Chapter 20 Return to the North PART 3
The Third Prince was startled and stopped to look at Chen Guifei. In his eyes, his mother's beautiful face always had a smile as warm as the spring breeze, and her words often contained warmth and enthusiasm. But now, there seemed to be no trace of Chen Guifei in her eyes. A lifeless woman who was not yet thirty years old, but looked like a woman in her forties or fifties.
Chen Guifei still looked at the distance and dreamily said, “Seventeen years, day after day, endless ...... I'm really tired ......”
The Third prince suddenly wanted to cry, as if he was still a five or six year old child, and pulled Chen Guifei's arm with both hands, saying, ''Mother! What are you talking about? What will happen to me and my sister if something happens to you?" He usually referred to Chen Guifei as "Mother Concubine," but now, in a state of fear, he even shouted "Mother" like a child.
Chen Guifei slowly closed her eyes and then opened them again, returning to the woman with the soft and warm smile. She raised her hand and gently patted the back of the Third Prince's hand, nodding her head and saying, "Yes, I still have you and your sister, so of course I can't leave, or at least I can't leave without making arrangements for you to be well taken care of.”
Third Prince listening always feels that something is wrong, but does not know how to persuade. Then a palace servant approached, so the Third Prince had to force a smile and asked: "What does Mother Consort like? Son has been going out a lot lately, and will bring something back to mother!
Chen Guifei smiled and whispered: "When I was a child, I always wanted to go sightseeing in the mountains and rivers. In the spring, I would see peach blossoms blooming for hundreds of miles. In the summer, I would go boating on Qianqing Lake. In the fall, I would play the flute in the bamboo forest in the mountains. In winter, I would make tea in the snow pavilion. Something like that. I've never done this as an adult..."
The third prince had real tears in his eyes and said with a choked sob, "Mother Consort, in the future, when the child has a fiefdom, I will ask Royal Father to let the child take Mother Consort out of here so that Mother Consort can go to the fiefdom to have a good time.
Chen Guifei smiled and nodded his head, saying softly, "Fine, I will wait for you to make arrangements for me."
The Third Prince said goodbye to Chen Guifei and left with a heavy heart. At the end of the day, Chen Guifei didn't tell him how she was going to prevent others from poisoning her. Maybe Chen Guifei doesn't know how to defend herself? Or unable to prevent it? At this thought, the Third Prince broke out in a cold sweat, hating that he could not go to his father right away to ask for a fiefdom.
But he is fifteen years old this year, and his elder brother was only made crown prince at eighteen, so he will have to wait until he is at least eighteen before he can be titled Wang, a feudal lord. Will Chen Guifei be able to wait those three years?
The third prince is suffocating, and would like to go to find Shen Yi they fight. But Zhenbei Marquis has not left the capital, he also knows that now can not go to Zhenbei Marquis House. He went back to his palace in a bored manner.He wanted to find Eunuch Gu to practice, but Eunuch Gu was not there, so he went to the empty field at the back of the palace and kicked and punched several boxing styles until he was sweating profusely.
Eunuch Gu is just with the emperor.
The day after the third prince received the note at the Wan Hua Lou, he told the emperor about it. However, after such a long time, the Crown Prince's ceremony had passed, and the emperor had not given any instructions on the matter. Since he was suddenly summoned here today, Eunuch Gu thought that the Emperor wanted to tell him how to protect Chen Guifei.
His Majesty said to Eunuch Gu, “You have been away from Zhen for a long time, so it is time for you to come back.”
Eunuch Gu was shocked in his heart, but he had already lowered his body and said, "Just listen to Your Majesty's orders, the slave will move over today." "The emperor is going to give up Chen Guifei.
The emperor smiled: “You are loyal. There is no need to be in such a hurry, that is, you understand in your heart. Come back at the end of the year, this matter does not need to be made known to everyone.”
Eunuch Gu lowered himself again, “ Listen to your majesty all the time.”
The Emperor sighed, “Concubine Chen is indeed understanding, but Zhen has treated her right.”
