lady, please calm down

Since April 28th, Chen Chu and Yunong never left Luliu Village easily again.

This small village, which originally had a population of just over a hundred people, has so far produced one founding marquis, three founding sons, and six founding men.

The number of imperial decrees he had received was so great that he could not count them on both hands.

If it were more than 20 years ago, someone would have said that Luliuwei had good feng shui, and people would have certainly scoffed at it. But now, this has become a recognized fact in Tongshan.

Although the group of nobles who followed the new dynasty to fight out of Tongshan and fight in the north and south in the early years are now either serving in local areas or staying in Tokyo, Chen Chu has no shortage of acquaintances in the village.
No matter whose old man it was, Chen Chu could call out his name. Even some middle-aged men in their thirties, Chen Chu would always joke with them when chatting with them: "When you were running around the village naked, I held you in my arms."

But Chen Chu didn’t recognize anyone younger than him.

When he led his troops to Caizhou, many young people in the village were not born yet.

In the blink of an eye, twenty-three years have passed like a white horse and half a lifetime has gone by in a flash, which makes people sigh.

It's quite lively here on Yunong's side.

Ever since the news spread that the emperor had come to Tongshan, everyone in the county who had some connection with the emperor wanted to meet him in person.

However, it was a little difficult to meet the emperor, so many families found a roundabout way to save the country and let their women come to Luliu Market to meet Yunong.

Although Concubine Yi was one of the four concubines, for more than 20 years, her two elder sisters had been in charge of all matters of the family, and she had rarely done the job of welcoming and seeing off guests.

This time when she returned home, there were no tigers in the mountains, so naturally it was her turn to be the king.

In the first few days, Yunong enjoyed the feeling of being bullied by the powerful, but after a few days, Yunong got a little tired of the women who came here to visit. They were respectful but polite, and all of them looked solemn. Even the children who came with them were all cautious.

Seeing them act like this, Yunong had no choice but to behave decently as well.

This was very different from the scene she had imagined before returning home, which was meeting old friends and having lively conversations.

It makes people tired.

On the third day of May, two people came unexpectedly to visit, which surprised Yunong very much.

"Sister Miao Niang and Lan Ying? Ah! Quick, quick, quick, please come in!"

When Yunong heard that two women who called themselves Miao Niang and Lan Ying were waiting outside the village, she was very excited.

Seeing this, Qin's grandmother next to her could not help but whispered, "Madam, what is your current status? When you meet people later, you can no longer call Miao Niang "sister"."

Yunong had been in the palace for a long time, and it took her a while to react. But this time she did not listen to Qin's advice. Instead, she pouted and said unhappily, "Sister Miao Niang is a few years older than me. She also took good care of me in Caiwei Pavilion. It was she who taught me how to serve His Majesty the first time I served him."

Grandma Qin didn't know whether to laugh or cry, "My lady, the old days were different than today."

"Grandma is obsessed with my appearance. I was born in a brothel, and everyone knows it. Even if I don't call Miao Niang sister, I can't become a lady from a noble family like Concubine De! Besides, His Majesty doesn't dislike me, and the Empress has never looked down on me because of this. Why should I be afraid?"

Yunong talked a lot and made a lot of sense.

After a while, Miao Niang and Lan Ying appeared outside the door together.

As soon as the three met, two of them recognized Yunong at first sight. The last time they met was twenty-two years ago in the eighth year of Fuchang, on the day when Tongshan Huizhi Lanxin opened.

But Yunong's appearance has not changed much. She still likes to wear complicated and exquisite hairstyles and beautiful hezi skirts. Her fair oval face still has lively features, and the slight wrinkles at the corners of her eyes are completely invisible from a distance.

But when Yunong saw her two sisters, she was stunned. In her mind, Miao Niang and Lan Ying were still women in their twenties, with a worldly air but pretty looks.

Of the two people in front of me, one has slightly sunken cheeks and his hair, although carefully groomed, cannot hide its dryness.

The other person had very obvious wrinkles on his face, and even had some gray hair at his temples.

If the two people's facial features did not still retain the traces of their old times, Yunong would probably not have recognized them.

Subconsciously, Yunong stood up to greet them, but choked up as she spoke, "Sister Miao Niang, Lan Ying, why are the two of you like this?"

