Chapter 74

 

After dinner, there was a slight breeze outside.

Hua Yang walked around the yard twice, and then continued to sit under the shade of trees to enjoy the coolness. Although there was ice in the room, it was not as comfortable as the natural coolness outside.

Chen Jingzong did not accompany her to walk, but now he sat over again and took the fan from Chao Yun’s hand to fan her.

It was a round fan that was loved by all the ladies, but Chen Jingzong was not comfortable using it: “I told you to buy a palm-leaf fan, that one is cooler.”

Hua Yang knew what he was talking about. Almost all the old eunuchs and old women in the palace had one. But they were so ugly, how could Hua Yang use them?

She glanced sideways at him: “If you’re tired, just call the maids over.”

Chen Jingzong did not answer this sentence and talked to her seriously: “That day I boldly asked His Majesty for a new job at Daxing Left Guard. The old man was very unhappy and gave me a scolding, blaming me using my status as Prince Consort for acting arbitrarily. But what do you think?”

Emperor Jingshun was quite kind and asked him what reward he wanted. Chen Jingzong didn’t think too much and just said what was on his mind.

He really didn’t want to stay in Jinyiwei. The Jinyiwei worked exclusively for the emperor, doing errands such as spying on information and inspecting for arrests. Moreover, the commander of the Jinyiwei, Liu Shou, knew that he was the emperor’s son-in-law, so he only asked him to do some menial work, fearing that he might feel burdened and complain. If Chen Jingzong didn’t make progress, he would stuck eating free meals all day long, which was quiet frustrating. If he did make progress, he was part of Jinyiwei after all, afraid Liu Shou would suspect that he has ulterior motives to seize power and then run to Emperor Jingshun to talk nonsense.

Chen Jingzong wanted to go to the guard station even more. He practiced martial arts when he was young, firstly to deliberately opposed the old man, and secondly, he yearned for the heroic generals in the history books.

At that time, he thought that if Emperor Jingshun agreed, it would be great for him to get what he wanted. If Emperor Jingshun didn’t agree, then forget it, it was no loss for him.

Unexpectedly, the old man blew his beard and glared at him, while Emperor Jingshun responded good-naturedly.

Chen Jingzong was self-aware. It was not that Emperor Jingshun appreciate his talent, but just took care of his son-in-law.

Marrying Hua Yang, Chen Jingzong didn’t want to take any advantage of her except for her person, but his status as prince consort indeed brought him a lot of conveniences, including Emperor Jingshun’s favor and connivance towards him.

In this case, Chen Jingzong also had to listen to her opinions on some matters.

Hua Yang looked at him and asked curiously: “If I had the same attitude as Father and warned you to be careful in your words and deeds in front of Father Emperor, would you still say that to Father Emperor?”

Chen Jingzong thought for a while and said: “I will still say that, but I will be more tactful. I hope His Majesty will transfer me to the guard station as a small soldier, starting from the bottom.”

Hua Yang: “If you really become a small soldier, you can’t just go home whenever you want.”

Chen Jingzong: “That’s better than doing nothing in Jinyiwei.”

Hua Yang was noncommittal.

Chen Jingzong: “Why, are you reluctant if I don’t go home for a long time?”

Hua Yang looked at his face: “I haven’t seen you for more than ten days, but your face is getting bigger and bigger.”

Chen Jingzong smiled and helped fanning her.

Hua Yang snorted and said: “Father Emperor loves me, and you are my Prince Consort. As long as you keep your sense of proportion and don’t make excessive requests, Father Emperor will comply with you, and I also won’t care. But Father lecturing you also makes sense. It’s always right to be cautious in words and deeds, and you still have to pay more attention to it.”

Chen Jingzong: “I will obey the Princess’s teachings.”

He looked earnest, but Hua Yang remembered how unruly he was in front of her father-in-law, and couldn’t help laughing: “Why aren’t you this sensible in front of Father?”

As long as he was willing to be more courteous, father and son would not treat each other coldly.

Chen Jingzong looked at her and said, “If he were half as good-looking as you, I would bear it.”

Hua Yang:……

Just as the sky was getting dark, Chen Jingzong put down the small round fan, picked her up and went to the inner room.

.

In the morning, when Hua Yang woke up, it was bright outside the window.

Thinking back to what happened last night, Hua Yang couldn’t help but feel rejoice. Fortunately, she was a princess and didn’t have to go to her mother-in-law’s place to pay respect.

“When did Prince Consort leave?” she asked the maids who came in to serve her.

