On the way back in the calf cart, Chun Tiao changed from his usual lively and talkative self. He looked at Sui Sui's face cautiously and did not dare to mention what he had seen and heard today.
Sui Sui didn't feel like talking, so he just leaned against the carriage and took a nap.
After returning to Shanchiyuan, he waited until Grandma Gao fell asleep and then casually asked Chuntiao for some wine.
Normally, Chun Tiao would always try every means to stop it, but today, she didn't say a word and obediently went to the kitchen to scoop a pot of wine from the wine jar and took two ceramic bowls: "I will drink with you, my lady."
Sui Sui smiled and said, "Try it and see."
Chun Tiao took a sip, his face wrinkled, sticking out his tongue and looking for water on the ground. He drank a full bowl of cold tea before he breathed a sigh of relief: "It's so spicy!"
This is the dogwood wine that is usually used as a condiment, and it is naturally spicy.
Sui Sui was not picky. He took the wine jug, moved a short couch to the corridor, and drank slowly by himself.
She didn't want to get drunk, nor did she want to relieve her sorrow. She knew that wine couldn't quench her sorrow - she just drank alone when she didn't know what to do.
Tonight is one of those nights.
The night wind gradually picked up, the full moon rose to the treetops, and a few sparse stars hung in the sky.
Sui Sui estimated that it was about time for the wedding ceremony.
She suddenly remembered a night four years ago.
It was the eve of the final battle. The rebels were at the end of their strength. The long war was about to end, which also meant that they were about to part.
Neither of them spoke a word, only the whistling of the wind and the clanking of armor.
He suddenly stopped and looked back at her: "When I return to the capital, I will tell Father-in-law to give the throne to my second brother."
She looked at him in astonishment: "Why did Your Highness suddenly say such a thing?"
He smiled faintly: "You know you and I..."
Before he could finish, she interrupted him, "That was a joke between my father and Your Majesty when he was still alive. Times have changed and it no longer counts."
"Since General Xiao said so," he said with a hint of mischief in his eyes, "I will have no choice but to ask a matchmaker to come and propose marriage to General Xiao."
"You..." She turned her head, unable to utter a word for a long time, her cheeks burning.
Growing up, she only knew how to wield swords and sticks and lead troops into battle. When it comes to these things, she is still as helpless as all other young girls in the world who are just beginning to fall in love.
"I'm serious," he said seriously, "Since one of us has to leave our homeland, that person should be me."
After a pause, he said, "I am not the most suitable crown prince, but you are the best general."
The night wind blows the long grass, and under the starlight the grassland is like the sea, with silver waves rolling up.
Her soul also began to sway and surge.
"I will go back to Chang'an and arrange everything, then come back to see General Xiao, okay?" he asked with a smile.
"Who said I was going to marry you?" She said softly, turned around and walked quickly towards the camp.
She walked very fast, almost running away, and her armor clanked.
She was suddenly glad that the armor was heavy, because she was almost floating up into the clear night sky.
There was not a single cloud in the night sky, only bright stars, hanging on the sky like gems.
For a moment, she wished she could float up to the sky and pick a star to give to him.
However, when he looked at her with a smile, the stars in the sky were already in his eyes.
…
The lights inside and outside the main hall of the East Palace were bright, like a river of stars falling to the ground, eclipsing the sparse stars and bright moon in the sky.
On the seven-treasure high platform, in the splendid green pavilion, the Crown Prince and the Crown Princess were performing the wedding ceremony.
Ruan Yuewei held up the wedding wine cup carved from a whole piece of white jade, and with her arms around the prince, she slowly poured the amber wine into his mouth.
The wine glass was not big, but the wine was the finest Yingzhou Fushui, mellow, fragrant and strong. She finished the glass with great difficulty and immediately stepped away from the prince, lowering her delicate head, her cheeks and slender neck all dyed red.
Under the lamplight, the beauty looked even more charming than usual. The prince had five charming concubines, and he was not an ignorant boy, but he still looked at her infatuatedly. Perhaps it was because he had tasted the sweetness of the world that he was even more impatient.
Ruan Yuewei was so overwhelmed by the eager gaze that she could not raise her head. She lowered her eyelids and glanced at the crowd watching the ceremony from the corner of her eye.
She saw Huan Xuan at first sight. He stood out among the crowd of red and purple.
He was also looking at her, but his expression was very cold, as if he was sealed in an invisible piece of ice, totally out of tune with the joy and excitement around him.
When he left Beijing, he was still an arrogant, aloof and willful young man with volatile emotions. But in a short while, he became indistinguishable in his emotions and could no longer be understood.
Ruan Yuewei's heart seemed to be hit by something suddenly, and a thought crashed into her mind.
Could she have made the wrong choice
Three years ago, she went to Baqiao to see him off, and he asked her for the last time if she was willing to go with him.
Of course she didn't want to do that. Since she was a child, she had wanted to marry into the Eastern Palace, to bring honor to the family like Empress Dowager Ruan, to make her grandparents and father and mother proud of her, and to be proud among her brothers and sisters.
What she said when she rejected Huan Xuan was exactly what she thought in her heart. Over the years, she only regarded him as a younger brother and had no romantic feelings for him.
But since he returned from the border, some things seem to be different...
She was frightened at the thought and her heart began to beat like a drum.
The alcohol she had just drunk started to take effect, and it was like a fire in the wilderness, burning from her heart to her cheeks. She felt a little dizzy and raised her hand to gently support her forehead.
As she raised her hand, she couldn't help but look at Huan Xuan again. Huan Xuan seemed to notice her gaze, turned his head slightly and stopped looking at her.
Ruan Yuewei felt a lump in her heart, her nose ached, and tears welled up in her eyes.
Just then, the sound of drums suddenly rang out.
