Chapter 377: The Mighty Wangfei
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Yuwen Chu walked outside the hall of Yinghui Hall and heard the sound of silk and bamboo instruments from afar. He couldn’t help but smile. Indeed, he couldn’t stay idle. When he came just now, Mingzhu was lying motionless on the chair, but now she was listening to music. Since Mingzhu had the mood to entertain herself, it indicated that her condition had improved.
Qingqian and a few other maids were playing in the snow on the leaves. When they saw him coming, they immediately saluted and ran in to report. The music stopped abruptly. Then the curtain was lifted, and Mingzhu poked her head out of the door, smiling at him, “Wangye is back. Let’s cook a pot of food tonight and boil some good alcohol for you to drink.”
Yuwen Chu loved her carefree smile. He walked in with large strides, chuckled softly, “Sure, whatever Wangfei wants me to eat, I’ll eat. I’ll leave everything to your arrangement.”
As soon as he entered the door, a group of beautiful women immediately bowed to him with their instruments, “The concubines greet His Highness.” Their movements were uniform and dignified, and they all looked solemn and festive. None of them dared to throw a flirtatious glance or wiggle their waist or toss a handkerchief around. They were all very disciplined.
Yuwen Chu was delighted to see this, it seemed that Mingzhu had raised a group of obedient lambs.
Mingzhu saw his peculiar smile and asked petulantly, “What’s so funny, Your Highness?”
“Nothing, Wangfei is mighty.” Yuwen Chu led her over, carefully helping her sit down, and signaled Wei Tiande to bring out the items.
“What treasure?” Mingzhu opened the small box made of fine bamboo silk and saw two bunches of frozen grapes inside. She couldn’t help but cover her mouth in surprise, “Where did you find these, Your Highness?”
Her unreserved surprise greatly satisfied Yuwen Chu. He deliberately teased her, “Guess?”
Mingzhu couldn’t guess. Grapes were not easy to preserve, even if they were kept in the icehouse, they would eventually develop an alcohol taste, so they were usually discarded after eating. Although these two bunches of grapes were frozen into lumps of ice, they were still very precious and almost accidental.
Yuwen Chu must have spent a lot of effort to find these two bunches of grapes. Mingzhu looked at him eagerly, wanting to say something but couldn’t. After hesitating for a long time, she finally whispered, “Your Highness, you’re so good to me.”
It was just two bunches of grapes, but it was worth her reaction! Yuwen Chu affectionately pinched Mingzhu’s nose and scolded her with a smile, “Spoiled! Haven’t you seen frozen grapes before?”
Mingzhu smiled sourly with tears in her eyes, “I’ve never seen them before.”
“I thought of it. Jiangyin County Prince loves grapes, and Dai Wangfei loves him dearly. Maybe there are other ways to preserve grapes. So I went to Jiangyin County Prince’s Mansion and managed to find these two bunches.” Before Yuwen Chu could finish his sentence, he saw Mingzhu looking at him admiringly and said, “Your Highness is really smart. When smart people do things, they accomplish twice as much with half the effort. Even finding something is so remarkable. If it were me, I would definitely be running around like a headless fly.”
“You’re smart too, but your intelligence doesn’t show in these areas.” Yuwen Chu unexpectedly being praised by Mingzhu, felt a bit embarrassed.
A group of beauties looked on eagerly at the affection between the couple, feeling melancholic and almost tearful. They had thought that since the Wangfei was pregnant and unable to attend to the Wangye, it would be their turn, right? They didn’t expect to conceive, but just being able to accompany the Wangye and add fragrance to his red sleeves would have been nice. During those days, many of them had their hopes up and dressed up beautifully, but no one even remembered them.
Just when they had suppressed their thoughts, Wangfei summoned them, and Wangye arrived, delivering another blow. They didn’t even have any significance in her eyes! They were just there, ignoring them while being affectionate with each other. It’s so miserable.
Zheng Momo saw this and hurriedly approached Su Zi and Su Ye, the two sisters, whispering softly, “Would you two please take the people back first?”
Su Zi and Su Ye quickly agreed, leading the people to silently bow and withdraw.
Only then did Yuwen Chu have the leisure to look at this group of concubines that has the name but does not reflect the reality, focusing his gaze on Su Zi and Su Ye, and instructing Mingzhu, “If you want to watch them sing and dance, don’t let anyone in. Set up a place outside for them to perform. You can sit in the sedan chair and watch without any hassle.”
Mingzhu understood that he didn’t like these people coming to Yinghui Hall, so she teased, “I’m afraid you’ll feel lonely, so I deliberately brought them here to alleviate your loneliness?”
Yuwen Chu scorned her, “Don’t be extravagant! I know you too well.”
Mingzhu chuckled, holding his arm and swaying, “It’s all because of your indulgence.”
The frozen grapes were washed and brought over. Mingzhu couldn’t wait to eat them, but Yuwen Chu quickly stopped her, “What do you expect to happen if you eat something so cold?” He also scolded Su Jin, “You have no sense. Don’t you know to bring them after they thaw?”
Just thinking about it was unappetizing. Eating something icy and crispy now would turn soggy once it thawed. Mingzhu felt bored and even looked a bit displeased with Yuwen Chu.
Sensing her hostile gaze, Yuwen Chu thought about his hotpot and fine alcohol for the evening, fearing that she would start trouble again. He quickly diverted Mingzhu’s attention with other matters, “Oh, by the way, the selection of the empress has been finalized. Do you know who it is?”
Mingzhu knew his intentions but willingly fell into his trap, “Who is it?”
“County Princess Anle.”
Mingzhu was shocked, “How could it be her!”
County Princess Anle was the only daughter of Wang Guorui, an external prince of the dynasty. Although her family background was illustrious, it was merely a facade, long in decline. Starting from the previous generation, there had been no one from the Wang family serving in official positions. They could only rely on their salary to pass the time. Moreover, in this generation, although County Princess Anle came from a prominent family, Wang Guorui only had one son and one daughter.
In theory, such a family would not be considered as a candidate for empress. They wouldn’t even be considered for entry into the palace. In Mingzhu’s memory, in her previous life, County Princess Anle married a relatively unknown scion of a prestigious family and had no connection with the power struggles in the harem. Moreover, she had never seen County Princess Anle on the list of empress candidates after Min Baoyun’s incident. Yet, now, County Princess Anle had become the future empress!
Yuwen Chu’s eyes flickered slightly, “Why wouldn’t it be her?”
Mingzhu shook her head in disbelief, “County Princess Anle is nearly four years older than the emperor and has no support behind her. How can she survive?”
Yuwen Chu smiled, “Even if she doesn’t survive, she has to survive. None of the candidates proposed by Min’s side were satisfactory. The candidates proposed by Min’s side were unacceptable to us, and there were also some shifty candidates that nobody was satisfied with. Then, Consort Xiao proposed County Princess Anle. She has no background, only her origin. She’s the safest choice and relatively fair to everyone. Wang Guorui and his son are also willing, so it’s her.”
“What about Min Baoyun?” Consort Xiao and her son also stepped forward. Mingzhu couldn’t help but sigh for County Princess Anle. Once she entered the palace, her life would be ruined.
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