Her guards

Chapter 52: A Joyful Aftermath of get out of class
The carriage drove directly into the inner courtyard of the Duke of Ding'an's mansion from the west gate.

A group of maids and servants waited outside the second gate. When Yang Hui alighted from the carriage, they all bowed to her.

"Congratulations on your return from your studies, Miss."

Before she could finish speaking, Yang Hui screamed, and a book bag slammed down on her. "Shut up!"

The maids and servants were at a loss. What happened? They were all happy when they went there in the morning. This wasn't an exam, so they wouldn't fail. Why are they unhappy now?
"mother!"

When Yang Hui rushed in shouting, Lady Ding'an was lying in a rocking chair listening to her maid play the zither and sing.

Despite some setbacks, after urging the Duke of Ding'an to confront the Marquis of Yichun, his daughter was still chosen to serve Princess Heicheng.

Although they were called "attendants," the name didn't matter; what mattered was being selected.

Now they can rest assured. The world can see that the Ding'an Duke's Mansion is not to be underestimated.

After sending her daughter to the Imperial Academy, she allowed Duke Ding'an to go boating on the lake for fun, while she herself went to the gold and silver shop to choose gold and silver jewelry, and then returned home to listen to some folk songs.

Just as I was starting to doze off, my daughter's shout startled me awake.

Leisurely time really flies; before I knew it, my daughter was home from school.

"Huihui, you're back." Lady Ding'an hurriedly stood up. "How were things with the princess—"

"I'm so angry!" Yang Hui interrupted the Lady of Ding'an, sitting down with red eyes and tears streaming down her face.

Lady Ding'an hurriedly chased the maids away and asked anxiously, "Princess, did they bully you?" Then she muttered to herself, "That daughter of the Chai family is not easy to deal with, and her daughter must be the same."

Is the Chai family's daughter talking about the Empress? My mother has even had dealings with the Empress. In all these years of going to the palace to pay homage, I haven't seen my mother speak much to the Empress. A thought flashed through Yang Hui's mind, but she quickly dismissed it and said with a hint of pride, "No, Princess Heping is very good to me. She even held my hand."

I feel resentful when I talk about this.

"It's that country girl surnamed Liu!"

Hearing Princess Heisei holding her daughter's hand, Lady Ding'an breathed a sigh of relief and asked, "The one surnamed Liu? Is that the one who took your spot?"

Yang Hui nodded: "It was her. When she saw me today, she actually tried to steal my role as a tutor! She pushed past me to pester the princess."

The day her daughter failed the selection, she made a fuss that someone had stolen her spot. Lady Ding'an didn't take this seriously. How could someone steal something like that? She could only say that this young lady from Fuzhou was indeed very knowledgeable, but she never expected that this person would be so arrogant.

real or fake?

“Really.” Yang Hui stamped her foot. “Everyone saw it in front of everyone. She’s shameless.”

"Oh, I see," Lady Ding'an suddenly realized. She understood. This must be someone sent by her family to curry favor with the princess. Fuzhou is outside the capital, and this is a rare opportunity to get close to the royal family. Of course, they would be shameless and do whatever it takes.

“It’s not wrong for her to want to curry favor; everyone wants to.” Lady Ding’an said, then frowned. “But you can’t bully others.”

Yang Hui nodded vigorously: "Yes, yes." She was both aggrieved and angry. "And she only bullied me, saying that I wasn't chosen, that I was shameless, and that our family relied on the Empress and the Marquis of Yichun."

Of course, she said the last sentence.

I only remembered my mother and father's instructions not to tell anyone after I said it.

So now they don't dare say it was them, and simply pin it on that country maid.

Lady Ding'an was immediately enraged and slammed her hand on the table: "How can such a shameless person stay by the princess's side!"

Yang Hui nodded: "Yes, yes." She shook the arm of the Lady of Ding'an, "Mother, quickly tell Father to tell Marquis Yichun to tell the Empress to get rid of her."

Lady Ding'an smiled disdainfully: "A woman from the Fuzhou Academy is no match for the Marquis of Yichun and the Empress."

