Back in the study, Xie Nanjia had a secret conversation with the emperor.
The next day, Song Wanji appointed Zhou Yuncheng to lead a team to escort Queen Meng to Shanyang Pass.
Although Princess Wen'an no longer had to marry a foreign prince, she was not released from the cold palace. Song Wanji asked Si Fangzheng to pass a message to Queen Meng that the day when His Royal Highness the Crown Prince returned would be the day when Princess Wen'an would leave the cold palace.
As long as the prince doesn't come back, Princess Wen'an cannot leave the cold palace.
As for how Xie Nanjia convinced the emperor, no one knew except her and the emperor. But after this incident, everyone knew that she was a ruthless character, and no one in or outside the palace dared to provoke her and the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion.
Time passed quickly, and the Mid-Autumn Festival was here in a blink of an eye. Zhao Jingyu still failed to return before the festival. Xie Nanjia did not want to celebrate the festival in the palace, so she asked the emperor for leave, hoping that she would be allowed to go home and reunite with her family.
Song Wanji approved two days of leave for her and asked Si Fangzheng to prepare two large carts of gifts for her and send her back to the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion to celebrate the festival.
When she returned home, her family members who had not seen her for a long time were all delighted to see her. They surrounded her, asking about her well-being and reminiscing about their separation.
Xie Nanjia distributed the gifts he brought back with everyone, and picked out some to deliver to the general's residence personally.
Because the next day was the Mid-Autumn Festival, Xie Nanjia stayed at the General's Mansion that night and accompanied her mother to eat mooncakes and enjoy the moon in advance to celebrate the festival.
As Xie Zhanting and his son were still in the north, it was inevitable that the mother and daughter would have a lonely holiday. Xie Nanjia simply had several banquet tables set up in the courtyard and called all the servants in the house to sit down. Everyone temporarily put aside their respective identities and had a good time.
The banquet lasted until late at night. After the servants left, Xie Nanjia sat with her mother on the steps and quietly admired the moon for a while.
The night breeze was cool. The mother and daughter leaned against each other, clinging to each other for warmth. No one spoke, but they felt extremely satisfied in their hearts.
Xie Nanjia hadn't been so relaxed for a long time. Leaning on her mother's shoulder, facing the frosty moonlight in the yard, she felt as if she had returned to her teenage years. All the busyness and calculations were gone at this moment.
"Are you tired?" Sheng Qingluan put his arm around her shoulders and asked softly, "It must be hard to live alone in the palace, right?"
"It's not bad. It's hard work for sure, but it's not without reward." Xie Nanjia said, "I'm in the learning stage now. Once I get the hang of it, I won't feel tired anymore."
"That will be tiring." Sheng Qingluan said, "Since you have chosen this path, you must be mentally prepared. I'm afraid you won't have an easy time in your life."
"Even if you don't enter the palace, you will still have to work hard all your life if you marry into any family." Xie Nanjia said, "Let's not talk about anything else. Every wealthy family in the capital has a lot of troubles. Instead of getting bogged down in the trivialities of family life, it's better to stand up and do something big, so as not to let down your father and mother's painstaking teachings."
Sheng Qingluan listened and didn't say anything for a long time. Finally, she patted her shoulder and said, "You are right. Even if you are a woman, you should try your best to see the scenery from a high place. You don't have to spend your whole life in the backyard. Follow your heart. Mother will always support you. I hope you can get the happiness you want in this life and live your ideal life."
She deliberately emphasized the word "this life" so that Xie Nanjia would understand what she meant. Xie Nanjia certainly understood what she meant, and in just a moment, tears filled her eyes.
"Thank you, mother!" She buried her head deeply in her mother's arms, just like she did when she was a child and acted like a spoiled child to her mother, in order to hide the tears that were welling up in her eyes.
"Don't worry, mother. I will live a good life!" she said while choking with sobs.
The next day, on the night of the full moon, the entire family of the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion celebrated their first true reunion in thirteen years.
The descendants of the four families surrounded the old Duke and his wife in the courtyard to feast, listen to music and admire the moon. Their laughter and joy echoed over the courtyard with the night breeze, no longer as dull and gloomy as in previous years.
"Xiu'er is really our family's treasure. As soon as you came back, our family's fortunes immediately turned." The old lady held Xie Nanjia's hand and smiled, "I forgot to tell you yesterday that your second brother, third brother, and fourth brother's marriages have been arranged. The fifth and sixth brothers will also be arranged this month. The remaining brothers are being fought over by several girls. I am almost dazzled by the choices."
"Is this true?" Xie Nanjia was pleasantly surprised. "So much good news all at once, I would be drunk with joy if I didn't drink."
"It's true, of course it's true." The fourth lady rushed to say, "I used to hear people say that the man proposing marriage could break the door threshold, but I never took it seriously. Who knew it would actually happen? Just two days ago, the door threshold of our house was really broken, and the butler replaced it with a new one. Butler, tell the young lady, is it true?"
"Yes, yes, it's absolutely true. The smaller one was just changed the day before yesterday. In order to prevent it from being stepped on again, I replaced it with an iron one this time." The butler answered very seriously.
