Autumn is getting stronger in September. To celebrate the engagement of the eldest princess Xiao Yuanzhen, the family members are invited to hold an osmanthus banquet. Xiao Yuanzhen also specially sent a separate invitation to invite the "Master of the Golden Court" Lutang to the palace to participate.
For palace banquets hosted by queens, concubines, and princesses, most of the guests are invited without invitations and only verbally "summoned." The person who can make the eldest princess send an invitation must be an extremely close confidant.
Everyone has heard these days that Lutang, the second daughter of the Wen family, clung to the influence of the eldest princess after her uncle Wen Hou was defeated and became the princess's Taoist substitute. Unexpectedly, Xiao Yuanzhen really regarded her as a close friend, and even invited her to the palace banquet.
The last time Lutang returned to the palace was when she followed her father and got engaged to Prince Jin three years ago. At that time, I took the east door and went straight into the imperial study. This time, we entered the palace from the north gate, passed through the imperial garden, and arrived at the eldest princess's palace on Northeast Road.
The people Xiao Yuanzhen summoned to appreciate the laurels were all the daughters of the princes and nobles in Beijing. There were no more than ten people in total. What shocked Lutang was that Wenhongyao also came.
Just last month at Prince Qi's birthday party, Wen Hongyao, the eldest daughter of Marquis Wen and the future Princess Jin, was extremely rude to the eldest princess Xiao Yuanzhen.
Now that Marquis Wen has lost power, his family's influence is gone, and his engagement with Prince Jin is in jeopardy, it's hard to guess what he's thinking about entering the palace to show off.
Lutang was all dressed up as a Taoist today. When she followed the palace maid into the palace gate, she smelled the sweet scent of osmanthus.
In the garden of Xiao Yuanzhen's palace, several osmanthus trees were in bloom. There were tables and chairs next to the tree. The eldest princess and the ladies sat down to chat, and the little palace maids were making tea on the porch. The scene was very warm.
Xiao Yuanzhen looked up and saw Lutang entering the door. He pursed his lips and smiled and said: "The master of Jinting has arrived, and I am telling the story of how I tied your hair that day at Chongxian Temple with everyone."
Lutang was wearing Taoist attire, so it was inconvenient for her to perform the daughter ceremony, so she followed Taoist etiquette, held a fly whisk, bowed her head and said, "Greetings to Her Royal Highness, the eldest princess."
She rarely went out to socialize when she was in Marquis Wen's house. Most of the wealthy ladies in front of her were only acquaintances, and the only one she was familiar with was her cousin Wen Hongyao.
Unexpectedly, it was the closest sister who was the first to sneer and complain: "Second sister suddenly changed her clothes, and I couldn't even recognize her. Something happened at home, and you ran away as if you were in trouble. What you know is that the elder sister The princess values you so much that she doesn’t know but thinks that the family owes you something!”
When Lutang heard that her yin and yang aura was still strong, she couldn't help but laugh and get angry, and said coldly: "Sister's words are really funny. I was injured in the King of Qi that day, and you and the eldest princess saw it with your own eyes. As for why I can't go back. My sister knows the family better than anyone. Now the Wen family is at fault. It is the emperor's grace that saved my uncle's title so that my eldest sister can sit here. My sister's eldest princess took a fancy to her and let me become a monk in her place regardless of past grudges. This is the eldest princess's grace. . If I were a sister, I should stay at home with my parents and avoid going out less often."
Wen Hongyao has become very haggard these days. Since Wen Hou was eliminated from his actual post and the youngest prince was deprived of his title, her mother has become seriously ill.
She once secretly ran out of the house and went to Prince Jin's house to ask for a meeting, hoping that Xiao Yuanhui would remember the kindness of the engagement and help the Wen family. Unexpectedly, Xiao Yuanhui stayed behind closed doors and sent someone to warn her coldly that if she dared to cause trouble, he would immediately break off the engagement with her.
Wen Hongyao also secretly wrote to her lover's cousin Yan Shuqin asking for help. Yan Shuqin hid and did not see her, but only comforted her with words, telling her not to take any action to avoid making things worse.
She has always been a woman admired by stars, but has she ever been in such a state of despair? When she was desperate, she wanted to meet Yan Shuqin, so she had to spend a lot of money to bribe Aunt Shanggong, who was familiar with her in the palace, so that she could be included in the guests of the eldest princess's osmanthus appreciation banquet.
