Chapter 60: Nonsense
The three of them went out for a ride on their horses, and when they came back, only Fu Chen and Tang Ying were left.
When Yuan Lang arrived at the city gate, he said goodbye to the two men and left.
Tang Ying stared at his expression and asked curiously, "Sir, have you made the Second Prince unhappy?"
Fu Chen asked back leisurely: "Isn't it you?"
"Me?" Tang Ying was shocked: "Could it be that I am Zhang Er and I have stimulated him?" She had no need to hide anything when talking to Master Fu, so she joked: "How about I pretend to be recruited by him and go to the Second Prince's Mansion to serve him?"
Fu Chen snorted coldly: "He wants much more than just recruiting you."
"Do you still want me to be your wife?"
Tang Ying heard about Yuan Lang's request for permission. She said it as a joke, but she didn't expect Fu Chen's expression to change as soon as she said it.
Master Fu's eyes weren't eyes, his nose wasn't a nose, and his eyes could shoot out small knives: "Are you impatient?"
"It's unfair!" Tang Ying was almost frightened by him on the horse: "I am still in mourning, how can I talk about marriage?" She said mischievously: "Besides, the Second Prince and Miss Tang in his mansion are in love, I don't intend to interfere."
Fu Chen thought to himself: You may not know this yet, but the Second Prince already suspects that the lady in the mansion is a fake.
However, he was not ready to expose the matter for the time being, and instead turned to another matter: "Don't worry, the Grand Princess has no time to bother you these days."
"What did you do, sir, to make the Grand Princess unable to deal with me?"
Fu Chen smiled: "Huan Yanbo's charges are about to be decided, and I... accidentally sealed her Yuanyang Tower. She should be too busy to care about you."
Tang Ying's worldview was about to be refreshed: "Your Excellency is saying that the master behind Yuanyang Tower is the eldest princess? It is simply shameful for a princess like her to engage in the flesh trade of women!" At this time, her educational views from Marshal Tang came into play again: "As a princess of the royal family, she does not think about making profits for women and improving the situation of women, but also drags women into the fire pit. No wonder she raised a vicious idiot like Huan Yanbo!"
Fu Chen stroked his forehead, and even when Miss Tang was blaming the Grand Princess, he inexplicably felt ashamed.
They were all pawns in the power center, with countless lives on their hands and all the dirty things in the officialdom. Even the eldest princess was no exception. Although she was the most powerful princess in Southern Qi, she always prepared a way out for herself and never dared to expose her back to others. However, Miss Tang was bright and beautiful, which was different from them.
She has never experienced the baptism of power and still sneers at it. That's why she is not tempted by the position of the Second Prince's wife. She also dares to lend a helping hand to the Fourth Prince without hesitation and presses the Grand Princess step by step in the Golden Palace.
Fu Chen thought: Such a lively person is like a small fish that accidentally strayed into the muddy political waters of the capital. It really makes people feel pity for her and afraid that she will be accidentally killed by the storms of officialdom.
The silly girl finished her impassioned speech, and seemed to be a little embarrassed for her momentary emotional excitement. She hurriedly bowed to him and said, "Thank you, sir, for blocking the knife for me. But you offended the Grand Princess because of me, and I feel bad. If you need a hand in the future, I will do my best to help you!"
Fu Chen raised his chin: "Here it comes——"
The Fu Mansion was right in front of us, and we saw a carriage parked at the door. The coachman was a young servant wearing a green robe and a small hat, and there were two maids following the carriage.
Tang Ying was confused: "What's coming?"
"I blocked the knife for you, now it's time for you to lend a hand."
Tang Ying was still in a daze when Lord Fu rode his horse to the gate of the mansion. He dismounted swiftly and called out "Mom" through the curtain. The maid lifted the curtain and helped the beautiful middle-aged woman out of the carriage.
Master Fu, who was cold and frosty outside, seemed to have returned to the earth. With a gentle smile, he personally went to help the middle-aged beautiful woman, and turned around and waved warmly: "Yingying, come over and meet... my mother."
Tang Ying: “…” Sir, did you take the wrong medicine?
