After leaving the yamen, Zhou Shuren returned home but did not see his wife in the main courtyard. After asking, he found out that his wife was looking after his great-grandson in Mingyun's courtyard. She only came back after he changed his clothes and read two articles.
Zhulan walked in with a smile on her face, "Zhixuan is so energetic. He seems to know me. He shouted "oh oh" as soon as he saw me."
Zhou Shuren, "How can he, a child who hasn't even left the confinement period, possibly know anyone? This is all just your psychological effect."
"Can't you just make me happy?"
"Yes, I have good news to tell you, the news you care about most."
Zhulan asked anxiously, "But is there any news about the twins?"
Zhou Shuren nodded, "Yes, I not only have their news, but also the letters they wrote back to inform me that they are safe."
"Where is the letter?"
"I asked Shen Xing to give Jiang Sheng the letter from the twins to their parents."
Zhulan chanted Amitabha, "It's good that everyone is safe. Now there is news, everyone can rest assured."
Zhou Shuren put down the book and stared at his wife's clasped hands. "I find that you like chanting Amitabha more and more now."
"When I get older, I get used to saying this phrase, sustenance, sustenance in my heart."
Zhou Shuren pulled his wife to sit down. "The emperor didn't explain it to me clearly. He only told me that the twins are safe now, but he also hinted to me that they won't be able to come back in a year or two."
"These two troublesome kids, I will give them a good beating when they come back."
Zhou Shuren smiled and said, "Well, I have already figured out how to deal with them."
"How do we clean it up?"
"Let them read the article backwards, and be beaten with a stick for every wrong word."
Zhulan: "... OK."
Should she now be worried about how many spankings the twins will receive
The next day, the palace maid arrived at the mansion and said, "Madam, there are only princesses and county ladies in the palace. The Empress Dowager is too cold, so she selected a few young ladies to stay in the palace for a few days, one young lady from each family. Tomorrow a maid will come to pick up Miss Zhou."
Zhulan: "Well, I will wait for the lady-in-waiting to arrive tomorrow."
The female official had to go to other houses to give notice, so she left after a short while.
Zhulan called a few daughters-in-law over and explained the purpose of the female official's visit, "What do you think?"
The eldest wife no longer had a daughter, so Li did not express any opinion. Instead, she looked at her second and fourth brother's wives.
Zhao didn't want her daughter to enter the palace, but her daughter knew it herself. After thinking for a while, she said, "I'll listen to my mother."
Su Xuan was much more straightforward, "Mother, Yuwen is very lazy. She is not suitable to enter the palace."
Zhulan already understood what her two daughters-in-law meant. She also felt that Yudie and Yuwen were not suitable to enter the palace. These two granddaughters were too individualistic. The palace was a place of opportunity, but she was the mother-in-law and she needed to treat them all equally, so she asked.
Zhulan said, "Yuyi's personality is the most suitable, but Yuyi is almost at the age of engagement, so Yuyi is not suitable. Yujiao is about the same age as Linxi and they play well together. Her advantage is that she is young, so if there is a problem, she can use her age as an excuse. Yujiao is innocent but also smart, so I'll choose Yujiao to enter the palace for a few days."
She was still thinking, why did the Queen Mother choose the girl to live in the palace for a while when she didn't choose earlier or later? What was the thinking behind this? Anyway, no matter what, the girl of the Zhou family was safe. It was a wise move for the Zhou family not to marry into the royal family again, but they had to be careful not to be used by others.
Li said, "Mother's analysis is correct. Yujiao is indeed the most suitable."
Zhao continued, "I will be going to the palace tomorrow. What do you need to bring for Yujiao?"
Su Xuan, "Bring more silver. There are many little ghosts in the palace. No one will dare to look down on you if you are generous with the silver."
Zhulan called Qingxue and asked her to exchange some small change. The house was full of large silver ingots, which were inconvenient to put in her purse.
