I had just drunk a few glasses of wine, and I was sweating, but before I knew it, my mother had already seen it, and asked someone to fetch water and untie my clothes with her own hands. I said a little shyly: "Just call them here, how dare Lao A-Niang do it?" got up and wanted to avoid the side, but my mother took my hand and smiled: "When you grow up to five or six years old, you have to dress and bathe, why are you so ashamed of the older you are?"

He didn't allow me to go, but he loosened my clothes for me, and when he saw a few small marks on my shoulders, he pressed his hand on it, squinted his eyes, and asked softly, "How did you get it?"

When I saw that it was the place where Wei Huan had bitten before, my heart jumped, and I said nonsense: "I don't know how to get it, maybe I was bitten by an insect and scratched it." ”

The mother bent her index finger a little on the scar and said softly, "It's not Zheng Bo... Strike?"

I was startled and said with a smile: "This is an old injury, it's been a long time... Don't do Zheng Bo... Zheng Lang Shi. ”

My mother stared at the place fiercely, as if accepting my explanation, and then looked down at me, and saw nothing unusual, so she put on my clothes, and asked me as she put on her clothes: "I know that you are a young couple, but the first emperor has not been in the country for a long time, and you have just recovered from a serious illness, so you should not covet temporary pleasures and delay long-term plans." ”

My face was slightly red, and I stomped my feet and said, "Auntie!"

She ignored my shyness, held my face and said, "You honestly tell A-Niang, how does Zheng Bo treat you?"

I pondered for a while, and said: "I lived in the palace before, and he came to see me every other day, and he also brought some gadgets and jokes outside, and then Aya went, and he kept sending people to greet him, and asked people to find the heartache prescription, it should be... Pretty good. ”

The mother laughed and said: "The famous doctors in the world are all in the palace, what kind of prescription do you use him to find?" But he also let Zheng Bo go, and asked instead: "I heard that Zheng Shaoqing's wife Lu said that you were rude?"

I thought for a moment before I remembered who Zheng Shaoqing was, my grandmother had four brothers, and now there is only one alive, it is this Zheng Shaoqing, the Lu family is considered to be Zheng Bo's uncle in terms of generation, because her husband is prominent, and she is also named the wife of the country, Zheng Bo wanted me to come to the door with him, but I politely refused, and finally the Lu family sent a few granddaughters to visit my sister-in-law - no matter how they get along with me, it is always bad for my mother to know, so I said vaguely: "I haven't heard of it." But since we have a separate door, we have no contact with them, and what they say has nothing to do with me. ”

I was extremely uncomfortable being asked by my mother, holding her hand and laughing: "I don't want to ask about Zheng Lang's private affairs." Brother is too, we are just a little bicker, and we specially called people to the palace to match, which made the world know. ”

My mother gave me a blank look: "The concubine left the princess and ran away from home to live with his brother and sister-in-law. ”

I had to keep my mouth shut. But my mother still refused to let me go, and took my hand and chattered, interrogating me like a prisoner, there are hundreds of relatives of the Zheng family, and there are no less than dozens of officials, more than half of which I don't even remember the name, but my mother can call out the name of the official, and when I can't remember it by chance, I glanced at Wan'er, and she gently stepped forward and described the person's resume and age in front of us one by one - such a meticulous and considerate mother's heart, but I gave birth to a deep sense of powerlessness, and in the end I couldn't do it, hugging my mother's neck and begging:" A-Niang, don't ask, Zheng Lang and I are very good. His relatives are all knowledgeable and well-mannered, and there is nothing arrogant, I... I will definitely be good with him in the future, so as not to worry A-Niang and Brother. ”

Seeing that I was indeed in a hurry to be asked, my mother slowed down and said, "Okay, A-Niang doesn't ask." Rubbing it above my head for a while, he suddenly said: "Awei and I mentioned that if you really don't care well, instead of letting the horse stay for a long time, and finally have resentment and disharmony between husband and wife, it is better to let your brother give a few palace people out, what do you mean?"

My mother's tone was inaudible, but I knew that if she could say it, she was acquiescing. In this day and age, this is indeed a good idea. This method was proposed by the considerate sister-in-law to the elders of the family, and then implemented by the elder brother of the family, and I accepted it generously on behalf of my nominal husband, and finally I was able to maintain my body and not suffer from childbirth, and my concubine was able to have a reasonable married life and children, my brother and sister-in-law had a reputation for thoughtfulness, kindness, filial piety, and friendship, and my mother protected her favorite little daughter. It's a big family, and everyone is happy.

But what about after this joy? No one has ever thought about what would happen if I had a very good relationship with Zheng Bo and didn't want others to intervene in our lives? No one thought about whether I would like to raise such a casually acquired child? No one had ever thought about whether Zheng Bo would be arranged like this? No one had ever thought about what the outcome would be if the palace people who were given out would be.

What was marriage in the eyes of all these ancients? I thought I had been here for so long and knew the times perfectly, but now I felt extremely confused. These ancients regarded marriage as so important, but they regarded the feelings in marriage so lightly. I regard my relatives as so important, but I regard the feelings of my relatives as so small. From my father, to my mother, to Li Rui, they undoubtedly love me and value me very much. But this kind of doting sometimes makes me uneasy, and sometimes I feel that I am not a person, but an object, a symbol that is held high. I am my mother's daughter, Li Rui's sister, and I am the princess of the empire, but I am not a ** person.

The saddest thing is that this matter was raised by Wei Huan.

