Eldest Princess Huiyun looked at the man before her, who started coughing again after saying just a few words.
She felt his cold palms.
She observed his flushed face.
Her heart ached with concern.
She had never raised him for a single day. He had endured so much suffering, growing up like a weed. How could his health be good?
Listening to the events he recounted, one by one,
She was a princess.
Though she disdained such actions,
The palace was full of bloodless ways to kill.
Even her royal brother had lost many children.
She suddenly worried - with her son's frail constitution, could he even have children?
But then she looked again.
Behind her son seemed to be many people.
Eldest Princess Huiyun's gaze turned to Qin.
Looking at the tall and strong Qin, her eyes filled with motherly love.
It must be thanks to such a robust daughter-in-law that her son could father children.
Without this daughter-in-law, her son didn't seem the type to have many offspring.
He had the crisis of being too beautiful.
Eldest Princess Huiyun now looked at Qin with growing fondness.
She deserved a reward.
Then she looked at her grandchildren.
The eldest grandson had scars on his face, but his features were handsome, resembling his mother more, honest-looking.
The second granddaughter was plump and endearing. She had reportedly already given birth to two great-grandchildren. Good, good, good. At this moment, she didn't feel old at all. Just thinking that her son's descendants had descendants made her feel wonderful.
The bloodline would continue.
Then she looked at Cong Brother. So he was actually the son of the Crown Prince's son, but had been adopted by her son.
Her son was truly kind-hearted and good-natured. Even knowing the Crown Prince had fallen out of the Emperor's favor, with his associates either dead or exiled, he still adopted his only son. He was too kind - the kind are easily bullied. No wonder he had been mistreated so.
And the youngest, Mianmian.
A few days ago she had only found her noisy and talkative.
Now, looking at her, she seemed perfect in every way, just like herself when she was young, looking exactly the same. Truly worthy of being her own granddaughter.
"Qin, thank you for taking such good care of my son."
Qin Luoxia was also a bit dazed by the sudden family reunion drama unfolding before her.
She hadn't expected that her handsome husband, whom she already considered out of her league, would suddenly transform into a princess's son. Whew~
Wouldn't that make him even more unattainable?
But no matter how things changed, he was already her husband, the father of their three children.
She recalled giving a bowl of water to a passing fortune teller once.
The old man had told her: "Endure hardships, and blessings will follow. Success or failure depends on perseverance."
She hadn't taken it to heart then, but now she felt the old man must have been some kind of sage.
She had fished a man out of the water, gaining not just a husband for free, but one with such an impressive background.
Qin Luoxia felt like she had gained so many undeserved benefits, she could only redouble her efforts to be good to her husband.
"It's what I should do, it's what I should do," Qin Luoxia said with a smile.
"Mother, Xia-mei also saved my life," Jiang Changtian said. "I wanted to end my life by jumping in the river, but Xia-mei jumped in to save me, heedless of the winter cold. I was weak, and it was only thanks to Xia-mei working to earn money to buy food and nourish me that I'm alive today. Mother, although you've been the one I've longed for, Xia-mei is my lifesaver. No matter what, she comes first for me, and you can only come after her."
In his heart, Jiang Changtian added that after Xia-mei came Mianmian, Feng, Elder Sister Yu... his mother would have to rank even further back.
"Of course, of course," Eldest Princess Huiyun felt that her son not only looked like his father but was also just like him in personality - valuing relationships above all, too naive, even needing to say such things out loud.
Jiang Yu watched her father coaxing the old lady, who seemed dazed by his words.
She quietly pulled her husband aside and asked, "Husband, is this beautiful old lady really a princess? Doesn't that make me a princess's granddaughter? Husband, you've hit the jackpot! Go bring Little Goose and Big Goose here, let their great-grandmother give them red envelopes. Isn't this more auspicious than coming to worship Buddha?"
Jiang Yu's voice was naturally very loud.
Even her whispers weren't quiet.
Except for Meng Shaoxia who heard,
Everyone else heard too.
Father pretended not to hear.
His eldest daughter was married off anyway, let her husband worry about her, otherwise he'd age several years for nothing.
As for Eldest Princess Huiyun, she usually feared being called old.
But now she had suddenly become a great-grandmother, when she had just started stumbling through being called "Mother" for the first time.
"There will be red envelopes for everyone," Eldest Princess Huiyun instructed her servants to prepare gifts.
She suddenly became as lively as a dragon, starting to gather her treasures.
