Chapter 041
Shen Jin was not lying. Chu Xiuming had indeed brought people to wait at the palace gate. He had prepared more than one carriage. The one parked in the front was for Princess Rui and the other three to ride in, and the one parked in the back was for the maids and servants. It could not only hold Princess Rui and the others' luggage, but also the rewards from the palace could be taken away directly.
Chu Xiuming rode his horse beside the carriage. Shen Jin could see him as soon as she opened the window. After giving him a sweet smile, Shen Jin closed the window and talked to Princess Rui and the others.
Princess Rui did not ask Shen Jin how she was doing in the border town. Just by looking at Chu Xiuming's appearance, she knew that she was doing well. Her little face was rosy, and her eyes were filled with undisguised affection.
Although Chu Xiuming did not say anything, Princess Rui noticed it. As soon as they came out, Chu Xiuming's eyes were on Shen Jin first. After making sure that Shen Jin was fine, he looked at them. Moreover, it was impossible for him, as the Earl of Yongning, to wait at the palace gate for so long and arrange everything properly. If he really didn't have Shen Jin in his heart, it would be impossible.
"Mother, you have been in the palace for so long, are you okay?" Shen Jin asked with some concern.
Princess Rui pursed her lips and smiled, "On weekdays, your mother and I are in the Queen Mother's Palace. The Queen Mother has been fasting and chanting all year round, and she doesn't come out very often. Except that we can't walk around freely, there is nothing else wrong."
Shen Jin felt that the Empress Dowager didn't know how to enjoy life. She was the Empress Dowager but she was fasting and chanting Buddhist scriptures every day. "What about my mother and mother?"
"Of course I have to accompany the Queen Mother." Princess Rui didn't take it seriously, "and the prince will often come to the palace to take care of me."
"Oh." Shen Jin agreed.
Princess Rui looked at Concubine Chen and said, "I finally got to see Jin girl, why are you silent now?"
Shen Jin also asked, "Mother, why don't you talk to me?"
Concubine Chen held Shen Jin's hand and smiled, "You look a lot taller."
Shen Jin smiled and rubbed into Concubine Chen's arms, saying in a tender voice, "Yes."
Concubine Chen had only one daughter, Shen Jin. Her heart almost melted as she hugged her daughter. Shen Jin made a fuss for a while but then stopped. Concubine Chen did not care that Princess Rui was still there and asked about Shen Jin's food, clothing, housing and transportation.
Princess Rui was listening on the side and didn't say much, but she had a smile on her face the whole time. As soon as she got in the car, Shen Jin poured three cups of tea. While talking to Concubine Chen, he touched the teacups, then handed one cup to Princess Rui, another cup to Concubine Chen, and then he took the last cup and drank it slowly.
Concubine Chen was feeling thirsty, so she drank more than half of the cup before putting it down. She also realized that she had lost her composure just now. Princess Rui didn't care about it, but just smiled and said, "I'm afraid it's too late today. Why don't you come to the mansion with Earl Yongning tomorrow? Then you can also invite your two sisters and brother-in-law to come over and have a family reunion."
"Okay." Shen Jin agreed with a smile.
Before they knew it, they arrived at Prince Rui's Mansion. Chu Xiuming had sent someone to inform them in advance. Because Prince Rui was in the palace, the two sons of Princess Rui, Shen Xuan and Shen Xi, were waiting at the door. After expressing their gratitude, they took Princess Rui and Concubine Chen in. Chu Xiuming and Shen Jin did not go in, but went directly back to the Yongning Marquis' Mansion.
When Chu Xiuming and Shen Jin returned home, hot water had already been prepared. When An Ping helped Shen Jin wash up and change into casual clothes, An Ning had already told her about the general situation in the palace. In fact, she didn't know much because An Ning couldn't follow the Queen and Shen Jin when they were talking.
However, An Ning did pay attention to the time when the two princesses arrived and the time when Princess Rui and the others left.
