Chapter 55

Since the two imperial envoys arrived in Lingzhou City, the people outside Lingzhou City seemed to be celebrating the New Year ahead of schedule, rushing to the city one after another.

The imperial envoys borrowed the magistrate’s yamen, and after interrogating King Xiang, they tried again the stewards, guards, servants, and servant girls of the palace. King Xiang refused to plead guilty.In his hands, King Xiang's mouth was only stiff for a day and a night. From the second day on, under the weight of a large number of witnesses and evidence, King Xiang was willing to do anything.

It's just that he committed too many crimes, and the imperial envoys checked each one, and it took him a full interrogation for four days and four nights.

On the morning of April 14th, Shi Yao and Zheng Hong finally walked out of the magistrate's yamen and came to Ning Yuan to meet the princess.

After only a few days of seeing each other, Hua Yang found that both of them were haggard, and the area around their eyes was dark, which proved that they had stayed up late to hear the case.

"The adults have worked hard, sit down and talk."

The little maid also served tea.

Shi Yao and Zheng Hong saluted and thanked, and after they were seated, Shi Yao said first, "Princess, you have sued King Xiang for the seventeen crimes. King Xiang and his party members have all pleaded guilty, and the ministers have sent the files to you in an expedited six hundred miles.Submit the emperor's ruling to Capital City, and once you go back and forth, you will know the result in about ten days."

Hua Yang didn't look happy, but regretted instead: "King Xiang is my Uncle Wang, I can't bear it if he has fallen into such a state today."

Zheng Hong bluntly persuaded: "Princess, don't be sad. The king of Xiang is corrupt and perverts the law to fish and meat the common people, causing the people in Lingzhou to live in distress and complain. It not only violates the ancestral precepts of the great ancestor who entrusted him with feudal lords, but also disappoints the emperor's great favor to him., the royal family and the common people are all sinners, no matter how the emperor punishes them, they deserve what they deserve."

Shi Yao: "Master Zheng is right, please take good care of your body, princess, don't bother me about it."

Hua Yang sighed: "Forget it, but the child is innocent. If there are young relatives in the palace, the adults should order the guards to take care of them until the father's order is achieved."

The two imperial envoys left the table at the same time, cupped their hands and said: "The princess is merciful, it is really a blessing for the clan and the common people."

Hua Yang smiled slightly, and told them to go back to the post house and have a good rest.

Wu Run sent the imperial envoys out, and Hua Yang took the maids back to Qifeng Palace without having to act like a princess.

Chao Yun beamed with joy: "Since King Xiang has pleaded guilty, the Emperor will definitely not spare him lightly. Finally, the dust has settled, and the princess can celebrate her birthday properly."

Hua Yang is not interested: "I celebrate my birthday every year, it's nothing more than those tricks, I'm already tired of it."

Chaoyue: "Princess, this is your second birthday after you got married. Last year, Mrs. Chen was buried, and we just arrived in town, so it was basically a perfunctory one. This year, we have to hold it more grandly.”

Hua Yang shook his head: "No, King Xiang is my Uncle Wang after all, and their whole house is waiting for the decree, but our side is singing and dancing. It is inevitable that there is a sense of schadenfreude. Even if we think so in our hearts, we can't let it go."

"Ah, is it going to be perfunctory again this year?"

Hua Yang didn't expect anything at all, so naturally she wouldn't be disappointed, birthday is just a trivial matter, King Xiang is about to be convicted, and the court lost a big silverfish, just this one thing is enough for her to be happy for a whole year.

However, Chaoyun and Chaoyue held the grievances for the princess. Before the princess was married, the emperor and the empress would have to make a fuss about the birthday of the princess, and it was very lively and festive.

When Chen Jingzong came back in the evening, Chaoyue stopped him outside the Qifeng Palace and asked quietly, "Does your son-in-law know what day will be in four days?"

It's strange that Chen Jingzong didn't know.

Before her birthday last year, her mother specially called him over and stuffed him with a unicorn jade pendant of suet jade, which can be split into two pieces, one unicorn and one lin.

According to her mother, it was a dowry gift from her grandmother, and she was reluctant to part with the old man, so she kept it as a family heirloom, waiting to be passed on to her son and daughter-in-law.