Then Zhulan took out the golden melon seeds and silver peanuts left over from the Chinese New Year and put them in two small boxes.
Because Mrs. Dong was not around, Mrs. Li, the eldest aunt, prepared some silver bills, Mrs. Zhao prepared some exquisite jewelry for rewards, and some delicate purses, and Su Xuan prepared valuable jewelry so that people would not look down on them.
Zhulan has also prepared other things. As the saying goes, clothes make the man, and there is no shortage of palace maids who look down on others. There are too many people who judge people by their clothes and jewelry.
She also sent people to inquire about which other girls had entered the palace, including the girl from Ning Hou's Mansion, the girl from the Wen family, etc. There were quite a few girls entering the palace, as many as eight families.
In Xi County, the King of Qi had no intention of setting off. He said to the Crown Prince, "This trip is mainly for sightseeing. There is no rush. Your Highness can look around."
The prince rolled his eyes in his heart, he didn't believe that the reason why his uncle stayed in Xi County was so simple. He looked out the window. Xi County was a wealthy county with a lot of people coming and going. He could see the people entering the city and the hawkers' cries, making the streets very lively.
This trip was not very high-profile and was disguised as a caravan. There are many caravans across the country now, so it is not very conspicuous.
The prince stood up and said, "Then I will look around."
The Prince of Qi narrowed his eyes. The Crown Prince really trusted him and was not afraid that he would have other ideas. Then he drank the wine in the glass. He was out traveling with the Crown Prince. The entire Prince of Qi's Mansion was in the capital. If he really dared to do anything, his father could destroy him without the Emperor doing anything.
The prince was about to go out, and the young man who came with him this time was keeping an eye on the prince's movements. Mingrui was flipping through a book and didn't want to compete and follow him out.
Don't think that there are many conflicts between women. Mingrui has broadened his horizons during this trip. It's really exciting to see them stepping on each other.
Mingrui was reading a book when the prince's personal guard knocked on the door, "Master Mingrui, our master wants to see you."
Mingrui, "..."
Whatever you fear will come true, but he still remains calm. The prince meets him for the first time after being away from the capital for a few days.
When Mingrui arrived, there were already two young masters standing next to the prince, one from the Wen family and the other from the Shangguan family. Both were related to the prince. The Wen family was his mother's family, and the Shangguan family was his future wife's family. Plus, since he was related to the royal family, it was very good. The remaining young masters had no chance of competing.
Mingrui did not greet them politely. In order to hide his identity outside, he did not need to observe any etiquette.
The prince smiled and said, "Cousin, we'll be waiting for you."
Mingrui was startled. Well, considering his identity, he was indeed his cousin. He moved his lips and said, "I'm late."
He really couldn't call him cousin.
Wen Xu's mouth twitched slightly. He was the prince's more serious cousin. The prince was not so enthusiastic when he called him cousin just now. His eyes looked at Zhou Mingrui with a much deeper look.
Shangguan Liu glanced at the Second Young Master Wen with a half-smile. This eldest son of the second branch of the Wen family, his father had told him to try not to have too much contact with the Wen family. Judging from the attitude of the prince, it was indeed true that he should not have too much contact.
The prince seemed not to notice the looks from the other young masters. He opened the fan in his hand and said, "The weather is nice today. Let's go out for a walk."
Mingrui was the youngest. Wen Xu caught up with the prince first. Shangguan Liu did not rush to leave, but walked side by side with Mingrui.
Shangguan Liu, "Mr. Zhou has been in the carriage. I have wanted to visit him several times but never had the chance. Today I would like to formally introduce myself to you. I am Shangguan Liu, the third child in the family. My two older brothers have already served as officials in the imperial court."
He didn't want to come, but there was nothing he could do as his two older brothers had become officials in the court and it was now his turn.
Mingrui, "Hello, I am the third child in my family. One of my two elder brothers is an official in the court, and the other is already on a separate mission."