It snowed last night, and when I woke up this morning, it was all white and covered in silver.
In the Chaoyun Courtyard, Linglong exhaled a white breath, rubbed her hands together and opened the curtain.
"Where's the girl, isn't the girl awake yet?"
"The girl is awake, she is now dressing up in the west."
Linglong sighed, and after warming up her body, she walked lightly to the west.
Chu Jinyao was sitting in front of the dressing mirror, and Bellflower was holding a round mirror behind, adjusting the silver hairpin on Chu Jinyao's bun. Chu Jinyao saw Linglong in the dressing mirror and asked, "Has the news come back?"
"Yes." Linglong replied, "Before the spring, Lord Hou is going to report to the capital, so the old lady took advantage of these two days to decide on the marriage of the second young master and Miss Duan."
The Marquis of Changxing was going to the Fifth Army Camp in March, and the Marquis of Changxing couldn't move into the capital in time for the year before, so just after the New Year, before the smell of firecrackers dissipated, the Marquis of Changxing was busy again. All were bracing for the impending relocation with their feet on the ground.
Kikyo said excitedly: "I heard from the maid in front of the old lady yesterday that we will be able to move to the capital by the end of February. It seems that the maid's wedding ceremony can be done in the capital!"
The maidservants in the room were in a state of joy, and Chu Jinyao just smiled lightly when she heard it. The two maids sent from the palace came in, heard Kikyo's words, and asked, "So the fifth girl's birthday is in Spring?"
"Yes, on March 16." Chu Jinyao said, "It was not long before the land thawed, and the Tartars had no food to eat in the winter after a winter snowstorm, so they went south to invade. I was born at this time. ."
Born in the midst of war, and was exchanged.
The two maids were sent here for half a year, and only now did they know Chu Jinyao's birthday, and they both had embarrassed expressions on their faces. A grandma explained, "Just wait until the capital. The girl is a prospective crown princess, and the wedding ceremony must be done well."
After the two maids were frightened by Qin Yi, they have been more honest since then. They are old people from the palace, of course they know what is most important in the palace.
Why can Empress Xiaoqi speak the truth in the palace? It's not because of how powerful Xiao Qi's methods are, or how prominent his family background is, in fact, the root cause lies in the emperor.
Xu is because of the special way that Xiao Qi got it. Over the years, the emperor has always responded to his new wife, his former sister-in-law. Not to mention many matters in the harem, even in the courtroom, as long as Xiao Qi opened her mouth and acted like a spoiled child, the emperor would not be able to bear to agree.
It was precisely because Empress Qi was favored by the emperor, and even able to persuade the emperor, that the outer court and the inner palace were very jealous of Empress Qi. Everyone was afraid of Xiao Qi, but respected Xiao Qi, and to put it bluntly, it was because of the emperor behind her.
The prince can be thrown to the border for disrespecting Xiao Qi, not to mention other people.
The higher the sect, the more obvious the disparity in status. Ordinary people's wives can rely on their strength and ability to compete with their husbands and mothers-in-law, and fight for a place for themselves. However, in the absence of the royal family, the right to speak will always be concentrated in the hands of those few people.
To put it more poorly, the only masters in the palace are the emperor, the crown prince, and several princes, and now the empress is also one. This is the palace, concubines and concubines serve the royal masters, and the slaves and eunuchs below serve these empresses.
The two maids saw that the prospective prince concubine seemed to be very valued by the prince, and the people in the palace were the most skilled in the wind, so they had an idea together. Although the Empress's order could not be resisted, the new crown princess could not be offended.
What if, after Chu Jinyao entered the palace, His Royal Highness even liked it, that would be great.
The two maids had dared to attack Chu Jinyao cruelly. First, they relied on the support of the empress, and second, because the new crown princess was not a noble girl. In their eyes, a man from a foreign country whose title has been passed down to the last generation is not even a powerful person.
