Chapter 8 Meeting the Saint
Xiao Tao whispered, "They're here. My godmother said that Princess Ning hasn't given up yet and wants to arrange a marriage between the heir and the fifth young lady. But the heir has made some outrageous remarks, saying that he'd marry the fifth young lady, but only if the sixth young lady and you are also betrothed to him..."
She paused at the right moment, observing Yang Qing's expression.
Willow Leaf spoke first: "What a pipe dream! Don't you even know what kind of person you are?"
Yang Qing's eyebrows shot up: "He's spouting such nonsense, shouldn't Mother send someone to throw them out?"
Xiao Tao pouted and said, "How could that be? They are legitimate members of the royal family. Prince Ning is the emperor's younger brother, and Prince Ning's heir is the emperor's nephew. If we kick them out, does our family not want to live in the capital anymore?"
Yang Qing also felt helpless. Thinking of Rong Yue and Yun Xiao's matter, she felt even more annoyed. Unexpectedly, when the second and third madams gathered together to talk to them in the evening, it was a beautiful spring day. There was no need to stay at home. They could go out whenever they wanted, as long as they brought enough people with them.
These two women, who were not weak to begin with, became even stronger as mothers and actually reached an agreement.
With Prime Minister Chi's reputation still intact, they refused to believe that the emperor would disloyal his old ministers and favor his own family.
The plaque bestowed by the late emperor, inscribed with "Upright and Honest," still hangs at the entrance, and the pardon is still kept by the old lady. What can the Prince Ning's mansion do?
Upon hearing this, Yang Qing knew that it was her grandmother's idea.
Now the old lady spends her days eating vegetarian food and chanting Buddhist prayers, and doesn't even leave the house, all for the sake of self-cultivation.
Why should we cultivate our character? Well, it's because we have a violent temper.
Prime Minister Chi rose to prominence through the imperial examinations, and his mother, Old Madam Chi, was naturally not from a prominent family. She was the daughter of a veterinarian in a small county town, had little formal education, but had a close relationship with the emperor.
When the late Empress gave birth prematurely at the imperial palace, the imperial physicians and midwives were all stopped by treacherous people. It was Old Lady Chi who was appointed to take charge in this critical situation. She even gave the current Emperor his childhood name, but the old lady wasn't very educated, and she found it difficult to say the Emperor's childhood name, so she named him Tiezhu (Iron Pillar), saying that a humble name would make him easier to raise…
The Chi family has declined, but Old Madam Chi still has a lot of influence.
This matter even alarmed her grandmother, who was detached from worldly affairs. Yangqing felt that everything was settled and stopped worrying.
She seemed to be deep in thought when she passed by the fake peony, and sent someone to inquire about it. It turned out that Li Hebi really did have this hidden illness. After investigating for so long, they still couldn't find the cause. She then realized that it was probably the second young master who deliberately messed with him.
Thinking this, she secretly asked Liu Ye'er to pick a few flowers before leaving the house and tuck them into her hair for future use.
Chu Ying even mocked her, asking if she couldn't afford gold, silver, and jade ornaments, and why she was wearing flowers. Yang Qing then casually put a flower on her head as well.
This time it was the Flower Festival for a spring outing. Unlike the banquet hosted by Grand Princess Zhaohua last time, most people went out in twos and threes with friends to enjoy the scenery by the river.
If you have someone you like, you can pick a flower and throw it to her.
Yang Qing had been kept under house arrest by the Second Madam and had never participated in such activities before, while Rong Yue had been the leader in recent years, openly sending flowers and secretly throwing them away, receiving countless branches.
Yang Qing had already made plans to go with her best friend Xu Pianran. Rong Yue was two years older than her and had her own social circle. Chu Ying was about the same age, but she and Xu Pianran didn't get along and always argued whenever they met.
Hearing that Xu Pianran was coming, he hid away even earlier.
Beside the spring water was a young girl even more beautiful than spring itself. Xu Pianran received three flowers this time, which was quite a lot for her age. Sending flowers was said to be a joke among young people, but it wasn't all fake. Her family would also consider it, after all, marriage is about living life together, and no one wanted to create a unhappy couple.
Yangqing and Pianran are still two years away from getting married.
Xu Pianran fiddled with the flower branch, feeling somewhat dissatisfied; she felt she should have more. But seeing that none of her friends had any, she disregarded her own frustration, carefully selected the most beautifully blooming branch, broke it off, and personally handed it to Yang Qing, saying, "This is for you."
He then comforted her, saying, "You just don't go out much, that's why nobody knows you."
Yang Qing held the flower and smiled. Just then, a warm breeze blew by, dispelling the gloom in her heart.
It's all Li Shangxuan's fault. If it weren't for him, why would Mother be so restrictive of her, making her learn manners every day?
Both Chu Ying and Lian Tang are very free.
Oh, how pitiful, she can't even find a new husband now.
However, she did gain something from this trip.
Yun Xiao did indeed send flowers to Rong Yue, but the scene was quite different from what Yang Qing had imagined. There was no romantic feeling between them. Yun Xiao blushed, and although Rong Yue accepted the flowers, she did so politely and indifferently. It didn't seem like they were in love at all.
Yang Qing was confused, so what exactly was going on between Rong Yue and her ex-brother-in-law Yun Xiao?
The wind picked up in the afternoon, and Chi Yangqing was going to visit Xu Pianran's house again, along with a few other girls. They didn't go home until it got dark.
