From midnight on the first day of the Lunar New Year, there were constant sounds of firecrackers, which continued until the morning. The masters of Dingbei Marquis's Mansion also got up early.
It was still early when Wei An got up. Lan He helped her put on new clothes while smiling, "The old lady asked us to wish you good luck and good luck in the new year."
Yuqing brought in some honey water, and waited for Wei An to sit down and eat after she was dressed. "Drink some honey water first, and everything will go smoothly this year. The old lady said that you should have gone to the palace to pay New Year's greetings this year, but the Concubine Shu was kind and issued an edict, which showed consideration for the younger generation, and told the unmarried princesses and county ladies not to go to the palace to pay New Year's greetings. So you don't have to go to the palace, you can stay at home and watch over your brothers and sisters and don't let them make trouble."
Most of the children of the Wei family who were ignorant have become sensible. It is not necessary to really look after their younger brothers and sisters. Instead, it is not customary to pay New Year's greetings on the first day of the Lunar New Year. People only pay respects to their ancestors and the ancestral hall. Some monks and Taoists will come to the house today to beg for alms and ask for good luck. This is what is important.
The wealthy families were willing to spend money to curry favor with these monks and Taoists. This year, the second and third wives needed to go to the palace because they had received imperial edicts. Although they had arranged all these before they left, they were still afraid that something might be wrong and that something might go wrong if they came to a temple or Taoist temple they had never been to before, so they handed everything over to Wei An.
After having breakfast, Wei An went to the meeting room to listen to the reports from his wives, and distributed the things one by one. He also asked each temple and Taoist temple to add 10% to the silver they should give according to the old practice of previous years.
Not long after these things were done, the sound of drums could be heard everywhere outside.
Lan He beside him whispered, "It should be dispersing soon."
Today is the first day of the Lunar New Year. According to the rules, the emperor should have been responsible for burning incense and offering sacrifices to the Taimiao, but this time it was handed over to the Prince of Linjiang. Calculating the time, it is almost time to disperse.
After returning to the palace from the Taimiao, there was still some trouble, but the ladies of honor could leave the palace very quickly.
It was sunny today, and it was rare that there was no rain or snow. Everything was golden, and the sun shone on the flowers and trees on the rockery, making people feel warm.
Ming Jing ran in from outside, and stopped when he saw Wei An. He looked at her anxiously: "Sister, someone is coming from Prince Zheng's Mansion! They want you to come over!"
On the first day of the Lunar New Year, because the male owner of Prince Zheng's Mansion was not at home, all the rules were omitted, but the servants were given double the rewards.
Princess Zheng herself was a person who saved herself from trouble, and Concubine Shu also understood that there was no one in her house and that she had to take care of the young child by herself and could not spare time, so she issued an edict that she did not need to come to the palace to pay her respects.
She should have nothing to do today, so Wei An told Princess Zheng when she came to the Wei family for the reunion dinner yesterday that she might not come today.
Why did Princess Zheng send someone to invite her over
Wei An was a little surprised, but he didn't dare to delay. He asked Ming Jing, "Who is coming? Did he say why the princess asked me to come over?" At the same time, he ordered Lan He and Yu Qing to pack up.
On the first day of the Lunar New Year, most of the ladies in Beijing would go out to worship Buddha in popular temples, but most of them would not go to their relatives' homes.
Fortunately, she is the daughter of King Zheng, so when she goes there now, the censors won't be able to find anything to find fault with her.
Ming Jing scratched his head, feeling somewhat confused: "It seems that the person who came is Tian Bo, the steward of the palace... I haven't heard what it is... "
If Tian Bo came in person, it must be a big deal. Wei An was silent for a moment and then said, "I know. Ask Tian Bo to wait for me in the flower hall in front. I have something to ask him."
You have to find out what the matter is before you know whether to go to the palace. Otherwise, if something happens at the Wei family, it will also be a headache.
Ming Jing responded and ran out quickly.
Wei An took Lan He and Yu Qing to the flower hall in front.
Tian Bo knelt down as soon as he saw her, lowered his voice and said without delay: "Princess, something happened." He stood up, carefully took out a letter from his sleeve and handed it to Wei An, saying solemnly: "This was sent last night. I don't know why it was not sent to Pingxi Hou, but to our mansion instead..."
Wei An looked at him in surprise, raised his eyebrows, opened the letter, and knew why Tian Bo said that.
This letter was written by Xue Song.
Xuesong said in the letter that he had found King Zheng in Penglai and had started to rush to the capital in early November. But their whereabouts seemed to have been exposed. No matter how they hid, they would always be hunted down.
The matter in Shandong was not yet settled. Xuesong knew that Shandong was in great chaos and did not dare to make any noise. Therefore, he and King Zheng temporarily hid in Heze and asked Wei An to make a quick decision.
Why was Xuesong's letter not delivered to Shen Chen at the Pingxi Marquis' Mansion, but was delivered to Prince Zheng's Mansion instead
At this time, Tian Bo handed Wei An another piece of paper, and suppressed his joy and told Wei An: "Here is another letter, it is... from the prince."
Wei An hurriedly took it, opened it and knew that it was indeed the handwriting of King Zheng. He couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
It has been more than half a year since King Zheng disappeared. During this period, Wei An has been worried and sometimes even woken up in the middle of the night.
A few days ago, she even thought about what to do if King Zheng really met with disaster while avoiding being hunted down.
Now that she knew King Zheng was still alive and well, her eyes welled up and she actually felt like crying.
The letter was written by King Zheng himself. In the letter, he said that he felt that the people who were chasing him this time seemed different from the previous gang of bandits. They should be people who were very familiar with Xuesong's ways. They seemed to know who Xuesong was looking for help and where he was going. Therefore, he asked Xuesong's secret sentry to send a copy of the letter to Shen Chen and also to Wei An.
Of course, what was given to Shen Chen was nothing, just some irrelevant nonsense and some specious speculations.
This letter to Wei An clearly expressed his suspicions about Princess Linjiang.
He can clearly understand the distribution of the forces in Linjiang Palace and can quickly exploit them, and can also use the loopholes to find their traces and respond. No one would believe that he is not from Linjiang Palace.
In the Linjiang Palace, the Linjiang King has a very good relationship with the Zheng King. The Zheng King's return will not be a threat to him at all, but a help. He will not do this. Chu Jingwu and Shen Chen are like brothers. They are as close as one person. He will not do such a thing. That leaves only two candidates who have the reason and ability to do so. (To be continued)