Begonia blooms overnight on the first day of April. This time, everyone in the city knew that Princess An's birthday was on the first day of April, and she loved Begonia the most.
Since Mu Mingtang learned that there is a problem with the incense, all the spices have been replaced with fruit incense. Every day, a box of good fruit is poured out, and the luxury level is too wasteful even for someone like Nanchun who is used to seeing palace expenses.
Although the money was spent like flowing water, Xie Xuanchen's condition improved significantly. According to the little Taoist priest, the treatment is still a long way off, but Xie Xuanchen gradually got used to the intensity, and slowly walked to the martial arts area on the East Road, and began to regain his strength.
When Mu Mingtang heard the word "recovery", his expression was not very good. It turns out that his current strength is only weak
The relationship in the palace is complicated now, but no matter how muddy the water is, the news of Xie Xuanchen's re-training of martial arts is bound to be a blockbuster, and it is impossible not to pass the news back to the palace.
But before the palace could do anything this time, another major event happened. The Emperor Beirong sent envoys to the Ye Dynasty to discuss peace, led by Yeluyan, the eighth prince of Beirong. Now, the negotiating team has entered the Ye Dynasty and is about to arrive in Beijing.
The whole capital was shocked because of this incident. Beirong owns the sixteen states of Youyun, with a strong army, relying on the properties and geographical advantages of the sixteen states of Youyun, and has always been eyeing Ye Chao. And Xixia holds the ancient road in the Western Regions and the Longxi Racecourse, and never hides its ambitions.
In contrast, the Ye Dynasty was somewhat weaker. In fact, the Ye Dynasty inherited from Zhou, and it has always been the world that was usurped by military generals, and its military strength was not weak in the early days.
It's a pity that those in power made their fortunes by rebelling themselves, and after that, they were especially afraid that others would learn from others. When the throne was in Xie Rui's hands, Xie Rui was extremely afraid of military generals, and people who practiced martial arts were devolved. The emperor made such a statement, and then the upward and downward effects were followed, and the entire country was in an abnormal state of advocating culture and suppressing martial arts.
Frontier troubles have always been a first-class problem for the court, and all the civil servants are helpless in the face of battle reports. Now that the military power Beirong took the initiative to negotiate peace with them, it is unprecedented and unimaginable.
This is not a trivial matter. From the slaughter to the people, everyone is tense and attaches great importance to the issue of peace. After the Beirong envoy arrived in Beijing, the emperor gave a grand welcome in the morning, and two days later, a grand welcome banquet was set up to wash away the dust for the Beirong team.
This banquet involved the face of the country, and the emperor and empress attached great importance to it. The people invited to the banquet were of different identities, and everyone was dressed up, for fear of losing the face of the court in front of the Beirong people.
On the day of the reception of the wind, the palace city was decorated with lanterns and colorful clothes, and the temples were fragrant. It was very grand. The banquet has not yet started, and all the female relatives who arrived early are sitting in the flower hall to rest. Everyone gathered together and couldn't help but talk about recent interesting events.
Now the first rare thing, of course, is that Suzaku Street has changed its face overnight, and all the trees on both sides of the street have been replaced.
At first, it was only mentioned by a lady, and then someone responded, everyone said something to me, and finally everyone discussed Princess An.
"Princess An's birthday a few days ago, the battle was too big. My sisters who married outside the capital all knew that Suzaku Street was full of begonias overnight, quite like the way Empress Wu held a hundred flowers banquet in winter."
Mu Mingtang did not hold a birthday party, but everyone knew her birthday, and also knew that Mu Mingtang did not invite them.
What an embarrassing realization.
"More than that." Another Mrs. Hou said, "Princess An spends extremely extravagantly. I heard that she dislikes the smell of spice cakes and so on, so she only uses fruit for incense. She only uses the best apples for it. Smell the house and clothes, and when the smell fades, she throws it all away. She has to change the fruit for incense three times a day, and that's not even counting food, clothing and other expenses."
Everyone gasped just listening to it. Apple and the others couldn't afford it, but they couldn't stand it every day. Even the empress dowager in the palace would not use fresh fruit for incense.
"Oh my God." A young Houfu Jishi covered her mouth and exclaimed. After all, she was a Jishi, and her background was not as good as those of these first-class wives, and her education knowledge was also poor. She was puzzled, so she couldn't help but ask: "Didn't it say last year that King An couldn't survive the New Year? It's already April, so why is King An doing well?"
As soon as these words came out, everyone was silent. Yes, it has long been said that Xie Xuanchen only had one breath left, but Xie Xuanchen just never died.
His breath was so long.
However, after thinking about it, no one said anything. After Houfu Jishi finished speaking, she saw everyone in the cold scene, and no one answered her, so she panicked: "I'm young and ignorant, did I say something wrong?"
No one spoke, when the eunuch's singing came from outside: "Princess An is here."
The spirits of the female relatives were shocked, and they all pretended not to hear what Houfu Jishi just said, and all stood up: "Hello, Princess An."
