Chapter 66: Seeing Ghosts in Broad Daylight
The Second Prince's Mansion opens its doors to welcome guests today.
A Lian came to serve Tang Ying early in the morning: "Miss, His Highness is hosting a banquet for distinguished guests today, and he wants you to attend. He also told me to dress you up beautifully."
Tang Ying glanced at her and saw that she was happy today, which swept away the dejection and uneasiness of the past few days, and she felt relieved in her heart - as long as A Lian faced the reality and sincerely served her as her master in the future, she would naturally not treat her unfairly.
She pursed her lips and smiled: "Is it Feng Kui who came to tell you?"
Ah Lian thought of Feng Kui's promise, and a sweet feeling welled up in her heart. She said with a smile, "Young lady, you are going to be a princess, but you are always teasing me." She shouted outside, "Come in, all of you."
The door curtain was lifted, and four capable maids came in.
"Your Highness may be worried that I am clumsy and can't do the makeup for the young lady, so he specially sent four capable sisters to help the young lady do the makeup." She smiled and pulled Tang Ying up : "The young lady is in your hands. I have to hide for a while."
Tang Ying was dragged by four maids to take a bath, change clothes, and dress up.
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The guests arrived at the gate of the Second Prince's Mansion one after another.
First, two carriages stopped at the door. The servant who had been waiting there hurriedly came up and took down the footrest from the back of the carriage. A thin young man got out, and a rough voice followed him, urging: "Our little cousin is inside?" He didn't use the footrest either, but jumped down from the carriage directly. He was much stronger than the first young man, and asked quickly: "Is this the Second Prince's residence?"
"That's right, Your Highness has been waiting for a long time."
The thin young man went to a carriage at the back and helped an elderly woman get off the carriage.
The material of the old woman's clothes looked good, but the color was dark, and coupled with her stern drooping mouth and the unhappy wrinkles at the corners of her mouth, it seemed that others could get a glimpse into her daily life. Perhaps things were not going smoothly, and it took a long time for such obvious marks to be left on her face.
As soon as the old woman got out of the car, she said, "Xiao Feng, keep an eye on Xiao Song and don't let him do anything stupid."
The sturdy young man next to her protested immediately: "Aunt San, we are here to visit my cousin today, how could I do something stupid?" He clenched his fists twice, and his bones made a "crackling" sound, which made people feel uneasy.
The last two young women to get out of the car, one of them was married, named Jiayi, who glared at the sturdy young man named Xiaosong and said, "You look like you're going to cause trouble. This is the prince's residence, don't treat it like our Bingzhou."
Tang Song was about to say, "What about the prince's mansion? I've been detained by you in the countryside of Bingzhou all day, so it's a good opportunity for me to come to the capital, a place full of hidden talents, to see what's going on." But when he met the old woman's gaze, he calmed down and said insincerely, "I know, I know!" Unhappy, "Isn't it okay if I don't cause trouble?"
Another girl, about fifteen or sixteen years old, with bright eyes and a slender figure, was lovingly held by Jiayi's hand and brought to her side: "Jiayue, don't let your brother coax you anymore."
Xiaosong protested: "I never coaxed Jiayue." The middle-aged woman glanced at him and he immediately put on an honest look.
The gatekeeper led the group into the mansion, and saw that the servants in the mansion were well-trained and spoke carefully and solemnly, which made the old woman, who seemed to be picky at all times, express her admiration.
When the second prince heard the voices outside, he stepped out of the hall to greet them.
The old woman's eyes were moist, and she was about to kowtow to him: "I heard that Your Highness took care of the orphan girl left behind by my fourth brother. The old, weak, women and children of the Tang family are grateful!" The second prince hurriedly stepped forward to help her: "Madam Tang, there is no need to do this. This is my duty!"
This old lady is the widow of Tang Li, the third child in the clan, and her two children are Tang Feng and Tang Jiayi.