The two of them were originally feeling nervous, but that feeling disappeared at this moment, and they couldn't help but have red eyes.

Miao Niang knew Yunong's personality very well, and smiled with tears in her eyes, "Your Majesty, I am already forty-three years old, and I should look like this. But Your Majesty, you are almost the same as you were twenty years ago. People say that His Majesty loves you very much, and today I see that it is indeed true!"

Indeed, in today's era, it is normal for women to be like Miao Niang and Lan Ying when they reach the age of 40.

Even so, they don’t have to go to the fields to do farm work.

If she were an ordinary peasant woman, at this age, her face would be full of wrinkles, her complexion would be dark, and her breasts would sag to her belly.
People like Yunong are rare exceptions.

It’s just that Yunong is not like Mao’er and Cai Hua, who often go among the people and have less understanding of the normal world.

The second half of Miao Niang's words were also sincere. Yunong has followed His Majesty for more than 20 years, but she has been treated like a woman in her twenties. From this alone, we can see that she not only has no worries about food and clothing, but more importantly, she has no worries and no grievances to suffer.

Yunong held the hands of the two and sat on the same couch. Although Concubine Yi had a happy family, the lack of her mother's family was a great regret.

I was very happy and excited to meet my sisters today whom I hadn’t seen for more than 20 years.

Sometimes she asked Grandma Qin to bring the snacks she brought from Tokyo, and sometimes she asked someone to bring Ni'er and Zhan'er to pay their respects to the two aunts.

Having the children come to pay respects is a sign of closeness, but it also hides a bit of showing off that even Yu Nong herself is aware of. At this age, a woman's life is half over, her youth is gone, and her most valuable asset, her "appearance", is also depreciating day by day.

At this time, the only thing that women can compete with each other on is their well-behaved and motivated children.

Children are not only their support in their old age, but also a symbol of their husbands' love.
"Ni'er is my youngest daughter, the ninth in the palace; Zhan'er is my youngest son, the sixth and there are two older ones; Rao'er is your majesty's first child, and has been promised to the grandson of Duke Hanguo; Jun'er is ambitious and is worried that it will affect his studies, so he stayed in Tokyo to study. Hehe."

Even though he didn't intend to show off, subconsciously, Yunong would repeat these words every time he saw other women.

In the entire Chu harem, Baoyi Palace has the most princes and princesses.

Two sons and two daughters are also Yunong’s greatest confidence.

"Your Majesty is so blessed. When the eldest princess was born, we sisters were still in Caiwei Pavilion. We went to the Taoist temple together to pray for your Majesty and the princess."

Lan Ying, whose eyes were still slightly red, said at the right time.

Miao Niang also joined in, "Yes, we have been paying attention to the news of the queen in our hometown. Not only did we know when the princess of Shu was born, but we also knew when the third son, the ninth daughter, and the sixth son were born."

"hey-hey."

Speaking of her pride, Yunong smiled happily, "Call me Madam Mo, Madam, Sister Miao Niang can still call me Yunong like she did back then."

Miao Niang smiled and didn't respond, but she wouldn't really call Yunong by her maiden name. Lan Ying continued, "We have all heard about how much His Majesty loves you. You may not know that many ladies in the palace are worshipped now. The Empress is well-known all over the world. The Marriage Temple at the foot of Qifeng Mountain worships His Majesty and the Empress, and it is the most popular.

But the wives of businessmen like to worship Concubine Cai, because it is said that Concubine Cai has the appearance of bringing good fortune to her husband. "

"Uh hahaha."

Yunong couldn't help laughing.

Before she followed Chen Chu, she stayed in Caiwei Pavilion for several years. At that time, Cai Huan had a bad reputation!

Unexpectedly, more than 20 years later, Sister Lian Cai is being worshipped for bringing good luck to her husband.

This is easy to understand. At first, Chen Chu was just a nobody. His real rise to fame was due to the fire in Caiwei Pavilion.

No matter how sensational an event was at that time, it would gradually disappear in the long river of time. Only the erotic gossip would be spread the most widely and last the longest.

Today, the fire appears less and less frequently in the drunken conversations of Tongshan residents, but the scene of Cai Sanniang and Chen Makuai kissing in the snow after the fire is still a hot topic.

