Zhuangzhuang thought for a moment, then suddenly looked up and said, "Ask Qinzhi to bring in a pot of wine. I suddenly feel like drinking."
Zi'an stood up and said, "Okay, I'll go and give the order. Let's have some drinks."
Drinking can release her emotions, and she hopes Zhuangzhuang will stop torturing her so much.
Because the weather was a little chilly and Qinzhi saw the princess crying, she warmed the wine before bringing it over.
"Drink less!" Qin Zhi poured wine for the princess, poured a glass, and put it down again, "Forget it, drink as much as you like. When you are drunk, you can beat people up or kill people. We can't bear this cowardice."
Qinzhi's concern for Zhuangzhuang goes beyond that of a maid for her master. She really loves Zhuangzhuang.
Zi'an was moved by the relationship between master and servant.
Zhuangzhuang raised his head and glanced at Qinzhi, then said softly, "I'm fine, you go out first, Qionghua will be back soon, go and make arrangements, and leave the princess here for dinner."
"Well, I feel relieved to have the princess accompany you." Qin Zhi said and went out.
Zhuangzhuang picked up the wine, smelled it, but didn't drink it. She smiled and said, "Over the years, I rarely drink. Sometimes when I'm with Lao Qi and the others, I drink a few glasses, but I don't dare to be greedy. Some people say that drinking can relieve eternal sorrow. People who say this probably don't feel sad or bitter in their hearts. When you're drunk, you feel even worse. You can't control your sadness at all."
After hearing this, Zi'an felt a little heartbroken. How miserable must she be to have such a profound experience
"When I am alone, I don't drink a drop of alcohol. I dare not, for fear that if I drink, I will not be able to control myself." Her eyes gradually became misty, but there was still a smile on her face. In her smile, two crystal tears fell down her cheeks and landed in the cup.
She raised her head and drank the tears and the wine together.
"Do you believe it? I didn't like him at first. He was old-fashioned, serious, solemn, and never smiled. At such a young age, he imitated adults and had a stern face. I hated such boring people the most. So, during his first days in the palace, I always bullied him and made fun of him. Once, I even deliberately put a snake on his back. I just wanted to see what his face looked like when he was not serious and old-fashioned."
Zi'an listened quietly, and even though she didn't understand, she didn't ask. She said it was a way of venting.
"Then it was a ghost. I actually liked him. When did I realize I liked him? I have forgotten, but I liked him, and I couldn't admit it. I am the eldest princess, surrounded by stars, my brother treats me like the apple of his eye, and my sister-in-law treats me like her daughter. I am the only one in the harem who can get whatever I want. How can I admit that I like a piece of wood like him? Besides, who knows what he thinks? If he doesn't like me, I will be heartbroken."
Zhuangzhuang poured another glass of wine and drank it. After drinking it, he continued to say with a smile: "At that time, I had four maids by my side, Qinzhi, Qionghua, Yaozhi, and Qingqiu. All four of them were very close to me because we grew up together. They were by my side when they were seven years old. In name, we were master and servant, but we were playmates and good friends. We grew up together, slowly."
"As I got older, Xiao Xiao still didn't tell me that he liked me. I was anxious and tried to hint to him, but he just didn't understand. I was very angry and felt that he looked down on me. Just then, the prince of Liang came and said that he fell in love with me at first sight. He proposed to his brother the emperor and wanted to marry me to Liang. That year, I was fifteen years old."
Her smile became more bitter. She paused for a long time, looking dazed, as if she felt that these things happened in her previous life.
"Of course I didn't want to marry. I didn't want to leave Xiao Xiao, even though he was a wooden man and he didn't say he liked me. I told my brother that I didn't want to marry him, and he scolded me, saying that I was willful and spoiled. That's when I realized that he didn't like me. He even hated me. How ridiculous! I always thought he loved me very much."
"I went back to the palace and cried for a long time. Xiao Xiao just watched me cry and didn't comfort me. He just stood there like a piece of wood. When I had cried enough, he came over..."
Zhuangzhuang turned the cup in his hand, and his expression finally showed a hint of sweetness. "He hugged me and kissed me on the lips. He said he was going to ask his brother to marry me. He left after he said that. He was gone for a long time, and I didn't come back to my senses. I sat stupidly in front of the dressing table and saw that my face was as red as a cooked shrimp."
She sighed softly, "Looking back now, that was the happiest time of my life."
Zi'an looked at her. After a few drinks, her face was as red as a shrimp, very beautiful. Zi'an felt that there was no one in the world prettier than her.
Zi'an couldn't help but his eyes turned red. He took a deep breath and held back the urge to cry.
Zhuangzhuang continued, "He went to ask his brother, but how could he agree? He knelt for two days and two nights, didn't eat a grain of rice, didn't drink a sip of water, and fainted at the door of the imperial study. His brother put pressure on the Xiao family, saying that if he continued to act recklessly, he would be deprived of his hereditary title of Marquis Jingguo. The Xiao family blamed him. His father dragged him away and beat him in front of the emperor, leaving him bruised and bloody. I hid behind the column and watched him. His eyes were red. He yelled at his father, saying that he wanted to marry me, the eldest princess, even if he died."
She suddenly covered her face and burst into tears, tears seeping out from between her fingers. Zi'an finally couldn't help it and cried with her.
In this way, they really suffered a lot.
After a long time, Zhuangzhuang calmed his breathing and continued with a heavy nasal voice: "At that time, my brother told me that if he continued to kneel in front of the palace, he would die, and he would become a sinner of the Xiao family after death. I knelt in front of the palace and begged my brother to let us go, but my brother said that the decree had been made and could not be changed. He insisted that I marry to Liang State. I compromised, because if he died, there would be no point in me living, and I didn't want him to become a sinner of the Xiao family. In order to make Xiao Xiao give up, I told him that I had met the prince of Liang State. He was both civil and military, wise and brave, and very handsome and interesting. I said I liked him, but Xiao Xiao didn't believe it. He smashed everything in my palace like crazy. I watched him smash it, and then ordered people to drive him out. In order to make him believe it completely, I deliberately hugged the prince of Liang State in front of him..."
Zhuangzhuang raised his red and swollen eyes, with a look of despair and brokenness in them, "He just stood there quietly watching us hug and flirt with each other for a long time, then he left without saying a word."
The heart-wrenching pain in Zhuangzhuang's tone made Zi'an feel the same, but the story did not end here. Later, the previous emperor passed away, and after the emperor ascended the throne, he cancelled the marriage.
This is part of what Zi'an knew from Murong Jie. She felt that the problem arose after the emperor ascended the throne.
(End of this chapter)