It's just that there are too many sons, and a family heirloom is not enough, so the mother changed her mind and decided to keep it for herself.

Unexpectedly, the youngest son was so lucky to marry a princess daughter-in-law and come back. The princess has never seen such a baby, and it is hard to show his heart with what birthday gift the son gives.Give it to the princess to show solemnity.

Now that his mother had thought it over for him, Chen Jingzong couldn't think of a better birthday gift than this pair of jade pendants. On the morning of April 18 last year, he gave the jade pendants to her.

As a result, princesses with golden branches and jade leaves are not rare at all, and they don't care if the jade pendant can be divided into two pieces. After looking at it twice, thanked it lightly, and let the maids put it in the cage.

This year, on the holiday at the end of March, because of King Xiang's incident, neither their husband, wife nor eldest brother and sister-in-law returned to the ancestral house. After a few days, the mother even sent a maid over to remind him not toI forgot that her birthday is coming up again, and the presents have to be prepared in advance!

Is this him marrying a daughter-in-law, or is it his mother marrying a daughter-in-law?

Facing Chaoyue's question at this moment, Chen Jingzong thought for a moment and said, "It's time for the princess' birthday."

Chaoyue smiled, although the son-in-law was rough, he remembered the princess's birthday, so he was still a good son-in-law.

"The princess has no intention of making a big deal, what does the son-in-law have in mind? The princess didn't celebrate her birthday properly last year, why should there be some excitement this year, even if it's only in Ning Yuan?"

Chen Jingzong: "That should be the case, but I'm a rough person, and I don't know what the princess likes. You have been serving her for so many years, so I leave this matter to you, and let me know in advance if I need my cooperation."

Chaoyue: "How can I do that? You are the closest person to the princess now. You must make up your mind on this matter. No matter how well we prepare, the princess will just watch the show and have nothing to be happy about."

Chen Jingzong: ...

He didn't even think about what gift to give, and let him think about how to celebrate her birthday?

Chen Jingzong really wanted to refuse, but thinking of how thin and sad she was when she first arrived at the Chen family's ancestral home last year, he had no choice but to agree.

After going to bed at night, he put his arms around Hua Yang and asked, "Is it time for your birthday?"

Hua Yang raised his eyebrows: "Chaoyun and the others told you?"

Chen Jingzong: "Can't I remember it myself?"

Hua Yang: "Okay, as long as you remember, but the timing is wrong, so don't mess around, I'm not in the mood to listen to opera or music."

Chen Jingzong ruled out the troupe a long time ago. At this time, Ning Yuan's opera voice came out, and the common people thought that their husband and wife were hoping for King Xiang's bad luck.

"How did you celebrate your birthday before you left the palace?" Chen Jingzong asked, hoping to gain some experience.

Hua Yang thought for a while, and said: "My father, the queen and the queen asked someone to organize it, or invited the noble ladies of Capital City to the palace to participate in the peony flower banquet, or held a lantern show at night, or asked the theater troupe to arrange a fewOne year, the palace set off fireworks for an entire hour..."

Chen Jingzong: "No wonder you are so expensive, it turned out that you were really raised by silver."

Hua Yang gave him a hard pinch.

Chen Jingzong: "I just want to help you. I don't have that much money, unless I follow Xiang Baoshan's example and go greedy, and then I will be beaten into a disability by the old man, or you will kill my relatives righteously."

Hua Yang: "I didn't let you handle it, so don't listen to Chaoyun and the others."

Chen Jingzong: "Then do you want a birthday gift?"

Hua Yang squinted at him: "Why, you don't want to give it away?"

Last year, she personally embroidered a handkerchief for his birthday. If Chen Jingzong dared not give her a gift this year, the Flowing Cloud Temple would be empty!

She doesn't have to accept Chen Jingzong's gift, she doesn't have to like it, but Chen Jingzong doesn't want to give it, that's another matter entirely.

Chen Jingzong asked back: "Do you remember what I gave you last April?"

Hua Yang was taken aback.

She was reborn on the night of April 24 last year, and what happened on April 18 is equivalent to the previous life, seven or eight years later.

She tried to remember.