I thought that she had been with me for so long and had gradually understood my heart. In the past, I had so many naïve thoughts, no one took these thoughts seriously, only she would seriously analyze the benefits and disadvantages with me, even if it was cynical, but she was really thinking about what I thought, I had many words, I knew that I could not mention it to anyone, but I never hid it from her, she was willing to keep these childish secrets for me, and never leaked them to others as people at the time, and took them as a talking point. I thought she understood.

I lowered my eyes and said lightly, "Not good." ”

My mother didn't urge, but stroked my back and said softly, "You're still young, I'll talk about this later." "Personally sent me to the side hall, watched me lie down and sleep, suddenly lowered his head, and kissed me on the face.

I was no longer accustomed to being intimate with women, looking at my mother uncomfortably, and hesitantly calling: "Auntie?"

She pinched my face: "When I was a child, I chased my mother every day, and I refused to fall asleep if I didn't kiss her." Make your brother's eyes red with envy. Now that I'm older, I'm not as close to A-Niang as I am. ”

I remember this, at that time, Li Rui and I were raised in front of our parents, because my parents paid more attention to Li Rui, when I happened to be angry with Li Rui, I deliberately coquettish, hugging my parents to kiss and hug, Li Rui generally made a disdainful state, and said something strange about "You little girls love to be demons, sticky and greasy, and there is no decency at all", but her eyes were red with envy, and even her mother could see it?

My mother seemed to see my doubts, smiled, and whispered, "I mean Erlang." ”

My heart was so moved that I sat up straight from the bed and opened my mouth, but I couldn't say a word, I could only watch my mother turn around and go out, step by step, calm and dignified, as usual.

Before dawn the next day, I went straight to the East Palace.

I got up very early, and chose to order someone to report when Wei Huan got up, and it took a while for someone to lead me in, and I sat in the main hall of hospitality for a while, and then I saw Wei Huan come out in purple clothes and a high bun. Her hair bun was a little abnormal, and I looked at it and found that she was actually wearing a wig today, from the wig down to the earlobes, neck, and skirt, with pearls and emeralds, shining. She also wore heavy makeup, from her face to her neck, and then to her slightly exposed breasts, which was white and even, making her dress even more beautiful. Xu is body dragged too much, the pace is extremely slow when he comes, and he is quite sluggish when he sits down, and he even speaks to me, with a slow voice unique to the superiors: "Why didn't Taiping come to me so early to accompany A-Niang?"

I tried to say respectfully, "There are some things I want to discuss with my sister-in-law. When she spoke, she sat there, smiling at me, and didn't say anything for a long time.

I had to say again: "I want to talk to my sister-in-law in private." She glanced at the palace people beside her, and the palace people bowed their heads and said, "Mrs. Cui and a few ladies are already in the Qianhua Gate." ”

Wei Huan turned to look at me again, with just the right amount of apology on his face: "Sister-in-law has something to do today, Taiping has something to say, how about another day?"

I suppressed my anger and said, "Don't delay my sister-in-law for a long time." Seeing that she didn't take it seriously, she lowered her eyes: "I know that my sister-in-law is busy, but this matter is not my private matter, and my sister-in-law had better listen to it." ”

She was silent for a moment, and then she sent the person away, and I wanted to move a little closer to her, and as soon as I got together, I saw her look up at me: "Stand there and say." ”

I slowly stopped, stood five or six steps away from her, and looked at her deeply. When she was far away, she didn't realize it, and when she reached this distance, she saw the tiredness on her face that could not be concealed by makeup. At last I had grown a little flesh again, but she was thinner than she had been a few months ago, and she was dressed so gorgeously that she was as pompous and ridiculous as a child in adult clothes.

I finally got a sense of the feeling she felt when she came to see me after the wedding, the feeling of hatred and pity intertwining in my heart, I couldn't tell which one was more and which was less, and I only knew that no matter what kind of emotion was broken.

I lowered my hands, pinched the belt of my clothes, and said softly: "I just want to remind you that Rokuro is also A-Niang's son no matter what, and... Jiro is the same. ”

Wei Huan raised his chin: "Erlang is just the crown prince, but Liulang has ascended the throne." ”

I also raised my chin: "If you really think so, why do you still live in the East Palace and dare not move to the East Palace?"

Wei Huan's face sank: "You have been working hard these days, just to say these few words to me that everyone knows?"

I said, "More than that, I want to tell you... No matter what, you're going to stay in Kyori, and I'll help you. ”

She sneered at me, "You know what these words mean, so dare you talk nonsense here?"

I closed my eyes: "Of course I know what that means. You can also tell Rokuro or A-Niang about this, but I'm sure you don't dare. As soon as this matter is put bluntly, it is tantamount to a direct war between her mother and Li Rui, she is so smart, of course she will not do such a stupid thing.

She lowered her eyes, stretched out her hand, and stroked the streamer on her bottom, and after a while, she showed a very deliberate smile: "You lost." ”

I know what she's talking about, after all, I care more about it, but she will fight to win or lose in this kind of thing, in the end, who wins and who loses, in fact, it is not yet known, I have a little expectation in my heart, deliberately tilted my head, and also showed a bright smile to her: "Sister-in-law's nails are dyed very beautifully, have you stayed for a long time? ”

She stiffened and said, "Haven't you always kept your nails?"

I laughed: "Don't keep nails, that's for my sister-in-law, keep nails, naturally for the horses." Immediately after saying that, I saw her clench her fist and break the nail on her right index finger that was dyed red.

For some reason, it's a little sad, but it's also a little... Proud. (. Just Love)