This sudden "child marriage" caught Xie Nanjia off guard, so much so that her joy at seeing her mother was diluted, and she spent the entire day in the general's mansion in a daze.
At first, Sheng Qingluan thought that the child was too tired from the long journey and had not yet recovered, so she discussed with Sheng Qingyun and said that the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion was too crowded and too noisy, so it would be better to let the child live in the General's Mansion for a few days to recuperate in peace and quiet.
"It's okay to stay for a few days, but the problem is that Xiu'er is not like this because she is tired." Sheng Qingyun said while Xie Nanjia and Xie Nanfeng went to the stable to watch Taxue, "This child has other things in his mind."
"What's the matter?" Sheng Qingluan asked.
Sheng Qingyun sighed: "This is also my fault. I shouldn't have mentioned the childhood engagement to her so suddenly. I should have let her wait a few days before talking about it."
"Have you told her?" Sheng Qingluan frowned slightly.
She had also heard about the child marriage. The girl had just arrived in Beijing the day before yesterday. It was said that her family and Zhao Jingyu's were neighbors. She was engaged to Zhao Jingyu at birth. They were true childhood sweethearts.
Later, Zhao Jingyu's mother died of illness, and Zhao Jingyu was taken back to the capital by Dingyuan Hou. The two had no news from then on. The girl's father also died of illness within two years, leaving her and her mother alone to depend on each other.
Some time ago, her mother fell seriously ill. Before she died, she gave her a marriage contract and half a piece of jade, and asked her to go to the capital to find Zhao Jingyu.
So she traveled across mountains and rivers to the capital, and after asking around, she learned that Zhao Jingyu was now a prince, and had just won a battle, and would soon return to the court with a triumphant victory.
The girl was young but very courageous. She wanted to go straight to the palace to recognize her relatives, but was stopped by the guards outside the imperial city. She refused to leave the imperial city, shouting that she was Zhao Jingyu's fiancée, which attracted a large crowd of people to watch. Fortunately, Marquis Dingyuan passed by and heard her, so he ordered his men to take her back to his mansion.
She carried with her a marriage certificate with the fingerprint of Zhao Jingyu's biological mother, as well as half a jade ring. She even described clearly where Zhao Jingyu had the birthmark. Marquis Dingyuan was unable to tell the real thing from the fake, and given that she had no relatives, he had no choice but to let her stay in the mansion temporarily until Zhao Jingyu came back.
Zhao Jingyu should have been able to see the girl when he returned to the Marquis' Mansion last night. Since there has been no movement until now, it must be that what the girl said is true.
Anyone would feel uncomfortable when a child marriage suddenly appears out of nowhere.
"So, is Xiu'er angry or jealous?" Sheng Qingluan asked.
"Who knows!" Sheng Qingyun was worried. "He was just surprised when he first heard about it, but he didn't say anything after that. I don't know what he was thinking."
Sheng Qingluan was at a loss for a moment: "So what do you think? Should we ask her proactively, or let her handle it herself? Otherwise, should we go to the Marquis' Mansion to meet the girl on her behalf?"
"What kind of meeting is this? He's just a childhood playmate. There's no need to make a fuss about it!" Xie Nanjia said as she walked in from outside. "Don't worry, moms. I'll go there myself tomorrow."
"…" Sheng Qingluan and Sheng Qingyun looked at each other and asked cautiously, "What are you going to do when you get there? Are you going to chase them away?"
"We'll talk about it after we get there." Xie Nanjia said, "If Zhao Jingyu and she are really childhood sweethearts, I will help them. Anyway, I don't really want to enter the palace."
Sheng Qingluan: “…”
It sounds like this is insincere.
"I'll go with you." said Xie Nanfeng who came in from behind.
"What are you going to do?" Xie Nanjia asked.
Xie Nanfeng said: "I will go and support you, so that you won't be bullied."
"Ha!" Xie Nanjia laughed, "Do you think I'm the kind of person who's being bullied?"
Having said that, the next day, she still took Xie Nanfeng to Dingyuan Marquis Mansion.
