"Your Highness, I really don't know how to thank you." Princess Lan Feng made a gesture to stand up and salute.
She had changed into the clothes of the Kingdom of Us, a silver headdress, and an intricate royal blue dress, which made her look extremely pretty, just like the Blue Phoenix Princess who wanted to compete with everyone.
Yao Niang stretched out her hand and pressed: "No need to be polite, it's just a simple gesture. Our Holy Lord has always been wise. Now that the old prince has passed away, you are still young and must miss home. As for Princess He Rui, you don't have to worry, I will take care of everything in the palace."
Princess Blue Phoenix was reluctant to leave her daughter, but there was nothing she could do. She still wanted to go back to the place where the wind blew the grass and she could see cattle and sheep, where she could drink mellow milk tea, ride a horse, and be happy.
Even if she doesn't get married, she will be free. It's better than being trapped here.
Although she knew that the Celestial Empire was much better than the Kingdom of Us, with its endless silks and satins, delicious food, and even countless servants, as well as its majestic palaces, everything was better than her hometown.
But she just doesn't like it here.
Princess Blue Phoenix sincerely admired him: "Before, I just felt that I was inferior to you in piano skills, but now I really feel that you are the one that I admire."
If it were any other noble family in Dalin, they would probably look down on her and think she was disgusting. But only the Crown Princess could understand her.
Yao Niang didn't really care who was grateful or not, she just thought it was beneficial to both parties.
Little did she know that her effort today would become the key to Dalin's victory in the future. This is a story for another time.
Just after this autumn hunt, Princess Lanfeng returned to Wusi with her brother and sister-in-law, the King of Wusi and the Queen, and everyone else also returned to the capital. When Yao Niang returned, Chengze and Xun Ge'er were both in her carriage.
The children really seemed to have never seen anything like it before. Chengze lifted the curtain of the carriage and saw the shepherds jumping for joy and the cows mooing, which made his eyes sparkle with excitement.
"Mother, there is a little boy riding on the back of a cow. How can he herd cattle when he is so young?"
Yao Niang laughed when she heard this: "I don't know that herding cattle is the easiest job. Don't you know? There are leeches in the fields of farmers. When the sun is strong, people can faint from the sun. You can also find a job to herd cattle." I don't know how comfortable it is to be in the shade of a tree."
She used to herd cattle in the countryside of Fujian.
However, she also warned her two sons: "There are many kinds of small insects on this cow, so don't sneak up on it."
Chengze nodded.
After returning to Beijing, on Empress Hong's birthday, Yao Niang made needlework as a tribute, and the prince also had people collect some good things to send to her. Empress Hong was very satisfied that Yao Niang got rid of Princess Lan Feng, who was a big trouble.
Therefore, this time, in front of everyone, he praised Yao Niang's needlework: "I often say that the Crown Princess is filial and beautiful. I wear these headbands she made every day. Everyone is jealous of me for having such a beautiful wife."
"Thank you, mother."
"How can I say that I am praising you? Who didn't praise your cleverness and dexterity in the past? Even the painting of Guanyin that you embroidered for me is what I hang in the Buddhist temple every day. You child, you are really humble." Queen Hong was also very satisfied with the humility shown by her daughter-in-law.
Although sometimes the daughter-in-law is not flexible enough, for example, she is too tough on the matter of Concubine Duan and the Third Princess, but this also shows that the daughter-in-law protects her son, and she is willing to be flexible for her as the mother-in-law.
Princess He Rui of Jinyang Palace has not yet entered the palace. She is by the side of Princess Hong of Jinyang Palace. She knows that after Princess Lanfeng returned to the country, she took good care of her sister-in-law.
No matter what, if you take someone's mother away and don't take good care of her, the people above you won't stand up for her in the future.
Queen Hong expressed her appreciation for Princess Jinyang's behavior, but it would be easier to arrange a marriage for He Rui if He Rui was raised in the palace, so she said, "After a few days, the palace will have someone bring He Rui to the palace, and all the allowances will be transferred from the palace."
Princess Jinyang brought Princess Herui to pay their respects, and the two sisters-in-law stood up again.
