After returning from Princess Zhenyang, Yao Niang found a book to read. It would have been fine if she hadn't read it, but she was so engrossed in it that it was almost dinner time. Bai Ying came to urge her, "Princess, it's already 3 p.m., it's time for dinner."
"It's already this late." Yao Niang put down the book and felt that this place was more comfortable than being at her parents' home.
She had been a widow for many years in her previous life and was accustomed to living alone. She was not used to too lively scenes. At her mother's house, she had to help Yu Shi frequently. There were many people at home, so she had to be careful all the time.
Bai Ying nodded: "Princess, come and eat soon. You didn't eat much at the princess' place at noon. Don't be hungry."
Yao Niang touched her belly and said, "I didn't realize it until you told me. But now it's true. I think I'm really a little hungry."
Bai Ying and Bai Zhi came over to serve Yao Niang with meals. The palace mainly ate seasonal dishes. In August, the main dish was crabs, so today they were eating crabs. The palace also had corresponding fruit wine from the sea oil, and Yao Niang enjoyed the meal very much.
After dinner, Yao Niang chatted with the maids. The Prince of Chen had four maids serving him. Since she was married to the Prince of Chen, she naturally had to ask him about his preferences: "What does His Highness like to use?"
These palace maids also wanted to get close to Yao Niang. In fact, they didn't know much about him. Some said that he liked to eat mutton, while others said that he usually liked to eat vegetarian food...
It doesn't matter what they eat, but from what they say, the Prince of Chen is difficult to get along with, and they almost have to obey him. Of course, those who don't obey have been kicked out long ago.
After Yao Niang finished washing up, her husband had not returned yet. Of course, she could not go to bed early. As a wife, she had to wait for her husband to come back.
At this time Gao Xuance came back with a lot of thoughts. In his previous life, he did not participate in politics so quickly. Soon because his father was seriously ill, he was tried several times and later escaped from the palace. He had no idea about the situation of the country.
I went to the Ministry of Revenue today and found out that there is not much money left in the inner treasury. Not only that, it is almost gone. My father is not a pioneering king, so it is useless to save money blindly. But this is not a bad thing either.
What ministers fear most is that the emperor will punish them. If the emperor does not punish him, many famous ministers will emerge.
However, there might be a war in the border areas, and the Ministry of Works needs to allocate money to manufacture weapons. In the past few years, there have been floods everywhere, and even the emperor's treasury only has 12,000 taels of silver left. How can we fight a war without money?
The Donghu and Myanmar in the southwest are eyeing us covetously. In addition, the people of Hebrew also want to form an alliance with the Donghu. I don't know how worried my father is.
He frowned and pushed the door open. Seeing Yao Niang coming to greet him, he threw away all the thoughts in his mind. Seeing that she had already changed into pajamas, he couldn't help but say, "Next time you don't have to wait for me. If you are sleepy, just rest first."
Yao Niang smiled and said, "I rested during the day, so I'm not very sleepy at night. But why is Your Highness up so late?"
Gao Xuance said: "They are just some external things, nothing serious."
Yao Niang helped him take off his outer clothes. When she was about to take another step, Gao Xuance stopped her and said, "I'm going to take a shower in the second room first, and then I'll come to talk to you. You go to bed first."
"Um."
It seems that Gao Xuance is indeed as she said, he has servants to serve him and is unwilling to do the work of a servant.
After a while, Gao Xuance's hair was tied up with only a jade hairpin. He saw Yao Niang resting her chin on her hand in a daze, and felt very sympathetic in his heart: "Sister Yao, how was your day at home today?"
Yao Niang thought for a moment and said, "I will go to pay my respects to my mother in the morning, then accompany the princess, and then read at home."
Even when he was talking to Yao Niang, he was very attentive. When Yao Niang asked whether she should pay respects to Mother every day, Gao Xuance thought about it seriously and said, "Second sister-in-law goes there every day. Mother doesn't really like it. Women in the palace are different from mothers-in-law outside. Mother is the queen after all, and sometimes she needs an accompaniment. You should go there every two days, and don't go empty-handed. I have your belongings in my private storehouse, and you can take whatever you like."