Because Xie Nanfeng wanted to go see his little nephew.
The brother and sister did not say anything. They took a carriage to Dingyuan Marquis' Mansion and stopped the car outside the gate. Xie Nanfeng ordered the guard in front of the gate with a dark face, asking him to go inside to inform them and bring a sedan chair to pick up Xie Nanjia into the mansion.
When the guards heard that it was the future Crown Princess who had arrived, they did not dare to delay and hurried in to report.
After a while, everyone in the mansion ran out to greet them, except for the Dingyuan Marquis and his son and the old lady who had difficulty moving.
In the Green Willow Painted Tower, there were the five sisters of the Zhao family, Marquis Dingyuan and Zhao Jingping's aunt, Song Ce and Xiu'er's mother, as well as a large group of maids and servants, and four sedan chair bearers carrying a luxurious sedan chair.
Everyone craned their necks to look at the carriage. Liusu and Biluo jumped down first by stepping on footstools. Then one of them raised the curtain and another reached out to help Xie Nanjia out.
It was late spring, the weather was sunny and warm. Xie Nanjia was wearing a plain water cloud gauze skirt with a red shirt as thin as a cicada's wing on the outside. She was standing in front of the car and the wind blew her. With her pair of sparkling almond-shaped eyes and her skin as delicate as a baby's, she looked like a fairy from the sky who had descended to the mortal world.
The people in Dingyuan Marquis Mansion had seen her countless times, but without exception they held their breath, their eyes filled with amazement.
"Greetings, Miss Xiu'er. May you be blessed with good health and happiness!" Everyone bowed in unison.
Xie Nanjia held Liusu's hand and got out of the car. She stood in front of everyone and glanced at the crowd.
"Everyone, please don't be polite." She said, "Where's Zhao Jingyu?"
"The Second Young Master and the Marquis have not returned from the court yet." Song Ce replied, "Miss Xiu'er, should you go to the front yard and wait for a while, or..."
"I won't wait for him." Xie Nanjia said, "I'll go pay my respects to the old lady first."
"Yes." Song Ce responded, "Miss Xiu'er, please get in the sedan chair."
Xie Nanjia originally wanted to say that he would walk there, but then he caught a glimpse of a woman's dress flashing behind the gate, so he changed his mind, carried the carriage into the sedan chair, and entered the marquis' mansion surrounded by a group of people.
The girl behind the gate waited until everyone had left before she tiptoed out and asked the guard at the gate, "Is that the legendary girl with the Phoenix destiny?"
The guard looked at her expressionlessly and said, "Yes, that is our second young master's fiancée."
"You're talking nonsense, I'm the second young master's fiancée!" The girl's delicate little face suddenly became stern, her almond eyes widened, and she stood with her hands on her hips and yelled at the guard.
The guard rolled his eyes at her, stood up straight and ignored her.
"Hmph!" The girl rolled her eyes at him and walked away angrily.
Xie Nanjia came to Ci'an Residence accompanied by everyone. Before she even bowed, the old lady grabbed her hand.
"Good boy, you are back home now, why are you still being polite? Come and show your grandmother a good look." The old lady smiled kindly, her eyes narrowed. "Well, my sleeves are still the prettiest. I haven't seen you for a few months, and you look even more dignified and elegant. You can tell at a glance that you are the mistress of the house. No one else can compare to you."
Everyone: “…”
Her sleeves
How did she become her granddaughter? She talks like she's her own granddaughter. This old lady is really interesting.
After the two of them sat down, the old lady ordered tea and snacks to be served, and asked the five Zhao sisters and the aunts to accompany Xie Nanjia to drink tea and have snacks.
As they felt restrained in the old lady's room, Lvliu Hualou, Zhao Lanzhi and the fourth aunt didn't talk much to Xie Nanjia. They were eagerly waiting for her to finish her tea and leave Ci'an Residence so that they could have a good talk with her.
Xie Nanjia was worried about her son and wanted to leave quickly, but the old lady was very enthusiastic and kept asking her questions, making it impossible for her to leave.