The royal family attaches great importance to etiquette, and the higher the position, the more polite and considerate one must be.
Now that Yao Niang knew that Empress Hong was in charge of the six palaces, she did not say much and did not treat Princess He Rui specially. She left this favor to Empress Hong to bestow.
Not far away, Yu was relieved when she saw the empress lifting Yao Niang.
What a mother worries about most is that her daughter will not have a good life in her husband's family after she gets married.
If it were an ordinary family, it would be easy to suppress the other party, but it happened to be the royal family, so Yu could only hope that her daughter could meet a good mother-in-law. Judging from the reputation inside and outside, although Empress Hong was suspected of being a favored concubine or a seductive concubine, there is no doubt that she is also a very good person.
At least for so many years, my daughter seemed to have no problems with the mother-in-law, and there were no conflicts between wives and concubines in the inner house. This was more relaxed than that of ordinary wives of officials.
It's just that I can't see my family often.
After returning, Yu also expressed her feelings to Luo Zhizheng, who said, "Come on, now at least she doesn't have to kowtow every day. You see, you are already a first-rank lady, but you still have to kowtow everywhere when you enter the palace. Your daughter has to accept courtesy from almost everyone except the emperor and empress."
Yu was still able to accept this explanation.
"Yes, no matter what, we have a princess in our family, so other people will look up to our daughters."
"That's not necessary. I have never seen anyone better than my daughter." Luo Zhizheng waved his hands.
Perhaps the Luo family has a talented person in every generation. In his generation, it is him, and in the next generation it will be Yao Niang. In this way, the Luo family can be rich for several generations.
Anything more would be asking for too much.
Yu was choked by his words and said, "Master, you can see your grandson every day, but I can't."
Luo Zhizheng smiled and pinched his beard: "Taisun is extremely intelligent and brilliant. If he can succeed to the throne smoothly, it will be a blessing for our dynasty."
Taisun and the prince are somewhat different. When the prince was young, he was very easy to express his preferences. He was a decent person and liked to practice Taoism. In short, he was somewhat arbitrary, but unfortunately his martial arts skills were too strong.
For example, he doted on women. Although Yao Niang was his own daughter, it was rare for a prince to be so devoted.
As a man, especially as his own son-in-law, Luo Zhizheng was very supportive. But if this man was the emperor, it would be a bit dangerous. The emperor that everyone expected did not need to be affectionate, but rather a little ruthless, so that the entire dynasty could last long.
Since ancient times, deep love will not last long, and extreme wisdom will inevitably hurt.
Also, if a king indulges himself too much in spiritual practice, it may harm his longevity.
But I can't tell this to my wife. All she thinks about every day is her children and family. Telling her about other things will only make her worry in vain.
After Yu sat down, she said to Erzhen, "Tell the ladies not to come over anymore. They are not young anymore. Just let them take care of their children and grandchildren."
Just like Fan has several grandchildren, Wang also has young children, not to mention Zhu.
Erzhen went over to pass on the message that Fan was very thin when she was young and she aged very quickly as she got older. She said she was several years younger than Yu, but she was actually not as young as Yu.
It's not for any other reason, because Luo Jingxi becomes more lustful as he gets older.
He was still a little arrogant, but after being warned by his father Luo Zhizheng, he did not dare to act rashly and used all his strength on women. As long as it was a woman, although she had given up on men, she would still lose face.
When she was young, Mrs. Fan had a gentle temperament, but now that she is a grandmother, she is always in a bad mood for some reason.
The maid was shocked: "Madam, this is Kuding tea. You have already had a cup. Do you want more?"
"I've been feeling irritable lately, so I need another cup." Mr. Fan is afraid of both heat and cold.
Today is the Queen's birthday. They got up early in the morning and rushed to the palace. After half a day of hard work and a long journey, Fan always felt irritable. She was different from her mother-in-law. Although her mother-in-law had a rough life when she was young, she raised a daughter who was very capable. Later, the old lady was only good to her.
In the past, people said that Yu was a second wife, and seemed to be inferior to Wang, who was born in a marquis's mansion. However, the Wang family has been fragmented and declining in recent years, and no one remembers the Wang family anymore.
