TCPCHW Chapter 13 Part 1

The Crown Prince Chases His Wife

Chapter 13             Peach Blossom Grove (1/2)

A few days later, the Emperor of Hui and Taizi Feng Zhan rewarded the Pingxi Army at the Western Suburbs Camp. It was said that the scale was so grand that Qin Yan stayed in the Duke of Zhenguo Mansion and didn’t attend the ceremony.

The news brought back by Shen Ying said that among the young talents in the noble families, two outstanding talents had attracted a lot of attention.

One was Shen Ci from the Duke of Zhenguo Mansion, who was awarded the title of General of Zhaowu of the third rank and the other was Xie Zhao of the Marquis of Yongding, who was awarded the title of General of Mingwei of the fourth rank.

Interestingly, Shen Ci didn’t accept the reward of the General Mansion given to him but let the Ministry of War turn it into gold and silver. Shen Ci blatantly said that he was short of money and that he still needed to support his sister for the rest of his life.

Xie Zhao, on the other hand, accepted his own mansion. It seemed that this concubine born from Marquis of Yongding Mansion really had hard bones and was not ready to move into Marquis Mansion. It could also be counted as giving a big face to the Pingxi Army.

Shen Ying suddenly remembered that Princess of Changle Feng Yunchao sent someone to send an invitation, “Master, Princess of Changle Feng Yunchao will hold a birthday banquet at the Taizi Mansion in Xishan ten days later, saying that General Shen Ci and Princess of Zhaoren were invited to the banquet.”

Qin Yan took the gilded invitation, it would be held in the Taizi Mansion in Xishan?

Hosting a banquet for the princess in his own mansion, it seemed that this Taizi was really good to his imperial sister, but Xishan…

“Shen Ying, what’s going on at the Princess Mansion in Xishan?”

Qin Yan suddenly remembered that it was time for her to move out of the Duke of Zhenguo Mansion. Mister Ji and the others lived in the house they bought before. She still had her own personal affairs to deal with and it was inconvenient for her to go back and forth from the Duke of Zhenguo Mansion. She had better move out as soon as possible.

“Mister Ji said that the place is almost finished renovating, and the fellows arranged by His Majesty have messed up plum blossom elevation and the lotus pond again, so it will take some time.”

“I heard from Mister Ji that they started fighting on the first day they went there. Maybe they weren’t satisfied with their fight before, and even Young Master ended up fighting together. That scene, tsk, tsk… Fortunately, the pond has not been filled with water. Dozens of mud people give me goosebumps just by thinking about it.”

Shen Ying’s body even shudder when she talked about it.

“But Master, there is one more thing. Mister Ji said that there used to be a big land of plum blossom groves between the Princess Mansion and the Taizi Mansion. These days, the people on the other side of the Taizi Mansion are building the wall very fast, and it should be almost completed. It’s a bit irritating to think about it. Do they think we will sneak over with bad intentions?”

The more Shen Ying thought about it, the angrier she became, and Taizi was too arrogant.

“Hmm, that’s fine. Let Mister Ji make more traps on our side of the plum blossom grove. I don’t like trouble and multiple guarantees are better.” Qin Yan didn’t care. Everyone wanted to work together to avoid trouble and it was best to be able to live together in harmony.

“Master, what about Xi Garden?” Shen Ying suddenly remembered that Xi Garden, which she heard had been cleaned up.

Qin Yan smiled lightly, “His Highness Taizi has come up with a good idea for us. You ask Mister Ji to arrange for someone to build a wall between Xi Garden and Qin Mansion. We will see how to use this garden later.”

Shen Ying was already thinking of raising several opera troupes in Xi Garden, who would be singing big operas non-stop from morning to night. It was better if the Qin Mansion couldn’t stand it and moved out.

This was not enough to relieve her anger. Shen Ying thought hard about whether there was any better way to relieve her anger.

——

The fog was heavy in the morning on the day of Princess of Changle Feng Yunchao’s birthday banquet, and it seemed it would be a sunny day.

Feng Yuyao sent a message in advance, saying that she was worried that Qin Yan would not be able to deal with those difficult young ladies from noble families, and invited Qin Yan to go with her. The Princess left the palace early and waited outside the Duke of Zhenguo Mansion.

Qin Yan knew this little girl’s mind*, but Shen Ci was sent to the Northwest again, which disappointed the Princess.

