Chapter 123

 

In the middle of Twelfth Month, the army finally returned to the capital in triumph.

The weather was very good that day, the sky was clear and blue. The young emperor personally led all the civil and military officials to greet them outside the city gate.

Chen Jingzong followed Ling Rucheng on horseback, while Grand Princess Hua Yang drove in the front.

When the carriage stopped, Wu Run walked to the front of the carriage and helped the grand princess to step out.

The young emperor had already cast his gaze over, and saw his sister dressed in white plain clothes, with a bare face that was a bit thinner than when she left the capital. Thinking of the hardships and risks on the battlefield, the young emperor couldn’t help but feel distressed. If he were older and could lead the expedition himself, his sister wouldn’t have to endure this hardship.

He walked over quickly.

They were all children of the late emperor. But because of their different identities, they have different mourning periods.

For example, Hua Yang, she was a married daughter and only needed to mourn her father for one year.

As a son, the young emperor should have mourned for three years, but he was the monarch of the country, how could he really abandon state affairs for three years. Therefore, when the new emperor mourned for the previous emperor, the months were replaced by the days, so twenty-seven days was enough.

The young emperor, who had long since taken off his mourning clothes, wore an indigo blue dragon robe today. His face was like a crown jade, and his figure was slender, almost as tall as Hua Yang.

Hua Yang saw the shadow of her father emperor and mother empress in her brother. In terms of facial features, Hua Yang had never seen anyone more handsome than her brother.

“My brother has grown taller. You look really good in this outfit.”

While the officials were still far away, Hua Yang touched her brother’s shoulder, feeling relieved and appreciative.

If her brother had not done those stupid things in her previous life, Hua Yang would be a little more proud at this moment, feeling that her brother had no shortcomings!

“Sister has lost weight again.” The young emperor looked at his sister carefully for a moment and said out of concern: “Sleeping in the open every day, Sister’s face has become rougher.”

Hua Yang:……

She kept smiling and motioned her brother to comfort Ling Rucheng and other generals.

The young emperor had already prepared for today’s condolences to the soldiers. He left his sister for the time being and walked calmly towards Ling Rucheng.

After he left, hundreds of officials, led by Chen Tingjian and other cabinet elders, stepped forward to salute the grand princess.

Hua Yang said “disperse the courtesy” and her eyes fell on her father-in-law Chen Tingjian.

The army came back late, but the good news had already reached the capital. Since Chen Tingjian knew that Prince Yu and other vassal princes had been captured without restraint, and that his fourth son had also made several military exploits, he had nothing to worry about. His face was still elegant and gentle, and his beautiful beard that reached his chest was still well-groomed.

“This battle went so smoothly. In addition to Commander Ling being good at using troops, Grand Princess also contributed a lot by personally supervising the battle to boost morale.”

Chen Tingjian bowed slightly and praised.

Hua Yang smiled and said: “Cabinet Elder praises too much. I didn’t do anything. It’s all the credit of the soldiers.”

In this situation, it would be inappropriate for her to address Chen Tingjian as a daughter-in-law.

After saying that, she and the officials walked behind her brother and watched him talk to each general with ease, and finally raised his voice to commend the hundreds of thousands of troops.

After returning to the carriage, Hua Yang asked Chao Yun to take out the small mirror prepared in the carriage. While admiring himself in the mirror, she frowned and asked the two maids beside her: “His Majesty said that my face has become rougher. Now, tell me the truth, is it true?”

Chao Yun, Chao Yue:……

How could His Majesty say that!

“Princess, don’t worry, His Majesty just cares about you too much. Just saying that you have lost weight is not enough to express this concern, so he racked his brains to squeeze out something else to say. Think about it, you are either sitting in the carriage or staying in the tent, there has been no wind outside for a few days, how could it become rough?”

“Yes, we specially brought a box of face cream for this trip, and we use it well. Princess, if you don’t believe me, touch it yourself. Your face is more tender than a peeled lychee.”

Hua Yang half believed it and half not.

Chao Yun smiled and whispered: “If what we said doesn’t work, you can ask Prince Consort tonight.”

Hua Yang glared at her, but finally put the mirror down.

The army stayed outside the city, and only the generals followed the young emperor into the palace to have a banquet and receive rewards.