The people who came to Beijing to curry favor with were all the mistress of the Luo family, Old Lady Yu, the biological mother of the Crown Princess and the principal wife of Luo Gelao.
Whenever Yu went out, there were many people who would take the initiative to talk to her and come forward to curry favor with her.
In fact, sometimes Fan didn't understand that a man of her father-in-law's status was not so fickle. Although he had three or five female confidants, he never brought them home.
Even the prince, who is young, handsome, and powerful, is devoted to his sister-in-law.
Therefore, Fan was very angry when he heard Luo Jingxi's lies.
Before she finished her second cup of Kuding tea, Song Jieer came in. Fan said hurriedly, "You're going to give birth in a few days, why are you here?"
"I heard that you, Madam, have returned from the palace, so your daughter-in-law hurried here to serve you." Sister Song walked forward with a smile.
The Fan family was still very satisfied with Song Jie'er. Besides, Song Jie'er was their niece, cousin, and relative for generations.
"You don't need to come and serve me here. The most important thing is to take good care of yourself." Mrs. Fan said with concern.
Song Jieer sat down and talked for a few more sentences before she said with a hint of envy, "Today is the Queen's birthday. It's a pity that I can't go in and kowtow to the Queen, let alone greet my aunt."
In the past, Song Jie'er called Yao Niang "fifth aunt", but after she got married, she started calling her "aunt".
"Everything is fine with the Crown Princess, don't worry. This time, the Empress praised the needlework presented to the Crown Princess again and again, and said that the Crown Princess is filial." When Fan was young, she was almost framed, and it was thanks to the help of this sister-in-law, so she hoped that she would have a safe and smooth life.
Song Jie'er's eyes flickered before she said, "My daughter-in-law heard that there is a rule in the palace that if the masters are sick, the ladies have to serve them. The Empress is blessed with great fortune, so we don't have to worry about entering the palace."
Mrs. Fan nodded: "There is such a rule. Even when the Crown Princess gave birth, the old lady went to the palace to live for several months before returning home. But if she was sick, she would go to take care of her."
Song Jieer smiled and said, "Now the nobles in the palace are all young and in good health, so they don't have to do this anymore."
"Who says it's not?"
The palace had been peaceful for quite some time since Empress Hong's birthday. Yao Niang stayed at home to take care of her daughter. Although she was taking care of her daughter, her daughter was surrounded by many servants, so she only found time every day to spend time with Tamamo.
As the children grew older, Yao Niang gradually wanted some quiet time, otherwise she would be busy taking care of the children all day long.
But the palace just counted the days until the holidays. Just a few days after the quiet, the winter solstice was coming again. This year's winter solstice was very colorful because of the end of Cheng Yun.
Looking at Cheng Yun's unbridled eyes, Yao Niang always seemed to see Gao Xuance of the past. At that time, this man was also so high-spirited.
In a blink of an eye, more than ten years have passed. The time flies so fast.
But Yao Niang still feels that she is still the fifteen-year-old Yao Niang, and there has not been much change.
After the winter solstice, the emperor's health has not been very good. Of course, this was kept secret from the outside world, but Gao Xuance knew it very well.
"Father used to be good at calligraphy and painting, and his replies to memorials were all very precise. But now he is much more rigid, and it seems that his hands are shaking. Since last year, the eunuchs in Funing Palace have begun to curry favor with me. You have always been very sensible. Especially at this time, we must hold on even more."
Yao Niang nodded: "I know, now Chengyun is in front of Yu. That day, my mother asked me to start looking now, but I didn't answer, saying that everything depends on them."
This still focuses on the emperor and empress.
Gao Xuance smiled and said, "Well, that's fine. I will still take care of Chengyun's marriage in the future."
"Of course, you are always very accurate in judging people." Yao Niang always felt that after Cheng Yun grew up, the one who understood him best was Gao Xuance rather than herself.
In her previous life, she didn't dare to care about her son's affairs, because he was in his twenties and still not married, so she didn't care.
She always felt that her son just came out of her belly and didn't really look like either of them.