(little girl’s mind* – means that after entering adolescence, the girl’s heart becomes sentimental and develops a love for the opposite sex)

Feng Yuyao failed to wait for Shen Ci, and was disappointed for a moment, then relieved again. That was the man she cared about. Since she was a child, she had put her responsibilities at the top of the list, giving stability and peace of mind to the people behind her.

Feng Yuyao forced Qin Yan onto her carriage, and the carriage slowly drove towards Xishan outside the city.

After getting into the carriage, Feng Yuyao looked at Qin Yan’s brocade dress with plain white embroidery and moiré pattern and put up a simple bun with only a white jade hairpin on her head. Feng Yuyao shook her head while clicking her tongue, “Xiao Yanyan, don’t you know that the banquet in the capital is actually a show-off scene for a noble girl from a noble family? Although it’s necessary to avoid overtaking the limelight of the first princess, you are too plain like this. But your face is enough to suppress all the beauties.”

Qin Yan glanced at Feng Yuyao, who was dressed in an unsophisticated palace outfit, and the princess also causally put up a simple high bun.

“Then, what about you?”

Feng Yuyao looked down at her clothing, and her face was flushed, she turned away uncomfortably.

Qin Yan immediately understood that Shen Ci had always been simple and didn’t like extravagances. Was this catering to Shen Ci’s preferences? But she won’t point it out bluntly.

The carriage went out of the city steadily, and as soon as it left the city gate, the smell of green grass wafted into the nose. Qin Yan closed her eyes and took a deep breath, refreshing her mind.

Lifting the curtain to look out, there was still mist in the fields in the mountains, and the green trees and farm crops in the distance were faintly visible.

A carriage was parked on the side up ahead. A young girl in pale-yellow smoky cotton and loose flower dress was hopping and picking wildflowers by the side of the road, and a little maid was standing next to her holding a flower basket. The girl’s delicate voice came from afar, “Brother Changyuan, I really like going out of the city. Let’s come out often to play in the future!”

Feng Yuyao, who was still reminiscing about Shen Ci on the field that day, heard the voice and immediately looked out the window. It was the carriage of the Marquis of Yongding Mansion. Was Xie Changyuan in the carriage? Is that little yellow warbler, A Yan? That was also Xie Changyuan’s current fiancée.

Feng Yuyao pulled down the curtain, blocking Qin Yan’s sight. She didn’t want to make Qin Yan sad but seeing that Qin Yan was not affected, Feng Yuyao sighed. She worried for nothing.

Feng Yuyao didn’t have any personal friendship with Xie Changyuan, so she left without stopping when she passed the other party’s carriage.

Xie Changyuan had closed his eyes to rest in the carriage. In the past few days, he fought with Xie Zhao at the Princess Mansion in Xishan, which took a lot of energy. Oddly enough, he didn’t seem to have so much resentment towards Xie Zhao.

On the third day of working in the Princess of Zhaoren Mansion, the weather was not favorable, and another spring rain came. Xie Changyuan and Xie Zhao collapsed in the mud pond exhausted after an intense fight, both panting violently.

Xie Zhao sneered, “You look like a bear.”

Xie Chang Yuan wiped his face with mud and rain, “Come again!”

The two fight another round again, one punched, one kicked, to their heart’s content…

With the sound of a carriage passing by, Xie Changyuan withdrew his thoughts. Today, the Princess of Changle held a banquet and sent an invitation to the Marquis of Yongding Mansion in the morning. After A Yan found out, she insisted on coming. He originally thought that it would be inconvenient, but he wondered if Qin Yan would also go, and to his surprise, he agreed with A Yan.

“Shizi, it’s Princess of Jingyi’s carriage, do we want to… they’re gone”

“En.” Xie Changyuan was not interested in this, but they?

Xie carriage suddenly thought of something. Suddenly he lifted the curtain of the carriage and saw two carriages driving away in front of him. The first carriage was the princess carriage, the second carriage… Could it be Qin Yan?

“Brother Changyuan, look at the flowers I picked, aren’t they very beautiful? I’m tired of seeing the flowers that I’ve grown in the mansion. It’s not bad to go out of the city to pick some wildflowers occasionally. They are so fragrant with the smell of dew…” It was A Yan who came back.

Home flower*… Wildflower*…Xie Changyuan put down the curtain, and he did not answer A Yan’s words, but at this moment, he felt embarrassed for no reason, and his mood became tense.

(Home flower* – refers to one’s wife)

(Wildflower* – refers to the wild girls outside of the home)

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