But after talking a lot of gossip, he never mentioned a word about Zhao Jingyu's childhood marriage.
Xie Nanjia thought, the old lady wouldn't think she didn't know yet, or maybe she was angry and deliberately avoided talking about it.
Fortunately, there are still some people who can't keep their cool, such as the second young lady Zhao Lanshu.
Ever since Qin's death, Zhao Lanshu has been holding a grudge against Xie Nanjia. She and Zhao Lanya both believe that their mother's death has a lot to do with Xie Nanjia, but they just can't find any evidence. Now that Xie Nanjia has become the future crown princess, it's even more difficult for them to take revenge.
Seeing her grandmother's enthusiasm and almost fawning attitude towards Xie Nanjia, Zhao Lanshu felt particularly uncomfortable. In her opinion, Xie Nanjia was obviously a servant in her family. She didn't know what kind of luck she had, but suddenly she became the daughter of the Duke of Zhenguo and the Crown Princess. She even had to pay her respects to her. It was outrageous!
"Go and find that 'child marriage'." She whispered to Yunque.
Even if she couldn't take revenge, she had to find a way to disgust Xie Nanjia.
After receiving the instructions, Skylark quietly left the door while no one was paying attention.
Xie Nanjia glanced over there casually, then calmly withdrew her gaze and continued chatting and laughing with the old lady.
After a while, a maid came outside the door to report that Miss Yunshu had arrived.
Everyone in the room stopped smiling and looked at Xie Nanjia. Then they felt something was wrong and looked away in an attempt to hide their mistake.
The old lady's face darkened, and she rebuked the maid unhappily: "Can't you see I'm talking to Xiu'er? Get out of here!"
The maid's face turned red and she left in embarrassment.
Xie Nanjia smiled and called her: "Where did Miss Yunshu come from? What a nice name."
The maid was in a dilemma and bent her body awkwardly, not knowing how to answer.
Seeing that she couldn't fool him, the old lady smiled awkwardly and said, "He's not an important person, just a fellow villager of Yu'er..."
"Oh?" Xie Nanjia smiled, her face full of curiosity: "Second Young Master has been in the capital for so many years, and there are still people from the same hometown who come to find you. I guess it must have taken a lot of effort. Why not invite him in so that I can get to know him."
"..." Everyone became nervous. Of course, there were also some who wanted to watch the fun, such as the sisters Zhao Lanya and Zhao Lanshu.
The old lady had no choice but to say to the maid: "Then please ask her to come in!"
The maid agreed and went out to bring the person in.
Xie Nanjia looked up at the door and saw a petite girl with willow-shaped eyebrows, almond-shaped eyes and a pointed chin stepping into the threshold led by a maid.
The girl walked briskly to the old lady and bowed politely: "Yun Shu greets the old lady."
The old lady said "hmm" and introduced Xie Nanjia to her directly, "This is the Princess Jinping of the Zhenguo Mansion, and also Yu'er's fiancée. We all call her Xiu'er. Come and greet her."
Yun Shu's almond-shaped eyes rolled around Xie Nanjia's face and she said bluntly, "I know you are the girl with the Phoenix destiny, but everything has to be based on first come first served. Brother Xiaoguai and I have been engaged since we were young, so I am his legitimate fiancée."
"..." The room was suddenly silent. Everyone stared at Yun Shu in disbelief with their eyes wide open.
This girl is too fierce. She wants to show off her power to Xiu'er as soon as they meet
Xie Nanjia didn't respond to her move, but just asked calmly: "Who is Brother Xiaoguai?"
As he was speaking, Zhao Jingyu rushed in from outside. Her bright red clothes were like a ball of flowing flame, and the scent of ambergris filled the entire room.
"Grandma, I heard Xiu'er is here!" he shouted happily, and then saw Xie Nanjia sitting next to the old lady, and Yun Shu standing opposite Xie Nanjia. He was startled and stopped abruptly.
"Look, this is my little brother!" Yun Shu turned around and pointed at Zhao Jingyu with a sweet smile.
(End of this chapter)