Chapter 86 Sisters Meet Mu Xue once thought that once the business was booming,...
Mu Xue had thought that once the business was booming, there would be competition. But she didn't expect it to come so soon.
Last year, we were able to successfully deal with copper overseas and made our first profit. But as soon as spring came, someone showed up to reap the benefits.
The support behind him is still the prince.
She held her forehead, feeling a headache. According to the current situation, the position of the crown prince is still stable. As a princess in the border area, it is difficult for her to compete with him. Besides, she was completely confused about what was going on in the capital. It was difficult to sort out the matter based on the one-sided words of her subordinates.
But should we really just leave it alone and let him be? Mu Xue felt unwilling.
After thinking for a whole night, she made a decision - to go to Beijing.
It just so happened that the Empress Dowager was about to celebrate her 60th birthday, and as a granddaughter, she had a good reason to go to celebrate her birthday. She immediately wrote a memorial and sent it through the post station, requesting to go to Beijing to celebrate her birthday.
After traveling back and forth for half a month, he received the news and was allowed to enter the capital.
Mu Xue prepared a birthday gift, quickly packed her belongings, and led a small group of about twenty people to the capital.
The closer they got to the capital, the stricter the rules became. It was inconvenient for Mu Xue to travel on horseback, so she had to stay in the carriage.
Fortunately, this section of the journey is much shorter than the one from Mobei to the capital, and the official road is well built. It only takes ten days to reach the suburbs of the capital.
It was September, the weather was clear and crisp, she was wearing a green satin coat with butterfly patterns and a dark yellow waistcoat, she was not cold at all. The wheels rolled forward, Mu Xue rested her head on a soft pillow, thinking about what she needed to do in the capital.
At that time, she was trapped in the palace for most of the time, confused and indifferent to worldly affairs. After she got married, she lived outside the palace for a short winter, barely attending social events, but she was not clear about the various complicated relationships in the capital. All these debts must be repaid at this opportunity.
The complications in the copper business had sounded a warning to her. Although she was not in the capital, the personnel changes in the capital would also affect her deployment in Guihua and even in Mobei.
It was now the 39th year of Emperor Kangxi's reign, and there seemed to be no major events to recount. The vague memories she had of Emperor Kangxi's first and second dethronement of the crown prince were all things that happened after the end of the 40th year of Emperor Kangxi's reign. Logically speaking, the father was kind and the son was filial. There was no trace of the so-called eight princes' fight for the throne - none of the princes had been crowned as kings, and even the eldest prince, who had the highest title among the brothers, was only crowned as the Prince of Zhi.
Everything is prepared for a rainy day, and there are many unknowns.
Therefore, her purpose of going back this time was not to take sides among these princes, but to win their favor, to be perfunctory, and to accumulate some brotherly and sisterly feelings. The first important thing was to act like a good daughter in front of Emperor Kangxi, and then to find out the current situation in the court, such as who were the important officials, and who might affect her interests in the border areas.
The Lifanyuan, which is in charge of Mongolian affairs, is definitely the focus of attention. The Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of Works, and the Ministry of War are also reluctant to know a little bit. The construction of the Princess's Mansion this time involves the first three departments. As for the Ministry of War, it will have to deal with matters such as contacting the naturalized garrison and building the Kulun Military Station.
In addition to these miscellaneous plans, Mu Xue also really missed Concubine Yi. After coming to the Qing Dynasty, this aunt and adoptive mother had always treated her well.
I don’t know how Concubine Yi is doing now, whether she is fatter or thinner, but at least with her abilities she can live a good life in the palace.
She was in a trance when she suddenly heard Rong'er, who was sitting on the carriage, report: "Master, we saw a carriage with a yellow flag in front of us. I wonder which noble person it is."
"Send someone to ask." Mu Xue ordered.
We were already close to the capital, so it was not uncommon to run into some royal relatives. Meeting was fate, so we just greeted each other.
We sent someone to ask over there, and someone from the other side came and asked from a distance, "Excuse me, are you the Fourth Princess's guard? I am a subordinate of the Third Princess, and I came to say hello."
The third princess?
She was born to Concubine Bu, her mother died young, and the year she was born happened to coincide with the death of Empress Hesheli and the beginning of the Three Feudatories Rebellion. She was also born to a noble, so no one in the palace paid much attention to her. Her situation was very similar to Muxue's. Perhaps because of this reason, she herself also felt a lot of pity for her younger sister Muxue.
When the third princess was unmarried, she was one of the few siblings who would not be dissuaded by Mu Xue's indifference and was willing to accompany her. It was a pity that every time the third sister came, she always liked to persuade her to recite scriptures, saying things like "accumulate good deeds and worship Buddha, and the gods will protect you."
At that time, Mu Xue had just come here not long ago, and her mental state was very bad. She was dazed and upset. How could she like to listen to these things?
Thinking about it now, I just feel a little guilty. No matter what form it took, the love that she had for me was real.
So when Mu Xue heard that it was her, she hurriedly ordered everyone to stop. Without waiting for her followers to lift the curtain, she lifted the curtain and got out of the carriage herself. From afar, she saw several people surrounding a beautiful woman in palace dress. It was the Third Princess, who was now 27 years old.
Although they have been apart for several years, the third princess' temperament remains unchanged and she is still as gentle and amiable as ever.
"Fourth sister, it's really you."
