Because the sun was scorching outside, Huayang had no interest in going out. It would be better for him to return home early, take a rest, and then walk with Chen Jingzong in the spacious and exquisite garden of the Princess's Mansion. This would allow him to truly enjoy the leisure time.
The maids packed up their things, and Chen Jingzong sat with her under the magnolia tree in the yard waiting.
The two magnolia trees are lush and leafy, casting a thick shade on the ground.
There was tea and purple grapes on the coffee table. Since Huayang didn't like eating grape skins, Chen Jingzong was responsible for peeling them for her.
The tender grape flesh made his fingertips wet with juice.
He handed her the peeled grapes.
Huayang raised a round fan to cover half of his face so that the maids could not see him, then lowered his head to accept his "service".
The bright sunlight made the eldest princess's face look even whiter and more delicate, and her lips were so red that they looked as if they were painted with lip balm.
But Chen Jingzong knew that she was born with such a good complexion.
"It's still too hot now. When the weather cools down, we can go out on horseback and visit more places."
Huayang: "You ride back and forth to the garrison every day, aren't you tired of riding?"
Chen Jingzong: "I'm used to it. Besides, riding with you is totally different from riding on an errand."
Huayang did not comment. Seeing that Chen Jingzong was just peeling grapes for her and did not eat anything himself, she picked up a grape and put it into his mouth.
Chen Jingzong looked at her slender and beautiful fingertips and ate the fruit with the skin, earning her a look of disgust.
Chen Jingzong: "You grew up in a honey pot. I don't know how many people have never had the chance to eat such a grape in their lifetime. Not to mention that they don't mind the thick skin of the grape, some people can even swallow the grape seeds."
Huayang: "You are not an ordinary citizen. Even if you were in Lingzhou for those years, you wouldn't be unable to afford a plate of grapes."
Chen Jingzong: "But this is the first time I eat grapes fed by the princess."
Huayang glared at him again.
Chaoyun, Chaoyue and several young eunuchs were constantly moving things in and out of the small courtyard. The young eunuchs did not dare to look around. Chaoyun and Chaoyue saw the eldest princess and the prince consort sitting face to face on both sides of the coffee table. Although the prince consort was always glared at by the eldest princess a few times, there was an intimacy between the two that could only be understood but not expressed in words, just like a pair of sparrows on a magnolia branch, sometimes chasing and playing, and sometimes putting their two round heads together.
All the boxes and cages they brought out were loaded onto the car. Chen Jingzong personally held an umbrella and protected Huayang, who was wearing a veil hat, as they walked down the mountain.
Guards led the way, and the pilgrims on the road moved aside one after another, looking with both respect and curiosity at the legendary Princess Huayang and her husband as they walked over like a fairy couple, and then gradually went away.
Finally they arrived at the foot of the mountain. Huayang's carriage had already stopped there, and a guard stood next to it, holding Chen Jingzong's mount in his hand.
Last night, Chen Jingzong tied his mount at the foot of the mountain. Early in the morning, he instructed Zhou Ji to arrange for guards to take care of it to prevent it from being taken away by passers-by.
Huayang looked at the horse and got on the car first.
When Chen Jingzong came in, he saw that she had taken off her veil, revealing her cheeks, which were red from walking down the mountain under the scorching sun.
Chen Jingzong loosened the collar of his robe, sat beside her and fanned her.
When the carriage started moving, a breeze blew in through the gauze curtains, and Huayang finally felt comfortable.
"How long have you raised this horse?" Huayang asked.
Chen Jingzong thought for a moment and said, "My eldest brother gave it to me when I came to Beijing at the age of eighteen."
Huayang couldn't help but say: "Brother is so good to you."
Chen Jingzong: "Isn't it the same for all big brothers? If I were the eldest in the family, I would also take care of the brothers below me."
Huayang: "Forget it. Even if you are the eldest brother, you will only lead your younger brothers astray."
Chen Jingzong: "Keep talking about horses, stop talking about my elder brother."
