Volume 2: Residence in the Capital Chapter 237 Mother and Son
Zhu Ying went out early in the morning, but Zhu Hong and other guards were all left at home. Even though she knew that Ah Liu, a master, was following her, and Zhu Ying herself was carrying a sword, the lady was still a little uneasy. Especially when she saw that night had already fallen and the person still hadn't returned, she was naturally even more upset. Only after listening to the advice of her daughter-in-law Jiu Niang did she feel a little relieved.
"Mom, it's very cold now and it gets dark early. If it were midsummer, the sun wouldn't have set yet. Although it's snowing a little now, Yingying and Shou are both sensible children. They must have been delayed if they haven't come back yet..."
The lady nodded slightly, but when she glanced at Zhu Er who was sitting obediently beside her, she couldn't help but get angry: "Erlang, you said you were planning to go with them. Even if Yingying drove you away, you would stay with them. How could you be so easily persuaded by her words? Just let her go like that?"
Zhu Er was crying without tears. Grandma, it's easy for you to say that. Whenever my sister and I have a dispute, you always scold me. How dare I provoke her? Last time, it was because my father and elder brother were defeated in the war outside, so I wanted to entrust my sister to someone like Lu Sanlang who he thought was reliable. The result is that I can't raise my head in front of people until now. I have been beaten and scolded and asked for forgiveness!
If I really go with them, you will definitely blame me for getting in the way by coming between two people!
He was about to explain, but when he saw the lady snort and then complained that the tea was cold, he knew that his grandmother was taking her anger out on him, so he had to keep quiet to avoid causing more trouble. Finally, a sound like heavenly music came from outside.
"Madam, Madam, Second Young Master, Eldest Miss and Mr. Shou are back together!"
"He's finally back!" Jiu Niang said this on behalf of the old lady, and then she said, "May I ask Mr. Shou, it's getting late, should he invite his mother to come over for dinner?"
The old lady nodded to Jiu Niang with satisfaction. Her daughter-in-law had been cultivating in Zhaoming Temple for so many years, and her temper was finally not as arrogant and difficult to get along with as before. However, a voice came from outside the door not long after: "Mr. Shou sent the eldest lady to the gate of Qing'an Hall, saying that it was too late and snowing, so he went back first, and will come back tomorrow to apologize to the old lady and the lady..."
Just as the maid outside the door finished speaking, the door curtain was pushed open, and Zhu Ying entered the room with a gust of cold wind. She flicked the snowflakes above her head and said softly, "This weather, it was sunny this morning, and now it snows! Grandma, mother, Ah Shou is worried about his mother, and he said he was embarrassed to bring me back so late, so he went back first, let me apologize to you!"
"What's the point of paying for this, kid!" The lady said angrily, and beckoned Zhu Ying to come over. She took off her cloak and stuffed it to Yutang next to her, then strode over to sit next to her and Jiu Niang. She reached out and shook his hand, and found it was cold. She quickly asked someone to bring a small hand warmer. Jiu Niang asked, "Why did you go out for the whole day? What house does it take so long to look at?"
Holding the warm hand warmer, Zhu Ying smiled brightly: "Grandma, Mom, we looked around for houses today..."
While she was chattering about today's house-hunting experience to the Madam, Jiu Niang, and Zhu Er, who was listening attentively, Zhang Shou had already arrived home safely through the back door of the Zhaoguo Mansion. Just as the Madam felt sorry for Zhu Ying whose hands were frozen, Wu also asked Aunt Liu to bring warm water, watched Zhang Shou wash his face and hands, and forced him to apply facial cream before asking about what happened today.
When she heard that Zhu Ying had found all sorts of faults in the first three houses they had seen today, Wu smiled and said, "Yingying is a rich lady after all. She is used to living in large, spacious and bright houses, so it's inevitable that she will be picky. Anyway, it's still early. You can look at a few more and you will eventually find the right one. If you really can't find one, you might as well buy some land and build your own house."
Zhang Shou was immediately amused: "Mom, why did you say exactly the same thing as Yingying before? Not to mention the expenses, building a house takes three to five years..."
"Oh, that won't do!" Mrs. Wu immediately changed her tone, "You and Yingying's wedding should be held next year. There's no time to put it off. Your wife in heaven must be looking forward to you getting married and starting a family!"
Seeing that Wu was getting annoyed, Zhang Shou didn't want to make matters worse, so he quickly told her everything about the Luwang Mansion. This time, he saw Wu was shocked at first, then panicked, and only became happy after he explained.
"The emperor is so kind-hearted and really cares about the younger generation. This way, you and Yingying don't have to worry about your new home in the future." She happily paced back and forth in the room for several circles, and finally stopped suddenly, then looked into Zhang Shou's eyes and said, "Ah Shou, after you get married, you and Yingying will live there, and I will rent Mr. Qi's house first..."