The Third Princess held Mu Xue's hand tightly and said with emotion: "You have grown up so much now. Thirty-one years have passed. When I got married, you were so young. Now you have grown into such a graceful lady. You look a bit like Concubine Yi. It's great."
Mu Xue smiled and held her hand back: "So, it has been eight years since Third Sister and I last saw each other."
Two sisters from the same family, after getting married, one went east and the other went west, separated by the vast grassland and Gobi Desert, it was difficult for them to see each other. Even ordinary passers-by who passed by each other could not compare to them.
The third princess' eyes were filled with mist, and she felt that this was a bad omen. How could she cry when she saw him after not seeing him for eight years? She wiped away her tears with her handkerchief and said a few words of greeting: "You are here to celebrate the Queen Mother's birthday, right? I am so glad. I was worried that you would marry to a remote place like Khalkha and it would be difficult for you to come back."
"That was true originally. Fortunately, Khan Ama was considerate and allowed me to build a residence after naturalization. I happened to be naturalized, so I shamelessly submitted a letter to come back." Mu Xue had sharp eyes. Seeing a man in Mongolian clothes slowly walking behind her, she asked the third princess, "Is he my third brother-in-law?"
The third princess tilted her head and nodded: "Yes."
The third son-in-law was Galzang, the second son of the prince of the Kharachin tribe. According to the Mongolian banner title, he was far inferior to the Zasak prince Dorji.
But for the sake of the third princess, Mu Xue politely greeted the third prince consort.
However, the Third Prince Consort only saluted indifferently, and even his salute was a little hasty. After they greeted each other, he walked away on his own.
"He has this kind of temper. Don't pay attention to him." The third princess was afraid that she would be angry, so she hurriedly explained, "I'll sit in your car and we can have a good talk."
The two got in the car, talked to each other, reminisced about the past, and briefly talked about their lives over the years.
Most of the time, it was the Third Princess who was talking, and Mu Xue was listening. She was a little uncomfortable at first, after all, she hadn't seen her for such a long time, and she didn't know what to say when they met again. But seeing the Third Princess's joy, she gradually relaxed and was willing to talk to her sister.
The third princess said, "I am doing fine. In my spare time, I still worship Buddha and copy scriptures. Later, thanks to my father-in-law, I built a princess's mansion. A few years ago, when he was touring the frontier, he came to see me..."
After she finished talking, she looked at Muxue and smiled: "You seem to be doing well. Is your fourth brother-in-law treating you well?" A woman's situation after marriage can be vaguely seen from her demeanor and expression.
Mu Xue was a little embarrassed: "It's okay, Dunduobudorji is a good person."
"He didn't come with you to celebrate your birthday?"
"After sending me to naturalize, he went back to Kulun. Tushetu Khan is old, and there are many things that need to be handled by him."
The third princess frowned, and hesitated to speak. Finally, she said hesitantly: "You have been married for only a few years. It's not good to live apart from each other so far away."
"It's okay. I've talked to him. He will find time to come to Kulun to see me."
"Is that so? Ah..." The third princess was obviously a little surprised. She was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said, "Sister, you are lucky."
As the two sisters were talking, time passed quickly, and before they knew it, they heard a message from outside saying that they had arrived in the capital.
To enter the city, one has to pass through the city gate. Does the third princess need to go back? The emperor made some arrangements for the carriage, so she said something to Mu Xue and got off.
When the princess travels, ordinary people must not be able to see her easily. The guards inside the city wall received the order, cleared an area, kept outside the outsiders, and hurriedly used cloth to make a barrier to block the view.
The city wall, which should have been noisy, was very quiet at this moment.
The Third Princess was supported by her maid and returned to the carriage with a green canopy. She glanced at the Third Prince Consort beside her, paused for a moment, and said softly, "At least you have to be respectful in front of Fourth Sister."
The Third Prince Consort sneered, "Really? How many husbands would fall to my level? Normally, I would just bow to my wife and be a slave, but now I even kowtow to my sister-in-law."
"You - I never meant that." The third princess was so excited by these words that she trembled all over. "We are about to reach the capital. If not for me, you should at least think about the instructions of Duke Du Leng."
"You always use my father to pressure me. Don't worry, Princess. I'm used to pretending to be your grandson, thanks to you. I won't bring shame to you and my father."
The third princess took a long breath and looked very unhappy.
The maid who was supporting her couldn't help it and said in a stern voice, "You are being so weird here, isn't it just because of that girl? Our princess never paid any attention to the status issue, let alone stopped her. It was Prince Du Leng who personally issued the order not to allow her to enter the palace."
The third prince said angrily: "How dare a slave teach me like this? If I had a girl like this, I would kill her as soon as possible!"
"Speak more quietly." The third princess subconsciously looked at the fourth princess, but luckily she was at a certain distance and no one heard it.
She was angry and anxious, and lowered her voice and said, "Okay, after all, isn't it just a concubine's matter? Why are you angry? I'll ask someone to bring her to the palace when I get back, okay? I'll also tell Prince Du Leng. Stop making a fuss."
The third prince stopped talking and walked away with a cold face.
The maid said indignantly: "Master, just ignore him. He should just make a scene here. Now that he has entered the imperial city, he still has to be humble!"
"You should talk less. It's giving me a headache." The third princess took off the Eighteen Arhats incense beads made of nanmu incense that were pressed against her collar, and chanted the Buddha's name while moving them. It took her a while to calm down.
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