Chapter 1 Chapter 1 Lin'an

Chapter 1

October of the first year of Qinghe, the autumn wind was already wrapped with a bleak chill, and with the continuous autumn rain, it was so cold that people shivered.

Cuiping saw that Jiang Yu's face was pale, and asked distressedly, "Madam, should we ask the steward Wang to prepare silver frost charcoal as soon as possible?" With silver frost charcoal, a heating stove can be prepared, so Jiang Yu doesn't have to suffer from the cold.

Silver frost charcoal is precious, and the Zhou Wang Mansion is not as good as before, so it is natural to arrange and prepare it in advance.

Jiang Yu wore a half-worn lake green persimmon calyx pattern narrow sleeve jacket, and a red velvet lotus coat embroidered with cloud patterns on the outside. She was slender and showed a graceful figure when walking.

When they walked to the east courtyard, there was a sycamore tree that was as thick as a man's embrace. The afternoon sun shone through the lush trees, and the light and shadow were mottled, which seemed a little dim, but Jiang Yu's skin was as white as snow, and her face was beautiful, which was as dazzling as a gem in this dim background.

Even though Cuiping had been with Jiang Yu since childhood, she was still stunned by her beauty. However, when she thought of the cold treatment of Jiang Yu by Lin Bozhi, the prince of Zhou, she felt a little resentful.

Jiang Yu said, "No need to prepare this year."

When they reached the door, the maid lifted the curtain. When they entered the room, it was naturally much warmer. Cuiping called someone in to help Jiang Yu wash up, took a handkerchief to wipe her face and hands, and brought hot tea. After she drank a few sips to get rid of the cold, she asked, "Madam, why don't we prepare this year?" "

I just received a letter that His Majesty is going to summon the prince to the capital. The imperial edict will be delivered to your house in the evening."

Although Cuiping was calm, she couldn't help it at this moment. She almost dropped the teacup in her hand. She hurriedly calmed herself down and asked almost in surprise, "This is..." When

the new emperor ascended the throne, the foundation of the country was naturally the issue of offspring. However, the new emperor was weak and unable to bear children. This was a secret known to everyone. So it was natural to find a suitable candidate from the royal family. It was just that because of the cholera incident of Concubine Wang, the royal family's connections were declining, and now the only one who could catch her eye was her husband, Prince Zhou Lin Bozhi.

Jiang Yu's face did not show any joy. She put down the teacup, stood up and walked to the bedside. There was a tank of koi under the window. Perhaps because of the rain, the koi could not breathe oxygen and felt very suffocated. They desperately blew bubbles towards the water surface, trying to absorb a little bit of air.

Sometimes Jiang Yu felt that she was not the koi.

"The prince can return to the capital, so Princess Jialan should also return to the secular world."

Cuiping was stunned when she heard about Princess Jialan. When King Zhou was still alive, Lin Bozhi was naturally not driven to Lin'an, a rural place, to live. As the most proud grandchild of the previous emperor, he was both civil and military. He was also a high-spirited figure in the capital. His grandmother, Empress Xu, acted as a matchmaker and married Princess Jialan, the eldest daughter of Ningyang Marquis.

The two had been childhood sweethearts since childhood and had secretly developed feelings for each other. It was also a wish come true.

However, in the thirteenth year of Yongfeng, the incident of Concubine Wang causing cholera in the harem occurred. It was a dark period that still makes people feel palpitating when they think about it now.

The late emperor suddenly fell in love with a new beauty, and she was promoted to a noble concubine in just a few days. This noble concubine Wang was also a character. She first deceived the late emperor to dismiss his first wife, Empress Xu, and then poisoned the crown prince and several other princes, almost slaughtering the royal bloodline and forcing the loyal and good. At that time, evil was in power and the people were living in misery. The new emperor, the King of Qin, escaped because he was weak and recuperating in the south of the Yangtze River.

Lin Bozhi's father, the King of Zhou, also took his family back to his fiefdom Lin'an from the capital in time, but he was also hit hard by this incident. He was afraid that the party

of noble concubine Wang would not let him go. He was terrified for more than half a year and died of illness. Because of noble concubine Wang, everyone in the capital was in danger, and Lin Bozhi's marriage was also delayed. Princess Jialan became a nun in Baifo Mountain in the south of the capital, implicitly showing her determination to marry Lin Bozhi.