When she returned home, everything was in chaos. The Third Madam's face was streaked with tears. Yang Qing couldn't figure out what was going on, so she could only secretly ask Qingzhu, who served the Second Madam, "What happened?"
Qingzhu sighed, and Fang whispered to her, "Sixth Miss somehow bumped into Prince Ning's son."
Chi Yangqing was startled: "Is Sixth Sister alright?"
Qingzhu said, "Sixth Miss is fine, but the Prince of Ning's heir is in trouble."
Seeing that the Third Madam was so engrossed in crying that she probably didn't notice them, she lowered her voice and said, "The Prince of Ning's heir tried to take advantage of her in front of everyone, but for some reason, he suddenly fell to the ground complaining of an itch, and he's still not better."
Chi Yangqing felt conflicted. It turned out that the fake peony was actually only harmful to Li Hebi.
He unconsciously touched the flower on his head, thinking that reputation was secondary, as long as Li Hebi didn't gain any advantage.
"Since it's not the Prince of Ning's son who's in trouble, why is Third Aunt crying like this?"
Qingzhu's voice was even softer, almost like a mosquito's buzz, "Princess Ning is shameless, clinging to our family. She says everyone can see clearly that her son fell ill because he got close to our Sixth Miss, and that our Sixth Miss has to take responsibility and marry him to be done with it, otherwise she'll complain to the Emperor. And she's supposed to be a princess, yet she's so unreasonable!"
Yang Qing was also startled, not expecting Princess Ning to pull such a stunt, and hurriedly asked, "How is it being handled now? Have you told Grandmother?"
Although Madam Chi was old and looked healthy, she had some ailments. When she got emotional, she would feel dizzy and lightheaded. The imperial physician examined her and said that she should rest more in the future.
Otherwise, Princess Ning would be too arrogant, so why would she bother Old Madam Chi with such a thing?
Qingzhu sighed and nodded slightly.
Yangqing didn't press the matter further. With the last incident and this one, she didn't know when her grandmother would be able to recover.
But if Grandmother doesn't step in, with Uncle San's insignificant official position, it would be difficult for him to even see the Emperor. Wouldn't Sixth Cousin really be ruined like this?
Ultimately, this whole mess was caused by her. If she hadn't deliberately put that flower in her sixth cousin's hair, how could this have happened?
But Yangqing is the most open-minded person. On second thought, if it weren't for this flower, how good would the situation be if her sixth cousin were to be entangled with Li Hebi in broad daylight?
I'm afraid that at that time, Princess Ning will have to "take responsibility" again and marry her sixth cousin, whose reputation has been ruined.
Someone like her always has a way.
Chu Ying was nowhere to be found. Outside, only the Third Madam was crying her eyes out. Yang Qing came in and comforted her, "Third Aunt, don't worry anymore. Grandmother has a lot of face in front of His Majesty. She will definitely not let Sixth Sister marry that kind of person."
The Third Madam wiped away her tears, a bitter smile appearing on her lips. "It's all my own fault. Otherwise, if I hadn't inquired about the Prince's residence before agreeing to be Rongyue's matchmaker, things wouldn't have come to this... If Chuying really is... then I won't live either!"
The Third Madam only had one son and one daughter. Her eldest son had already married and had children. Chu Ying was practically her darling. She would never say a harsh word to her, so how could she bear to see her jump into the fire pit?
Yang Qing didn't know what to say, so she remained silent.
Just then, my third uncle returned and said that Princess Ning was stubborn and insisted on doing things her way.
Since it was getting late, the two families agreed to go and speak with the emperor the next day.
Yang Qing said, "I want to go too!"
The second wife had just glared at her, but before she could say anything like "don't cause trouble," she swallowed it back.
The emperor favors the crown prince, and the crown prince is interested in Yang Qing. Perhaps Yang Qing's visit would actually be useful.
Although she didn't want her daughter to get involved in this kind of thing, the whole family was in the same boat, so how could she really let Chuying marry into the family?
The next day, before even meeting the Emperor, Princess Ning dragged Prince Ning to the Chi family again and started making a scene, repeatedly saying, "My son was disfigured because of your daughter, shouldn't your family take responsibility?"
Yang Qing muttered quite loudly, "There's no difference between him before and after his disfigurement."
Princess Ning heard this and glared at her hatefully several times.
Yang Qing glared back defiantly. Because she was afraid that the second young master of the Prince of Ning would be present, she did not dare to openly wear the fake peony in her hair today. However, she was also wary of this cunning fellow, so she put the petals in a sachet. Ordinary people could not tell the difference between the real and fake peonies.
If Li Hebi dares to get any closer to her again, she'll make him even more swollen.
And just as she had predicted, Li Hebi, upon seeing her, indeed went too far, clamoring that both sisters should marry him, or else he would execute the entire Chi family.
The Third Madam was so angry that she almost fainted.
The two families argued and bickered all the way to the palace, each sticking to their own version of events, giving the emperor a headache. He kept waving his hands, asking, "How did He Bi get this injury? And what does it have to do with Miss Chi Liu?"
Chi Chuying was originally a bully at home, arrogant and domineering at home, and also haughty in front of other girls her age, like a proud little peacock. But when she met her elders, she would immediately turn from a peacock into a quail.
Moreover, the one asking the question was the Emperor himself. Overwhelmed with grievance and fear, she disregarded the rules of decorum in front of the palace. Although she didn't burst into tears, they flowed like a silver river from the sky. She choked out, "This humble woman doesn't know what happened. The Crown Prince suddenly collapsed to the ground, complaining of being itchy..."
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