The beautiful middle-aged woman had a sad face at first, but she looked in the direction of the voice and saw the silly little girl wearing her son's black fox fur cloak. When she heard her son calling her so affectionately, she immediately smiled and even her voice was filled with uncontrollable excitement: "Son, you you you..."
Fu Xian and his wife only have one son, but his own youthful experience affected his son's career. He had reported his cousin's corruption out of a sense of justice, and was expelled from the Fu family later because he had a clear conscience and was willing to take the responsibility. But to affect his son's future was... something he did not want.
Ever since Fu Chen was eliminated from the palace examination and joined the Imperial Cavalry Division, where he rose rapidly and soon moved out of home, the father and son seldom saw each other. Whenever Fu Chen came home during the holidays, his father always felt guilty towards his son and seldom said much. The relationship was far less intimate than when Fu Chen was a child and Fu Xian would watch his son do his homework after he finished his work.
Mrs. Fu was worried on both ends. She was afraid that her husband would suffer because of this, so she often tried to comfort him. She was also afraid that her son would feel upset. Moreover, Fu Chen was already and had no plans to get married. Every time the matter was brought up, he would push it away, and he ended up becoming an older bachelor. Every time she visited her son, she felt very worried.
Unexpectedly, Fu Chen gave her a big surprise in public today.
He smiled and whispered, "Yingying is thin-skinned, mother, please don't scare her."
Tang Ying got off the horse and saluted to Madam Fu. Madam Fu held her hand affectionately and she accidentally touched the calluses on her palms. Her eyes immediately turned red. "Child, how much suffering have you endured?"
Tang Ying: “…”
A rough man cannot understand the tears of a middle-aged woman with rich emotions.
Seeing her stupid look, Fu Chen felt as if she was put in a heavy yoke when being pulled by her own mother, with no place to put her hands and feet. She endured it and looked at him for help: Help!
He found it funny for a moment, and hurriedly supported his own mother: "It's cold outside, let's go into the house first, and come over after Yingying has tied up the horse." When passing by Tang Ying, he lowered his voice and said: "Remember I blocked a knife for you, come quickly."
Mrs. Fu still refused to let go: "There are so many people at home, why are you ordering Yingying around, Chen'er?"
Fu Chen was helpless: "Mom, this is not my fault. It's because these two horses refused to recognize others."
The servant who was leading Fu Chen's mount came to his rescue in time: "Madam, if it is true, these two horses don't recognize anyone but Miss Zhang." Mrs. Fu reluctantly let Tang Ying go.
As she walked with Fu Chen, she asked around about Tang Ying's family background, parents, and relatives.
"Tell me the truth, are you really determined to get married this time? Are you not just trying to please me?"
Fu Chen was helpless: "Mom, how can you treat life as a joke? Do you think I'm joking?"
The son looked too serious. Besides, he had been very opinionated since he was young. Once he made up his mind, it was difficult for others to change it.
Mrs. Fu was very pleased: "If your father knew that you were going to get married and have children, I don't know how happy he would be." Fu Xian had implicated his wife and children in his righteous indignation. Fu Chen had refused to get married all these years. He mentioned this matter to his wife privately and felt quite guilty. He always felt that his son had learned lessons from him and became the commander of the Forbidden Cavalry Division, a job that offended people. He didn't want to implicate his wife and children, which was why he had been reluctant to get married.
Fu Chen: "Dad always thinks too much. I just haven't met someone I like."
"In that case," Mrs. Fu said with a smile, "You are not young anymore, why not ask a matchmaker to go to Yingying's house to propose marriage? I just don't know what her father does? Have you ever seen him?"
Fu Chen had experienced the lethality of middle-aged women. If he really let his mother stay with Tang Ying, it might open the scars of the little girl. He stopped her immediately: "Yingying's parents are both dead, and only one brother accompanied her to Beijing... to find her relatives. In the end, she couldn't find her relatives, so she had to stay with me by mistake. Mother, please don't mention her parents. If you ask her and she cries, I won't be responsible for comforting her!"
"Ah?" Mrs. Fu felt pity for him: "So pitiful?"
Fu Chen repeatedly reminded her: "Her mother had a difficult birth, and her father and brother died a few months ago. She is still in mourning. As for the marriage proposal, I know it well, so you should worry less."