"But in this way, will others say that my filial piety is not as good as that of my second sister-in-law? Mother has always loved you, and I can't hold you back." Yao Niang knew that it was Old Lady Dou, and that Jiang and Ren, who were so old, still had to visit their parents every morning and evening.
Gao Xuance thought for a moment and said, "No, I think my second sister-in-law is pregnant, so my mother will definitely exempt her from paying respects, so you don't have to compare this."
Since Gao Xuance said so, Yao Niang naturally agreed.
After finishing the serious business, Gao Xuance stroked her hair gently again: "What book did you read today? Tell me about it."
"I'm reading a very interesting book, written by the great scholar Fu Shen. It tells the story of how when he first passed the imperial examination, six hundred taels of silver a year were not enough. I used to think that these famous scholars were all very ethereal, but after reading this book, I realized that they were just like ordinary people like us. There's also a book about flower cultivation, saying that orchids are most tranquil in summer."
"Really? I also have a collection of Fu Shen's poems here, and there is a line in it that I like the most..."
The two of them got along quite well. Gao Xuance was very focused when talking to Yao Niang, without any perfunctory attitude.
Fortunately, Yao Niang saw that it was getting late, so she said, "Your Highness, let's go to bed. You have to get up early tomorrow."
Gao Xuance nodded.
Compared to the scene with Yao Niang and the others, Mu Wantong felt that her husband was a little stupid. She liked his kindness, but also felt that he was too good.
"Fourth Master, you are such a kind person. Unfortunately, if this continues, my mother and I will be bullied." Mu Wantong simply couldn't believe it. The Third Prince, Prince Chen, had already started his errand, but her husband hadn't assigned any yet.
It is not even necessary to mention that Prince An was originally the last one to be conferred the title. The people in Prince Chen's Mansion could directly transfer materials from the Emperor's inner treasury. Everyone even called him Prince An. She originally thought he was also Prince An, but later found out that he was Prince An.
People in the palace are just yelling at each other, but in reality the Fourth Prince is treated much less than the Third Prince.
The fourth prince looked at his lame foot and shook his head. "You know, I don't want to wade into muddy water. I'm not afraid to tell you the truth. My eldest brother is the eldest son. If he takes the throne, I will definitely support him. Most of the ministers in the court also support my eldest brother. But my third brother..."
"There's something wrong with the word 'Chen' in 'Prince Chen'. If we don't get the relationship between superiors and subordinates right at the beginning, it will be difficult in the future." Mu Wantong has always disliked Prince Chen.
First, the prince was indifferent when he saw the bully bullying her. How could such a person become the emperor? He has no kindness at all.
Mu Wantong was originally very happy that her husband was accompanying her, but when she heard that Prince Chen was about to take office, she began to worry. Moreover, today the Emperor sent someone to personally deliver his riding uniform to Prince Chen, but her husband had nothing.
This was simply unimaginable for the pampered Mu Wantong. There was actually such a biased person, and this person was the emperor, and she couldn't blame him.
Even when she went to Concubine Yan's place, she saw that Concubine Yan's bedroom was far inferior to that of Concubine Hong. This unbalanced feeling made her feel uneasy.
Therefore, she tried hard to please her husband, but the Fourth Prince did not dare to do so and even advised her: "We should stay away from these things. It is up to the Emperor to decide who will take that position. We should just be loyal to the Emperor. Why bother getting involved in such things?"
Mu Wantong curled her lips.
But she said that she got up early the next day, and Gao Xuance was there. Seeing Yao Niang wake up, he smiled and said, "Why don't you sleep a little longer? I have to get up so early because I have to attend court today."
"How can it be that the husband gets up early every day while the wife sleeps in every day?" Yao Niang made a gesture to get up.
Gao Xuance had no choice but to let her do what she wanted, but he still said, "I will accompany you back home tomorrow, don't worry. Since you are going to pay your respects to my mother today, you should accompany her for me. But if you feel unwell, come back and rest."
"Well, don't worry." Yao Niang felt that although Gao Xuance didn't accompany her every day, he was very serious when talking to her and even went out of his way to accompany her for entertainment. She didn't feel uncomfortable at all, but very comfortable instead.
Gao Xuance tapped Yao Niang's nose and said, "Speaking of you, you are my wife. Since ancient times, wives are equal, just like me."
