The palace banquet started at the beginning of the You hour, lasted for an hour, and ended at the beginning of the Xu hour.
Huayang had been feasting for half an hour and admiring the lanterns for half an hour. She was already feeling tired. Adding to that the fruit wine, she felt weak and listless.
After bidding farewell to the queen mother, Huayang and Princess Anle led the group of female relatives out of the palace.
Fortunately, the cool evening breeze kept blowing in his face, suppressing Huayang's drunkenness and sleepiness.
When they reached the Meridian Gate, Emperor Jingshun had already returned to the palace. Only the ministers who had brought their wives and children into the palace were still waiting there. Some were standing alone, while others were chatting with their good colleagues.
Huayang saw his father-in-law standing in the front, and behind him were the brothers Chen Bochong and Chen Jingzong.
The princess was the most respected, so Chen Jingzong came over to greet her first.
He was dressed in the scarlet official uniform of a royal consort. Although he had gotten a little tanned recently, the moonlight made his face look like a jade-like beauty, handsome and tall.
Almost at the same time when Chen Jingzong stepped over, Wu Qinghou and his son Qi Jin, who were not far away, also walked over.
Huayang naturally shifted his gaze and smiled at his uncle Wu Qinghou: "Uncle, I met my grandmother when I entered the palace, why didn't I see you?"
Empress Qi was born beautiful, and Marquis Wuqing, as her elder brother, was also a handsome young man when he was young. Now that he is over forty, he has grown a beard, but he is still very charming.
Marquis Wuqing had a good-looking appearance but no extraordinary talent in literature or martial arts. His title of marquis was granted by Emperor Jingshun when Empress Qi was crowned as empress. However, compared with some relatives who bullied others by taking advantage of their power, Marquis Wuqing abided by his duties. Emperor Jingshun gave him an idle job, and he did it conscientiously, and kept the masters and servants in the marquis's mansion under control, and never caused any trouble for Empress Qi.
The uncle in Huayang's memory was gentle and amiable, with the best temper.
Wu Qinghou said helplessly: "I was originally traveling with my mother, but I accidentally got my clothes dirty on the way, so I went back to change clothes."
Qi Jin looked at Hua Yang and explained with a smile: "There were children playing in the alley and threw some mud on my father."
Huayang understood, and thought that with his uncle's good temper, he would definitely not punish those children.
Chen Jingzong and Wuqinghou, father and son, all drank tonight, and the wind was blowing from their side. Huayang smelled the alcohol, and no matter who it came from, Huayang didn't like it.
Without saying a few words, Huayang said goodbye to her uncle, grandmother, aunt and others, said hello to her parents-in-law, and then took Chen Jingzong to her princess carriage.
The wind blew up the hem of her bright red skirt embroidered with peonies made of gold thread, and it fluttered in front of the eyes of the people around her.
The most beautiful princess left gracefully, and the bright moon in the sky seemed to dim a little.
Chen Jingzong stood in front of the carriage and helped the princess onto it. He continued to wait outside, watching his parents, elder brother and sister-in-law get on the carriage. Then he stepped over the shaft and reached into the carriage.
Inside the spacious car, Huayang leaned lazily in a corner, glanced at him, then lowered his eyes, and turned his face towards the window next to him, as if this could avoid the strong smell of alcohol that came in with Chen Jingzong.
There were two lights hanging in the carriage, illuminating her slightly red face.
Chen Jingzong frowned and asked her, "Did you catch a cold because of too much wind at night?"
As he said this, he reached out and touched her forehead.
Huayang closed her eyes and waited for him to move his hand away. She explained softly, "I drank some fruit wine and will be fine after a good sleep."
Chen Jingzong indeed noticed that he was a little drunk.
There was a row of carriages waiting behind, so Chen Jingzong asked the driver to set off first.
As the carriage moved, Huayang's body swayed as well.
Seeing this person looking so weak and powerless, Chen Jingzong simply held him on his lap.
The smell of alcohol became stronger. Huayang frowned and said disdainfully, "Put me down. You reek of alcohol."
