Xiao Heng went out to attend to some business, so Su Yao returned to the East Palace on his own.
She was extremely tired. She had been busy with the wedding arrangements these days, and today she had to kowtow to various palaces. She was so tired that she couldn't even lift her face or arms.
Jinping and Mother Shen were both extremely distressed and quickly asked her to go back and sleep for a while.
Su Yao really couldn't hold on any longer and fell asleep as soon as he touched the bed.
When she woke up again, it was already dark. She was startled and tried to get up quickly.
Mother Shen heard the noise and came in. She knew what she was thinking and smiled, "Don't worry, Your Majesty. His Highness has come back before. Seeing that you were still sleeping, he specifically told us not to disturb you. He told us to tell you that there is nothing wrong today. You can eat first after you wake up. He discussed the coastal defense of Zhejiang with the Zhanshi today. I'm afraid he won't be back so early, so you don't have to wait."
After saying this, Mother Shen's face was always full of smiles.
How could she not be happy that her daughter had such a considerate and gentle husband? To be honest, even if Xiao Heng was not the grandson of the emperor, he was really precious to be able to do things to this extent, not to mention his background. Mother Shen felt that meeting Xiao Heng was a blessing in her previous life.
Su Yao also felt a little emotional.
In her previous life, she was Cheng Ding'an's wife. She had to get up early every morning to set rules for her mother-in-law. She was busy like a top all day long and never stopped. Even after she gave birth to Cheng Li, she could not relax much. Cheng Li was difficult to take care of. He was always in tears when the wet nurses took care of him. She could only take care of him by herself. She could not sleep all night and had no idea what it felt like to wake up.
But now she is married to Xiao Heng, whose status is only higher than Cheng Dingan, but he never makes any demands on her. Instead, he is considerate and gentle in every way.
She sincerely felt that she was lucky.
Su Yao heaved a sigh of relief. Seeing that it was already late, he ordered the female official of the East Palace: "Please ask Eunuch Hu from the Ministry of Internal Affairs to come over tomorrow."
The female official quickly agreed.
Su Yao didn't have to take care of anything for the day. She slept a lot during the day and couldn't sleep at night, so she just sat by the window and read.
She didn't know how much time had passed, but she suddenly heard the maid outside bowing and calling out "Your Highness".
Immediately afterwards, before she even put down her book, Xiao Heng pushed the door open and came in.
Seeing Su Yao still sitting by the window reading, Xiao Heng raised his eyebrows in surprise: "Why haven't you slept yet? Didn't you send someone back to report that I can't come back so early?"
Su Yao stood up and smiled: "I slept too much during the day, so I haven't felt sleepy yet. Have you eaten yet?"
Xiao Heng also smiled: "Now that you mentioned that, I am hungry. The East Palace did send out a set meal before, but we were busy and didn't eat it properly. Now I am hungry."
Su Yao called Mother Shen in and asked her to cook ham and bamboo shoot noodles in the small kitchen.
The cooks in the small kitchen were all transferred from the imperial kitchen. They were trying their best to perform. As it was the food specifically requested by His Highness, they prepared it with great care. They used the broth made from chicken soup to cook a bowl of ham and bamboo shoot noodles. The ham slices were thin and the bamboo shoots were fresh and crispy. It made people feel warm in their stomachs just watching the New Year greetings on this winter night.
Xiao Heng pushed it to Su Yao.
Su Yao shook his head: "I ate too much last night and can't eat anymore."
After she said that, Xiao Heng didn't force her and ate the whole bowl of noodles by himself.
It can be seen that he is really hungry.
The next day, Xiao Heng still went out to take care of things outside. Zhejiang's coastal defense needed people to be sent there, and the Ministry of Personnel was arguing over how to select the people. If he wanted to work in the Ministry of Personnel, he had to do his homework in advance, as he had been very busy recently.
Su Yao also has his own things to do.
Eunuch Hu came after breakfast and was very respectful.
Su Yao first asked about the candidate for the prince consort.
When Eunuch Hu heard about this, he was a little surprised. He didn't expect that Su Yao would be responsible for this matter.
But he was very smart and didn't ask any more questions. He just smiled and reported to Su Yao: "There are exactly five candidates. They are all selected from the public. One is from Jinan, Shandong, named Chen Xianyi, a scholar with some talent. One is from Yongxiu, Jiangxi, and has no official title, but is also literate. Another is from Hexian, Anhui, named Lu Yongning, a filial son..."
Judging from the candidates, they are all wealthy people from the private sector.
Su Yao nodded, not making any comment: "Are all these people here now?"
Eunuch Hu nodded and said, "These five candidates were selected after a series of careful selections. They are now in another palace outside the city. If you want to meet them, it is possible."
Su Yao pondered for a moment and asked Eunuch Hu: "Do they have any other selections recently?"
Eunuch Hu thought for a moment and said, "Yes, there is a horse riding selection recently."
horse riding.
Su Yao nodded and said, "Then I'll go and take a look when the time comes. Eunuch Hu will let me know when the time comes."
Eunuch Hu quickly agreed.
Su Yao then asked Eunuch Hu what these people would go through after they were selected.
Eunuch Hu wanted to please the crown princess very much, so he told Su Yao all the procedures he knew.
What the prince consort learns is actually similar to what the concubines learn, which are all about the various rules of the palace and how to serve the princess.
The more Su Yao listened, the more unreliable he felt.
It is simply unrealistic to ask those maids and eunuchs to teach the prince consort how to get along with the princess and how to restrain his desires.
As a human being, there are desires. All the things that the maids and eunuchs taught with great effort are of no use at all. What they taught are nothing more than soulless puppets. They will carry out the tasks step by step at the beginning, but they will change after a period of time.
This is human nature.
This is also the reason why most married princesses are unhappy.
Su Yao felt that this ancestral system was useless except for preventing nobles from getting involved in higher power.
It was even a way for the emperor to send away his daughters and sisters.
It's not a big deal, just send my daughter away.
This kind of princess is not as good as the daughter of an ordinary noble family.
At least those close to noble families have many good marriage prospects.
She pondered for a moment and sent Eunuch Hu away.
Mother Shen also noticed something was wrong and said with strong disapproval: "This is not the way to choose a prince consort, it's more like choosing... ... choosing a companion."
Su Yao also smiled.
In her heart, she already felt that there was no need to consider these five candidates anymore, but since the censors insisted on following the ancestral system, she naturally had to see what these five people were like.
She said softly, "It's too early to make a decision. Let's wait and see them in a few days. I'll take mom with me then, and she'll help take a look and see how they are."