After saying this, he called out to the outside world for help.

"Go and summon the Duke back!"

This is a trivial matter. If the Duke of Ding'an writes a letter to instruct the officials of Fuzhou, they will surely teach the Liu family a lesson for how they raised their daughter and take this arrogant daughter away.

If we are driven away by the Empress or Emperor in the future, our family will lose all face.

By reminding the Liu family, they are actually helping them.

After instructing the servants, Lady Ding'an smiled and patted her daughter's shoulder.

"Okay, it's nothing, don't be angry," she said. "You must be tired from school, come and eat, I made your favorite food."

.......
.......
When Princess Heisei stepped into the Empress's Palace, she saw that the Emperor was also there.

"Why is Father Emperor here?" she asked happily. Although her parents were a couple who had been married since childhood and had gone through thick and thin together, after more than ten years as emperor, they were no longer always together.

The emperor was busy with state affairs, having to worry about the affairs of the entire country, and also had many more concubines in the harem.

Of course, the Emperor still visited the Empress Dowager the most, but he only came very rarely for several days in a row.

"Of course, it's to test your studies," the emperor said, deliberately putting on a stern face. "How was your first day of school?"

Princess Heicheng was not afraid of her father's stern face at all. She smiled and sat down beside him, saying, "Father, please don't test me on my studies, so as not to make things difficult for you."

The Empress scolded from the side, "How dare you speak to your father like that?"

The emperor laughed heartily: "My daughter is just like me, proud and confident."

The Empress glanced at him: "Still so proud? I told you your studies weren't good enough."

Princess Heisei chimed in, "Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses. Father Emperor only has this one shortcoming, but now I will make up for it."

The Empress glared at Princess Heisei: "How utterly shameless!"

"How can this be considered boastful?" the emperor said with a smile. "Our Heisei era is one of ambition."

He stroked his short beard as he spoke.

“Even before I was this big, I already had the ambition to pacify the chaotic world.”

Princess Heicheng bowed solemnly: "It is evident that Father Emperor has bestowed this upon us by Heaven, and we have lived up to Heaven's trust by achieving our aspirations."

The emperor laughed again: "My son will surely achieve his wish and become a learned man."

The Empress shook her head: "You two, father and daughter..." A smile appeared on her lips as she asked, "How was school today? Did you understand the lessons the teacher taught? Did you get along well with the young ladies?"

Princess Heisei nodded, then paused slightly. Her interactions with the young ladies... were somewhat unexpected, especially with Miss Liu Chan from Fuzhou.

She has memorized the name now.

However, this was such a trivial matter that she wouldn't tell her father and mother.

"It's a pity that the chief priest doesn't teach us," she said. "I hope I can attend his classes someday."

Having said that, he shook the emperor's sleeve.

"Father, I'm hungry. Why don't you stay and have dinner with Mother and me today?"

The emperor smiled and said, "I came here to have dinner with my son."

Princess Heisei exclaimed happily, "Father is so good to me!"

“You are my daughter,” the emperor said, then looked at the empress and said, “I would trouble you to make some of my daughter’s favorite dishes.”

The empress glared at him.

"I would like to trouble Mother to also make some of my father's favorite dishes," Princess Heicheng said with a smile.

The Empress couldn't help but laugh again.

The palace maids and women standing outside the hall looked at the family of three inside with joyful expressions and whispered among themselves.

"The Empress and His Majesty have not been able to enjoy themselves like a normal married couple for a long time."

"His Majesty truly adores his daughter."

"That depends on which daughter it is. The Empress and His Majesty are husband and wife, and the eldest princess was born in the same year His Majesty ascended the throne, so she is different from the other daughters."

"Of the three princesses who went to study, only the eldest princess received personal inquiries and waits from His Majesty."

.......
.......
"Miss, dinner is ready."

Yang Luo was sitting at the table, looking at the books laid out in front of him, when he suddenly heard a shout.

She snapped out of her daze and looked up to see the young guard carrying food.

Yang Luo looked outside and saw that dusk had already enveloped the courtyard.

(End of this chapter)