The twelfth lunar month has always been the busiest time in the capital. As the year draws to a close, merchants and common people flock to the capital, making the streets extremely prosperous.
On the first day of the New Year holiday, Chen Jingzong insisted on taking Huayang to buy New Year's goods.
Before daybreak, the two started "arguing" in bed.
Hua Yang: "If you want to buy something, just tell Wu Run. There's no need to go out and freeze by yourself."
Chen Jingzong: "You are just like Ye Gong who loves dragons. You always complain that you are uncomfortable in the palace and like the free and happy life outside the palace. But when the weather is hot or cold, you shrink in your house and don't want to go anywhere. I don't know how you can be happy hiding in your house alone."
Huayang: "Is it fun to go to the street at this time? No matter how many people are selling things, the goods they put out are all low-quality. Since I'm not going to buy anything, why should I squeeze in with a group of people?"
Chen Jingzong: "I want to go, and the whole family will happily buy New Year's goods together, that's the real New Year atmosphere."
Huayang: "Then you can take Dalang and the others with you. I guarantee that you will have a full New Year atmosphere throughout the day."
Chen Jingzong: "My nephew is my nephew, and you are you. I am separated from them by a layer, and only you and I are a real family."
Huayang pursed his lips.
Chen Jingzong suddenly smiled in her ear: "Unless you still remember what I said and just want to stay at home and connect with me..."
As soon as he said that word, Huayang covered him with the quilt and pressed his entire head under the quilt.
Chen Jingzong said sullenly: "Don't think that you can murder your husband just because you are the eldest princess. Our old man is not someone you can mess with!"
Huayang: …
The father-in-law will probably never know in his lifetime that Chen Jingzong didn't just dislike him. In fact, he often used the father-son relationship, but he never used it for the right purpose.
When the sun got warmer, Huayang went out with Chen Jingzong. Chen Jingzong was dressed in ordinary robes, while Huayang wore men's clothes for convenience.
The carriage left the Princess's Mansion and headed towards Qianmen Street, the most prosperous street in the capital.
Chen Jingzong left the couch unused and deliberately sat diagonally opposite Huayang, his eyes seemed to be glued to Huayang's face.
Huayang glared at him several times.
Chen Jingzong: "You look quite handsome in this outfit, like a young man from a wealthy family with red lips and white teeth who has not yet grown up."
Huayang: "Were you like this when you were thirteen or fourteen?"
Chen Jingzong: "I was much stronger now, and I often ran in the mountains at that time, so my face and neck were tanned. After I came to Beijing, they became white again."
Huayang: "Just stay black. I definitely can't stand a black face."
Chen Jingzong: "So it is destined that you and I are destined to be together."
Huayang leaned against the car window and opened it a crack, making it clear that he didn't want to pay attention to him.
Chen Jingzong moved next to her. Because Huayang's long hair was tied up on top of her head and she was peeking out, her fair and slender neck was just revealed.
Chen Jingzong held her shoulders with both hands and kissed her behind the ears.
Huayang's hand that was lifting the curtain seemed to have its strength taken away. Even though the gap in the curtain was very narrow, she was still worried that passers-by on the street would see Chen Jingzong's movements.
The light dimmed, Chen Jingzong glanced at the fallen curtain and turned her towards him.
Huayang: "Let go."
Chen Jingzong: "We have to walk for at least another quarter of an hour. Let me hold you for a while."
"Isn't it enough for you to hold me at night?"
"The day has its own merits."
"I will go to the palace tomorrow and ask my brother to shorten your annual leave and let you stay in the guardhouse for a while longer."
"The princess has a kind heart like a fairy, so she is reluctant to treat officials harshly."
For fear of being overheard by the driver, both of them lowered their voices. However, the more they whispered, the more it made people realize that they were doing something indecent, and the more confused and dazed they became.
Finally, when the noise from Qianmen Street was getting closer, Chen Jingzong held Huayang with one hand and reached out with the other to open the curtain a little again.
As the cool breeze of the twelfth lunar month blew, the gorgeous color on the eldest princess's face gradually faded.
She took out a handkerchief with disgust, soaked it with warm water, and wiped her ears and neck bit by bit.
The facial cream she often used was also kept in the drawer. Chen Jingzong took out a white porcelain bottle, scooped out some colorless and fragrant facial cream, and helped her apply it.
His fingertips were covered with a thin layer of calluses, and they gently scratched the eldest princess's extremely delicate skin.
Huayang lowered her eyelashes as she tried to suppress the waves of throbbing. She secretly regretted that she should not have asked him for help. No matter where his hands touched her, it seemed like they were deliberately teasing her.
When the car stopped, Huayang looked normal again.
Before getting off the car, she warned him in advance: "I'm wearing men's clothes now, so please be careful about your behavior."
Chen Jingzong: "Does it mean I don't need to pay attention if you wear women's clothes?"
Huayang: …
They walked in front, followed closely by Chao Yun and Zhou Ji, and some guards followed secretly at a distance behind. In addition to protecting the eldest princess, they would also be responsible for carrying things for the eldest princess and her husband.
Huayang really didn’t know what to buy, and she had never gone to the streets to buy New Year’s goods by herself.
Chen Jingzong was responsible for taking her away.
"Buy some melon seeds and nuts to eat on the way to Tangshan."
At the mountain goods store, Chen Jingzong ordered two kilograms of nuts that suited her taste. He paid for them, and Zhou Ji carried the items out of the door and handed them to other guards.
