"Princess, why are you so unhappy?" Xiaoting, the maid, gently placed the Tremella Fungus and Lotus Seed Soup on the table and asked curiously.
Princess Li Xi of Fenyang looked at herself in the bronze mirror and said lightly: "Should I feel happy?"
Xiaoting was stunned for a moment and then realized: "Princess, don't worry. Worrying is useless. On the contrary, it will easily hurt the body."
Li Xi turned to look at her and sighed: "Oh, why don't I understand? It's just that he is my brother after all. Xiaoting, what happened to what I asked you to inquire about before?"
Xiaoting turned to look at the door and lowered her voice: "I found an acquaintance of the chamberlain and heard from him that the emperor has no intention of dealing with King Huaiyang yet. Perhaps he wants to wait until the wedding is over."
Li Xi nodded thoughtfully and suddenly smiled bitterly: "God is really teasing me, I will actually marry him in the end."
Xiaoting heard the words and quickly advised: "Princess, there is no need to be depressed. After all, Murong Xue is a general in front of the imperial family. He is young and handsome. I heard that he was also highly appreciated by the late emperor. Moreover, the Murong family is rich and powerful, and the princess is married to He will not be wronged in the future."
"Maybe," Li Xi responded expressionlessly: "But my dignity is gone and my heart is dead."
Of course the maid Xiaoting can understand the meaning behind this sentence. Previously, Li Jiangyao and Murong Xue refused the emperor's marriage offer, which made Li Xi extremely embarrassed and angry. In addition, her brother Li Kuang was defeated and captured, which made Princess Fenyang want to die.
However, Li Xi did not die. And not long after, Murong Xue agreed to the marriage. Therefore, in the eyes of outsiders, they would inevitably misunderstand that the princess would not marry unless she was Murong, and then forced her to die, which led to the current wedding.
All kinds of comments were really good or bad, which made Li Xi extremely embarrassed.
She originally planned to go to Emperor Shu and put down this annoying marriage. Even if she escaped into Buddhism and was often accompanied by the ancient Buddha of Qingdeng, it would be better than being teased and humiliated by the young people behind her. However, Li Bing sent someone over in advance to convey a message, saying that the matter did not allow for any room for negotiation and must be accepted.
The threat is very obvious.
Li Xi knew in her heart that although she had made it clear very early on that she did not approve of her brother Li Kuang's rebellious and self-reliant behavior, the emperor did not treat her well because of it. In Li Bing's eyes, she is still Li Kuang's biological sister. You can do whatever he asks you to do and you have no right to bargain.
So, she gradually changed her mind and decided to accept the fact of marrying Murong Xue, and use her own method to retaliate against her sanctimonious, treacherous and hypocritical cousin Li Bing.
Although Xiaoting didn't know Li Xi's true inner thoughts, she could understand that the princess was not very fond of Murong Xue as a person, so she had no choice but to commit herself to marrying him. So, she tried her best to comfort her and said: "Princess, I often hear the nuns in the palace saying that it is not easy for us women in this world. When we are at home, we have to listen to the arrangements of our father and elder brothers in everything; when we get married, Now that I'm out, I have to rely on my husband and son to make decisions. What can I hope for? It's just a living."
Listening to this little girl deliberately saying some old-fashioned words to persuade herself, Li Xi suddenly couldn't help laughing and cursed: "Little hoof, are you entertaining me for no reason? When will it be your turn to teach me a lesson?"
"I don't dare, I know I'm wrong," Xiaoting was so frightened that she begged for mercy: "I saw that the princess was unhappy, so I thought of telling some jokes."
Li Xi waved his hand: "Okay, okay, I'm joking with you, don't take it seriously. Take away this soup, I have no appetite."
Xiaoting agreed and was about to clean up when a palace maid came in and reported: "Princess, Concubine Hui is here."
Concubine Hui? Murong Ling?
Li Xi was slightly stunned, and then said: "Please."
After a while, Murong Ling, dressed in palace attire, walked into the pavilion accompanied by the maids. When Li Xi saw her, he politely gave her a Wanfu gift and said loudly: "See you, your empress."
"Princess, no gifts." Murong Ling stepped forward, stretched out her hand to support Li Xi, and said with a smile: "I came here specifically to see you today and help prepare for the wedding. In seven days, we will be a family. I will have to call you sister-in-law then."
"Aren't you my sister-in-law too?" Li Xi smiled kindly and naturally, pulling Murong Ling to sit down at the table: "I heard that you are already pregnant, and I really feel bad that you still go to this trip. The wedding. People from Zongzheng Temple and the Ministry of Etiquette are busy taking care of the ritual matters, and I don’t even bother to take care of it myself.”
Murong Xue smiled and shook her head: "That's different. I'm here today to represent the wishes of my husband's family."
With that said, she asked for a folded book from the maid and said, "This is specially prepared by my uncle to enshrine the princess. It cannot be regarded as a formal betrothal gift. It should be regarded as the Murong family's affection for the princess."
Li Xi took the booklet, opened it and looked at it for a moment, and couldn't help but be stunned on the spot.
The book contained priceless treasures: pearls, corals, jaspers, agates, mink skins, brocades, gold and silver jewelry, and precious supplements, all available. Moreover, the number of various treasures is also huge. For example, other people's pearls are usually sold by the pearl, or at most by the dendrobium, but the Murong family is better, and the pearls are sold by the basket, just like sending rice and wheat.
