The Princess's Notebook

Before leaving, Zhao Feiran whispered in Shiqi Niang's ear: "Wait for me to come back."

Even after he left for a long time, Shiqi Niang still did not come back to her senses, as if he was still beside her, staring at her. In addition, the noise faded away in the middle of the night, and only a few sounds were heard from the window. Shiqi Niang felt like she was in the clouds, her soul out of her body.

What does he mean? Doesn't he have a favorite girl?

Haven't you heard from me for a long time? Why are you here today?

She couldn't figure it out, and Shiqi Niang didn't sleep well all night. She wanted to find out in her dream, but she couldn't see it. The mysterious dream seemed to have lost its magic power.

Shiqi Niang was angry. She suddenly stood up from the couch and threw the pillow onto the bedding to vent her anger.

The dull sound continued to be heard.

At one point Aunt Feng asked in a low voice, "Seventeen, why aren't you sleeping? Before the banquet was over, didn't you come back to rest because you felt very sleepy? Why are you knocking on the quilt in the middle of the night?"

Shiqi Niang suddenly stopped and looked towards the green gauze cabinet. She didn't see Aunt Feng, so she thought she hadn't gotten up yet. She quietly put the pillow back and stopped hitting it.

It's so cramped that there's nowhere to hide.

Hitting a pillow to vent your anger can also disturb others.

Is the Tianguang Hall in the East Palace much more spacious? If we quarrel and get angry in the future, will we have a place to hide? No, the Tianguang Hall is the prince's bedroom, and the Cheng'en Dian in the back three halls is the residence of the crown princess.

What is the scene there? I have never seen it before.

……

After meeting Shiqi Niang, Zhao Feiran immediately rode his horse and rushed to Jiannan. There were so many things that he couldn't just give Hongshan a few words and feel at ease and not return.

That day, Zhao Feiran and Hong Shan talked about the frozen Wei River, which might mean a severe drought next year, and they needed to prepare early. The two talked until midnight before returning to Jiannan Prefecture.

The night is bright with sparse stars and bright moonlight.

Zhao Feiran took off his outer robe, sat by the south window, and sighed at the moon. She was such a heartless girl. For so many days, my father and mother had sent three or five letters asking if my son was well and hoping that he would return soon, but she didn't say a word.

I walked slowly to the closet, took out the bundle, and took out the booklet inside. I had read "A Little Wolfdog in the East Palace" many times and I remembered everything about it.

When they first met, he thought that Shiqi Niang might not want the imperial decree to grant the marriage, hoping that he would have an accident, and he was really angry. So he asked Sun Du to scold Wang Kang. Later, he felt that it was nothing. He, Zhao Feiran, was born to be a high-ranking person. It was only a matter of time for the ignorant Wang Shiqi to fall in love with him and realize his goodness.

What are you afraid of?

The presence of people is the most important thing.

In the second half of the night, Zhao Feiran fell into a deep sleep. In his daze, he seemed to see Shiqi Niang. She said that they had slept together for a long time, and she said that she would take him as her master. She said a lot. There was also a small courtyard in the south of the Yangtze River, under the pavilion on the moon hill, and he shielded her from the wind.

Zhao Feiran woke up suddenly, sweating profusely.

Looking around, he found that he was really in the Jiannan government office, not a Jiangnan courtyard, and there was no hexagonal pavilion named Yueqiu.

I woke up in shock and realized I was having a nightmare.

Why dream about Shiqi Niang? That heartless little thing made him look so worthless.

Unable to sleep, uneasy, self-loathing, Zhao Feiran stood up to drink water. Before he could even take a sip of water, Supervisor Song rushed in, "Your Highness, are you having a nightmare?"

Zhao Feiran said unhappily, "You are the one who talks too much. I will cut off your tongue one day."

Song Dajian had seen many storms and waves, so he didn't care. "Your Highness has been having nightmares in recent days. It's nothing during the day. I think you should pay more attention to it at night. Your Highness is busy with many affairs and government affairs, and your health is important..."

"You said I've had nightmares for days?!"