Upon hearing this, Nanny Zhao said, "When I heard that His Majesty was planning to arrange a marriage for the general, I boldly guessed that it would be these two princesses. Among His Majesty's daughters, only these two are of the right age. Princess Zhaoyang is the Queen's daughter and is slightly younger than Princess Chenyang. I thought it would be Princess Chenyang, but I never thought it would be Prince Rui's daughter in the end."
In fact, not only Nanny Zhao but also the military advisors in the General's Mansion had guessed that Emperor Cheng's arranged marriage was only to show favor to the Chu family and strengthen the ties between the Chu family and the royal family, so choosing the princess to marry was the best option.
It's not that Chu Xiuming thinks highly of himself, but the position of Lady of the Yongning Marquis is indeed worth such a price. With the Chu family's military achievements and status in the army, even the Queen's daughter can marry into the family.
Any normal person would know what to choose, but who would have thought that they happened to meet Emperor Cheng, who was confused about big things but shrewd about small things. Not only was he reluctant to give up the legitimate daughter born to the Queen, he was also unwilling to give up the daughter born to the concubines. Instead, he forced the concubine's daughter of Prince Rui to marry.
It would have been fine if the emperor didn't have a daughter of the right age at the time, but he just didn't want to.
If Emperor Cheng really felt sorry for his daughter and did such a foolish thing, it could be considered as his true nature, but his subsequent actions showed that this was not the case.
Why did Princess Rui give silver to Chu Mingxiu? She had known about some things decades ago, but she did nothing until the border town was relieved.
In the final analysis, he is just disappointed with Emperor Cheng. If you really want to guard against the Chu family, then don't use the Chu family. But he can't do without the Chu family, so he should try to win over Shi En. When the Chu family really commits trouble, the justice of the world will stand on the side of Emperor Cheng.
But what about Emperor Cheng? He wanted to win over the Chu family, but he couldn't swallow his anger. He was also on guard against the Chu family. His guard was so obvious. He couldn't handle the big things, so he disgusted the Chu family with small things.
For example, those rumors in the capital. Everyone in their generation has seen Chu Xiuming's parents. Unless Chu Xiuming was adopted, he would never grow up like the rumors said. However, they all understood it in their hearts and didn't say much. Such rumors could only deceive people of Shen Jin's generation at most.
Princess Rui had speculated about the arranged marriage for Chu Xiuming at first. She thought it would be between Princess Zhaoyang and Princess Chenyang, but who would have thought it would fall into the hands of Prince Rui's mansion. When she heard the news, she didn't know what to say. In fact, even if Prince Rui didn't mention it, Princess Rui would not let Shen Zi marry him. That would not be a marriage but an enmity.
Princess Rui was truly disappointed when she learned that the border town was under siege and Emperor Cheng did not send troops to rescue it, and that even after the siege was finally lifted, there were still problems with the supply of food and supplies.
Thanks to Emperor Cheng's stupid move, he left another way for Prince Rui's Mansion. Thinking of what her father said before she got married, she had already met Duan Rui for the first time at that time. Her father chose Prince Rui, but she married Prince Rui because of his identity and his stupidity.
In fact, if Emperor Cheng had really burned his boats and had Chu Xiuming killed directly, Princess Rui would have thought highly of him. But now...
Princess Rui looked at her two sons and said gently, "Xuan'er, it's rare for your third brother-in-law to come to the capital. You should get closer to him and take him around."
In the palace, the person Shen Xuan trusted most was Princess Rui, his mother. Hearing this, he said, "Son knows."
Princess Rui nodded with satisfaction. Her son was a man of both literary and martial talents. If not for... Princess Rui lowered her eyes slightly and restrained the expression in her eyes, "Xi'er, you are not young anymore. You should ask your third brother-in-law for advice, okay?"
Shen Xi was a little younger and smiled, "My son knows."
Princess Rui said, "Okay, go down and study."
"Then the son will come and have dinner with his mother in the evening." Shen Xi said.
Princess Rui nodded in agreement. After Shen Xi left, only Princess Rui and her son Shen Xuan were left in the room. Cui Xi also went downstairs with her maid and guarded the door herself.
