In the imperial palace of the capital, the prince was very excited when he first heard Ah Heng say that Meiyi was not dead and was rescued and taken to Jiangnan. But when he heard that Xu's parents promised her to the person who rescued her in order to protect her innocence, he felt as if frost had fallen on his head. His lips turned blue. He stood there for a long time and said sadly:
"It's me, I killed her!"
Ah Heng shook his head: "It was her fate! But luckily, she met an old friend of ours, Xia Lin, who knows medicine. He has taken her to Lingnan to find medicine and will do his best to cure her!"
The prince murmured softly, "Xia Lin—what kind of person is he? He is luckier than me!"
"Your Highness, have you ever heard of Lingxuzi?"
"I heard from my mother that his name is Xia Xueyuan. He and Zhang Jingyun waited for me to be born together!"
"Xia Lin is Xia Xueyuan's eldest son! He went to Mao County to buy medicinal herbs, and when he returned to the dock, he met the injured Meiyi and brought her on the merchant ship. When he returned home, Uncle Xia discovered that this looked like my Xu family's child."
The prince sighed, "Then I feel relieved. It's better for her to be with the Xia family in Jiangnan than with some other family whose background we don't know. I don't know how badly Meiyi was injured. I hope they can cure her completely!"
"Don't worry, Your Highness. Uncle Xia's medical skills are on par with Uncle Jingyun's!"
When I returned to the East Palace in the evening, the Crown Princess Sun Meifu was already waiting at the door, and she said tactfully: "Greetings to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince! I made the codfish soup that His Royal Highness loves to drink, please..."
The prince said coldly: "Your Highness is thoughtful, but who told you that I like to drink this soup?"
"Yes—Prince Rongguo!"
"You asked him? You are quite capable! But you betrayed him in the blink of an eye. What else can you know from now on? I might as well tell you: I never like fish soup. I only drank a few mouthfuls of cod soup reluctantly because someone told me that it was very, very delicious. As a result, I was fooled and drank a small bowl. From now on, I will not drink fish soup unless she serves it to me!"
The Crown Princess turned pale and couldn't help but blurt out: "Who is she?"
The prince was heartbroken when he thought of the past, and he didn't notice the princess' abnormality. The three words "Xu Meiyi" came to his lips but he swallowed them. These women in the palace, including his mother, thought that Meiyi was dead. He wanted to let them know that she was not dead, so that they would think that she would come back one day. As long as she returned to the capital, she would have the opportunity to enter the palace and get everything they wanted! Then he thought, why bother to bring her up again, and let her have no peace in the distance? Let her go, as long as she lives well, he will never bother her again!
Turning to look at the Crown Princess, she suddenly revealed a gentle smile: "It's Concubine Ling Bingyu - Yu'er's soup isn't very good, but she's very good at telling jokes. Once I hear her tell jokes, I'm willing to drink the soup she makes!"
The Crown Princess watched the Crown Prince walk away, with no special expression on her face, but her hands in her sleeves were clenched into fists, her nails digging deep into her flesh: It turns out that the Crown Prince has been staying in Ling Bingyu's room these days! Chen Lanyan was not yet of age, so the Crown Prince did not go to her place. Since the wedding, the Queen and the Queen Mother have sent teaching maids to remind the Crown Prince to spend the night in the Crown Princess and Concubine Ling's room. The Crown Prince was very obedient and persisted for a month, but suddenly ignored the maids. The maids in the Queen's palace were even scolded by him and stopped coming to her room on the grounds that they were busy with government affairs. She was a little uneasy and went to ask the Queen for advice. The Queen said that the Crown Prince was indeed busy recently. He was gentle and soft-hearted. If you take the initiative to approach him and care about him more, he will come. She found excuses to get close to the prince every day, and sent him delicious food and drinks all the time, but the prince was really busy and she was often not allowed to be close to him, so the food she sent to him was all given to his subordinates. It was not until today that she found out that the prince had been going to Concubine Ling for nearly a month... This vixen, who usually has a stern face, but you would never know that she is so calculating inside!
