After leaving Mingxiaju, Danyang made some arrangements before taking Zizhu straight to Jiaomen.
With Aunt Zhou taking care of it, there was indeed a complete set of carriages and horses waiting.
When he was about to get in the car, Zizhu couldn't help but tugged on Danyang's sleeves and whispered:
"Princess, you really don't need to freshen up or change clothes. Are you really going to enter the palace just like that?"
The frightened, vaguely anxious tone of voice, as well as the overflowing worry and rejection, made Danyang pause for a moment.
She lowered her head and glanced at her clothes. There seemed to be nothing wrong with her, right?
Zizhu didn't need to look too much to guess what her master was thinking at the moment.
"You'll know if you lower your head and smell it."
Danyang glanced at Zizhu in confusion, raised his hand as instructed, lowered his head and sniffed.
Smells like alcohol?
By the way, I just got it in the flower hall where we were entertaining guests.
Gee, how much good wine from the Princess Mansion did Han Qinglan waste?
Thinking of this, Danyang felt a little regretful again and sighed:
"The order I gave to "hospitate guests warmly" seems to have gone too far?"
Her murmur to herself immediately caused Zizhu to nod in agreement like a chicken pecking at rice.
"So, you'd better go back to Qishuang Pavilion first..."
But who knows, the next moment——
"County, Princess?!"
Danyang didn't wait for Zizhu's reaction, grabbed her arm, and boarded the carriage in two steps.
At the same time, a sweet voice like a mountain spring drifted towards the coachman and said:
"Uncle Wu, go to the East Palace quickly and safely."
After hearing this, Old Wutou immediately replied loudly and enthusiastically:
"Okay, sit down now!"
The moment the words fell to the ground, there was a crisp crackle of firecrackers, which resounded throughout the second door.
The carriage drove briskly out of the corner gate of the princess's mansion. The entire carriage seemed to be filled with inexplicable joy from the inside to the outside.
But on the other hand, whether it was the boy cleaning up the footstool or the concierge and nurse responsible for removing the threshold, they all watched the carriage go away with sympathetic expressions.
To be precise, I was watching the coachman, Old Wu Tou, with secret concern and pity.
"Hey, it's so pitiful. Old Wutou is so ill-informed."
"This job of driving for a nobleman was not something he could grab. But now it's been pushed to him, hey."
"Who says it's not the case? He's so happy to have such a troublesome job. Tsk, it's pitiful. It's so pitiful."
Although Old Wu Tou is quite old, he is still very sharp.
These whispers naturally reached his ears under the favorable wind. After hearing this, he couldn't help but sigh secretly in his heart.
In fact, as early as when he returned home to feed the horses, he heard with his own ears the secret murmurs and discussions of the stewards who had just returned from the Governor's Hall.
It seemed that the stewards had secretly divided into two groups after taking pictures of the princess's decisive decision in the magistrate's hall. Some want to take advantage of the opportunity to flatter and gain the trust of Princess Danyang and become the second housekeeper of the grandson. There are also some who are wise to protect themselves and plan to do less and make fewer mistakes. They have recently tried to avoid doing errands.
While the managers were anxious, the people working below were even more panic-stricken.
In the next morning, all kinds of rumors spread. As a result, the maid sent by Grandma Zhou to the stable to shunt cars and people was actually pushed back in front of her.
Presumably, if he had not come forward at that time, the steward would have had to go to the street to hire a car for the princess besides delaying the process.
But the princess plans to enter the palace!
Even though he was a rough man, he knew it. If the princess is really allowed to enter the palace in a carriage hired from the street, not to mention the princess's palace will lose face, even the princess will be laughed at secretly.
Speaking of which, Old Wutou had only met Princess Danyang twice from afar before this morning.
But although he doesn't have much ability and his brain is not smart enough, he has instinctive intuition and trusts his own feelings.
If you can think of a girl who is the most ordinary servant in the house and hasn't had breakfast, she will not be a troublesome or unreasonable person. It is even less likely that he is the terrible master who deliberately scolds his servants as everyone speculates.
Therefore, when he heard that the princess needed a carriage urgently, he was willing to treat Princess Danyang's urgent matter as his own urgent matter without hesitation.
Maybe, after he gets off this trip, trouble will come to his door when he returns home.
But rather than later regretting doing nothing, do what you think is right.
As for what will happen afterwards...
When he thought of this, Old Wu raised his hand and patted the back of his head.
Anyway, at least he can sleep well tonight.
————
After traveling hurriedly, the princess's carriage arrived at the dismounting monument in the east of the palace, outside the Donghua Gate.
In the middle of the vermilion palace wall here, a majestic city platform higher than the city wall stands quietly. The white marble Xumizuo dotted under it extends to three feet away.
There is a tower on the city platform, which is five rooms wide and three rooms deep. The beams and columns are painted with large ink lines and golden spirals. The tops of the verandahs with double eaves are covered with glazed yellow tiles.
The entire Donghua Gate, so carefully crafted and resplendent, reflects the sunlight and is so bright that it is difficult to look directly at it.
This place is only for the prince Xiao Jin to come and go on weekdays. It is also the closest place to the prince's East Palace and Duanmu Palace.
Among Gao Jun's towers, there are three rolling doors. The rolling hole is square on the outside and round on the inside. Any one of them can accommodate two carriages driving in side by side.
However, although the three rolling doors here are all wide open, in fact, only the rightmost one allows outsiders to enter.
Moreover, there are imperial guards strictly guarding the gate inside and outside, and the order is even better than in front of Jinshui Bridge.
No matter who wants to enter the palace from here, or visit the prince, he must submit a greeting card in advance and wait for it to be transmitted.
But Danyang was not one of them. She didn't even have to get out of the car. She just raised the curtain and nodded to the familiar guard before being let through.
And that's not all. Xiao Huangmen, who was responsible for delivering news at the city gate, immediately stepped forward to greet Danyang enthusiastically:
"Princess, you are here. His Highness the Crown Prince has been thinking about you these past few days. Please go to the door and prepare a carriage."
After saying that, Xiao Huangmen dexterously hit Qian'er. After that, he immediately turned around, his posture straightened, and his feet were like the wind, and he went to do his errands.
Granny Danyang looked at the retreating figure. After a moment, she came back to her senses at the creaking sound of the wheels. She looked up and looked at the city wall where the dazzling golden light was no longer visible but was still not in front of her eyes.
How long has it been?
Since the sudden change in her family in her last life, she has never been here again, and has never seen her brother the prince again.
Until the last meeting, it was just her kowtowing respectfully to a black wooden tablet with illegible words from a distance behind her wife who came to the palace to express her condolences.
Even when she cried, she had to follow the old etiquette and follow the crowd. No loud noises, no timeouts.
Thinking of this, Danyang didn't know why, but his heart felt like that gloomy day again, sour and sour that he almost suffocated.
I could only bend down sharply, gasp silently, and cry silently to avoid passing out completely.