Yao Niang smiled embarrassedly.
The palace maids just thought that Prince Chen was really amazing. He could coax anyone he wanted to and make them obey him, especially those he liked, whether it was the emperor, the concubine or even the princess. He was the most perfect son and husband.
But to these servants, he was not a perfect master. But the princess was very kind and not the type who liked to cause trouble.
After seeing Gao Xuance off, Yao Niang took a good nap before getting up to pay her respects to Concubine Hong.
She came very early. When Concubine Hong saw her coming, she looked lazy. Fortunately, Yao Niang smiled and said, "Mother, my daughter-in-law brought a lot of food with her dowry, including a lot of new glutinous rice flour. I will make you some glutinous rice balls, okay? It's so early, you should rest for a while."
With her daughter-in-law here, she couldn't be lazy, but Yao Niang advised: "Mother, you should lie down on the couch. His Highness told me that you have worked hard for a long time for our marriage."
The younger daughter-in-law spoke more pleasantly, and Concubine Hong could not help but nod.
Yao Niang went to the concubine's small kitchen and made sweet-scented osmanthus and black sesame glutinous rice balls. Luo Zhizheng taught her how to make these glutinous rice balls. Sometimes Yao Niang felt that Luo Zhizheng really had the capital to be proud. As the saying goes, a gentleman stays away from the kitchen, but her father can actually cook delicious food so well.
The dishes of sweet-scented osmanthus and black sesame glutinous rice balls and crispy mountain cakes were taught by his father, and Yao Niang really thinks they are Luo family's specialties.
She changed into a half-worn set of clothes, which was not fake at all. She first added warm water to the glutinous rice flour in small amounts, then added cold water, kneaded it into the glutinous rice ball skin, and then filled it with black sesame filling.
She did everything very seriously until the dish was ready.