When Mrs. Fu heard this, her eyes turned red. "This child is so pitiful. No wonder I saw that she looked sick just now. I think it was because she was sad. Why don't I take her home to live for a while? Madam Mo's tonic soup is very good. Why don't we nourish her well? It's more important to take care of her body first."
She thought that since she couldn't get married for the time being, she might as well take care of her health first, which would be of great benefit to her in the future.
Fu Chen knew what his mother was thinking, but even if he had such intention, Tang Ying obviously had no intention of getting married. She was cheerful and talkative on weekdays, but she would back off at the critical moment and often expressed her intention to draw a line between herself and him. If he followed his mother home, all his secrets would be exposed in less than half an hour.
"Mom, Yingying is beautiful, please don't scare her, we still have a long time to live together."
The mother and son walked towards the front hall while talking.
While Tang Ying was tying the horse, she stood in front of the stable in a daze.
Zhang Qingcai had just returned from outside and had come all the way over. He spread out his five fingers and waved them in front of her eyes several times: "What are you thinking about?"
Tang Ying felt something was wrong: "Master Fu's mother is here."
Zhang Qing laughed out loud: "Master Fu's mother is here, why are you so worried?"
"Not really." Tang Ying rubbed her face: "It's just... it's just that Master Fu asked me to go see his mother."
Zhang Qing's expression suddenly became sharp: "Is the lord thinking about you?" He had been in the mansion all day and had heard a lot of rumors among the servants. Although he didn't know how the two of them got along in the Forbidden Cavalry Division, if the rumors in the mansion were correct, it sounded like Lord Fu... seemed to have a crush on his sister.
"That's a lie!" Tang Ying quickly found a suitable and legitimate reason for Fu Chen: "He must be quite old, his parents are urging him to get married, and he himself has no intention of getting married. It just so happened that he came back together today and was bumped into by Madam Fu, so he used me as a shield."
Anyway, Tang Ying had acted as a shield for Lord Fu more than once, and she felt that this reason was more than sufficient.
"Brother, don't let your imagination run wild. I want to go back to Baicheng after the matter in Beijing is settled." She locked up Fu Yingjun and tied up Tengyun. When she left, she lowered her voice very low: "Daddy and the others... and Yu An are still waiting for me in Baicheng."
Zhang Qing watched her leave, feeling that the affairs of Baicheng were like a mountain pressing down on her shoulders. The frail person seemed to be suffocating, and he felt extremely distressed.
Tang Ying prepared herself mentally, and was much calmer when she saw Madam Fu again. She also acted as a good shield, using the same tricks she had used to coax Tang Yao, which made Madam Fu smile brightly. She also tasted Fei Wenhai's new specialty dish and spoke highly of the Fu family's chef's recent rapid improvement in cooking skills.
Fei Wenhai's pocket was filled with extra income.
Before leaving, she took off a pair of bracelets from her wrist and insisted on putting them on her: "This is my dowry, and my mother put it on my hand herself. I don't have a daughter either, and when I saw Yingying, I felt that if I had a daughter, she would be as beautiful and lovely as you."
"This is too valuable, I can't accept it!" Tang Ying pushed and resisted left and right, but finally Mrs. Fu put it on her wrist. Only then did she get into the car and leave contentedly.
After seeing Mrs. Fu off, Tang Ying followed Lord Fu back to the study. Without saying a word, she took off the pair of bracelets from her arms and returned them to Lord Fu.
"I agreed to help you, but there's no reason to ask for payment, especially for something so valuable."
Fu Chen refused to accept it: "Since it was given to you by my mother, you should keep it. If you give it back to me, won't she be sad if she knows?"
"If my lord doesn't tell me, how would my lady know?" The pair of bracelets were soaked with water, and Tang Ying was afraid that she would bump into them and break them if she wasn't careful.
Fu Chen was determined to retreat and refused to take it. She pulled him over and tried to put it into his hand. Unexpectedly, Master Fu suddenly changed his expression and seemed very angry: "Are you looking down on my mother?"
"I don't have any."
"Obviously!" Lord Fu started to make a fuss, and not everyone could handle it: "Why are you willing to take the Fei Luan that I gave you, but you won't take the bracelet that my mother gave you? Is it because my mother annoys you?"
