"He actually told me that he was planning to..." Consort Jing, completely unaware of her son's misunderstanding, continued speaking with amusement, just as a eunuch entered carrying the letter that Wushuang had given to Chu Wan, interrupting her.
"Is this for Wanwan?" Consort Jing picked up the envelope and looked at it. The six characters 'To be opened by Princess Yu Rong' were neatly written on it.
Their daughter, Wanwan, can't read yet...
Consort Jing, unaware of who had caused this misunderstanding, frowned and pulled Chu Wan into her arms, guiding her step by step to open the envelope and take out the letter.
Chu Wan was excited and felt a sense of novelty when she received the letter for the first time. However, after unfolding the letter, her smiling face instantly fell.
Chu Wan didn't recognize a single word on it and had no idea who wrote it for her or what it said.
This is really bullying!
She looked up pitifully at Consort Jing, on the verge of bursting into tears.
"Don't cry, Wanwan, don't cry." Consort Jing quickly hugged Chu Wan and gently patted her back to comfort her. She then called to Chu Ye, who was sitting in a daze on the chair, "Come and help me see what's written in the letter."
Chu Ye nudged his younger brother Chu Xu, who was sitting next to him, and said, "Go and get the letter."
"Your mother is calling you, why am I the one who needs to get it?" Chu Xu asked.
Chu Ye replied, "Haven't you heard of the order of seniority? I'm the older brother, and you're the younger brother, so you have to listen to me."
"Oh?" Despite his young age, Chu Xu's mind was just as sharp as his older brother's. "Your elder brother is like a father to me, but all you do is order me around and never give me a reward."
While the two brothers were still bickering, Chu Wan couldn't help but start to shed tears. Given her status, she had always been pampered and loved wherever she went, and had never been bullied before. Yet, someone wrote a bunch of incomprehensible words to make things difficult for her.
Although Chu Wan was not Consort Jing's biological daughter, she was treated like a little princess in Consort Jing's palace, and no one dared to neglect her. As soon as she shed tears, a quick-witted palace maid immediately stepped forward, took the letter, and handed it to Chu Ye.
"Alright, alright, little Wanwan, stop crying. Your dowry is already more than enough. If you add another bowl of tears, no one in Qi Kingdom will dare to marry you." Chu Ye didn't read the letter immediately, but instead coaxed Chu Wan first.
Chu Wan was too young to understand the deeper meaning of the topic of marriage, and therefore did not feel shy. But she understood the point that her cousin was teasing her about being unwanted, and she pouted and retorted, "Wanwan can marry into Ryukyu." She didn't remember where she had heard the name of the place, but she could say it off the cuff.
"Ryukyu?" Chu Ye chuckled. "Do you really know what kind of place that is? It's inhabited by barbarians who eat raw fish and don't wear shoes. Can you stand it?"
It was hot, and Chu Wan was indoors wearing only a thin cotton short-sleeved shirt and shorts, her delicate white feet exposed. She stretched out her toes and peeked inside, imagining herself walking barefoot on the garden's pebbly path. Hmm, that seemed much more painful than stepping on a peanut on the tatami mat.
As for raw fish… it's very dangerous for children to choke on fish bones, so there's an unwritten rule in the palace that princes and princesses aren't allowed to eat fish before the age of ten. Chu Wan mostly stayed with Consort Jing, and her wet nurse and cook followed the palace rules. Since she didn't eat it anyway, she had no concept of whether it was raw or cooked, and didn't care at all.
"I want to wear shoes." Chu Wan pulled her little feet back and snuggled into Consort Jing's arms coquettishly. "Wanwan's shoes must be embroidered with butterflies and flowers, and inlaid with pearls and gemstones, so that they will look beautiful when worn."
"Of course, our Wanwan is a girl, so of course she should dress however she wants to look pretty." Consort Jing coaxed her, rubbing her little face, then glared at Chu Ye, "You boys always say nonsense to fool your little sister just because she's young, it's really outrageous." She was including Chu Yao in her insults.
