After three days, the women from Wanhua House who had stopped the carriage in the downtown were indeed released, and the officials said that they did know the maids in the Marquis' Mansion, but just remembered the wrong time of meeting, which was considered a misunderstanding, and did not commit any crime.
Many people have learned that the young lady of the Marquis House has been careless in employing people and that her personal maid is a friend of an old prostitute in a brothel house. Birds of a feather flock together, so the fact she use such person one can imagine what kind of character she has.
But there are also rumours that this was the Grand Prince's way of getting back at the young daughter of the Marquis who quarrelled with him. Otherwise, with the authority of the Marquis Mansion, how could it not be able to handle a few girls from the brothel who provoked and ruined people's reputation in the downtown area? This shows the strength of the Wan Hua House. At the same time, the news that the Grand Prince has been crowned Crown Prince was released to the public.Everyone was even more convinced that the Crown Prince was the only one who could openly humiliate the Zhenbei Marquisate.
At the same time, there was an indescribable feeling in everyone's heart: although the young daughter of the Marquis Mansion may be really stupid and rude, after all, she was only a seven-year-old child. Moreover, for three generations the Zhenbei Marquis had been loyal and virtuous. All the previous old Marquises had died in battle. The present Marquis of Zhenbei, who guards the northern border with 200,000 Shen family troops, has always been a heroic figure in the dynasty. This act of the Crown Prince is not even giving any respect, and the cause is just a quarrel between children, the heart of this man ...... character ...... benevolence ......
The retainers have heard these discussions more or less, and several of them wanted to talk to the Grand Prince about the public discussion about the Hou Mansion.The Grand Prince had just been chosen as Crown Prince by the Emperor, and it was the right time to win the approval of the ministers and the people to show that the Emperor had chosen correctly. But the Grand Prince was openly fighting a little girl, which means if he won, that little girl's reputation was ruined and the Grand Prince's reputation also damaged. At most, that girl will not be able to marry a good family, but on the other hand, the Grand Prince will lose his virtue as Crown Prince. Isn't it clear who is more important and who is less important?
But everyone could see that the Grand Prince was prone to becoming agitated and unhappy when he touched on matters concerning the Marquis of Zhenbei and that young girl. At this time it was entering summer again, the weather was getting hotter and the Grand Prince's temper was even worse. No one in the crowd had the courage to bring up the subject.
The Ministry of Rites has set the enthronement ceremony for September, the golden autumn, when the sky is high and the weather is cool. Calculating that there is only less than three months of preparation time, many personnel arrangements, layout of the Eastern Palace, communication with courtiers and other miscellaneous matters have not yet been resolved. At this time, the discussion caused by a young girl should not be mentioned on the agenda.
Everyone tacitly agreed to work together to complete the celebration and implement the official position as the main objective, other than that, it was better to do more than less!
And the Hou Mansion is also very busy. The Hou Mansion and the Liu family have gone through the stage of engagement, and set a date for the eldest son to marry in March of the following year.
The wedding of the eldest son was a very grand event. The courtyard in the Marquis's Mansion was set aside. As the house in courtyard was not spacious enough, a few more rooms were built alongside the original house. The old houses were painted and repaired, the roofs were tiled, the doors and windows were replaced with new ones, the courtyard was paved and pinged, flowers and trees were planted, which took a lot of time and effort.
Su Wanniang painstakingly persuaded Shen Xiang that this was not the time to act. The Grand Prince had just been named Crown Prince, and any action by the Marquis Mansion at this time would be misinterpreted as dissatisfaction with the Crown Prince and the Emperor's decision. Shen Xiang went back to discuss this with her brothers, and they all understood that they must not be nosy now and hold back for a while.In the autumn, when the Crown Prince's enthronement ceremony takes place, the Marquis will also be returning, so we will see by then what the Marquis's intentions are before we say anything.
Several of the children were uncomfortable in their hearts since they had decided not to go and cause trouble for the Grand Prince, who was about to become the Crown Prince. Shen Yi then suggested a trip to the wilderness, and this time Shen Wen was firmly left at home.