Hua Yang went to Qianqing Palace to see her mother empress.

Empress Dowager Qi had been waiting for a long time. When the mother and daughter reunited after a long separation, they could not avoid having a long talk.

Hua Yang did not tell her mother empress about the hardships and inconveniences of her journey. She only talked about the war, including the tens of thousands of soldiers buried outside Wuduo Mountain.

Empress Dowager Qi sighed: “This is all the fault of Prince Yu, Prince Jing and other vassal princess. If they just stay honest, why should our soldiers fight against each other?”

Hua Yang felt a little relieved when she thought about the fate of all the princes of Henan who were deposed in her previous life.

Empress Dowager Qi: “Is Prince Consort injured?”

Hua Yang: “He had a few knife wounds, but he’s taken care of himself this whole journey home, so Mother doesn’t need to worry about him.”

Empress Dowager Qi laughed: “Your tone is very open-minded.”

Hua Yang snorted when she thought of those scoundrels Chen Jingzong.

In the days after Chen Jingzong was injured, she was worried every day. She would look at him when wince a little bit. Later, she found that Chen Jingzong was pretending many times, so Hua Yang didn’t bother to pay attention to him anymore.

“Mother, how are things going in the palace?”

“It’s very good. Cabinet Elder Chen is in charge of the court affairs and everything is in order. Not long ago, the Ministry of Rites also drafted several era names and sent them over. Your brother chose ‘Yuanyou’ and will use it after the New Year.”

Almost every emperor in this dynasty used only one era title during his reign. When the time come, the people would call the new emperor, Emperor Yuanyou.

Hua Yang thought that her brother also used this in her previous life, but she would definitely not let the events of the third year of Yuanyou happen again.

.

It was not until the celebration banquet of the court was over that Emperor Yuanyou brought Chen Jingzong and Qi Jin to Qianqing Palace to pay their respects to Empress Dowager Qi.

Because Emperor Yuanyou was still young, Empress Dowager Qi would live with Emperor Yuanyou in Qianqing Palace until Emperor Yuanyou got married and took charge of the throne at the age of eighteen.

Chen Jingzong was the son-in-law of the Empress Dowager Qi, while Qi Jin was her nephew. The two young commanders were both talented, and both had made military exploits in the process of countering the rebellion.

Empress Dowager Qi was very happy and gave a few words of encouragement.

She asked Qi Jin to go back to the Marquis Mansion first, and kept her daughter and son-in-law for a while, and said to Hua Yang: “While Prince Consort is fighting on the battlefield, the relatives at home must be very worried. You can follow Prince Consort back to the Chen Mansion later, fulfil your duties as a child, and then return to the Grand Princess Mansion to continue mourning.”

Chen Jingzong hurriedly said that it was important to mourn for the late emperor, and it didn’t matter if he didn’t return home.

He was polite, while Hua Yang agreed to her mother directly, then said a few words to her brother, and took Chen Jingzong out of the palace.

Chen Jingzong followed her into the carriage.

Military attachés of this dynasty did not have to worry about funerals, but they still had to observe some etiquette during the filial piety period. For example, at the celebration banquet just now, Chen Jingzong did not drink alcohol or eat meat.

“What reward did His Majesty give you?”

As the carriage moved steadily, Hua Yang asked Chen Jingzong casually.

Chen Jingzong: “You can either be promoted or be rewarded with silver. I was promoted to commander by the late emperor at a young age. This official title is already high enough, so His Majesty rewarded me with three thousand taels of silver.”

Hua Yang: “Your meritorious service depends entirely on the care and cultivation of your two elders. Don’t forget to respect your parents later.”

Chen Jingzong: “My commander’s title still relies on your face. Do I have to honor you as well?”

Hua Yang: “Okay, honor the two elders with a thousand taels, honor me with a thousand taels, and keep the rest for yourself.”

Chen Jingzong: “They say that men will become bad when they have money. You left me so much, aren’t you afraid that I will let you down?”

Hua Yang: “As long as you’re not afraid of getting flogged, you can do whatever you want outside.”

Chen Jingzong raised his eyebrows: “Just getting flogged? I thought you would divorce me.”

Hua Yang: “The specific punishment depends on what things have you let me down.”