He made a gesture and Eunuch Gu bowed and retired.
Eunuch Gu did not ask any questions because he thought he knew quite a bit about the Emperor: the Emperor had enthroned the First Prince as the Crown Prince to be the person who would help him rule the country in the future.
A few small things can fulfill the Crown Prince's wish, so that the Crown Prince and himself can be on the same page and there will be no rift. After all, Chen Guifei has been an "old man" for more than ten years. After being the emperor's favorite for so many years, even if she died, the emperor would still feel that he had "treated her right".
As for the third prince, the elder prince has become the crown prince and is unbreakable, so there is no need to bother this younger brother. Even though Chen Guifei is gone, unlike before, this son will not be in any danger.
Marquis of Zhenbei departed for the Northern part of the country five days after the Crown Prince Enthronement Ceremony.
At dawn, the old madam and Yang Shi with their five children were at the gate to bid farewell to Marquis Zhenbei. Marquis Zhenbei was dressed in military armor with a black cape, and twenty horses were ready to go outside the gate of his residence, and the soldiers were solemn.
Marquis Zhenbei first bid farewell to the old madam, who held back her tears and said in a low voice, “My son takes good care of himself.”
Marquis Zhenbei nodded and said, “Mother, don't worry.” He also said to Yang Shi, who had tears streaming down her face and was suppressing her sobs, “I'll be back next year when Dalang gets married, so I won't be gone long this time.”
Yang Shi saluted and cried, “How can it be considered soon? Unconscionable ......” She has been losing her temper since yesterday, arguing about everything.
Zhenbei Marquis looked at the children standing by the side, helplessly whispering, “In front of the children it ......”
Yang Shi covered her face with both hands, “I don't care!” She cried out with a loud voice.
The old Madam frowned and whispered, “How old are you? Still so petty!”
Yang Shi cried even more severely. Several older children were a little embarrassed when they saw their mother crying so bitterly. Only Shen Wen went over to pull Yang Shi's sleeve and cried, "Mother, don't cry...”
Yang Shi is 33 years old this year and is the mistress of the family. Everyone here thinks that she should be very mature and stable. In the past, Shen Wen also thought that Yang Shi was sometimes too easily excited, but now it seems that Yang Shi is still a young housewife. In future generations, the woman at this age is still considered young, and it is the time to harmonize with their husbands. But Yang Shi has to say goodbye to her husband, who has only been with her for half a month. How carefully she cleaned and prepared at the beginning, how sad she is now.
Marquis Zhenbei told his older children who had tears in their eyes to tell them not to get into trouble and so on, and picked up Shen Wen up and down. Yang Shi put down her hand and cried, “Why are you holding her?！Forgot... aren't you tired?！Wen Er, get down here!”
Shen Wen used his consciousness to hit several acupoints onMarquis ZhenBei's shoulder and then cried and cried, twisting her body to come down. Marquis Zhenbei smiled and said, “It doesn't matter, Wen Er is not heavy at all, every time I hug Wen Er, I feel much more comfortable.”
Yang Shi cried: “You don't talk nonsense!”
The old madam coughed in dissatisfaction, and Yang Shi raised her hands again to cover her face and cried. The old madam said to the children, “You all say goodbye to your father, don't miss the time.” This is to urge Yang Shi.
Marquis Zhenbei once again bowed to the old madam, the old madam nodded, the five children bowed to Marquis Zhenbei to say goodbye. Then the old madam greeted Shen Xiang and Shen Wen to come and support her, and also signalled to Shen Yi, Shen Jian and Shen Zhuo to follow behind her, leading the way towards the mansion.
When Shen Wen was about to turn the corner, she looked back and saw that the cloak of the Marquis of Zhenbei was blocking the figure of Yang, and her parents were clinging to each other in the gray gloom of the early morning.
Shen Wen was in tears, she was very glad that she had wandered for a thousand years and had not given up on this life. If her persistence could bring about the well-being of these people in this life, she would have no regrets even if she had to wait in solitude for ten thousand years!