She suddenly came to her senses and found that the wedding ceremony had already been completed.
She quickly held back her tears, gently placed the wine glass back on the table, bowed to the prince, then lowered her head without looking away.
After the ceremony, Fu's mother and the palace maids escorted the Crown Princess back to the bedroom, while the Crown Prince accompanied the guests to the front hall for a banquet.
At the banquet, the sound of flutes and pipes lingered in the air, and royal family members and ministers clinked glasses and sang and danced when they felt like it.
Huan Xuan is the prince's younger brother from the same mother and a powerful prince who holds the tiger talisman of the Divine Winged Army. It goes without saying that his status is very prominent.
His seat was next to the prince. From time to time, people came forward to toast him, and he accepted everyone who came. He picked up the glass and drank it all in one gulp.
Everyone knows the story between him and the Crown Princess. Most people are careful to avoid his pain points, but there are some people who don't know how to look at him and bring up things that are irrelevant.
A man in purple clothes and a jade crown, holding a golden cup and with a big belly, staggered up to him and toasted him.
This man was fat and stupid, and compared with him, the plain-looking prince immediately looked extraordinarily handsome, and Huan Xuan was even made to look like a god.
The nine sons of the dragon are all different. There are the favored ones with handsome appearance like the former crown prince and the King of Qi, and there is also the freak like the King of Chen who is ugly, mean and has no redeeming qualities.
The current emperor was a handsome man when he was young, and Chen Wang's mother, Concubine Shu, was also a beauty with bright eyes and white teeth, but I don't know how she gave birth to such a child.
But it was also thanks to her son's stupid nature that Shufei gave up the idea of competing for the throne from the very beginning, and she was content to curry favor with the Queen, unlike the Xianfei and her son, who were so ambitious that the grass on their graves was three feet high.
Chen Wang drunkenly winked and said, "Second brother now has a beautiful woman who is as good as his wife, and she is so charming. I wonder when we will hear the good news about third brother?"
He burped loudly: "I have a few pretty good dancers in my humble abode. I'll send some of them to Third Brother's house someday. Of course, they are all mediocre, not even as good as Second Sister-in-law's fingernail..."
Without waiting for the crown prince to speak, Huan Xuan's face was so gloomy that water could drip from it. He threw the wine cup on the table and said, "Fifth brother, be careful with your words."
After all, he was a man who had been on the battlefield, and his eyes were as sharp as a knife. When King Chen was looked at like this, he sobered up half way.
He looked at the prince and said in a crazy voice: "Brother, you are very happy. I have nothing to offer you, so I will dance for you to cheer you up..."
After saying that, he lifted up his fat sleeves and jumped up staggeringly. While spinning, he accidentally fell to the ground. He simply lay on the ground and didn't get up, crying "Ouch, ouch", pretending to be drunk and unconscious.
The prince shook his head helplessly and winked at his attendants. Then someone helped him up and took him to a side hall to rest.
The prince had won the beauty and was in high spirits. The accident just now did not bring him much unhappiness. Instead, someone told him the truth, which made him feel happy. He had never been as good as his elder brother in literature, not as good as his third brother in martial arts, and his appearance was the most mediocre. But now the position of prince was his, and the most beautiful woman in Chang'an was also his.
Even though Huan Xuan's heart was broken and he was jealous to death, he could only keep it to himself and drink cup after cup.
The prince naturally liked Ruan Yuewei. Which man wouldn't want the most beautiful woman in Chang'an? Therefore, even though he knew that she was frail and sickly, he insisted on taking her as his concubine despite his mother's objection. In order for her to recuperate, he delayed taking her as his concubine until now.
However, taking away Huan Xuan's lifelong love was also the icing on the cake.
The prince smiled and patted his brother's shoulder affectionately, saying, "Fifth brother is just a scoundrel who never speaks in a proper way. Don't bother with him."
Huan Xuan smiled and said, "My second brother is very generous and magnanimous. I am ashamed that I cannot compare with him."
The prince's face changed slightly, then he smiled and said, "Between brothers, there may be occasional offenses, but they are naturally unintentional. Third brother, do you think so?"
Huan Xuan raised his glass and said, "I would like to drink this glass of wine to wish my second brother and his wife a happy and harmonious relationship."
The prince finished drinking and signaled the eunuch to fill the glass again: "This glass of wine is for you to thank you on behalf of your second sister-in-law."
Huan Xuan's eyes moved, and he silently picked up the wine cup and drank it all, then said with a smile: "I am a foolish brother, and I am a little drunk. I will not disturb you and the others today. I will leave now."
The prince smiled and said, "It's still early, but you are in a hurry to leave. Could it be that the beauty has an appointment?"
Huan Xuan did not answer.
The prince did not take it as an offense. He stood up as if nothing had happened and personally took his arm to escort him out of the palace. Only after he had walked down the steps did he say with a smile, "Come to the East Palace another day and we will talk again, brothers."
Huan Xuan bowed to the prince and said, "Second brother, please stay." Then he walked out quickly.
The carriage left the East Palace and drove towards Prince Qi's Palace.
The curfew was relaxed after the riot more than 20 years ago. Although it was late at night, there were still cars and horses passing by on the road from time to time.
The walls of the carriage were padded with thick fox fur, and the inside had been warmed with charcoal fire beforehand, and covered with thick brocade curtains. Huan Xuan drank some wine and felt unbearable the stuffiness, so he asked the eunuch to roll up the curtains.
The cold wind blew into the car, blowing away the heat. The music from the East Palace gradually faded away, leaving only the rumbling sound of the wheels.
The restlessness and boredom in his heart did not diminish in the slightest. As soon as he closed his eyes, Ruan Yue's watery eyes would appear in front of him.
He rubbed his forehead and said, "Let's go to Chang'anfang."