Competing in the morning and evening

Yuan Xizheng never thought that Zeng Chuyu would ask such a question suddenly, so he was stunned.After a long time, Yuan Xi Zhenghu said slowly, "Chu Yu, are you forcing me too?"

Zeng Chuyu turned her head back, was silent for a long time, and then sighed quietly, saying, "I still want to go wrong."

Later, someone came to congratulate, Qingxiang skillfully arranged the old and young people from the original village to come in to congratulate the new princess, greet the new concubine, thank the gift and accept the gift, even Zeng Chuyu only nodded slightly in the whole process to show the gift, there was no reason at all. Do you want to fight for something in the evening?Occasionally, Zeng Chuyu joked with Qingxiang when he was free, and Yuan Xizheng couldn't get in their mouths on their topics.

For a moment, Yuan Xizheng suddenly felt that Zeng Chuyu was far away from him. The little girl who would cling to him back then was gone, and the tacit understanding that could often smile with each other gradually faded away.Now Yuan Xizheng is standing here, as if he is an outsider among the three.

Yuan Xizheng was a little embarrassed, and suddenly heard the green bamboo calling outside, so she smiled slightly and said, "Qingxiang, please help me first, maybe my mother is looking for me, so I'll go there first."

Zeng Chuyu still replied politely: "Brother Ziqing, please."

Yuan Xizheng smiled and said: "You and I still need to say these polite words."

He hurried out the door and saw the green bamboo leaning on the drum-holding stone and poking his head over there, so he smiled and said, "You're so curious, why don't you go in?"

Lu Zhu snorted immediately, and said: "I'm not curious... Young master, Madam asked you to go back and discuss, what should I do to send this princess who has never been married?"

"Gifts?" Yuan Xi said with a smile: "Let's just avoid it, what relationship do we have with Aunt Gu's family, we still need these polite things."

Luzhu snorted softly, and said: "Young master, it's not Luzhu who is talking about you. You really think that Zeng Chuyu is still your best friend!"

Yuan Xizheng's heart sank, but his expression remained the same, he smiled and said, "You just don't match Chu Yu, you fight several times every year."

Having said that, Yuan Xizheng's mood was always a little unhappy, especially when it started to rain lightly in the evening, it was pattering, and it felt a little damp.When Luzhu came in, Yuan Xizheng was sitting on the window with her knees side by side, her chin resting on her knees, she didn't know what she was thinking.

"Let's drink some sweet soup, huh?" Lu Zhu put the bowl in the tray on the desk.

Yuan Xizheng sighed, and said: "I just remembered that today is the first time I have rejected Chu Yu."

"What request did she make again?" Lvzhu snorted softly.

Yuan Xizheng was silent for a while before saying, "She wants me to assist King Liang."

Luzhu said angrily: "She really knows how to employ people. She has recruited talents for her husband's family before she has even passed the door."

Yuan Xizheng jumped off the bed, said with a smile: "Look, you're so angry, stop talking and drink the soup."

Luzhu said: "Isn't it! I don't understand why she always looks like a creditor, like a young master, you owe her."

Yuan Xizheng picked up the bowl with a spoon, and whispered: "I don't owe her." As soon as the words came out, Yuan Xizheng laughed again: "Hurry up and open the windows, the weather is so boring. People panic."

Green Bamboo roared, as if his heart had calmed down, and he opened the window and asked curiously: "Actually, I think Liang Wang is a good person, easy-going, unassuming, and generous. Why don't you help him? "

Yuan Xizheng smiled lightly, and said: "There is nothing wrong with Chu Yin, but the worst thing about him is that his foundation is too weak. If he wants to ascend the throne, he has to do a lot of things. He has a lot of heads, so it's not worth it."

Luzhu sighed, and said: "It's true, look at the third prince, his mother is also a noble concubine, and his uncle is one of the three princes. For the sixth prince, although his mother is not a noble concubine, she is also a concubine. A lady from a famous family, I heard that there are people in the clan who are great generals, and she has a good reputation. Compared with them, Liang Wang Chuyin is really far behind in terms of strength."

Yuan Xizheng smiled and said: "You know this is the scary thing. Sometimes strength is what people want. You, a little girl, know that King Liang's strength is infinitely weak. How many people will be able to fight?" Why don't you come to serve him on the blade?"

Lu Zhu nodded, and said: "I understand, you don't agree to Miss Chu Yu, it's actually for her sake."

Yuan Xizheng sighed and shook her head. It seemed that the soup in the bowl was too much to drink, so she got up and walked out the door, trying to get some air, but found a person standing wet under the eaves.

