The eldest prince was named King Xian. He never listened to operas performed by people from the Yuefu. He was as frugal as his mother, Concubine Lin. The couple rarely had embroidery on their clothes or utensils at home. frugal in his daily meals.
Gao Xuance got off the sedan chair and walked in front with Yao Niang. He only said three words to the eldest prince: "Adjust your ears."
"Pretentious" means to pretend. Yao Niang couldn't help but nod secretly after hearing this. The eldest prince in his previous life relied on this. His carriages and horses and attendants were all frugal and simple. He was very respectful to the court officials and his etiquette was humble. Therefore, he finally sat on the throne.
Frankly speaking, the eldest prince was a man of talent, but he was ambitious and had the ambition of the First Emperor but not his ability. He died suddenly of anger one year after taking the throne due to his wrong strategies.
Later there were rumors that he was assassinated.
The current eldest prince has lost his former youthfulness and looks very humble. His princess consort Wang Yuanshuang and Yao Niang are also acquaintances. When they saw Yao Niang and the others bowing, they quickly helped her up.
I heard that the eldest prince had a princess consort and the second princess had not been given a title. He just had a few concubines as required. He was usually with Wang Yuanshuang and did not stay with the concubines. This made Emperor Jianzhang's sister, Princess Sui De, very impressed.
In her early years, Princess Sui De went to Wumeng for marriage for the country. She was married to the father and son of the Left Wing King of Wumeng respectively. Later, she was brought back to the capital by the late emperor. Princess Sui De was very important in the palace. She hated it most when any minister or concubine in the court was pregnant. Therefore, the eldest prince's behavior made Princess Sui De very happy.
"You and I have known each other for a long time. Why are you being so polite to others?" Wang Yuanshuang said with a smile.
Yao Niang said: "Even so, etiquette cannot be abandoned."
They had not kowtowed before, because Prince Xian was not yet the crown prince, but only an elder brother, so after Yao Niang performed the ceremony, Wang Yuanshuang had to return the ceremony.
Gao Xuance and King Xian also seemed very close, and said, "Father asked us to accompany him to the Chengde Autumn Hunt. My eldest brother is very skilled in martial arts, so I hope he can teach me a few moves when the time comes."
King Xian waved his hand and said, "Why do you have to do this? I heard that you have been practicing the Jingchu long sword recently, and you are quite proud of it."
The two brothers started chatting, and Yao Niang thought that if she hadn't known that there was a dispute between the brothers, she would have thought they were real brothers. When she lived in the palace before, her husband was still young and didn't get close to them, but now he is very understanding.
The men talked about their own things, and the women gathered together. Wang Yuanshuang smiled and said, "We all grew up in the palace. I just gave you a few instructions. As daughters-in-law, we don't have to be by your mother's side all the time. You can take care of the people and things in your palace. But you must pay attention to the four seasons and eight festivals."
Yao Niang thanked him again. Wang Yuanshuang saw that although Yao Niang's face was evenly powdered, her eyes were dark circles, and it was obvious that she did not sleep well. She thought to herself that since ancient times, people have chosen a virtuous wife, and not a beautiful one. This is the reason.
When the royal family chooses a daughter-in-law, they first look at her family background, then whether she has the aura of a mistress, and beauty comes second.
Otherwise, putting too much effort into a woman, or having a woman whisper in your ear, are all very scary.
Fortunately, Wang Yuanshuang knew that Yao Niang was not just beautiful, so she did not dare to neglect her, and Yao Niang could not find any fault with her.
After leaving King Xian, they naturally went to King Zhou. King Zhou was King Chen's brother, so they should be closer. However, King Chen was even more disdainful. He commented on King Zhou to Yao Niang: "He is moody and very Confucian. He regards himself as a Bodhisattva and sees others as dirt."
Uh? Is the King of Zhou such a person?
In her previous life at the Prince of Zhou's palace, Yao Niang only felt that the Prince of Zhou himself was rather pretentious and seemed to be indifferent.
But at this moment she nodded: "I will listen to whatever Your Highness says."
This made Gao Xuance very happy. He thought that he had really conquered Sister Yao last night, otherwise why would she be so well-behaved today. Thinking of this, he took Sister Yao's hand and went in.
Yao Niang didn't dare to resist, because if he started making a scene it would be bad, this man was too childish.
The two walked in hand in hand, and King Zhou's eyelids twitched, thinking it was inappropriate. But he and King Chen had never had a good relationship, and his mother always favored his younger brother, so he was too lazy to say more.
