Chapter 102: Unfaithfulness
The Wanshou Festival had just passed and the bad news had not yet been heard from the Eastern Palace. Fu Chen and Tang Ying both got three days off and arranged their official duties, so they had the rest of the time at their leisure.
Taking turns on duty in the palace, Tang Ying had responsibilities on her shoulders and her nerves were always tense. She even suspected that she kept one eye open even when she fell asleep, so as not to miss anything important.
The first thing she did when she came out of the palace was to take a tour of the new mansion that His Majesty had bestowed upon her. When the Emperor of Southern Qi bestowed the mansion, it was also fully equipped with servants. The new steward was a middle-aged man in his forties, named Bai Mingsheng. He bent over and introduced the mansion. His eloquence was almost as good as that of a real estate agent. He listed the advantages of this mansion, from feng shui to scenery to hall layout. There was absolutely nothing wrong with it.
Tang Ying: "Butler Bai said that this house has excellent feng shui. I also want to ask where its previous owner went?"
Butler Bai: "Uh..." The previous master entered the Forbidden Cavalry Division and never came out again. In the end, he probably turned into a bloody corpse. No one knew where he was thrown into. How could he respond to such a thing?
The house of the original owner was nationalized, and these criminal servants who had been sold to others were reallocated. He happened to hear that after the previous owner of the house was convicted, his wives, concubines, and children were pardoned on the birthday of the emperor and were scattered. In order to please the new owner, he inadvertently talked too much.
"Sir, I'm just talking nonsense, don't take it seriously!" Bai Sheng was so scared that he fell to his knees and kowtowed to Tang Ying.
The Forbidden Cavalry Division had a bad reputation, and when Bai Sheng was assigned here and heard that the person was the new head of the Phoenix Division, he became nervous, fearing that he would be sent to prison for not serving well. He was apprehensive when they first met, but the new master smiled so kindly that he gradually let down his guard.
"Get up." Tang Ying didn't mean to make things difficult for others. It was simply because she herself had a habit of talking nonsense, but she knew she wouldn't talk nonsense. She didn't expect that the manager of the mansion newly appointed by His Majesty was even more talkative than her, so she needed to be punished.
Bai Sheng patted the dirt off his knees and finally behaved himself: "Thank you, sir."
Tang Ying: "There is one thing I have to make clear in advance. I hate hearing lies the most. In the future, please don't say such flattering words. If you don't even want to tell the truth, then you'd better be dumb!"
Bai Sheng covered his mouth with his hands and nodded with fear on his face - the new master was indeed from the Forbidden Cavalry Division. He wanted to cut off his tongue and poison him into muteness if he disagreed with someone. How terrible!
The outside world has already demonized the Cavalry Guard, not to mention these criminal slaves who have no choice but to follow their masters into criminal custody. They are even more afraid that the past will happen again and they will be left homeless.
Tang Ying didn't know that the housekeeper in the mansion had misunderstood her words, and based on this, he conveyed his master's preferences to every servant in the mansion. Within half a day, the new head of the Phoenix Department and the servants in Princess Changning's house were all on high alert, careful in their words and actions, and dared not make the slightest mistake.
When Zhang Qing first stepped into the Tang residence, he was full of praise for the orderly behavior of the servants in the house: "I never knew that you, sister, also have your own way of managing a household. You are not much worse than the master in managing the army."
Tang Ying then handed him all the keys to the storeroom in the mansion and said, "His Majesty's rewards are all here. You and Steward Bai go and count them. From now on, these keys will remain with you, and all the expenses of the mansion will come from you." She was busy outside all day and had no time to take care of the trivial matters in the mansion.
Zhang Qing: "You are really lazy." He took the key without hesitation.
The young man and woman had never heard that Princess Changning had a brother. Manager Bai did not dare to ask too much and kept his mouth shut, but his eyes were rolling with curiosity, which made Zhang Qing laugh: "Manager Bai, don't be nervous. I am an old servant in the young lady's family."
Tang Ying corrected him: "Brother, from now on, I will call you Master."
When Zhang Qing heard the word "Young Master", he was so shocked that he couldn't move his hands or feet. He laughed out loud: "Don't do that. What Young Master? If Manager Bai thinks highly of me, just call me by my name."
Tang Ying frowned and was pushed out by him: "It's only been a few months since you went to the Forbidden Cavalry Division, why do I see you becoming more and more scary? We have our own home now , it's time to discuss moving with Master Fu."
Manager Bai didn't dare to be arrogant. He waited until Tang Ying left before he said cautiously, "Master Zhang, do you need our help in moving?" Seeing that Master Zhang was kind and easy to talk to, yet dared to influence Princess Changning, he immediately decided to hold on to Master Zhang closely, lest he make a mistake and lose his life in the future.
Zhang Qing really couldn't understand Manager Bai's timid attitude: "Manager Bai, don't be so reserved. The Lord is kind-hearted and easy to talk to. You don't have to be scared when you hear the words 'Forbidden Cavalry Division'."
Bai Sheng thought: My Lord is being soft-hearted towards you, right? My pity is only for you, right?
He forced a stiff smile and said, "I'll have to ask you to say a few good words to me in front of you in the future. If there is anything I can't do, please feel free to give me some advice."
Zhang Qing: The steward of the Tang Mansion is good in every other respect except that he is as timid as a mouse and speaks too politely.
