Princess Yunzhang's harsh words had truly touched her heart.
A transaction in which money and goods are exchanged.
She had a headache.
The saying "familiarity breeds affection" does have some truth to it. After sleeping together for nearly four hundred days and nights, she really developed feelings for Zhizhi.
Her thoughts drifted back to the enchanting moments in the tent last night, and her heart pounded like a deer's. She suddenly realized—she now understood what 'heart pounding' meant!
For a moment, I couldn't tell whether I was upset or happy.
The distressing thing was that she had fallen in love with her concubine, and looking back on the cruel and heartless things she had said in the past, she suddenly felt a pang of embarrassment.
Pleasant, huh...
Yan Xiu smiled as she watched her daughter's daydreaming expression, then tapped her on the forehead with a finger: "Tone it down."
Even his own mother couldn't stand his lecherous behavior.
Ji Pingxi came to his senses and sighed, "I'm still hoping my mother will show me the way..."
"You have to walk your own path."
Princess Changyang clung to her mother, acting coquettishly. Yan Xiu enjoyed her intimacy but, being a gossip, refused to budge: "You have to pursue your own woman yourself."
Don't expect her, someone with experience, to offer advice.
She tried to bring the two together at first, but the little guy was cold-hearted. Now he thinks the other person is better.
The Empress smiled gently and coaxed her daughter softly, "Mother believes in you."
Ji Pingxi came to the palace early to find her, firstly because he had never realized that he had someone in his heart, and he felt a little uneasy; secondly, he belatedly realized that he had fallen in love and was too ashamed to face Yu Zhi.
She has blocked all her way out. Now, she's going to stage a "prodigal son returns, love stronger than gold" scenario. Whether Zhizhi believes it or not, if someone had sworn six months ago that she would one day fall for a concubine, she would have definitely arrested that person and given them a good beating.
But now...
Damn it!
She wiped away non-existent tears and slunk out of the Gan Ning Palace.
Yan Xiu escorted her to the palace gate, gave her a few words of advice, and raised her hand to straighten her collar, which had been ruffled by the spring breeze: "If you really like her, treat her well. People are all made of flesh and blood, there is no need to feel ashamed. Sometimes, in front of the person you love, you are just going to lose face."
It would have been better not to say anything comforting. Ji Pingxi was dejected, sometimes thinking resentfully, "How could she lose face in front of a concubine?", and sometimes thinking dejectedly, "This is no concubine, this is her beloved little darling, her sweetheart."
My sweetheart completely captivated her last night, crying so hard she was mesmerized. She even managed to wake her from her daze with her tears. She's quite something.
She was experiencing love for the first time, and after finally calming herself down, she rushed into the palace and was in a hurry to leave.
After the morning court session, Ji Ying was told by the Empress about her daughter's embarrassing incident, and couldn't help but laugh and say, "Young people should experience the bitterness of love."
The Emperor and Empress were secretly pleased to see their daughter suffer. Jade and Agate followed the princess closely, watching her worry all the way, wanting to laugh but daring not to.
"Your Highness..."
"Um?"
"We've passed by."
Princess Changyang, preoccupied with her own thoughts, didn't look where she was going. Now, reminded by her maid, Ruifeng raised her phoenix eyes slightly, showing a hint of embarrassment and anger.
The jade and agate jewelers didn't dare to tease her; they all kept serious faces and didn't even dare to show a smile.
It's true what they say, karma is a cycle.
Who would have thought that even a prince destined for romantic entanglements would one day fall for a woman?
At the Yu residence, Princess Yunzhang was pruning flower branches with golden scissors, while eavesdropping on a conversation between a mother and daughter on the other side.
Not long after breakfast, Liu Boyan listened to her daughter's voice, which was clearly tinged with a seductive quality afterward. Even though it was her own daughter, she blushed at this moment: "You're so young, you should always be more restrained..."
She spoke with a blush, and Yuzhi listened with a blush as well; the mother and daughter shared a common trait of being thin-skinned.
Yu Zhi obediently replied, rubbing her burning earlobes with her fingers: "Mother..."
Liu Boyan held back for a moment, but couldn't help it any longer and blurted out, "You'd better not say anything."
Take good care of your voices, what kind of talk is this! Anyone with common sense would know you've been fooling around all night!
Yu Zhi blushed deeply in front of her mother, wishing she could dig a hole and bury herself on the spot.
The women of the Liu family in Jinghe are known for their gentle and charming nature, a gift bestowed upon them by heaven.
She had lost her composure last night and woke up to find no one beside her. Now, her mother was 'disliking' her. For no reason, she felt a deep sense of grievance. She blinked a few times, her eyelashes slightly damp, whether from embarrassment or something else.
"Mother, I'm going back to my room now."
Her voice was trembling with tears. After everyone left, Liu Boyan realized that she had spoken too harshly and made the person cry.
She felt helpless: her daughter was good in every way, except that she cried too much.
She clearly, clearly didn't mean to reprimand her.
Liu Boyan sighed.
No sooner had Yu Zhi left than Ji Rong threw down the golden scissors and rushed over, waving away the maidservant who was serving her, and carefully supporting the woman: "What's wrong? Why are our daughter's eyes red?"
She deliberately brought up a sore spot, and Liu Boyan was annoyed by her phrase "our daughter," so she ruthlessly pulled her hand back: "I dare not accept that, Zhizhi is the flesh and blood of Xiucai and me."