Seeing that his mother had something to say, Shen Xuan opened the window and poured some warm jujube tea for Princess Rui. Princess Rui slowly exhaled, "Xuan'er, when Earl Yongning leaves this time, I plan to let Xi'er go with him."
"The border town is poor and has bad waters, and there are barbarians outside, watching covetously. Isn't it too dangerous?" Shen Xuan and Shen Xi have a good relationship. Upon hearing this, he said, "I'm afraid my second brother can't bear it."
"Even a young girl like Jin can bear it, so why can't he bear it?" Princess Rui said in a deep voice, "Do you know why I have never allowed you to serve as an official in the court?"
Shen Xuan has been brought up by Princess Rui since he was a child. Unlike the confused Prince Rui, he is more like Princess Rui. Especially after he suffered that life-and-death disaster, he has become more calm and steady. He said, "Son understands."
Princess Rui nodded and said, "Since the day your uncle arranged a marriage for the palace, the position of the Rui Palace has been awkward."
Shen Xuan had an angry look on his face. He thought about how his mother was brought to the palace this time. It was said that the Queen Mother missed her and was sick, but he knew the truth. He also couldn't count on Prince Rui as a father. He said, "Son understands. In this case, why not ask the third brother-in-law to arrange a position for the second brother, even if it's just to be a vanguard."
"It's not yet at that point." Princess Rui softened her expression and said, "Besides, Jin is a good child, she will understand." It's not that Shen Jin and Shen Xi have a good relationship, so she will be taken care of more. Shen Jin is a smart person, and smart people will not do foolish things. If it was Shen Zi who married this time, Princess Rui would not make such an arrangement.
In the mansion of the Yongning Earl, Shen Jin slowly ate red date curd and talked about the things in the palace, "The queen is very kind." Just a little fake, small animals have an intuition, whether they are really kind to people or not.
Nanny Zhao felt a little sympathy for the Queen, fearing that she would be choked by Shen Jin and unable to eat today.
Chu Xiuming nodded and said, "Just be kind." Being kind means doing superficial work. Not only would he not dare to embarrass Shen Jin, he would also have to help Shen Jin clean up the mess. After all, Emperor Cheng had spread a lot of rumors about Shen Jin. After all, the Queen could not undermine the Emperor. The Emperor's words were like a layer of golden armor wrapped around Shen Jin.
"Princess Chenyang is very naive." She is just a little silly, and I'm afraid she has been spoiled by the Queen. "I think my mother is a really good person." Princess Rui, as the legal mother, although not as good to Shen Jin as she was to Shen Qi, she also taught her son what he should have taught him. She never did anything bad to the illegitimate children, and at most she just ignored them.
Chu Xiuming smiled and said, "Because Princess Rui is a sensible person."
Shen Jin nodded and continued, "Princess Zhaoyang is worthy of being the Queen's daughter." She really looks like the Queen.
Chu Xiuming didn't say anything else, but Shen Jin lowered his voice and said, "Mother said that the Empress Dowager has been vegetarian and chanting Buddhist scriptures. It's true..." She doesn't know how to enjoy her blessings.
"Hmph." Madam Zhao snorted coldly, "You have done the most wrong things. You must eat vegetarian food and chant Buddhist scriptures every day."
Shen Jin looked at Madam Zhao with a bewildered look on his face. His almond-shaped eyes were particularly innocent. Madam Zhao's heart softened and she said, "Madam, you may not be able to eat anything hot in the palace. I will ask the kitchen to make honey-glazed pigeon in a while."
"I ate golden silk rolls at the Queen's place, and they tasted great." Shen Jin said quickly, "Really good."
Madam Zhao's eyes darkened for a moment before she smiled and said, "I can also make that, but it's a little troublesome. If Madam wants to eat it, I'll make it right away."
"Okay." Shen Jin reached out and took Zhao Ma's hand, "I missed you so much. Although there are many things in the palace, they don't feel fresh enough, so I just used one."
Aunt Zhao felt even more distressed and said, "Madam, please use it first. I will go right away."
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