Chapter 44

 

Hua Yang accepted the gift from Prince Xiang and formulated some plans for the next step, so she had no intention of keeping Yu Xiu for dinner in Ningyuan.

It was just some polite words needed to be said. After Princess Consort Xiang left, Hua Yang went to see Yu Xiu and suggested that Yu Xiu rest here for a while and have dinner with her.

Yu Xiu remembered that her husband was going to come to talk to her brother-in-law, so she smiled and agreed.

Hua Yang:…

This was not quite in line with Yu Xiu’s temperament!

Fortunately, it didn’t impact her plan much.

She asked Chao Yun to tell the kitchen to add two more famous dishes from Lingzhou in the evening, which should suit Yu Xiu’s appetite.

In the evening, Chen Jingzong came back, and learned that his sister-in-law was there. He came to Qifeng Hall to see her and said to Hua Yang, “There are some official matters I need to deal with. You eat first and I will finish my work.”

Hua Yang rarely saw him so serious and believed him.

But Yu Xiu thought that her brother-in-law must not be able to stay here because of her presence.

The servants of the Chen family said that this brother-in-law was rough and not as elegant as her husband or the third master. However, Yu Xiu recalled the several meetings she had with her brother-in-law. He just didn’t like to smile, but there was no less respect to her.

Because of her, her brother-in-law actually had to eat alone in another courtyard. Yu Xiu felt guilty and whispered the truth to Hua Yang: “Princess, it was actually Master who said he would come to pick me up after dinner. He wanted to take the opportunity while I stay here to talk some matter with Fourth Brother. Otherwise I wouldn’t have the nerve to disturb you and Fourth Brother.”

Hua Yang was startled: “Sister-in-law, why didn’t you tell me earlier so that I could prepare the bowls and chopsticks for Eldest Brother?”

Yu Xiu blushed and said, “He doesn’t want to cause trouble to the Princess.”

Hua Yang understood and said with a smile: “Sister-in-law, when you go back, you can tell Eldest Brother not to be so polite in the future. Our two families live in the same city, so we should move around more.”

Yu Xiu nodded.

The two sisters had dinner in a harmonious atmosphere. Not long after, Wu Run sent a young eunuch to report that Chen Bozong had arrived and was waiting for his wife in the drawing room of the front courtyard.

Hua Yang told Chao Yun: “Go and inform Prince Consort and ask him to entertain Eldest Master first.”

Since Chen Bozong had something to say to Chen Jingzong, it would be better for them to go there later.

Chen Jingzong had dinner alone. Thinking that he could get close to her tonight, he rinsed his mouth carefully.

When he saw Chao Yun, he thought Hua Yang couldn’t wait any longer, but he didn’t expect that he would be asked to entertain his eldest brother.

Chen Jingzong went away unhappily.

When the two brothers met, Chen Bozong asked with concern: “How are you doing in the military station?”

Chen Jingzong saw the five words “Elder brother is like father” on his serious face.

The age difference between the two brothers was almost ten years, which was indeed a bit big. But Chen Jingzong had already fed up with the old man in the family, so naturally he was not happy to have this kind of eldest brother.

“What can go wrong. I am a Prince Consort, who would dare to supress me.”

Chen Bozong put it another way: “Is there any situation in the military station that you can’t stand?”

Chen Jingzong: “No. It’s okay, I’m not a child. I don’t need you to teach me how to become an official. It’s getting dark, so hurry up and take Sister-in-law home.”

After saying that, Chen Jingzong sent the young eunuch to Qifeng Hall to urge.

Chen Bozong had a faint headache, and just as he was about to speak, Chen Jingzong ran outside to wait.

Chen Bozong:……

After learning that the brothers had finished talking, Hua Yang came with Yu Xiu. At this time Chen Jingzong stood by Chen Bozong’s side again, and they seemed to get along quite harmoniously.

When Hua Yang saw Chen Bozong, it was like seeing a calligraphy and painting by a famous artist. Chen Bozong didn’t need to say anything or do anything, just standing there was pleasing to the eye.

Of course, she was just exchanging greetings according to etiquette, and no matter how much she appreciated, she would not stare rudely.

“It’s getting late, so we’ll take our leave first.”

“Well, Eldest Brother and Sister-in-law, please go slowly.” Hua Yang asked Chen Jingzong to go out and see his brother and sister-in-law off, but she would not send them to the door in person.

When Chen Jingzong finished his trip and came to Qifeng Hall, he saw Hua Yang sitting on the couch in the side room. There were two things on the small table in front of her. One of them was a painting. The look in her eyes as she looked at the painting was similar to when she looked at eldest brother.

“The gift you received today?” Chen Jingzong sat down at the table, pulled her into his arms and asked.

Hua Yang explained.

Chen Jingzong sneered: “This Prince Xiang has a good calculation. What do you think?”

If she was really a money-grubbing princess and he was just a boneless prince-consort, Prince Xiang’s plan to win people’s hearts would indeed work.