In normal times, she would not look down on an unfavored princess like Xiao Yuanzhen. She felt in her heart that her cousin Yan Shuqin wanted to be her consort, which was too humiliating and a lowly marriage.
When she arrived at the palace today, she was already the daughter of a down-and-out marquis. She could not even sit in front of the princess, so she could only stand in the corridor.
She had been holding back her grievances for a long time, and when she saw Lutang, her former enemy, she couldn't help scolding her in a strange way.
But now Lutang is already a guest of the eldest princess. As soon as she enters the palace, she sits next to the princess like stars holding the moon, and talks so much about the emperor's favor that she blushes.
"I invite you here today to have tea, enjoy the flowers, and talk to relieve your boredom. I don't have the time to listen to bickering and quarrels. If Miss Wen doesn't come here just for fun, don't open your mouth. There are some osmanthus cakes over there. Eat more to keep your mouth shut. "Xiao Yuanzhen sneered and asked the palace maid Shang Gong: "The girl who came today is either a student of this palace or a practitioner with me. Who invited Wen Hong Yao? I wrote it. Her name?"
Aunt Shang Gong, who had received the money from Wen Hong Yao, could not help but blush. She came up to apologize and said with a smile: "It was my fault. I just wanted to call a few more people to make it more fun."
Xiao Yuanzhen smiled at everyone and said, "Some people are here just to join in the fun, but some people don't know what they are here for!"
The ladies saw that Xiao Yuan was really unhappy, so naturally they did not dare to argue. These little girls have been in and out of the palace since they were young, and their ability to worship others and suppress others is even more flexible than the palace ladies. They quickly gathered around Xiao Yuanzhen and told jokes, and no one dared to pay attention to Wen Hongyao.
Wen Hongyao was originally standing in the corridor inconspicuously, just to say a few words to Lutang. His face turned red and white after being criticized, and he couldn't cry in front of everyone. It was as if he was being tortured.
Lutang ignored her and listened to Xiao Yuanzhen telling the ladies about their adventure that day at Chongxian Temple.
The story of the old Taoist priest Chen Tianshi being struck to death by lightning has already spread throughout the capital. Most of these ladies have heard of it. Some of them were mature and prudent and had close friendship with Xiao Yuanzhen. They euphemistically said: "It was Chen Tianshi who said that His Highness's destiny was not good and that he should become a monk. He was struck to death by a thunderbolt, and he himself I can’t even predict my destiny, so I’m afraid what I said back then was nonsense, right?”
That one also nodded and said: "Exactly. Not only Her Royal Highness the Princess, but also Miss Wen Er, the owner of Jinting, had her fate cut off. She said it was an unlucky destiny, and the engagement was annulled by His Royal Highness Prince Jin. From this point of view, I'm afraid it's not the case either. It makes perfect sense.”
There was even one who was not afraid of offending others. He glanced at Wen Hongyao behind him, covered his mouth and said with a smile: "I also heard that when old Taoist Chen said that Miss Wen Er's fate was unlucky, he even praised her in front of King Jin. Miss Wen was destined to be a wealthy and prosperous husband, so His Highness Prince Jin changed the engagement to marry her. At that time, Miss Wen's uncle and cousin's family were having a wedding ceremony at Chongxian Temple, and the marriage was decided. Eldest Princess, My daughter told me a joke, I am afraid that the old Taoist priest has taken too much money from people, and God will not stand it anymore!"
Everyone heard what she said so openly. They were reserved and didn't want to laugh, but the more they thought about it, the more they felt that it made sense. Some of the younger ones couldn't help but burst into laughter.
Xiao Yuanzhen frowned slightly and scolded: "Don't talk nonsense. The marriage contract between me and the Yan family was also proposed in front of the old Taoist priest and the emperor. For this marriage, I even delayed my cultivation of immortality. Who knows that the marriage has not been decided yet? , the Iceman was struck to death by lightning, isn’t that bad luck!”
Everyone quickly comforted her, saying that the eldest princess's marriage would be a happy one, and praised Yan Shuqin for his young talent and excellent appearance.
