Chapter 369 The People Offer Sacrifices to the Prince of Zhenbei
Two months later, Yun Zhaoxue and her party finally arrived in Lin'an.
Zhao Xuan, who had become the emperor, instructed Yun Jiaoyue to arrange a residence for them and to treat them well.
Xiao Xuance was the only general in the Great Zhou Dynasty who could withstand the iron cavalry from the north.
Zhao Xuan felt that he was very useful, and his family members should be well taken care of.
Yun Jiaoyue arranged for a nanny to lead palace servants to greet them at the city gate.
At the city gate, the carriage was stopped by a matron as soon as it entered the city. "May I ask if the person riding in the carriage is the Princess Consort of Zhenbei and Princess Zhaoxue?"
The rider in front, Zhufeng, didn't answer, but instead asked, "Who are you?"
Granny Cao replied, "This servant is the head nanny serving the Imperial Concubine. I am here specifically to guide the Princess and the Princess."
Yes, it was the Imperial Concubine.
Yun Jiaoyue was not made empress, but was made a concubine. There was no empress in the harem.
She was temporarily put in charge of the Phoenix Seal, managed the affairs of the six palaces, and acted as the Empress.
Liu Yiyi and Su Wan'er were respectively conferred the titles of Consort Liu and Consort Su.
Liu Yiyi gave birth to a daughter, and Zhao Xuan was even more eager to have a crown prince. In the six months since he ascended the throne, he has successively taken in nine concubines, as well as Jieyu, Meiren, and Cairen, for a total of more than a dozen.
The newly recruited concubines are starting to conceive.
Zhao Xuan promised his nine concubines that whoever gave birth to a prince first would be made one of the four consorts.
The position of Empress was reserved specifically for Yun Jiaoyue; as long as she gave birth to a legitimate son for her, she would be made Empress.
Following Granny Cao's carriage, we arrived at a house.
Pei Huaiji was surprised to find that this house was only one street away from the Pei residence.
He rode up to Yun Zhaoxue's carriage and whispered, "Xue'er, this is the best location in Lin'an City. Every inch of land is worth its weight in gold. It will be very convenient for you to return to the Pei residence in the future."
"We'll see."
She can associate with the Pei family, but she doesn't plan to acknowledge them as relatives. Whether she is surnamed Yun or Pei is not important to her.
To outsiders, she still bears the surname Yun. If she were to rashly return to the Pei family to claim kinship, it could be used against her by those with ulterior motives, and the princess's past love affairs could be brought up again. Who knows what kind of rumors would be spread about her?
A luxurious carriage was parked in front of the Prince's Mansion. The person inside, dressed in the attire of a noble concubine, slowly alighted with the help of palace maids.
Lady Yang and her entourage bowed to her, saying, "This humble woman greets Your Highness, the Noble Consort."
Yun Jiaoyue deliberately didn't say "No need for formalities" and instead spoke to Yun Zhaoxue. "Elder sister, I've been waiting for you day and night, and I'm so glad you're back."
As she spoke, the tassels on either side of her head swayed gently, making it hard not to notice the phoenix crown she wore on her head.
Her attire today was both noble and unusual; her black hair was styled into a high bun, adorned with a kingfisher feather crown, and a long string of pearls held in the phoenix's beak hung down to her brow.
The bright red palace dress was embroidered not with the usual pheasant of a concubine, but with a phoenix spreading its wings, swimming among dense peony and cloud patterns. The cuffs and collar were intricately woven with auspicious dragon and phoenix patterns.
This outfit, from head to toe, is something only an empress could wear.
Yun Zhaoxue said calmly, "Your Highness is an imperial concubine, and I am not worthy of being called 'elder sister' by you."
Today she wore a light blue silk dress, her hair was tied up with a plain silver hairpin, and she wore no extra accessories. The color made her skin look as white as snow, her eyebrows and eyes as beautiful as a painting, and she looked clean, elegant, bright and dignified.
A mocking smile appeared on Yun Jiaoyue's lips. Her fingertips casually traced the pearl on her crown, and a hint of disdain flashed in her eyes as she glanced sideways.
Dressed so simply, you must have suffered a lot this year. It makes sense, staying home every day taking care of two kids, with no money and no income.
Unlike her, who was the most honored woman in the harem, surrounded by fine silks and delicacies.
"Sister, won't you forgive me yet? I was immature before and made you angry. I apologize. Let's continue to be sisters, okay?"