The Crown Prince was really fed up with the Crown Princess's annoying attitude. If she just sat there quietly, he could treat her as a decoration, but when she came close and always followed him around, he could not feel the sense of indifference when he said she was a lingering ghost. She was like a thick and heavy lump of mud that wrapped around his body and could not be shaken off.
That's right, that's how it felt to share a bed with her, tiring and disgusting. One month after the wedding, he slept in her room for more than ten nights due to pressure from his mother. Every time he woke up, he was woken up by her. The sleeping posture of a person who was dignified and quiet during the day was really not flattering. He didn't care whether she slept horizontally, vertically, or lying on her stomach. He was most afraid of her chubby thighs resting on his chest, or she would hug him tightly as if she were a pillow. In the end, she simply pushed him off the bed. After that, he used this as an excuse to never go to her room again.
In fact, he only touched her once, which was on their wedding night. Seeing the blood on her handkerchief was a great accomplishment.
He knew clearly in his heart the reason why the Crown Princess suddenly changed. For the sake of his mother who had loved him dearly since childhood, he could keep it secret, but what was wrong with his mother? This Crown Princess sent by the Sun family was too unreliable!
The two concubines from the Chen family, one of whom was not yet of age, reminded him of his promise to Meiyi: get married first, and then have the husband-wife ceremony after reaching the age of age. He also took care of this cousin from the Chen family. Ling Bingyu was even more ridiculous. She didn't say much, got on the bed and took off her clothes in a few seconds, and then took off his clothes. He was entangled for a long time at first, but later felt that she was more real than the Crown Princess, without false feelings, and didn't say sweet words. It was also another kind of frankness, right
In short, it was all meaningless and boring. Later, when he accidentally heard the quarrel between Meijuan and Prince of Jinling, his inner grief and pain became more intense, and he resented his mother, and his hatred and disgust for the Crown Princess and concubines became even deeper.
The friendship between the emperor and Xu Hou is obvious to all. As the emperor, he only pays a little attention to the children of the Xu family. He has seen the fierceness of Meiyi and is unwilling to impose the royal will on Meijuan. The second prince, Lin'an Wang Zhao Fan, secretly likes Meiyi sisters. Meiyi disappears and turns to marry Meijuan. The emperor knows that the fifth prince, Jinling Wang, also likes Meijuan, so he asked Xu Hou to ask his daughter who she is willing to marry and let her make the decision. Jinling Wang was not calm. As soon as he saw Meijuan entering the palace, he captured her and threatened and lured her. As a result, Meijuan told him that she was willing to marry Lin'an Wang. Jinling Wang was hit hard. The two quarreled in the rockery cave in the imperial garden. The prince was sitting in the cave remembering Meiyi and heard it clearly.
King Jinling was almost yelling, "Why did you choose him? You know clearly that I am the one who cares about you the most! I am willing to do anything for you, practice martial arts diligently and study poetry, books and history... A long, long time ago, the prince secretly said those words to Meiyi, but I said it in front of you and everyone else - I like you!"
"Will that work? Now the prince is marrying Mei Fu from the Sun family. Where is the good intention? Only a foolish woman would believe in sweet words. I didn't promise you anything!"
Meijuan spoke in a soft and gentle voice, as if she was talking about something that had nothing to do with her: "I said something at that time, but you may not remember it, because you only think that your own wishes are supreme, and you don't care about other people's thoughts at all!"
"That's not the case, my dear. I, I really didn't hear what you said!"
"Then you can't mention anything about the past to me today!"
"My dear, you are too domineering!"
"I dare not! Please forgive me, Your Highness!"
After a silence, the King of Jinling compromised: "Okay, I remember you said at the time: I won't marry someone from the royal family!"
