in2ebook Chapter 182 Family Members
Chapter 182 Family Members
When Granny Jin heard her ask about Marquis Chengen, a hint of coldness appeared in her eyes: "Without the Empress Dowager's permission to die, how could he possibly die?"
"Then live a little longer, experience the cause and effect of this world, and be more careful when you are reborn as a human in the next life."
“Princess, you’re joking. How could someone like him possibly have the chance to be reborn as a human in his next life? To be reborn as an animal is just luck. If he hadn’t been so lucky, he would have experienced all eighteen levels of hell.”
“What the old nanny says is true; I was wrong.”
......
Since the couple reconciled, Cheng Yan has indeed been in a good mood. He gets up early when he is supposed to attend court, and sleeps a little longer with his wife when he is not. He then goes to the Ministry of War after having breakfast.
When it was time to leave the office, if there was nothing important to do, they would not stay long and would return home to spend time together as a couple.
Sometimes they would drink tea and play chess together, and sometimes they would just sit quietly together for a while, or read books and talk about things in the court or among the common people.
Even at the Dongyuan camp, he only went there every few days and returned the same day, going home before sunset. There were even rumors that he was recently indulging in a life of pleasure, but he couldn't be bothered to pay any attention to them.
Today, on his way home by carriage, he came across a vendor selling pomegranate flowers, so he bought a few branches to take back and decorate his empty vase.
The flowers in May gradually faded, but the pomegranate, mallow, and mimosa were in full bloom. Among them, the pomegranate flowers were the most beautiful and vibrant. Although there were pomegranate trees planted in the mansion and the flowers were in full bloom, Qin Yizhen was unwilling to break the branches of the pomegranate trees, so she kept them.
When he got home, he learned that Qin Yizhen was reading a storybook in her dormitory. He told people not to disturb her, took a pomegranate branch to the dormitory, and handed it to her.
When Qin Yizhen came to her senses, she was greeted by several pomegranate blossom branches.
The pomegranate flower has a thick calyx, and its petals are light, thin, and wrinkled. The petals are layered and gathered in the calyx, like a graceful red skirt tied under a blouse.
The pomegranate skirt, beloved by women all over the world, is just like that: graceful, beautiful, and captivating.
The pomegranate branches were covered with lush green leaves and abundant pomegranate blossoms, blooming as if under the blazing sun in the sky.
Qin Yizhen took the pomegranate branch, gently touched a budding flower with her finger, and then smiled.
As a princess, she lacked nothing in terms of wealth, status, and power; the only thing she lacked was genuine affection. Although Cheng Yan was a serious and aloof person in public, he especially liked to give her little surprises in this regard.
But after thinking about it this time, he said, "I wonder if pomegranate flowers can be used to make honey."
Cheng Yan's expression froze. He reached out and pinched her ear: "Don't learn bad habits from that Chen Yinniang. She only thinks about eating everything. Butler Zhou complains to me about her almost every day."
After Chen Yinniang arrived, she dared not touch the flowers in the garden, but the flower room in the backyard became her family's vegetable garden. Today she would damage this flower, and tomorrow she would damage that one. The flower room was being ravaged every day, and Steward Zhou's heart was bleeding.
Qin Yizhen coughed lightly: "Well... it's alright. You know, there are quite a few courtyards in the Pingxi Marquis's mansion, and quite a few are empty. Why don't we let Yinniang plant more flowers, and then she can pick them as she pleases?"
“It’s feasible.” Cheng Yan thought this method was feasible. Anyway, those courtyards were empty, so planting some flowers, trees and shrubs would prevent Chen Yinniang from causing trouble everywhere, and Steward Zhou would stop crying in his ear.
"By the way, someone from the Cheng family came today." Qin Yizhen placed a pomegranate branch on the tea table, poured him a cup of tea, and only after he finished drinking it did she start talking about the Cheng family.
"Who?" Cheng Yan frowned. "Weren't we told to keep an eye on them?"
After Empress Dowager Cheng became Empress Dowager, her revenge against the Cheng family officially began. Although she was nominally granted the title of Marquis of Chengen, the entire Cheng family, including the Marquis of Chengen, his wife Zhang, and their children and grandchildren, all lived particularly miserable lives.
They were even kept under guard in the Chengen Marquis's residence, where they could cry out to heaven and earth in vain.
Previously, Zhang Hui, Zhang's nephew, was arrested and imprisoned in Dali Temple for burning down Fanghua Pavilion. Empress Dowager Cheng ordered someone to inform Zhang of this news, and Zhang went mad and could not leave the gate of the Chengen Marquis's residence.
Qin Yizhen said, "I heard that they are the wife of the third brother of the Marquis of Chengen, and another one is the younger sister of the Marquis of Chengen. They came to visit suddenly. After discussing it with Granny Jin, Steward Zhou came to ask me if I wanted to see them. I thought that this matter still depends on you, so I declined and asked them to rest and come back tomorrow."
Cheng Yan frowned. He did know these two people; they were his third aunt and second aunt.
His grandparents had two sons and a daughter. The two old people were indeed kind people. Ming was separated from her family in the war years ago. After being divorced, she had nowhere to go. It was the two old people who decided to keep Ming and Empress Dowager Cheng together.
If it weren't for the incident where Marquis Chengen went back to worship his ancestors and forced Lady Ming to do so, and then the Cheng Yan affair, Lady Ming and Empress Dowager Cheng might have lived a simple but peaceful life.
Cheng Yan's third uncle and his wife were honest people. Back then, Cheng Enhou's family paid for his studies. As soon as he passed the imperial examination and married into a wealthy family, he returned home, divorced his wife, and forcibly separated his younger brother and his wife, not wanting them to have any benefit from his marriage.
Although Uncle Cheng and Aunt Cheng were angry with Ming Shi and Empress Dowager Cheng after this ordeal, they did nothing wrong and occasionally even gave Empress Dowager Cheng some food.
Originally, the couple had done some favors for Ming and Empress Dowager Cheng, but later Ming encountered such a thing and became pregnant with Cheng Yan. Ming was unwilling to come to the Cheng family in Qindu, but it was Cheng Sanshu who made it happen.
Uncle Cheng may have been unintentional, but he also felt that it would be better for Empress Dowager Cheng and Cheng Yan to return to the side of Marquis Chengen. However, Ming Shi was also tormented by Zhang Shi because of this.
Empress Dowager Cheng harbored resentment towards her third uncle and aunt, but she also remembered their kindness. She once sent them some money, but then she stopped caring about them.
It's just that someone I haven't contacted for years suddenly reappeared, and I don't know why.
Cheng Yan frowned, thought for a moment and said, "I happen to have a day off tomorrow. Since you've come all this way to see me, I should meet you."
"Are you taking a day off tomorrow?" In the imperial court, the day off is one day every ten days, and she remembered that he had taken the day off the previous two days.
"I forgot to tell you about the farm visit during my vacation. Let's go for a walk on the farm another day."
The imperial court had many holidays, including a 11-day rest period every ten days, as well as a 15-day holiday for farming in May and a 15-day holiday for clothing distribution in September.
However, nowadays there are many affairs in the court and the country is not very stable. There is no longer a fifteen-day holiday, but there are still five days, during which the yamen staff take turns on duty.