"Second brother, sister-in-law." Gao Xuance bowed quickly.
King Zhou nodded calmly: "Come, sit down."
His attitude was very bland, even worse than that of the eldest prince. Moreover, King Zhou treated Gao Xuance like a child and criticized him for arriving at the study room late.
Gao Xuance was not polite to King Zhou either: "Second brother, you should practice riding and shooting more. Father will take us brothers hunting next month."
The two brothers were very close. Yao Niang once heard a rumor from Princess Zhen Yang that Prince Zhou was very bad at riding and shooting, and could not even draw a bow, while Prince Chen was born tall and mighty, and could shoot arrows and ride a horse at the age of seven.
Yao Niang secretly observed that Gao Xuance seemed to believe in Taoism, because there was a Yin-Yang fan hanging in his room. This fan belonged to Taishang Laojun, and Taishang Laojun held Yin and Yang, and was the incarnation of the "Supreme Tao", the supreme god who lived forever and often split himself into multiple bodies to save the world. This showed that King Chen believed in Taoism.
Furthermore, the last time Princess Zhenyang asked him to interpret the divination, she seemed to have mentioned that he had always liked to practice Taoism.
King Zhou and Xu Qingrong both wore the seven-treasure bracelets, which are Buddhist seven-treasure bracelets made of gold, silver, colored glaze, giant clam, glass, red beads, and agate. Sandalwood was lit in the hall, which all showed that King Zhou believed in Buddhism.
The two believed in different religions and were in competition with each other for Concubine Hong, so there was tension between them.
On the contrary, Yao Niang and Xu Qingrong were still able to talk to each other. Xu Qingrong was very happy: "In the future, we can get along with each other at mother's place. It's really great."
"Second sister-in-law is right. I think so too." Yao Niang smiled.
Xu Qingrong is pregnant now, and she looks much gentler. She actually has nothing to worry about. Princess Xian is not pregnant yet, and she is the only one who is pregnant. As long as she gives birth to a baby boy, he will be the future eldest grandson of the emperor. When her mother-in-law is crowned as empress, she will be the legitimate eldest son of the emperor.
Seeing Xu Qingrong's belly, Yao Niang asked, "Then will you go to Chengde, Second Sister-in-law?"
Xu Qingrong nodded: "We will all go along this time. I am already in good shape, so I will go too."
Why would she go there even though she was pregnant? Yao Niang couldn't figure out what she was thinking. If it were her, she would definitely protect the fetus first.
However, Xu Qingrong had her considerations. This time, although they said they were going to Chengde for the autumn hunt, in fact, envoys from various countries and the royal family, nobles and officials of the imperial court were all there. The King of Zhou married her, and the civil officials included people from the Xu family, but among the nobles, they were not as reliable as the eldest prince and his wife. Everyone knew that the eldest prince was very influential among the nobles.
This is her good opportunity, how can she let it go.
Yao Niang was about to say something, but when she saw Gao Xuance turn around and prepare to leave, she followed him. The third house where they lived was next to the second house, so the two of them only walked a few steps to enter their own house.
The two men came in hand in hand. Gao Xuance was indeed more talkative than any other man she had ever met. He helped her sit down considerately and said, "I know you must be tired today. Take a rest for a while. I will ask the chief eunuch Dexi to sort out my account books. I will give them to you after you wake up. You are the mistress of my palace. My home is handed over to you."
"Rest assured, I will stay here with you and won't go anywhere, ah~"
Everyone knows that when people are in a strange place, they are on guard everywhere. Some people don't even know where to put their hands and feet, and how can they sleep. But she and Gao Xuance are husband and wife after all. With him guarding her, Yao Niang certainly feels safe and has no fear.
Yao Niang asked the maid to take off her hairpins and lay on the beauty couch. Gao Xuance diligently covered her with a thin quilt, while he sat opposite her reading a book.
Yao Niang, who was originally worried, actually fell asleep to the sound of him turning pages.
I really married the right person, not because of his status, but because of him as a person.
Gao Xuance did not go out when he saw that she was sleeping soundly, but stayed here to guard her. Even when Yao Niang woke up, he was still guarding here. She was suddenly very moved.
"Brother Xuan Ce."
"You're awake." Gao Xuance came over with a very happy look on his face.
