Chapter 80

 

Hua Yang’s Princess Mansion, she had only visited a few times in this life. For Chen Jingzong, it was his second visit.

His first visit was on the last rest day. Hua Yang took him to the Princess Mansion to stay for one night, so that when the couple entertained the crown prince, Chen Jingzong would familiar with the road.

Although he had only come once, Chen Jingzong acted as if he had come a thousand times. When the crown prince toured his sister’s mansion with great interest, Chen Jingzong just followed the two siblings without looking around, seemed not surprised by anything.

“Okay, let’s go eat first, and then continue walking around after eating.” Hua Yang said, holding her brother’s hand.

The crown prince tentatively asked, “Can we go out tonight?”

Hua Yang: “No, if Father Emperor and Mother Empress know that I took you out at night, in the future you won’t be able to come out even during the day.”

The crown prince was disappointed at first, but then became excited again: “When will Sister take me out of the palace next time?”

Hua Yang: “Let’s talk about it when the opportunity comes. Don’t think too much about it.”

The crown prince curled his lips.

The three of them washed their hands first. When they returned to the main room, the food had already brought over from the kitchen and placed on the table. There were both the crown prince’s favorite dishes and Lingzhou’s specialties.

The crown prince was in a good mood and had a good appetite, but he was not very interested in tasting delicious food and preferred to talk to his sister.

“In the middle of the month, I practiced archery for a long time. Then the next day my arms were sore. While practicing calligraphy, I couldn’t help but pause a few times. Mr. Liu saw it and asked me what happened, so I it explained to him. Unexpectedly Mr. Liu went to Cabinet Elder to reported Master Mei, who taught me archery.”

At this point, the crown prince deliberately stopped to eat some food.

Chen Tingjian was the crown prince’s grand teacher and the first person responsible for teaching the prince. However, he was still the chief assistant and could not guard the crown prince all day, so he arranged several other teachers for the crown prince. Chen Tingjian only spent an hour to teach every day, and then learned about the crown prince’s academic progress from the other teacher.

Of course Hua Yang had to ask curiously: “What did Cabinet Elder say?”

The crown prince glanced at the crown prince consort who had been eating silently and said: “Cabinet Elder saw my archery skills and praised my rapid progress, and then advised me to use discretion and not to act too hastily.”

Hua Yang smiled and said: “I thought Cabinet Elder would remind Master Mei to lighten your martial arts classes to prevent you from being overworked.”

Crown Prince: “I thought so too. I thought he seems to be in a particularly good mood recently and is polite to everyone.”

Hua Yang: “Really? At the beginning of the month, one of Prince Consort’s nephews got a minor illness because he was scolded by Cabinet Elder.”

The crown prince was extremely surprised and looked at Chen Jingzong: “Is that true? Why did Cabinet Elder scold him?”

Of course Chen Jingzong knew about the matter of Dalang vomited, and he briefly explained it to the crown prince.

The crown prince’s thoughts were racing.

It turned out that Cabinet Elder Chen was not only strict with him, he was also strict with his own grandson!

But he was much more tough than the Chen family’s Dalang, because he had never been frightened to the point of vomiting by Cabinet Elder Chen!

Hua Yang pretended to analyze: “Perhaps it’s not that Cabinet Elder is in a good mood recently, but after Dalang became ill, he reflected on his attitude and then change it.”

The crown prince thought to himself, this was the best. He hated the old Cabinet Elder Chen who always had a sullen face when lecturing people. If Cabinet Elder Chen really changed, he would like him a little.

“Why doesn’t Prince Consort talk?”

Noting that Chen Jingzong was silent most of the time, the crown prince asked casually. He had met Chen Bozong and Chen Xiaozong, could it be that Prince Consort, like his two brothers, inherited Cabinet Elder Chen’s steadfastness?

Chen Jingzong looked at Hua Yang and said seriously: “This minister have little education and a stupid mouth. The Princess gave me many instructions yesterday, telling me to be careful of what I say in front of Your Highness, so as not to offend Your Highness.”

Hua Yang:……

How could the crown prince know that prince consort was just messing with his sister. He only thought that prince consort was serious. When he was in the palace, he was surrounded by people who were cautious in their words and deeds. Even if he jumped into a puddle, they could say a bunch of things to persuade him to take care of his body or abide by the etiquette of a gentleman. Now that he was out of the palace, the crown prince did not want to have another such person.

“You are a Prince Consort and my brother-in-law, why should family treat each other like outsider? Don’t worry, even if you say the wrong thing, I won’t care.” The crown prince said very generously.