"..."
Princess Yunzhang had poked her future son-in-law in the heart an hour ago, and now her beloved had poked her back. Suppressing her heartache, she said, "Yan'er, let me explain. I would never dare to have any dislike for you..."
The two of them had been arguing about this for quite some time. Only when Liu Boyan heard her start did her eyes redden: "You are a dignified princess, extremely precious, how could you know the hardships of a common woman?"
When she married the scholar, her family had been destroyed and she had gone blind. How could she know what love was? Not only was she ignorant of love, but even after marriage and the birth of her daughter, she only felt brotherly and sisterly affection for her husband.
She married to repay a debt of gratitude and also to find a place to belong.
Who would have thought that the scholar would die young? He was bedridden and emptied his family's savings before passing away. Only after his death did she slowly realize who she truly loved.
The mother grumbled that her daughter was a crybaby, but she wasn't much better herself.
Her eyes were glistening with tears, and it was a critical period for her eye treatment. Ji Rong dared not let her cry, so she coaxed her softly, "Yan'er, you've misunderstood me. How could I dislike you for having been married and had a daughter? If you hadn't remarried, how would you have survived those years? Besides, isn't your daughter my daughter too?"
Liu Boyan, trapped in feelings of inferiority, wouldn't listen to her explanation. She shook her head, tears streaming down her face, wetting her clothes.
She was more obtuse and slow to react when it came to love than most people. She had a short temper, but to be precise, she wasn't angry at Ji Rong, but at herself, angry that she was a worn-out woman who wasn't good enough for her.
Her crying made Ji Rong sweat profusely: "What do I have to do for you to believe in my heart? I've thanked God countless times for you being alive. What does it mean to be innocent? How can you not be innocent? You married a respectable person, and I genuinely love you. Even the scholar's bones are buried in the earth. Why would I argue with a dead person?"
"You'd better not mess with me..."
She turned away and wiped her tears with a handkerchief.
Ji Rong was dumbfounded: What's going on here?!
Just as she was at her wit's end and anxiously pacing around, Ji Pingxi returned just in time. Upon seeing her, the princess's eyes lit up, and she immediately regarded her as her savior, quickly pulling her over.
"Can you do me a favor?"
"Heh." Princess Changyang's eyes practically darted to the sky: "I won't help."
"..."
Ji Rong grabbed her arm and dragged her to the corner of the wall in one go. Looking up, Liu Boyan was still crying. She was anxious: "Help me out, and your royal aunt will reward you handsomely."
Ji Pingxi chuckled upon hearing this; how long had it been before this person was already so eager to back down?
Her mother-in-law is really charming. Thank you, mother-in-law.
Zhizhi's mother-in-law is her own mother. As a dutiful son-in-law, how could he stand by and watch his mother-in-law cry her eyes out?
She nodded slightly with her chin: "Speak."
What goes around comes around. Ji Rong didn't care about saving face: "Yan'er likes you, she listens to what you say, please pass on a few words for your aunt."
Ji Pingxi put on airs and snorted, "Tell me then."
Princess Yunzhang blushed slightly, and pulled her a few steps further south to make sure Liu Boyan couldn't hear her whispering. She whispered, "Come closer."
"trouble."
Since she needed a favor, Ji tolerated her grumbling, secretly thinking that one day her good niece would pay back. Once she became Zhizhi's legitimate second mother, they'd see how she would...
"Will you tell me or not?" Princess Changyang asked impatiently.
"Can't you have a little patience?"
Ji Pingxi was about to slip away and refuse to serve, but Ji Rong grabbed him and poured sweet, cloying words into his ears.
"So cheesy."
"Stop talking nonsense and go tell her."
"It's too cheesy to describe."
"..."
Ji Ren, unable to bear it any longer, kicked her in the butt: "Go now!"
If this weren't her imperial aunt, Ji Pingxi would have loved to snap her head off.
She cleared her throat and forced a smile.
As he approached Liu Boyan, a soft and gentle "Mother-in-law" startled the woman from her sobbing.
Liu Boyan recognized her son-in-law's voice, and blushed with embarrassment. Feeling she had lost her dignity as an elder, she tried to leave, but was stopped in her tracks by a single sentence from the younger generation.
"My aunt has something she wants her son-in-law to secretly convey to her mother-in-law."
This involves her aunt, son-in-law, and mother-in-law. Just thinking about it made her feel confused about the relationships. She scratched her face with her fingertips. After a moment of preparation, Princess Changyang was about to speak when Ji Rong quietly slipped over from not far away.
They were taking advantage of Liu Boyan's poor eyesight, pretending she couldn't see.
When she crept over and stopped five steps away from her good niece, Ji Pingxi was happy to watch the show, and the corners of her lips curled up slightly: "My royal aunt said that she loves you the most, and that without you, life would be meaningless."
Liu Boyan's face turned bright red, and after a long while she spat out, "Nonsense, why would she tell you all this?"
She looked forward to hearing more of Sister Rong's "heart-to-heart talk," and Ji Rong behind her also pricked up her ears.
Ji Pingxi opened his mouth and took a deep breath. Liu Boyan's heart trembled with her long breath, but then she suddenly said, "It's gone."
"..."
"That's it!?"
Hiding in the back, Ji Rong couldn't contain herself any longer: "And what about the 'I wish to be a pair of lovebirds flying wing to wing with you'?"