Yuan Xizheng took a look, and turned pale with shock, the one with the embarrassment on his face was Chu Yin.

Chu Yin turned his head, pointed to the window and said, "I... didn't stand outside on purpose to eavesdrop."

Yuan Xizheng understood that he must have heard them talking about him when he walked to the door, so he wanted to turn back, but the green bamboo opened the window again, so Chu Yin couldn't advance or retreat, so he had to stand between the door and the window Rain under the eaves.

Seeing Chu Yin's distressed appearance, Yuan Xizheng suddenly felt his heart soften for some reason, and said, "So it's the prince, it's raining heavily outside, please talk in the living room."

Yuan Xizheng turned her head and said, "Green Bamboo, hold an umbrella for the prince."

The two entered the hall one after the other, Yuan Xizheng seemed a little angry and said: "Luzhu, make a pot of tea first, and then ask uncle, why is it not good to entertain the prince?"

Chu Yin hurriedly said, "Don't, it's me. I said I wanted to surprise you Ziqing, so I came in quietly."

Yuan Xizheng smiled slightly, and said, "My lord, you really surprised Ziqing."

It was the first time for Chu Yin to see Yuan Xizheng under the dim light. Under the dim light, he felt that the eyebrows and eyes of the person opposite him became more and more handsome. His black eyebrows looked like distant mountains, and he was handsome with a bit of heroism and slightly rosy. The lips are slightly upturned naturally and relaxed.

The light hit her face, and Yuan Xizheng's long eyelashes cast an arc on the straight bridge of her nose. That plain face was like a fresh ink painting, without strong colors, but long and dense.

Chu Yin only felt his heart beat so violently, but when he heard Yuan Xizheng, he smiled and said, "The prince is here, but he is here to give the betrothal gift."

His words fell on the floor for a long time before Chu Yin slowly said: "Exactly."

Yuan Xi said with a smile: "The grass people are here to congratulate the prince first."

Chu Yin sighed a long time, and said, "Ziqing, if I can have Ziqing from the Yuan family, then I will be ecstatic."

Yuan Xizheng lowered his head slightly, and then said: "My lord, Chu Yu is a woman worth having. Please treat her well!"

But Chu Yin turned his face and said: "Ziqing, if I say that as long as you pass the house, I will leave everything in your hands, and you say that you are an idle prince, so what about the idle prince?"

Yuan Xizheng bowed his head and remained silent for a long time before saying: "My lord, if Ziqing goes to your place, no one will believe that you will be a lord with peace of mind. What's the use of a lord who wants to be an emperor's teacher?

Looking at Yuan Xizheng, Chu Yin was extremely disappointed, sighed, and left without even drinking tea.

As soon as he left, the people at Yuan Xizheng's door also went out quietly.

Qingxiang saw the man coming out, so he went up to meet him and said: "Madam, I saw the prince go out, why didn't you come out with him?"

The person who stood by the door for a long time was none other than Zeng Chuyu. She was still dressed in full dress, and she stood there expressionlessly, letting Qing Xiang open an umbrella behind her and leave.

Qingxiang is such an obedient person, seeing that Zeng Chuyu was silent, he immediately became silent as well.

After returning to the mansion, Qingxiang found that Zeng Chuyu, who seemed expressionless, was so excited that he couldn't even hold the bowl evenly. He couldn't help being horrified and said: "Ma'am, what happened?"

Zeng Chuyu smiled, and said to Qingxiang: "Qingxiang, do you think I'm beautiful?"

Qing Xiang immediately said: "It's natural, everyone in Yuan Village knows that the empress is very beautiful."

"Then why, no one loves me?" Zeng Chuyu suddenly slammed the bowl on the ground.

Qingxiang was taken aback, Zeng Chuyu said with trembling lips: "In my future husband's heel, my value is not as good as having one more adviser."

Hearing her words, Qingxiang heaved a sigh of relief, picked up the bowl of scum, and said, "Madam, it's not that I'm talking about you, it's just that you can't think about it. Since ancient times, men have three wives and four concubines, but they all say that money is easy to get. It will be hard to find."

Zeng Chuyu gritted her teeth and said, "Could it be that in my whole life, in the eyes of my husband, I'm not even worth a counselor?"

Qingxiang smiled and said, "Your Majesty can be King Liang's adviser."

Zeng Chuyu frowned slightly, and said, "What do you mean?"

Qingxiang pretended to be Guan Zi and said: "Mother, do you know why the patriarch is so afraid of the eldest lady and obeys everything, and among so many members of the Yuan clan, he is the only one who has no concubine, so he only gave birth to a savage girl?"

"why?"