The surrounding people, seeing a large group of people arrive at the usually tightly closed Zhenbei Prince's Mansion, peered out curiously, and some guessed:
"Hey, there are people in front of the Prince of Zhenbei's mansion. Who are they?"
"So many people, so many things, it looks like several families moved here. Could they be relatives of the Prince of Zhenbei?"
“They were exiled to Lingnan before and didn’t come back, but now they’ve finally returned.”
“Let’s go, let’s go and see. The late Prince Zhenbei was a great hero who resisted foreign enemies and protected the people. We were blind before and wronged him. We even followed those people and cursed the late Prince Zhenbei. I deserve to die. Let’s go and apologize to the late Princess.”
"I'll go too."
In the second month after Zhao Xuan ascended the throne, he announced to the world that the Zhenbei Prince's Mansion had been wronged by treacherous officials. Those ministers who had reported the Zhenbei Prince for colluding with the enemy and betraying the country had been captured by the enemy army and their fates were unknown.
They couldn't arrest the person, couldn't interrogate them, and no one raised any objections.
The Zhenbei Prince's Mansion was finally exonerated and its injustice was redressed.
Not only because of this imperial edict, but also because everyone saw the miserable state of the people on the northern border after the fall of the Zhenbei Prince's Mansion.
The enemy army of Dajing marched south as if entering an uninhabited land. The capital was captured, and the royal family and the people were all abducted or killed. Several important towns were occupied.
The people fled and went into exile.
They understood that all their previous peaceful lives were due to the presence of the Prince of Zhenbei guarding the north. They used to blame the Prince of Zhenbei for being so foolish as to be deceived and misled by treacherous officials.
The people on the street all gathered in front of the Zhenbei Prince's Mansion.
"Excuse me, have the family members of the Prince of Zhenbei returned?"
Zhu Feng and Zhui Ying, along with their guards, stood in a row, separating the common people from Yang and the others.
All the people of the Great Zhou Dynasty misunderstood the Zhenbei Prince's Mansion, believing that they were colluding with the enemy and betraying the country.
They dared not reveal their identities along the way, and brought some herbs from Lingnan to disguise themselves as merchants going to Jiangnan to do business.
“We mean no harm. We’ve come to apologize to the Princess. We misunderstood the Prince before, and we came here today to apologize as soon as we learned that the Princess has returned.”
They were all commoners from Jiangnan. This time, they heard that the Prince of Zhenbei had colluded with the enemy and betrayed the country, and had committed suicide out of fear of punishment. His family members were exiled to Lingnan.
Everyone was criticizing them, and they blindly followed suit. Now they realize they were terribly wrong.
Think about it carefully. If the Prince of Zhenbei had colluded with the enemy and betrayed the country, the Great Zhou would have changed hands long ago. How could it still be under the Zhao family name?
To say that the Prince of Zhenbei committed suicide out of fear of punishment is utter nonsense.
Someone must have been trying to silence them. It was probably the work of treacherous officials in the court. They deserved to be captured and enslaved; they're probably living a life worse than death right now.
"Your Highness, we were blinded by greed and believed everything we heard. We misunderstood His Highness. We are sorry, we were wrong..." The people bowed and thanked them.
Madam Yang's eyes reddened, and she shook her head, saying, "It's not your fault. It's all in the past. Thank you all for believing in the Prince of Zhenbei's Mansion. My late husband did not collude with the enemy or betray the country. He was wronged."
The common people knew nothing; they only looked at the contents of the imperial edict and the outcome. The fault lay with the treacherous officials, not with the common people.
When the people heard from Madam Yang that she didn't blame them, they felt even more guilty.
One of the people said excitedly:
"The prince is a great hero who guards the frontier. The local people of Jiangnan raised money together to build a shrine for him and sculpt a golden statue. It is located on Xuanhua Street in the East Market. The people offer incense and worship him every day."
Upon hearing this, Madam Yang's eyes welled up with tears. She bowed to everyone and said, "Thank you, I thank you all on behalf of my late husband!"
"No, no, Your Highness, please rise. This is what we should do. We must admit our mistakes and atone for them."
"We were truly bewitched back then, actually believing those absurd claims. If it weren't for the Prince, Lin'an and the entire Jiangnan region might have ended up like the capital, trampled by enemy cavalry and reduced to an empty city."
“The prince protected us. I did nothing for him while he was alive, and we would feel uneasy if we didn’t do something for him.”
"Young Master Xiao is brave and skilled in battle, and has recovered lost territory. Like father, like son. I believe that with him in charge, our Great Zhou will surely defeat those barbaric grassland people."
The other people nodded in agreement, "Yes, that's right."