But if the new crown princess is favored, it will be a different matter. Since the two maids were almost sent back to the capital last time, they have grown more hearted, and have gradually become more polite towards Chu Jinyao, and the scale of learning rules has also relaxed unconsciously. After all, what is a face compared to life
Naturally, Chu Jinyao also noticed it. She pretended not to know, and continued to live peacefully with the two maids. After all, they were the queen's people, and they also assumed the name of upbringing to teach her the palace rules. No matter what the Queen's thoughts are, on the bright side, these two aunts are Chu Jinyao's benefactors. Not only did she make offerings well, she also had to be respectful and polite to the two of them, so that everyone could see her filial piety to these two maids, that is, to the Empress.
On the contrary, if she really allowed Qin Yi to send the two back to the capital, no one would listen for whatever reason. Outsiders would only see Chu Jinyao, a bride who had never been through the door, dared to reject the empress's kindness, and sent back the mother who had sent the empress to teach her the rules of the court. What's more terrible is that it is still through the hands of the prince.
Without waiting for her official canonization, a captivating and disrespectful mother-in-law can be fastened to her head immediately. A woman's reputation is a double-edged sword. When Chu Jinyao was a girl, she was almost forced to marry someone because of her fame, let alone the crown princess of the dynasty
There is only one prince, but there can be many princes. Chu Jinyao is very grateful that the prince is willing to vent his anger for her, but she really only has one life.
When it comes to the wedding ceremony, the maids in the room are chatting, and there are too many things to say. The wedding ceremony was the second most important event in a woman's life, second only to the wedding. Now that Chu Jinyao was still the Crown Princess, her wedding ceremony was naturally the biggest event in the Marquis of Changxing.
The maids were enthusiastically discussing the wedding ceremony, but Chu Jinyao thought out of time that after the wedding ceremony, it was time to take the six ceremony.
Chu Jinyao really felt that she was about to get married.
When the first month was drawing to a close, inside and outside the Marquis of Changxing were neatly packed boxes and cages. All the rooms and households have been tidied up, tirelessly instructing the juniors and maids over and over again, hurriedly but happily waiting for the official trip.
With the support of everyone, Chu Jinyao boarded the carriage, and Linglong carefully lowered the curtains. Sitting in the rickety carriage, Chu Jinyao listened to the maids casually as a distraction. What the maids talked about over and over again was nothing more than those things. The third girl got engaged in August last year and will be married in the capital this spring. The second girl has already left the Marquis of Changxing in time for the end of the year.
Chu Jinyao also vaguely heard that after Chu Jinmiao returned to Su's house, she seemed to be forced to kiss her by her family, and her dowry was naturally a big problem. At that time, Mrs. Zhao was afraid that Chu Jinmiao would be wronged, so she specially assigned a maid to her, and wanted the maid to serve her and do the heavy work for her. Now, though, it seems to backfire.
After all, under Chu Jinmiao, there was a younger brother who could not marry a wife.
But these have nothing to do with Chu Jinyao. Chu Jinyao didn't do anything, she even kindly gave a lot of money to the fake daughter who replaced her identity, so as to keep her food and clothing safe for the rest of her life. Their own family is not doing well, what does it have to do with Chu Jinyao
Before Chu Jinyao left Taiyuan, some good people came to tell her that it seemed that the marriage of the head of the Wangfu of Huailing County was not easy to say. After all, although the affairs of Chu Jinyao and the county owner are not well known to everyone, those who should know are also aware of it.
The reputation of the woman is really fragile. Back then, the county prince's mansion used this to coerce Chu Jinyao.
At the beginning, he was aggressive and wanted to be a prince concubine. If he was praised by everyone, if he didn't, it would be a joke from others, not to mention offending the real prince concubine. In addition, the county chief has an arrogant temper and is the only one who respects me. Chu Jinyao also thinks that she is not very easy to marry.
The motorcade of the Marquis of Changxing stopped and went for three or four days, and finally arrived at the capital at dusk. The cars and horses were exhausted, and the people in Changxing Hou's mansion were exhausted, and they just wanted to hurry into the mansion and get a good night's sleep.