She struggled as she spoke, but the vines swayed so gently in the wind that Chen Jingzong didn't even need to exert any extra strength for her to break free.
Chen Jingzong looked at her flushed face and said, "It's ok for you to dislike me at other times, but today you reek of alcohol, what else are you disliking?"
Huayang was shocked. She only drank a little bit, but she smelled of alcohol
She couldn't help but tilt her head and sniff his shoulder.
There was a smell of alcohol, but she couldn't tell whether it was from her or Chen Jingzong.
Chen Jingzong touched her face and said, "Your face is almost as red as a monkey's butt. How many bowls did you drink? Are you so happy just to have a palace banquet?"
The word "monkey butt" alone is enough to make Huayang angry. From childhood to adulthood, everyone praised her beauty, except Chen Jingzong, who said she was fat, and now he is like this again.
Angry Huayang looked at him with drunken eyes, then suddenly raised his hand and pinched his face.
The flesh on Chen Jingzong's face was also very firm, and Huayang had to slip his hand once before he could pinch off a layer of skin.
The more this happened, the more painful it was. Chen Jingzong raised his eyebrows, but did not hide or protest. He just looked at her solemnly.
The warm breath he exhaled fell on Huayang's face. It smelled like pure wine, much stronger than the fruit wine Huayang had drunk before.
Huayang loosened his hand, took out the handkerchief from his sleeve and covered his face with it.
This was a Sichuan silk handkerchief with a white background. The thin layer of silk could not provide much concealment at all. Chen Jingzong could still see her thin eyebrows, her slightly closed eyes, her straight nose, her rosy face, and her plump, bright red lips.
Chen Jingzong leaned down and kissed her lips again and again through the thin silk handkerchief.
Her lips moved the silk handkerchief, and the silk handkerchief gently caressed her lips.
Huayang felt a little itchy, so itchy that she couldn't stand it anymore, so she pulled away the handkerchief. As soon as the handkerchief left, Chen Jingzong's lips fell again.
Huayang had been kissed by him for a while, and suddenly remembered that he had not rinsed his mouth, so he struggled again in unhappiness.
Chen Jingzong's throat rolled over and over again, but he finally let her go.
Chen Jingzong held her in one hand, and with the other hand he picked up the teapot on the cupboard next to him, poured her half a bowl of tea, and fed her.
I took the first sip of Huayang as a rinse, spit it into another tea bowl, and then drank the rest.
The cold tea sobered her up a little. Because she felt very comfortable being held by Chen Jingzong, she did not ask to sit over. She looked at him, changed to a round fan to cover her mouth and nose, and told him about the palace banquet: "Why did you beat Meng Yanqing?"
There was also a palace banquet in my previous life, but this incident did not happen.
Chen Jingzong: "Do you know everything over there?"
Huayang: "Yeah, don't tell me you really want to help Nankang out of kindness."
Chen Jingzong: "Why would I help her? It's just because I don't like Meng Yanqing."
Hua Yang asked curiously: "How did he offend you?"
Chen Jingzong couldn't tell the whole truth in public, but since they were just a couple, he didn't need to hide anything. "Before he finished saying the word 'beautiful', my fist went over."
Huayang gritted his teeth and thought that Chen Jingzong fought well.
She liked being praised for her beauty, but that had to be praise out of pure admiration, like a poet praising a flower. A drunken mention of it by a lecher like Meng Yanqing would only make her feel sick.
Chen Jingzong's reply to his father was perfect in that it punished Meng Yanqing without implicating her.
Although she didn't say it, the look in her eyes expressed approval.
Chen Jingzong was about to speak when he saw her drooping eyelashes, as if thinking about something.
Huayang was thinking about her previous life. Was it because Meng Yanqing didn't go to Chen Jingzong's ear and talk nonsense, so Chen Jingzong didn't beat him? Or was it because their relationship was cold at the time, and Chen Jingzong didn't take her as his princess wife seriously, so he allowed Meng Yanqing to speak frivolously
She tried to ask Chen Jingzong: "If I still dislike you as much as I did when we first got married, and sleep in a separate room from you at night, if what happened tonight happens again, will you beat him?"