Hua Yang: “The gifts have been received, I will naturally do my best. But I can scold you, but what to do if you don’t listen to me. No matter how noble a princess I am, I can’t go to the military station and point fingers at you.”

Chen Jingzong paused and asked, “Are you imitating me?”

He also accepted 400 taels of silver notes from Xiang Baoshan, but he didn’t mix with them at all.

Hua Yang glared at him: “It’s a trick that any smart person can think of, why do I have to imitate you? Okay, then you go to Eldest Brother’s place for a few nights, and pretend to be angry with me, lest those Prince Xiang’s couple think that I only accept gifts and don’t do anything.”

Chen Jingzong:……

He was unwilling and pointed to the two gifts and said, “In the worst case, just return the gifts. Why bother?”

Hua Yang: “Don’t you need money to win people’s hearts in the military station? In the next few days, I will ask Wu Run to find a way to sell this jade Guanyin, and all the money will be given to you to rectify the military station. As for this Huizong’s authentic work, I will give it to Father Emperor. On the surface I will file a lawsuit against you, but secretly tell Father Emperor to take note of this Prince Xiang.”

Although Prince Xiang had done many unjust things, he was a vassal prince after all. If the court wanted to move a vassal prince, there were a lot to be considered. If the evidence was not sufficient, other vassal princes would wonder whether you, the emperor, wanted to withdraw all vassal domains!

Therefore, her father would not punish Prince Xiang just because he requisitioned soldiers from the military station to build a private mansion. But she still had plans for later, and one by one, the downfall of Prince Xiang would make sense.

Chen Jingzong was happy to see Prince Xiang unlucky, but when he thought that he had to stay at his elder brother’s place in order to act this play, Chen Jingzong felt uncomfortable all over.

He carried Hua Yang to the inner room.

“Since we are going to quarrel, we should quarrel fiercely and for a long time. If you make me angry, I must also make you cry, right?”

Hua Yang:…

An hour later, when it was already very dark outside, Chen Jingzong finally stepped out of Qifeng Hall in a furious manner. A voice filled with soaring anger that cut through the darkness, causing some neighbors around Ningyuan to hear the indignant words of the Prince Consort: “I’m leaving. If you have the ability, then just live with those two dead things. Don’t ever ask me to come back!”

Those that far away were fine, but let’s take the house directly across the street in front of Ningyuan. When the owner and his wife heard the noise, they knew there was a lot of excitement, so they randomly wrapped themselves in robes and ran out, quietly coming to the back door, and peered through the crack to get a glimpse of the scene at the entrance of Princess’s Ningyuan.

Soon, three people came out.

The heroic man holding a set of official robes with an angry face was the prince consort, as well as Ningyuan’s chief steward Wu gonggong, and the commander of the guard Zhou Ji.

Wu gonggong bent his waist and persuaded with calming voice: “Prince Consort, why are you angry with the Princess over this trivial matter? Go in quickly and apologize, and the Princess may forgive you.”

Prince Consort: “Fart, it’s obviously her fault, but you still want me to apologize?”

Zhou Ji shouted coldly: “Bold, don’t be rude to the princess!”

Seeing that two martial arts men were about to start fighting, Wu gonggong stepped in the middle in time.

At this time, a servant led two horses out. The prince consort got on one, and the servant also got on one.

Wu gonggong grabbed the reins of the Prince Consort and asked in disbelief: “The city gate has been closed a long time ago. Where is Prince Consort going?”

Prince Consort: “I will go to the prefect’s yamen to stay for the night. I will stay at the military station from tomorrow onwards. You tell the Princess, it’s me or those two things. If she wanted me then throw those things away. Otherwise, let’s live like this!”

After saying that, the Prince Consort urged his horse to leave without leaving any trace.

At the prefect’s Yamen, Chen Bozong and Yu Xiu had only been resting for a short while. Suddenly, the steward came to report that the Prince Consort was calling outside the door.

Yu Xiu wanted to get up immediately.

Chen Bozong held her down and said, “I’ll go, you don’t have to move.”

Yu Xiu really didn’t have much energy, tonight he was rather in the mood. The thirty years old prefect was more difficult to serve than the twenty years old Zhuangyuan, and he was very taciturn.

Seeing her husband looking at her while changing clothes, Yu Xiu shrank back into the quilt shyly.

Chen Bozong turned around, and after a while, he went out with his normal expression.

The farther away from the inner house and closer to the side gate, the more solemn Chen Bozong’s expression became. His fourth brother came to him at this hour, could it be that something big happened?

Unexpectedly, when the two brothers met, the fourth brother just asked him to arrange a guest room impatiently and refused to say any more words.

Chen Bozong couldn’t pry open his fourth brother’s mouth, so he had no choice but to ask the servant to take his fourth brother to the guest room to settle him first. He then let Fu Gui to stay and asked him.

Fu Gui frowned: “I don’t know. It seems that he was angry with the Princess because of something. He also said that he would have to live in a military station from now on!”

Chen Bozong’s face darkened.

He heard that some wives ran back to their parents’ homes because they were angry with their husbands. His fourth brother was probably the first prince consort to do this!