Gao Xuance looked at Yao Niang and also found it amazing: "Mothers-in-law in this world are eager to suppress their daughters-in-law, but you are the opposite. Why do you act like nothing happened?"
"You're not living with me, so why should I care so much? It's fine like this in the palace anyway. We all know our limits." Yao Niang didn't care about her daughter-in-law, grandchildren, or anything like that.
She always felt that this was her sons' own bedroom affairs and she had no way of interfering. She just had to take good care of her own children and Gao Xuance.
Therefore, no one was released from the carriage house, so when Huang Rushuang, who was just fourteen years old, was likely to be chosen by Concubine Li Guifei, Yao Niang wondered how Huang Rushuang had reached the age of marriage so soon.
"At least we have to wait until the princess comes into the palace before we can make her a concubine. To be honest, if it weren't for Zhen Yang, I'm afraid she wouldn't even be able to be made a concubine." Queen Hong said.
Huang Rushuang's father had been exiled and had done something very shameful, but since she was the companion of the daughter of Princess Zhenyang and the granddaughter of Duke Xian, she was not an ordinary person, so she could be a concubine.
Moreover, Concubine Li is favored, and the Fifth Prince will definitely be made a prince in the future.
Yao Niang said, "I never thought Miss Huang would be favored by Concubine Li Gui."
Royal concubines have ranks. Many people outside always think that all the emperor's concubines except the empress are concubines. This idea is wrong. Concubines are all women of noble status and are all registered. This is different from ordinary concubines.
The rank of a prince's concubine is equivalent to that of a county prince's wife, which is good for Huang Rushuang.
"This is also her good fortune. The fifth prince will be fifteen next year, and the palace has begun to prepare for his wedding. It's just that Concubine Li is a little too anxious. When you entered the palace, I never arranged for any concubines to be by your side." Empress Hong felt that she was very kind.
Even though his eldest son had Concubine Gan, it was because of Xu Qingrong's fertility problem. At the beginning, no one bothered these princesses.
Upon hearing this, Yao Niang quickly praised: "The Queen Mother treats us like her own daughters."
Speaking of which, Yao Niang didn't know why Concubine Xiaoli, who was quite sensible, made such a mistake. Little did she know that Empress Hong knew it best. She said, "She was born in a humble family. Although she was favored by the Emperor and was made a Concubine, she still lacked confidence."
Yao Niang couldn't help shaking her head: "Why bother?"
"You are still young and don't understand these things." When Empress Hong was young, she received almost all the favor of Emperor Jianzhang, and Gao Xuance was also very filial to her before.
Of course, her son was crazy about marrying Yao Niang, so she had to compromise, but she didn't want to do so for fear that her son would be angry.
Fortunately, since Yao Niang entered the palace, she has been doing well. There are some conflicts between the mother-in-law and the daughter-in-law, but they are tolerated for the sake of their son. Of course, according to gossip, Concubine Li promoted Huang Rushuang for her son.
It is true that he wanted to suppress the Zhuang family, but in the final analysis, it was all for the sake of making his son happy.
Wanwan also smiled as she pushed the door open and said to Huang Rushuang, "I really didn't expect that you and the Fifth Uncle, you..."
"What did you say?" Huang Rushuang stroked the ends of her braid, feeling that she couldn't believe it.
"Concubine Li has asked His Majesty for approval, so what are you talking about? It's a good opportunity that you can tell your mother when you go back this time." Wanwan is different from her mother, Princess Zhenyang. She grew up in the palace and knows people's hearts well.
Huang Rushuang's mother, Zhuang Lingyi, is very flattering to her own mother because of her daughter, Huang Rushuang, who is now considered to be successful.
When Huang Rushuang and everyone around her felt that she had a bright future, she returned home and of course mentioned this to Zhuang Lingyi.
Zhuang Lingyi almost fainted. "Why do you want to do this? What's the difference between being a concubine and being a concubine? I just want you to have a better future, not to be a concubine."
What is this? Becoming a concubine.
This palace is indeed not a normal place.
