Huayang continued to live in the palace for a few days. During these days, the family of three would still gather in the Qianqing Palace to have dinner together.
Huayang found that his mother still had the same attitude towards his younger brother as before, asking about government affairs and studies, and there was nothing else to talk about afterwards.
But this is easy to understand. If the Queen Mother suddenly changed her temperament and became as friendly and cheerful as the Emperor, anyone would find it abnormal.
The next evening, when the mother and daughter were sitting together admiring the flowers, Empress Dowager Qi asked her daughter, "You came to the palace this time to persuade me to change my temper, right?"
Hua Yang: "I am doing this for your and your brother's sake. We are mother and son, why should we make things so awkward just because of a few harsh words?"
Empress Dowager Qi nodded, and after a while she said, "It's okay for you to tell mother that it's blunt. As for your brother, whether it's state affairs or family affairs, you should try not to interfere. I'll take care of family affairs, and the ministers will take care of state affairs. If you interfere, it's fine if it suits your brother's wishes. I'm just afraid that one day you'll make him unhappy and he'll get angry and ignore you. You've been spoiled by the late emperor since you were a child, so you've never suffered any grievances."
If a princess cares too much about political affairs, the ministers who have noticed this will rush to use her, hoping to influence the emperor's ideas through the princess.
It would save the ministers trouble, but it would put the princess in danger.
Although they are both princesses, their situations will be completely different if they are loved by the emperor or hated by him, even if there is no punishment.
Empress Dowager Qi did not want her daughter to be used by the ministers, and she did not want her daughter to have conflicts with her son.
Huayang smiled at her mother and said, "Don't worry, I know my limits."
She had never learned how to handle political affairs, but she had lived her life again and knew which tragedies in her previous life could have been avoided and which ministers were truly loyal to the emperor and loved the people. So after her rebirth, she helped where she could and gave advice where she could.
All she can do to help is limited to this year. She has no way of predicting what will happen in the future. The ones who truly govern the world are still her younger brother, father-in-law, and Lord He.
However, it is impossible for her to just stand by and watch. Huayang is a person and she has her own judgment. If one day she thinks her brother has made a mistake, she will still persuade and stop him as an elder sister, because this is the way a family gets along with each other. They share happiness and troubles together, laugh together when they are happy, and get angry together after disputes, but in the end they are still siblings.
It is true that Huayang cares about her younger brother, but she has never asked her mother and father-in-law to always obey her younger brother. She just asked the two elders to be more tolerant and talk things out calmly. There is no need to provoke her younger brother's resentment, which would only hurt both sides.
Just like this time, if his younger brother gets drunk again and still cuts off the hair of the two singers, as long as the queen mother doesn't issue any confession of guilt and just scolds his younger brother, Huayang will stand firmly on the side of the queen mother and scold his younger brother.
.
On May 20th, a holiday, Chen Jingzong went to the palace to pay his respects. Huayang smiled and said goodbye to her mother and brother, thinking that she might not stay in the palace for long in the future.
After leaving the palace and getting on the carriage, the eldest princess was pulled into the arms of her husband.
"It's hot." Huayang pushed him away in disdain.
Chen Jingzong put one hand around her waist and held her weak hand with the other, looking at her and said, "You are hot, I am hungry."
Huayang pretended not to understand, turned his face away, and asked casually: "Didn't you eat breakfast?"
Chen Jingzong: "Grains and cereals are useless. I must absorb your spiritual energy."
Huayang laughed, but as soon as the corners of his lips raised, Chen Jingzong turned his face away, and the light in front of his eyes was blocked by him.
In fact, Huayang didn’t quite understand why Chen Jingzong was always so passionate about this kind of thing. If it was fresh when they just got married, they had been married for six and a half years.
Confused as he was, Huayang really couldn't stand Chen Jingzong like this. He didn't even need to kiss him. As long as he looked at him with such an undisguised look, Huayang would feel weak in his hands and feet.
The carriage rolled steadily across the smooth stone road outside the imperial city. The eldest princess leaned on the arms of her husband, and the tassels hanging from the golden hairpin on her head swayed gently.
Chen Jingzong had walked the road from the imperial city to the princess's mansion countless times. He calculated the distance and placed the princess in his arms on the couch on the side in advance.
Huayang knew that he needed time to calm down, otherwise he would not be able to get off the carriage.
She took out a mirror from the cupboard and checked her appearance. Her hair was not messy, her face was red, and her collar was half undone...
Huayang put down the mirror, turned sideways to him, and slowly straightened his collar.
The carriage was silent except for his still heavy breathing. This reminded Huayang of when she was in Lingzhou and wanted to burn incense for the old lady of the Chen family. That day in the carriage, Chen Jingzong was rude to her for the first time.
Huayang was so angry at that time that he wanted to bite off a piece of flesh from his shoulder. Now, he is still angry, but he is used to it and is too lazy to argue with him anymore.
When they arrived at the door of his house, Chen Jingzong stood up to go out. Huayang subconsciously looked at him, but Chen Jingzong suddenly turned around and bumped into him.
Huayang immediately looked away.
Chen Jingzong smiled meaningfully: "Don't worry, I'll show you enough when I get back."
Huayang: …
Chen Jingzong lifted the curtain, jumped off the carriage, took the green silk umbrella handed to him by Chaoyun, turned around and waited to pick her up.
Huayang glared at him first, then leaned out of the carriage.
The sun was scorching, and Wu Run, Zhou Ji and the others all lowered their eyes respectfully.
Huayang and Chen Jingzong walked under an umbrella and went straight back to Qifeng Palace.