Xu Qingrong who was outside didn't know anything yet. She was shocked when she saw Yao Niang coming out in person carrying food. She thought that judging from her appearance yesterday, she didn't seem to come to pay her respects, so why did she come again today?
"My sister-in-law is here."
"Yes, second sister-in-law, have you had breakfast? When I got up in the morning and saw that there was nothing to do, I made some food for mother." Yao Niang said with a smile.
徐青容笑容一僵，她是沒想到這一茬。
可她懷有身孕，哪裏敢吃外人的東西，瑤娘也不過随口一問。
倒是洪貴妃用了一碗湯圓，其實本來她不愛吃湯圓的，因為實在是太甜了，甜的牙齒疼，偏偏瑤娘的這碗湯圓非常好吃，綿軟但又不失粘口，黑芝麻餡濃香但甜度适中，再有桂花的香味和酒釀的甜香，這酒釀對女人可是好物，洪貴妃忍不住一碗都用完了。
她沒想到瑤娘手藝這麽好，很是高興：“這碗桂花黑芝麻湯圓是我吃過最好吃的湯圓了，你的手藝怎麽這麽好呢。”
“母妃歡喜就好。”瑤娘的臉紅撲撲的。
洪貴妃就喜歡她如此，她不由得心想也難怪兒子這麽喜歡瑤娘的，她從來不賣弄，也不刻意用自己的手藝宣揚什麽名氣，但是做事情卻十分用心。
徐青容見洪貴妃和瑤娘如此親密無間，很是心酸，可洪貴妃不在意這些，因為徐青容每次過來都只是為了她自己的名聲，連個荷包針線以及佛經都沒有送過自己一本，哪裏像小兒媳會親手做吃食給她。
瑤娘倒是沒想那麽多，她侍奉洪貴妃用完膳後，和徐青容一起陪她做早課，見經文翻的有些舊了，她不由笑道：“母妃若是不嫌棄，我再抄一本過來。”
反正她也沒什麽事情，宸王現在開沒在外建府，平日打理的就是一些家務事，還有太監宮女任憑差遣，她空閑的很。
“你有心就好，就是麻煩你了。”
“母妃說哪裏話，王爺一再對我說讓我陪您，您有任何不便的事情都可以找我。”
這話說的比唱的還好聽，徐青容氣的不行。
本來平日，她請完安就回去了，偏偏這羅瑤娘仿佛準備一直在洪貴妃這裏耗着的，她早起已經是不容易，還大着肚子，難免累的緊。
洪貴妃看到徐青容的樣子，連忙道：“你還是以養胎為上，你弟妹如今也進門來了，正好有她陪我，你好生把胎兒養好，就是對我的孝敬了。葛晴，你把我的那尊白玉觀音拿過來，送給周王妃。”
雖說二兒子和她不是很親近，但是徐青容肚子裏懷的是她第一個孫輩，洪貴妃還是很看重的。
徐青容當然知曉她肚子裏懷的這個最重要，但是今日風頭被弟妹全部搶了，她心裏不忿罷了，再者，她也有着徐家女子的一點，異常嫉妒。
懷孕以來，丈夫名正言順的寵別人，還有丈夫在她沒進門之前就有的女子，這些人都讓她如芒在背。
有時候瑤娘覺得這宮中為何大家都要争寵，待遇是一方面，最重要的是讓人看的起，你若沒有權利地位，就沒人看的起你。
宸王雖然醉心權勢，但是好處是在帝妃面前尤其得寵，她的待遇也總是最好的。
瑤娘陪着洪貴妃就是單純陪着，也不打探任何事情，如果洪貴妃困倦了，她就離開，這點讓洪貴妃就自在許多。
回程的路上，她正好碰到從嚴妃那裏出來的沐宛童，于是二人兩隊并作一隊一起走，到了皇子所，瑤娘随口邀請沐宛童串門，沐宛童懷着打探的心思就過來了。
三所和四所布局差不多，但是擺設很不同，比如瑤娘出自書香門第，四處都以清雅為主，而四所則更華麗，符合沐宛童曾經的鎮南王女兒的身份。
“四弟妹，我們進來這裏說話吧。”瑤娘笑。
沐宛童每次見到瑤娘都覺得尤其賢淑溫柔，看着就讓人很親近，但她這樣的長相過分的好看，性子又太軟弱，這樣的女人若是一旦宸王敗了，她怕是無法支撐門戶。
下人上了茶過來，沐宛童一喝就笑了：“這是半塔小蘭花，昔日這茶稱作酪奴，楊銜之的《洛陽迦藍記》中說，惟茗不中，與酪作奴。這半塔小蘭花，茶味濃厚，耐泡有味。”
“這是我們三爺平素愛喝的，聽弟妹的說法，你喜歡味道輕一點的了，那想必你适合喝浮瑤仙芝了。”瑤娘知道這沐宛童存心賣弄，也不得不認真應對了。
“浮瑤仙芝？”沐宛童這就不懂了。
瑤娘笑道：“這茶名美如仙子，江西景德鎮古時稱為浮梁，色澤翠綠，沖泡後有蘭花高香，湯色明亮，飲起來十分爽口又鮮甜。這茶和陝西的午子仙豪差不多，但午子仙豪湯色是碧綠的，倒是很适合弟妹呢。”
這還真的源于她爹喜歡的茶都很雅致，瑤娘平日很是孝敬羅至正，因此在她身邊很有見識，再者，她也是在宮中長大，自然不會真的在她面前裝鄉下人。