In a great war that year, all of Tang Yao's uncles and brothers were killed on the battlefield, leaving behind weak boys and girls who were either just learning to walk or were still in their infancy. Tang Jiayue was a posthumous child. His mother, Madam Tang Wu, had been pregnant for just over three months when she received such tragic news.
The male members of the Tang family had always joined the army, so the family was not very prosperous. After the war that destroyed the family, several widows of the Tang family were frightened out of their wits, and the remaining children were raised in the old house in Bingzhou. Only the lineage of Tang Yao was still stationed in the northern border.
Tang Yao was the fourth child in the family. Among the children of this generation, only Tang Jue joined the army, but he ended up with no trace of his body. Bingzhou was isolated from the news, and it was several months later when the news of the Battle of Baicheng was reported back to his hometown. The widows and sisters-in-law in the family were all sad, pitying themselves, and not without complaints towards Tang Yao.
"My fourth brother has always been very competitive, and even his two children have been dragged down by him..."
"If he had listened to you and me and left Xiaoying and Xiaojue in Bingzhou, the child wouldn't have suffered this disaster, and he could have left some bloodline for himself..."
In short, there were all kinds of comments, all of which condemned Tang Yao for being obsessed with wars and not considering what would happen after his death.
After several people in the clan discussed, they sent servants to Baicheng. The round trip took several months, and before the servants returned to Bingzhou, the people sent by the second prince went to Bingzhou. He had been suspicious of Tang Ying for a long time, and was too busy after returning to Beijing to have time. He waited until he had free time before sending people to the Tang family in Bingzhou to pick up the Tang family to recognize their relatives.
There was no such thing as a fake young lady in the previous life. The Tang family's Bingzhou clansmen were invited to , but they had no intention of currying favor with her. After the wedding, they returned to their original hometown. Afterwards, they only showed up at Tang Ying's funeral, but it was too late to help.
Yuan Lang welcomed several people in, and everyone sat down. The maid brought up some hot tea, and then they heard the tinkling of bells and footsteps approaching from afar. A gentle voice asked, "Alian, who is His Highness inviting to the banquet today?"
A-Lian was even more confused than she was. She smiled and said, "Miss, I don't know either."
The second prince immediately smiled happily and said to the old woman, "Madam, Tang Ying is here."
Someone lifted the thick door curtain, and a girl in luxurious fur coat stepped into the main hall. A maid came forward to help her untie the coat. The old woman's eyes twitched violently - the girl was dressed too luxuriously. Although her clothes were all light-colored, and she had gold hairpins, jade pendants, pearl earrings, eyebrow ornaments and lip balm, how could she look like someone in mourning?
The girl was wearing brocade clothes. As she walked, the hem of her skirt spread out, revealing a pair of thumb-sized pearls embroidered on her embroidered shoes. The old woman couldn't help it anymore and scolded her, "Why did you come here dressed like this?"
Tang Ying last went back to her hometown in Bingzhou when she was six or seven years old. At that time, she was like a naughty monkey, climbing trees and walls all day long, tearing her clothes or messing up her hair, and dirtying her face from time to time. She would run away when she saw her stern eyes, relying on Tang Yao's support and not taking her words seriously at all.
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Mrs. Tang San wanted to discipline her severely, but she couldn't resist Tang Yao's soft words: "Third sister-in-law, Xiaoying has lost her mother since she was born. It's all because of me who didn't take good care of her. She must want to be close to you. This child is pitiful. When she sees other children being loved by their mothers, she will show envy. If you treat her harshly, she will definitely be sad and think that you don't like her."
"I'm strict for her own good. What have you done to this little girl?" She discussed with Tang Yao earnestly, "You've been in the army for years, why don't you leave Ying Jie behind and let me raise her? When she's fifteen or sixteen, I'll choose a good family for her to marry off. Wouldn't it be nice to have her live in peace?"
Tang Yao's eyes showed a struggle. He was obviously a tough guy, but he was always tender to his little girl. He let the little girl pout and lose her temper: "Daddy, you just hate me for controlling you too much, so you want to throw me in Bingzhou? If I'm not here to control you, how can you and your brother live?"