When Shen Xiang returned from her spring trek, she chose a bow and arrow as her weapon, and as her horsemanship naturally spoke for itself, they all rode horses, not a single carriage, and took the guard out of the city, walking for more than half a month before returning.
It was only after they came back that Shen Wen found out that on the way out of the city they met the Third Prince who was also going to ride a horse in the suburbs. Since they were all going for fun, the two people and horses gathered together and passed this section together in the mountains, forests and hills hundreds of miles away. time. The third prince and the children of the Hou's Mansion roared and galloped in the forest or on the grass every day, and at night they lit a bonfire, chatted, laughed and barbecued, and had a great time.
Shen Wen remembered that in her previous life, when there was no such thing as her, Shen Yi and Shen Jian had often gone out riding with the Third Prince, but it didn't seem to have been such a long and obvious friendship as this excursion.
Shen Wen did not know whether this time Shen Yi had an appointment with the Third Prince or a chance encounter, but she could guess that from the perspective of the Grand Prince, who was about to become the Crown Prince, this time Shen Yi and the others were travelling with the Third Prince was a naked provocation that would surely further deepen his hatred for the Marquis Mansion.
If the flower party was the opening of a hidden conflict, then Shen Wen's quarrel with the First Prince and Fourth Princess at the Lantern Festival was the early exposure of what had been a vague discord, and this outing with the Third Prince made the Marquis's position completely explicit.
On the one hand, Shen Wen regretted that he had acted too early and attracted the other party's attention too quickly. Moreover, when the other side came to find out the truth, he did not suppress his anger, intending to leave a foolish impression on the Grand Prince, but because he did not want to be humiliated, he ended up shading him. Judging from the Grand Prince's actions towards their return to the city, one had underestimated the Grand Prince's anger.
Circumstances were intertwined, and Shen Yi fought back, openly siding with the third prince.
Shen Wen began to worry that from then on, the Grand Prince would speed up the course of events and strike at the Marquis in advance, while he was still too young and had too many things to prepare for.
But on the other hand, Shen Wen knew that she could not wait any longer. She could not let the crown prince get Ji Wenzhao, his most powerful wing, but if she wanted to stop Ji Wenzhao, she would have to use help, and the most suitable one was Su Wanniang. By rescuing Su Wanniang, she has alerted the other side ......
Shen Wen dwelled on it for a long time and finally remembered that in his previous life at this time, the Grand Prince had gotten Ji Wen Zhao and did all the inspiring things for the next two years. There is no recollection of anything against the Houfu. Now that Ji Wenzhao has not forsaken the Crown Prince, it should be a big loss for the other side, which is considered to have slowed down the other side's power. We can only do our best to undermine the other side's power below and unite all the forces that can be united, so that the other side will have more heart than strength and will not be able to fix the marquis soon.
Shen Wen had guessed correctly. When the eldest prince got the news that Shen Yi and the others were on a half-monthly trip with the Third Prince, he didn't say anything much for half a day with a gloomy face. The staff around him tried to insinuate him in various ways, but to no avail. In the afternoon of this day, the First Prince sent someone to deliver a letter to the Empress, requesting to see the Empress. The queen immediately asked the eldest prince to come and share dinner.
The queen was only thirty-four years old this year, and she was still a radiant woman. Her willow-leaf eyebrows were green and green, and Danfeng's eyes were shining, but there was no warmth between her eyebrows and eyes, and the corners of her mouth were slightly inward, as if she was always unhappy. It can be seen that when the first prince walked in from the palace gate, Empress Jia still showed a smile.
After seeing the ceremony, the queen smiled and said, "I haven't seen you for a few days, the emperor seems to have lost weight."
The Eldest Prince sighed slightly, "I have no time to rest because of my busy schedule. Sometimes I really envy the Third Imperial Brother, who went on a half-month outing with the sons of the Marquis of Zhenbei a while ago and had a great time."