The mansion of the Marquis of Changxing in the capital is far worse than the mansion in Taiyuan. However, the capital is worth every inch of land. If it wasn't for the reward from the palace, the Marquis of Changxing wouldn't be able to buy a mansion in this area.
However, after they arrived at the Hou Mansion, a small episode occurred.
The old servant who guarded the door said that the house on the east side of Hou's mansion had been vacant for a long time. It was said to be the ancestral house of another family. Many people came to ask and they would not sell it, but it was suddenly bought a few days ago.
Then, the old servant took out the title deed of the house next door.
The Marquis of Changxing was stunned for a moment, suddenly remembering that when the prince came last time, he seemed to have casually asked where their home in the capital was. After pondering for a moment, the Marquis of Changxing took the title deed and said, "I understand, you don't have to worry about this matter, I have my own arrangements. By the way, who sent this title deed?"
The old servant shook his head and said, "It was sent by a man in yellow. He didn't say anything, he just handed the things to me, let me put them away, and then left."
"What did he leave behind?"
"Never."
"Master Hou." Mrs. Zhao came over and said to Marquis Changxing, "Other things will be slow for now, it's getting late, let the mother and the girls go in and rest first."
The Marquis of Changxing glanced back, Chu Jinyao just got out of the car, and the servant girl behind her was busy moving boxes from the car. The Marquis of Changxing watched for a while, and then asked Mrs. Zhao, "Is Jinyao's yard ready?"
"Mother has already ordered people to clean it up, and you can live only when people come."
"Keep it for now, don't let her move in. Let her rest in the mother's courtyard for a few days in the next two days."
"Girl." Kikyo ran back out of breath and said to Chu Jinyao, "The old lady said that your yard is not ready, let's move the things to the old lady's yard first."
Not packed? Chu Jinyao's intuition was wrong, but it was not a big deal. She nodded and said, "Okay, then let's disturb grandma for a few days."
As for the Marquis of Changxing, he first went to the house next door to take a look around, and found that the courtyard was very well repaired. Marquis Changxing didn't know what kind of mood he should have. As a father, he was a little subtle. As a minister, he seemed to have to thank the prince for his kindness.
The meaning of the master really depends on guessing.
Chu Jinyao lived in Madam Chu's mansion for three days, but she slowly recovered. It's just that she has too many boxes and cages, which are all piled up with the old lady, which is inconvenient. However, within a few days, Chu Jinyao unexpectedly received news: "You said that our family bought the house next door, and now let me move there?"
"The Marquis has opened up the wall between the two houses. It is easy to come and go, and the living space is also neat. It is reserved for the girl."
What is the situation, what is Changxing Hou doing to expand his mansion? Chu Jinyao moved to the east in confusion. But what the servants said was right. The house on the east side was originally independent. Although it was not big, it had everything in the front hall and garden. After getting through with the Hou Mansion, Chu Jinyao could go back and say goodbye at any time, but as soon as the door in the middle was closed, She is like an independent portal, very comfortable.
Mrs. Chu originally expected to move to the capital at the end of February, but she did not expect that it would actually be much faster. By mid-February, they had already settled in the capital.
The Marquis of Changxing had just settled down, and before they could take a sigh of relief, the capital's temptation for this newly promoted royal family had already arrived.
The only daughter of Princess Rong'an, who is also the second young lady of the Duke of Wei's mansion, invited Chu Jinyao to be a guest at the Duke of Wei's mansion.
On the day of the banquet, Baoqing County Master from Prince Rui's Mansion and two young ladies from Zhenbei Hou Mansion were also present at the banquet.
Chu Jinyao was shocked when she saw these names. These four people were almost the representatives of the capital's top ladies' circle. All of them were relatives of the royal family and often walked in front of the emperor and queen. Their attitude can be said to be the attitude of the entire capital's ladies circle.
Chu Jinyao accepted the temptation from the capital. On the day of the banquet, Chu Jinyao put on a flowery dress with red clouds and brocade, and put on a silver and white coat with makeup and satin, and went to the banquet alone.