Seeing that his mother was about to get angry, Chu Ye grinned lazily, picked up the letter and scanned it, saying, "This letter was written by your little friend Jun Wushuang. The Marquis of Runan's family is going to climb West Mountain and visit Biyun Temple to worship Buddha on the Double Ninth Festival. So she invited you to go with her. She also said that the cherry blossom spring behind Biyun Temple has particularly sweet water, and she feels that something is missing if you don't go with her to taste it."
Chu Ye automatically omitted the sentence where Wu Shuang asked Chu Yao to take Chu Wan away.
Although he didn't want to compete with his cousin for anything, the identity of Wuxia's beloved was still undecided, and he wanted to take this opportunity to find out. If Wuxia and Chu Yao were mutually in love, he would offer his blessings with tears in his eyes. If not, then of course he would compete fairly for the beauty's heart.
When Chu Wan heard that Wu Shuang had invited her on the trip, she happily waved her little hands and feet, saying, "Wanwan wants to go! Wants to go!"
Then he asked, "How many days until the Double Ninth Festival?"
Consort Jing said, "There is still one month left."
The Double Ninth Festival falls on the ninth day of the ninth lunar month, but it's only the end of July right now.
Chu Wan counted on her fingers, "First day, second day, third day..." When she reached the tenth day, she realized she had run out of fingers. She was surprised to find that a month had grown longer than she had imagined, and the corners of her upturned mouth drooped down again.
"It's been so long, I don't want to wait, boohoo..." She buried her head in Consort Jing's arms again, squirming and acting coquettishly, trying to get help.
"A month will pass in the blink of an eye," Chu Ye advised. "How about your third brother takes you there himself then?"
Chu Wan turned her head and glanced at him, then hesitated before asking, "What about my brother?"
“He has official duties to attend to, he’s busy,” Chu Ye said. “The Imperial Study has holidays during festivals, I don’t have to teach on the Double Ninth Festival.”
Consort Jing was quite pleased to see her son take on the task of accompanying his cousin on the outing. He was usually a bit unpredictable, but now he seemed more mature, and perhaps she could tell the Emperor that her son already had a girl he liked.
Chapter 66 | Table of Contents
Chapter Sixty-Six:
Knowing that someone was plotting to ruin Wuxia's marriage, Junshu sent a female guard disguised as a maid to stay by her side from morning till night. Even at night, one of them would lie in wait in the main courtyard, and the other would stand guard outside the bedroom.
In short, the defenses were so tight that no one could find a loophole.
The days passed peacefully, and finally the Double Ninth Festival arrived.
As dawn broke, Wushuang woke up. She yawned, glanced at her sister sleeping soundly beside her, and decided not to wake her.
On days when you're looking at each other, you need to get enough sleep to look radiant.
Wushuang threw off the covers and slipped out of bed, tiptoeing to the dressing table. She wanted to help her sister choose clothes and jewelry, and make her look beautiful.
During this time, she considered many versions of her plan, but ultimately decided that her sister's best interests should come first. If she and Pang Yuan fell in love, she couldn't break them up; she could only feel sorry for Wuyou. However, she would definitely help find Wuyou a better husband in the future as compensation.
Although Wushuang tried her best to walk quietly, Nanping, the female nurse guarding the outer room, still heard the noise. She lifted the curtain and peeked into the room, seeing the Third Miss kneeling in front of the dressing table in her nightgown, carefully picking through her jewelry box.
Wushuang also saw her, raised her index finger to her lips to make a "shh" gesture, and pointed to the bed, indicating that she should not wake Wuxia.
Nan Ping understood, lowered the curtain, and left.
Wushuang first chose a set of crimson gold and ruby headdresses, which perfectly matched Wuxia's newly made gilded pomegranate skirt this season.
However, if you're going to a temple to pray for blessings and will be staying overnight, wearing bright red might not be appropriate.
She sighed and reluctantly put the jewelry back into the box.