When Ruyi got married, Ji Lingxue did not leave the palace to see her off. It was said that Xiao Yichen was sending her off as a princess, with a ten-mile-long red wedding procession. Until sunset, one could still see the flag of Dongqi fluttering in the wind in the distance.
Ji Lingxue held her chin up and watched the last ray of red clouds disappearing in the sky, murmuring: "When my hair grows to my waist, will you marry me? When your hair is straightened, will you be willing to spend ten miles of red makeup? But I am afraid that when your hair grows to your waist, you will fall in love with someone else. When your hair is straightened, I will smile to see you smiling at her."
Ji Lingxue covered her eyes with her hands, and there was still light flickering between her fingers. "It's obviously Ruyi marrying far away, why do I feel like Mo Xiang is marrying far away?"
Rong Mama's laughter came from behind: "It must be that Mo Xiang has been with you for too long. Once she is gone, you will naturally feel uncomfortable. Queen, she has been brought here. Can you take a look?"
Ji Lingxue nodded, and soon a row of neatly dressed new palace maids walked up to Ji Lingxue, saluted, and stood still.
Rong Mama said, "These are the ones who have just entered the palace and have been trained in palace etiquette. You can pick two more."
Ji Lingxue is now the queen, but the only personal maid by her side has always been Mo Xiang. Madam Rong has been accustomed to Mo Xiang's service since Ji Lingxue was a child. It is said that Mo Xiang is clever and knows everything, so naturally Ji Lingxue likes her.
Ji Lingxue nodded, "Madam, please help me choose." Madam Rong is an elder in the palace. It is no problem for her to train a few little girls. She is too lazy to take care of these trivial matters.
Madam Rong bowed respectfully and said, "Then I will choose on behalf of the Queen." After that, she walked around the group of new palace maids, kept four of them, and dismissed all the others.
The four palace maids bowed to Ji Lingxue and said, "This servant greets the Queen. Please give this servant a name."
Ji Lingxue looked up at the four pretty maids and said, "From left to right, Chuntao, Xiahe, Qiuju, and Dongmei."
"Thank you, Her Majesty, for the name!" the four palace maids saluted in unison.
Rong Ma said, "Chun Tao is good at cooking, Xia He is very good at bunning, Qiu Ju is good at making tea, Dong Mei is more careful and is very good at sewing. Let Dong Mei do the remaining sewing for Miss Mo Xiang. What do you think, Queen?"
Ji Lingxue nodded to indicate that she had no objection, and waved her hand, indicating that they should all go about their business. Rong Mama and the four palace maids bowed and left together.
Xiao Yichen waved away his attendants, asked the eunuch to go down together, pushed the door and walked into Chenhua Palace. Ji Lingxue was leaning on the soft couch with her eyes closed, and when she heard the footsteps, she said without even raising her eyelids: "Mammy, please go down, I'm fine. Mo Xiang has only been away from me for a month, and today is only a day. I'm just a little uncomfortable, it will be fine after a while."
Xiao Yichen sat down next to Ji Lingxue, reached out and stroked her bulging belly, and said softly: "Why are you so depressed alone? Are you tired?"
Ji Lingxue opened her eyes and looked at Xiao Yichen with some surprise.
Xiao Yichen stretched out his hand and scratched Ji Lingxue's nose and said, "What's with that expression on your face? Are you so surprised to see me?"
Ji Lingxue nodded honestly, "Isn't the emperor always busy with affairs of state? How come you were only busy for a while and are free today?"
Xiao Yichen's mouth twitched, "You wish I would be busy from morning till night every day? Then being an emperor would be tiring..." He stretched out his arms and lay beside Ji Lingxue and continued, "Now whether it is the plague in Jingzhou or the flood in Jiangnan, someone has already dealt with it for me. The court is at peace, so I have nothing to do. I was worried about you, so I came to see you. After hearing what you said just now, I am also a little curious. Why did you send Mo Xiang to marry?"
Ji Lingxue said, "So Princess Linglong kept asking me to lend her Mo Xiang for a few days, but I couldn't help her pestering me. I felt sorry for her as a young girl who had to marry so far away, so I couldn't help but feel panic. So I asked Mo Xiang to accompany her for a while, just to help her relax and relieve her boredom."
Xiao Yichen chuckled, "I heard that she insisted on sleeping in Chenhua Palace last night. I didn't expect that she has such a good relationship with you. I had to stay up late in the imperial study to read. Look, how deep are my dark circles?" He pointed at his eyes and moved closer pitifully.
Ji Lingxue pressed on Xiao Yichen's chest, letting him lie back on the bed and said, "If you feel tired, then go to sleep. I was no better than you last night. Ruyi was too excited last night and kept chatting with me until early morning."
Xiao Yichen frowned when he heard that, "How can this girl be so ignorant..." Then he stood up, let Ji Lingxue rest her head on his legs, and personally gave her a massage to relax her.
Ji Lingxue squinted her eyes in comfort, "It is an incomparable honor to have the emperor personally give me a massage..."
Xiao Yichen twitched his lips, "Stop flattering me. I've heard so much that my ears are callused."
Ji Lingxue was quite pleased to see Xiao Yichen's face from below. "Ah Chen, when Mo Xiang comes back to marry, let's find a good family for her to marry."
Xiao Yichen couldn't help but be cold and said, "You, the queen, have to work part-time as a matchmaker. Aren't you tired?"
Ji Lingxue touched her belly and said, "I have nothing to do recently. When the baby is born, maybe I won't have that much time to think about..."
