Chapter 12 [12] Is it marriage or enmity? ...
【12】/First release
When Queen Mother Zhao saw her son like this, she knew he still remembered. She struck while the iron was hot and said, "It's dark outside, so you may not have seen the young lady's appearance clearly, but I assure you, she is absolutely first-class in appearance, and she is also very outstanding among the noble ladies in Chang'an. As for her personality, she is well-behaved, sensible, and very filial..."
Before he could finish his words, the person sitting opposite him sneered.
Queen Mother Zhao paused and looked up.
The autumn sun shone through the light blue curtains into the window lattice, casting square shadows on the ground and on the handsome face and upright shoulders of the young man.
The sharply defined face, divided by light and shadow, was half-bright and half-dark, and his expression was also obscure. The words that uttered from his thin lips were as cold as ever: "The Queen Mother knew that she was filial, but she still made her mother faint in front of her. Is this a marriage, or an enmity?"
Queen Mother Zhao choked, her well-maintained face turning slightly blue. She said in a deep voice, "Zheng was too happy and lost her composure in front of the palace just now."
Sima Jing curled his lips, too lazy to expose her self-deception.
How could Queen Mother Zhao not see his sarcasm?
Her fingers clenched quietly beneath the sleeves of her gorgeous robe. She suppressed her inner anxiety, took two deep breaths, and finally spoke in a calm tone, "Whether you believe it or not, this marriage has been finalized in front of so many princes and nobles. The daughter of the Marquis of Changxin is your bride!"
Sima Jing's brows knitted tightly together, his narrow eyes fixed on Queen Mother Zhao, "I've already said that I have no intention of marrying in this lifetime."
"Nonsense! Men should get married when they are old enough, and women should get married when they are old enough. You are such a good boy, why shouldn't you get married and start a family?"
Queen Mother Zhao found her youngest son's words absurd. She frowned and said, "I know you still care about those previous marriages, but they were all accidents. They were unlucky on their own. How can you be blamed? As for those rumors outside, you shouldn't take them to heart. If others don't understand you, don't I, Queen Mother, understand you?"
These words were met with a faint glance from Sima Jing.
Queen Dowager Zhao was speechless again.
Perhaps she understood her youngest son before he was six years old, but when they met again, the sixteen-year-old boy who was following the envoy, with bruises all over his body and taciturn, seemed to be separated by a thick layer of mist, and she could not see him clearly.
Over the years, Queen Mother Zhao has been trying to make Sima Jing return to the lively, cheerful, smart and sensible little Ajing of his childhood.
But six years later, Sima Jing became increasingly withdrawn and silent, and the relationship between mother and son became increasingly distant and indifferent.
Queen Mother Zhao didn't know where the problem lay, even though she was clearly trying very hard to make up for it.
She even suspected that the Rongdi people had cast a spell on her son, turning her once most well-behaved and caring little Ajing into the cold and indifferent man he is today.
"I don't care what you think, but the marriage is already decided. There's no turning back. If the Marquis of Changxin doesn't marry their daughter to me, they'd be disrespecting the emperor and disobeying his orders."
Queen Mother Zhao took a deep breath, straightened her back, and looked at her son in front of her with a burning gaze: "Ajing, everything your mother does is for your own good. Don't worry, I promise that this marriage will go smoothly and there will be no more problems."
"What if?"
Sima Jing looked at her and said, "If another one of them is killed by this unlucky person like me, my mother will pay with her life, or I will die as a token of my apology."
"A Jing!"
Queen Mother Zhao's face turned pale with anger. She supported herself on the table with one hand and was about to stand up, but she calmed down under the young man's cold gaze. Only a hint of anger remained on her face: "Don't say such things again in the future!"
If you don’t talk about it, it will disappear?
Sima Jing's eyes darkened.
After a moment, he stood up and looked calmly at Queen Dowager Zhao beside the couch: "If someone dies because of me again, I will leave the capital and never return to the court."
Looking at the dark figure that resolutely left, and thinking of the threat in his words, Queen Dowager Zhao felt a tightness in her chest. She collapsed straight onto the five-colored brocade pillow behind her, closed her eyes and gasped, "What sin have I committed to give birth to such a heartless evildoer!"