Zhao Feiran had no idea about this. He just thought it was his first nightmare.

"That's true. It's been like this for the past few days. Also, from the second half of last year to the first half of this year, Your Highness also had nightmares at night. I thought Your Highness had recovered from this illness, but I didn't expect it to come back in the past few days. But I need to ask the doctor to come and take a look."

There were many doctors serving inside and outside the tent, including one or two imperial physicians.

Zhao Feiran frowned, "Eunuch Song, have you done something wrong behind my back?"

"I don't dare, old slave."

"Then you're talking nonsense. I often have nightmares."

"It's absolutely true. If I tell a lie, I'll throw it out immediately!"

The man paced silently, as if he was considering whether Song Dajian's words were reliable. When he walked up to Song Dajian, he asked, "Did I speak in my sleep?"

Eunuch Song trembled, thinking of the fifty strokes of the cane.

He trembled and said, "His Highness called out Seventeen."

Hearing this, Zhao Feiran fell into deep thought. Supervisor Song took this opportunity to ask Huluntu to bow and leave.

Seventeen... Zhao Feiran kept muttering, could it be that he had already noticed this heartless young lady without even knowing it? !

If so, where was the opportunity before?

...On the eleventh day of the winter month, Sixteenth Mother returned home.

The sky was full of snow, and it was falling heavily. Sixteen and Feng Ji had just gotten off the carriage when they were startled by a crowd of people at the door of their house. She knew that there were many young ladies in her family. After Shi Niang, who was born under the madam's knee, got married, there were fewer and fewer young ladies in the family, and few of them came back during the holidays. Therefore, when she suddenly saw these many sisters, Sixteen Niang was a little flustered.

Fortunately, Feng Ji whispered to her, "It's time to come back to visit Shiqi Niang. Just be careful."

After hearing this, Shiliu Niang thought it made sense, and immediately looked at Shiqi across the crowd. She stood in the crowd, wearing ordinary purple clothes, and was inconspicuous. But everyone seemed to be looking at her, making her the focus of everyone's attention.

Perhaps seeing Sixteenth's worry, Seventeenth Lady smiled calmly.

It was just a glance, she had seen it before.

Then the sisters greeted each other, escorted Sixteenth into the house to meet Wang Kang and Qiao Xin, and gave a few instructions from the elders. Let's not talk about the idle talk, let's talk about the afternoon when Sixteenth Mother had some free time, and she went to Qiu Shuang's residence to chat with Seventeenth.

As Sixteen entered, his eyes lit up. He looked left and right, as if he didn't recognize Qiu Shuangju, and his eyes were full of curiosity.

Seventeen jokes, "What you see is what it is, your eyes are not blind."

Touching Cui Sandao's "Searching for Plum Blossoms in the Snow", Shiliu Niang asked in astonishment, "Is it an authentic one?"

"My father sent it to me. I don't know whether it is authentic or not."

"Dad is willing to give you this? Where did he get the money?" Without waiting for a reply, Sixteen laughed at himself, "Yes, I was stupid. With your current status, it is natural that people would rush to give Dad gifts. However, now that you and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince have not yet been married, it is appropriate for Dad to show off like this."

"Whether it's appropriate or not, he is still my father, and there is no way to change him. Why worry about it?" After saying this, Shiqi Niang seemed unwilling to say more, and asked with a smile, "Are you doing well in the Feng Mansion?"

Shiliu Niang was too shy to speak, and after a while she finally said, "Didn't you hear what Madam asked just now?"

Seeing her cheeks full of red clouds and plum blossoms blooming in the corners of her eyes, Seventeen joked: "I don't know who it is. It was said before that the third young master was black-hearted and refused to marry. Oh, who is this person?"

"You are such a heartless person. You are making fun of me. Seventeen, let me tell you, your best days are still to come."

Seventeen looked around and said something else, "Of course, my good days are still to come. You know what the situation is like at home. Father only decorated Qiu Shuang Residence because His Highness came to your wedding night. It's really a good place."

Sixteen came closer, lowered his head and drank his tea, "Don't interrupt me. How dare you say you don't know anything about what I'm going to say!"

