When Bai Xiaojiu chose to stay with his wife and children in the mountains, Divine Doctor Qiu felt regretful but knew it was the best for Bai Xiaojiu. As long as Bai Xiaojiu remembered to come home often, things would be fine.
Not long after Jiang Yuqing had returned, Li Deshun brought another large batch of rewards.
The two chatted in the flower hall for a while before Li Deshun reluctantly left.
Before leaving, Jiang Yuqing took out several jars and whispered to Li Deshun, "This is some wild monkey wine I happened to obtain. The taste is excellent. Please help me give a jar to His Majesty the Emperor, Her Majesty the Empress, His Highness the Crown Prince, and have one for yourself. Don't let His Majesty find out about the rest!"
Li Deshun nodded like a chicken pecking at rice, "As expected, my good boy still cares about this old official. Our family will remember this favor."
Soon after Li Deshun left, Jing Yan arrived. Seeing the increasingly outstanding young man, Jiang Yuqing felt somewhat complicated.
Jing Yan looked at her for a while before smiling, "It's been half a year since I last saw you, Qingqing seems to have grown a little taller." She was also gradually developing the curves of a young girl.
Jiang Yuqing compared the distance between them and found she still only reached his chest. Somewhat discouraged, she said, "So what if I grew taller, I still only reach your chest! I just don't understand, we eat the same food, why do you grow so fast?"
She carefully measured the boy's height. Converted to modern units, he was at least 185cm tall with long legs.
Jing Yan chuckled, "I can't control how tall I grow. Or does Qingqing have any good ideas? Feel free to share."
Jiang Yuqing refused to continue the topic and said, "I got some monkey wine. I already asked Uncle Li to bring some back for you since I didn't know you were coming."
Jing Yan said, "Either way it's for us. We can drink it when we get back. We haven't seen each other in a long time, will you walk with me in the garden, Qingqing?"
Seeing his expectant gaze, Jiang Yuqing couldn't bear to refuse and nodded in agreement.
Jing Yan habitually took her hand and walked towards the garden. Jiang Yuqing tried to pull her hand back but failed, so she let him be.
He told her about some things that happened in the capital during the half year she was away.
She also told him about some things that happened in Fuzhou and Qingzhou.
Without any particular topic, they talked about whatever came to mind, still the same as before.
She suddenly felt that this didn't seem too bad.
After Jiang Wenyuan returned from the ministry, he saw his precious daughter happily chatting and laughing with the Jing family's wolf cub as they strolled through the garden.
The old father was so sour, like he had eaten a lemon.
What's more, this wolf cub's skin was incredibly thick. He completely ignored Jiang Wenyuan's various hints for him to leave and stubbornly stayed for dinner before finally departing.
Throughout the meal, he kept picking dishes and pouring water for his precious daughter. Jiang Wenyuan was nearly angered to death.
After finally seeing off the boy, his precious daughter also returned to her own courtyard.
Only then did Jiang Wenyuan say, "Look, look! That Jing brat is eagerly trying to snatch our family's flower pot!"
Seeing her husband nearly puffed up with anger like a blowfish, Lu couldn't help but feel somewhat torn between laughter and tears. "You've known for a while now that the Crown Prince is interested in our good girl. What's more, their relationship has progressed beyond the maiden and scholar stage.
Our good girl will turn 13 or 14 soon. If we were back in our hometown in Qingzhou, girls her age are mostly allowed to start seeing suitors."
Things were fine until she said that. Hearing it made Jiang Wenyuan even angrier. "No way, our good girl absolutely cannot get married this early. Even if she has to marry, it must be a few years later, at least 20 or 18 years old!"
Lu snorted with laughter. She discovered men could be as childish as a 3-year-old. "20 or 18 years old? Don't forget the Crown Prince is 6 years older than our good girl. If we try our best, we might be able to keep her until she turns 16. That's already not bad."
Jiang Wenyuan: "....." This is unbearable!
The next day, Jiang Yuqing went to the palace to give thanks and also visited the Emperor and Empress. By the time she arrived, there were already several Madams and Misses sitting in the pepper room, including Second Prince's birth mother, Concubine Liu.
As soon as the Empress saw her, she blamed, "You naughty girl, gone for half a year with no word."
Jiang Yuqing was about to speak when an abrupt voice cut in, "The princess has grown up in the countryside since she was young, and is used to being unrestrained. Such a free-spirited disposition makes this concubine most envious."
After the girl finished speaking, she suddenly seemed frightened and covered her mouth with a handkerchief.
She quickly apologized, "This concubine deserves death for her careless words. Please forgive this concubine, Your Majesty and Princess." Her mother also helped apologize.
Jiang Yuqing understood the implied meaning. So this girl is the so-called advanced tea.
She was pretending to envy Jiang Yuqing but actually insulting her unladylike temperament. It was to undermine Jiang Yuqing in front of the Empress.
Jiang Yuqing suddenly laughed, "What this lady said is not wrong. It is true that I grew up in the countryside and indeed dislike constraints. But so what?
With my own abilities, indulgent parents who dote on me, His Majesty and Your Majesty who are happy to indulge me, I can travel the world without worry. Ordinary people simply don't have the fortune like me!"
This young lady was used to exchanging sarcastic remarks with her sisters at home. It was her first time encountering someone like Jiang Yuqing who didn't follow common courtesy, leaving her speechless with a flushed face.
The Empress pulled Jiang Yuqing to sit beside her and tactfully said, "You're taking advantage of Our favor towards you, not even finding such long travels tiring!"
She ordered a close palace maid, "Bring an iron Guanyin tea that she likes."
She didn't even glance at the young lady, her attitude made everything clear. Jiang Yuqing had no chance at becoming the future Crown Princess Consort, much less even a side concubine to Prince Fu.