The faint smell of jealousy came out again. Huayang was too lazy to glare at him and changed the subject back to the horse: "You are twenty-five this year, and you have raised that horse for eight years. It must be getting old, right?"
Chen Jingzong: "How can it be old? It is only thirteen years old and still a strong horse."
Huayang knew a little about horses. Usually a horse is considered old when it is twenty years old. Some wealthy and noble men would retire horses after they are sixteen years old and no longer ride them.
For a man of Chen Jingzong's status, he only had this one mount, which was already very frugal. Even though Huayang seldom rode a horse, there were three beautiful white horses in the stable.
Chen Jingzong: "Why, you want to give me a horse?"
Huayang: "Do you want it?"
Chen Jingzong: "No, the horse you gave me must be expensive. If I ride it out, the old man will scold me for showing off."
It is true that Huayang respects her father-in-law in her heart, but if she really wants to give Chen Jingzong something good, she won't care what her father-in-law says or thinks.
Take Chen Jingzong's horse, for example. It was only worth a few dozen taels of silver. After all, no matter how much Chen Bozong liked his younger brother, he would not spend hundreds of taels of silver to give his younger brother a top-quality horse. First, he might not have that much private money. Second, his father-in-law was watching over him. Chen Bozong was so filial and obedient that he did not dare to spend so much money to provoke his strict father's reprimand.
In the past few years, Huayang either didn't have the chance to see Chen Jingzong's mount, or he was focused on major matters and ignored this.
Now that she had seen it, she wanted to buy Chen Jingzong a better horse, one that would be worthy of his status as the princess's consort, and would also run faster and help him save time on the bumpy road.
Chen Jingzong said that he didn't want it, so Huayang didn't insist and didn't seem to care much.
After returning to the Princess's Mansion, Huayang went to take a bath first, and then came out to have dinner with Chen Jingzong.
During the break, Chen Jingzong lay quietly beside her and said to her, "I asked Wu Run to arrange a boat. It's cool at night and I want to go boating."
The lake in the Princess's Mansion is quite big, big enough for the owner to go boating on it.
Huayang turned his back to him and hummed indifferently.
But she knew what Chen Jingzong was thinking about. He had been very upset in the morning and had to do something new to relieve the anger in his body.
.
As night fell, Chen Jingzong paddled a single-sailed pleasure boat and brought Huayang to the center of the lake.
The bright moonlight sprinkled on the calm lake. As the boatman, Prince Consort, put down his oars and entered the tent, the ripples left by the cruise ship gradually returned to calm.
But not long after, new waves began to spread out in all directions, centered on the cruise ship, sometimes slowly and sometimes quickly.
The cruise ship seemed to be swept by an invisible storm, swaying violently from side to side.
From beginning to end, only the moonlight is gentle.
It was almost two o'clock in the morning when Chen Jingzong finally let go of Huayang.
Huayang used his remaining strength to move to the couch and lay on his side facing the window.
He pulled up the roller blind, leaving only a thin layer of gauze. The boat swayed back and forth. At this moment, the window on this side was facing the bright moon in the sky. There were some dark shadows on the half-moon, which looked like a pair of long rabbit ears.
Huayang subconsciously covered himself with the thin blanket next to him.
Chen Jingzong hugged her from behind and smiled in her ear: "Are you really afraid of being seen by Chang'e?"
Huayang: "It's just a little cold. Besides, Chang'e is not you, why would she look at me?"
Chen Jingzong thought about it, grabbed half of the quilt to cover himself: "Then I have to prevent her from peeping at me."
Huayang wanted to tell him to shut up again.
Chen Jingzong lay with her for a while, then put on his shorts, squatted in front of two copper basins, and washed carefully under the light.
Hua Yang turned around and saw how serious he was. He asked curiously, "Have you ever thought this was too much trouble?"
Chen Jingzong glanced at her and said, "What's the trouble? These are all treasures. I'm not the kind of person who would be ungrateful and then destroy the bridge after crossing it."
