Mingzhu's heart tightened, her red and sour eyes were slightly moist, she gritted her teeth silently, her lips and teeth trembled slightly, and she couldn't say anything for a long time. She was not good at lying to people in the first place. She could barely lie in front of Zhao Shi, but she really couldn't tell a single lie to Wei Chiyu.
When Mingzhu was in the early stages of her love affair, she had a vague crush on Wei Chiyu. She felt that this brother was quite good-looking, had a good heart, and was motivated and hard-working. It was not uncomfortable for her to be with him, on the contrary, she was happy and at ease. But even at that time, Mingzhu regarded Wei Chiyu more as the savior to get rid of the Ming family, and wanted to get rid of the days of being in dire straits in the Ming family and being bullied by her eldest sister.
Therefore, Mingzhu's feelings for Wei Chiyu were not pure at that time, and now she feels ashamed of him when she thinks about it.
Mingzhu was silent for a long time, and Wei Chiyu waited patiently, looking at her quietly without making a sound to urge her.
Mingzhu raised her head and endured the moist glint in her eyes. In fact, before Zhao Shi gave her the poisonous wine in her previous life, she knew that she had already fallen in love with Zhao Shi. The years of getting along with each other, the meticulous details, the goodness, the tenderness, the seemingly sincere love, moved her emotionally.
Although she has only now figured out that being nice to someone does not necessarily mean how much you like them.
Mingzhu's nails dug deeply into the soft flesh of her palms, and she pinched out several nail marks. Only when she felt the pain could she make up her mind to nod to him.
She could shake her head, or use Wei Chiyu to take her away, but Mingzhu didn't want to be so selfish and implicate him.
Her life was already like this. Wei Chiyu still has a great career, and he will be able to rise rapidly in the court in the future.
Mingzhu's purse contained the jade bracelet he had given her. She took it out and said, "I will return this bracelet to you."
Wei Chiyu took a few steps forward, and the raindrops fell on his shoulders from the corners of the eaves. He walked through the rain and walked to her, "It's yours if I give it to you."
"I can't have it."
"If you give it back to me, I will just smash the bracelet."
"This is what your mother left for you..."
"It's not for me, it's for you."
Wei Chiyu couldn't remember how long it had been since he had seen her so well. When the Ming family came to break off the engagement, he had just returned from buying chestnut cakes. He was holding the still warm chestnut cakes and was about to give them to her through the back door. But while he was still on his way back, the servant at home hurriedly came to him and said that the Ming family wanted to break off the engagement.
The chestnut cake he was holding fell to the floor. Even if he ran back as fast as he could, it was too late.
The people of the Ming family have an extremely tough attitude, "We, the Ming family, will return double the dowry gift to you. You can just pretend that this marriage has never happened."
Wei Chiyu reasoned with them with red eyes, "I really want to marry Zhuzhu, and I will never let her down. If your Ming family wants to break off the engagement, please give me a persuasive reason, or forgive me Wei." Can not accept."
"There is no reason. If you don't want to back off this marriage, you have to back off."
After that day, Wei Chiyu never saw his beads again.
In the past year and a half, Wei Chiyu could always hear her crying to him in his dreams. She was wearing a beautiful dress that he dared not wear at home. Her eyes were redder than a rabbit, and her face was covered with tears. She asked him why he didn't wear it yet. Is she leaving
Every time Wei Chiyu woke up from such a dream, his pillow would be wet.
He took a deep breath, feeling the tightness and pain in his chest. After enduring it again and again, he finally just said: "Zhuzhu, take care of yourself."
"Um."
Mingzhu met Wei Chi more than once, but she felt bad. She returned to the house in a daze, not even knowing that the hem of her skirt was soaked by the rain afterwards. Seeing her lost look, Biying asked in a low voice: "Girl, what's wrong with you?"
Mingzhu came to her senses and said, "It's okay."
"Girl, I'm going to get you some new clothes. These are all wet."
Mingzhu lost her temper and changed into a coat and skirt. Biying was still worried, so she put a thermos in her hand and brought her freshly cooked ginger soup to warm her body.
Mingzhu really couldn't drink the ginger soup, and she felt like vomiting from the pungent smell. Biying persuaded her earnestly: "Girl, you'd better drink the ginger soup. If you get cold, His Highness will be unhappy."
By then, the girl will definitely have a minor conflict with His Highness the Crown Prince again.
