On the second day after Huayang returned to the palace, royal relatives began to come to see her one after another.
The first person to arrive was Princess Anle, Huayang's aunt. The "good thing" in the lotus bowl that she and Chen Jingzong often soaked in was a gift from Princess Anle.
Princess Anle kept a lover, which was considered unorthodox even among princesses, while Empress Qi was a model of virtue for women in the world. Whether it was because of their personalities being different in private or because they wanted to do it openly for the sake of show to ministers and people, Empress Qi and Princess Anle did not get along well. After a simple meeting, Empress Qi asked her daughter to go to Qifeng Palace to entertain the princess.
Princess Anle was only ten years older than Huayang. In name, they were aunt and niece, but in reality, their relationship was more like that of good sisters.
When they arrived at the Qifeng Palace, Princess Anle sat down and looked at Huayang with a smile.
Huayang couldn't control his face, it was burning.
Princess Anle laughed and said, "You've been married for more than two years, why are you still so shameless? I want to discuss some things with you that were difficult to discuss when you were a little girl."
Huayang glared at her aunt and said, "I am still a little girl now, so you should think about those words by yourself, but don't tell me."
Princess Anle: "You don't know what I'm going to say, why did you tell me to shut up so early?"
Huayang turned his face away and acted angry.
Princess Anle loved to tease her beautiful niece. She came to Huayang, gently squeezed Huayang's shoulder, and whispered teasingly: "How is it, have you used up the good things that your aunt sent you last time?"
Hua Yang lowered his head, twirled his sleeves and said, "How can it be that fast? There's only half left."
Princess Anle: "There are fifty in total. How many is the smaller half?"
Hua Yang recalled and said uncertainly: "Sixteen or seventeen? I didn't count, it's probably this many."
Princess Anle raised her head slightly, rolled her eyes, and quickly estimated. If thirty-four were used, one could be used ten times, which means that in the one and a half years from the first month of last year to now, the niece and niece-in-law...
Before she figured out the answer, Huayang guessed what she was doing. He immediately became angry and tickled his aunt's armpits to stop her from calculating.
Princess Anle was interrupted by her and could not continue calculating for the time being, but she could guess that her niece and her husband should still be very much in love.
"Love is good. When you got married, I saw Chen Silang for the first time and I thought he was good-looking. He was more useful than Chen Ge Lao at first glance."
Huayang: …
The "Zhongyong" that my aunt mentioned, is it what she understands as Zhongyong in the court
She quickly changed the subject and asked about her aunt's life in the past two years.
Princess Anle sighed, "That's it. No matter how handsome the people in the mansion are, I'll get tired of seeing them every day. It's not that easy to find new people outside. Those with ability are unwilling to serve my aunt, and those without ability are hard to pick out a good-looking one... Speaking of this makes me angry. Some men are obviously ugly, but they are still very confident that I can like them!"
Huayang: …
Listen, my aunt’s worries are different from those of ordinary women!
However, my aunt is only in her early thirties and is very beautiful. Ordinary men certainly cannot catch her eyes.
"What about you? Now that you have returned to Beijing, are you going to have a baby right away, or wait a few more years?" Princess Anle returned to her chair and chatted while drinking tea. "If it's the latter, your aunt will save you another box of that treasure."
Huayang's heart moved slightly.
The so-called treasure could not last more than ten times on Chen Jingzong's body, and it broke after about seven uses. Of course, this was what Chen Jingzong disliked when the thing broke for the first time. Huayang did not deliberately count how long each one could be used.
There are about a dozen left, which will probably be enough for them to use until the end of this year.
She nodded, blushing.
Princess Anle understood: "I've made a note of it. I'll send it to you when I have enough money. If you ask me, you are smart. Nankang got married only a year earlier than you. She gave birth to a daughter the year before last and is pregnant again now. She is always on guard against her husband hanging out with other women. I feel tired just listening to her. Her husband is not that handsome. He can hang out with other women. After she gives birth, she can have two handsome guards. It's so nice for both husband and wife to enjoy themselves."