Only Chao Lu, who was keeping watch at night, knew about this, and said with some admiration: “At about a Maoshi (5-7am), I woke up when I heard Prince Consort opening the door of the main room. When I went out to take a look, Prince Consort was gone. The kitchen knew that Prince Consort was going to get up early today to work on errands and had already prepared breakfast, but Prince Consort refused. He said he was going to eat at the guard station and asked the kitchen not to prepare anything in the future.”

Hua Yang calculated the distance from Daxing Left Guard to the capital. Chen Jingzong had to ride a horse for an hour early in the morning. He didn’t want to set off after eating because he was afraid that the bumps on the horse would make his stomach uncomfortable.

Thinking about it this way, among the four Chen family father and son, Chen Jingzong was the most tiring in terms of the hardships on the road.

Then Hua Yang thought again, if it were her, let alone for that little happiness, even if someone told her that getting up early and running for an hour every other day would keep her youthful forever, she might not be able to persist.

The weather was quite comfortable now, but when it got cold in winter, the sky would be dark when Chen Jingzong was rushing on the road in the morning and evening!

It could be seen that if Chen Jingzong could really insist on going home every other day, he was determined!

After having breakfast alone, Hua Yang went to greet her mother-in-law and went out to Princess Anle’s mansion.

The biggest advantage of a princess getting married was that she had freedom of movement and could go wherever she wanted.

Princess Anle did not expect her niece would come to see her just after leaving the palace, and she happily welcomed Hua Yang in.

Naturally, Hua Yang didn’t come empty-handed and brought the gift she had prepared for her aunt in Lingzhou.

Princess Anle: “What’s so rare about these things? If you really want to honor your aunt, send your guard commander to stay here for a few nights. Is he called Zhou Ji?”

Hua Yang:…

Even if Zhou Ji was willing, she couldn’t say that to her guards. Even though her aunt could choose her own male companion, if it really involved the guards around her, the reputation of both the aunt and niece would be damaged if word spread out.

“Look at how scared you are. Auntie just said it casually and wanted to tease you.” Looking at Hua Yang’s changing expression, Princess Anle burst out laughing.

Hua Yang breathed a sigh of relief and then said angrily: “If you make such a joke again, I will never come here again.”

Princess Anle hurriedly coaxed her beautiful niece, then took her hand and walked to the waterside pavilion to listen to music.

More than a dozen singers danced in thin gauze skirts. Not only men, but also women liked such a pleasing sight.

However, Hua Yang was about to say goodbye after watching two sets. It was true that she liked her aunt, but she also cherished her own reputation. Whenever she came to her aunt’s house as a guest, she would not stay too long, lest outsiders would suspect that she came to her aunt to have an affair with a handsome companion.

After returning to Chen’s house, Hua Yang went directly back to Siyi Hall.

“Princess, the eldest young master seems to be ill.”

As soon as Hua Yang entered the courtyard, Chao Lu and Chao Lan, who had stayed at home, greeted their master and reported the news they had heard in the morning.

Hua Yang paused, and the handsome little face of Dalang appeared in her mind.

In the previous life, among the little ones of the Chen family, Hua Yang was only close to Wan Yi, and didn’t care much about Dalang and the others. In this life, she might have become more approachable when she was in Lingzhou. Dalang, Erlang, and Sanlang often followed Wan Yi to came to play with her, and Hua Yang began to have some feelings for the three boys.

Since Dalang was ill, Hua Yang went directly to Guanhe Hall without going back to the house.

The three brothers’ courtyards were very close, and Hua Yang didn’t need to walk for too long. But the weather was hot, and when she arrived at Guanhe Hall, there was still a flush on her face.

“Why is the Princess here on such a hot day?” Yu Xiu hurriedly greeted her.

At this time, Wan Yi was still studying in school.

Seeing Yu Xiu’s worried look, Hua Yang walked in and asked, “I heard that Dalang is ill. Have you invited the doctor to take a look?”

Yu Xiu smiled worriedly and said, “I have. The doctor said it’s nothing serious. Maybe he caught a cold after kicking the quilt last night, and just vomited in the school this morning.”

While talking, Hua Yang had already stepped into Dalang’s room.

Dalang was only seven years old, and his mother asked him to lie in bed obediently. Now the fourth aunt, the princess, had come, he did not dare to step to the ground wearing only his middle coat, for fear of losing etiquette.

“Fourth Aunt.”

The boy’s face was red, as he looked embarrassed.