She had many, many valuable things.
Almost all of the world's most precious treasures were in her possession.
She had always been the most noble princess in the land.
Even after her brother became Emperor, she remained the most noble princess.
She had all the rare playthings in the world.
So when they came to perform the Buddhist rites,
She took away two more carts of treasures.
Because Jiang Feng still had to go propose marriage in the afternoon,
They still had to return on time.
Meanwhile, Madam Meng, Old Madam Meng, and Meng Qingshe were completely bewildered.
Coming to the temple to offer incense,
Their in-laws had turned into the son of a princess?
Their daughter-in-law had become the eldest granddaughter of a princess.
Their two grandsons had become the princess's great-grandsons.
Their Shaoxia really had good taste.
He had managed to spot and properly marry the granddaughter of the eldest princess from a remote village in Jingzhou, thousands of miles away.
The whole family's feelings were now a bit indescribable.
Although they didn't care much about such things.
If they had cared, they wouldn't have agreed to Shaoxia's marriage in the first place.
But their initial agreement was mainly because Old Master Meng had made the decision.
Old General Meng felt that the situation in the capital was unpredictable, his own son wasn't reliable, but there was still hope for his grandson. Letting his grandson leave for a few years might not be a bad thing - a blessing in disguise.
Even now, there were many rumors in the capital, saying Shaoxia's wife was like Daji, able to bewitch people, and other nonsense.
If she was the princess's granddaughter, who would dare spread such rumors?
Hmm...
They might spread even more wildly, because Eldest Princess Huiyun was said to have been the number one beauty in the land back in her day.
Old Madam Meng remembered the era of Eldest Princess Huiyun. In that era, all young ladies lived under the shadow of Eldest Princess Huiyun.
Now, those who knew some inside information would use Eldest Princess Huiyun as a negative example, sighing that being too beautiful leads to no good end, that women should be virtuous, even princesses.
Those who didn't know the inside story would probably lament how pitiful it was that a generation's incomparable beauty ended up disfigured, spending her remaining years with only the cold light of lamps and ancient Buddha statues for company.
The Meng family, except for Meng Shaoxia, hadn't seen the Eldest Princess. If it weren't for the extra carriage full of extremely luxurious and valuable treasures, they would have thought they had been fooled.
Aunt Yin had just been helping the eldest daughter take care of the two children. As an old servant of the Jiang family, she didn't need to show her face up front. With everyone going to pay respects, she naturally stayed behind to look after the two young masters. After all, helping to watch them was good too.
As a result, after this roundabout journey,
Finally,
The other shoe from many years ago had dropped.
Aunt Yin was an old palace servant, and as someone who served others, she excelled at reading people's expressions and moods. Her ability to survive was due to her keen observations; at the slightest sign of trouble, she knew to run. That's why she felt something was off the moment she saw Jiang Changtian, when normal people wouldn't have thought in that direction.
Now it had finally come to light.
Although it was exaggerated, unbelievable, impossible.
Elder Sister Yu was the granddaughter of the Eldest Princess. Surely she wouldn't need an old nanny like her following her in the Meng household to live well.
In the future, even if people outside said all sorts of nonsense, she wouldn't have to worry every day anymore.
After all, when you stand high enough, even if you say something nonsensical, others will think it's unique, a classic quote worth savoring, or they'll say you're innocent and straightforward.
When you're of low status, if you say anything inappropriate, you'll definitely be mocked.
Aunt Yin felt she should be able to return to the Jiang family soon.
The group returned in grand fashion, still needing to go propose marriage for Feng.
Mianmian was left behind to keep Princess Grandmother company.
Because Princess Grandmother seemed emotionally unstable.
Jiang Mianmian saw that the snow had stopped, and it was quite thick.
She said happily, "Princess, shall we go skiing? Didn't you say last time that if it snowed, we could go skiing?"
Eldest Princess Huiyun: ...
"Call me Grandmother or Granny. Skiing is too dangerous, it's not allowed."
Jiang Mianmian glanced at the two wooden boards hanging on the wall. Don't think she didn't know, those were skis. You ancients play so sneakily, even the skis are made of agarwood...
"Grandmother, let's go play on the water swing. On a snowy day, swinging high and leaping off, we could see the snow-covered view of the entire temple. It must be a beautiful sight. But you'll need to teach me how to land in the water without hurting myself."
Princess Huiyun: ...(╥﹏╥)... I'm sorry, I was wrong.
...