This was the first time that she didn't have to worry about her identity, and her whole body was replaced with precious fabrics of gold and gold. Yun Jin was originally as bright as a cloud, but after Chu Jinyao carefully changed the details, it became more and more plain and radiant.
Even if Chu Jinyao was willing to bring people to such a banquet, the other girls in the Hou residence would not be willing to go.
Forget it, the little demon who has just become an elite, don't play around in front of the real dragon and phoenix. Let Chu Jinyao go by himself.
Last year, the crown prince suddenly wrote back and asked the emperor to marry him and a woman. Although the relationship between Qin Yi and Xiao Qi is more complicated, the position of the crown prince has always been a sweet and sweet spot for many people in Beijing. However, suddenly a newcomer Jie Hu appeared, who could be reconciled in the capital, and even the cabinet had quite a few criticisms. But who made the prince insist, and the queen fanned the flames, after a period of time, the emperor had no opinion.
The three most honorable people in the world have all agreed, so what's the use of the others? Everyone watched helplessly as the imperial decree for marriage was issued from the palace and announced to the world by the Ministry of Rites, and the selection of the crown prince was a certainty.
Since June last year, the capital has been very curious about this little-known crown princess. Seeing that at the end of the year, the Marquis of Changxing was dropped into the fifth military camp in the capital. The only daughter of the princess took the lead and took the initiative to post to Chu Jinyao. They wanted to see how many heads and arms this woman who could make the prince take the initiative to ask for marriage had grown.
Baoqing County Master and the two young ladies from Zhenbei Hou's mansion arrived early. They were sitting in the warm pavilion of Wei Guogong's mansion. At this moment, they heard the chanting: "The Fifth Young Lady of the Marquis of Changxing is here."
Everyone couldn't help but stop talking and laughing and looked up. After a short period of loneliness, the four noble ladies all sighed in their hearts.
Oh man. The crown prince Qin Yi has been unique in the capital since he was a child, and disdains to be in the company of the second-generation ancestors who are fighting birds and sleeping flowers and willows. They thought that princes were different, but it turns out that men are all virtues.
Baoqing County Lord smiled and said, "This prospective crown princess is quite good-looking, and the prince's elder brother is not too bright."
After Chu Jinyao entered the house, he saluted Baoqing County Lord according to the rules. Although everyone present here has an amazing family background, only Baoqing County Master has a rank and a title, so Chu Jinyao only greets Baoqing County Master. As for the remaining few, such as the daughter of the princess and the niece of the queen, although their status is valuable, but strictly speaking, they are still white. Chu Jinyao only nodded and said hello with the courtesy of peers. She also has the title of Crown Princess herself. Even if she is not married, she can't lower her identity like this and bow her knees to salute these people.
Baoqing County Master looked at Chu Jinyao and said with a smile: "So you are the sister of the Chu family, hurry up, our sisters care about what to do."
Having said that, she did not speak until Chu Jinyao saluted.
Zhao Lanhui also smiled and said, "I'm stunned, but you were robbed first." She looked at the maids around her and said, "What are you doing, why don't you just show Miss Chu a seat."
Chu Jinmiao maintained a soft and slightly shy smile as she greeted several people present one by one.
The host, Zhao Lanhui, is the only daughter of Princess Rong'an. She should look like her father, and her appearance is elegant, not like the current royal family, and her eyebrows are full of energy. Princess Rong'an was the emperor's younger sister, the most favored princess in the capital, and was accused of marrying the second son of Wei Guogong. The prince-in-law of this dynasty was not allowed to participate in politics, so after marrying the princess, the second son of the Duke of Wei could only lead some idle jobs in the leisure department, and had no hope of a career. Because of these strict rules set by the founding emperor, most princesses and their concubines did not get married well. The same is true for Princess Rongan. She has been married to her concubine for many years and has only one daughter under her knees, which is Zhao Lanhui.
