Chapter 23 Flowers Bloom and Fall. The visiting cards were handed out, but the first one was not responded to. Mu...
After handing out the visiting card, the first one received no response, so Mu Xue wrote the second one herself, choosing a piece of floral stationery and writing: Your niece, the Fourth Princess, respectfully greets you from afar. Now I have to go on a long journey, and I hope to see your kind face and listen to your teachings. I hope you will grant me an audience.
After a day, there was finally a reply, and it was accepted.
A spring rain brings a warm feeling. Mu Xue sat in the sedan chair wearing a jacket, feeling stuffy and a little hot.
The sedan chair turned into Shihu Hutong and arrived at Princess Kechun's mansion.
It was a nice mansion, and it looked even more magnificent from the outside than the one Mu Xue was currently living in. However, the entrance hall was deserted and unusually quiet.
The servants in the mansion were also old. An old lady with gray hair and a wooden face led a few maids to greet her and led the way tremblingly. The sunlight shone on the dust floating in the air. There were many green plants on both sides of the road. When you go to the inner garden, there are more green plants and flowers. A magnolia tree is in bud, and the whole garden is filled with the faint fragrance of magnolia.
Princess Kechun was sitting among a large area of green trees and flowers. There was a hoe and a pair of pruning shears in the corner, and she must have just been pruning the flowers and trees.
Before coming here, Mu Xue had imagined her appearance in her mind, but now that she had seen her in person, she realized that she was completely different.
Princess Kechun is over fifty years old. People these days seem to age faster. She is getting fatter and a little plump. The wrinkles on her face surround a pair of eyes of an old beauty, which look misty like glass mixed with lime.
She looked at Mu Xue and said in a calm tone, "Why, do you think that I am different from what you think?"
Mu Xue shook her head subconsciously, hesitated for a moment, and finally nodded.
Princess Kechun looked at her and smiled, "What a child you are." She turned around and asked the nanny to bring her a cup of hot milk tea.
The day was nice, so Princess Kechun asked Muxue to sit outside to bask in the sun.
The maids set up the fruit table, milk tea, etc., and retreated under the eaves, leaving a quiet area for the two princesses, one old and one young.
After a few polite greetings, such as "How are you?", Mu Xue didn't know what to say anymore and just picked up her milk tea and took two sips.
Princess Kechun asked, "You are just a little girl, what do you want to see me for?"
Mu Xue held the teacup and said softly, "Actually, I don't know why either."
"So," Princess Kechun, "are you going to set off for Mobei?"
"Yes, next month."
There was nothing to say, and there was silence for a while.
Mu Xue finished her milk tea and secretly glanced at Princess Ke Chun beside her. She put her hands on the armchair, basking in the sun in a very comfortable posture, with her eyes closed, as if taking a nap in the sunlight.
This demeanor reminded her of her mentor before she traveled through time, a wise and cheerful old lady who had experienced some twists and turns. When Mu Xue was crying because she couldn't finish her thesis, as if the sky was falling, she was dragged to the lawn to bask in the sun. The sun was warm and the wind was gentle. A stray school cat came out from nowhere. It was not afraid of people and lay down beside them, rolled over, and turned its orange-haired white belly out to bask in the sun.
She therefore felt that Princess Kechun was somewhat friendly, and she also thought that this young lady, who seldom met outsiders, would not gossip, so she let down her guard a little.
"Actually..." Mu Xue said, "I'm a little scared."
Princess Kechun still closed her eyes and basked in the sun: "I'd be surprised if I wasn't afraid. It's so far away, and I have no relatives."
She slowly opened her eyes and tilted her head to look at Muxue: "You look like a smart child with a delicate mind, a bit like your emperor Mafa, otherwise he wouldn't come to see me. But when you get to the grassland, you have to be tough to live comfortably. Now you learn the rules of those Confucian scholars and make the princesses weak. When I was young, the princesses I saw dared to whip their husbands directly, and they would not stop until Taizong stepped in."
The princess at that time was really arrogant and domineering.
Taizu even summoned the princesses to the octagonal pavilion to give them a lecture, warning them not to abuse their husbands. At the same time, he ordered the prince consorts that if such a situation happened again, they should come to him, the father-in-law, to make the decision.
I don't know when this trend started to change quietly.
When she married Wu Yingxiong, the son of Wu Sangui, she would hear the Han Chinese maids talking about women's rules with stern faces. Later, she also met several princesses of Emperor Kangxi, all of whom were gentle and virtuous.
Since the fourth princess came to see her, she had to tell her some stories. Princess Kechun adjusted her sitting posture and slowly talked about her youth: "When I got married, my husband didn't dare to offend me. Although my husband liked his two concubines more, he was respectful to me. Later, Lin'er was born."