Chen Jingzong: “Thank you, Your Highness.”

Prince: “Why don’t you like to study and choose martial arts?”

Chen Jingzong looked at the princess “cautiously”.

Hua Yang: “…If you were asked, you can answer it.”

The crown prince looked at his sister with a strange expression. No matter in the letter or in the carriage, her sister said that she was very satisfied with prince consort, then why was she still so cold? No wonder prince consort was very restrained. He heard that some husbands treated their wives as they pleased. Could it be that his sister was gentle and approachable in front of him, but has a different attitude towards prince consort?

Of course, even so, the crown prince didn’t think there was anything wrong with it, he just sympathized a little bit with prince consort. He was quite handsome, strong, and obedient to his sister, but in the end, he couldn’t get her favor.

Chen Jingzong replied to the crown prince: “To be honest with Your Highness, this minister couldn’t stand the harshness of the elder when I was a child, so often got angry and didn’t want to study.”

The crown prince never expected this answer. He forgot to eat the food he picked up, and asked: “How did Cabinet Elder treat you?”

Chen Jingzong gave several examples.

Crown Prince: “Then when you didn’t want study, the elder just agreed?”

Chen Jingzong: “Of course he didn’t agree, but this minister didn’t listen to him. He asked this minister to go to the study to check the homework, but this minister didn’t go. He then grabbed this minister and wanted to use the family law, he beat and made this minister cry. Mother felt distressed when she saw it, and stopped him for beating anymore, then there’s nothing he can do.”

Crown Prince:……

Prince Consort’s mother is very kind! If he dared to behave like prince consort, his mother empress would be the first to punish him. Even if his father emperor wanted to speak for him, she would silence him with her reasoning.

Hua Yang picked up some food for her brother and then glanced sideways at Chen Jingzong. He was not allowed to say this. What if he led his younger brother astray?

After dinner, the three of them went to the garden.

Hua Yang didn’t know what was going on. Her brother obviously liked to stick to her when he first came, followed her wherever she went. Now while walking, her brother actually came next to Chen Jingzong. One moment asked Chen Jingzong how he contradicted her father-in-law when he was a child, another moment asked Chen Jingzong how he dealt with those corrupt officials at the Lingzhou military station.

There was a hill in the princess’s mansion. Although it was small, it was higher than the rockery. Standing at the foot of the hill and looking up, one couldn’t even see the top at a glance.

The crown prince pointed to the top and asked Chen Jingzong: “Sister said you are very good at climbing mountains. Can you carry me up in one breath?”

Hua Yang frowned and said, “Don’t mess around.”

Although her brother was the crown prince, he should not treat the palace guards like cattle and horses. Moreover, Chen Jingzong was still a third-grade military attaché and a prince consort, he had his own integrity.

Her tone at this time was more or less like Empress Qi’s.

The crown prince lowered his eyes and was about to apologize to prince consort when he heard prince consort laugh and say: “As a courtier and prince consort, this minister dares not carry the crown prince on my back in case anything goes wrong. But as a brother-in-law, this minister is willing to carry Your Highness to climb up.”

The crown prince’s eyes lit up.

Cao Li, who had been following them all the time, was sweating on his forehead and bent down to persuade: “Your Highness, this hill is too high and the sky is dark at this time. You should…”

Crown Prince: “Shut up, just pretend you didn’t see what happened tonight. If I find out that you went to Mother Empress and talked nonsense, see how I deal with you!”

Cao Li looked at the princess for help with anxious look on his face.

Hua Yang looked at Chen Jingzong: “Be careful.”

Chen Jingzong nodded and carried the crown prince on his back.

Cao Li still wanted to follow with a lantern, but Chen Jingzong had already climbed more than a dozen steps quickly, and Cao Li was so frightened that he quickly chased after him.

The crown prince lay on prince consort’s broad shoulders. At first, he turned back to prevent Cao Li from catching up. When he found that the distance was getting farther and farther, he happily looked ahead.

The twelve-year-old prince was not as heavy as Hua Yang, and it didn’t take long for Chen Jingzong to reach the top of the mountain.

The crown prince was still unsatisfied.

Chen Jingzong: “Should this minister carry Your Highness down again?”

Crown Prince: “Yes!”

Chen Jingzong started going down the mountain again. When he reached the foot of the mountain, he was not flushed or out of breath, which made the panting Cao Li next to him even more useless.

.

