of her family, so Qingyang recognizes her, including Yuan Jie, the seven-year-old sister of Yuan Chongli from the Yuan family of Pingliang Marquis Mansion, eight-year-old Meng Yao from the Meng family of Weiyuan Marquis Mansion, and Yan Zhenzhen, the granddaughter of the left prime minister Yan Xizheng.
Yan Zhenzhen is also the niece of the imperial concubine and is the same age as Qingyang, so Qingyang is most familiar with Yan Zhenzhen.
The little girls chattered non-stop, and Qingyang was reluctant to leave when it was time to return to the palace. Unfortunately, her father let her out on the condition that she must listen to her eldest brother.
When she returned to the palace, the little princess still looked unhappy because she had not had enough fun.
Emperor Xingwu coaxed his daughter: "When Lin'er's birthday comes, your father will invite them all into the palace to play with you."
Qingyang: "When is my birthday?"
Emperor Xingwu: "The second day of April, the same day as my father's enthronement ceremony."
Qingyang: "...It's been too long. I think I'll ask them to come to the palace tomorrow."
Emperor Xingwu said, "That won't do. They have to spend the New Year with their families, and they have to study while you're studying. They can only get together on special days. Besides, your Jiuhua Palace isn't finished yet, is it? When it's finished, your father will celebrate your birthday there, and it will be a great opportunity for them to see your new palace."
Qingyang was happy, and from then on he looked forward to the Jiuhua Palace being repaired soon every day.
.
The craftsmen entered the Jiuhua Palace in mid-February and took advantage of the time when the three princes were studying or practicing martial arts during the day to complete the work. This did not disturb the princes' rest, but attracted the attention of the little princess who had a lot of free time in the afternoon.
Compared with the previous dynasty that she was already very familiar with, the little princess was obviously more interested in renovating her own Jiuhua Palace. She brought Jie Yu in and refused to leave.
"What's this?"
"Your Highness, these are bluestone slabs, paved in the courtyard."
"this?"
"This is a crowbar, for prying out old slabs."
"How do you pry it open?"
“…”
The craftsmen were busy at work, and the little princess looked around. By mid-March, the former Cuiyun Palace, now Jiuhua Palace, had been renovated and looked brand new inside and out. After a few days of drying the newly applied paint, the palace servants moved in all kinds of brand new objects of varying sizes, including the exquisitely carved step-out beds, ingeniously crafted porcelain, and so on. Each of these would be priceless if placed outside the palace.
Emperor Xingwu did not spend lavishly on the little princess, but the daily necessities used by the royal masters were made by the best craftsmen in the world with the best materials. The officials in charge of repairing the Jiuhua Palace then selected the best from these first-class items and sent them to the Jiuhua Palace, making the Jiuhua Palace, which was repaired in the spring of the fifth year of Xingwu, even more magnificent than the palaces of the three princes that were repaired successively in the first year of Xingwu.
Now that the palace was built, the Imperial Concubine and the Beautiful Concubine helped the little princess select a group of palace servants to serve her, including six beautiful five-year-old palace maids. They were to learn etiquette from the older palace maids while serving as playmates for the little princess. When the little princess grew up, the four older palace maids around her would probably be from these six younger palace maids.
New house, new playmates. In late March, Qingyang happily moved into Jiuhua Palace and was not at all interested in continuing to live with his third brother.
The three princes were the first to visit their sister's new palace. Although it was a good place, the furnishings of the princess's palace were different from those of the princes. Qin Ren would not compare his residence with his sister's, and Qin Hong and Qin Bing had no such idea either.
Yongkang arrived later, but her new princess mansion was filled with the same high-quality items, so she had no reason to envy him.
In the blink of an eye, it was the second day of April.
Emperor Xingwu not only sent invitations to more than a dozen young ladies from the homes of nobles and high-ranking officials to the palace for a banquet on behalf of the little princess, but also gave his three sons half a day off in the morning.
Early in the morning, three princes who lived nearby came with their study companions to give the little princess birthday gifts.
Qin Hong gave her a red gold and pearl-studded butterfly flower ornament, while Qin Liang gave her a mutton-fat jade Qilin pendant.
Qin Bing gave a rosy jade bracelet, and Yuan Chongli, who was neither a biological brother nor a cousin, gave a box of four lifelike silk flowers of the four seasons.
Qin Ren took out the eagle kite he had made for his sister with a complicated expression, and while giving it to her, he muttered to the others in front of him: "Mother said, just make something for my sister. What's most important is that my sister is happy. Those of you were all prepared by the adults."
Qin Hong thought, he is the eldest brother and the prince, so the gift cannot be too shabby.
Qin Bing didn't know what to give and was too lazy to make it himself, so he simply asked his mother for one.
Qingyang liked her third brother's kite. After making an appointment with her third brother to fly a kite with her, Qingyang looked at Zhang Su who was at the end of the line.
Zhang Su glanced at the third prince.
At the end of the month, when he was on holiday, he went home and told his mother that he wanted to prepare a gift for the little princess. After his mother knew that the third prince would give a homemade kite, she asked him to make one himself, or go to the market to buy something that was not too expensive but would easily please the little princess.
Zhang Su had never had much fun since he was a child, and knew very little about gadgets suitable for playing, let alone making them by himself.
So Zhang Su had no choice but to follow his second brother to the market. He looked at all the shops and stalls, big and small, and finally picked one for the little princess...
Qingyang opened the small square box handed to him by Zhang Su and took out a wooden figurine from it. The figurine had two small buns on its head, big eyes, and an open mouth smiling.
Qin Hong and the others were all looking at the little wooden man, only Qingyang looked at Zhang Su in confusion.
Zhang Su: "...Does Your Highness like it?"
When he passed by the little wooden man, he felt at first sight that the little wooden man looked very similar to the little princess. But now the little princess's puzzled look made Zhang Su dare not explain, for fear that the princess would think the little wooden man was ugly and get angry with him.
At this moment, Qin Ren suddenly realized, "She looks like my sister. She smiles just like my sister."
Qin Hong nodded, and Qin Bing said mischievously, "How can they be similar? My sister's face is white, and this piece of wood looks tanned."
Qin Ren: "...This is called wood carving. Wood is naturally yellow."
Qingyang looked at the little wooden figure again and thought it looked very much like her. She said happily, "I like Zhang Su's gift. Did you make it yourself?"
Zhang Su: "No, I bought it at a wood carving shop."
Qingyang: "Is there any other villain like this in the store?"
Zhang Su: "There are many other villains, this is just one."
Qingyang said disappointedly, "What will I do for my birthday next year? I want there to be a villain like me every year."
Zhang Su: "...I'll ask the owner if he can make another one."
Qingyang: "Ask me next year. I'll be a year older next year, and I'm sure things will be different."
Zhang Su nodded and took a look at the bun on the little princess's head. Today the little princess only had a bun on her head, which looked like a small flower bud.
【Author’s words】
Do you feel the clock is speeding up? 100 little red envelopes. Come see the nine-year-old little princess tomorrow. [Calico Cat Head]
ps: I'm late again, thank you all for waiting for me, [burst into tears]
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