Hua Yang saw the shadows of Chen Bozong and Yu Xiu on his face. His appearance was more like Chen Bozong’s, and the nervousness between his eyebrows was almost exactly the same as Yu Xiu’s.

Hua Yang was secretly surprised.

Girls were usually more shy, but Wan Yi was unexpectedly more confident, but Dalang inherited the quietness of Yu Xiu’s temperament.

Hua Yang had a brother who was eight years younger than her. She was quite experienced in caring for boys. She said softly: “Did Dalang not cover yourself with a quilt last night? Or did you accidentally eat the wrong thing?”

Dalang lowered his eyes and agreed with the first guess.

But Hua Yang had a vague feeling that this child seemed to have something on his mind.

After leaving Dalang’s room, Hua Yang asked Yu Xiu if she noticed anything strange about Dalang. Yu Xiu sighed and said helplessly: “There must be no problem with the food. It’s just that yesterday evening Father asked them to go to the study room to check their homework. Dalang was listless when he came back and he refused to tell me anything when I asked him, but Wan Yi told me that he made a mistake when reciting the book and was reprimanded by Father.”

Hua Yang was stunned.

Yu Xiu lowered her head, pinched her sleeves and said, “Dalang is like me, not as smart as his father, but he is the eldest grandson, and Father has the highest expectations for him. It is right to be angry and disappointed.”

Hua Yang hadn’t seen Yu Xiu looking so cowardly for a long time, and she felt angry for no reason: “Let’s not talk about whether Dalang is smart or not. Even if he is not very talented, why is he just like you? It’s the same parents, Father is extraordinary talented but the Second Uncle didn’t even pass the county exam. It’s just that the dragon has nine sons, each one is different. If Sister-in-law continue to belittle yourself like this, all the words that I’ve said to you in the past two years are truly in vain.”

When Yu Xiu heard what she said, she blushed with shame at first, and then turned pale because she was afraid of the princess being angry. She stammered: “Princess, please don’t be angry. I, I remember it all. I was just anxious when I saw Dalang like this, and I said that out of habit.”

Hua Yang understood that it was easier to change mountains and rivers than to alter one’s character. If Yu Xiu suddenly became as confident as Chen Jingzong, she would feel strange.

The two went to sit down in the main room. Hua Yang wanted to ask how her father-in-law scolded Dalang and actually frightened the child like this. Unfortunately, Yu Xiu was not present at the time and could not explain clearly.

Not long after, Wan Yi came back from school.

Hua Yang asked Yu Xiu to take care of Dalang while she talked to Wan Yi alone.

Wan Yi felt very sorry for her younger brother and complained in a low voice: “Grandfather is too fierce. He still quite lenient to me, but he is very strict to Dalang and the others. He will glare if they recite one word wrong, and he always has a straight face. In the past, we always looked forward to the holiday, but when we thought that Grandfather would stay at home on the holiday, we wished we could get rid of the holiday, so that Grandfather would go out early and come home late every day.”

Hua Yang:…

Her father-in-law, who was gentle and polite to her, was actually like this in front of the children?

Hua Yang remembered that before she got married, she had gone to watch her father-in-law teach her younger brother. In her memory, her father-in-law was personable and knowledgeable, and he was also very humble when correcting his younger brother’s mistakes.

Her brother had complained to her many times that her father-in-law was too strict, but Hua Yang didn’t take it too seriously. She thought it was because her brother had a childish nature, resisted studying and deliberately spoke ill of her father-in-law. When she was a child, she also complained about the teaching Mama to her mother empress.

But now, Wan Yi also complained to her that her father-in-law taught harshly, and she even saw with her own eyes that Dalang got sick from being disciplined by her father-in-law!

Could it be that her father-in-law only looked kind and cheerful when she was present?

Just like Wan Yi said, her father-in-law would be more lenient towards his granddaughter!

Hua Yang spent the whole afternoon thinking about this matter.

Her father-in-law was undoubtedly a good chief minister, but was he really a good teacher?

“Princess, why are you so distracted?”

Seeing that the princess didn’t move her chopsticks for a long time, Chao Yun asked in a low voice, “Could it be that you miss Prince Consort?”

Hua Yang:……

She glared at Chao Yun, put away her distracting thoughts, and concentrated on eating first.

While enjoying the cool air after dinner, there was a sudden movement in the front yard, it seemed a boy servant was greeting “Prince Consort”.

Without waiting for Hua Yang’s instructions, Chao Yue had already ordered Zhen’er to find out.

Not long after, Zhen’er returned and said with a smile: “Princess, Prince Consort is indeed back and asked people to prepare water for a bath.”

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