Although the princess and the concubine have a bad relationship, their daughter Zhao Lanhui is not a little pitiful. Relying on his distinguished mother, Zhao Lanhui was able to speak well in Wei Guogong's mansion or in the imperial palace.
Sitting next to Zhao Lanhui is the Princess of Baoqing, who is the daughter of King Rui. It is still the edict left by the founding emperor. Once the prince becomes an adult, if he cannot become a prince, he must be named a prince and go back to the fief. It is called the kingdom. If the prince does not recall to Beijing, it will be regarded as a rebellion.
However, King Rui is an exception. Although he is in the fief, he has been close to the emperor since he was a child, and he has been thinking about getting closer to the emperor all these years. His daughter-in-law was sent to the capital since she was a child and was raised by Xiao Qi. Facts have proved that King Rui's method was right. Because the Baoqing County Master was raised in front of Xiao Qi, he was especially favored by the emperor and was treated in the palace. Almost better than a princess. The emperor even made an exception for Baoqing County Lord, and gave her a title early on before she could leave the cabinet.
As for the remaining two girls, it was even simpler. The older one was called Qi Xuan, and the younger one was called Qi Rong. They were both daughters of the Marquis of Zhenbei, and Qi Rong was the direct daughter, so she was even more honorable.
There are two queens in the Houfu of Zhenbei. After Daqi, there is a crown prince Qin Yi. After more than ten years, Xiaoqi has been a favorite of the six palaces. There is a prince and a princess under his knees. It can be said that he has a stable position and is very popular. Xiao Qi's mother's home town Beihou's mansion has also risen to a higher level, and its power is monstrous.
Probably the only disappointment in Zhenbei Hou's mansion now is the estrangement with the Crown Prince Qin Yi.
Chu Jinyao thought about the background of everyone present, and felt more and more heavy on her shoulders. Princess Rong'an's only daughter Zhao Lanhui is hard to say, but Baoqing County Master, Qi Xuan and Qi Rong probably won't be on her side.
In fact, Chu Jinyao really guessed seven, seven, eight, eight. Qi Rong now looked at Chu Jinyao with a sense of scrutiny. Zhenbei Houfu tasted the sweetness, and was determined to have another imperial concubine of his own. If it wasn't for Empress Qi's unwillingness, maybe the current prince concubine would be Qi Rong.
However, no matter what everyone thinks in their hearts, they are all friendly and kind. Baoqing County Master took Chu Jinyao's hand and kept asking Chu Jinyao how good the road was, how he was used to living in the capital, and finally even asked about the customs of Shanxi.
Chu Jinyao believes in saying less and less mistakes, not saying it's good, most of the time pretending to smile shyly, and occasionally answering questions when asked. Chu Jinyao knew that she was not the opponent of these arrogant women, so she could only be more careful, at least not allow herself to make mistakes. She is not only Chu Jinyao now, her words and deeds also represent the face of the prince.
Baoqing County Master asked for a while, feeling very boring. She turned to ask another thing: "little sister-in-law, I heard that you will be due soon?"
Chu Jinyao was taken aback and said quickly, "The county master is not allowed, I dare not be called the county master."
Baoqing County Master waved his hand and said: "What's the matter, the imperial decree has been issued, and now the palace is only waiting for you to reach the scorpion. Once you have reached the scorpion, the Ministry of Rites can go to the six ceremony. By the way, little sister-in-law, you are here for the first time. Beijing, who are the likes going to look for?"
This question can be regarded as an idea. At the wedding ceremony, the guest of honor selects a highly respected lady, and the admirers are usually the woman's own friends and sisters. If it turned out, Chu Jinyao would have asked the sisters of the Chu family to praise her, but now that she still represents the face of the prince, Chu Jinyao was really worried.
Chu Jinyao smiled and said, "I just came here, I'm not familiar with the capital, and I didn't think about it."
Qi Rong and Baoqing County Lord bowed their heads and smiled, but said nothing, but Zhao Lanhui said: "Don't worry, with your current status, who you want to invite can't be invited? If you have an idea, just tell me, I To be a lobbyist for you."