He stayed in the mansion with Bai Sheng to count the rewards from His Majesty and register them. He had only done half of the work when someone came to visit. It was the Second Prince himself who came to deliver something, with several large carts following him. It was said that these were the rewards from His Majesty and the various palaces when Tang Ying first came to Beijing. Of course, at that time no one knew that Miss Tang was a fake, and the reward was given to Tang Yao's daughter.
After the real master returned to the throne, the second prince personally visited the mansion under the pretext of "delivering something ".
Zhang Qing welcomed the guests into the living room and had a maid serve them tea.
He was also in a dilemma: "Young lady hasn't said anything about this matter, so I can't make the decision. If I accept it without permission, I'm afraid Young lady will be angry when she comes back. Why don't you take it back first, and I'll report it to Young lady before making the decision?"
At the birthday banquet, the Second Prince heard that Tang Ying was named a princess and replaced Yuan Shu as the head of the Phoenix Tribe. He began to make plans in his mind. After all, even if she refused the marriage proposal, there was no need to break off contact with her.
He was well versed in dealing with things. There were no eternal friends or eternal enemies in this world. Only interests could make the relationship between the two parties unbreakable. That was why he shamelessly came to the door in person and said, "Since I have brought the things here, I cannot take them back. First, I want to congratulate Princess Changning, and second, I want to apologize for my previous recklessness. I hope the princess will not mind . If you are unwilling to accept it, then I will have to stay and wait for the princess to come back in person."
Yuan Lang was firm in his attitude, and Zhang Qing did not dare to accept the things carelessly. While the two sides were in a stalemate, an unexpected guest arrived - the fourth prince Yuan Jian also brought people to congratulate, and he saw this scene as soon as he entered the door.
Yuan Lang: “…”
Yuan Jian: "Second brother, you are such a rare guest!" He sat down in the hall and greeted like a half-owner: "I guessed that this house is not yet cleaned up, so I brought people here to take a look. I didn't expect that second brother and I had the same idea. Will you come to help too?"
Yuan Lang: “…”
※※※
The Tang residence had a guest coming to congratulate them, but the master went to the Fu residence and politely asked Xiong Yu to pass on the message: "Could you please tell me, Brother Xiong, whether Master Fu is free to see me?"
Xiong Yu couldn't help but exclaimed, " When was a beggar, she would just barge in. But now that she has been given a title and a promotion, she's starting to be polite. It's really strange."
Tang Ying smiled bitterly: "I was ignorant before, I am sorry to have embarrassed you."
Xiong Yu muttered quietly, as if accusing her of "being unfaithful and heartless after being named a princess and cheating on her master". Did she think that they, her followers, were blind? The spring weather had been bright and beautiful some time ago, but now it has entered the depths of winter. The huge change in climate is so difficult to adapt to. When working, she wishes she had an extra cotton-padded jacket.
Tang Ying: It’s so unfair!
Although Xiong Yu was muttering to himself, he still went into the study to report to her. He came out soon and looked at her twice: "The lord wants to see the princess." He personally opened the curtain for Tang Ying, and after she went in, he muttered something under his breath.
Tang Ying vaguely heard him say "Sir, you really have no ambition...", and she didn't know what had happened to this kid today that he actually dared to criticize Fu Chen. She stepped into Fu Chen's study and looked up to find that Sir Fu looked very peaceful today, less cold than in the past few days. He looked at her with a look that said "Just as I expected".
"I guessed you would come." Lord Fu got straight to the point: "Have you been to see the new house? How was it?"
Tang Ying smiled and said, "After a round, it's not bad."
Fu Chen: "Sit down."
Tang Ying had been to this study room more than once. She had always done whatever she wanted in the past, but today she felt strangely a little uncomfortable. She thanked Fu Chen after she left: "Thank you for reminding me in front of Baoyue Tower that day."
"You think too much. That was His Majesty's assessment of the new head. How could I dare to do anything? I didn't remind Headmaster Tang. Everything is your own ability."
The title "Master Tang" woke Tang Ying up, and she finally knew where her discomfort came from.
In the past, Fu Chen treated her very well and there was no clear boundary between them, so she could get along with him as she pleased. But now, after being rejected by her, Fu Chen finally drew a boundary between them. She herself noticed this conscious alienation and felt a little uncomfortable.
"In any case, I have to thank you for your care all the time!" Tang Ying sighed in her heart, but put on a polite attitude on her face: "I came here today to discuss moving with you. My brother and I don't have much belongings. Tengyun was forbidden to ride by my father during his lifetime. The one I want to take away is Fu Yingjun..." This guy is a master-recognizer, and he only recognizes her so far.
Does she have to work part-time as a groom at the Fu Mansion after she moves?
Fu Chen seemed to have made up his mind. "Although Fu Yingjun was gifted by His Majesty, he only recognizes you as his master. I think that Manager Tang will be busy with official duties in the future, so it is not good to trouble you to come to my house to feed the horse all the time. It is better to leave Fu Yingjun at Manager Tang's house temporarily, and bring it back when it recognizes me. I will ask Xiong Yu to convert Fu Yingjun's fodder into silver and send it to Guoyun. I wonder if Manager Tang has anything else to do?"
"Master Fu is very thoughtful. I will take Fu Yingjun with me. There is no need to convert the fodder into silver. Your Excellency is too polite."
"Since there's nothing else, I won't see you off." Fu Chen served tea to the guest with a rather distant attitude.
Tang Ying came out of his study, still a little uncomfortable with Lord Fu's official attitude.