Tang Ying was speechless: "..."
Seeing her hand holding the bracelet frozen there, Fu Chen pressed on: "In order to let you see Tengyun, I deceived the Second Prince and offended the Grand Princess for personal gain. Is this how you repay me?"
"I, I..." Tang Ying felt that she had done nothing, but inexplicably it seemed that she had done something wrong.
Master Fu pressed on, cornering her in the study room. "Or was your plan from the beginning to trick me into offending so many people for you, so that you could just withdraw and run away?"
"Where are you putting me?"
Tang Ying weakly defended herself: "...Sir, I'm not trying to trick you." If she remembered correctly, wasn't it him who took the initiative to do these things? But thinking about it this way, it seemed... quite heartless.
"Are you saying that I took the initiative to do the job?" Lord Fu seemed even more aggrieved: "I'm looking for trouble? Am I meddling?" But his eyes were clearly condemning her as an ungrateful white-eyed wolf. People helped you with good intentions, but not only did you not know how to be grateful, you also made Lord Fu sad.
Tang Ying, who was able to judge the situation, stopped making excuses and said, "My lord, I was wrong! Please calm down!"
Fu Chen tapped her pretty nose lightly and said, "It is a great virtue to admit one's mistakes and correct them!" He walked away contentedly with his hands behind his back, with the corners of his lips curved in a place where no one could see him. He almost laughed out loud with pride, leaving Tang Ying alone, staring at the pair of green bracelets in his hands in a daze.
— —I always feel like something is wrong.
※※※
In the prison of the Imperial Cavalry Division, Chunniang urgently summoned Yaoniang over.
"Do you know that Yinlan belongs to Xinniang?"
Yao Niang was dug out of bed and leaned on a chair, about to fall asleep: "Who is Yinlan?"
"Yinlan is the woman from Yuanyang Tower. Lord Fu sealed the tower and captured her a few days ago. Let me ask you, do I know that Yuanyang Tower has a close relationship with Xinniang?"
Yao Niang opened her eyes and was surprised: "Chun Niang, you and I both know that we have never been the ones that the master relies on the most. Xin Niang is the one. Why do you think the master is willing to let me know something that the master doesn't want you to know?"
Seeing that she was about to get angry, Chunniang hurriedly explained, "I just came here because I was in a panic. What should I do? Fu Chen has been in the Forbidden Cavalry Department for less time than you and I, and he probably doesn't know the twists and turns. He actually captured the master's people. How can I explain to the master now?"
"What do you want to tell me?" Yao Niang stood up suddenly, her eyes were fierce, and she had never been seen so scary before. "Chun Niang, you should understand clearly that you are in charge of the inner prison now, you eat the royal family's food, you get the salary from His Majesty, and you have to be loyal to His Majesty the Emperor. Do you still remember your master from eight hundred years ago? Let me ask you, if His Majesty and the Grand Princess have different positions, which side will you stand on?"
Chunniang was extremely conflicted: "Let me think about it!"
"What are you thinking about?" Yao Niang immediately cursed, "You can't think about this! The Imperial Cavalry Department is your Majesty's Imperial Cavalry Department, not the Grand Princess's Imperial Cavalry Department. The most taboo for a master is for his subordinates to waver. The Imperial Cavalry Department has not been abolished for a day. You and I are your Majesty's people, and we must do our job well. Don't be attached to your old master all day, or you will die without knowing how!"
Chunniang was scolded by her, and it was like a sudden enlightenment. She finally understood: "You are right. If I sided with the Grand Princess, I might not be able to stay in the Forbidden Cavalry Division." She covered her face with bitterness and said, "Let's not talk about this. I called you here for something else. Do you know why Fu Chen wants to seal the Yuanyang Tower?"
Yao Niang had a vague guess in her mind: "But... is it related to the things that the Prince of Nanyue lost?"
Chunniang: "Do you know what the prince of Nanyue lost?"
"what?"
"Concentric sphere." As if afraid that she still didn't understand, Chun Niang said word by word: "Seven-layered concentric sphere with a hundred flower patterns!"
The color on Yao Niang's face suddenly disappeared completely, and she almost fainted while holding onto the back of the chair.
"It's the one that Xinniang carved for you personally when you were in love with her."
