It has been a few days since I returned to Beijing, and there is still some time before the birthday of the Queen Mother.
Princess Nanjun asked the Queen Mother to leave the palace and return to her old residence to stay for a few days. Song Ran went back together.
The rewards from the Emperor and the Empress Dowager were delivered to the old residence by the palace staff the day before. When the old people in the old house heard that Princess Princess was returning to the capital, they had already made preparations in advance.
Song Ran knew that the royal family's rewards for the Song family were absolutely generous on the outside, but when she entered the palace, she couldn't help but admire her in her heart. Sure enough, the emperor wanted to keep her in the capital, and he had taken every aspect into consideration. He must have been afraid of exposing her to the world.
Although this is an old palace, the things sent from the palace make it look magnificent, and its level of magnificence is only worse than that of Prince Xuan's Palace.
The green tiles and red roofs, the floating green pine trees, the beams and pillars carved with white jade, and the renovated pavilions and courtyards were all very different from Song Ran's memory.
It seems that only a few towering trees are left. But it doesn't feel as tall and straight as when I was young.
In fact, Song Ran lived in the palace for most of her childhood, and would only return to her old residence for some time. When she returned to her old mansion, her father always urged her to practice her marksmanship and swordsmanship.
Prince Nanjun said that the Song family conquered the world for Emperor Chen with real swords and spears on horseback. The Song family's current honor was achieved only through their own excellent abilities, not through the maneuvering of civil servants.
But the original martial arts training ground behind the house no longer seems to exist.
The breeze blew the branches sparsely, and the budding flowers swayed on the branches, exuding a faint fragrance. The gravel path goes straight forward and reaches the end of the corridor.
Song Ran reached out and touched the pillars beside the corridor. The sword marks left by her and her brother on the pillars, and the originally exposed wood chips were also coated with a layer of red paint.
"The Empress Dowager ordered the palace craftsmen to come and repair it a few months ago." The person who spoke was Uncle Fu, an old man from the Prince's Mansion. Uncle Fu had been working in the Mansion when Prince Nanjun was young, and he is now an old man in his sixties.
Since they left Beijing, they have been left in Beijing to take care of the old mansion. Because I followed the prince in my early years and got to know noble people from various families, I was able to move around frequently to find out what was going on in Beijing so that I could report to Nanjun in real time.
Although the current emperor's fear of the Song family had already been guessed, it was confirmed by the news coming from the capital.
It's just that Song Ran's marriage happened quietly, catching them off guard.
Song Ran looked around, filled with worries.
In the next few days, Song Ran was busy socializing with the princess. There was a stack of greeting cards every day, which gave the mother and daughter a headache.
When the dignitaries from various families in Beijing heard that they had returned to their old residence, they ordered their wives to come and visit.
The noble lady who had played well with the princess in the early years also brought her daughter here. She expressed her hope that her daughter would be able to climb the finger of Song Ran, the princess of Anyang.
Not to mention that the person Song Ran was going to marry was the younger brother of the current emperor. Just the glory of the Song family was something that many nobles wanted to follow.
Song Ran naturally hated such occasions, and would rather carry the sword and play with it in the martial arts field. Since entering the palace, I have never touched him again.
If there are too many girls, it will seem noisy. Whenever Song Ran was alone with her mother, she would complain and talk painfully about the smooth-talking faces of these noble ladies in the capital.
Everyone was obviously unwilling to do so, yet they still kept praising Song Ran for being so beautiful, charming, gentle and generous. Song Ran looked at herself, and it didn't look like what they said.
Whenever Hongqu saw his princess looking up and down in front of the mirror, she couldn't help but lower her head and laugh out loud. What greeted him was Song Ran's vicious eyes.
On the day when Concubine Chen's mother, Mrs. Wang, came to visit with Wang Chan, there were other female members of the noble family in the house.
Song Ran stood by the lake, holding fish food in her hand and chatting with the people next to her. All the ladies stood around her and teased the little fish in the lake.
Lu Jinxiang, the youngest daughter of the uncle's family, always acted arbitrarily because her aunt was the queen, and she and Wang Chan had never dealt with each other. Originally, before Wang Chan came, she mocked Song Ran openly and secretly. When Wang Chan arrived, he became even more serious.
Mrs. Wang and other ladies accompanied Princess Jun in the main hall, and the ladies followed Song Ran in the garden to enjoy the flowers. Wang Chan sat alone on the stone bench in the corner, very quiet, unlike the domineering one before.
Most of them have heard that Wang Chan mentioned the deeds of Ehuang Nüying at the family banquet that day, and the young ladies who had always been good friends with her have become far away from each other.
Song Ran was watching her every move with her peripheral vision at first, but later she saw that she was like a wooden figure. She was tired of looking at her and stopped caring about her.
"Sister, you don't know, some people are stupid and don't realize it. One is like this, and the other is like this." Lu Jinxiang naturally took Song Ran's arm, squinted at Wang Chan, and spoke with ridicule.
Lu Jinxiang has a petite figure, big black and white eyes, lively and cute, and a peach blossom face when she smiles, but her mouth has nothing to do with peach blossoms as soon as she opens her mouth.
"I'm afraid Miss Lu doesn't know that some people used the excuse of a noble concubine to send themselves to Prince Xuan's Mansion. Later, for some unknown reason, they were forcibly kicked out by the servants around Prince Xuan." I don't know which family is not afraid of death. Miss, greeted Lu Jinxiang and continued.