Zhou Ji blushed slightly and said, "It has been arranged. In a few days, relatives from both sides will send her to the capital, and we will get married here."
Chen Jingzong was very surprised, but when he saw Huayang was calm, he knew that she had received the news.
He continued to ask Zhou Ji: "You don't seem to have taken a long vacation in the past two years. What does your fiancée look like? Have you seen her?"
Zhou Ji: "I haven't seen it. My mother wrote to me saying it's very beautiful."
Chen Jingzong: "Aren't you afraid that they will fool you and find you an ugly one?"
Zhou Ji: "Not really, and I'm not picky, as long as it's not too ugly."
Chen Jingzong: "Okay, if you're getting married before the New Year, let me know and I'll go to your house for the wedding."
Zhou Ji was flattered. It was an honor for their family that the prince consort was willing to honor him with his status.
After the chat, Chen Jingzong concentrated on accompanying Huayang to go shopping and bought a lot of food, clothing and daily necessities. When the two walked towards the carriage, Zhou Ji and other guards had their hands full of things.
After getting in the car, Chen Jingzong settled accounts with Huayang: "You knew Zhou Ji was going to get married, why didn't you tell me?"
Huayang: "What does his marriage have to do with you?" Chen Jingzong: "It has little to do with you, but the sooner you tell me, the sooner I know that you have no other feelings for him, and the sooner I can rest assured."
Huayang was too lazy to pay attention to him.
Chen Jingzong: "But Zhou Ji is really honest. He dares to marry a girl he has never even met."
Huayang: "There's nothing we can do. His hometown is in Pingliang Prefecture, which is too far away. It's not easy to go back and forth."
If some of the sons of officials in the capital did not take the imperial examination, they would most likely seek an idle job in various guards, but they would all work for the court and have a promising future. For example, to be a guard for these princesses, the position they would get until they die would be Zhou Ji, and men with backgrounds and connections were not rare. Therefore, when her father selected guards for her, he directly threw away the sons of the rich and powerful and chose guards from humble families who were young, strong, proficient in martial arts, but not ambitious.
This is because the emperor dotes on her. If it were an unfavored princess, the emperor would not be willing to waste a brave man by his daughter's side.
Huayang had three hundred guards, and she didn't know all of them, but she knew that Zhou Ji was willing to be loyal to her.
In fact, some people think that being a guard for the princess is a good job, which not only has a good salary but also does not require the risk of going to the battlefield. It is very safe. However, those who firmly believe that they can make merit and be promoted on the battlefield as a guard naturally avoid jobs around the princess.
Chen Jingzong already knew Zhou Ji's background. The Chen family was not a wealthy family either, so Chen Jingzong had no reason to look down on Zhou Ji. He was only surprised at how honest this boy was.
Huayang: "You think everyone is like you. You never take the words of the two elders seriously."
Chen Jingzong: "How could I not take it seriously? They asked me to come to the palace to see you, and I went obediently, didn't I?"
Huayang: "You dare not not go. If I were just an ordinary official lady, would you listen to my father's arrangements?"
Chen Jingzong: "I'm sure he won't listen, so we are destined to be together."
Huayang: …
The carriage stopped outside the Princess's Mansion.
Wu Run stood at the door to greet them, then walked to the left of the eldest princess, saying as he followed her: "I heard that my cousin has another baby, twins are little masters."
Huayang nodded to show that he understood.
Chen Jingzong seemed not to hear it until they entered the Qifeng Palace, washed their hands and face, and were alone in the room. Chen Jingzong smiled and said, "Your grandmother must be grinning from ear to ear now because she has three fat great-grandchildren in one twelfth month."
Huayang glared at him.
My cousin divorced Tian and has not remarried. Without a principal wife, he has three illegitimate sons. Any respectable family would not marry their good daughter to him.
The grandmother was certainly happy to have her great-grandchildren, but she couldn't bear the shame. So when my cousin's first concubine gave birth to his eldest son in early December, my uncle and aunt didn't send anyone to congratulate him, and they never paid much attention to the third day bath or the full moon. No matter how festive the twin sons were, they were not worth hosting a banquet for the Qi family.
After all, the Qi family is Huayang's maternal family. It would be strange if Huayang would treat him well if Chen Jingzong kept making sarcastic remarks here.
Chen Jingzong: "Your cousin is really amazing. He either doesn't have any children or has two children and three sons in his lifetime."
Huayang raised his eyebrows: "Why, are you envious?"
Chen Jingzong was secretly mocking Qi Jin, but when he heard her say that, he immediately said seriously, "What's there to envy? A son may not be filial. If he is born like me and makes you and me angry all the time, it's better not to have a child."
Huayang: "Since you know your own virtues, why don't you change?"
Chen Jingzong: "The old man has never been a good father to me, why should I be a good son to him? Unless he bows to me first, no one can expect me to be a filial son to him."
Huayang was silent.
Chen Jingzong: "Do you think what I said makes sense?"
Huayang: "The first sentence is okay."
Chen Jingzong: “Which sentence?”
Hua Yang: "If the son I give birth to looks like you, it would be better not to give birth to him."
She thought she didn't have the patience and good temper of her mother-in-law. It was tiring enough to deal with Chen Jingzong, and now there was this little scoundrel who didn't care about anything...
Chen Jingzong looked at her and frowned, looking very disgusted.
Chen Jingzong: …
It doesn't matter if he dislikes her, but she shouldn't!
If she really had a son like him, and both of them treated her like an ancestor and served her, she would wake up laughing in her dreams!
(End of this chapter)