Huayang walked towards the east room and when he lifted the curtain, he heard Chen Jingzong ordering Chaoyun and several maids to leave.
This simple sentence seemed like poison, and Huayang felt a tingling sensation on his arm as he lifted the curtain.
After entering the inner room, she subconsciously glanced at the dressing table and saw that the lotus bowl was already placed there with something soaking in it.
Chen Jingzong followed in.
Huayang sat at the table by the window, looked at the washstand and said, "If you send them away, who will help me wash my face?"
Chen Jingzong: "I'll do it."
He directly took the gold-lacquered copper basin from the washstand, wet the towel, and wrung it out until it stopped dripping.
Huayang wanted to take it, but Chen Jingzong pushed her hand away, lifted her chin, and wiped her face himself.
Huayang closed his eyes.
Chen Jingzong stroked her blushing cheek with his fingertips and said in a hoarse voice, "Did you get a heat stroke? Your face is so red."
Huayang frowned slightly.
Chen Jingzong slowly wiped her ears with a towel, then picked up her left hand and wiped even between her fingers.
After wiping, Chen Jingzong took the copper basin and put it back on the washstand. Huayang took the opportunity to sit in front of the dressing table and took off the jewelry one by one.
He was a tall and straight figure that stood out among the more than 100,000 people in the Twenty-Six Capital Guards. He had broad shoulders and a narrow waist, a complexion like jade, and the muscles he displayed when he moved were smooth and beautiful.
Huayang's peeping ended when he began to untie his belt.
In broad daylight, only he could do such a thing without batting an eyelid or feeling any shame!
"How do you know I will come back today?"
A quarter of an hour later, Huayang asked while taking a breath and gritting his teeth.
Chen Jingzong looked at her and smiled: "I also made preparations on the tenth day. This is called being prepared for any eventuality."
.
After Huayang left the palace, Chen Jingzong naturally did not stay in the guard post. He happily traveled between the guard post and the princess's mansion every day.
Princess Anle came to see her niece and as soon as she sat down she joked: "Look at your little face, it's much more moisturized than when you were in the palace."
Huayang was slightly annoyed: "If you say this again, I won't entertain you next time."
Princess Anle laughed and said, "I really have done a bad job with my kindness. I gave you two so many treasures, but you turned your back on me."
Huayang said nothing.
Princess Anle said: "Seriously, the ones I gave you before haven't been used up yet? I can't remember whether it's been three or four years. If you are planning to have a child, I naturally don't need to give you more. Otherwise, your aunt will prepare another box for you."
Huayang thought, how can this topic be serious
But she didn't want her aunt to worry about her in vain, so she lowered her eyes and said, "The prince consort has found a way himself, so you won't have to spend money in the future."
Princess Anle was surprised and said, "Great! You are indeed the son of Lord Chen. You are capable."
Huayang: …
After seeing her aunt off, Huayang suddenly had an idea and sent the maids away. Then she walked to the boxes where Chen Jingzong usually kept his treasures, wanting to see how much stock Chen Jingzong had left.
Upon inspection, they found three brocade boxes in the box, two of which were full, and one was more than half empty.
There are so many that it may take four or five years to use them all.
Huayang frowned.
She thought of what Chen Jingzong had said on the boat before, about how he didn't want to tie her up with the child.
Tonight was her day to rest. After Chen Jingzong returned home, the two of them went for a walk in the garden, had dinner and then went to bed.
The next day, Chen Jingzong came back and found that she had not prepared any lotus bowls.
He returned to the side room, stood in front of the couch, and looked at the eldest princess who was sitting by the window reading a storybook.
There was an extra pillar in his peripheral vision, Huayang glanced at him and asked: "What's the matter?"
Chen Jingzong: "I was wondering how I could have offended you, my ancestor, in the past two days."
Huayang smiled: "You didn't offend me."
Chen Jingzong: "Then why didn't you prepare?"
Huayang: "Forget it. If you can't wait until tomorrow, I won't stop you from getting ready now."
Chen Jingzong couldn't actually tell whether she was really not angry or what was going on.
But it's also a good idea to test her. If he makes her happy but she refuses to cooperate, then she must be throwing a tantrum.
Chen Jingzong called out to Yunduan to bring warm water, and he went to the inner room to prepare it. After the lotus bowl was ready, he went to get something from the box and opened the lid. He saw that there were clearly three boxes of treasures inside, but now there was only the half-used box left!
Chen Jingzong stood in front of the lonely box for a long while, various thoughts flashing through his mind. Finally, he took out a treasure and soaked it first.
After the tea was ready, Chen Jingzong returned to the side room, sat next to her on the couch, and took the script from her hand.
Huayang looked up.
Chen Jingzong frowned and asked, "What do you mean? Throw it away, or give it away?"
Huayang: "I didn't give it to anyone. I will never give anyone something like that in my life."
Chen Jingzong: "So it's thrown away?"
Huayang: "I didn't throw it away. I received it in the warehouse."
Chen Jingzong: "Why? I use it often, and it doesn't take up much space."
Huayang didn't answer and wanted to snatch the script back.
Chen Jingzong stuffed the script directly into his arms.
Huayang glared at him but didn't turn up his clothes.
Chen Jingzong knew that she was being stubborn, so he held her in his arms, kissed her until she softened up, and then asked in a coaxing tone, "Why are you suddenly picking that up?"
Hua Yang closed his eyes and said calmly, "Too many. It's an eyesore."
Chen Jingzong: "Then use up one box and take another one?"
Huayang: "When do you want to use it?"
Chen Jingzong was silent.
Hua Yang leaned towards his chest and said in a commanding tone: "After this box is used up, you are not allowed to use it again."
(End of this chapter)