Even after many years, Zhuang Lingyi once wondered why she didn't fight for the position of Prince Chen's principal wife because she was a widow. But she never thought that her daughter was so shallow as to become someone else's concubine.
Huang Rushuang explained, "I'm not a concubine, but a concubine. I have a certain rank. I won't be easily targeted. Besides, my daughter has met the Fifth Prince a few times. He likes me very much. Also, Concubine Li has rewarded me several times."
She actually wanted to get her mother's approval, because it was not easy for her to reach this position.
Not to mention anything else, the status of the Zhou Wang's concubine Gan was much higher than hers. If she hadn't taken the initiative to make the Fifth Prince fall in love with her, Concubine Li Gui would not have made her a concubine. She could have entered the palace after the principal wife entered the palace.
Zhuang Lingyi sneered: "Do you know what you are doing? How many concubines are good? What can you do when your beauty fades and you become frivolous? This is all my fault. If I had known this would happen, I would have let you stay at home and not enter the palace. Find an ordinary scholarly family, so that you can live a peaceful life."
She found a man like Huang Daobin who favored his concubine and killed his wife, but that was also because the Xian Guogong Mansion did not find out whether he had a fiancée at that time, and only recruited him as a son-in-law because he was young and talented.
Life was not very difficult after marrying this military officer. Although some of his behaviors were indeed not like those of a scholar, he was quite respectful to her. Although he did not understand what she was thinking, in life, a responsible man was called a husband.
At her age, there is no longer any desire for romance, but my daughter really thinks she can get ahead by relying on pampering. She is really too naive.
But Huang Rushuang had seen the fickleness of human nature: "Mother, please stop talking about this. I know that you are the daughter of the Duke of Xian. You were married off with great fanfare and have a noble status. But here, I am only the daughter of a seventh-rank county magistrate. My father has passed away and my family has no one to rely on. Instead, I have to rely on us. If I really come back to find a good marriage, it will be nothing more than marrying a useless son of a noble family, or marrying a son of a legitimate branch, and I will have to bring a large amount of dowry. The children born will be inferior in every way. But if I marry the fifth prince, at least the children born will be either princes or princes of a county, or at least dukes, and they will be descendants of the royal family, and no one can compare to them."
Zhuang Lingyi was confused: "Do you think you can definitely give birth to a son?"
"Wouldn't it be even more tragic if the daughter married an ordinary man and couldn't give birth to a child?"
Seeing that her daughter was determined to do this, Zhuang Lingyi could no longer say anything and softened her tone, "If you really become a concubine, our family won't be able to help you. It's just that your cousin's people are trying to pressure me openly or covertly."
This cousin is of course referring to the Marquis Jianguo Mansion. It seems that the Marquis Jianguo is of high status now, and his daughter is about to become the Fifth Prince's consort, but was snatched away by the granddaughter of his cousin's mansion, which is a slap in the face.
You should know that the emperor's other princes all had concubines after they got married, and in fact, except for Prince Zhou, the rest did not have one.
The daughter of Marquis Jianguo married into the palace, but was snatched away by her own family. What can people say?
Moreover, Taisun's study partner is the brother of the future Fifth Prince's wife, and he also knows how Huang Rushuang seduced the Fifth Prince. Zhuang Lingyi felt that she had lost all face by returning to her parents' home.
The daughter thought she was smart, but she had no idea that her little actions could not be hidden from others. How could anyone like a cousin who grew up relying on the Zhuang family and wanted to snatch the daughter of the Zhuang family?
Huang Rushuang didn't mind: "Everything is in the hands of people. At that time, Prince Chen was not favored by everyone. They thought that Lin's mother and son were the orthodox ones. Later, thought that Prince Zhou was good. In short, they thought that status could determine everything. But from the Prince Chen's case, the greater the risk, the greater the reward. Mother, my daughter's family background is so ordinary, my father died early, and my brother is still studying. This path is the best way out for my daughter. If you agree, I will be very happy. If you don't agree, I won't force you. I just hope that you can live smoothly in the future."
Zhuang Lingyi felt mixed emotions when she heard her daughter's words. Back then, she was the most adamant one among those who did not agree that Prince Chen would become the crown prince.
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