Before she could finish her words, Zhang Shou's face suddenly darkened. Although the child in front of her was the one she had watched grow up, as he gradually grew up in the past two years, becoming more and more handsome, like a banished immortal, she had unconsciously regarded him as the backbone of the family, so when she saw Zhang Shou angry, she couldn't help but panic: "Ah Shou, listen to me, what I mean is..."
"Mom, you don't have to say anything."
Zhang Shou interrupted Wu and said calmly, "Both giving birth and raising are a blessing. Mother gave me life and allowed me to see this wonderful world. And you raised me from a tiny child, and I don't know how much effort you put in. Even if you think you are just my adoptive mother, I should be filial to you all my life."
At this point, seeing that Wu couldn't help but turn her back and raised her hand as if wiping tears, he said softly: "Mother, you have been my mother for so many years without getting married, how can I not repay you well? Of course, this repayment is not just about providing for me and being filial. If you feel that it is too lonely to just watch Yingying and me, as long as you are willing, I will find a suitable marriage for you."
“No, no, no!” Wu turned around hurriedly, her face full of fear and resistance, “I’m fine like this, fine!”
She emphasized it twice in a row, and then she didn't dare to look up at Zhang Shou at all, but just said nervously: "I am here today thanks to my wife. I raised you, but it's not enough to repay her kindness. After all, all the expenses in those years were given by the Duke of Zhao's Mansion. I was just like a wet nurse... I am already in my thirties, what's the point of talking about marriage?"
Knowing that his proposal would be a huge shock to a traditional and conservative person like Wu, Zhang Shou quickly said in a friendly manner, "Okay, okay, whatever you want, mother, but the house given by the emperor will be my home in the future, as well as your home. If you don't want to live there as a mother, you can live there as a foster mother."
Without waiting for Wu to agree or object, he said with finality: "It's settled!"
In the blink of an eye, it was the Little New Year on the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, which was the day for worshipping the kitchen god and sweeping the house. Most government offices began to close before this day, but two days before everyone was busy preparing for the Little New Year's Eve, the eldest prince, who had been tricked by the second prince and the emperor, finally took action.
He wrote an impassioned letter requesting that the new spinning machine be promoted throughout the country, and at the same time he took the initiative to volunteer to be in charge of this matter. It must be said that after realizing that he had made mistakes again and again, he finally figured out a way out.
But unfortunately, he came up with this idea a little too late. Although he tried his best to encourage some officials who supported him to support him, after he and other officials submitted several memorials, most of the senior officials did not respond at all, and the emperor seemed to have no idea about it. Naturally, he was anxious.
When he learned that the new spinning machine was not Lu Sanlang's idea at all, but was completed by Zhang Shou and Lu Sanlang together, he felt even more aggrieved that he had been deceived. But he still had some brains, and after thinking it over, he felt that no matter how capable Zhang Shou and Lu Sanlang were, they would not be able to secretly encourage him to take advantage of them. After thinking it over carefully, he remembered that the instigator was Ning Xi.
With this in mind, he entered the palace on the day of the Little New Year, but instead of going to the Qianqing Palace, he went straight to the Kunning Palace to ask to see the queen.
Because the second prince knelt for a long time at Qianqing Gate when he entered the palace last time, but left immediately after seeing the emperor without even looking at her. Afterwards, it was revealed that the second prince had reported the eldest prince. The queen was heartbroken about this incident. Now that she heard that the eldest son came straight to her when he entered the palace, she suddenly felt a little relieved.
However, she had never expected that after the eldest prince came in to see her, he hinted that she should dismiss the attendants, and then he reported Ning Xi, the manager of Kunning Palace. She was so angry that she had someone call Ning Xi to the East Warm Pavilion without saying a word, and after examining her for a moment, she slapped the armrest with an angry face: "I asked you to bring Rose Dew to the palace, but if you brought it along, how could it be my order?"
Seeing Ning Xi was speechless and panicked, the Queen said angrily, "You were the one who brought this matter to me, and you were the one who started to spread rumors in front of me, saying that Erlang was like this and Dalang should be like this!"
Seeing the Queen suddenly angry and the First Prince looking at him coldly, Ning Xi secretly thought that things were not going well. He tried to cover up his mistakes, but the First Prince hated him so much and the Queen was even more annoyed that he was trying to sow discord between them. Under the coercion of the two, he realized that if he continued to hold out, he might really die without a burial place, so he immediately sold out the Second Prince without hesitation.
