The two people's eyes met. Chen Xueying nodded to him gracefully and stopped paying attention.
Zhong Hai also clasped his fists in return. It wasn't until the Crown Princess's guard of honor left that he turned around and stared at this rather ostentatious team, squinting his eyes.
"The Crown Princess just left Caixia Palace?" he asked softly.
"This should be the direction. The fifth prince is full moon today, and the invitation has been sent to the East Palace." Ling'er, the eunuch who led the way, replied.
The quarrel between the Crown Princess and Li Fei must have reached the ears of the emperor, but it would not have spread to the former ministers so quickly.
In order to avoid suspicion, Zhong Hai did not dare to take the initiative to inquire.
After all, this is a matter of the harem, and the harem and the former dynasty are not allowed to interact, otherwise it will violate Lu Wuji's taboo. Once the old pervert feels unhappy, he may revolt.
At the entrance of the palace, a group of ladies and ladies left one after another, with a bit of anger and sadness on their faces. Today was a completely unreasonable disaster.
Originally coming to attend the fifth prince's full moon banquet, everyone came in a celebratory mood and wanted to join in the fun.
As a result, I didn't even get a bite of the food, but the princess showed up halfway. She and Li Fei were at odds with each other, and it was a completely innocent passerby who was involved.
It is true that I saw a lot of excitement, but most of it was because I was forced to have no choice but to feel angry.
The Crown Princess and Concubine Li were of high status and nobility. Compared with them, they were naturally not able to compete with each other. However, it was really insulting to be treated as bargaining chips by the two of them.
"Ladies and girls, these two slaves are the maids of honor of the Crown Princess. I really can't help but involve innocent people today. However, the situation was urgent and we couldn't end it."
"This is the apology prepared by the Crown Princess. Please accept it."
Ye Jing and Hua Pu were waiting at the entrance of the palace. There were several baskets behind them, all containing small square packages of the same size, wrapped in fine silk and tied with bows.
"The letters outside have your names. They were written by the Crown Princess herself to express her apologies to you." Ye Jing looked for gifts according to people. Each person had a corresponding package, and the colors of the silk wrapped outside were also different.
Girls' silks are mostly in light colors, such as light pink, bright yellow, aqua, light blue, soft purple...
The ladies' ones are in atmospheric dark colors, grass green, dark blue, deep red, rich purple...
Everyone's names were written on the letterheads. After the two palace maids handed out the packages one by one, the depression in the hearts of the female guests who were still angry at first disappeared by half, and most of them were no longer angry with the Crown Princess.
After all, it was Concubine Li who took the initiative to involve them, and it was Concubine Li who kept refusing to let them leave.
On the contrary, the Crown Princess reminded them several times to leave quickly, and now she prepared gifts so considerately, which made everyone feel good about her.
At least this level of attention expresses her sincerity, which is much more favorable than Li Fei's.
"Ladies and girls are frightened."
After all the gifts were distributed, they stood outside the palace gate and saluted the carriage together.
It wasn't until they watched all the carriages leave that the two of them entered the palace again.
The little daughter of the Royal Censor, before she got on the carriage, was still pale and frail. She had to rely on her mother's arms to barely be able to walk. As soon as the curtain was closed, she immediately became energetic and went straight to the carriage. Opened the package.
There was a wooden box held in the silk cloth, with a little rabbit carved on it. It was very cute, and she immediately became interested.
Opening the wooden box, there was a sachet, a hibiscus silk flower, a small jar of tea, a box of rouge, a lip balm, and a little rabbit's jade ban. There were six gifts in total, and each one was given. It reached her heart.
She fiddled with it carefully a few times, looking like she couldn't put it down. Then she opened the letter and took a look at it, and she suddenly felt better.
"Mom, the princess has such a clever idea. She knows that I am a rabbit, so the wooden box and the forbidden pattern are both rabbits. I love hibiscus, and the silk flowers, lipstick and rouge are in the style of hibiscus flowers. I also like hibiscus flowers. Osmanthus, the sachet and the tea are all filled with osmanthus." The little girl immediately took off the banbu from her waist and hung the new one directly. The more she looked at it, the more she liked it.
Mrs. Censor raised her eyebrows slightly and opened the letter herself, while letting her daughter open the gift.
Sure enough, the things inside were also based on her preferences, and they were completely to her liking.
Of course, her gifts, compared to these things that the little girl likes, are more poems and books. Knowing that she likes to eat fast and chant Buddha, there is also a volume of Buddhist scriptures, which is very thoughtful.
"The two maids of the Crown Princess have been waiting at the entrance of the palace for a long time. They obviously expected us to leave. The Crown Princess must have got the list of the full moon banquet in advance, and she even planned to offend someone in advance, so she prepared it in advance. Gift. Could she be taking advantage of the opportunity to bribe someone? After all, my father is the censor, the princess behaves arrogantly, and my father has participated in a book before. "
The little girl was a smart person. She already had a guess as soon as she rolled her eyes and couldn't help asking immediately.
She could think of all these, and Mrs. Yushi had naturally thought of them earlier.
"You'll know if you ask others."
The ladies who left one after another also had people who were good friends with them. She asked the carriage to stop for a while and waited until the wife of the Minister of Rites arrived. They both had the same idea and sent a message to the maid to reply. After asking, they got the result.