Huayang just smiled and said nothing.
Princess Anle looked her over and asked curiously, "You don't want a child, but Chen Silang does? If I were him, I would have wanted you to get pregnant as soon as possible. Only if you gave birth to his child, his position as the consort would be secure."
Huayang smiled and said, "I have the final say on this matter. It's useless if he doesn't want to."
Princess Anle: "Well, this is more like a princess. Is he thinking about having an affair outside?"
Hua Yang: "He dares not. Not to mention me, the Chen family's family tradition is there. If he dares to do anything reckless, Elder Chen will be the first one who will not forgive him."
Princess Anle had of course heard about the Chen family, and nodded, saying, "Although your mother is overbearing and arbitrary, the marriage she arranged for you is pretty good. I couldn't have picked a better candidate. Your cousin is pretty good, handsome, but it's a pity that he got married so early."
Hua Yang was startled, then said helplessly: "What are you talking about? My cousin and I have always been brothers and sisters. It's okay for you to tease me alone, but don't say it outside."
Princess Anle raised her eyebrows: "Why, are you afraid that your husband will be jealous?"
Huayang: "He is a careless person, so he wouldn't mind this. I am afraid that my cousin's wife will misunderstand and ruin her relationship with my cousin."
Princess Anle: "They don't have any feelings for each other. Every time they meet at a banquet, your cousin's wife always has a bitter face. It's obvious that the couple's relationship is not harmonious."
Huayang was a little surprised.
She was raised in the palace and did not meet her cousin Qi Jin often. Later, when her cousin got married, she still saw the couple only a few times a year. Her deepest impression of her cousin's wife Tian was that she was gentle and beautiful, and seemed easy to get along with, but she did not know much about other aspects.
Could it be that something happened to my cousin's wife in the past two years? But no matter what the truth was, it had nothing to do with her who was far away in Lingzhou. Even before, my cousin had never behaved towards her in a way that was beyond the affection between brother and sister.
As soon as the aunt and nephew mentioned Huayang's maternal relatives, Empress Qi sent someone to pass on the message that the Dowager, the Marquis's wife, and the Crown Prince's wife of the Wuqing Marquis' Mansion were already in Fengyi Palace, and asked Huayang to go over to entertain them.
"Since they are here, Panpan will go and entertain them first. I will leave the palace first. When you are free, come to my place for tea."
Huayang nodded, saw his aunt off, and went to Fengyi Palace immediately.
Huayang's grandmother, Madam Qi, is 59 years old this year. Her hair is still black and she looks energetic. She wears a navy blue satin jacket and looks graceful and dignified. Although her face has wrinkles, her beauty from her youth can still be seen.
"Oh, our Princess Panpan is finally back. Grandma missed her so much!"
Seeing Huayang coming in, Madam Qi stood up with a smile.
Huayang ran over quickly and hugged the delicate old lady who was half a head shorter than her. Her mother looked very much like her grandmother. Because of this resemblance, Huayang felt very close to her grandmother even though she had not seen her often. This was probably the closeness brought by blood relationship.
After acting coquettishly with his grandmother, Huayang called the marquis' wife who was waiting beside him "Aunt".
The Marquis's wife looked respectful, and she looked at her carefully and praised her, "I haven't seen you for two years. The princess has become even more beautiful. She is like a fairy from heaven."
Huayang smiled and turned his gaze to the face of his cousin-in-law Tian who was standing behind his aunt.
When he saw her, Huayang was shocked. Just as his aunt had said, Tian's face was thin and her makeup could not hide her haggardness and fatigue. She looked as if she had suffered a serious illness.
She was shocked at Tian's haggardness, while Tian was dazzled by the princess's beauty. She smiled awkwardly and lowered her head as if she was ashamed of herself.
Madam Hou explained for Huayang: "She was unlucky. She finally got pregnant last year but had a miscarriage. She was so heartbroken that she has never recovered."
After this reminder, Huayang vaguely remembered that something like this seemed to have happened in her previous life, but she didn't care enough about her cousin and his wife and didn't take it too seriously.