As night fell, Chen Jingzong and Hua Yang sent the crown prince to the courtyard where he would stay.

The crown prince entered and the couple walked back side by side.

Hua Yang looked at him and asked in a low voice: “You really don’t care when he orders you around like that?”

Chen Jingzong looked at her and said, “If he were just the crown prince, I would refuse. But he’s your brother and he’s still a child. Why shouldn’t I make my brother-in-law happy?”

Seeing that he was thinking openly, Hua Yang put this little matter behind her.

In front was Qifeng Hall.

The Qifeng Hall in the Princess Mansion was much more magnificent compared to the temporarily renamed Qifeng Hall in Ningyuan. Not to mention anything else, the bed in the inner hall alone was incomparable to the already expensive Babu beds outside. It was a ten feet-wide red sandalwood bed carved with phoenix. Four phoenix-shaped bed pillars of the same material support four sides of the veil curtain, and the soft lighting created a hazy atmosphere, making it seem like a fairyland within the curtain.

The bed was high and heavy. When Chen Jingzong came here last time, he tried to push it. But even though he was very strong, the bed didn’t budge at all.

Chen Jingzong was very satisfied. He liked this kind of sturdy bed.

Seeing him staring at the bed, Hua Yang’s heart beat a little faster.

The last time she came here, she was on her period. Chen Jingzong couldn’t do anything, he just hugged her and talked a lot of nonsense until the middle of the night.

“Don’t even think about it tonight.” Hua Yang warned in a low voice. She would go out with her brother tomorrow.

Chen Jingzong stood in front of a bedpost, and while carefully looking at the carved phoenix hovering on it, he asked: “You haven’t prepared anything, what can I think about?”

Hua Yang snorted and went to the bathroom to take a bath.

Chen Jingzong stood by the bed, thinking that the bed used by the emperor in the palace should also be this style. It was big enough for the emperor to invite several beauties to hang out with him.

As for Princess Hua Yang, her power over men was almost the same as that of the emperor. For Chen Jingzong to be able to lie on such bed, he was really like a sleeping consort.

Hua Yang came back from the bath and saw him sitting by the window, still wearing the prince-consort’s official uniform.

Normally, he would have ordered two buckets of water to wash himself.

“You don’t plan to take a shower tonight?” Hua Yang asked suspiciously. Whether they were sleeping together or not, this was something he must do.

Chen Jingzong: “I’ll shower when I go back later.”

Hua Yang: “Where are you going?”

Chen Jingzong: “I made an agreement with Zhou Ji. I will personally guard the Crown Prince in the first half of the night, and he will guard him in the next half.”

This was the first time the crown prince had lived away from the emperor and the empress. Even if there was a circle of guards around the princess mansion, Chen Jingzong must add a layer of protection outside the crown prince’s bedroom. Otherwise, if assassins really broke in and the crown prince was in danger, the entire Chen family had to be buried with him.

The lights in the inner hall were like daylight, illuminating Chen Jingzong’s handsome and fierce face.

Hua Yang rarely saw him so serious, and not just pretending, so she couldn’t help but be stunned.

When she came to her senses, Chen Jingzong had already arrived in front of her.

Hua Yang felt guilty.

In her previous life, he had sacrificed his life to protect her brother’s country, but her brother did not treat his family well.

“You go to sleep first.” Chen Jingzong touched her long loose hair.

Hua Yang lowered her eyes and asked, “In the next half of the night, where will you sleep?”

Chen Jingzong: “Don’t worry, I will go to Liuyun Hall and won’t come to disturb you.”

Hua Yang pursed her lips.

Chen Jingzong was leaving.

When he was about to pass by her, Hua Yang suddenly pulled his sleeve: “Come here after the night watch. Such a big room, sleeping alone feels empty.”

It had always been Chen Jingzong who was rushing to get close to her. “Invitation” was too unfamiliar to Hua Yang, so her voice was very soft.

But Chen Jingzong heard it and heard every word clearly.

He turned around, hugged Hua Yang from behind, held her tightly in his arms with one hand, brushed her long hair away with the other, and kissed the side of her neck.

He kissed hard.

Hua Yang couldn’t stand steadily and was about to slid down, but she was immediately lifted up by him, then he half-carried and half-lifted her to the bedside.

Hua Yang lay down on the red shu brocade.

Just when she thought Chen Jingzong would continue, he pulled the Shu brocade to cover her and suddenly left.

The author has something to say:

Shu brocade: I was shocked, I thought there would be more holes!

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