Chapter 57 Princess Mansion
Seeing this, Wu Miaosu broke the deadlock and said, "The two princesses are not here today, so we can't taste the snacks made by Lady Zhou. It's such a pity."
Empress Dowager Sun finally regained some energy and looked around. She was indeed not seeing Zhu Youtong and felt quite surprised.
Zhu Yuhuan was busy assisting in the administration, so naturally he couldn't be in the harem every day. But Zhu Youtong always protected his mother like a wolf cub, so why wasn't he in the palace today?
Seeing that the concubines were all confused, Hu Shanxiang chuckled and said, "His Majesty has allowed Tongtong and Yu'er to leave the palace to build a mansion. The cabinet has proposed several locations and submitted them. His Majesty ordered Yu'er to take the two sisters out of the palace to look at them. Finally, a location was selected to officially build the mansion."
Empress Dowager Sun had never heard of this matter and couldn't help showing surprise.
It would be fine if it was Prince of Qing. After choosing a queen for Zhu Qizhen, it was time to choose a princess for Zhu Qiuyu. But Zhu Youtong had no intention of getting married before. Could it be that Hu Shanxiang wanted to arrange a marriage for Princess Yongqing?
On the contrary, the concubines around her congratulated her upon hearing this, saying, "Now Princess Yongqing can go out of the palace to paint. She can also paint the scenes outside for us to see in the future!"
"Yes, yes. Princess Yongqing repainted the draft she brought back from the imperial farm. It's completely different from the styles of those court painters. It's really fresh."
"I heard Princess Shunde say this is called freehand writing, and like cursive writing, it's about spirit rather than form."
"I think our Princess Yongqing will also be a famous painter in history!"
With the example of Zhu Yuhuan, the eldest princess who never married, these concubines naturally did not think there was anything special about leaving the palace and setting up a residence before getting married. Seeing that Zhu Qizhen was about to reach marriageable age, they could not let their unmarried sister live in the palace forever. If they did, it would be inappropriate for her to see the empress and the concubines every day.
They had circulated all the paintings that Zhu Youtong had previously painted in the imperial manor, and they liked them very much. They were just happy that she was able to leave the palace to paint.
Hu Shanxiang smiled because of their words, and the smile happened to fall into the eyes of Empress Dowager Sun who remained silent on the side. She looked at the smile and fell into silence.
She should have been happy that Zhu Youtong was no longer there to talk to her indifferently, but when she saw Hu Shanxiang's smile, Empress Dowager Sun couldn't help feeling a sense of emptiness and desolation in her heart.
Originally, she wanted to prove that the position of Queen belonged to her, and later she wanted to have the honor of Empress Dowager. Her son was the emperor, and her daughter married the second son of Marquis Wu Ding. She had all the wealth and honor, and in the future she would be buried in the imperial mausoleum and sleep in the same bed with the one she loved. She had become the most noble woman in the world, but why did she still feel that she was hitting a wall everywhere?
More importantly, how could Hu Shanxiang, who was inferior to her in every way, show such a relaxed and happy smile...
The people around her had no idea what Empress Dowager Sun was feeling and just congratulated Hu Shanxiang.
While the palace was bustling with activity, the three siblings outside the palace were also quite relaxed and comfortable.
The three of them left the palace early in the morning and went through all the sites submitted by the cabinet. Finally, they decided on the location of their own mansions, which were very close to Zhu Yuhuan. This way, it would be more convenient for the three siblings to communicate outside the palace.
Zhu Yuhuan took the two children to a restaurant to rest and take care of lunch. He said with emotion, "Now, except for His Majesty, all four of us brothers and sisters are out of the palace. It will be much more convenient for us to move around in the future."
Zhu Youtong was very satisfied with his choice of location and said with a smile, "There are so many beautiful scenery coming from my place, which is convenient for me to paint in the future. If I have nothing to do, I can even visit Xiaoyu at her house."
Zhu Qiyu was a little worried. Seeing this, Zhu Yuhuan asked, "Brother Yu, what's wrong?"
Zhu Qiyu came back to his senses and said with some worry, "I'm worried that if I leave the palace, my mother, my mother, and Empress He will be left alone and lonely..."
His mother's thoughts are deeper than those of ordinary people, and she will not tell Zhu Qiyu about these thoughts, but he can always vaguely sense this. Even if his mother doesn't say it, at least he can stay by her side to share her worries. But once she leaves the palace, who should she tell her mother about her worries?
