Back at Rujing Courtyard, Jiang Changning did not ask about the maid, but calmly instructed Xiulan, "Prepare water, I want to take a bath." "Yes, Princess." Xiulan put down the red date tea and walked out.
Jiang Changning sat down on the kang, picked up the cup and took a sip of tea. It had a strong red date flavor and a light sweetness.
"I didn't?" King Jin's tone was filled with a hint of grievance.
"This is sweet tea, you don't like it." Jiang Changning said casually.
When Prince Jin heard this, he immediately felt happy because she knew what he liked.
Jiang Changning was frightened by his tender gaze. Although she was very happy today, she was very tired. She wanted to rest and didn't want to be cooked!
She sipped the red date tea in small sips, ignoring the King of Jin's gaze, and waited for Xiulan to come in and said, "Princess, the water is ready."
He quickly fled and went to take a bath.
Soaking in the warm water with a faint floral scent, Jiang Changning was still wondering how he could escape the fate of being boiled today
After she took her time to finish her shower, she walked into the bedroom feeling refreshed.
As soon as she got into bed, she told herself that she must fall asleep as soon as possible and go find Duke Zhou before the King of Jin came out of his bath.
But the more I wanted to sleep, the harder it was to fall asleep, even though I was obviously very tired.
Hearing the sound of Prince Jin entering the room, she closed her eyes even tighter.
"Ningning, are you asleep?" Prince Jin walked to the bed and lifted the curtain.
Jiang Changning didn't respond. Yes, she fell asleep.
Prince Jin climbed onto the bed quietly. He lay under the quilt for a while until he was warm before he reached out to hug Jiang Changning.
Jiang Changning was mentally prepared, and he let her hug him softly without revealing anything.
It was just that the sucking of her neck by the Prince of Jin almost made her lose control, but luckily she managed to hold it back.
Seeing that she was asleep, Prince Jin was reluctant to wake her up, so the couple covered themselves with the quilt and slept.
Jiang Changning pretended to be asleep, and he actually fell asleep while pretending.
Have a good night's sleep.
Early in the morning, when Jiang Changning woke up, Prince Jin had already gone to attend the morning court.
After lazily getting up and washing up, Park and Liu came and bowed respectfully, saying, "Greetings to the princess, may the princess live long and happy."
"No need to be so polite." Jiang Changning raised his hand. Who made this rule that concubines had to pay their respects to the wife every day
If my wife doesn't like to see me, why should I want to see her
They dislike each other, but still have to deal with each other every day.
After eating something, Jiang Changning went to Liuxuanyuan to pay his respects to the Concubine Dowager.
Park and Liu followed her out of Rujingyuan and watched her leave.
"The princess looks more and more radiant." Liu said sarcastically.
Mrs. Park glanced at her and said nothing.
"They said we were arranged to sleep with him and the date was set, but in the end she monopolized the prince all by herself." Liu said angrily.
Park frowned, "Zhou was just kicked out of the house, do you want to be kicked out too?"
Liu's face changed drastically and she pursed her lips.
After walking in silence for a while, Park suddenly said, "I wonder when the princess will let Mrs. Chen enter the palace?"
"I'm afraid we have to wait until after the New Year?" Liu speculated.
"This house is so deserted." Park said quietly.
Not only Park but also the emperor felt that the Prince of Jin's mansion was too deserted. He awarded ten of the fifty beauties that Annan sent as tribute to the Prince of Jin.
In the past, the emperor did not dare to reward the prince of Jin with such beauties, but this time, the emperor ignored the prince of Jin's refusal and rewarded ten of them at once, "The prince of Jin should stop being busy with official duties all day and relax more."
The King of Jin could only accept, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for the reward."
Let Chang Youzhong send ten beauties back home to meet Jiang Changning.
"Your Highness is back so early?" Jiang Changning asked in surprise.
"No, the prince didn't come back. It was Eunuch Chang who brought back the ten beauties that the emperor gave to the prince." Xiulan said unhappily.