Seventeen held a yellow dumpling in his hand and pretended to be clueless, "What?"

"You really have no news?!" Sixteen didn't believe it and lowered his head to look into Seventeen's eyes.

After asking again and again, Seventeen couldn't help it, and brilliant starlight burst out from his eyes, like countless stars and gems.

"Okay, I knew it. The Ministry of Rites is very busy. As the Crown Princess, how could you not know it? And you even lied to me. Are we still sisters? You tell me." Sixteenth Lady pretended to be angry and moved the round stool away from Seventeenth.

"Who asked you to laugh at me?" Seventeen tried to save face.

Sixteen seemed to have never seen such a shameless Seventeen, "You! You! You still blame me, who are you? Who was it that laughed at me first before? Now it's my turn to blame you, and you're done? You're Seventeen, now that you're about to get married, you've learned all of your father's tricks."

Pretending to be a cat and eating an elephant and denying everything are Wang Kang's usual tactics.

Speaking of this, the two sisters laughed together.

They talked back and forth, and talked about the sisters who rarely came back to their parents' home. Sixteen was worried. Seventeen was very calm, "Looking at my status, they will definitely not do anything to me. They are just asking for some opportunities. If I agree, whether it will work out or what it will be like after it works out is not their turn to say. Besides, when the sisters were young, they didn't have any big festivals. Now, maybe it's for their own children, maybe it's for their own husbands. Women have a hard time, why should they care about these things."

"You are generous and open-minded, but I, Wang Shiliu, am not. If the sisters need help from me, I can only ask the tenth and twelfth sisters, but I won't talk to the others."

As she spoke, Shiliu Niang waved her hands, and she really had the style of a daughter-in-law of a minister's mansion.

After expressing his feelings for his sisters, Sixteen did not forget to remind Seventeen, "You can help them out of sisterly love, but don't let yourself get caught up in it. I heard that the prince came back early that day, staggered back to the East Palace, met with several old men in the Zhanshi Mansion, and assigned them many errands before leaving. It can be seen that..."

Sixteen didn't say the rest, but Seventeen knew it. But even if he is interested in you, as the crown prince of a country, he naturally has more important things to do.

When he couldn't take care of Seventeen, he had to have a lot more husbands than other people.

Shiqi Niang sighed, "When the time comes, things will work out. Don't worry about it. The Ministry of Rites has been busy for quite some time. They are probably discussing the ceremony of marrying a concubine. Why are you still talking about this?"

After saying this, Sixteen realized that he had said something wrong, and hurriedly tried to make amends, "That's right. Yesterday, the Third Young Master told me that His Majesty had ordered the Ministry of Rites to allow the Crown Prince to marry a concubine without being bound by the old calendar. However, at night, Minister Wu of the Ministry of Rites came to ask Father-in-law to borrow a book, saying that he was looking for the rituals of the Crown Prince marrying a concubine in the previous dynasty, and asked him to study it."

Seventeen wondered, "Lively? Wasn't it also lively when the King of Jin and the King of Qin got married in the early years?"

"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is the golden nugget of the Queen and His Majesty, how can he be the same as the princes?"

"Minister Wu dares to follow the rituals of the previous dynasty?!" Shiqi Niang was surprised.

The previous dynasty fell due to two reasons: firstly, its extravagant lifestyle and secondly, its ruler’s incompetence.

"You're worried about this? Since Minister Wu dared to ask openly, then of course His Majesty has granted his permission. I see that your brain is not as good as before."

As soon as she finished speaking, Shiqi Niang felt her neck getting hot, as if it were being burned by the scorching sun or bitten by thousands of ants. Her cheeks immediately flushed, she lowered her eyebrows and eyes, and stopped talking.

Seeing this, Sixteen realized that he had said the wrong thing. He smiled awkwardly and didn't want to ask what the two of them had talked about when Zhao Feiran came in the dark night. He could only drink tea.

My family has been short of food and clothing for many years. When can we drink Longfengtuan tea?
Sixteen couldn't help but peck a few more times.

(End of this chapter)