Yun Jiaoyue was furious to find that not a single commoner paid any attention to her, the Imperial Concubine; their eyes were only on the Prince of Zhenbei and his residence.
She gave Granny Cao a wink.
Granny Cao stepped forward and said, "Your Highness, Princess, you must be tired from your long journey. Would you like to come into the courtyard and take a look?"
Yang glanced at Yun Zhaoxue before nodding, "Alright."
He bid farewell to the people again before stepping into the courtyard.
Yun Jiaoyue watched them go in, then made an excuse to slip away, "Elder sister, I suddenly remembered that I have some things to take care of in my palace, so I won't stay with you any longer. Farewell."
She left with her people.
They also brought Granny Cao along.
Once inside the courtyard, I realized why Yun Jiaoyue had slipped away.
The courtyard looks glamorous on the outside.
The interior looked dilapidated and desolate, with weeds growing on the ground or covered with fallen leaves, making it impossible to walk.
The roof tiles were broken and scattered all over the ground; countless spider webs were spun under the eaves, and spiders were busy weaving their webs; the doors and windows were also broken.
Hua Murong exclaimed, "How long has this place been uninhabited? How can the Emperor bestow such a residence upon a meritorious official? We might as well stay in a dilapidated temple on the road."
Pei Huaiji recalled for a moment, "This used to be the residence of a minister. He committed a crime and was escorted back to the capital for trial, so the house was left empty."
Yun Zhaoxue knew that Yun Jiaoyue was definitely up to no good.
They deliberately found them a mansion belonging to a disgraced official, but didn't send anyone to clean it.
"Before the people have left, ask them where they can buy brooms and rags, and leave the gate open to let in some fresh air."
Deliberately trying to disgust people, just to gain a good reputation? Dream on.
Zhuiying led his men outside. The crowd of people from earlier hadn't gone far. He spotted a woman with a mole near her mouth and a strong voice, and asked, "Excuse me, ma'am, where is the nearest broom shop?"
"Turn left at the front, and there's a shop that specializes in selling brooms."
"What do you need a broom for?"
Someone nearby replied, "If you can still get things done with a broom, then the house must be dirty and needs cleaning."
Zhuiying nodded, "The yard has been empty for so long, it's normal for it to be dusty. Just clean it up, it's no problem. Thank you, sister. I'll go buy a broom now. Goodbye."
He hadn't gone far when he heard the woman shout loudly, "What's going on?"
People from the palace have come; the room must have been arranged by the palace. Why didn't they arrange for someone to clean it?
Seeing such a large mansion, they felt that the imperial court was treating the Prince of Zhenbei's residence very well.
The family had just returned from exile, and their hardships had finally come to an end.
She was holding two babies in her arms, and it was obvious that they were born in exile; they must have had a very difficult life.
"If anyone has some free time later and isn't in a hurry to go back, would you like to come with me to help the family of the Prince of Zhenbei clean their house?"
"I'm free, I'll go..."
"I'm free too, I'll go too."
"I'll go too..."
Thirty or forty people turned back to the gate of the Zhenbei Prince's Mansion, where they saw weeds in the courtyard.
"Damn, so much grass! How can anyone live here? There's nowhere to put your feet. How can anyone live here?"
The woman by the bridge tossed her shopping basket into a corner, saying, "Let's all help the princess pull out the weeds."
With a shout, he rolled up his sleeves and got ready to pull weeds.
Yun Zhaoxue stepped forward to stop them, "Wait, you absolutely mustn't! We appreciate everyone's good intentions, but we're new here. If we ask the people to help with the work, what if... the Xiao family is impeached? It won't just affect the general, it will affect all the soldiers and civilians..."
The people felt the matter wasn't that serious; they had helped with some work, and it wasn't like they were being bribed.
It's not that serious, but seeing her solemn expression, I didn't dare to move.
Yun Zhaoxue had someone see the guest out.
"Let's find an inn to stay at first."
Pei Huaiji said, "Xue'er, would you like to stay at the Pei family's residence? The Pei mansion is spacious and has enough room. You can stay as long as you want."
"No, it would be too presumptuous to come here suddenly without a formal visit. Please stay at the inn first."
They've endured wind and rain on the road, and slept in the wild.
Lin'an is a prosperous city, and the inns there are much better than the small inns along the way, and no worse than one's own home.
Except for Pei Huaiji, everyone else went with him to stay at the inn.
With such a grand spectacle, it was impossible for the common people not to know. By nightfall, the news had reached the palace and Zhao Xuan's ears.
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