"Ten beauties?" Jiang Changning was shocked. Did the emperor want Prince Jin to die of exhaustion so as to achieve his goal of getting rid of Prince Jin without bloodshed
Jiang Changning let go of his rolled-up sleeves and walked out.
As soon as I entered the yard and the hall, I saw ten girls with outstanding looks.
"My humble servant greets the princess and pays his respects to her." Chang Youzhong saluted.
"No need to be so polite." Jiang Changning was quite polite to Chang Youzhong.
When the girls saw a beautiful young woman walk in, they all took a deep breath. Is this the mistress they will be serving in the future
Jiang Changning walked to the main seat and sat down. Looking at the ten girls in front of him who looked a little nervous, he smiled and said, "No need to be so reserved. What are your names? How old are you?"
The ten girls looked at each other, and one of them stepped forward, knelt down and saluted, saying, "Greetings, Princess. My last name is Ruan Lizhu, and I am seventeen years old."
"Greetings, Princess. My last name is Ruan, my given name is Shiyao, and I am sixteen years old."
"Greetings, Princess. My last name is Ruan Qinqin, and I am sixteen years old."
Although Jiang Changning knew that the surname Ruan was a common surname in Annan, the fact that all three of them had the same surname made him want to ask, "Are you from the same clan?"
"To answer your question, Princess, we are not from the same clan, we just have the same surname." Ruan Lizhu replied.
Jiang Changning nodded, indicating that he understood, and said, "Continue."
Another young girl stepped out and said, "Greetings, Princess. My last name is Huang Wei Ni, and I am sixteen years old."
"Meet the princess, I..."
When the girls set out from Annan, they began to learn Mandarin. After several months of study, although they still had a slight accent, they could understand it.
Exactly five of the ten people were from official families, and five were from commoner families.
Jiang Changning didn't lecture her. "Let's go. I'll take you to meet the Concubine Dowager."
"Princess." Chang Youzhong hurried to Jiang Changning's side and lowered his voice, "The Concubine will not see them."
"Eunuch Chang, do you want me to take people to see Concubine Dao?" Jiang Changning asked.
His tone was calm, without a trace of anger, but Chang Youzhong felt as if he was facing the King of Jin, intimidating without even getting angry!
Jiang Changning ignored Chang Youzhong and took the ten beauties out of Rujing Courtyard and went to Liuxuan Courtyard.
When they arrived at Liuxuan Courtyard, Jiang Changning asked ten beauties to wait in the side room while she and Chang Youzhong went in to see the dowager concubine.
When he saw the Concubine Dowager, Jiang Changning said straight to the point, "Mother, the Emperor has rewarded the Prince with ten beauties. I don't know which courtyards in the palace are suitable for them. Please help your daughter-in-law and ask your sister-in-law to properly place them."
The concubine stared at Jiang Changning, "Are you unhappy?"
Jiang Changning smiled, "I have nothing to be unhappy about. These beauties are just toys, just like those ornaments. The good ones are kept, and the bad ones are thrown away."
"That's if you really think so." The concubine obviously didn't believe her very much.
"Mother, originally it was the daughter-in-law's responsibility to settle them, but now the housekeeper is the eldest sister-in-law. Besides, this is the first time, and the daughter-in-law is afraid that she may not do it properly. Doesn't the eldest sister-in-law have experience?" Jiang Changning said with a smile.
The concubine then realized that the power of household affairs was not in Jiang Changning's hands. She took a sip of tea uncomfortably, coughed lightly, and said, "Before you were married into the family, Qiao was asked to be the housekeeper. Now you have been married into the family for two months. You must take over the housekeeper's job as soon as possible."
Jiang Changning smiled and didn't respond to her.
As for the housekeeper power, Jiang Changning was really not in a hurry to accept it.
Note: Jiang Changning's heart had just opened a crack, but now it closed again.
Poor Prince Jin, he has to face a long road in pursuit of his wife.
(End of this chapter)