When Yan Shuqin was mentioned, Lu Tang glanced sideways. As expected, Wen Hongyao couldn't bear it any longer and quietly turned her back to wipe her tears.
Unexpectedly, Xiao Yuanzhen also glanced sideways while holding the tea. When he saw Wen Hongyao's eyes were red and he was extremely aggrieved, there was a bit of a sneer in his eyes.
At this moment, Aunt Shang Gong came over and replied, saying that it was Yan Shuqin who wanted to see him.
"Back to the eldest princess, Academician Xiao Yan is here to pay his respects."
When Xiao Yuanzhen heard this, he smiled and asked: "When I reward you with laurels, I invite all the female relatives. It's inconvenient for him to come, so let's avoid it."
Yan Shuqin and Xiao Yuanzhen are engaged, and their wedding date will be next month. It is normal for the prospective prince-in-law to come to pay his respects. Moreover, most of the girls here have heard about the literary talents of Young Master Pianpianjia, a young scholar of Xiao Yan, and want to take a look.
Everyone secretly encouraged Xiao Yuanzhen: "It doesn't matter if the eldest princess doesn't see him, I'd like to ask him to write two poems to promote her elegance!"
Xiao Yuanzhen couldn't win over everyone, so he ordered people to prepare pen and ink, and asked Yan Shuqin to write two poems to read them in the outer room of the palace.
She looked around, smiled at Wen Hongyao and said, "He is your cousin. You can take a pen and ink and pass the message."
Wen Hongyao could only step forward to take the pen and ink, and walked out of the palace.
A thought suddenly occurred in Lutang's mind. Wen Hongyao had offended the eldest princess a long time ago. She must have known that she would be humiliated when entering the palace today. She came here with all her heart to see Yan Shuqin!
Lutang thought about it, and while everyone was chattering and playing around, he stood up silently and wanted to see what was going on.
When Xiao Yuanzhen saw her turning around, he quickly stopped her, beckoned her to come up to her, and whispered: "Wen Hongyao is a sweetheart, and all his thoughts are on his face. The last time I saw her, I suspected that she was in love with Yan Shuqin. You go and help me take a look, if this is really the case, I will help them!"
Lutang had this intention and said with a smile: "I think so too, I would like to thank the eldest princess on behalf of my eldest sister."
After crossing Hua Fuliu, he saw Wen Hongyao talking to Yan Shuqin with red eyes at the door of the enclosure.
When walking in the palace, there should have been young eunuchs leading the way, but they probably sent them away with money.
Lutang walked a few steps along the wall and hid behind the sweet-scented osmanthus bushes, listening to Wen Hongyao sobbing and whispering: "His Royal Highness the King of Jin is cold-blooded and cold-hearted. He has refused to see me since then. The long history of his mansion also came to teach me a lesson." My mother and I persuaded me to break off the engagement with him, so as not to embarrass His Highness. My father's title of Marquis is still there, and I am still a Marquis lady, but he is so ruthless! Cousin, I'm afraid I won't be able to marry into the Jin Palace from now on. I can only rely on my cousin!"
She tugged on Yan Shuqin's sleeves and cried until the pear blossoms were as delicate as the rain.
Yan Shuqin pondered for a moment and said: "Cousin, don't be anxious, I will arrange your affairs. You must be steady now and don't panic!"
Wen Hongyao burst into tears and said anxiously: "My father was banned from the house to think about his mistakes. It is extremely difficult for me to come out! Cousin, you can't treat me like this!"
Yan Shuqin kept looking around, fearing that someone might hear him, so he nodded and said, "Don't cry. You will come out in two minutes. I ordered someone to wait for you here and take you to Wenyuan Pavilion next to the Imperial Garden."
Wen Hongyao cried and nodded.
Yan Shuqin took the pen and ink and wrote two poems very quickly without adding any details.
Lutang heard their whispers and had an idea in mind. He returned to Xiao Yuanzhen and whispered in his ear: "Wenyuan Pavilion in two moments."
Xiao Yuanzhen said in disbelief: "Are they crazy? They dare to have an affair in the palace?"
Lutang couldn't help but smile bitterly as he recalled that day when he witnessed the two having an affair in front of the Yan family's mourning hall.
Xiao Yuanzhen sneered and said: "I must do a good deed and make this pair of wild mandarin ducks happy!"