Mu Mingtang walked in and saw the full house of Huacai saluting to him, and the greeting went up and down. Mu Mingtang didn't think much, nodded and said, "No need to be polite, get up."
After everyone said their thanks, Pingping curled back to her original seat. Because of Mu Mingtang's arrival, there were some small changes in the seating arrangement in the flower hall, but in general, the crowd was still distributed as before.
Obviously the people have not changed, and the occasion has not changed, but after Mu Mingtang came, the atmosphere in the flower hall was completely different. They just gave you a word and a word, wiping the gossip of Prince An's mansion, but now that Mu Mingtang entered the door, no one dared to reveal the slightest.
Hou Fu Ji Shi, who just spoke, was even more frightened, and did not dare to take a breath, for fear of attracting Mu Mingtang's attention.
Mu Mingtang didn't think much about it, she was used to these people being yin and yang, saying one thing to her and another behind her back. People live their own lives in the world, and at least nine-tenths of the things in their lives are actually not cared about at all. In the same way, other people's affairs and other people's opinions are 99% useless.
Comparing with them is to give them face instead. Mu Mingtang didn't bother to find out what happened to the strange quietness in the flower hall when she entered the door. Anyway, no matter what the group thought, they couldn't change her fortune, and instead, they had to let her go everywhere.
If you can't stand it, then bear with it.
After Mu Mingtang sat down, he saw a long-lost old acquaintance, Jiang Mingwei. Mu Mingtang hasn't picked up trouble for a long time. As soon as she saw Jiang Mingwei, she immediately greeted her warmly: "Princess Jin, so you're here too? This is really rare. In my impression, I haven't seen it outside for at least three months. you."
It's really hard to lift the pot, Jiang Mingwei's smile stiffened, and she reluctantly said to herself: "I recently contracted the cold, and I didn't want to come out and be sick to others, so I stayed in the mansion to recuperate. I didn't. I feel that I haven't seen my second sister-in-law for a long time, but I don't want my sister-in-law to miss me so much. If my sister-in-law wants to see me, she can come to Jin Wangfu at any time."
Jiang Mingwei made the emperor very angry on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, and even the empress and Xie Xuanji were affected. In the past few months, even Xie Xuanji has been holding his tail between his tails, let alone Jiang Mingwei, who wants to make a living under the queen and Xie Xuanji.
Why Jiang Mingwei didn't go out is not obvious. It was also thanks to the fact that the envoy from Beirong entered the capital this time, the emperor held a large banquet, and all the kings and grandchildren had to attend, so that Jiang Mingwei could come out. No matter how dissatisfied the queen is with Jiang Mingwei, now, Jiang Mingwei is Xie Xuanji's righteous wife, and there is no reason for the concubine to come out to entertain.
When everyone saw Jiang Mingwei today, they knew it well. They looked at the face of the Jiang family and King Jin, and they all pretended to be confused. No one asked Jiang Mingwei where he went some time ago. However, Mu Mingtang, stepped on the most painful place when he came up.
Mu Mingtang didn't feel the pain in the slightest, and still warmly and eagerly communicated with Jiang Mingwei: "Is it really convenient for me to go to Prince Jin's Mansion? I heard that the rules of Prince Jin's Mansion are clean, and all those who are in charge are the trusted female officials beside the Queen. I rush to the door, if the rules are not right, wouldn't it make the female official unhappy?"
"Sister-in-law, what are you talking about." Jiang Mingwei had a lot of powder on her face today, she looked pale and stiff, she twitched the corners of her mouth when she heard Mu Mingtang's words, Jiang Mingwei should be trying to make a smile, but If you want to laugh or not, it will look weird. "My mother likes the second sister-in-law the most, and she always warns me to study with the second sister-in-law. If you come to Jin Wangfu, the queen mother knows that it is too late to be happy. How can the female officials around her be picky about the second sister-in-law? ?"
The corner of Mu Mingtang's mouth was smiling, and she said with a swirl of "Oh": "It turns out that the queen said these words to her younger brother and sister, which really embarrassed me. Since my younger brother and sister don't think that I am causing trouble, then I will be disrespectful."
Mu Mingtang's words were simply provocative, and he made no secret of gloating over the misfortune. All of them are palaces, why is it that the palace of Jin alone is well-organized, and the female officials in the palace are in charge of scheduling, while the palace of An prince, which is separated by a wall, still allows Mu Mingtang to make trouble
It's not because the queen treats them differently. Jiang Mingwei and Mu Mingtang are both princesses of the royal family, but their status in the mansion and their comfort level are completely different.
Mu Mingtang and Jiang Mingwei were talking, but none of the wives and wives who sat next to them dared to interject. One of these two is the concubine of the prince, and the other is the concubine of the overlord of the capital. One they can't afford to offend in the future, and the other one they can't afford to offend now. Don't look at Jiang Mingwei, who seems to be out of favor, but the thin and dead camel is bigger than a horse. Even if Jiang Mingwei is really out of favor, he can't be bullied by a foreign wife.
