Chapter 68

 

On the second day after Hua Yang returned to the palace, the imperial relatives came into the palace to see her one after another.

The first one to arrive was Princess Anle, Hua Yang’s aunt. The “good thing” in the lotus bowl that she and Chen Jingzong often use was a gift from Princess Anle.

Princess Anle’s raising a handsome companion was considered deviant even among princesses. On the contrary, Empress Qi was a model of women’s virtue in the world. Whether it was in private where their temperaments didn’t align or publicly where they had to maintain appearances for ministers and the people, Empress Qi and the Grand Princess Anle was not got along with each other. After a simple meeting, Empress Qi asked her daughter to go to Qifeng Palace to entertain the grand princess.

Princess Anle was only ten years older than Hua Yang. The two were aunt and niece in name, but in fact their relationship was more like that of good sisters.

When they arrived at Qifeng Palace, Princess Anle sat down and looked at Hua Yang with a smile.

Hua Yang couldn’t control her face, it turned burning red.

Princess Anle smiled: “You have been married for more than two years, why are you still so thin-skinned? I still want to discuss with you something that is not easy to discuss when you were a little girl.”

Hua Yang gave her aunt an angry look: “I’m still a little girl now, so you should keep those words to yourself, don’t tell me.”

Princess Anle: “You don’t know what I’m going to say, so why did you tell me to shut up so early?”

Hua Yang turned away and looked angry.

Princess Anle liked to tease this beautiful niece. She came to Hua Yang, squeezed Hua Yang’s shoulder gently, and teased in a low voice: “How about it, have you used up the good things that Aunt sent you last time?”

Hua Yang lowered her head, clutched her sleeves and said, “How can it be so fast. There’s still about half of it left.”

Princess Anle: “There are fifty in total, how much is this about half left?”

Hua Yang recalled it and said uncertainly: “Sixteen or seventeen? It’s not like I counted them. It’s probably that much.”

Princess Anle raised her head slightly, rolled her eyes, and made a quick calculation. According to the calculation of thirty-four uses, one could be used ten times, that was, in the year and a half from the First Month of last year to the present, her niece and nephew-in-law had done…

Before she could calculate the result, Hua Yang guessed what she was doing, and immediately became angry and scratched her aunt’s arm to stop her from calculating.

Princess Anle was interrupted by her and couldn’t continue the calculation for the time being, but she could also guess that her niece and nephew-in-law were still very affectionate.

“It’s good to be affectionate. When you got married, the first time I saw Fourth Master Chen, I thought that boy was good-looking. At first glance, he was more useful than Cabinet Elder Chen.”

Hua Yang:…

Is the word “useful” that my aunt refers to the same as useful in the court?

She quickly changed the subject and asked her aunt about her life in the past two years.

Princess Anle sighed: “It’s not interesting. No matter how handsome the people in the mansion are, I’m tired of seeing them every day. It’s not that easy to find new people outside. Those who are capable don’t bother to serve me, and those who don’t have the ability to pick out a handsome one… When I talk about this, I get angry. Some men are obviously ugly, but they are still very confident, thinking that I can like them!”

Hua Yang:…

Listening to it, her aunt’s worries were really different from those of ordinary women!

However, her aunt was only in her early thirties and had a pretty face. Of course, ordinary men could not catch her eye.

“What about you, now that you have returned to the capital, are you going to have a child right away, or are you going to wait a few more years?” Princess Anle returned to her chair and chatted while drinking tea, “If it’s the latter, Auntie will save another box of that treasure.”

Hua Yang’s heart moved slightly.

The so-called treasure could not last ten times on Chen Jingzong’s hand, and it broke after being used about seven times. Of course, this was something Chen Jingzong disliked when it broke for the first time. Hua Yang did not deliberately count how long each one could last.

There was only a dozen left, which was probably enough for them to use until the end of this year.

She blushed and nodded.

Princess Anle understood: “I’ll make a note of it. I’ll send it to you after I’ve saved up enough. If you ask me, you’re smarter. Look at Nan Kang, she only got married a year earlier than you, and gave birth to a daughter the year before last. Now she is pregnant again, and every day she had to guard against her Prince Consort messing around with women outside, which makes me feel tired just listening to it. Her Prince Consort is also not very handsome. What’s wrong with messing around, after she gives birth to the child, she can also raise two handsome guards. How wonderful it is for each husband and wife to enjoy themselves.”