Women seem to be easily moved by small things, and will suddenly break down over small things. Yao Niang's face is now plain and her hair is not decorated, but she looks unusually beautiful. She took the initiative to lean into his arms, and all her plans were gone.
"You've been guarding me for so long, idiot?"
Gao Xuance took advantage of the situation and hugged her slender waist: "You dare to call me stupid? Why did you peel the shrimp when I wanted to eat it? You are stupid. You have been standing for a long time to serve me food. Are you tired? Come, let me give you a massage."
Yao Niang nodded cutely, and Gao Xuance became more and more pleased and couldn't let her go.
She thought he really wanted to press her, but his hands wandered around her body for a long time, and it felt more and more strange. Yao Niang blushed and turned to look at him: "Where are you touching? It's disgusting."
Gao Xuance kissed her cheek and said, "Would you like to go to my study and take a look?"
People often say that to understand a person, you have to understand what he has learned. Yao Niang, who is in the newlywed stage, certainly wants to know more about her husband.
Then, Gao Xuance rang the bell and asked the servants to help her get up. After she washed up, the eunuch Cui Dexi came over with the account book. Gao Xuance raised his chin and said, "These will be handed over to the princess in the future. You must assist the princess. Otherwise, if I know that you are playing tricks, I will not forgive you."
Cui Dexi was a white-faced eunuch in his thirties. He immediately said respectfully, "Please rest assured, Your Majesty, I will tell you everything I know."
It seems that Yao Niang is no longer needed to establish her authority. Is this really real life? Her husband has no one in the house, her mother-in-law treats her very well, and the housekeeper is so smooth.
Yao Niang asked Bai Ying and Bai Zhi who came with her to take the account book, and she accompanied Gao Xuance to the study. Everyone saw that the princess looked gentle and shy. Prince Chen, who usually did not say a word to others, actually looked at the princess as if she were the apple of his eye.
However, some people think that most men are like this towards beautiful women, and even say that in the first days of their wedding, most of them are sweet and affectionate towards them, but after some time, they still act the same way.
Gao Xuance's study is filled with books. Even Yao Niang's own study is decorated a lot, but Gao Xuance's study is very simple, and there are books even in the corners.
She picked up a book at random. There were signs of having been read on it, and even some notes. It was obvious that these books were not just for display, but were read here on a daily basis.
"I've always heard from the princess that Your Highness is studious, and now it seems to be true."
Gao Xuance said humorously, "Last time you and Zhenyang asked me to interpret the divination, how was my interpretation for you?"
Yao Niang turned her back and recalled the time when he interpreted the divination for her. She couldn't help laughing and said, "When you interpreted the divination for me, you said that my husband would be of noble status, tall and handsome. I always thought that you were lying to me. I didn't know it was true. I can't even imagine how many women in the world admire you."
"Then who do you think you will marry?" Gao Xuance was a little angry. He didn't dare to think about himself. Then who would she be willing to marry?
Seeing him like this, Yao Niang smiled slyly: "You know, although I have sisters, my mother only gave birth to me as a daughter. When my sister and brother-in-law got married, it was my father who let them live in my house. My father was reluctant to let me marry out."
Such a beautiful girl, pampered like a pearl by her family, it's no wonder that they are reluctant to let her go.
Gao Xuance saw her finish her words and then flip through the book on his desk. Just as he was about to speak, Yao Niang said, "Your Highness, do you like to practice Taoism? This book seems to be The Sutra of the Supreme Lord Lao Tzu."
"Yes, what's wrong with practicing Taoism? Maybe in the future I can ascend to heaven and go to the paradise, and from then on I will be included in the immortal class, different from ordinary people." Gao Xuance was very yearning for it.
You...
You want the throne and you want to be a god, why don’t you go to heaven?
No, I really want to go to heaven.
Unfortunately, Yao Niang didn't believe it at all. Instead, she asked curiously, "Then why can you marry a wife even though you practice Taoism?"
"Of course you can. As the saying goes, yin cannot produce life alone, yang cannot grow alone. Yin and yang are the Tao. Although I practice Taoism, I am not a member of the Quanzhen Sect, so it's okay." Gao Xuance was afraid that Yao Niang would not let him get close to her from now on, which would be bad.
It's really strange, in his previous life he was most afraid of getting close to Yao Niang, but in this life, he can't get enough of her.
Especially the taste, it is so ecstatic...
Although Yao Niang wanted to please him, she actually had no faith in gods or Buddhas, so she was not very interested.