The people don’t know the exact truth of that night, but they can all see the trend of the Cai family trying their best to help Chen Chu since then.

Whenever the local people drank until their faces were red, some idle men would often sigh: "Alas! We are also capable, but we can't find a virtuous woman like the imperial concubine to help us!"

Every time his wife heard this, she would come forward and sneer, "Bah! You are such a coward. Even if you meet someone like the imperial concubine, you will be drowned in the lake! I haven't said anything yet, but you are already dissatisfied! If you ask me, I was not bad looking when I was young. If I had met your majesty earlier, I might have become an imperial concubine."

Let’s talk about Luliu Town.

Yu Nong smiled, of course, because of the reversal of Cai Huan's reputation.

But she dared to laugh, but Lan Ying didn't dare to laugh with her. What are you laughing at? Are you laughing at Concubine Cai?
Nowadays, young people in Tongshan don't know how terrible Concubine Cai was in the past, but Lan Ying was born in Caiwei Pavilion, so she doesn't have such courage.
"And since His Majesty was crowned the King in Huaibei, all the girls in the brothels have been worshipping you."

"For me?"

"Yes, although everyone knows that she is not even a fraction as pretty or virtuous as you, you have come a long way. After all, you are the sisters' hope."

After she introduced herself and was received by Yunong, and saw her true feelings, Lan Ying and Miao Niang realized that Concubine Yi was not shy about that period of history.

That's why I just flattered him a little from this angle.

Yunong was indeed very happy. After Ni'er and Zhan'er came over, she asked her children to call her "Auntie".

Miao Niang and Lan Ying were so excited that they immediately took out the gifts they had prepared in advance and gave them to the children. Even Rao'er and Jun Ge'er who were far away in Tokyo received one each.

Not long ago, Yunong was reminded by Rao'er, who was more thoughtful than her, about the gifts sent by her two daughters who were both poetic and artistic.

At this time, he naturally paid attention to these details and couldn't help but ask tentatively: "My two sisters, I guess you have left Caiwei Pavilion?"

"In the sixth year of Xuanqing, Lanying, Qiaoxiang and I redeemed ourselves."

Hearing Miao Niang say this, Yunong smiled happily for her sisters. In her habitual thinking, leaving Caiwei Pavilion means getting married, so she said, "Why don't the two sisters bring their children with them so that I, as an aunt, can see them. Oh, by the way, why didn't Qiaoxiang come?"

In the early years, Qiaoxiang resorted to some tricks out of jealousy towards Yunong.

At that time, Yunong was so angry that she cried, but many years later, Yunong, who has now escaped from the quagmire and stood on the cloud, looks back and there is no ripple in her heart, and her mentality is exceptionally calm.

Miao Niang and Lan Ying looked at each other, and the latter finally smiled and said, "Where is the child?" After I was redeemed in the sixth year of Xuanqing, I took a sedan chair and entered the home of Xue's eldest brother, who made pottery in the north of the city, to become the fourth concubine. Before entering the house, Tao swore to me that he would never treat me badly. I thought I had met a good man, but I didn't expect that he was also a fickle person. He ignored me after just one year and let his eldest sister bully me. In this situation, how could I dare to have a child?"

After all, they are sisters. Yunong got angry when she heard it.
"Lan Ying, do you want me to go to your house and help you scold Mr. and Mrs. Tao?"

Speaking of which, the bullying of the concubine by the principal wife can be fully reflected in terms of food, clothing, housing, transportation, attitude, etc., which is similar to long-term mental bullying.

But these things are not illegal.

Even if Yunong backed her up and scolded the other party, Mr. and Mrs. Tao might not dare to say anything in person, but wouldn't Lan Ying be the one who suffered afterwards?

Lan Ying waved her hands repeatedly and said, "Don't worry, Madam Queen. Fortunately, the new marriage law of the Great Chu was just promulgated at the beginning of the year. The concubine can also go to the government office to file for divorce. I plan to leave the Tao family!"

This is the benefit of being well-educated. The marriage law of the Great Chu has been discussed in newspapers for more than a year and was only promulgated at the beginning of this year.

I think Lan Ying has been paying attention to this matter for a long time.

Yunong didn't pay much attention to political affairs, but her life was highly consistent with being submissive. In her early years, she listened to Cai Huan and later to Chen Chu. She never thought about how she would live one day as an individual rather than an appendage.