Hua Yang smiled and said nothing.

Princess Anle looked at her and asked curiously: “You don’t want a child, does Chen Jinzhong willing? If I were him, I would really like to get you pregnant as soon as possible. Only when you give birth to his flesh and blood can his position as Prince Consort be considered secure.”

Hua Yang smiled: “I have the final say on this matter. It’s useless even if he’s unwilling.”

Princess Anle: “Well, this is the way a princess should act. But aren’t you worried he would steal fish outside?”

Hua Yang: “He doesn’t dare. Not to mention there’s me here, the family tradition of the Chen family is there. If he dares to cause trouble, Cabinet Elder Chen will be the first one to deal with him.”

Of course, Princess Anle had also heard about the Chen family. She nodded and said, “Although your mother is overbearing and arbitrary, the marriage she arranged for you is quite good. If you ask me to choose, I can’t choose a better candidate. Your cousin is not bad, graceful like jade tree, but it’s a pity his marriage was set early.”

Hua Yang was startled, then helplessly said: “What are you talking about? My cousin and I have always only had a brother-sister relationship. You can tease me in private, but don’t talk nonsense outside.”

Princess Anle raised her eyebrows: “Why, are you afraid that your Prince Consort will be upset?”

Hua Yang: “He is a rough man, how can he mind this? I’m afraid that my cousin-in-law will misunderstand and ruin the relationship between her and my cousin.”

Princess Anle: “How can they have any feelings? Every time I bump into them at a banquet, your cousin-in-law always has a bitter look on her face. It seems that the relationship between husband and wife is not harmonious.”

Hua Yang was a little surprised.

She was raised in the palace and met her cousin Qi Jin infrequently. Later, when her cousin got married, she still only saw the couple a few times a year. The deepest impression of her cousin-in-law Tian shi was that she was gentle and beautiful. It was easy to get along with her, but she didn’t know much about her in other aspects.

Could it be that something happened to her cousin-in-law in the past two years? But no matter what the inside story was, it had nothing to do with her who was far away in Lingzhou. Even in the past, her cousin did not treat her in any way that exceed the affection of brother and sister.

As soon as her aunt mentioned the relatives of Hua Yang’s mother clan, Empress Qi sent someone to tell them that the Old Madam, Marquis Madam, Shizi Madam of Wuqing Marquis Mansion were already in Fengyi Palace and asked Hua Yang to come and entertain them.

Qi Wenyuan, Marquis of Wuqing, was Hua Yang’s uncle, and the three generations of ladies who came today were her grandmother, aunt, and cousin-in-law Tian shi.

“Since they are here, Panpan should go and entertain them. I will leave the palace first. When you are free, you can come to my place for tea.”

Hua Yang nodded, sent her aunt off, and immediately went to Fengyi Palace.

Hua Yang’s grandmother, Old Madam Qi, was fifty-nine years old this year. Her hair was still black and she was still energetic. She wore a navy-blue satin outer coat and had a graceful and solemn appearance. Although there were wrinkles on her face, she could still see the beauty of her youth.

“Oh, our Princess Panpan is finally back. Grandma misses you so much!”

Seeing Hua Yang walking in, Old Madam Qi stood up with a smile.

Hua Yang hurriedly ran over and hugged the delicate old lady who was half a head shorter than her. Her mother empress and her grandmother looked very similar. Because of this similarity, Hua Yang was very close to her grandmother even if she didn’t see her much. This was probably the closeness brought by blood relationship.

After being coquettish with her grandmother, Hua Yang called “aunt” to Marquis Madam who was waiting by the side.

Marquis Madam’s expression was respectful, she looked at her and praised: “We haven’t seen each other for two years, and the Princess has become more and more beautiful, just like a fairy descending from the sky.”

Hua Yang smiled and turned her gaze to her cousin-in-law Tian shi’s face behind his aunt.

At this one glance, Hua Yang was taken aback. As her aunt said, Tian shi‘s face was thin, and even makeup could not hide her haggardness and fatigue, as if she was suffering from a serious illness.

She was shocked by Tian shi’s haggardness, while Tian shi was struck by the princess’s beauty. She smiled awkwardly and then lowered her head in shame.

Marquis Madam explained to Hua Yang: “She was not lucky. She finally got pregnant last year but had a miscarriage. She was so sad that she never recovered.”