Hua Yang paused, and said, "What I mean is, now that neither you nor I are in mourning, have you ever thought about not using this anymore?"
Chen Jingzong: "What do you think?"
Huayang spoke the truth: "I thought that after using up the ones my aunt gave me, I could just let things take their own course. I didn't expect you to order another batch."
Originally, the supplies my aunt gave me would have been used up next year, but my father’s death delayed the use for a year, so the current stock in the palace can last until the third year of Yuanyou.
By then, Huayang will be 24 years old. If his father-in-law is still fine and his younger brother no longer hates him, Huayang will not have to worry about anything.
What surprised her was that Chen Jingzong was not in a hurry to have a child and even found a way on his own.
Facing Chen Jingzong's dark eyes reflecting the light, Hua Yang asked in confusion: "Eldest brother and third brother both have sons and daughters, are you really not envious?"
Chen Jingzong: "I envy you, but I'm not in a hurry. Although we've been married for more than four years, I spent two of those years in Lingzhou and one in mourning for the late emperor. The time we spent happily together was only a year and a half. During that year and a half, I was out early and back late most of the time, and I didn't have much time to spend with you. I didn't even have enough time to spend with you, so how could I have the mood to raise a child?"
Huayang didn’t quite understand. They spent little time together during the day, but were often very close at night and saw each other almost every night. Did he think it was not enough
There was still a blush on her face, but her eyes were bright and clear, and her confusion was clearly revealed.
Chen Jingzong smiled, washed the things in his hands first, checked them one last time to make sure there were no leaks, and hung them on the shelf next to him.
After washing his hands again, Chen Jingzong wet a towel, sat beside the couch, and helped his ancestor wipe the sweat off his face.
Huayang stretched out his body and just closed his eyes.
The eldest princess was dignified and confident, and sometimes she was reserved, like now when she was lazy and had to ask him to serve her, then she would be generous and calm.
The watery moonlight shines through the screen and falls on the eldest princess' flawless body.
Chen Jingzong lowered his eyes, wiped her and asked, "What do you think husband and wife are?"
Huayang's fingertips barely noticed as he grasped the silk mat covering the couch and said, "A man and a woman, once they get married, they are husband and wife."
Chen Jingzong: "Marriage is just a ceremony, it just allows two people to be husband and wife in name, but once something happens, the nominal couple can easily go their separate ways."
Hua Yang suddenly opened his eyes and looked at him in disbelief: "Are you still worried that I will divorce you?"
He often said such things, and Huayang just thought he was outspoken.
Chen Jingzong said meaningfully: "Success is due to Xiao He, and failure is also due to Xiao He."
Huayang frowned: "What do you mean?"
Chen Jingzong: "Because of the old man, I can marry you. What will happen to you and me if the old man falls one day?"
Huayang's heart suddenly tightened, and he almost thought that Chen Jingzong knew something!
It was Chen Jingzong's expression that was too calm, and it was his just the right amount of strength that made Huayang understand. He couldn't have known. If he had been able to foresee the fate of his father-in-law and the Chen family in his previous life, he would not have treated her like this.
"Why are you saying such unlucky words?" Hua Yang was slightly annoyed. "Even if you are your father's biological son, you shouldn't always curse him."
Chen Jingzong: "I didn't curse him. What he is doing now is too offensive. There are too many people against him. Maybe one day he will be brought down."
Huayang was silent.
She seemed to have never seriously discussed the situation in the court with Chen Jingzong.
She was about to say something comforting that she was not even sure about, such as that her mother and brother would always support her father-in-law, but Chen Jingzong spoke first: "You don't want me to die, but if that day really comes, and the old man loses his job and I become the son of a commoner, or if the old man is convicted and I become the son of a criminal, what will you do?"
Huayang hadn't thought about this question.
Because it hasn't happened in this life. Although his words came true in the previous life, he was gone long ago. The Chen family was exiled to the frontier, and she was still the noble eldest princess.
Chen Jingzong touched her face and said, "I don't want to tie you up with the child."
(End of this chapter)