When Concubine Wang became successful, everyone in the family would benefit greatly. Her father and brother both held important positions in the capital. Naturally, Lin Bozhi had to keep a low profile, but after all, he had reached an age where he had to marry.

Jiang Yu's father was the seventh-rank county magistrate of Wuyang County, which was under Lin'an City. Normally, she would not have been able to take on such a distinguished position as the Crown Prince of Zhou, but now it was the most appropriate thing for Lin Bozhi, who wanted to keep a low profile.

Three years ago, Jiang Yu was arranged by Concubine Zhou to marry Lin Bozhi.

Fortunately, the clouds were finally cleared, and the late emperor was not confused at all. He was somewhat sober at his deathbed. Last year, Concubine Wang and her party were dragged by Su Qing until the late emperor passed away at the beginning of this year, and then Lin Bozhi's uncle, the King of Qin, ascended the throne.

"Pack up your things."

Jiang Yu retracted her gaze, and refused to look at the koi outside the window again. Her eyes were somewhat determined.

Cuiping said, "We should prepare well, Madam, what should we bring to Beijing? By the way, we have to inform the master and the lady."

Jiang Yu said, "No, the prince is going to Beijing alone."

Cuiping was stunned.

***

It has been five years since he left Beijing. Lin Bozhi, the prince of Zhou, has also changed from a high-spirited young man to a calm man. But after all, he left the capital and felt depressed. He often went hunting with his entourage to Moyang Mountain.

Lin Bozhi is both civil and military, especially in archery. He was praised by the late emperor in Beijing as Houyi in the world because of his ability to shoot through the willow tree from a hundred steps away. He was given a set of bows and arrows by the emperor. Lin'an

is located in the south of the Yangtze River. It is rainy, damp and cold. At this moment, Lin Bozhi and his entourage are hiding from the rain in a pavilion.

Accompanying Lin Bozhi on the hunt was Lin'an Hou's second son Xia Yunzhou, who was three years younger than Lin Bozhi and always looked up to him as his elder brother. Since Lin Bozhi was the seventh among his peers, Xia Yunzhou simply called him "Seventh Brother".

Xia Yunzhou was quite lively and was even more talkative than the increasingly taciturn Lin Bozhi.

"Seventh brother, today is really fun. We hunted several rabbits. I went back and asked my sister-in-law to make roasted rabbit meat for us. We heated two pots of wine. It was a wonderful thing to enjoy the moon and drink wine." Xia Yunzhou leaned on the stone chair, but shivered because of a gust of cold wind. Then he muttered, "It's just too cold. It's more comfortable to lie on the kang in this weather." "

Seventh brother, you and I are wearing the same clothes, why are you not cold?"

Xia Yunzhou tried to touch Lin Bozhi's clothes, but was pushed away by him. However, he found the reason and couldn't help saying, "It turns out that you are wearing a cashmere vest inside. No wonder you are not afraid of the cold. My sister-in-law knows how to care for people."

Jiang Yu has always been virtuous, so Lin Bozhi didn't listen to Xia Yunzhou's words. He just thought it was a matter of course.

Lin Bozhi was tall and handsome. He wore a stone-blue calamus-patterned robe and a black-edged peacock feather cloak.

His eyebrows were indifferent, his expression was cold, but he had an aura of majesty without anger. Even if others didn't recognize him, they could tell that he was of noble status.

"Brother Yun, this is probably the last time I accompany you hunting in Lin'an."

Xia Yunzhou was stunned, and remembered what his father had said to him before, that the new emperor would take Lin Bozhi back to the capital sooner or later after he ascended the throne, and that he would not be disrespectful to Lin Bozhi.

"Are you going back to the capital?"

Xia Yunzhou's eyes suddenly turned red when he saw Lin Bozhi nod. He jumped up, hugged his arms and choked, "Seventh brother, who will take me out hunting after you leave? My father will definitely not let me, saying that I am wasting my time on playing around. I will definitely miss you!"