“What happened to Fourth Brother? And why is your face so ugly?”

When Chen Bozong returned to his room, Yu Xiu immediately noticed something was wrong.

Chen Bozong took off his clothes first. After turning off the lights, he lay down and answered her question: “Fourth Brother is angry with the Princess for some reason. Tomorrow morning you go to Ningyuan early and ask the Princess clearly. Mother is not here, and you are the eldest sister-in-law. First, you apologize for Fourth Brother, and when I know the whole story, I will try to persuade Fourth Brother.”

Yu Xiu sat up in shock: “They were fine when we met in the evening, but why…”

Chen Bozong: “It’s useless to speculate. Go to sleep or you won’t have much energy tomorrow.”

Early the next morning, Chen Jingzong left before dawn, leaving Chen Bozong’s plan to have a heart-to-heart talk with his brother in vain.

Yu Xiu also had some breakfast and went to Ningyuan.

The young eunuch sent her to Qifeng Hall and Chao Yun sighed: “Eldest Madam came too early. The Princess was angry with Prince Consort last night and barely fell asleep after midnight. She hasn’t woken up yet.”

Yu Xiu: “Why exactly?”

Chao Yun shook her head: “The master’s affairs, this maid dares not talk much.”

At this moment, Chao Yue came out and asked a young eunuch to go to Prince Xiang Mansion to deliver a message, and then said to Yu Xiu: “Eldest Madam, the Princess is not in the mood to entertain guests now. But she asked you to go back without worries, saying that she and Prince Consort just have different temperaments so they have disagreement. It’s not a big deal. It’s fine if you and Eldest Master know about it, but please don’t alert the Old Master and the Old Madam. She feels ashamed for this sort of thing.”

Yu Xiu was invited out of Ningyuan just like that.

When Princess Consort Xiang arrived, Hua Yang was already dressed and sitting in the reception hall. On the table next to her were two gift boxes brought by Princess Consort Xiang yesterday.

Princess Consort Xiang quietly looked at the princess, and saw that although the princess was dressed in fine clothes, she could not hide her haggard expression, especially the faint blue color under her eyes. Thinking of the rumors reported outside early in the morning, she became more and more uneasy.

Hua Yang looked indifferent, and after inviting Princess Consort Xiang to sit down, she laughed at herself: “The Prince and Princess Consort gave me a generous gift, but my words didn’t work, and Prince Consort refused to listen. In this case, no reward for no merit, so Princess Consort please bring back this gift with you.”

Princess Consort Xiang pretended not to know anything and said in panic: “It’s just a broken mansion. It doesn’t matter if the construction is delayed. But what happened with the Princess?”

Hua Yang lowered her eyes, looking sulky.

Chao Yun said angrily on behalf of her master, expressing dissatisfaction with the Prince Consort: “He seems to eat the bear’s heart and leopard’s guts, even His Majesty never say a harsh word to our princess! If it wasn’t for the Princess giving Cabinet Elder face, she would have complained to His Majesty earlier!”

Princess Consort Xiang was shocked. This matter must not be brought to the capital!

She quickly acted as peacemaker and put all the blame on her and Prince Xiang.

Hua Yang listened for a while and said impatiently: “That’s it. The matter has come to this. It’s useless to talk more. Princess Consort, take these two generous gifts and go back.”

How dare Princess Consort Xiang bring it back? The princess had a big quarrel with prince consort just because of this gift. She was already angry enough, if she didn’t get any benefits, wouldn’t she lose the wife and lose the troopsit’s a metaphor to not only fail to take advantage, but also suffered a big loss?

She persuaded the princess to agree to accept the gift, and then returned to Prince Xiang Mansion exhausted physically and mentally.

Prince Xiang listened to her story thoroughly, and someone from the military station also sent the news. They said that Chen Jingzong started drinking when he arrived at the military station. After drinking, he went to check the soldiers’ compliance with military discipline. If they answered correctly, they were given ten copper coins. If they answered incorrectly, he really hit them personally. He seemed to be sulking at the soldiers, which made Xiang Baoshan dare not mention the matter of allocating soldiers to build a mansion for Prince Xiang. Therefore, he asked the prince to find out whether there was any inside story.

Princess Consort Xiang: “It seems to be true. Before I entered Ningyuan, I sent someone to inquire on that street. Prince Consort did go to the Prefect’s Yamen in anger last night.”

Prince Xiang slapped the table hard: “This Chen Jingzong has rebelled against heaven!”

Princess Consort Xiang trembled, lowered her head and did not dare to say a word.

Prince Xiang put his hands behind his back and walked back and forth several times. He not only felt regretful for the two generous gifts, but also angry at Chen Jingzong for ruining his good idea of ​​building a mansion, and hated himself for not having any way to recover the loss.

In the final analysis, it was his fault for underestimating Chen Jingzong. This brat dared not to take the princess and the vassal prince seriously just because his father was in the cabinet!

 

The Author has something to say:

Old Four: The play is over, when will you take me back home?

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