"Because the eldest lady is the counselor of the patriarch. The business that the patriarch has done for so many years has been smooth and smooth. The eldest lady has contributed a lot of ideas. The patriarch saw that the eldest lady is afraid and respectful. If she doesn't open this golden mouth, how can the patriarch dare accept it?" Little?" Qing Xiang smiled complacently.

Zeng Chuyu didn't say a word, and said calmly after a while: "Go and make me another bowl of tea."

Seeing that she had calmed down a lot, Qingxiang happily agreed and went down.

Zeng Chuyu wrote the three characters "Yuan Xi Zheng" with his fingers on the tea splashed on the table, and then looked at the three characters for a long time until the wind blew the characters away.

On the day of her wedding, Zeng Chuyu wore a vermilion tugged golden phoenix tail robe. The gold threads on the robe glistened and flowed under the sun, shining like clouds. The mood of the court.Qing Xiang tied her long black hair into a lily bun, and since she wanted to wear a phoenix crown, other accessories were omitted.

Even so, when Zeng Chuyu stood up after her makeup was fixed, it was still so bright that Qingxiang couldn't open her eyes, and said: "Miss, if the prince picks your handkerchief, he must be fascinated."

With a slight smile on the corner of Zeng Chuyu's mouth, he just reprimanded and said, "Nonsense."

As soon as the red handkerchief covered her face, Yuan Da came over to lead her, put her on the red sedan chair, and whispered in her ear: "Chu Yu, where are you going to marry, just tell me if you have anything to do, and don't forget to go home." .”

Zeng Chuyu bowed his knees politely as a thank you.

When she got into the sedan chair, and the ritual music rang in her ears, it suddenly dawned on her that she was really going to get married.

When the sedan chair left the village, Zeng Chuyu suddenly heard the sound of a guqin, which was crisp and cheerful, and the music sounded like "The Peony Fu", but it was far more enthusiastic and cheerful than this song, and there was no "Peony Fu" at all. That kind of grace is like roses growing wantonly all over the mountains and plains.

Listening to the music, Zeng Chuyu couldn't help thinking of learning the guqin from the old lady Yuan with his brothers and sisters when he was young. Yuan Xizheng was always the most obedient and the first to understand the meaning of the old lady, but Yuan Nalan never played according to the score. Every time she played and played, a piece of music became what she wanted.She likes to use the Qingjiao tune (Note 18), and likes to use the top split fingering. Every time she plays it, it is dazzling. No matter how elegant the tune is in her hands, it will be like an ambush on a pipa.Sometimes, if the old lady is not around, she will find copper pieces or something to knock on the piano to make the sound brighter, but the strings will always be broken in the end. For this reason, she has suffered a lot from the original old lady. ruler.

Zeng Chuyu knew that a lady should know that the palace is the king and the business is the minister. She should sit upright and play the spring snow leisurely.

Every time she sees Yuan Nalan complacently and passionately playing her favorite tune, she will feel a kind of envy, envying the freedom from shackles, but she knows that she will not do like Yuan Nalan, because She has neither the courage nor the talent of Yuan Nalan.

This kind of Yuan Nalan made everyone look pale, including her and Yuan Xizheng. She made him dull and looked ordinary.Perhaps because of this, Zeng Chuyu's affection for Yuan Xizheng has always been faint, but in her foreseeable future, there will always be Yuan Xizheng, so she thought that she just accepted a plain fate.

Until that day, at that moment, the young man on the white horse came to him and said with a smile, "Chu Yu, is that right?

Then - instantly, she suddenly felt that fate treated her well.

Zeng Chuyu quietly raised the veil on her face, slightly opened the curtain outside the sedan chair, and swept across the faces of the whispering villagers. let go.

Although the ceremony was held in Chu Yin's palace, Emperor Nanchang actually participated in the ceremony in person, and said with a smile that he could just salute like an ordinary family.This is the honor of concubine Ping and Zeng Chuyu.After Zeng Chuyu and Chu Yin paid their respects, they kept sitting in the inner room. The red candle was more than half burned before Chu Yin came in slightly drunk.

Zeng Chuyu realized that he was going to pick his hijab with a scale.He couldn't help twisting the skirt nervously, but his heart seemed to have the sweetness of the moment when Chu Yin kicked the sedan chair and carried himself over the brazier.The hijab flew out, and the handsome man in red was in front of him, and Zeng Chuyu blushed instantly.Chu Yin looked at her sideways for a long time, then sighed, and said, "Chu Yu, you are so beautiful."

Zeng Chuyu lowered his head slightly, and said shyly, "Chu Yu thanked you for your compliment."