After this reminder, Hua Yang vaguely remembered that something like this happened in her previous life, but she didn’t care enough about her cousin-in-law and didn’t pay much attention to it.

“Condolences, Cousin-in-law. You are still young. Take good care of your body first and children will come again.”

Hua Yang comforted softly.

Tian shi nodded bitterly.

Empress Qi sat in the main seat and glanced at Tian shi lightly.

Her daughter was raised in the palace and rarely had contact with foreign men. She became aware of relationship between men and women very late. At the age of fourteen or fifteen, she didn’t realize that her nephew Qi Jin looked at her with affection.

Her daughter couldn’t see it, but Empress Qi noticed it early.

Qi Jin was her nephew. He was handsome and well-rounded in both civil and military affairs. Of course Empress Qi liked this nephew very much, but a nephew was just a nephew, not suitable to be a son-in-law.

The Qi family was destined to be the supporter of her and the crown prince, and there is no need for another marriage. As for her son-in-law, in addition to his appearance and talents, he must be worthy of her daughter, and his family background must be beneficial to important things.

In order to prevent Qi Jin from sinking too deeply and even arousing her daughter’s love, as soon as Empress Qi noticed this, she immediately instructed her mother to arrange a marriage for Qi Jin.

Her mother understood her concerns and quickly pick Tian shi.

What satisfied Empress Qi was that Qi Jin clearly liked her daughter, but did not impulsively come to her to plead for anything, and quietly married Tian shi.

It’s a pity that she and her mother were able to arrange Qi Jin to marry Tian shi, ​​but they couldn’t force Qi Jin to show his affection for Tian shi. After four to five years of marriage, Tian shi only got pregnant once and she couldn’t even keep it.

Empress Qi lowered her eyes, picked up the tea cup and took a sip.

Old Madam Qi and others sat in Fengyi Palace for half an hour and then left.

As soon as they left, before Empress Qi could talk to her daughter, Concubine Lin came again with her daughter Princess Nan Kang.

Princess Nan Kang was only one year older than Hua Yang. Just like Concubine Lin had been competing with Empress Qi for favor for many years, Before Princess Nan Kang got married, she always wanted to suppress Hua Yang so that she could be the most favored princess in the palace.

Unfortunately, Concubine Lin and her daughter’s plans were all in vain, and none of them were able to get what they wanted. Even Concubine Lin’s greatest reliance, Prince Yu, failed to compete for the crown prince’s position and sent to Luoyang to become a vassal.

There was nothing interesting about Concubine Lin. When Hua Yang looked at Nan Kang, she first noticed Nan Kang’s abdomen, which looked like she was six to seven months pregnant.

Nan Kang noticed her gaze, smiled and touched her belly, then looked at Hua Yang and said unexpectedly: “Sister has been married to Prince Consort for two years, and also out of mourning early last year. I thought by now I would hear Sister’s good news. ”

Hua Yang smiled lightly: “In the hot summer, I wish I could relax, but Sister came to visit me in the palace on such a hot day, which really touches me.”

Her aunt was anxious to see her because she missed her. Her grandmother’s family not only missed her, but also apprehensive about the etiquette. They needed to show that the Marquis Mansion valued her.

As for Nan Kang, there was no sisterly affection between them, but in order to show an older sister’s concern for her younger sister in front of their father, Nan Kang had to brave the scorching heat to come here even if she didn’t want to.

If Nan Kang was more favored than Hua Yang or this princess had more face, Nan Kang would not be bothered with this trip.

Nan Kang understood this truth better than anyone else, so Hua Yang’s simple words just hit her sore spot!

She gritted her teeth secretly, but still had to pull a smile on her face: “What are you so moved about? Sister just feels so sorry for you. You have been pampered in the palace since you were a child, but you actually had to follow Cabinet Elder Chen’s family to mourn in a remote place like Lingzhou. You also suffered a great grievance over there and was almost kidnapped by Prince Xiang.”

Speaking of the latter part, Nan Kang started to gloat again.

Hua Yang still smiled: “I am in mourning voluntarily. As for the grievances Prince Xiang made me suffer, Father Emperor rewarded me with Dawang whip. I considered it a blessing in disguise and I have already put that grievance behind me. Sister doesn’t have to keep thinking about it.”

Nan Kang:…

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