So, when she heard that Lan Ying wanted to divorce, she blurted out in worry: "How are you going to live without your family?"

“They are not family.”

It was not until now that Lan Ying realized that Yunong had been protected too well by His Majesty over the years. Not only did she remain innocent, but she had completely lost the consciousness and ability to live an independent life.

We were all in Caiwei Pavilion back then, so why are our fates so different?

But Lan Ying would not say these words out loud. She just pointed at Miao Niang and smiled, saying, "Fortunately, Sister Miao Niang saw things clearly back then. After redeeming herself, she did not marry. Instead, she opened a school in the county town to teach girls the art of playing the zither. Now she has seventy or eighty students, and she can support herself with her tuition. Fortunately, Sister Miao Niang persuaded me to invest some money in the profits, and now I have a way out."

"Ah? Teach people piano skills?"

In Yunong's understanding, teaching piano is not enough to make a living.

When she was a prostitute, women who learned to play the piano were either kept in brothels like her, and learned these skills only to please customers in the future.

Or maybe her family is like Ayu's, a family of scholars, who would spend energy and money to educate their daughter.

But in both cases, there is no need to go outside to learn piano.

Seeing Yunong puzzled, Miao Niang explained with a smile: "Your Majesty doesn't know. Nowadays, the people in Huaibei have been poor for a long time and have suddenly become rich. They have extra money in their hands, and everyone wants to raise their daughters into ladies. But with the money they have, they can't afford to hire a zither player to stay at home, so my class has students. Now, we are planning to expand the scale." Yunong seemed to understand, but if Chen Chu was here, he would probably tell her that this was the education and training industry that was born after the birth of the middle class.

The prosperity of the education and training industry means that the local economy has been developing rapidly for many years. It seems that everyone feels that they can touch the possibility of breaking through the class, so they will invest in their children's education regardless of the cost.

It had been years since they last met, and Yunong was kind-hearted. When she heard that the two of them had to support themselves, she took the initiative to ask, "Is there anything I can do to help you two sisters?"

If the ladies who came to visit in recent days heard Concubine Yi ask this question, they would probably jump for joy.

In front of the two queens and the imperial concubine, Yunong is a good and obedient little girl, but outside the palace, she is the emperor's favorite concubine, Concubine Yi!
If she just whispered in the emperor's ear, or said a word or two in front of the empress or the imperial concubine when they were choosing partners for Sihai Trading Company or several agricultural reclamation groups, she would become extremely rich.

Miao Niang looked at Yunong a little embarrassedly and said carefully: "Madam, can you write a plaque for our piano store?"

This trick is not new.

When Xiao Zhuzi opened the Sitong Passenger Transport Company, he asked Chen Chu to come up with the name for the store.

At that time, Huaibei had not yet been completely pacified, but Chen Chu controlled a strong army. Caizhou was surrounded by three prefectures and dozens of counties, and no one in the black and white worlds wanted to provoke him for no reason. Even if they didn't want to give face to the monk, they would not make things difficult for Xiao Zhuzi.

This led to the rapid development of passenger transport in all directions, and smooth travel between the north and the south.

Miao Niang wanted to learn Xiao Zhuzi's trick, and her music shop's clients were all women. Yunong had a legendary experience of rising from a prostitute to a concubine thanks to her husband, and finally being crowned a princess. If she wrote the signboard, it would naturally be even more powerful.

This was not a difficult matter, and Yunong agreed on the spot.

While the maid was grinding ink, Yunong suddenly asked again: "By the way, I asked about Qiaoxiang just now. Is she also in the piano shop now? Why doesn't she come to see me?"

Miao Niang was embarrassed. After looking at Lan Ying again, she finally told the truth: "Qiao Xiang died seven years ago."

"what?"

Yunong, who had just picked up the pen, turned around in shock and saw Miaoniang and Lanying both with sorrowful faces. She couldn't help but ask, "She was only two years older than me, how could she be gone?"

Miao Niang sighed and slowly told the story of how Qiao Xiang was redeemed and married as a concubine of a Huainan cotton merchant.

At first, Qiaoxiang was still young and charming, and was very much loved by the cotton merchant, which aroused the jealousy of the wife.

In the intervening years, Qiaoxiang became pregnant twice, but both times she had miscarriages and ultimately had no children.