"No, no, how dare Daddy complain about you being too controlling? Without you, Daddy will go hungry!"
Tang Jue laughed evilly and said, "Are you afraid of getting into trouble if you stay in Bingzhou?" After being glared at by the little girl, he pleaded with Mrs. Tang San, "Aunt San, you don't know, my sister is very naughty. If it weren't for Daddy and me to watch over her, she might get into some big trouble!"
Mrs. Tang San thought at the time: Fourth brother is spoiling the child too much. Look how he has spoiled the little girl to the point of lawlessness and even the respect for elders and juniors has been lost!
If the little girl could stay with her, within one or two years she would be able to behave properly and have the demeanor of a lady.
However, Tang Yao couldn't bear to leave his little girl and took her to Baicheng.
Tang Ying stood stupidly in the main hall, still a little confused.
"Old lady...are you talking about me?"
Tang Jiayi looked at her little cousin who was still in mourning with disapproval of the way she was dressed, and her brows furrowed deeply. On the contrary, Tang Jiayue looked at her with sympathy and was looking at her curiously.
Mrs. Tang San's stern brows were full of anger. She didn't care that this was the Second Prince's residence. She slammed the table fiercely, stood up suddenly, pointed at her and asked, "Is this Fourth Brother's daughter Tang Ying?"
Tang Ying's head buzzed. The joy she had felt when she came here was like being poured with a basin of ice water. She was filled with fear and asked A-Lian in a very low voice, "Who are they?"
A Lian: "I don't know him either!" When she came to Tang Ying, Tang Yao had already returned to Baicheng with his two children, so she had never seen any members of the Tang family.
The Second Prince seemed to have not expected this, and he also stood up in surprise: "Madam, calm down, it's because I didn't think it through, please don't be angry!"
Tang Ying’s face turned pale and she looked to the Second Prince for help: “Your Highness?” How could someone dare to scold her in front of the Second Prince?
She was the future consort of the emperor, of noble status, so what if she was a member of the Tang clan? How could a clan member who had not interacted with her for many years have the right to teach her a lesson?
The atmosphere in the hall was a little tense. Tang Ying's eyes were filled with tears, and she looked pitiful: "Your Highness, but what did I do wrong? Or should I not have come here today?"
The Second Prince seemed extremely distressed, and hurried over to comfort her: "You have always been in poor health. You have been ill for so long, it is a big deal for you to recover. It is not about right or wrong." He also pleaded with Mrs. Tang San: " Old Madam, you don't know, Xiaoying has been ill since the battle of Baicheng, and she has been seeing doctors all the time. Her health has only improved recently after the marriage was decided. I usually don't want her to suffer even the slightest bit of trouble!"
What he said was equivalent to saying: I can't bear to let my future princess suffer, so please don't be too harsh and scare my princess!
With the support of the Second Prince, Tang Ying felt as if she had found her backbone: "Thank you, Your Highness!" She wiped her eyes with a handkerchief, looking weak and pitiful.
Tang Jiayi and Tang Jiayue were both stunned. Tang Feng frowned. Tang Song still remembered how naughty and mischievous his cousin was when she came back to Bingzhou at the age of six or seven. He immediately asked in a buzzing voice, "How come you have a different personality now that you have grown up?"
At this moment, a servant outside reported: "Master Fu is here——"
The second prince hurriedly said, "Please come in." When he was about to greet them, the door curtain was lifted, and the handsome young man took the lead and stepped into the main hall. Walking with him was a girl in plain clothes. Her hair was tied up in a ponytail behind her head, and she was wearing a thick black cloak. Her face was pale, her lips were pale, and she looked sick. The servant behind her took the cloak she took off. She was dressed in plain clothes, except for a long sword on her waist. She was wearing a narrow-sleeved round-collared robe, which was a men's style and convenient for riding.
As soon as the woman stepped into the hall, Tang Ying and A Lian were so scared as if they had seen a ghost, and they almost collapsed to the ground.