Seeing that she was not interested, Gao Xuance decided to cater to her interests: "I have seen your paintings and know that you are good at painting. I happen to have a few paintings here. Let's look at them together."
"Well, let's watch it together."
After the two of them finished appreciating the paintings, Yao Niang actually still didn't quite understand what Gao Xuance was like, because in this relationship, except for the tricks she used on the wedding night, it was actually Gao Xuance who took the initiative most of the time.
But understanding a person cannot be achieved by just reading books; you need to observe more.
Unlike Yao Niang and the others, Mu Wantong personally cooked a table of food for her husband. She said with a smile, "This is our famous steamed chicken in Yunnan. If you like it, I am willing to cook soup for you every day."
His wife, who was of noble status, was already very good to begin with, and she even cooked for him herself, which made Prince An feel flattered. One has to know that the women in the palace were all pampered and rarely did such things.
Prince An was very moved: "Princess, you really leave me at a loss for words."
"Then don't say anything and let's eat quickly." Mu Wantong smiled.
Prince An nodded.
The princes all lived together, so the news that the Fourth Prince's wife was cooking spread throughout the princes' residence. Yao Niang also heard about it during dinner. She really didn't expect that her brother's wife would actually cook soup.
Gao Xuance said quickly, "You don't have to cook. I have a lot of people serving me here, so you really don't have to. I'm going to work at the Ministry of Revenue tomorrow. You can talk to Zhenyang when you're free at home. If you're really bored, you can go to my study to find a book to read."
Going to the Ministry of Revenue to do some work tomorrow?
Yao Niang thought, didn't they say that newlyweds can rest for three days? Wang Yuanshuang brought it up today.
But although Gao Xuance was very good to her, she had no say in his major affairs, and the two of them enjoyed their lovemaking as usual at night. However, when Yao Niang woke up in the morning, he was no longer by her side.
Yao Niang smiled bitterly.
Bai Ying, Bai Zhi and others came in to serve. Fortunately, Yao Niang was not the kind of person who complained about herself. Once Prince Chen left, she would be the biggest person here.
Cui Dexi introduced the servants of Prince Chen's mansion: "There are four eunuchs serving here, four in the palace, and there are also people serving in the tea room, the dining room, and the study room..."
She listened carefully, and then heard Cui Dexi say, "Tomorrow there will be officials from the palace coming to pay their respects to the master."
Because there is no government office established outside the capital yet, some of the subordinate officials are concurrently appointed by the imperial court. The chief secretary was also the one who went to welcome the bride this time.
So Yao Niang called everyone over and gave them reward money one by one, and then began to check the booklet handed over by Eunuch Cui. She was shocked to find that the storehouse of Prince Chen's mansion was really full of good things, all of which were sent by the emperor and his concubine. Eunuch Cui even mentioned that Prince Chen could withdraw money from the emperor's inner treasury at will.
Among these, there is 250,000 taels of silver given by the emperor for settling down, and 20,000 taels of silver as an annual salary for the prince. These taels of silver may seem like a lot, but the withdrawals of the people in the mansion, as well as the use of these taels of silver to recruit soldiers and buy horses in the future, may also require expenditure. Although these taels of silver seem like a lot, they are actually not enough to spend.
Furthermore, the palace is the place where social interactions are most frequent, and as the younger generation, their expenses in this regard are not small.
"I've looked at these. Let's leave it like this for now. The Mid-Autumn Festival is coming soon. Are the mooncakes ready for offering?" Yao Niang asked.
Cui Dexi nodded: "The people at the Imperial Concubine's place said that they have prepared it for the prince. There will be fifteen plates of small moon cakes per table, twelve plates of two-inch moon cakes per table, and thirteen plates of round moon cakes per table."
Although they are married, it was clear from what Emperor Jianzhang and Concubine Hong did yesterday that they still treated Prince Chen as a child. Even though he has been conferred the title of Prince, Concubine Hong is still the one taking care of all the trivial matters.
Yao Niang didn't seem to be disgusted: "In that case, let's follow the Queen's instructions."
Therefore, Yao Niang went to pay her respects to Concubine Hong. When she arrived, Xu Qingrong was already there, which made Yao Niang wonder if she was late.
Unexpectedly, Concubine Hong smiled and said, "Ce'er is still young, and he is always afraid that he will not do well and lose his father's trust. He should have rested for a few days after getting married, but he was so anxious that he went to the government office. I am sorry for you."