Four years after the founding of the country, the cotton merchant's wife married a young and beautiful girl for her husband, and the aging Qiao Xiang instantly fell out of favor.

Qiaoxiang couldn't stand the gap and made trouble twice, which made the cotton merchant hate her even more. The wife, who had been forbearing all this time, saw the opportunity and punished Qiaoxiang several times.

Six years after the founding of the country, Qiao Xiang died of depression after being locked in the backyard for a year.

Yingxue, her personal maid who had gone with her to the cotton merchant's house, was also driven out of the house. She begged for food all the way back to Tongshan, where she was taken in by Miao Niang, who then learned about the incident.

Even though they had some quarrels and grudges in their early years, Yunong was stunned for a long time after hearing this, and she couldn't tell what she felt in her heart.

That day, after seeing off her two sisters from her early years, Yunong was in a bad mood.

Chen Chu, who came home at night, asked the reason, but Yunong, who could not hide her thoughts in the past, did not say anything.

The next day.

The fourth day of May has long become a legal holiday in Da Chu to commemorate the Huaibei students' support for Chenzhou in the eleventh year of Fuchang.

It also happened that the Journey to the West Paradise built by Xiao Zhuzi and others opened, and people from all over the country, merchants and travelers gathered there.

Originally they just wanted to give it a try and invite Concubine Yi to come and cut the ribbon, but they didn't expect to invite the Emperor as well. Xiao Zhuzi and the others were naturally very satisfied.

After a busy day, at dusk, Chen Chu was worried that Yunong would be tired, so he declined the dinner hosted by the Tongshan business community and took Yunong back to Luliu Village.

After dinner, Ni'er and Zhan'er went back to their room and went to bed at 10 p.m., having run around the park all day.

But Yunong didn't show any sign of fatigue. Instead, she pulled Chen Chu to the grove on the high ground in the northwest side of the village.

At 11 p.m., the highlight of the park's opening ceremony, the fireworks, began.

The paradise is one mile west of the Cross Hill. Standing on the high ground inside the village, the view is slightly obstructed.

Yunong couldn't see clearly, but she couldn't help but exclaim "Wow~Wow~" all the time.

Seeing this, Chen Chu simply squatted on the ground, pointed at his neck and said, "Get on, I'll carry you for you to see."

"Haha~" Yunong laughed happily, but hesitated after taking a step forward, "No, Your Majesty is the supreme ruler, how can I ride on Your Majesty's neck?"

“It’s not like you haven’t ridden before.”

"."

Yunong's face was embarrassed, and then he waved to Qin's grandmother and other palace servants who were more than ten steps away and said, "You guys go away."

After making sure that no one else would hear her words, Yunong whispered, "How can it be the same at night as it is now?"

After saying that, he looked around and saw a crooked willow tree in front of him. He pointed at the tree and said, "Let's go up and take a look!"

The four concubines rolled up their sleeves, tucked their front lapels into their waists, and started crawling.

Chen Chu looked up at Yunong's nimble figure and laughed.

Yunong quickly found a place to sit on a tree branch more than ten feet above the ground, put his hands on the pergola and looked in the direction of the paradise, then shouted to the tree: "Your Majesty, come up quickly, the view here is very clear, hahahaha"

"I'm forty years old!"

Chen Chu muttered something, then tucked the front of his clothes into his belt and climbed up using his hands and feet.

Obviously not as skilled as Yunong
"Sit here, sit here"

Yunong, who had taken the lead in sitting on a thick tree branch, enthusiastically made room for him. Just as Chen Chu sat down on the branch, he felt a flash of light in his peripheral vision. He looked up and saw a firework exploding in the night sky.

Red and blue light spots dragged long tails, covering the western sky.

"Wow~"

Yunong exclaimed, and her arms had already skillfully wrapped around Chen Chu's arms.

Fireworks went off one after another, and the two of them sat on the tree branches like naughty children in the village, with Yunong swinging his legs leisurely.
After a long silence, Yunong, who was leaning on Chen Chu's shoulder, suddenly sighed.

Yunong seldom sighs.

Chen Chu turned around in confusion and asked curiously, "Stinky treasure, what's wrong? You have been unhappy since yesterday, but you didn't tell me what's wrong when I asked you."