Chen Jingzong sneered: "Then I will just hit you harder."
Meng Yanqing must want to die because someone dared to offend him when he was in a bad mood.
Huayang was very satisfied with this answer. No matter what, Chen Jingzong was her husband, and he should protect her as long as he was loyal to her.
Chen Jingzong looked at her and said, "You haven't told me why you are in the mood to drink tonight."
Huayang glared at him.
Chen Jingzong reacted: "Because of me?"
Huayang: "Yeah, when I saw the moon, I remembered the nonsense you said the night before. I was in a bad mood and could only drink to relieve my anger."
Chen Jingzong smiled and said, "So when you were admiring the moon, you were thinking of me in your heart."
Huayang: …
She pinched his face again.
But this time, Chen Jingzong grabbed her wrist in time and bent down to kiss her neck.
.
Jing'an Marquis Mansion.
Princess Nankang left the table early and went to Concubine Lin. She was very angry and didn't want to leave the palace at all. However, Meng Yanqing knelt at the Meridian Gate and insisted on waiting for her. If Princess Nankang did not go back with him, once the matter became a big deal, her reputation for jealousy and the joke of the couple would only last longer.
For the sake of face, Princess Nankang had to come to see him on a sedan chair.
When the couple met, it is not worth mentioning how Meng Yanqing behaved to be humble. Just as the Marquis of Jing'an and his wife, who had been waiting with their son, breathed a sigh of relief, Eunuch Xiao Ma came with four beautiful singers with different styles. They pushed and shoved with Marquis of Jing'an for a long time and insisted that Meng Yanqing take them back.
Princess Nankang got on the carriage angrily.
Meng Yanqing chased into the carriage, seemingly coaxing his wife, but in fact he was secretly delighted.
Unexpectedly, just after returning to the Marquis' Mansion and being driven to the front yard to sleep by Princess Nankang, Meng Yanqing was called to the ancestral hall by Marquis Jing'an.
Marquis Jing'an was a great general of our dynasty, and he was mighty and strong. At this moment, he had taken off his outer robe and was only wearing his inner garment, which made it even more difficult to conceal his muscular figure.
Seeing his son, Marquis Jing'an rolled up his sleeves and began to curse: "You are a piece of shit who is neither good at literature nor martial arts. The fact that you can marry the princess is a special favor from the emperor. It is the greatest honor you can earn for our Meng family in your life. How dare you be so unsatisfied and go to the palace banquet to complain blindly. You are itching for trouble, right? I will grant your wish! Come here!"
At his command, two sturdy servants immediately came in carrying a bench, pushed the frightened Meng Yanqing onto the bench, and tied up his shoulders and legs.
Marquis Jing'an picked up the stick and started beating him with his own hands. He cursed after each strike:
"I called you lecherous!"
"I call you Natongfang!"
"I told you not to go and talk nonsense in front of the Emperor!"
When Lady Jing'an Marquis sent someone to inform Princess Nankang, and when Princess Nankang came over with difficulty with her big belly, Meng Yanqing's buttocks were already covered in blood and he had fainted!
Princess Nankang felt both relieved and distressed, and was even more afraid that Meng Yanqing would be beaten to a pulp. All her emotions were aroused, and she suffered a miscarriage.
Fortunately, she was due to give birth anyway, so it wouldn't be considered premature if she gave birth now.
The next morning, Marquis Jing'an went to the palace in person and reported two good news to Emperor Jingshun.
First, Princess Nankang and her child are safe.
Secondly, he personally used family rules on his son to ensure that his son would never let Princess Nankang suffer any grievances again.
Emperor Jingshun spoke up for his son-in-law just like he did last night, and blamed Marquis Jing'an for abusing the family rules.
Marquis Jing'an knelt for a long while, and when he took his leave, he finally breathed a sigh of relief when he heard Emperor Jingshun arrange for Eunuch Ma to prepare rewards for his grandson.
(End of this chapter)