Her Majesty's face seemed unchanged, but the smile disappeared and her tone took on a lecturing tone as she said:" How can I not envy Consort Chen, who only serves His Majesty every day and is happy, without having to worry about the miscellaneous affairs of the harem?People's lives are different. As the first son, the royal son will soon become the crown prince, which is something that no one can match. You shouldn't always use your own dissatisfaction to compare the other's pride. I have told you many times that it is difficult to be superior to others if you don't endure hardships. If you also play around, do you still want to be a prince? If a person does not have the ambition to rise above the high, he will naturally be willing to be mediocre. You envy him after he has been playing for two days, if he becomes the prince, what will you do? ! "
The eldest prince nodded hurriedly and said: "Mother is right, my son should not say that he envies the Third prince, he should be glad that he has the approval of his father."
The Empress nodded: "This is a sensible child. Besides, the moon has its waxes and wanes, and people have misfortunes and blessings. What kind of tricks can he play around? Usually, my son only needs to concentrate on doing things for the emperor, and don't worry about the rest. "
The eldest prince bowed his head and said: "Thank you, Queen Mother, after listening to Queen Mother's advice, my child feels at ease."
Empress smiled: "Why do you need to be polite? Come, have a good dinner with me, knowing you will come, I have asked them to prepare sweet and sour carp ......"
After dinner, the eldest prince excused himself and the Empress attended to some miscellaneous palace business, learning from the bedside records that the Emperor had again stayed at Noble Consort Chen's palace this evening.
The Empress was in a bad mood and the palace staff next to her moved slowly, so the Empress could not help but reprimand her a few times. Seeing that the Empress had put down her books, the people were busy coming forward to prepare her for bed. Some helped to remove the hairpin ring, while others helped the Empress to dress and bathe.
The room was dark, and the lonely candlelight reflected the Empress's face in a somewhat grim way.
The Empress seemed to be muttering to herself, "That bitch can't be kept. She is so wild, her child dares to give the Emperor's son a hard time ......"
The palace maid beside her only said "hmm". The empress lay down, the palace maid lowered the light tent embroidered with the rising sun of the phoenix, extinguished the candle flame under the bed, left the small lamp at the door and went out.
At the same time, it was also dark inside and outside the palace where the emperor spent the night.
After the banquet, Chen Guifei had a gauze tent set up in the courtyard, extinguished the surrounding lights, and played her flute in the distance while she and the Emperor reclined on a bench, gazing at the bright stars of the summer night and chatting softly and slowly.
Although Chen Guifei was twenty-seven years old, the delicate tone of her voice was still like that of a shy young girl waiting to be born.
Seemingly unintentionally, the emperor asked, "I heard that Sanlang has been getting very close to the children of the Marquis of Zhenbei recently?"
Chen Guifei slowly sighed and said in a slightly sad tone, "When the child is older, he likes to go outside to ride horses, always saying that he wants to guard the border for the country in the future. The most powerful warrior in the city is the Marquis of Zhenbei, and he always wants to go and compete with other people's children. When he came back, he even bragged to me that he was faster than the grand duke of the palace. He has no sense of shame! I said I was afraid they were giving way to him, but he said he was no great man, that they wouldn't give way to him, that he had won himself and was proud of himself. Your Majesty, you should give him a few knocks when you have time, don't let him be so proud all the time, he always thinks now that I, as his mother, have no insight, and he will still listen to what Your Majesty says."
The emperor laughed: "He is still a young man, he should have such a wild nature. He should be happy that he has beaten the Marquis of Zhenbei's son, my son should be superior to others. Don't let him say he's 'not a man', he's going to be a man of the world in the future."
Chen Guifei laughed: "His Majesty always favours him so much. If His Majesty doesn't like him to have any contact with the Marquis of Zhenbei, tell him! Tell him not to compete with others. Your Majesty, don't spoil him, better grab an opportunity to beat him up a few times, see if he still dares to come to me and brag about what he has won again or something like that ......"
The emperor laughed: "If you want to fight, fight! If you win, don't come to you to brag, come to me and say so, I have a prize for him!"
Chen Guifei sighed with a smile, "Your Majesty, I thank you for his kindness. You are so kind to him, he must become a great general in the future, otherwise he will not be worthy of such cultivation by Your Majesty."
The emperor smiled and said, "That's for later, but for now, Concubine, it's time to think about how to be worthy of me. ......"
The summer insects were chirping, the warm breeze was gusting, and the tent was hazy.