Chen Jingzong held her in his arms and kissed her: “The thing I have let you down the most in this life is probably my lack of care when we first got married.”

Hua Yang glanced at him and said calmly: “You are only in your twenties. It’s too early to talk about this life now.”

Chen Jingzong: “Okay, let’s wait until we are seventy or eighty years old before we settle this account.”

Hua Yang was noncommittal and wiped the area on her face where he had kissed her with a handkerchief.

Just after she finished wiping, Chen Jingzong kissed her again.

Hua Yang suddenly remembered his brother’s words and said casually: “You are really not particular. My face has been roughened by the wind recently, but you still like to kiss me.”

Chen Jingzong was stunned for a moment, looked at her fair and tender face, and then touched it again and again with his fingertips covered with a thin layer of calluses: “Where is it rough?”

Hua Yang didn’t say anything.

Chen Jingzong just thought she was being too particular: “If you call your face rough, wouldn’t the faces of us soldiers the same as tree bark?”

Hua Yang looked at his face and tried to touch it again. There was obvious disgust in her eyes.

Chen Jingzong:……

The two large cans of facial cream given by the third brother last year have long been used up. For someone whose birthday was celebrated far away from home this year, he didn’t know if his third brother has prepared anything for him.

When they arrived at Chen Mansion, Chen Tingjian, who had changed into regular clothes, brought his whole family out to greet his distinguished daughter-in-law.

Hua Yang greeted everyone and said to Chen Jingzong: “You should spend more time with your father and mother. I will go to Siyi Hall first.”

As Chen Jingzong said, the two of them had already broke the rule together during the old lady’s mourning, but in front of everyone in the Chen family, Hua Yang still had to abide by the funeral etiquette she was supposed to observe at this time.

Chen Jingzong nodded and sent her back to Siyi Hall first, and then went to Chunhe Hall to spend time with his family.

Chen Jingzong had already met Chen Tingjian, Chen Bozong, and Chen Xiaozong in the palace. At this time, the person in Chunhe Hall who missed him the most was Sun shi.

Sun shi took her youngest son’s hand and almost stripped off his clothes in public to see with her own eyes whether his heart and liver were injured.

Chen Jingzong: “I’m really fine. Why are you crying?”

Sun shi wiped her eyes while quibbling: “You went out and brought back a thousand taels of silver for this old mother. I’m so happy!”

Chen Jingzong: “Then you are happy for nothing. I really don’t want to honor you. It’s the Grand Princess who insists on my filial piety.”

Sun shi slapped him on the butt!

Chen Jingzong took the opportunity to sit back next to his third brother Chen Xiaozong.

Wan Yi and the other children all laughed. How rare it was to see her fourth uncle being beaten by her grandmother at such an old age.

After the laughter subsided, Chen Tingjian said: “Okay, it’s good to come back safely. Grand Princess is still waiting. You should go back quickly.”

Sun shi was a little reluctant, but she didn’t say anything. The grand princess was still in her filial piety period, and a daughter who had just lost her father was the most heartbreaking.

Chen Jingzong nodded and glanced meaningfully at his two brothers before leaving.

They were all brothers, who couldn’t understand what he means?

When Chen Jingzong picked up Hua Yang and returned to the main courtyard, he saw two more boxes in Fu Gui’s arms.

Chen Jingzong took it and put it in the carriage.

“What is this?” Hua Yang asked curiously.

Chen Jingzong: “Eldest brother and Third brother owe me a birthday gift.”

He opened the box in turn.

Chen Bozong gave him a book of war, and Chen Xiaozong gave him two large jars of facial cream.

Chen Jingzong was very disgusted: “Third brother, he uses this kind of thing like a woman, even wants me to imitate him.”

He sounded like he’d rather die than use it, but Hua Yang remembered that his body and face felt completely different to the touch.

She smiled: “When Third Brother gets old, he will probably be as graceful as Father. But you, maybe you will really become the old tree bark.”

Chen Jingzong:……

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Translator’s note:

I’m sorry I have been AWOL for so long. The truth is the past few months has been the worst period of my life, however at that time translating has given me a sense of normalcy. But then my mom suddenly passed away, and I can’t function properly. Now I’m back in hope to regain a bit of that normalcy again.