PART 2
Zhao Yiyi had always been an obedient child, so she didn’t dare to ask again. For the next six months, although she occasionally thought of the young man’s smile under the pear blossoms, she never mentioned it again.
Until the end of the year, when her grandfather took her to Luoyang. At the winter solstice banquet, when she saw the young man again, she knew that he was the Crown Prince, the heir to the Great Chu.
She tried to look over, but the young man’s eyes were full of strangeness.
So, he had forgotten her. Of that hurried meeting that day, only she still remembered.
Zhao Yiyi lowered her head, thinking in disappointment.
The Emperor ordered a group of children to play throwing pots. Although she was not skilled in archery, she was very good at the game of throwing pots, and she easily won the first prize among the noble ladies.
Looking back, she found that he was the same.
Even in this hall full of nobles, their bearing and appearance were still the most outstanding.
Everyone urged the Emperor to let them have a showdown. A pot was set up in the hall, and they took turns throwing. I don’t know what she was thinking, perhaps it was a rare opportunity to be on a par with him, to attract his attention, Zhao Yiyi used all her strength in this competition.
The two competed for more than a quarter of an hour, and a whole pot was filled before the Crown Prince narrowly defeated her by a slight advantage.
Although she lost, Zhao Yiyi was still very happy.
Not only did the Emperor reward her, but the young man who had been lingering in her dreams for half a year also turned back and said to her, “Your skill in throwing pots is excellent.”
His voice was as gentle as the wind in late spring, with a hint of warmth.
Zhao Yiyi pursed her lips and smiled, “Thank you for your praise, Your Highness.”
She didn’t act modest, but accepted his praise frankly. So she saw that the Crown Prince’s expression was obviously stunned. Seeing this, she was a little annoyed for a moment. Just now… just now she shouldn’t have said that. The Crown Prince had probably never seen a young lady who didn’t know how to be modest like her, right?
Zhao Yiyi lowered her head dejectedly, but the Crown Prince paid no more attention to her and went straight back to his seat.
That was her second meeting with Gu Zhen.
After the winter solstice banquet that year, she firmly remembered that person, her eyes often following his figure, trying to have some intersection with him.
She missed her mother, and she missed her grandfather and grandmother.
But they were all gone, and the people who could give her support were gone. Thinking of this, her chest felt as if it was being tightly held by a large hand, and then kneaded hard.
It hurt so much, so much.
It hurt so much that her breathing stopped for a moment.
When she first became the Crown Princess, she thought her husband would be her support.
But he didn’t seem to want to.
Not at all.
For several days, the Marquis of Huai’an’s residence was filled with a gloomy atmosphere. The residence was so quiet that even the birds didn’t dare to chirp.
It had been several days since the Emperor’s decree came down. For these past few days, the Marquis of Huai’an, Zhao Weimin, had not been able to sleep at night. Even if he fell asleep by chance, he would wake up from his dreams.
During dinner, everyone gathered in the Moon-Watching Pavilion, eating in silence.
Looking at the dark circles under his eyes, Lady Xu brought him a cup of longan tea that the servants had brewed, “My Lord, this tea is good for the eyes. This matter cannot be rushed, don’t hurt your body over it.”
As she spoke, she pressed a handkerchief to the corner of her eye and said in a hoarse voice, “If anything happens to you, who will protect me and the children?”
If I had known this, I should have arranged Lianzhi’s marriage earlier. Lianzhi’s marriage was not easy to find in the first place, and now that the Marquis has been dismissed, what high-ranking family would want her?
Zhao Duanduan looked up at her, then lowered her head to eat the cabbage in front of her.
The family’s expenses had been reduced these past few days, and the meals were much simpler. She picked one or two of her favorite dishes to eat.
Zhao Weimin’s gaze was slightly heavy, and he kept drinking the longan tea, sighing lightly, “This time, His Majesty is probably really angry.”
It seemed that His Majesty had been holding back for a long time, and this time he had let it all out at once, causing a series of people to be dismissed and investigated. Even though he was His Majesty’s father-in-law, he didn’t receive any special treatment.
In fact, the edict to dismiss him, the father-in-law, was the first of that batch of edicts.
Even A’yuan was dismissed from his position as a secretary along with him.
Perhaps in His Majesty’s eyes, this was also a unique treatment for him, the father-in-law.
“My Lord, now that things have come to this, why not go and ask Her Majesty the Empress to plead with His Majesty?” Lady Xu’s hands gently rested on his shoulders as she said softly, “Although Her Majesty has some misunderstandings with you because of me, there’s no such thing as an overnight feud between a father and daughter. After all, you are Her Majesty’s father, and Her Majesty will not refuse.”
Zhao Chen frowned slightly and said, “Madam, my sister is also treading on thin ice in the palace. To ask her to plead for our father and brother will probably only provoke His Majesty’s greater anger.”
Zhao Weimin snorted coldly, “Of course she won’t refuse.” Just as Lady Xu’s face showed a hint of joy, he added, “What difference does it make whether she refuses or not? His Majesty won’t listen to her anyway. After being married for so long and failing to win His Majesty’s heart, do you think His Majesty would have spared her any face when he dismissed me this time?”
The reason His Majesty treated him like this was, in the end, because he didn’t care about his eldest daughter at all.
Thinking of this, Lady Xu was also a little annoyed, secretly thinking that she had wasted such a beautiful face, but she only said softly, “My Lord, since Her Majesty is also of no use, this… what should we do?”
“Let’s wait.” Zhao Weimin closed his eyes and patted Lady Xu’s hand with a little fatigue, “You’ve been working hard these past few days, eat first.”
Lady Xu couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed. When he was the Left Minister of Rites, he couldn’t find a few good families. Now that he’s been dismissed, with only the empty title of Marquis, where can he find a match for Lianzhi?
After the meal, Zuo Lianzhi took out many sachets and distributed them to everyone, saying that she had sewn them herself, “My embroidery skills are not good, I hope you won’t mind. Father has been in a bad mood these past few days, so I put some dried flowers inside, which can calm the mind.”
In front of Zhao Weimin and Lady Xu, Zhao Duanduan took it with a forced smile. Zhao Yuan said politely, “Thank you, Miss Zuo.”
After leaving the Moon-Watching Pavilion and walking to a secluded and deserted place, Zhao Duanduan patted Zhao Chen’s head, “Those words you said today will only displease Father. Don’t say them in the future.”
“But she wants to implicate our big sister.” Zhao Chen frowned tightly, his face puffed up as he looked at her.
In the past one or two years, Zhao Chen had grown much taller. In the blink of an eye, he was half a head taller than Zhao Duanduan. She had to look up at this younger brother, “What’s she saying, she’s just a minister’s wife, how can she implicate our sister?”
Zhao Chen lowered his head and replied, “Second sister, then I won’t say it in the future.”
The two walked along the covered bridge, looking at the sparkling surface of the pond. Zhao Duanduan remembered that just now Lady Xu and her father had said that Zhao Shunian had been praised by his teacher again today, so she pulled his ear and said, “Did you hear what she said today? You’re going to the Imperial Academy soon, you’d better work harder. I’m telling you, I don’t ask you to be some kind of genius, but if you dare to be worse than Zhao Shunian, I’ll twist your head off!”
Zhao Chen hesitated a little and said, “Second sister, Father and Big Brother have both… can I still enter the Imperial Academy? And Big Sister, will she be wronged because of this?”
“Why do you care so much?” Zhao Duanduan patted him again and snorted, “Sister will definitely find a way. You just have to prepare. Even if you can’t go, you should study harder so you can support Sister in the future.”
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