As for Mu Mingtang, not to mention. Prince An's current position is indeed delicate, but Song Wulang's lessons are right in front of him. As long as Prince An is still alive, no one in the capital would dare to show a face to Mu Mingtang.
Everyone was silent, watching the two princesses' swords and swords, you come and go, and the content of what they said gradually changed from sarcasm to sarcasm. The wives were afraid that the two would make trouble in the palace. When the two were fine, all of them would suffer.
A lady hurriedly said, "Don't say that Princess Jin doesn't think it's been a long time, I always feel that I just met Princess An, maybe because I can often hear news from the princess. By the way, the court lady hasn't congratulated Princess An on her birthday. The court lady hereby wishes Concubine An a happy birthday, longevity and good health. I hope it is not too late for Concubine An.”
With a lady at the beginning, the others also responded. For a while, the flower hall was filled with words of birthday wishes for Mu Mingtang.
Blessing Mu Mingtang has always been open to all who come. She thanked them together, but she was a little surprised: "How do you know my birthday?"
The lady who spoke first smiled awkwardly: "This... It's hard not to know."
Not only honorable officials and family members, but even Tokyo pawn traders and ordinary people all know that Princess An's birthday is on the first day of the fourth month, and they especially love Haitang.
Everyone in Beijing now knows that Princess An lamented that there were no begonias in the capital. In order to please the princess, King An let the begonias bloom on the main street overnight. Such a big movement, I am afraid that the deaf and blind can know it.
Mu Mingtang murmured: "So you all know, I thought I was just having a birthday casually."
Everyone's smile became more and more embarrassing, yes, not only did they know that Mu Mingtang's birthday was on the first day of April, but they also knew that Mu Mingtang did not invite them at all.
I look down on them so much that I don't even want to make an invitation on my birthday.
The wives laughed, although Mu Mingtang refused to give them face in front of the whole city, but the ladies still had to respect Mu Mingtang and curtly curry favor. With similar blessings in her ears, Jiang Mingwei's face became more and more ugly as she listened.
Before, Mu Mingtang, as her stand-in, had always celebrated her birthday in June. Jiang Mingwei also heard the movement on the street on the first day of the new year, only to know that Mu Mingtang's birthday was actually on the first day of April.
When Jiang Mingwei learned of what was going on outside that day, she couldn't accept it. She was still worrying about how to save Xie Xuanji and how to suppress the fox spirits, but Xie Xuanchen actually spent so much money on Mu Mingtang's birthday
It's just a birthday, so what
Jiang Mingwei was disdainful in her heart, engaging in so many bells and whistles, it was a show at first sight. What's the use of these forms, if you really live your life in a down-to-earth way, who would do this
Jiang Mingwei thought that she didn't care, but in fact, she was paying attention to the movement next door all day. Mu Mingtang didn't hold a birthday banquet and looked very shabby, but Xie Xuanchen stayed with her all day. Accompany her to enjoy flowers, play with her, and I heard that she also accompanies her to make wine.
Jiang Mingwei tried her best to act indifferent, but in fact she was sour and jealous. Why can Mu Mingtang make Xie Xuanchen go all the way to transplant Haitang for her with just one word? Why can someone do this for Mu Mingtang
Obviously, when Mu Mingtang was the adopted daughter of the Jiang family, he didn't even have his own hobbies. She first became the second miss of the Jiang family, and later became Xie Xuanji's fiancee. She lived in the capital for almost a year, but no one in the Jiang family asked when Mu Mingtang's birthday was or what she liked, and Xie Xuanji didn't care. The only meaning of Mu Mingtang is to exist as Jiang Mingwei's stand-in. She is "like" Jiang Mingwei everywhere, and everyone justly regards her as Jiang Mingwei's shadow.
Born with the sun, it is vivid, but it can only live in the shadows forever. A shadow does not need a name.
The Jiang family and Xie Xuanji deservedly neglected Mu Mingtang, and Mu Mingtang never mentioned his own affairs. But now, there is another person who publicly and grandly announces the world, Mu Mingtang's birthday is on the first day of April, and he loves Haitang very much.
Xie Xuanchen used the most arrogant way to compensate Mu Mingtang for the things she once lacked.
Jiang Mingwei also felt some subtle embarrassment. Although she was afraid of Mu Mingtang and hated that Mu Mingtang had replaced her in her previous life, she had always been proud of it in her heart. No matter how high Mu Mingtang goes, it's just her stand-in. Everything about Mu Mingtang depends on her.
But now, Jiang Mingwei realized that Mu Mingtang was no longer her shadow. Mu Mingtang gradually split with her, and everyone talked about Princess An's extravagance, Princess An's birthday hobbies, and King An's connivance to the princess. Here, there is no trace of Jiang Mingwei.
She became the one in Mu Mingtang's shadow.