"No one under heaven should be your king's land, and no one under heaven should be your king's subject! As a subject, how dare I say such words? If Your Highness wants to punish me, then do so. Why do you have to put me in an unjust position?"
"My dear, stop pretending!"
"I don't want to pretend, it's you who is pestering me! If I don't obey the emperor's order, I will die. I have decided now, I will marry the second prince!"
"Give me a reason!"
"It's simple: he is not born to the Queen!"
"It's too simple, explain it more clearly!"
"Do you want me to die? This is the imperial palace!"
"Don't worry, this is my forbidden area—mine and the prince's. This fake stone cave has a stone door. No one knows about it. It was discovered by my brothers by accident. There are also my guards guarding outside, so no one can come in!"
"Okay, you told me to say it: Meiyi and I are twin girls. She died because of the prince. How could I marry you again? Meiyi wanted to marry the prince and spend her life with him in love. She even thought that one day the prince would have more concubines and would abandon her because of her old age and fading beauty. But she was not afraid of these. She said that she had loved and had no regrets! But now she doesn't even have the chance to love. The queen used her and then cruelly abandoned her. Do you know how the queen did it? In order to make the emperor believe that Meiyi is not suitable for the prince and Meifu is the right match, she brought your Chen family and the Sun family. The cousins acted and did three bad things to frame Meiyi! I saw all this with my own eyes. I don’t believe that the prince didn’t notice it. The queen is the mother. It is right to respect and support the mother. That will inevitably hurt Meiyi. Family affection should always be put first. I understand this, so I have no complaints about it! I can only blame my sisters for being stupid, but I don’t want to do such a stupid thing—do you like your cousin Meiling? She is the legitimate princess chosen by the queen for you. If I agree to marry you, the next person to die will be me—I may die more miserably, because I don’t want to commit suicide, the queen will have someone kill me!”
"You! Xu Meijuan!"
The King of Jinling was angry and amused: "Meiyi can die for the prince, why can't you die for me?"
"Because it's not worth it!"
The usually elegant and polite Meijuan was arrogant and contemptuous: "Meiyi loves the prince, do I love you? To be honest, if Meiyi is not dead, I will also run away from home. It is so boring to marry a man in a proper way. I like a free life, like Uncle Jingyun and Brother Songhe. I can do whatever I want and go wherever I want. It's great! But the Xu family has lost face once and lost a daughter. If the same thing happens again, my parents can't stand it, so I endure it. Life is only a few decades, so I'll just live!"
The King of Jinling said solemnly: "My dear, my second brother is not worthy of you. Please change your mind and choose me!"
"You flatter me, I am not worthy of him!"
"No, you are the best! I may not be worthy of you, but I will do my best to love and protect you! I am not the prince. The prince is born with heavy responsibilities. He cannot be willful, but I can! Whatever you want to do and whatever kind of life you want to live, I will agree to it all! I can contribute to the country and even sacrifice my life, but anyone who wants to change my destiny and interfere in my life is impossible!"
The coercion, confession and even public pestering of Prince Jinling were of no use to Meijuan. Meijuan knelt before the Queen and said in person that she was willing to marry Prince Lin'an. The Queen was pleased and blessed her, saying that she was sensible and had chosen the right person. The Crown Prince had already gotten married, and the next step was to hold a wedding for the Second Prince, Prince Lin'an.
As soon as the news came out, the Prince of Jinling rushed into Kunning Palace, picked up the concubine in front of the Queen and went straight back to his Chenxu Palace. The two of them were locked in the bedroom and the doors and windows were closed. Upon hearing the news, the Prince of Lin'an was furious and rushed over and kicked the door open. The Prince of Jinling and the concubine sat on the bed. When the concubine saw the Prince of Lin'an, her eyes lit up and she called out in a tender voice:
"Second Prince, save me!"