Chu Jinyao had to admire Zhao Lanhui's high level of speech, which sounded enthusiastic and full of plans for her, but at the same time revealed that Zhao Lanhui would not help her as a liker.
"Thank you, Second Lady." Chu Jinyao also replied with a smile, with a calm expression, as if not anxious about it. Qi Rong originally wanted to see the look of panic on Chu Jinyao's face, but she looked at it for a while, then gave up angrily.
Forget it, let Chu Jinyao, the country girl, go in a hurry.
All afternoon, Chu Jinyao laughed more and said less, listening intently to the other four girls talking about gossip in the capital or interesting things in the palace. In fact, Chu Jinyao was completely confused, she couldn't even understand the name in the words, but she still kept a smile and accompany her throughout the whole process.
When the sky was getting dark and the carriage of the Marquis of Changxing drove out of Duke Wei's mansion, Linglong excitedly took Chu Jinyao's hand and said, "Miss, you are so calm today, just like the noble daughter of a noble family mentioned in the play. , quiet and gentle."
"I'm quiet because I don't understand what they're saying." Chu Jinyao got into the car, and only then dared to indulge herself and let out a long sigh of relief. She felt that the pressure on her shoulders was much heavier. If Chu Jinyao came to the ground like a frog at the bottom of a well from the Su family back to Changxing Hou's mansion, then now, she seems to see the sky high.
No wonder the ladies in the capital look down on other places, they are really proud of their capital. Originally, they had a prominent family background and received the most meticulous education since childhood. As they grow older, the gap between these top ladies and others will only increase.
Linglong looked at Chu Jinyao with some worry, Chu Jinyao shook her head, held her hand, and said, "Don't talk about it, go back to the mansion first. We will work harder after returning to the mansion."
When Madam Chu heard about Chu Jinyao's incident today, Madam Chu frowned in embarrassment. Originally, she planned to have Duan Yinghua, a young lady from Shanxi Buzheng Dao, come to be a admirer of Chu Jinyao, but the admirers are usually girls who have not yet promised to kiss, so Duan Yinghua is a little inappropriate.
But if you can't find it in the end, you can only ask Duan Yinghua to come. After all, this is what Mrs. Chu knows, the best person in terms of identity, age and reputation.
Chu Jinyao went back to her yard anxiously, and immediately asked Kikyo to find her a book as soon as she entered the house. When listening to Baoqing County Master and Zhao Lanhui talking today, Chu Jinyao heard many allusions that she did not understand. It was not until the end that she understood that these were all from the historical records.
It turned out that Mrs. Chu believed that girls should be pampered, and it was enough to keep them safe until they got married. And Chu Jinyao didn't know that it turned out that the noble ladies in the capital did not think that a woman's incompetence was a virtue. Just like the Baoqing County Lord and Zhao Lanhui, they also grew up reading the Four Books and Five Classics. Zhao Lanhui even had a cousin with his cousin when he was a child. Open up together.
This was so terrifying, Chu Jinyao immediately asked someone to go to the second young master and asked his brother to recommend a few books to him. After sharpening the knife before the battle, the unhappiness is gone, Chu Jinyao can only hope that the evil will be useful.
Chu Jinyao took out the strength to take the top spot, and frantically flipped through the difficult and incomprehensible classics for several days. In the end, she almost felt that she didn't even recognize the words. At the same time, Mrs. Chu was also inquiring about the situation in the capital. She asked someone to ask for a long time, but in the end she could only helplessly write a letter, asking someone to invite Duan Yinghua over.
During the year-end performance appraisal, the Duan family also welcomed the promotion and were transferred back to the capital.
However, things were unpredictable, and before Madam Chu sent the letter out, someone came from the palace.
The Empress asked Chu Jinyao to enter the palace and accompany her to talk about the commonplace.
Household talk…
The author has something to say: [Little boss Xiao Qi is about to debut]