"Let go!"

Lin Bozhi looked at Xia Yunzhou's rogue appearance, feeling both angry and amused, and there was finally some fluctuation in his indifferent eyes.

The rain gradually stopped. Lin Bozhi and Xia Yunzhou went down the mountain and separated in Lin'an City. Xia Yunzhou seemed a little reluctant, but he could not hide his excitement. He winked and said, "I can see Princess Jialan after entering the capital."

Lin Bozhi's expression was indifferent, and he could not show any emotion, but his tone was a little concerned. He said, "There is a long time to come, you must work hard. Seventh brother is waiting for you in the capital."

Xia Yunzhou was the second son and naturally could not inherit the family business. The Marquis of Lin'an hoped that he could pass the imperial examination and put a lot of effort into him, but it was obvious that Xia Yunzhou was not cut out for it. Sure enough, after hearing this, he said with a bitter face, "Seventh brother, I always feel that you don't want to see me at all."

"However, when I hear the good news about you and Princess Jialan, I will definitely go to have a drink at the wedding."

When Xia Yunzhou was a child, he grew up next to his great-aunt Princess Ningguo in the capital, and Princess Ningguo was Princess Jialan's great-aunt. If you really count, Princess Jialan still calls Xia Yunzhou her cousin, so she is naturally familiar with him.

Lin Bozhi did not deny it. Princess Jialan became a nun for him, and they had deep feelings for each other, so naturally he should take her back. He just nodded slightly as a response.

The Zhou Palace was originally very grand, but in recent years, because of the trouble caused by Concubine Wang, the clan office did not dare to pay salaries and rice, so life was very difficult and lacked repairs. The outer wall had long been peeling off, and only a few red lanterns were hung under the eaves.

But Lin Bozhi felt relieved unexpectedly, as if a tired bird had returned to its nest.

But when he arrived at the door, there was no familiar figure. He frowned slightly, still remembering that after the two got married, Jiang Yu never forgot to come to greet him.

After entering the inner courtyard, he saw Jiang Yu talking to a woman wearing a dark green gold jacket and a boy wearing a navy blue jacket with four-happiness patterns. The woman burst into tears when she saw him, and stood up and said, "My son, I have finally waited for this day. If the prince is still alive, I don't know how happy he is."

Lin Bozhi's face finally fluctuated. He bent down and knelt down, saying, "Mother, I am an unfilial son and have wronged you."

After the death of King Zhou, Princess Zhou found out that she was pregnant. She was surprised and happy for a while. She was afraid of Concubine Wang's methods and worried that she would not be able to give birth at her age. She cried all day. Lin Bozhi saw that it was not a solution, so he secretly sent the princess to the family home in Miyang County to settle down. In the past few years, it was said that the princess was weak and went to recuperate, but no one knew that the prince had a posthumous child.

Princess Zhou kept hugging Lin Bozhi and sobbing, as if she wanted to cry out all the grievances she had suffered in the past few years. Lin Bozhi frowned slightly, obviously worried about the princess's health.

Jiang Yu smiled and said, "Mom, now is a good time, you should be happy. You just

recovered from the cold a few days ago, but you have to take care of your body. It's cold outside, let's talk inside." Princess Zhou came back to her senses and said, "Look at me, I'm a little confused when I'm happy." Then she was supported by Lin Bozhi and Jiang Yu on the left and right.

Lin Bozhi's younger brother Lin Ji stood aside, hesitant. The long years of separation made him feel a little strange and alienated to his brother. He obviously felt a little out of place. Jiang Yu bent down and held his little hand, and asked gently, "I prepared a box of various sweet cakes for the second master. Do you want to go in and take a look?"

Lin Ji said, "I don't like sweet cakes." But there was some expectation in his eyes, and his black eyes seemed to shine like stars.

Jiang Yu couldn't help laughing when he saw Lin Ji. Lin Ji was born well, with red lips and white teeth, very beautiful, and a very lovable child.

Lin Bozhi's eyes gradually warmed up, and he looked at Jiang Yu with approval. If it were in the past, she would have smiled with curved eyebrows, but today she avoided his gaze.

Lin Bozhi frowned.