Prince Lin'an's eyes turned red, he drew his sword and rushed forward to chop. The two brothers met with swords and spears, one back and the other back. Prince Lin'an usually only read books and did not practice martial arts, and he fought with Prince Jinling with only anger and passion. How could he defeat the tall and strong Prince Jinling? He was knocked away by Prince Jinling in two moves and kicked out. The emperor, the queen, and Concubine Jing happened to arrive and took a look. The emperor was furious, the queen was shocked, and Concubine Jing shouted:
"Second Prince!"
He pounced on the Second Prince and held him down, crying miserably, which made the Emperor furious. He sternly ordered the guards to tie up Prince Jinling and lock him up, and strictly ordered that he not be given any food or water before any punishment was done.
The queen panicked and knelt before the furious emperor to beg for mercy for her youngest son. The emperor looked at Prince Lin'an who was lying on the ground and unable to get up and Concubine Jing who was crying bitterly, and snorted coldly: "You should first summon the imperial physician to see where Fan'er was injured. Don't worry, they are all my sons, I will deal with them fairly - whoever is at fault, I will punish him accordingly, and I will not show any mercy!"
After the Emperor left, the Prince of Jinling was also taken away by the guards. After the Empress asked someone to invite the imperial physician, she followed to see where the guards were going to lock up the Prince of Jinling. Seeing that the Empress didn't care about her and her son, Concubine Jing gritted her teeth with tears and asked someone to carry her son back to her palace to take care of him. The courtyard soon calmed down. Meijuan then walked out of the room, patting her chest with a pale face, looking like she was scared silly. She bypassed the busy eunuchs and palace maids in Xuchen Palace and wanted to escape, but found that two young eunuchs who usually followed the Prince of Jinling were following her closely. Meijuan stopped and asked:
"Why are you two following me?"
A young eunuch bowed and said, "Miss Meijuan is the King of Jinling's woman now. We must protect her and send her home safely!"
The beauty changed color and scolded: "What nonsense are you talking about? You can't bear the guilt of ruining my reputation!"
The young eunuch bowed his head and said, "The King of Jinling said it himself. We are just following orders. Please understand, Miss Meijuan!"
How could the concubine not see the Fifth Prince Zhao Hua's feelings for her? She was not convinced that the sons of the royal family had privileges. She could marry whenever she wanted and not whenever she wanted. Why couldn't she take the opportunity to instigate a fight between the brothers, make them a mess, and disgust the emperor and the queen? Anyway, she was just a weak woman waiting to be chosen. What was wrong with her? Zhao Hua was not stupid enough to kill his brothers. If he didn't care about her, then his love was fake. No matter what the outcome was, she could not escape the fate of marrying into the royal family. She could not decide her own marriage. It was useless to like Song He and his brother, so it would be the same to marry anyone.
But girls value their reputation the most. After all, it is not just her business, it concerns the reputation of her parents, brothers, and the Xu family. This is not something that can be taken lightly. Although she likes to play, she also knows the importance of propriety.
"you… "
"Miss Meijuan, please rest assured. As long as you care about King Jinling and know how to behave in front of the Emperor and the Duke, we in Xuchen Palace will not speak carelessly!"
The beauty rolled her eyes. This was the noble prince. He was competing with his brothers for a woman and even resorted to such despicable means!
Prince Lin'an was kicked in the upper abdomen and coughed up two mouthfuls of blood. He will be fine after resting for a few days. The emperor has made his decision: Prince Lin'an kicked the door and drew his sword to chop people first, and he will have to bear the consequences himself. Prince Jinling was ruthless and vicious to his brothers. With such strength and ruthlessness, it would be better for him to go to the battlefield and kill the enemy. It happened that there were frequent small wars in the northwest recently, so Prince Jinling was ordered to go west to defend the border for three years!
The Queen fainted upon hearing the news: Isn't this obviously a military exile? The Prince of Jinling is a legitimate prince, he is only fifteen years old, how could the Emperor do this? Too cruel!