The Crown Princess did not go out of her way to please the Yushi family, but treated everyone equally. All the female guests who came received gifts according to their preferences.
The daughter of the Minister of Rites was only eight years old. The wooden box given to her contained mostly picture books, headbands and toys.
The Crown Princess's ingenuity is evident, and it makes people feel terrible.
She had been married to Northern Qi for less than half a year and had not interacted much with the female relatives in Jicheng, but she understood their preferences so well.
Everyone usually only hears about the Crown Princess's luxurious and domineering style, but they didn't expect that her caring and considerate nature can be so comforting.
Chen Xueying's move was simply more thoughtful than Li Fei's host. It won people's hearts instantly and no one could find fault with her.
Women pay the most attention to details, and even the person next to her cannot give such an appropriate gift, but the new crown princess has done it. At least this pure sincerity is touching.
In Caixia Palace, Concubine Li slowly woke up.
In a daze, she heard Mrs. Zhong busy and busy, obviously arranging something.
"Mother, what are you doing?" She coughed lightly and was helped by the palace attendants to sit up.
"What else can be done, of course, is to send an apology. Today is the fifth prince's full moon banquet. It should be a festive day, but it has ended up like this. People came with gifts, but only took a few sips of tea and left. It's disappointing. When you return home, you have to express your gratitude no matter what." Mrs. Zhong frowned, her eyes always fixed on the gift list, and she said without looking back.
"What kind of apology should I give? I was fighting with the Crown Princess. They were all my guests. Not only did they not stand by me, but they all ran away from the battle. If a group of deserters were all going to be beheaded on the battlefield, how could there be anything left? Give them gifts?" Li Fei got angry when she thought of this.
When she said this, she felt a fishy-sweet breath in her throat. She was obviously so angry that she almost vomited blood, and she still hasn't recovered yet.
Mrs. Zhong's eyes changed. She slammed the gift list on the table, turned around and stared at her coldly.
Seeing Concubine Li's pale face, she couldn't say anything harsh, but said in a calm tone: "Your father is in the side hall, tell him these words, he may be able to catch deserters for you."
Li Fei was originally prepared to resist vigorously, but when her mother mentioned General Zhong, she immediately shrank her neck and was frightened into a coward.
Her mother would spoil her because she felt sorry for her, but her father would not.
"I'm still feeling uncomfortable right now. Let's go together when mother is done."
She didn't even dare to meet Zhong Hai alone, she just pretended to be weak and leaned against the bed.
Mrs. Zhong said no more and devoted herself to the gift list, making everyone ready.
"I have written all the gifts on it. Whether it is the contents inside or the box outside, they must be the best and cannot be fooled. This is a big deal. If anyone unscrupulously uses inferior goods as good ones, I will punish them directly. Kill without mercy!" Mrs. Zhong handed the gift list to the eldest palace maid and repeatedly warned her, and even directly issued a military order, which showed a somewhat chilling tone.
"Yes." The palace maid took the gift list and left in a hurry.
After Concubine Li packed up, she summoned Zhong Hai into the main hall.
Zhong Hai gestured to salute, and Zhong Li quickly stepped forward to support him. She did not dare to accept such a great gift.
"Are you ready to apologize?" Zhong Hai didn't say any polite words, he just cared about the apology.
"Everything is ready, sir, don't worry."
"I'm afraid that if you don't worry, your impatience will mess up your big plans. Today is the fifth prince's full moon banquet. No matter what, you shouldn't be so impulsive." Zhong Hai sighed softly and then turned his attention to Concubine Li.
"Dad, why do you say that? It's clear that Chen Xueying took the initiative and got on top of me. Why don't I fight back?" Zhong Li was originally guilty and short of breath, but when she mentioned this, she suddenly became excited again.
Zhong Hai said coldly: "It's stupid. If you don't fight back, no matter how powerful she is, the emperor will punish her later. But you dragged other ladies into the water and said those stupid words, which became a handle for her to catch you."
"Let this matter go. After I send my apology to all the female guests, don't mention it again."
"Did I just suffer the disadvantage of being dumb?" Zhong Li frowned and said aggrievedly.
Zhong Hai immediately looked at him, his eyes cold.
"Zhong Li, your mother and I don't ask you to be favored, we just want you to be safe. After all, with your temperament, you can't play in this harem at all. But you always have some unrealistic spring and autumn dreams. If this is still the case, Zhong The family will send the girl to the palace again." He didn't waste any time talking to her and directly gave her an ultimatum.
Zhong Li, who had originally thought of being a little naughty, immediately stopped daring when she heard this.
If she sends other women into the palace, she will think that the Zhong family has given up on her and wants to fully support others.
"As long as my daughter is obedient, let's let this matter go." Zhong Li nodded helplessly.
In the East Palace, Lu Zhao strode into the palace and saw Chen Xueying sitting on a chair with a huge wolf lying at her feet.
She held the dried meat in one hand, put the other hand in front of the wolf, and said to it, "Reach out."
The wolf turned its head and ignored him at all. He was quite angry.
Chen Xueying was not annoyed, but waved to the other wolf that was farther away.
"Daha, reach out."
The wolf immediately ran over, raised a front paw and placed it in her palm.
"The other one."
Daha changed her paw again, and soon the dried meat in her hand was put into Daha's mouth.
"Ouch--" Dou Lang began to roar in a low voice, baring his teeth, obviously in a warning. :,,