沐宛童本想賣弄一番，因為獨自從雲南來京這段日子，她見過許多官家女子不如她多矣，甚至自己的丈夫見識也沒她多，不由得在心裏自視甚高，但沒想到瑤娘懂這麽多。
這就讓她有些不适了，本以為這羅氏是個溫柔性子，沒想到還挺喜歡顯擺的。
瑤娘倒是真把這兩種茶包來了，要送給沐宛童。
她們羅家的東西也許并不是那麽昂貴，但很精細，連茶葉紙都是用的精致的佛頁。
很快，沐宛童提及節禮的事情，瑤娘笑道：“早已經備下，我們做兒媳婦的肯定要做些針線活兒進獻的。”
見瑤娘已經開始管家，沐宛童當然也進門那日就開始接手家務，只是人大都換上自己的，甚至對宮女都非常防備，尤其是貌美的，瑤娘卻不是，貌美的反而都在跟前服侍。
“三嫂，你成日一個人在家中，若有事，可以找我說話。”沐宛童覺得瑤娘太傻，肯定要吃虧。同時也很同情她，新婚丈夫只忙公事。
瑤娘謝過她的好意，随即又道：“你放心吧，三爺每天回來都會陪我說話，我都擔心我若是什麽都沒做，反而不好說話了。”
“那三嫂你是昨兒就備好節禮的嗎？怎麽這麽快？”沐宛童是準備把自己的嫁妝拿出來的，因為四皇子內庫都是皇帝所賜，尋常物件而已，沒什麽出挑的，而她一心想丈夫出頭，當然想準備更好的禮物。
因此，沐宛童本準備走的，還是忍不住問起。
瑤娘搖頭：“這些都是娘娘那裏準備的，因為當初我們三爺還未成親，一切由娘娘打理的。否則，過幾日就是中秋節了，哪裏準備得來。”
沐宛童聽了此話，頗覺得洪貴妃想的周到，而自己的婆婆嚴妃就不大成了，不說旁的，嚴妃還要自己孝敬，且總是擺婆婆的架子。
雖說丈夫是皇子，對她也很好，但是婆婆這裏，讓她無所适從，因此沐宛童羨慕道：“真是羨慕三嫂你，我這邊還得自己準備。”
瑤娘聽了覺得這沐宛童倒也是個真性情的人，但這話不好接，她只好道：“既然如此，四弟妹你若是有什麽讓我幫忙的，可一定要開口，這宮裏節禮是很重要的。”
二人正在說話中，只見外面有小太監拿着一個籠子進來道：“王妃，王爺托人買的一只雪白的波斯貓兒，送給王妃你玩兒。”
瑤娘眼睛一亮：“這貓兒真可愛。”
小太監年紀還小，人也生的喜慶，他連忙道：“王爺還說這貓兒有兩身衣裳，讓奴才拿給您。”
貓咪的衣服也十分精致，一套是喜慶的紅色，另一套則是湖水藍，格外的好看。瑤娘沒想到丈夫這麽細心，一面讓白芷給這個小太監賞錢，又賞了一碟點心，又和沐宛童一起看這只貓兒。
其實瑤娘只是覺得好看，倒是沐宛童尤其愛貓，還對瑤娘道：“我在雲南養了十只貓兒，最喜歡的是一只橘貓，只可惜要上京來，就丢在王府了。”
她突然就很羨慕瑤娘了，因為一個細心的丈夫實在是太重要了，宸王這種人即便對所有人都不好，但是對妻子卻很好。
瑤娘沒想到沐宛童從賣弄—打探—羨慕，不知道她為何轉變，因此就道：“你既然喜歡這貓兒，不如時常過來玩了。”
沐宛童強笑幾聲，等回去的時候，她和四皇子提起養貓的事情，四皇子卻道：“這貓兒狗兒不能随意養，你不知道以前宮中，廖貴妃就被莊妃的貓兒抓了，和莊妃成了死敵，很容易出事的。況且，二皇嫂有身孕在身，你看這……”
“那三嫂怎麽就養了。”沐宛童覺得丈夫膽子太小了。
四皇子也是無可奈何，他和嚴妃夾縫裏求生存多年，靠的就是謹慎小心，她母妃無法和洪貴妃比，他也沒法子和三皇兄比啊。
……
這些事情瑤娘就不知曉了，高玄策依舊是很晚回來，他見瑤娘已經睡熟，但床邊的燭臺仍舊為他點的一盞燈，這讓他十分感動。
就着燈光再看床上的人，她睡覺不太老實，酥臂伸出被子外，胸前一片白皙，高玄策忍不住被她誘惑，俯身下去，抱她入懷，瑤娘方才睜開雙眼，一見是他，毫無防備的往他懷裏拱了拱。
Gao Xuance couldn't help it, and his clothes, which were as thin as a cicada's wing, had been taken off long ago. Yao Niang was still responding to him at first because she was really too sleepy, but later she felt more and more comfortable, so she turned over and lay on top.
Gao Xuance suddenly felt like she was living in her previous life. No matter what, she seemed to have to take control of the initiative. Even though she was no longer the same person in this life, her habits remained the same.
"Mother Yao..."
"Hey, I'll do it."
The spring scene in the room is all hidden in the dragon and phoenix tent.