Chapter 617 – Selfish Ying Wang
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In the blink of an eye, it was the Winter Solstice.
This day was particularly cold, and Mingzhu felt the cold air rushing into her sleeve collar early in the morning. She hurriedly arranged thick clothes for herself and Yuwen Chu, leaving Zheng Momo and Su Lan at home to take care of Zhuang Zhuang, and went out with Yuwen Chu.
She was in charge, so she should arrive first. Yuwen Chu, on the other hand, had to accompany Yuwen Bai to the outskirts to worship the heavens, so they had to arrive early at the palace gate. Therefore, the two of them left the house before dawn. The cold wind felt like knives on their faces, making them shiver. Mingzhu reached into Yuwen Chu’s sleeve and touched it repeatedly to make sure he was wearing enough layers.
Yuwen Chu chuckled at her, “I’m not a child, nor is it my first time going out. Do I not know if I’m cold or not? You weren’t this careful last year.”
Mingzhu adjusted the collar of his sable fur coat and said with a soft laugh, “Last winter solstice, I wasn’t a mother yet, so I didn’t know how to care for people.”
When Yuwen Chu heard her words, he immediately said, “Stop it, don’t say that.” The way she said it made it sound like she was his mother, something that shouldn’t be said in front of their subordinates.
Mingzhu pursed her lips and smiled, deliberately asking, “Your Highness isn’t going to sit in his own carriage?” Since they were going different ways and doing different things, they each rode in their own carriage, so she asked this.
Yuwen Chu glanced at her and said lightly, “If you want me to accompany you all the way to the palace gate, just say so. We’re an old married couple, and we still have to be so pretentious to talk about things?” His expression was calm, but there was a hint of amusement in his tone.
“Oh my, I’ve been seen through by the wise and mighty Ying Wang.” Mingzhu put her hand in his palm, joyfully scratching his palm as they walked towards the carriage. Yuwen Chu let her be playful, looking very serious, but he blocked most of the cold wind blowing towards them.
After the two got on their respective carriages, Yuwen Chu unfolded his fur cloak and let Mingzhu crawl into it and lean against him, “We still have some time before we get to the palace, so you can sleep on me first. I’ll wake you up when we get there.”
Mingzhu yawned lightly, “Your Highness, you should sleep too. No matter how busy we are, we’re just talking and drinking tea indoors. But you’re going to the outskirts to worship the heavens and have to endure a lot of cold wind. Who knows how long it will last. It’s good to get some rest.”
Yuwen Chu looked at the darkening sky and said, “It’s bound to snow heavily today.”
Mingzhu had full confidence in his ability to observe the weather and couldn’t help but worry, “I’m afraid everyone will have to eat cold rice and dishes today.” After a moment’s thought, she said, “Otherwise, I’ll have them prepare a pot so everyone can have hot dishes.”
Yuwen Chu shook his head, “No, there’s a tradition of grand banquets in the palace. Just follow the rules. You don’t need to worry about them. If others can eat it, you can eat it too. Otherwise, if something goes wrong, it will all be your fault.”
Mingzhu whispered, “I just thought that you would be out in the snow all day, and when you come back, you’ll have to eat cold soup and dishes. It’s really painful, so I wanted to help you by preparing something warm to eat.”
Yuwen Chu’s heart warmed slightly, and he whispered, “If you really care about me, have someone prepare a pot of mutton in advance. After we come back, we’ll have good wine and meat, enjoying the snow while drinking and eating. Wouldn’t that be better?”
Mingzhu thought it sounded beautiful and smiled, “But Your Highness doesn’t like admiring the snow, right? You always say your eyes hurt.”
“It depends on who I’m with.” Yuwen Chu pressed her head against his chest, not allowing any argument, “No more talking, sleep.”
As they arrived at the palace gate, several families were already waiting. Huayang Wangfei leaned out of the window with joy to greet Mingzhu, “Sixth Sister-in-law is here? I’ll come over to talk to you.”
Mingzhu couldn’t say Yuwen Chu was still in her carriage, so she chuckled awkwardly, “Why don’t I come over to you?”
Unexpectedly, Yuwen Chu said, “She wants to talk to you, so let her come over. Why bother standing in the cold wind? I’ll leave now.”
Mingzhu said, “Isn’t she cold either? Your Highness, you’re being quite selfish, aren’t you?”
Yuwen Chu said very reasonably, “She’s not my wife, why should I care if she’s cold or not?” After saying that, he got off the carriage neatly, nodded solemnly to Huayang Wangfei, “Seventh Sister-in-law, come over.”
Huayang Wangfei hadn’t expected him to be in the carriage. She nodded like a chicken pecking rice, “Okay.”
Yuwen Chu then leaned into the carriage again, waved to Mingzhu, thinking he forgot to tell her something, she hurriedly approached, “Is there anything else you need to say, Your Highness?”
Yuwen Chu grabbed her shoulder, quickly kissed her lips, and then quickly let go, whispering, “Take care.”
“Oh.” He actually played like this. Mingzhu foolishly responded, then smiled broadly, grabbed his collar tightly, and bent down to kiss him, whispering, “You take care too. I’ll treat you to something delicious tonight.”
The two smiled at each other and quickly separated. Yuwen Chu turned to Huayang Wangfei, who had already gotten off the carriage, and explained seriously, “There’s something I forgot to tell you. Your Sixth Sister-in-law, she’s careless, so I trouble Seventh Sister-in-law to take care of her more.”
Huayang Wangfei quickly agreed and bowed, but as soon as Yuwen Chu left, she couldn’t wait to get on the carriage and look at Mingzhu, “Be honest, what did you give Sixth Brother to make him like this? You’re already husband and wife with children, yet he’s still so reluctant to part with you. I won’t say anything about sending you here, but he can’t bear to leave!”
Mingzhu was still intoxicated, smiling and saying, “I must be lovable.” Naturally transitioning to another topic, she asked, “Is the eldest daughter obedient? Did she like the rattle I had someone send to her yesterday?”
Huayang Wangfei smiled, “She liked it, and His Highness liked it even more. He played with her for a long time with that rattle. He kept saying that Sixth Brother and Sixth Sister-in-law thought of everything. How come he didn’t think of it?” Huayang Wangfei’s daughter was her pride and joy. After Huayang Wangfei gave birth to her daughter, there were rumors in the mansion that it was a pity she was a girl, not a boy. Some of these rumors even came from a favored concubine from the past. They were all severely punished by him without mercy, so whenever Huayang Wangfei mentioned her daughter, she would be in a very good mood.
The two of them chatted for a while, and soon Dai Wangfei and others arrived. The Concubine of Prince Fu did a headcount and noticed Princess Wusun was missing. She frowned and said, “We’re about to enter the palace, and she’s not here yet. Did she oversleep? Should I send someone to fetch her?”
Mingzhu shook her head. “No need.” She had already received news that Princess Wusun had entered the palace yesterday to accompany Empress Dowager Min and had not left the palace, spending the night there instead. This was against protocol, but since Yuwen Bai was still young, no one said much about it.
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