Xu Qingrong was also secretly shocked. He didn't accompany the bride on the second day of her wedding. He was even worse than her. At least Prince Zhou accompanied her for three days. Prince An, who got married at the same time, didn't do this.
Yao Niang didn't care: "What are you talking about, mother? His Highness told me yesterday that I will always put her first. There is no grievance at all."
Seeing that Yao Niang really didn't care, Concubine Hong nodded secretly.
Yao Niang also proposed to go see the Princess Zhenyan: "Yesterday I heard my mother talking about Zhenyang, but I had to go to pay respects to my two brothers yesterday, so I didn't go. I want to go see the princess."
"Well, go ahead. If she knew you were going to see her, she would be so happy." Concubine Hong was very pleased.
Concubine Hong breathed a sigh of relief. In fact, she really didn't need her daughter-in-law to be with her here every day. She was not yet in her seventies or eighties, and she couldn't be that lively.
It turned out that Concubine Li had gained status recently, and the Emperor came to her place so often again. She and the Emperor were an old married couple, and the woman had to accompany the Emperor even though she was already middle-aged. She originally wanted to sleep a little longer today, but Xu Qingrong came over.
She had no choice but to tell Yao Niang again, "Since Prince Chen is not here, you can take care of it at home. You don't have to come to my place. If there is anything, just send someone over."
"Yes, mother." Yao Niang smiled.
How to do this should be decided from the husband. Although he doesn't have to come every day, it would be best if he comes every three or five days. Xu Qingrong saw that Yao Niang didn't want to come every day to pay her respects, and secretly felt that she was better than Yao Niang. In the future, her reputation for filial piety would definitely be better than Yao Niang's.
Although Xu Qingrong was pregnant, she held all the power in the family and had no room for anyone else, except that her relationship with King Zhou was not as close as before.
The King of Zhou now favors a concubine, who obeys him in everything, but the King of Zhou is so interested in her.
Thinking of this, Xu Qingrong's face became gloomy.
Yao Niang has already arrived at Princess Zhenyang's place. She used to live here, and now she comes here with different feelings in her mind.
Princess Zhenyang's attendants had long heard from the people sent by Yao Niang that she was coming, and had already stood at the door to greet them. When Yao Niang saw the two of them coming out, she smiled and said, "We all know each other, why be so polite."
"The princess is waiting for you inside, Princess. Let the servants take you in."
Although everyone knew her before, her identity is different now. But they still like Yao Niang very much. After all, her identity has changed, but she has not changed as a person.
Princess Zhenyang was lying on the couch. She had just started having her period last year. Every time it came, her whole body would tremble uncontrollably and she felt terrible pain. She was obviously in good health, but now she was in pain because of this.
"Princess, are you okay?" Yao Niang smelled a hint of blood and knew what was going on at a glance.
Princess Zhenyang apologized, "I should have gone to your wedding with Third Brother, but unfortunately my period came and I'm in so much pain." She couldn't tell others such private things, but she and Yao Niang grew up together and had a good relationship. They could even talk about anything. Now Yao Niang was her sister-in-law, so of course she said it directly.
Yao Niang said distressedly, "This won't do. We can't keep doing this. Why don't we ask the imperial physician to come and have a look after this? We should be extra careful on weekdays, especially not to use anything cold. Oh, princess, do you have a hot water bottle here? Even though it's hot now, you're feeling very cold."
The palace maids were very smart and immediately brought over some hot water. Yao Niang smiled and gave her some hot water to drink.
Princess Zhen Yang asked, "Do you feel more blood after drinking hot water?"
"That's fine. It will make your body feel better. Just change your menstrual belt more often."
With Yao Niang accompanying her, Princess Zhenyang drank the hot sugar water and felt much better. She was able to cheer up and ask Yao Niang: "How does my third brother treat you?"
Yao Niang nodded shyly: "Your Highness is very kind to me."
"Then I won't bother you anymore." Princess Zhenyang covered her mouth and laughed.
Yao Niang said inexplicitly: "Your Highness has received an errand today and has gone to the Ministry of Revenue. I will just stay here with you."
Princess Zhenyang, who was originally happy for her, said angrily, "What do you mean by good for you? I think for the sake of his power, I'm afraid everything will have to give way."
It really hit the nail on the head. Yao Niang finally realized that she was in a dream yesterday and felt that he was not real. Now she feels that nothing is perfect.
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