But the emperor’s words were golden and could not be disobeyed. The queen cried until her eyes were swollen. She asked the prince to plead for her and even brought in the empress dowager, but it was of no avail. Moreover, she had to leave immediately and leave the capital within three days without any delay!
Prince Jinling thanked the emperor frankly, but made a request to the emperor: In order to be able to fight the enemy with peace of mind, please marry Xu Meijuan to the border soldier Zhao Hua!
The emperor stared at his son for a long time, sighed, and finally nodded in agreement. He made it clear in front of the queen, the prince, Xu Junying and others: Let's arrange the marriage, and I will come back to marry you in three years!
King Jinling followed the Emperor's order to apologize to King Lin'an and made some compensation. Three days later, he set off for the northwest border. During this period, he wanted to see his beautiful wife, but was repeatedly rejected. He had to give up. She was already engaged and was his. If he didn't want to see her, then where could she go? In order to prepare for leaving Beijing, he didn't have time to go to Xu's house to find her in person. He only had time to ask Kang'er to convey a few words on his behalf the night before leaving Beijing: I will come back to marry you in three years, and you will feel honored. If you marry me, I will love you for the rest of your life, and I will never break my promise! If you die on the battlefield, it's up to you to go wherever you want. If you marry someone else, you must marry someone who is responsible and capable of protecting you...
Meijuan was embroidering a handkerchief while listening to Kang'er pouring out his words one by one. The last sentence made her slow down her sewing.
On the second morning, a young man in red riding a white horse was waiting in front of the Jinling King's team on the outskirts of the city. The Jinling King was surprised and delighted, and hurriedly rode up and called out "beautiful wife" flatteringly. The beautiful wife was surprised to find that someone like the Jinling King could also blush, and threw a roll of silk handkerchief to him:
"I couldn't sleep last night, so I embroidered twelve handkerchiefs. I'll give them all to you! Maybe no one has told you that I can't do needlework. I can only embroider handkerchiefs and roses. If you like other flowers outside, you can throw them away!"
"No, no! I only love roses!"
The King of Jinling smiled, took the handkerchief and unfolded it to look at it. A faint fragrance seemed to be there and not there. He smiled and said:
"This rose is so beautifully embroidered, better than any embroidered by the palace's treasure shop! It smells so good too. Song He gave it to you, right? I'm leaving now, and you can't keep looking for him! Remember that you're engaged, and your fiancé is fighting outside. Don't play around and wait for me to come back!"
"Just wait three years!"
"It's a deal!"
Two years later, Meijuan followed her parents to Jinling in the south of the Yangtze River to visit her newly married sister Meiyi. Half a year later, she returned to the capital and saw Zhao Hua, the Prince of Jinling, who entered the city almost at the same time. Zhao Hua pulled Meijuan to look around and smiled from ear to ear: "How did you become like this!"
In front of her parents and brothers, Meijuan blushed and broke free from his hand: "You are the one who has changed, go look in the mirror yourself!"
After more than two years of wind, rain and sun, Zhao Hua's fair complexion turned into a healthy bronze color, and his pair of black and white eyes became clearer and more lively. He was not short to begin with, and now he looked even taller and stronger. He had less of the arrogance that was common among the princes, and had more of a calm and capable temperament. His personality seemed to have become brighter and more cheerful. He happily amused his brothers and sisters, and when he stood in the corridor and stretched out his long arms, he could pick flowers from high branches for Meiyi and Meifang.
Because of his many meritorious services, the emperor granted him permission to return to Beijing six months earlier. The Jinling Palace had already been built, and he only needed to wait for the Imperial Observatory to calculate a suitable date so that he could marry his princess.
Good things take time. Even for a master like the Prince of Jinling who was impatient and difficult to serve, it took three months to finally hold the wedding banquet. The scene of the Rongguo Duke's daughter's wedding was grand and luxurious, and the scene of the Prince of Jinling's wedding was even more gorgeous. The wedding caused a sensation in the entire capital.
