The Beauties of the Song Dynasty

Chapter 128

Song Huining froze for a moment, then shook her head and smiled bitterly, "Lan'er, there's no need to talk about these things anymore. We shouldn't have any thoughts that we shouldn't have. We're always coveting things that don't belong to us."

Wanlan nodded in agreement, "That's right, there are some things we can't have, but Mother, are you willing to give up what you already have because of external factors? Are you willing to do that?"

"Lan'er?!"

Song Huining looked up at her suddenly, somewhat incredulous, "You... what do you mean?" Wanlan sat down next to her, took her hand and looked at her seriously, "You know what? I actually don't agree with you continuing, so for the past two months I've let you go into seclusion. I even thought you should just end it like this, but my uncle won't allow it."

Raising her hand to stop her lips from opening, Wanlan continued, "This time, it was my royal uncle who personally came to the Qin Prince's residence to ask me to come to the palace to see you. You said that you shouldn't have any thoughts you shouldn't have, but are you going to abandon what you already have? Your royal uncle's heart, his royal uncle's feelings, his protection and love over the years, are you going to turn a blind eye to them?"

Song Huining turned her face away, her voice hoarse, "Lan'er, how could you say such things? I'll ruin him... He always does ridiculous things for me, like Lady Huarui seven years ago, and the Duke of Longxi a few months ago. He... wasn't originally an impulsive or easily angered person, how could I—"

"But he will be even more out of control if he loses you."

Wanlan hurriedly said, secretly relieved.

Now that we know the reason, the trip wasn't in vain.

Song Huining smiled sadly, and asked in a daze, "If only I didn't exist..."

"mother--"

"Erase all those messy thoughts from your head!"

A roar suddenly rang out, startling the two women sitting opposite each other to their feet. They stared in astonishment at the suddenly appearing Zhao Hao, who glared angrily at Song Huining, strode forward, pulled her into his arms, and casually dragged Wanlan, who was on the other side, backward. Wanlan cried out in alarm, her swaying body barely caught by Zhao Defang, who rushed forward. Before either of them could catch their breath, Zhao Hao coldly shouted, "Defang, take Deqing away! I didn't bring her into the palace to trigger Ning'er's inexplicable guilt!"

Wanlan pouted. Did she really want to come?

"Zehua, let's go."

He should have come on his own long ago. Why did he drag her into this? And now he's just using her and then dumping her?

It truly lives up to its name as a "shovel"!

On the fifteenth day of the eleventh month of the third year of the Taiping Xingguo era, Emperor Taizong held a joint sacrifice to Heaven and Earth in the southern suburbs of the capital and ascended the Danfeng Tower to issue a general amnesty.

Since the early years of the Song Dynasty, the southern suburbs have held seven annual sacrifices to Heaven, the former emperor, the imperial land, and the divine land, with four ancestors taking turns to participate in each sacrifice.

Since Emperor Taizong ascended the throne, he had only used Emperor Xuanzu (father of Emperor Taizu and Emperor Taizong, Zhao Hongdian) and Emperor Taizu in alternating sacrifices. But this time, when they jointly worshipped Heaven and Earth, Emperor Taizu was elevated to the altar for sacrifice.

On the day of the sacrifice, Wanlan, accompanied by Xuan'er and Lanwu, held her youngest son and watched the extremely solemn sacrificial ceremony from atop a watchtower on the outskirts of the city.

Unfortunately, the distance was too far, and she couldn't see clearly at all. She only remembered that the entire southern suburbs were filled with a dark mass of people that day, and all she could see were the various sacrificial robes and black gauze hats of civil and military officials.

The Imperial Uncle seemed to have calmed down again, probably because he had explained things to the Empress Dowager. These two people, who were usually a dignified and gentle woman and a calm and composed monarch, completely changed when they met. One became timid and fearful, while the other flew into a rage.

It's getting colder and colder, and lately it's been raining in winter.

Wanlan wrapped herself in layers of clothing, but it seemed to offer no protection against the cold. She remained as cold as a hibernating animal, unwilling to move, and her hands, which worried Zhao Defang constantly, remained icy. As the end of the year approached, Wanlan grew increasingly calm.

She spends all her time tending to her two children. She doesn't know if she'll ever have such days again, but as long as she can still give, she will shower those two children with all her tenderness.

After putting both children to sleep, Wanlan gave an order to the maidservant to attend to her, then carefully closed the door of Tingyuxuan and turned back towards Ziyunge, secretly thinking that Zehua would probably be impatient again.

Lately, Zehua seems to have had a lot more free time.

I can usually get back to have dinner with her every day.

Seeing the threshold so close at hand, Wanlan stepped inside. Looking at the untouched dishes on the round table in the outer room, she wondered why the person who should have been sitting at the table waiting for her was nowhere to be seen.

"Wanlan".

The person who called her actually came in from outside the door.

Wanlan turned around and looked at him with surprise, her face beaming with smiles. "Where did you go?"

"Xue Weiji just arrived."

As he spoke, he closed the door behind him, keeping the cold wind at bay. He then walked towards her, put his arm around her shoulder, and sat down at the table with her.

"What is Xue Weiji doing here? Where is he now?"

"I'm going back."

As he spoke, he took out a pair of snow-white, soft furry objects from his chest and handed them to her. "I asked him to help me find someone to make these things, and they were only finished today, so he delivered them over."

"This is……"

Wanlan stared incredulously at the gloves in her hands. She was absolutely familiar with the shape, and it was something very common in modern times. But seeing it in the Song Dynasty was truly unbelievable. "These are a pair of gloves made of fox fur."

He smiled and helped her put the gloves on. "You mentioned these gloves once when you were freezing, so I had them made for you. With these, you won't feel cold holding the thermos anymore."

These "gloves" were at best simply a pair of fox furs sewn together to form a pouch-like shape, with a separate compartment on the side, presumably for the thumb. The only opening was secured with a silk strip to bind the wrist and prevent the "gloves" from slipping off. Calling them gloves was an understatement; they were more like portable pockets. Wanlan bit her lip and chuckled softly, "Although they look a bit clumsy, they're...so warm!"

Zhao Defang smiled and picked up the chopsticks from the table. "Let's eat."

"I think……"

She raised her hand, which was completely covered, and glanced at him sideways. "With this on, I can't do anything, and I can't even eat."

"It's alright, I'll feed you."

He spoke quite seriously, eliciting giggles from Wanlan, who then stopped feeding him and opened her mouth. "Wanlan, the Imperial Uncle has decided to personally lead an expedition to Hedong next month."

Wanlan paused in her eating, swallowed the food in her mouth, and smiled, "Didn't I tell you this before?"

"My elder brother and I must both go on the expedition."

Wanlan nodded thoughtfully, "Next month... Although it's a bit sudden, I've been preparing for this for months, so it won't be rushed."