Xiao Yichen lowered his head and put his ear to Ji Lingxue's belly, "Come, let me listen to what my two babies are doing in their mother's belly..."
Ji Lingxue touched the top of Xiao Yichen's head and suddenly felt that Xiao Yichen looked like a child at the moment, yet he had the majesty of an emperor.
Ji Lingxue asked: "What did you hear?"
Xiao Yichen nodded seriously, "I heard they were fighting... Really, they were having a great time. Oh, I got kicked in the face..."
Ji Lingxue covered her mouth and laughed.
Xiao Yichen continued, "You two brothers, stop fighting. I know that you are a little crowded in your mother's belly. As you grow up day by day, it will naturally get crowded. It won't get better soon. We will just wait for you to come out in a few days."
Ji Lingxue curled her eyes, "Then Your Majesty, have you thought of a name for the baby?"
Xiao Yichen raised his head and scratched Ji Lingxue's nose, saying with a smile: "Don't worry, don't worry. It won't be too late to get up after they are born. But I'll have to trouble you, Queen, in the days ahead."
Ji Lingxue took Xiao Yichen's hand and put it on her cheek. She closed her eyes and said softly, "Husband, with your words, no matter how hard it is in the future, it will be worth it. Although it is bitter... it is also sweet!"
Xiao Yichen bent his head and kissed Ji Lingxue's forehead, gently and tenderly.
The days passed one by one, and half a month went by in a blink of an eye. Ji Lingxue's belly grew bigger and bigger. She spent most of her time in the room, eating various cakes and pastries made by Chuntao every day, and she became more and more lazier.
In the hot summer, the sun is scorching. Pregnant women are afraid of heat, so Xia He and Qiu Ju take turns fanning Ji Lingxue to dispel the heat.
Mammy took the ice cubes from the ice cave and placed them on the small coffee table, sighing, "The days go by so fast. In a blink of an eye, Mo Xiang has been out for half a month. I miss her a lot. Without her to talk back to me, there is a sense of emptiness in my heart... This girl has never been far away from home. I wonder if she is doing well outside..."
Ji Lingxue said: "Mammy is still talking about me, and you are talking about it too. If we calculate the time, if they leave quickly, they will soon reach the border of Dayan."
Rong Mama pulled the corner of her mouth and smiled: "After sending Princess Linglong to Dayan, she should be back. Their trip should be smooth, right?"
Ji Lingxue nodded. Xiao Yichen sent three thousand imperial guards to escort the couple. What could happen? She even specially arranged An Ge in the wedding team just in case.
Dongmei trotted in, waving the letter in her hand and said, "Empress, there's a letter for you!"
Ji Lingxue glanced in the direction of Dongmei and asked, "Where did you send it from?"
Dongmei said, "It was sent by the eunuch beside the emperor."
Ji Lingxue sat up and took the letters from Dongmei. She looked at the handwriting on the letters and found that one was from Ruge and the other was from Ruyi.
The communication technology in this era was not well developed, and a letter had to be delivered by secret guards riding horses at full speed, traveling day and night, and even killing several horses.
Unfolding Ruge's letter, a faint scent of tea wafted into her nose. Ji Lingxue raised her eyebrows. It seemed that Ruge had brewed a pot of good tea when she wrote this letter. She must have been in a good mood.
"Zhixue, I still like to call you by this name. I have returned to Dayan and am sitting in the Third Prince's residence. I have made a pot of tea. The past few years are still vivid in my mind. Rugong and I have been enemies for many years. Now he is dead. Since he is dead, no matter how big the mistakes he made in his life are, they should be forgiven. Looking back on my half-life, I have been scheming and calculating everywhere. I am really tired. The purpose of living seems to be just for the supreme dragon throne, but I don't want it at all. I just want to live my life freely..."
Ji Lingxue looked at the end of the letter paper, which was a blob of black ink, and she didn't know what was written on it.
Ji Lingxue curled her lips, feeling that there was something more to say. Forget it, since Ruge had colored it black, it meant that there was no need to say some more.
Ji Lingxue opened the second letter, which was written by Ruyi, with neat and delicate handwriting. "Sister Queen, you would never have thought that I would write to you. I am sitting on the flower stand wearing my bridal gown. Although there is no groom to pick me up, I am still a little uneasy. After a day and a night of travel, Aunt Moxiang is by my side. She cooks a lot of delicious food for me and tells jokes to make me happy. Now I feel much more relaxed, so I thought of writing a letter to you, sister Queen, to wish you well.
Today, when we passed a forest, the guards hunted a rabbit. It was such a cute rabbit, but they actually skinned it and cooked it. Aunt Moxiang rescued the rabbit and gave it to me to raise. The rabbit was so cute. Its red eyes looked at me as if they could talk. With it accompanying me along the way, I didn’t feel bored. Okay, I’ll stop writing here today.”
Ji Lingxue raised her lips and smiled. It was hot summer now, and the bride could not get off the carriage. It was also difficult for Ruyi, who was so active, to pretend to be quiet in the carriage.
Seeing Ji Lingxue's smile, Rong Mama asked cautiously, "Madam, who wrote this?"
"It's Ruge and Ruyi. The couple have a tacit understanding and actually wrote to me together." Ji Lingxue folded the letter and told Dongmei to receive it.
Madam Rong asked, "Does the Madam want to reply?"
Ji Lingxue had more questions in her mind. This letter came from the imperial study, so did Xiao Yichen peek at her letter
When Aunt Rong saw that Ji Lingxue didn't answer, she called out again, "Madam?"
(End of this chapter)