Chu Yin smiled slightly, removed Chu Yu's phoenix crown, and asked, "Chu Yu, where is your panlong hairpin?"

Zeng Chuyu was taken aback for a moment, she recently received jewelry with soft hands, she really didn't know where to put this hairpin, seeing Chu Yin asked, she said, "I don't know where Qingxiang took it, there are too many things, I will find them tomorrow. "

Chu Yin shook his head and said, "No, you can't lose that hairpin, find it quickly."

Zeng Chuyu had no choice but to get up and dragged her long robe to search for the wooden hairpin. Despite the cold and proud spring, when she found it, she was still sweating.She looked at the hairpin, thankful that Qingxiang didn't throw it away.Qingxiang didn't pay much attention to this hairpin at first, but sometimes seeing that Chu Yu would pick up this hairpin thoughtfully, he thought that this hairpin might have a special relationship with Zeng Chuyu, so he took it together Wake up, thanks to Qingxiang's cleverness, Zeng Chuyu finally found this hairpin after searching for half an hour.

"I found it, my lord." Zeng Chuyu turned around, Chu Yin picked up the hairpin and inserted it into her hair, saying, "Nothing you wear will be more beautiful than this one."

Zeng Chuyu said with a little embarrassment: "My lord, you are drunk."

Chu Yin shook his head and smiled, "I'm not drunk...Chu Yu, I'm more sober now than ever."

As he spoke, he took out a white silk handkerchief, tied it on Zeng Chuyu's face, and said, "Chuyu, play the song we met for the first time again."

If Zeng Chuyu hadn't covered her face with a white gauze, Chu Yin might have seen her face turn pale. Zeng Chuyu was silent for a while, then calmly said, "That song is too ostentatious, isn't it suitable for our wedding?"

Chu Yin shook his head and said, "Chu Yu, do you know that when you played the piano in that bamboo forest, you were really incomparable, no one can compare with you."

Zeng Chuyu was silent for a long time.After a long time, Chu Yin smiled and said, "You don't play because that person in the forest is not you at all, right?"

Zeng Chuyu was flustered just now, but now he calmed down and said, "My lord, since you have been suspicious for a long time, why did you marry Chu Yu?"

Chu Yin sat at the table, poured himself a glass of wine, and said, "I didn't know it at first, but I happened to send someone to investigate Yuan Xizheng, and I knew that Yuan Xizheng was good at both piano and chess, and was good at ventriloquist. Just now, I was just guessing and not sure, but you helped me to confirm this guess, the one in the forest is Yuan Xizheng disguised as a woman."

Zeng Chuyu stood there like a puppet, and Chu Yin raised his head again and said, "What are you still standing there for?"

Zeng Chuyu's face was as white as a piece of paper, and he said, "Is the lord going to drive Chu Yu away?"

Chu Yin smiled and said, "What are you talking nonsense about? This king asked you to come over for a drink. Is this king joking about marrying a wife? If you pass through my door, you will naturally be my wife."

For a moment, Zeng Chuyu burst into tears, and sobbed, "My lord, it was Ziqing who made the decision before, not Chu Yu's intention, but I really like... like..."

Chu Yin came over, took her hand, and said, "Okay, okay, she has such a pretty face, she cried like a little cat."

Only then did Zeng Chuyu smile through his tears.When Chu Yin carried her to the bed, Zeng Chuyu was so ashamed that he couldn't open his eyes, and he let Chu Yin take off his belt and take off his clothes.With a wave of Chu Yin's hand, the red curtain fell down.As the curtain shook slightly, Zeng Chuyu tightly grasped Chu Yin's arm amidst the pain and gradually rising joy.She vaguely saw Chu Yin's eyes staring at her, but it didn't seem like she was looking at herself, but it seemed that her gaze penetrated her whole body to see a farther place.

Although Chu Yin was gentle and considerate, it was not easy for Zeng Chuyu to see him again from the second day after marriage.The fine clothes and luxurious food in the palace are far better than those in the original village.But after such a long time, Zeng Chuyu felt as if he was sitting on pins and needles, especially when the long night was getting longer and longer.Every morning, she asks Qingxiang to comb her hair beautifully. Sometimes it is a flying fairy bun, sometimes it is a swallowtail bun, and sometimes it is a Chaoyun Jinxiang bun. In short, she can do it as much as possible. Complicated hairstyles, and then insert beautifully styled hairpins.In fact, Chu Yin wouldn't take a second look at her dressed like this, but just combing her hair like this can kill more than an hour.