The eldest prince, who had originally believed that the second prince had betrayed him, was immediately furious and almost fainted again; the queen was even more furious, hating herself for spoiling the second prince in the past, causing the two brothers to fight each other and both to suffer losses, giving outsiders a free advantage. Therefore, when the eldest prince begged the queen to take care of the second prince, the queen agreed immediately.
"Don't worry, no matter how bad that evil creature is, he can't deny me as his mother... I will ask the female official to go to his villa with a ruler and urge him to copy the "Book of Filial Piety" for me a hundred times. If he can't copy it, he won't be able to come out! Even the emperor or the queen mother can't stop me, a mother, from disciplining my son!"
The eldest prince's eyes immediately filled with tears. Although the queen had been trying to mediate between him and the eldest prince, the second prince, who was a troublemaker, refused to obey him. This time, he had caused him to lose both his money and his life. He was in a very bad state! He no longer cared about his dignity as a prince, and he just hugged the queen's knees and cried.
When he cried, the Queen thought of the comfortable years after she entered the palace, and then thought about how she was now alone in an empty room, a stranger to the Emperor, and how the Queen Mother treated her only indifferently. Her two older sons were obviously the most promising ones to enter the East Palace, but they were at odds with each other. Gradually, she could not hold back her tears, and for a while, the mother and son cried together.
As a result, the emotions of the mother and son immediately infected the entire Kunning Palace. Everyone from top to bottom was in a panic, thinking that the emperor was going to depose the empress, or that the eldest prince had committed a serious mistake like the second prince and would be punished.
It was not until the Queen removed Ning Xi's badge as Kunning Palace's manager, gave her a beating and sent her to Langxia's home, and sent Hu Shanggong, who was by her side, out of the palace to reprimand the Second Prince, that the mood of the people finally calmed down a little. However, some frightened people had gone to Qingning Palace and Qianqing Palace to inquire about the news, and naturally spread the news that the Queen and the First Prince were crying in each other's arms.
The emperor was in a good mood because Zhu Ying came to the palace yesterday and talked about the house-hunting trip he and Zhang Shou had made with each other two days ago, and discovered his arrangements in the villa of Prince Lu's former residence. But when he heard about what happened in Kunning Palace, he suddenly lost all his good mood. After thinking for a while, he ordered Liu Feng, the steward, "Pass the message down, I want to go to Concubine Yu!"
When the Queen Mother in Qingning Palace learned about the farce in Kunning Palace and heard that the Emperor went directly to Yu Fei's Yonghe Palace, she couldn't help but sigh deeply. However, she still agreed with the Queen's order to reprimand the Second Prince, and immediately ordered Yuquan: "The Second Prince killed a slave before, and the forty strokes of the cane will be temporarily recorded in the account as the New Year is approaching. Remember to remind me."
If such a daring boy is not taught a lesson, he might really cause a quarrel among brothers one day!
When the emperor arrived at Yonghe Palace with only a few followers, he saw only Concubine Yu and a few palace maids coming out to greet him, but not Princess Yongping. Thinking that today was the Little New Year, he couldn't help but ask, "Where is Mingyue? At this time, she doesn't accompany you, her mother?"
Seeing that the emperor looked obviously unhappy, Concubine Yu said frankly, "I asked her to go to the Duke of Zhao's mansion. First, to greet the Madam, second, to bring some cakes I made myself to Jiu Niang, and third, I want her to thank Yingying."
The emperor knew Concubine Yu's personality, and he immediately smiled. He nodded, and entered the East Warm Pavilion first. When the palace servants came in to help him take off his outer cloak, he took a look at the furnishings around him that had remained the same for more than ten years, so simple and elegant that they seemed a bit shabby, and immediately smiled and said, "Nine Lady and you are both of this kind of personality that doesn't like external things, so Mingyue is also raised like this, but Yingying just loves gorgeous clothes and beautiful ornaments."
"She is suited to fine clothes and fine ornaments. Besides, the Duke Zhao's Mansion is not without money, so how can they treat her unfairly?" Concubine Yu smiled broadly, and was obviously in a good mood. "Besides, she has found a man . Such a darling girl should naturally live freely and happily."
As she spoke, she suddenly became sad: "Unlike Mingyue, who has become a little gloomy because of my temper over the years. It's all my fault. When she didn't know she had a fiancé, Shou, Yingying knew that her future marriage might not be perfect, but she still went her own way, as if she didn't care about you, she only cared about her own comfort. But Mingyue..."
Concubine Yu rubbed her brows in annoyance, and finally smiled bitterly: "Mingyue is thinking that since she knows that she may end up with a resentful spouse in the future, it is better not to marry! She always says, why can men become officials and realize their ambitions, but women can only be trapped in the harem, taking care of their husbands and children? If the Queen Mother and the Emperor had not been lenient this time, she would have done something stupid!"