Nanny Lan Gui quickly brought tea and patted the Queen Mother on the back while whispering, "Calm down. Getting angry so early in the morning is bad for your health."
Queen Dowager Zhao swallowed two mouthfuls of tea in quick succession before finally breathing slowly. She stared at the slightly swaying light brown tea surface, her brows still furrowed. "How did he become like this? He was so caring when he was little. Everyone who met him praised him for being sensible and filial..."
Nanny Lan Gui sighed and wanted to persuade her again, but she caught a glimpse of a figure swaying behind the soft silk curtain and couldn't help but squint her eyes.
Queen Mother Zhao also noticed it. She was already annoyed at the moment, and her tone became even colder: "What are you doing sneaking around outside? Get in!"
At the Empress Dowager's command, the head eunuch Zhang Dehai immediately stumbled in and trotted in: "Your servant greets the Empress Dowager. Long live the Empress Dowager."
Queen Mother Zhao glanced at the eunuch and asked, "What are you doing hiding outside?"
Zhang Dehai knelt on the ground, his face hesitant: "Slave...slave..."
Nanny Lan Gui knew that the Queen Mother was in a bad mood and hurriedly urged: "If you have anything to say in front of the Queen Mother, just say it."
Zhang Dehai then trembled as he recounted what he had just learned: "My godson, who works at the Imperial Food Bureau, went out to the palace this morning to do some shopping. He said he saw the Marquis of Changxin's mansion send someone to invite the best doctor from Huichun Hall early in the morning."
Queen Dowager Zhao paused as she rubbed her brows. "Didn't the imperial physician say that Zheng was fine? Why are you calling in another doctor?"
"My godson found out that the doctor was not hired for the Marquis' wife, but... but..."
Zhang Dehai swallowed hard and said, "It's for the young lady from the Marquis' Mansion!"
After he finished speaking, the air in the flower hall seemed to freeze for a moment.
Queen Mother Zhao's expression also became completely gloomy: "What happened to her?"
Zhang Dehai: "I don't know either. I just heard that he fell ill as soon as he got home last night, and he rushed to find a doctor as soon as the market gates opened this morning."
The hall fell into a dead silence again.
After a long pause, Queen Mother Zhao sneered twice, "Very good, very good. It's one thing for Prince Jing to be so cold to me this early in the morning, but even the Marquis of Changxin's Mansion dares to be so cold to me."
Last night, the young lady was still lively and cheerful, with a rosy complexion, but she fell ill as soon as the marriage was granted?
It's really a ghost!
"I just don't believe this."
Queen Mother Zhao stood up and ordered in a cold voice, "Lan Gui, pack your belongings immediately and take Imperial Physician Liu to the Marquis of Changxin's residence. Until the day of the wedding, you will stay in the courtyard of the Fifth Lady of the Yun Family and look after her for me."
"This time, I will not allow the slightest mistake in Prince Jing's marriage!"
"Ahhh—"
In the backyard of Marquis Changxin's mansion, Yun Ran, who was sitting on the edge of the bed, sneezed loudly again.
Zheng, who was standing by, handed over a handkerchief with a distressed look on her face: "Ran Ran, are you okay?"
Yun Ran was wearing ivory-white nightgown, with her black hair hanging naturally on her shoulders. She leaned against a lush green pillow with her head slightly tilted back. A wet towel was placed on her forehead, and her plain little face without any makeup was flushed due to a high fever. At first glance, it looked as if a rouge box had been overturned.
Even though her cheeks were flushed red, she managed to force a smile: "Mother, I'm fine, my nose just felt a little itchy."
"Silly child, you're already burned like this, and you still say you're okay?"
Zheng's eyes welled with tears. She sat by the bed and touched her daughter's burning face. She turned around and urged the maid, "It's been so long, why isn't the medicine ready yet?"
The maid outside responded, "It's almost there, Madam Lao, please wait a little longer."
Zheng felt that every minute was unbearable. She wanted to say something more, but a soft little hand pressed down on the back of her hand.