When she mentioned her son's nickname, her tone softened.
"Lin'er was a very smart child. He could call me 'mother' when he was only one year old. I was very happy just by looking at him. I watched him learn to speak, watched him go to the study to study, watched him grow taller than me, watched him get married, watched his children be born - but unfortunately, the Wu family rebelled, and they are all gone."
Having said this, she paused, her expression as if she was trapped in an old dream, a little melancholy.
Mu Xue couldn't bear it, so she gently placed her hand on the back of her hand and squeezed it.
Princess Kechun looked back at her and smiled. "Child, your eyes are filled with tears. It's all in the past. There were times when I felt so miserable that I wanted to die, but I still... somehow managed to live until today."
She caressed Muxue's cheek lovingly: "You are just like Lin'er, kind-hearted and willing to shed tears for some irrelevant people."
Mu Xue choked up a little: "It would be great if all this hadn't happened. I've seen some strange stories in plays, which tell of people with regrets who were reborn to avoid all these sufferings."
Princess Kechun thought for a moment and said, "Then I guess I can't avoid it. Even if I have to start all over again, I still want to give birth to Lin'er and watch him grow up."
"But this is too painful." Mu Xue frowned.
"Indeed, but I'm not that kind of person," Princess Kechun looked at the magnolia tree in the sunlight, "Flowers will eventually fall, so should we just stop them from blooming?"
She stood up, picked a flower from the bottom, and handed it to Muxue: "You are still young, you shouldn't think like this. Whether it's joy or sorrow, what is coming will come, don't be afraid."
The magnolia branch brought from Princess Kechun's mansion was placed in a bottle of clear water and bloomed for a whole week.
Muxue also smelled the fragrance of flowers for a week, until the aroma gradually faded, the branches withered, and the time to set off had come.
Each of the eight banners dispatched soldiers, forming a team of nearly a thousand people, led by the fourth and fifth princes who had been newly appointed as Beile, to escort the fourth princess in marriage.
Muxue put on her wedding clothes and went into the palace to pay her farewell.
At first, Concubine Yi sat upright, but when Muxue kowtowed and said to her, "My daughter is leaving," she no longer cared about her manners, and went forward to hug her, crying inconsolably.
"You must be well and write to me often. Don't be afraid of the long journey. Come back if you have the chance."
"You must take care of yourself, too."
Even the shoulder of her ceremonial dress was wet with tears. The female officials and maids on both sides hurried up to persuade her. After a while, Mu Xue finally left Yiku Palace and went to the Empress Dowager's palace to say goodbye.
On the way, the maids hurriedly applied powder and rouge on her face, but the redness of her eyes could not be faked.
In the palace, the Queen Mother, other concubines, and young princesses were all there. Seeing the Fourth Princess' appearance, they were also very sad.
After giving a few words of encouragement, the Queen Mother sighed and watched the Fourth Princess leave.
The fifth princess standing by felt sympathetic and cried while holding the Queen Mother's arm.
The fifth princess is a few years younger than the fourth princess. Her birth mother is Consort De, but she has been raised by the Empress Dowager since she was born and is deeply loved by the old lady. Seeing her fourth sister leave the palace to marry far away in Mobei, she feels a little bit sad and worried that she will have to marry far away in the grassland like her sisters one day.
The Queen Mother saw that the Fifth Princess was trembling slightly. She felt sorry for the child being frightened, so she whispered to her, "Don't be afraid. I don't want you to marry far away."
Hearing this, the Fifth Princess was delighted at first. The Queen Mother's words were very important. Since she had made a promise, it would definitely not go unfulfilled. But then, she felt ashamed for her joy.
The fifth princess hurried back to her bedroom, asked the nanny for the key to open the box, took out her favorite emerald jade hairpin, and stood guard in front of the palace road.
When Mu Xue said goodbye to Khan Ama and came out, she saw the Fifth Princess coming over in a hurry and said softly, "Fourth sister, this is my favorite jade hairpin. Take it with you. Don't forget me."
The fourteen-year-old girl presented the jade hairpin with tears in her eyes. Even though Mu Xue had not had much contact with her before, her heart softened a little. She bent down and asked the Fifth Princess to put it on her hair.
After all the farewell ceremonies were completed, Muxue sat in the colorful sedan chair.
The sound of ceremonial music was heard in the distance, which was the signal to set off.
She couldn't help but lift the curtain and look back at the Forbidden City.
The palace with red walls and glazed tiles stood silently in the sunlight, getting smaller and smaller until it disappeared.
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