After Jiang Yuqing finished a cup of tea, the Empress said, "My dear, I still have matters to discuss with the Madams. Are you familiar enough with the palace to entertain these young ladies and take them for a walk around the Imperial Garden?"
Jiang Yuqing nodded in agreement.
There were four young ladies who came today.
When Jiang Yuqing was in the capital, she did not interact much with the capital's young ladies so she did not know their backgrounds or who their fathers were.
They were sensible enough not to wait for Jiang Yuqing to ask before introducing themselves and their families, saving her the trouble.
It was just past mid-February, the spring chill still biting.
The plants in the garden had just sprouted a little greenery. Even a magnificent garden like the Imperial Garden still held a somewhat desolate air.
They hadn't walked far when they saw Jing Yan walking towards them with Second Prince.
The noble ladies excitedly knelt to curtsy.
Jiang Yuqing instantly realized these girls must be here today to meet the prince. She strangely felt a little uncomfortable inside.
Jing Yan had just left court and hadn't had the chance to change out of his court robes yet. The black court robe embroidered with five-clawed golden dragons highlighted his handsome appearance and martial bearing.
"What is Qingqing doing here? It's too cold to walk in the garden!"
Jiang Yuqing tilted her head to gesture at the girls beside her who had specially dressed up and made themselves up. "Her Majesty asked me to take them for a walk around here!"
Jing Yan expressionlessly glanced at them before turning to his brother beside him, "Satisfied with looking?"
Jing Si shyly blushed, "Satisfied!"
Jing Yan said, "Then let's go back!" Then he told Jiang Yuqing, "Hurry and take them back, Qingqing. It's cold, don't catch a chill."
"Oh, alright!"
And so Jiang Yuqing inexplicably suffered a blow in the palace, then inexplicably led the girls around the garden before inexplicably leaving the palace afterwards.
She didn't understand the significance of what she did the entire time. But it seemed she had no control over it either.
It wasn't until two days later when the Second Prince was conferred as "Prince Fu" by His Majesty and granted a marriage that she understood.
His primary wife was one of the four ladies Jiang Yuqing had guided around the garden that day, the legitimate daughter of the Grand Minister Duke's estate.
Two other ladies were granted as his concubines.
As for the advanced tea lady, rumor has it she left the palace in tears which swelled her eyes. She became the laughingstock of the entire capital.
This thing was clearly the most hated thing by Empress Qin. She actually bestowed it to a noble lady, which shows that this high-grade tea has really lost the favor of Empress Qin.
Jiang Yuqing finally understood that the imperial concubine selection that day was not for Jing Yan, but for the Second Prince.
No wonder Concubine Liu, who usually lived in seclusion, was also there. So that's how it was.
The Crown Prince was unwilling to get married in order to wait for Jiang Yuqing to grow up.
Emperor Xia Jing had no choice but to hurriedly take care of the marriage of his young son first.
The young son did not need to inherit the grand rule, and he was born with a natural disability. The old father only hoped that he could live a safe, wealthy, and peaceful life until old age in this lifetime, thus the honorary title "Prince Fu" was bestowed.
The wedding was set for September this year, there was still half a year left.
News also came from the East China Sea side that ships from the Wa Kingdom landed in Shun Prefecture and came to Da Xia to ask for people.
Shun Prefecture was less than a thousand miles away from the capital, and the road was easy to travel through the plains all the way. It wouldn’t take more than a few days to reach the capital.
At the same time, the war prisoners escorted from Fuzhou were also about to arrive in the capital soon.
The emperor had already sent down the order that when dealing with the envoys of the Wa Kingdom, Jiang Yuqing must be present no matter what.
The reason was that she was able to bite off a piece of flesh from the Xiongnu people without shedding blood, she could also gain some benefits from the people of the Wa Kingdom.
"...This was quite speechless."
A monster with a blood basin-like big mouth suddenly appeared in her mind. It opened its mouth, first gnawing on the Xiongnu people, then gnawing on the Japanese, with blood dripping all over its mouth. She almost had a mental breakdown.
What were all these terrible images? She suddenly felt that her mind was not clean, so she hurriedly shook her head to get all this garbage out of her brain.
She decided to go to the Three Purities Temple early tomorrow morning to burn incense and calm her mind. Also, ask Master Huayang for some benefits!
Shouldn't she get rewards for her hard work?
The next day, Jiang Yuqing got up very early. Her maid had just tied her hair up in a high ponytail when Yu Zhu called her for breakfast from the outer room.
Seeing Yu Zhu's big belly, Jiang Yuqing complained, "Didn't I ask you to stay at home and nurture the fetus? Why did you come again?"
While reaching out to check her pulse, she said, "The fetus is very healthy. Moderate exercise and more rest!"
"Don't come tomorrow. I don't have much to do here. You have to give the little maids a chance!"
Yu Zhu smiled and said, "Okay, today is the last day I come to work. I will nurture the fetus at home tomorrow and enjoy being served."
Last year, Er Yu and Si Yu both found their ideal husbands and got married.
When they got married, Jiang Yuqing was in Fuzhou and couldn’t make it back to attend the wedding, so she wrote a letter to Lu asking her to handle it.
In addition to giving each person a generous dowry, Jiang Yuqing also returned their indentures to them.
The two of them were now legally married. But because they were grateful to Jiang Yuqing, they still stayed in the mansion and became the matrons in the Qingbo Pavilion.
At the end of last year, Yu Zhu was found to be pregnant. Earlier this year, Yu Qing also got pregnant. Because her morning sickness was severe, she had to recuperate at home.
Seeing that they all had a good place to go, Jiang Yuqing was also happy for them.
After breakfast, Jiang Yuqing bid farewell to her family members, then rode Bai Xiaoshi straight to the Three Purities Temple in the suburbs.