She turned around and saw Yun Ran staring at her with those big, distinct black and white eyes. "Mother, you can't eat hot tofu in a hurry. If the medicine isn't brewed for a long time, its effectiveness will be greatly reduced. Anyway, I have nothing to do today, so it won't hurt to wait a while."
"It's okay, but if you don't take medicine to reduce the fever, what if your brain gets burned out?"
Zheng just felt that her daughter was really good-tempered. How could she think about others and not herself?
But when she saw her daughter's weak little face, she couldn't say those words. She could only look at her with tears in her eyes and worry.
Yun Ran felt helpless when he saw the look in his mother's eyes.
She really didn't think the illness was that serious. Wasn't it just that she accidentally fell asleep in the bathtub last night and caught a cold and had a fever?
She had had a fever in a Taoist temple before. At that time, let alone applying ice with a handkerchief, she couldn't even take medicine. She just covered herself with the quilt and slept to sweat out the fever. The next day, the high fever naturally subsided.
She wanted to give an example to appease Zheng, but she was afraid that mentioning their past poverty would make her even more sad, so she finally kept her mouth shut.
Fortunately, the maid brought the hot medicine after a while.
Two sisters-in-law also came with me.
The two men came from their respective courtyards and met on the way. They still disliked each other, but in the end they came together.
Seeing Yun Ran lying on the bed and drinking bitter medicine mouthful by mouthful, Li Wanrong and Qian Sijin also looked worried.
"How can you suddenly become ill when you're perfectly fine?"
"yes……"
Qian Sijin bit her lip. Seeing that the maids had all retreated to the outer room, she couldn't help but mutter under her breath, "My sister is usually so healthy. She practices boxing and martial arts every day, and she's so energetic. Now, she's just been granted marriage, and now she's sick. This King Jing is really weird..."
"Third sister-in-law, be careful with your words."
Li Wanrong scolded in a low voice: "Have you forgotten what your eldest brother said last night?"
Qian Sijin knew she was in the wrong and shut up for a moment.
But she was not convinced in her heart. She didn't believe that she was the only one in the family who thought so. Why was her sister-in-law pretending?
In fact, she is not the only one who has this idea.
Whether it was Zheng, the servants in the mansion, or even Li Wanrong, they all felt that this was too strange a coincidence.
Didn't the Cui family's wife also die of an acute illness without any warning?
After Yun Ran finished taking the medicine, Li Wanrong sat by the bed and said softly, "Sister, stay at home and recuperate for the next few days. When you're well again, I'll take you to Xuandu Temple for a stroll."
"Xuandu Temple?"
When Yun Ran heard the name, he sat up in shock, "Is this the Xuandu Temple that occupies a high position, has gone through three dynasties, is planted with peach blossoms, and is known as the first imperial temple?"
She finished speaking in one breath, and Li Wanrong was stunned for a moment. When she came to her senses, she couldn't help but laugh: "It seems that my sister knows Xuandu Temple quite well."
Yun Ran smiled sheepishly, "After all, I was once a Taoist. Now that I'm in Chang'an, I have to adapt to the local customs and get to know the local situation. If I can't make it in the future, I can always stay at a brother Taoist temple and earn a living."
Zheng: “…”
Li Wanrong/Qian Sijin: "..."
"Well, what I mean is... we cultivators travel all over the world, relying on our ancestors at home and fellow Taoists outside."
Seeing that the more he explained, the more confusing it became, Yun Ran said embarrassedly: "I am confused because of the fever, and my words are slipping as a habit. Just treat it as nonsense."
Zheng and the others naturally wouldn't bother with a sick little girl, not to mention that it was just a habit she had developed over the years.
"Then it's settled."
Li Wanrong chuckled: "When you recover from your illness, we will go to Xuandu Temple to worship."
If I could buy two or three magic weapons to ward off evil spirits for my sister-in-law, it would be better than adding any dowry.
Just as the family was chatting and laughing, a servant suddenly came from outside the house and hurriedly reported: "Madam, someone is coming from the palace!"
The author has something to say:
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The wedding is coming soon. After all, Queen Mother Zhao is also anxious.
v3 the day before, v6 the day after. This chapter also draws a small red envelope~
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