Qingxiang chose a very complicated hairstyle for Zeng Chuyu this day as usual, and she sighed in her heart: I didn't expect Zeng Chuyu to be so beautiful, but he fell out of favor overnight, just like Yuan Da's wife. The status of keeping promises is too far away.She couldn't help but think that if Chu Yin married a few more concubines, the main wife might be even more downcast. Thinking about it, she couldn't help but regret that she had made a mistake.

While she was thinking wildly, Zeng Chuyu suddenly slapped her hand on the dressing table viciously, which really shocked Qing Xiang. She saw two wooden hairpins rolling out from Zeng Chuyu's palm, which was exactly the Panlong she often saw hairpin.

"Wang... Princess Wang, what's wrong with you, let me see, is your hand hurt?"

But Zeng Chuyu stood up suddenly, ignored her at all, and walked out quickly from the door.She walked hurriedly all the way, Qingxiang called her in a panic from behind, Zeng Chuyu pretended not to hear her at all.

She walked all the way to the door of Chu Yin's study, took a deep breath, and rushed in. The guard at the door quickly stopped her and said, "Your Majesty, the prince is discussing something, you can't go in."

Zeng Chuyu gave the guard a hard look, scared him back two steps, Zeng Chuyu had already strode in.

Zeng Chuyu had just walked around the jasper and rich bamboo in the study yard, when someone said: "I never thought that Yuan Da would support Chu Hao in this matter even if he didn't think of being in-laws with the prince at all. , I am afraid that in the future, just talking about this wealth will reach the sky."

Chu Yin sighed, and the man said again: "If I knew Zeng Chuyu was so worthless, I might as well have married Yuan Wanru back then."

When Zeng Chuyu stayed here, it was as if all her fine clothes had been torn off by someone, and she stood there naked and let others insult her.

The guard followed in and said, "Your Majesty, you can't go in."

When he said this, Chu Yin and the people in the room came out in a hurry. Chu Yin looked at Zeng Chuyu with loose hair, couldn't help but slightly frowned, and said gently: "My concubine, do you have anything to do with me?"

Zeng Chuyu's eyes were red, and she asked tremblingly, "My lord, you said that I am your wife, right?"

Chu Yin nodded and said, "Naturally."

Zeng Chuyu sneered, and said, "My lord, may I ask that your wife is just a tripod in the palace, so it's okay to just throw it in a corner?"

Chu Yin sighed, and said, "I'm really busy with my affairs recently. After I've been busy for a while, I will naturally go to accompany you."

Zeng Chuyu's original resentment was comforted by his soft words.Life seems to be discouraged.She pointed at Wang Han, who was slightly embarrassed beside her, and said, "Okay, kill this person."

Chu Yin frowned, and said in a deep voice, "Chu Yu, go back! It's no good for you, a woman, to show your face in public."

Zeng Chuyu's anger was aroused again, she gritted her teeth and said: "My lord, if you don't know how to cherish your wife, you shouldn't marry her in, let alone allow a servant to insult her wantonly, you have to know Husband and wife are one body, to humiliate me is to humiliate yourself."

"Presumptuous!" Chu Yin shouted, "Come on, drag her down! Lock her in the backyard, and don't let her come out without my order!"

Qingxiang was originally hiding by the door, but now she knew that Zeng Chuyu was going to suffer, she hurried in, knelt down on the ground, and said: "The lord is kind, the empress also misses the lord too much, so she loses control of her emotions, please take care of the lord. Just entered the door, I still don't know the rules of the palace, please forgive her!"

Chu Yin said with a sullen face: "You help your miss back first, let her think about it."

Qingxiang thanked him again and again, and quickly helped Zeng Chuyu back to the yard, saying: "Madam, I usually think you are very gentle, why are you so hot today? Think about it, the prince is picking Rong Wang for the patriarch. Annoyed by the salt envoy who provided salt to the Northern Qi Dynasty, are you making fun of yourself by jumping out at this time?" She helped Zeng Chuyu to sit on the stool, and sighed: "Since ancient times, if a woman wants to have a status in her husband's family, she has to look at her. My natal family can't live up to it. Now that you don't have the support of your mother, you really need to be clever enough to bear it, otherwise you will be in trouble when the prince marries a few concubines with backgrounds after the new year ..."

Zeng Chuyu leaned on the back of the chair, gripped the back of the chair tightly with his fingers and remained silent.

Qingxiang saw that although her eyes were fixed, but she lost the arrogance just now, she was relieved and shook her head.

Who would have thought that a wave of ups and downs will rise again.Just after noon, a eunuch in the palace came to deliver a message that Concubine Ping ordered Chu Yu to enter the palace immediately.

Note 18: Treble of Guqin