Biying, the maidservant, knows that His Highness the Crown Prince likes people who are good and obedient. If the boundary is crossed a little, His Highness the Crown Prince's alienation and coldness can make people scared.
Mingzhu was a little irritable and whispered nonchalantly: "If he's not happy, he's not happy."
Biying thought she heard wrongly, "What did you say?"
Mingzhu raised her face and repeated clearly: "If I say he's not happy, he's not happy. It's none of my business."
Seeing that Miss Mingzhu's face was full of boredom, Biying stopped trying to persuade her to drink ginger soup for fear of backfiring. She just silently added a few more pieces of fragrant wood charcoal to the heater to make the room warmer.
After that day, Zhao Shi never came to Ming Mansion again. As New Year's Eve was approaching, he was busy all day and could not spare time to see her.
There were many and complicated things in the palace, and the people below him were not doing their job well. His Royal Highness, who was always friendly and amiable, became angry for three days in a row. He punished many ministers with sticks, broke their papers, and dismissed them from their posts.
There are not a few people who have been dismissed. Mingzhu's third uncle was also among them. Ming's third uncle had been greedy for money in his idle position for so many years and was used to living a good life. When he was dismissed, he was very shocked. He also felt that all his colleagues were watching his jokes, which made him very angry.
On New Year's Eve, Zhao Shi finally got free time and went to the palace to have lunch with his mother, but was called over by his grandmother.
"Your cousin is celebrating the New Year in the capital for the first time. No matter how busy you are, you can't neglect her."
These two children are both talented and good-looking, and they are a good match if they stand together. As for this marriage, Zhao Shi also nodded and agreed. After the New Year, the imperial edict granting the marriage will be sent to Xiangyang City, and the two children will get married next autumn at the latest. It won't be long before she can hold her little great-grandson in her arms.
Zhao Shi frowned slightly, "My grandson knows."
"I am getting old and I want to rest. You two can sit in my palace and have a chat."
Sheng Ling had not seen the prince brother for a few days and missed her dearly. She grew up with her father and brother in Xiangyang City since she was a child. She has a lively and bold personality and is not as shy as ordinary little girls. She took the initiative to stand up and said: "Brother Prince, can you Want to play chess with Ling'er?"
Zhao Shi replied calmly: "You can't defeat me."
Sheng Ling smiled slightly and said, "I haven't competed yet. How do you know that I can't beat you?"
Zhao Shi's chess skills were cultivated with his master since childhood. There were few people in Fangyan in the entire capital who could match him. He still said, "No need to compare, I know it."
Sheng Ling kept pestering him to play chess today, so she couldn't help but set up the chess table, grabbed his arm, and pressed him down on the chair, "You use the black stones, and I use the white stones."
Sheng Ling didn't really want to play chess with him, but just wanted to take this opportunity to talk to him more. Her mind was not on the chess game at all, and she was almost stunned when she looked at his profile.
Zhao Shi was the best-looking man she had ever seen. The cold expression on her eyebrows and her distant and indifferent temperament made her unable to extricate herself.
Sheng Ling quickly lost the chess game, but she didn't care about winning or losing at all. She supported her chin with both hands and looked directly at Zhao Shi with her big black round eyes, "Brother Prince, you know."
Zhao Shi sat and cleaned up the mess, expressionless: "What?"
Sheng Ling spoke directly: "It's our marriage."
Zhao Shi said calmly: "Yeah."
Sheng Ling looked at him expectantly, her heart beating very fast. She rarely blushed and asked in a low voice: "Brother Prince, you also like me a little bit, right?"
She knew that if he refused to agree to this marriage, no one could force him.
He voluntarily wanted to marry her as his concubine, which also meant that he had a good impression of her.
Zhao Shi gently put down the white chess piece in his hand, raised his face, and fixed his emotionless eyes on the girl's rosy face. He pursed his lips, and the words he spat out were without any warmth. He said: "Jun host."
Sheng Ling said shyly: "Just call me Ling'er."
Zhao Shi had no intention of changing his words. He continued, "If I marry you, you marry me. It will be a worry-free and effort-saving thing for you and me."
The smile on Sheng Ling's lips gradually stiffened, and her face turned pale, "What do you mean?"
Zhao Shi stood up and glanced at her lightly, "The princess should know that I need a suitable crown princess, it can be you or someone else."