Hearing this affectionate name, Yunong smiled like a little mouse that had stolen oil, and couldn't help but hug Chen Chu's arms tighter, "Your Majesty, do you think I'm too old?"

"." Chen Chu raised his hand and touched Yunong's forehead, muttering to himself, "Why did I marry such a silly woman like you? Fortunately, my children are smarter than each other and have not been infected by my mother's stupidity."

"Your Majesty~" Yu Nong pouted and shook Chen Chu's arm.

"Mo Huang, Mo Huang, this is on a tree!"

"Hehehe, Your Majesty, do you remember? This grove is where Nunu and my sister talked for the first time. I was timid at that time and was scared by my sister. Later I learned that my sister was just pretending to be an adult that day. She herself was so nervous, hehe."

“I don’t remember clearly.”

"But I remember everything. Ever since I became your Majesty's man, I remember every moment very clearly. In the past few years, your Majesty was away from home during the wars, so I kept recalling every little detail of the time we were together, sometimes I even laughed out loud. Sister Cai often called me stupid for this, but I was very happy when I recalled the past. The days when your Majesty was not around were not so hard to bear."

Upon hearing this, Chen Chu couldn't help but say, "I won't be busy anymore, so I can spend more time with you."

"Your Majesty said so twenty years ago, ten years ago~" Yunong pouted, but looked at the fireworks that were rising one after another and said sadly: "Nunu is old now"

"Who said you are old? I will arrest him and put him in jail."

"Hahaha, Your Majesty is using this to fool people again." At this point, Yunong paused and continued, "Your Majesty, do you know that when I was in Caiwei Pavilion, I always felt that I was different from others. I felt that I was so beautiful and had a good temper, and I would definitely have a good home in the future."

"Hahaha"

How could someone praise himself like this? Chen Chu couldn't help but burst into laughter.

"Your Majesty, please don't laugh. Am I not pretty? Do I have a bad temper?"

"Good-looking, good-natured."

Chen Chu couldn't help laughing. He didn't expect Yunong to be so narcissistic.

Seeing that Chen Chu didn't answer seriously, Yunong snorted proudly, and then sighed: "But when I met my old sisters yesterday, I realized that I am actually no different from others. If I hadn't met Your Majesty back then, I might have turned into dry bones in the grave."

Chen Chu suddenly felt a heat on his shoulder. He turned around and saw that Yu Nong, who was smiling just now, was crying.

"Why are you crying again for no reason?"

"Nunu doesn't know either, I just don't feel bad, I just want to cry anyway."

"Then cry."

"Well, for Nunu, these twenty years have been like a dream, and Nunu is so afraid that she will wake up from the dream."

"Hey, could it be that my Yunong was possessed by Ayu tonight? How come I have become a sentimental artistic youth?"

"Hahahaha" Yunong was so amused that she burst into laughter. She continued to hold Chen Chu's arm and murmured, "Your Majesty, if there is an afterlife, you must remember to find Nunu. Nunu will still live with you and give birth to your baby."

"I haven't even finished this life yet, and I'm already thinking about the next life." Chen Chu smiled and said, "Besides, in the next life, we'll all have to drink Meng Po soup, so where can I find you?"

"I don't care! Your Majesty can even be the emperor, there must be a way to find me. When you find me, if I don't remember you, just call me stinky treasure, and I will definitely remember you."

"become"

"Hehe~"

Yunong, whose trust in Chen Chu had reached a blind level, was relieved when she heard that the former agreed.

He leaned against Chen Chu and looked at the gorgeous fireworks exploding one after another in the distant night sky.

After another long silence, Yunong suddenly said in a daze, "Your Majesty, can I call you Chen Lang?"

"Go ahead and shout. It's okay even if you shout sir. The cat isn't here anyway. Hahaha."

"Hehehe~ Chen Lang!"

"Ah."

"Chen Lang!"

"Hmm~"

"Chen Lang~Chen Lang~"

"Uh-huh."

"Chen Lang~Chen Lang~Chen Lang~"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah"

It was just such a boring little game, but it caused the two of them to look at each other and laugh at the same time.

The colorful sky is reflected in Yunong's innocent big eyes.
"Chen Lang, in my next life, Nunu must meet you before my two sisters. Hehe." (End of this chapter)