Chen Jingzong suddenly let out a sneer, pulled his hand from under her neck, lay down aside and said, "Look, what's the use of giving you a gift, you don't even care about it."

Hua Yang sneered back at him: "If I can forget it, it can only show that the gift you gave was not thoughtful, and it is not surprising."

Chen Jingzong: "That's natural. I'm a child from a poor family. All my private money is only a few taels of silver. What rare treasures can I give you?"

In terms of yin and yang, Hua Yang thought he was not as good as him, so he simply sat up and called Chaoyue to watch tonight.

Chen Jingzong lay down by himself.

Tonight is Hua Yang's rest day, and the lights in the inner room have already been turned off.

Chaoyue hurried in with a lamp: "Princess, what's the matter? Do you want to light the lamp?"

Hua Yang: "Click on it, and then find out the birthday gift my son-in-law gave me last year. I want to see it."

Chaoyue thought for a while, and said, "Princess, wait a moment, I'll go to the warehouse right away."

When the princess came to Ling Zhou, she brought more than a dozen boxes and cages, and last year the emperor rewarded them several times, and those that were not usually used were put in the warehouse.

After Chaoyue left, Chen Jingzong sneered: "I didn't put the handkerchief you gave me so far away."

Hua Yang: "Where did you put it?"

Chen Jingzong: "When I was in the ancestral house, I placed it in the east wing. I took a bath there, and I could turn it out whenever I wanted to. After moving here, I put it in the study of Flowing Cloud Temple, where I also read it almost every day.use."

Hua Yang: "Isn't this what you should do? In the whole world, I have only given you a handkerchief as a foreigner, and even my father, I have only given him a few times when I was a beginner."

Chen Bozong's and Chen Xiaozong's calligraphic treasures can be worth hundreds of gold in the market, but if her handkerchiefs are passed on, it will be difficult to buy a piece of gold.

Chen Jingzong: ...

He didn't speak, he moved towards her, and stretched out his hand to put her back in his arms.

Hua Yang clapped his hands away.

Chen Jingzong knew she was angry, so he didn't move.

After a quarter of an hour or so, Chaoyue came back, lit the lamp, and looked at the Babu bed with hanging curtains. She suddenly didn't know how to get the box in, after all, the son-in-law was still lying down.

At this time, Hua Yang kicked Chen Jingzong: "Go and get it."

Chen Jingzong stood up, adjusted his coat, and went out to get the box.

Chaoyue bowed his head and bid farewell.

Chen Jingzong handed the box to Hua Yang and offered to help her open it.

Hua Yang lowered his eyes and saw a suet jade pendant.

The same mutton fat jade is also divided into upper, middle and lower grades. This one from Chen Jingzong is considered a lower grade, so it is no wonder that it left a deep impression on her.

Before she opened her mouth to dislike it, Chen Jingzong explained: "It was my grandmother's dowry to my mother. They are all from a small family. To them, this is already a treasure, and this thing is all about meaning."

After finishing speaking, he sat down, took out the jade pendant, and with a little skill, successfully divided it into two pieces. Looking at Hua Yang, he said, "Two unicorns, one male and one female, do you need me to explain the meaning?"

Hua Yang: ...

It was obviously used as a token of love between a man and a woman, but when it came out of his mouth, it became a male and a female.

"You definitely didn't tell me that at the time," she said firmly.

Chen Jingzong: "You received the jade pendant, and after looking at it, you threw it to the maid. How can I speak?"

Hua Yang: "That's because you were sloppy and I disliked you first, that's why I treat you like this."

Chen Jingzong couldn't refute, touched the jade pendant in his hand, raised his head, and looked at her inquiringly again: "At that time, you really disliked me, why didn't you dislike me all of a sudden?"

He remembers very clearly that the change happened on a night that he still occasionally secretly recalls to this day.

Hua Yang has been against him for so long, and finally lost his momentum at this moment, turned his eyes away and said: "I also despise you now, don't put gold on your face."

Chen Jingzong: "Who are you lying to? When you really disliked me, I took a look at you and it was offensive. Now I slow down a little, and you..."

Hua Yang slapped him over!

Chen Jingzong accepted this throwing with a smile, and took advantage of the situation to press him onto the bed.

"Let's not talk about it, I promise to give you an unforgettable gift this year."