If he is determined not to save face for others, then he will really spare no effort, and even his gentle words can slap people in the face. Zhao Shi said these words without any malice. He was following the truth in his heart. "If the princess feels offended and becomes unwilling, I will tell my grandmother to cancel the marriage."
Sheng Ling's eyes darkened, and she almost bit her tongue, "I'm not unwilling."
Zhao Shi said coldly, "I still have something to do, so I'll leave first."
Sheng Ling suddenly turned around and called him from behind, "Do you... have someone you like?"
The man had already walked away and did not give her an answer.
After a few moments of silence, Sheng Ling suddenly pushed the table in front of her, and the chess pieces fell all over the floor. Her eyes were red and bleeding, and she was so shocked that it was hard to accept. Did he really have no friendship for her at all? Do you just need a suitable concubine
Who is she? A princess who can be used as she pleases
Sheng Ling couldn't laugh, so she called her confidant in, "I remember that the prince's brother kept an outhouse, help me find out the girl's name."
Sheng Ling never paid attention to that girl before. A shady outsider will never see the light of day.
She couldn't continue thinking like that now.
"My subordinates will do it now."
Sheng Ling clenched her fists, and the viciousness and resentment deep in her eyes were daunting.
Mingzhu didn't know that she was in trouble again. For several days in a row, she met Wei Chiyu at the small gate in the backyard. They often just nodded and said hello when they met. Wei Chi Yu used to always wait for her outside this small door. Time has passed and many things have changed.
During the New Year's Eve reunion dinner, Mingzhu fell ill and did not go to the front hall. The mistress sent someone to deliver dinner to her room, and told her to take good care of her illness. She also had someone bring her a small red envelope, which was all she did to save face.
The reason why Mingzhu didn't want to go to the front hall for the New Year's Eve dinner was simple. The naughty children in the third room would tease her hard and ruin her clothes every year. Sometimes he cut the hem of her skirt, sometimes he jumped up and pulled out the hairpin from her hair, watching her make a fool of herself. Ming Yuan would not miss this good opportunity, so she ordered her to wash the dishes in the kitchen, and then deliberately locked her in the kitchen to prevent her from watching the fireworks at the city gate.
Mingzhu was now very squeamish. She no longer wanted to be played with by those naughty children, nor did she want to listen to their orders and help them with rough work in vain.
Others celebrate the New Year, with constant laughter and laughter.
Only the small courtyard of Mingzhu was quiet and no other sounds could be heard.
Biying looked distressed and was thinking of ways to liven up the atmosphere in the room when Mingzhu suddenly stood up and picked up the red paper lantern that had just been made on the table, "I'm going out."
She ran so fast that Biying could hardly catch up with her. The wind lifted her skirt, and her clothes fluttered like a fairy running away.
Mingzhu panted and ran to the back door. There was a door across the door, and she suddenly lost some courage. She mustered up her courage and slowly opened the back door. Wei Chiyu was standing opposite her.
She knew he would be there.
Every year at this time, he would wait for her here. She would often spend the whole night complaining to him about trivial matters, her grandmother's favoritism, her sister-in-law's difficulties, and all the trivial things.
Mingzhu ran out on impulse, but she didn't regret it. After she ran away, there were some words she would never have the chance to say in her life.
The candlelight in the paper lantern shone on the faces of the two people, making their skin as delicate as white jade. Mingzhu looked up into his dark eyes and said, "That year, I prepared a birthday gift for you, but I didn't have the chance to give it to you."
Wei Chiyu's throat was bitter, "Yeah."
Mingzhu felt relieved after saying it, as if she had solved a problem on her mind, "Don't you want to ask me what it is?"
Wei Chiyu smiled at her. This was the only smile she had seen from him these days. His tone was the same as before, "What is it?"
Mingzhu also laughed, "A not very valuable jade crown." She sighed helplessly, "It's gone now, I lost it."
Wei Chiyu wanted to step forward and hug her, but he restrained his hands in his sleeves. He whispered to her: "Zhuzhu."
"Um?"
"I treat it as a birthday gift from you, thank you."
The carriage stopped at the entrance of the back alley. The man sat in the car and listened quietly to the conversation between the two of them. The curtain blocked the light outside the window. In the gloomy night, the man's face could not be seen clearly. After a long time, there was only an almost inaudible sound. sneer.
He left the palace banquet early, and he saw such a wonderful scene.