“…”Everyone burst into laughter at his amusement.
Xie Nanjia also laughed.
"After all, your brothers are doing this for you." Sheng Qingyun said with a smile, "Last time your eldest brother came back from the palace, he said that you would get married in the future, and he wanted all the brothers to bring their sisters-in-law to you to marry you. They really wanted to marry your sister-in-law before your wedding, so that they could bring you honor."
"Ah?" Xie Nanjia didn't expect that her brothers took her brothers' words seriously when she just said it casually. She was amused and touched at the same time, and didn't know how to repay their unconditional love for her.
"In that case, as the eldest brother, why don't you take the lead?" She looked at Su Jincheng with a smile.
Su Jincheng was suddenly called out and was stunned for a moment, as if he was a little at a loss. He silently picked up the wine glass and drank it all.
Xie Nanjia stared at him for a long while, then asked tentatively, "Brother, could it be that you have someone you like?"
Su Jincheng was pouring wine. When he heard this, his hands shook and most of the wine spilled on the table.
"Don't talk nonsense!" He put down the wine jug and stood up. "I still have to go back to the palace to be on duty. You guys can have fun. I'm leaving first."
As he said this, he left his seat and walked away quickly, as if a monster was chasing him.
Xie Nanjia felt that he was more and more suspicious, and decided to find time to interrogate him when he returned to the palace tomorrow.
The family played until midnight, then dispersed and went back to rest.
Xie Nanjia was sleeping in her Tianxiang Pavilion. Everything around her was quiet. The moonlight sprinkled on her bed like water. She was obviously very sleepy, but she couldn't fall asleep. As soon as she closed her eyes, she couldn't help thinking of Zhao Jingyu.
On such a happy family day, he and his soldiers were staying in the cold north, unable to come back and reunite with his family. How pitiful.
Counting the days, Queen Meng will be here soon. They hope they can take this opportunity to capture Song Jingxing in one fell swoop and return to the capital as soon as possible.
In fact, Song Jingxing might not necessarily listen to Queen Meng, but as long as Queen Meng persuades him to surrender, his emotions will be affected, whether he is angry or sad, once his emotions are out of control, he will definitely reveal his flaws. His father is a veteran who has been on the battlefield for many years, and with Zhao Jingyu and Hu Qianshan around, I believe that with just a small flaw, they can find a way to win.
This was the real reason why she asked Queen Meng to go to the North.
"I hope everything will go as I wish." She prayed to the moon outside the window, muttering, "Zhao Jingyu, I have tried my best to create such a good opportunity for you, you have to be smart and don't let me down!"
"Okay, I understand!" A faint voice suddenly came from the darkness.
Xie Nanjia was so frightened that the hairs on her body stood up. She sat up suddenly from the bed and was about to shout for help when a dark shadow came to her bed and covered her mouth with his hand.
"Be a good girl, don't scream, or you'll be in trouble if someone finds out." The man whispered in her ear.
The familiar voice penetrated into Xie Nanjia's eardrums like a dream. Xie Nanjia's body suddenly stiffened. She forgot to struggle and forgot to breathe. Only tears flowed down her face.
Zhao Jingyu!
Why would someone who should be thousands of miles away appear in front of her bed
For a moment, she suspected that she was dreaming because she missed him so much that she saw him in her dream.
But she knew that this was not a dream, because after she calmed down, she could already smell the scent of ambergris on his body.
How can there be taste in dreams
So, it was indeed Zhao Jingyu. The man who suddenly appeared in front of her bed and almost scared her half to death was indeed the person she had been thinking about day and night.
"Wife, you disappoint me so much." Zhao Jingyu let go of her hand, bent down and hugged her, and said aggrievedly, "I rushed back day and night to see you on the Mid-Autumn Festival. Three horses died along the way, but you can't even recognize my voice. I'm so sad!"
Xie Nanjia nestled in his arms. This position was very uncomfortable, but she didn't care at all. Her tears flowed down, but her hands pinched his back hard, sobbing and cursing him: "Asshole, you big asshole, you scared me to death..."
"Shh, keep your voice down. Don't let anyone hear it." Zhao Jingyu said, "I'm only coming back to see you and will be leaving soon, so don't let anyone know."
"..." Xie Nanjia's tears stopped all of a sudden, and she asked in surprise, "What did you say? You're leaving soon, so why did you come back? Aren't you just kidding me? You want to see me when I can't see you anymore? Why do you have to come back at this time? Are you crazy..."
"Yeah, I'm crazy. I miss you so much." Zhao Jingyu interrupted her chattering and pressed his warm lips against hers.
Xie Nanjia suddenly became speechless, her heart softened, she put her arms around his neck and responded to him warmly.
It was a long, affectionate kiss that lasted until both of them were out of breath and separated.
Zhao Jingyu held Xie Nanjia's face with both hands, rubbed it hard, and then let go, reluctantly saying: "Okay, I'm leaving now. On the way back, I met Queen Meng's prison car. Zhou Yunchengdu told me that I have to rush back before they arrive."
Xie Nanjia grabbed his hand and said, "No matter how urgent it is, there is no need to rush now. Take off your shoes and go to bed!"
(End of this chapter)