The sweetness of the wedding night was only relative to Zhao Hua. He wanted to devour his beautiful wife. When her wife complained that he was taking revenge, Zhao Hua smiled evilly:
"Then you're in trouble. You'll have to take revenge for the rest of your life!"
His compensation and comfort made the bride overjoyed. She kissed him several times. He said, "I have petitioned the emperor and got his permission. After the wedding, we will go back to our fiefdom and live a free life! Aren't you inseparable from Meiyi? Let's live together in Jinling City from now on, okay?"
After being overjoyed, the beautiful wife became depressed again: "But what should I do if I have to leave my parents and brothers?"
Zhao Hua bit her delicate pink lips and said, "I don't know about that. I just want to marry a wife and make my wife and children happy!"
"No, you have to take care of my mother's family!"
"Okay, I'll take care of it! It's actually very easy. The river that Meiyi jumped into leads directly to Jinling. A heavy ship takes more than a month, while a fast ship takes less than half a month. It's very convenient to travel between the two places!"
The beauty curled her lips: "Who doesn't know this? You don't have to tell me!"
Zhao Hua was confused: "What are you going to do?"
“I want to take my parents, brothers and sisters with me…”
Zhao Hua laughed out loud: "I just realized how stupid you are today! If the hundreds of people in the Xu family follow us to Nanjing, I can guarantee that they will be rich for the rest of their lives, but will they go? Will your father be willing to give up the fame he worked so hard to earn? My dear Zhao, only your husband is willing to do this for you!"
"My name is Xu Meijuan!"
"Change it. From today on, your surname is Zhao!"
"No!"
"Say it again!"
"… "
The prince saw a young and familiar face at his brother's wedding, and he chased after it relentlessly. Finally, he caught up with Qin Shiyan, the fourth daughter of the Qin family, who was about to get into a car to leave in the side yard. She was beautiful, fresh, gentle and elegant, especially her pair of sparkling starry eyes, which were so similar to Meiyi!
Over the past two years, the Crown Princess grew fatter and fatter, and she had to hide in the palace and could no longer show up. After the Queen Mother fell ill, Chen Lanyan moved to the Cining Palace to serve her closely and show her filial piety. Ling Bingyu died for unknown reasons. It was common for one or two concubines in the palace to die of illness. The Crown Prince used the excuse that he was busy with government affairs and had no time to select beauties. He rejected the Queen's proposal to select concubines for him repeatedly, intentionally or unintentionally. The Crown Princess and concubines in the East Palace were in name only. After three years of marriage, the Crown Prince had no children, and the three personal maids who served him in bed...
The Crown Prince had fallen into such a state, which undoubtedly made the Queen lose face. She had chosen a concubine for her own son, but she had made a mistake. The Emperor was extremely disappointed in her and looked upon her with the coldest eyes possible.
Just when the queen was panicking and sad, the prince came to her and told her that he wanted a concubine, but she had to nominate one himself, and her mother just had to bring her into the palace.
Qin Shiyan, the youngest daughter of Hanlin Academy scholar Qin Boqing, is 14 years old. Xu Meiting, the 15-year-old daughter of History Minister Xu Junxuan, is the eighth among the Xu family sisters. The two daughters are concubines; the other noble ladies Wang Shouzhen, Liang Qiyue, and Feng Lirong are concubines. They moved into the East Palace one after another, and the prince just wanted to give the queen something to do. The only one he really cared about and loved was Qin Shiyan. Xu Meiting had seen her in the Xu family before. She was elegant, dignified, and calm, and of good quality. It was right to choose her into the harem.
A year later, the Eastern Palace was full of happy events. Concubine Xu Meiting gave birth to a daughter, and the concubines Liang Qiyue and Wang Shouzhen became pregnant one after another. Concubine Qin had no news, but she was the most favored by the prince. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets on Qidian. Your support is my greatest motivation.) (To be continued)