Zhu Yuhuan was a little amused and said, "As for loneliness, who wasn't like that before you were born? Besides, Empress He has a fiery temper. Sometimes even her mother can't control her, and she'll suddenly get into a fight. Only Empress Wu can control her. The Empress Dowager and her concubines' palace will never be deserted."
Zhu Youtong was also very optimistic and said, "That's right, besides, I have my mother here. Today I'm editing and proofreading books, tomorrow I'm checking accounts and sorting out accounts. I have no time to spare, so how can it be lonely?"
Zhu Qiyu met Zhu Yuhuan's eyes and saw her smiling face. He replied, "You two sisters are right."
In fact, he knew that his mother and older sister had a private relationship, and that relationship was very secretive, sometimes relying only on a glance.
This seemed to be completely different from his mother's idea of letting him take care of himself, but Zhu Qiyu was very sure of one thing: although his eldest sister was powerful, she was not a bad person. At least she would not hurt people who had no ill will towards her, otherwise she would not have taught him and his third sister so seriously, who had almost no relationship with her.
Zhu Qiyu could understand that his eldest sister's real family was only Empress Hu and his second sister, just as he only regarded his mother as his only relative.
Zhu Youtong didn't know what Zhu Qiyu was thinking, so he said cheerfully, "Why don't we just not go back tonight and go to Big Sister's house to rest for a night? How about that?"
Zhu Yuhuan reached out and poked her forehead, teasingly saying, "You want to drink and have fun, right?"
Zhu Youtong was not embarrassed by having his thoughts exposed. Instead, he put his arm around Zhu Yuhuan and said, "Okay, since my sister is free these days, just consider her as accompanying us."
Zhu Yuhuan thought about it for a moment, and thinking that he still had some free time, he said, "It's not impossible, but I'll send someone to send a message back first."
Zhu Youtong cheered and immediately asked the waiter in the restaurant to bring another pot of wine. Then he patted Zhu Qiyu on the shoulder and said, "Xiaoyu, you are going to marry the princess soon, so it's time to learn how to drink."
Zhu Qiyu looked embarrassed and whispered, "Drinking will only delay things, this is not good..."
"Last time, when Madam Xu examined my pulse, she told me that drinking alcohol in moderation is good for the body," Zhu Youtong said proudly. "And medicinal wine is even better for the body. My sister's winery also brewed ginseng wine."
Zhu Yuhuan was a little amused and said, "It's better to drink the medicinal wine made at home. If the medicinal wine from other places is fake, drinking it will be bad for your health."
"good--"
As the three of them were talking, someone hurried upstairs. It was the servant who drove the carriage. He hurriedly said, "There's a message from home, asking you to return as soon as possible! They say there's something important to discuss!"
The so-called "home" naturally refers to the palace. Because they need to keep a low profile when walking outside, people around Zhu Yuhuan often replace words related to the palace to prevent ordinary people around them from noticing any clues.
Nowadays, the supervision in the capital is becoming increasingly loose. If others knew Zhu Yuhuan's true identity, I am afraid that some strange rumors would spread, allowing Zhu Yuhuan to see how big the imagination of the working people is.
Upon hearing this, Zhu Yuhuan immediately stood up, and then said to Zhu Qiyu and Zhu Youtong, "You two continue with your meal, I'll go back first." After that, he asked Han Guilan to take good care of the two of them, and then hurried downstairs.
Zhu Qiyu and Zhu Youtong, who were left behind, exchanged a glance. Zhu Youtong couldn't help but snort, saying, "You've asked my sister to go back for such a small matter... It's a complete waste of our time out for fun today."
Zhu Qiyu saw this and said, "Big sister is very talented and intelligent. Now she is in a very important position. It is inevitable that you would like to rely on her more. This is also a good thing."
Thinking of Zhu Qizhen using Hu Shanxiang's name to select the women from Changping into the palace, Zhu Youtong snorted coldly, but did not refute Zhu Qiyu's praise of Zhu Yuhuan. He just said, "That's right, my sister is not something that ordinary people can compare to, especially that Wang Zhen. Don't even think about it!"
Zhu Qiyu responded, but he was also unconsciously curious: "I don't know what happened, but Big Sister actually wants to go back immediately."
Zhu Youtong tilted his head and thought for a moment before saying, "Well..."
Han Guilan saw that the brother and sister were about to start chatting in the restaurant. She was worried that a servant might come in and overhear their conversation, so she quickly reminded them, "Second Madam, Brother, you are still outside."
Zhu Youtong finally came to his senses and waved his hand, saying, "Let's not talk about this useless stuff. We can't waste this table of good food and wine!"
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