Lu Jinxiang has someone to protect him, but if other young ladies from low-level officials and officials commit crimes, will the Queen come out to protect them?
They are all so stupid!
"Concubine, hum! What kind of concubine is that? She's just an actor who can play music."
Song Ran took a deep breath after hearing this. When these words were conveyed to Concubine Chen today, she was afraid that she would be invited to Jinxiu Palace again.
"What Miss Lu is saying is, how can the imperial concubine compare with the queen?" Everyone agreed.
Wang Chan allowed Lu Jinxiang to bully her verbally, but she didn't even talk back. On the contrary, Lu Jinxiang himself lost interest when he saw how dumbfounded he was, and turned around and dragged Song Ran elsewhere.
According to seniority, Lu Jinxiang should be Song Ran's junior, but her little mouth kept calling Song Ran, "Sister Ran, Sister Ran."
Song Ran didn't like a girl who cried like Wang Chan, nor did she like a person like Lu Jinxiang who spoke unabashedly.
She has grown up in the palace since she was a child. She has seen too many intrigues and intrigues, and she also knows that the most untrustworthy thing in the world is the human heart. The person who flatters you today will be the person who brings you down tomorrow.
She has seen a person fall into the quagmire and even lose his life. When she left Beijing, he was still a fifteen or sixteen-year-old boy with a jade crown on his head, eyebrows trimmed with willow leaves, and clear eyes. Now that she is back, he has been shattered to ashes, and there is no trace of his body. He was the prince of the previous dynasty, the prince who was despised by the world.
Like an elder brother, he would teach her how to play chess and fly a kite with her. It was hard for her to imagine what he did later.
Her memory of him still lingers on the year she left Beijing.
He was a stain on the royal family that would never be spoken of again. The Empress Dowager doesn't know how to do it, Princess Zhaohua doesn't know how to do it, and Chen Chaoci and Chen Chaobai don't know how to do it.
After everyone left, Wang Chan sat there motionless.
Song Ran had no intention of driving people away. He sat on the stone bench minding his own business, not looking at Wang Chan again. He slowly peeled off the orange peel with his hands and put each piece into his mouth, shaking his head and laughing from time to time.
Seeing this situation, Wang Chan, who was sitting blankly, did not hold back and spoke first.
Wang Chan asked doubtfully: "Why are you smiling, Your Highness?"
Song Ran's tone was a little lazy, with a faint smile on her face and cold eyes, making it difficult for Wang Chan to understand her emotions.
"You had something to say to this princess, but you didn't say it. It's not that you don't want to say it, but you don't know how to say it."
"How does the princess know?" Wang Chan's eyebrows showed a bit of surprise.
"You have been sitting here for a long time. Others may think that you have offended me and are staying away. In fact, you want to attract my attention and let me speak first."
Song Ran put down the orange in her hand, looked at her deeply, stood up and walked towards Wang Chan. Wang Chan avoided Song Ran's gaze and bit her lip to speak.
"The princess is really smart. My sister said that at the family dinner that day, the princess deliberately let me hear the story of Ehuang Nvying, just to let me disrupt your marriage. She also said that I was stupid, but I didn't believe it at that time. .”
"My original intention was not to embarrass you, but I should be the one to make amends for you."
Wang Chan knelt on the ground with a plop, grabbed the hem of Song Ran's skirt, sobbed softly, and said with tears: "I know the princess did not intend to marry Prince Xuan. Why didn't the princess ask the Empress Dowager for this grace?"
The hem of the skirt was wrinkled by her scratches, and Song Ran's face suddenly darkened.
She knelt down, lifted Wang Chan's chin with one hand, and pulled out the hem of the skirt she was holding tightly in her hand with the other.
Song Ran took a closer look at Wang Chan's pink and jade face, and sighed in her heart: What kind of face could make King Xuan disgusted? Although she couldn't change her face, she could imitate her makeup.
This move made Wang Chan's hair stand on end.
"You and I are not in control of things in this world. Instead of asking me to annul this engagement, it is better for the young lady to think about how to strengthen her mother's family and stabilize her position as a noble concubine. Maybe King Xuan will change his mind by then. maybe."
"What does the princess mean?" Her voice was hoarse, as if she had exhausted all her strength. Her eyes were full of helplessness and despair.
"I just want to tell you that instead of asking others, it's better to rely on yourself."
Song Ran didn't know what kind of poison Chen Chaobai had cast on these female family members in the capital. You can already be so crazy when you don't get any emotional response from him.
When Mrs. Wang came, Wang Chan was kneeling on the ground looking at Song Ran with tears in her eyes.
When the princess saw this, she glanced at Mrs. Wang next to her awkwardly, frowned and asked, "What's going on?"
"Don't worry, concubine, my daughter is not trying to make things difficult for Miss Wang." Song Ran bowed to Mrs. Wang and continued: "It's just that what the second miss of the Wang family wants today is difficult, and the princess is really unable to do what she wants."
"Damn girl, don't you think you are not embarrassed enough?" Mrs. Wang couldn't bear to look directly at her, and ordered the maid next to her to help Wang Chan up from the ground.
Wang Chan stood there in despair, her face pale and her body shaky.
"Mrs. Wang, there is no need to blame Miss Wang. Second Miss Wang will figure it out if love lasts forever."
Mrs. Wang was angry that her daughter was not living up to expectations and felt that it would be embarrassing to stay here any longer. He dragged Wang Chan back angrily.