According to a rough estimate, this thick folded book is worth no less than 100,000 silver coins.
Li Xi secretly sighed in his heart: The Murong family is really arrogant, they act with such pomp and overwhelming momentum.
She smiled faintly, handed the booklet to Xiaoting, and said, "Empress, please express my gratitude to the head of the Murong family for me. Thank you for your trouble."
"This is what we should do." Murong Xue looked very happy: "You don't know, when I heard that my brother was ordered to welcome Princess Shang, I was so happy. From now on, we will kiss each other, how wonderful it is. .”
Li Xi smiled and said: "I grew up in the palace, and it is rare to have friends. If the empress does not dislike me, we will often visit each other in the future."
Murong Ling nodded repeatedly: "Of course. After the wedding, please invite the princess to come to the palace to play more. I always feel lonely by myself."
Li Xi smiled and asked, "I haven't been to the palace for a long time. I wonder how your majesty is doing lately?"
"I haven't seen much of him either." Murong Ling was simple-minded and said something. "I heard that His Majesty has been busy dealing with the rebels in the south. He often works until late at night, so he often sleeps in the Yangxin Hall."
Li Xi nodded slightly: "Brother, it's really not easy for you. Emperors of all dynasties have all taken over the imperial power smoothly, but your majesty is the only one who has faced internal and external troubles, ups and downs, and can't do it without even using a single moment of concentration. My dear, if you see Your Majesty, please tell him to take care of his dragon body."
Murong Xue responded: "Definitely. By the way, princess, I plan to go to Xiangji Temple tomorrow to pray for His Majesty. Do you want to go with me? Pay homage to the Bodhisattva and ask her to bless the wedding ceremony safely and smoothly."
Li Xi hesitated for a moment, then agreed happily: "Okay, since the queen invites you, then I will accompany you."
-
The next morning, the royal chariot was prepared early in the princess's mansion. Li Xi put on a plain blue skirt, and with Xiaoting's service, boarded the car and left the mansion, heading straight to Xiangji Temple, a famous temple outside the imperial capital.
As soon as she left the city gate, she met Murong Ling's honor guard motorcade. So, Li Xi stopped and got out of the car, and rode with Murong Ling instead. Under the protection of the imperial army, they all the way to the destination.
At this time, Master Abbot had already received the news and led the monks in the temple to queue up and wait outside the mountain gate.
Xiangji Temple is very famous in the imperial capital, and there are also many believers and pilgrims on weekdays, almost in an endless stream. However, because Concubine Hui and Princess Fenyang came together to offer incense today, according to the rules, the place was already heavily guarded, with a large number of Forbidden Army sentries standing there, and not even a single pilgrim could be seen.
Murong Ling was pregnant, and was already slightly pregnant. In addition, she had been pampered by her family since she was a child, and her body was weak. Therefore, after worshiping the Buddha and offering incense, she was tired and out of breath.
Originally, she had made an appointment with Li Xi to visit the scenery of the mountains behind Xiangji Temple, but now she was so tired that she couldn't walk any more, so she had to go there under the abbot's attentive guidance. Rest in the Zen room.
Out of politeness, Princess Fenyang wanted to stay with Murong Ling, but she was declined by Murong Ling: "Princess, don't pay attention to me. I'll just take a nap here for a while. You can go to the back mountain for a walk." Come back and tell me what's so great about it."
Seeing this, Li Xi had no choice but to agree, and told the palace ladies to take good care of the empress. Then, accompanied by Xiaoting and others, they went to the mountain behind Xiangji Temple.
After wandering among the lush forests and bamboos for a while, Li Xi felt that there was not much to see, and was about to turn around and go back. Unexpectedly, a nun walked out of the corner of the mountain road ahead and saluted her from a distance.
Li Xi originally thought that Xiangji Temple was full of monks, but he didn't expect that there were also nuns. He couldn't help but become curious and walked over.
"Hello, Master."
"The poor nun has met Her Royal Highness the Princess, Amitabha."
As he got closer, Li Xi found that this nun was still young and had a dignified and handsome appearance. He couldn't help but feel good about her and said with a smile, "Is the Master from Xiangji Temple? Or is he here to hang out?"
The young nun responded: "The poor nun became a monk at Yongci Temple in Luoyi and traveled here. Fortunately, the abbot took him in. He will leave tomorrow."
"Oh, that's it." Li Xi nodded: "Yongci'an, I have been there once when I was young. It is a very clean and elegant place."
"Amitabha, good, good, good."
Li Xi looked at the nun and asked, "I haven't asked the master for his name yet."
The nun glanced at Li Xi indifferently and replied: "The nun's name is Jinghui, Jing means pure Jing, and Hui means wisdom."
Li Xi was stunned when he heard this: How could it be such a coincidence?
It turned out that when Li Xi was young, in order to keep her daughter safe and sound, Li Xi's mother specially chose a substitute to become a monk on Li Xi's behalf, and his dharma name was Jinghui. However, the bhikshuni who practiced on his behalf was at Qingyue Nunnery in the imperial capital, not Yongci Nunnery in Luoyi.
Only the queen mother and brother Li Kuang knew about this matter.