"My condolences, cousin. You are still young. Take care of yourself first. The child will come again."
Huayang comforted softly.
Tian nodded bitterly.
Empress Qi sat in the main seat and glanced at Tian indifferently.
My daughter was raised in the palace and seldom came into contact with men outside the palace. She was very late in developing feelings. At the age of fourteen or fifteen, she did not realize that her nephew Qi Jin's eyes were full of affection when he looked at her.
Although her daughter couldn't see it, Empress Qi noticed it early on.
Qi Jin was her nephew from her mother's side. He was handsome and talented in both civil and military affairs. Empress Qi certainly liked this nephew very much, but a nephew was a nephew and was not suitable to be a son-in-law.
The Qi family was destined to be a help to her and the prince, so there was no need for further marriage. Her son-in-law, in addition to having to be worthy of her daughter in terms of appearance and talent, also had to have a family background that would be beneficial to major events.
In order to prevent Qi Jin from falling too deeply into the affair and even arousing her daughter's love, as soon as Empress Qi found out about this, she immediately instructed her mother to arrange a marriage for Qi Jin as soon as possible.
Her mother understood her concerns and quickly chose Tian.
What satisfied Empress Qi was that although Qi Jin obviously liked her daughter, he did not impulsively come to her to beg for anything, but married Tian calmly.
Unfortunately, she and her mother could arrange for Qi Jin to marry Tian, but they could not force Qi Jin to love Tian. After four or five years of marriage, Tian had only become pregnant once, and the pregnancy was not conceived.
Empress Qi lowered her eyes, picked up the tea bowl and took a sip.
Madam Qi and others sat in Fengyi Palace for half an hour and then took their leave.
As soon as they left, before Empress Qi could have a private conversation with her daughter, Concubine Lin came again with her daughter, Princess Nankang.
Princess Nankang was only one year older than Huayang. Just as Concubine Lin had been competing with Empress Qi for favor for many years, Princess Nankang had always wanted to suppress Huayang before she got married so that she could become the most favored princess in the palace.
Unfortunately, the plans of Concubine Lin and her daughter failed, and no one got what they wanted. Even Prince Yu, Concubine Lin's greatest reliance, failed in the fight for the crown prince and went to Luoyang to become a fief.
There was nothing good to see about Concubine Lin. When Huayang looked at Nankang, he first noticed Nankang's belly, which looked like she was six or seven months pregnant.
Nankang noticed her gaze, smiled and touched his belly, then looked at Huayang and said in surprise: "My sister has been married to the prince consort for two years, and she got rid of her mourning clothes early last year. I thought I would hear good news from my sister."
Huayang smiled faintly: "It's a hot summer day, I wish I could relax, but sister, you came to the palace to see me in such a hot day, I am really touched."
Her aunt was anxious to see her because she missed her. Her grandmother's family, in addition to missing her, also had concerns about the rules of hierarchy and etiquette, and needed to show how much the Marquisate valued her.
As for Nankang, there is no sisterly affection between the two, but in order to show the elder sister's concern for her younger sister in front of her father, Nankang has to come here even if she is unwilling in her heart.
If Nankang was more favored than Huayang and the princess had more face, Nankang would not have to make this trip.
Nankang understood this truth better than anyone else, so Huayang's simple words just hit the nail on the head for her!
She gritted her teeth secretly, but still managed to force a smile on her face: "What are you touching about? I'm just too sorry for you. You've been spoiled in the palace since you were little, but you have to follow Chen Ge Lao's family to the remote place of Lingzhou to mourn. You suffered a lot of injustice there, and you were almost kidnapped by the King of Xiang."
Speaking of this, Nankang began to gloat over other people's misfortune.
Huayang still smiled: "I am mourning on my own accord. As for the grievances that the King of Xiang made me suffer, my father rewarded me with the Royal Whip. I can consider it a blessing in disguise. I have already forgotten those grievances. Sister doesn't need to worry about them anymore."
Nankang: …
(End of this chapter)