Chapter 9: Mutual Feelings (Part 1)

  Xuan Dynasty and Nanjiang Beiren Songguo were established at the same time. Later, Emperor Taizu conquered Songguo with great victory and incorporated it into Xuan Dynasty's territory. After that, Emperor Xingchang also subdued Nanjiang to surrender to Xuan Dynasty. Until Emperor Hongjing, who is the current emperor, Beiren began to expand continuously, frequently invading borders, and the two countries had been at war for more than 20 years. The current emperor always wanted to pacify the border, but the people of Beiren were good at fighting, and after many years of conquest, many high-ranking generals were lost without being able to take down Beiren, instead allowing Beiren to capture cities and occupy many pools.

  After this defeat, the ministers of the court were divided into two factions: one advocating for war and the other for peace. The pro-peace faction sent envoys to negotiate with the Northern Rong, who agreed to withdraw 300 miles from the border but demanded that the imperial court provide 1,000 taels of gold, 10,000 taels of silver, and five daughters of noble families as a condition for their withdrawal.

  The main faction in the imperial court proposed that after many years of war and heavy losses, the people were struggling to survive, and this was an opportunity to rest and recover.

  The Emperor finally agreed with the main peace faction's suggestion

  But when it was announced in the imperial court, it met with strong opposition from some ministers, and Pu Jiannian was one of them. In the court, he angrily denounced such a peace treaty as a surrender, which humiliated the country's dignity.

  Pu Jiannian's words hit the emperor's sore spot. Since the peace talks had already been approved by the emperor, Pu Jiannian's words were an offense to the imperial authority. In a fit of rage, the emperor ordered Pu Jiannian to be dismissed from his post. Fortunately, Pu Jiannian had a good father-in-law, and one-third of the officials in the court were his disciples. With everyone's protection, the emperor finally issued an order demoting him to Ningzhou Longshi.

  Pu Jiannian is about to take office in Ningzhou, and this mansion was originally an official residence, so they can't stay here either. The whole family moved to Ningzhou, rushing along the way, fearing that Old Lady Pu couldn't withstand the hardships of travel. However, as an official, Pu Jiannian was extremely honest and upright, and now he couldn't afford to buy a large mansion either. With his demotion, his salary had also decreased significantly, making it difficult for him to support the expenses of this big family.

  "Now that things have come to this point, and there's still a medicine jar left, it would be better to send her back to her parents' home, where she might still have a way out." The old lady was referring to Ya.

  Although the old lady's words were reasonable, they were extremely heartless, which made the normally kind-hearted Liu also frown.

  The whole family was in a state of despair when they suddenly heard the gatekeeper shouting: "Director Liu has arrived!"

  Liu Gong came to comfort the family, but also brought good news, saying that he had already purchased a new house in the west of the city, and let the whole family move there first, while Pu Jiayear went to Ningzhou to take office, waiting for the emperor's anger to subside before thinking of a way to return.

  The old lady was naturally tearfully grateful. The Pu family had suffered a disaster, but this uncle had not forgotten his relatives. She was naturally moved, but Liu Gong said that this was the arrangement of the prince.

  After finishing, he glanced at Qing Sang and Liu Shi had already informed him of the old lady's intention. Of course, Liu Shi was very cautious in doing things and would not inform his father about those words that could bring disaster to the Pu family.

  Liu Gong had always hoped that his daughter could enter the palace as a concubine, solidifying their position in court, but it never came to be. Later, he heard that his granddaughter from another branch of the family was able to give birth to a boy, but it ended up being a disaster with two lives lost. Now, Qingbi's talent and looks are just average, not enough to make her a candidate, whereas the fourth daughter of the Pu family, Qing Sang, who was born to a concubine, had already gained some fame in the capital two years ago. Although she fell out of favor back then, Liu Gong understood the situation clearly. He had planned to send Qing Sang into the palace again, but unexpectedly, the old lady of the Pu family had other plans.

  Marrying the prince is not a bad path, although as a concubine's daughter, it's impossible to become the prince's main wife. However, becoming a lesser consort is no problem. If we can get some face from the empress dowager, who knows, maybe even becoming a noble lady is possible. The prince is already 18 but hasn't married his main wife yet, and only has two concubines so far (note: the prince's harem consists of one main wife, two noble ladies, six lesser consorts, ten attendants, sixteen instructresses, and twenty-four concubines). As the old lady said, the prince already has a crush on Qing. If Qing can give birth to a boy and a girl soon, her status will be extraordinary. This path might be more suitable than entering the palace. And just as the old lady said, now that the son-in-law has been demoted, the prince's side sent someone to invite him over and settle this family matter. It seems what the old lady said is not empty words.

  So, Liu Gong secretly made up his mind to quickly arrange a marriage between Qing Sang and the Crown Prince.

  The Pu family immediately set off and moved to the west of the city.

  As soon as the carriage stopped, everyone understood what was on Taizi's mind, because the words "Pufu" were not hung on the gate, but rather "Sangyuan".

  Old Lady Wang and the other women were overjoyed, thinking that with the birth of an heir, the Pu family would surely rise again. Only Qing Sang furrowed her brow in deep thought, without a hint of joy on her face.

  The next day, Pu Jiannian set off with Xi Mo and two young servants.

  The old lady originally wanted her son to bring the second daughter-in-law, Xiangyun, along with him to Ningzhou. Having a woman by his side who knew both cold and heat would also make the old lady feel more at ease. However, Pu Jiannian felt uneasy in his heart and was unwilling to take anyone from home to suffer together with him. He insisted on going alone, and in the end, the old lady yielded to him.

  A few days later, Qing Sang's friend Zi Yue was overjoyed. Qing Sha went to attend the ceremony and unexpectedly saw Fu Xi.

  Fu Xi was delighted to see her and, before the banquet had dispersed, he insisted on inviting her to Feng Ya Xuan, saying that he had already made an appointment with someone to drink tea there. Qing Sang also knew the person, so she invited her to go together to meet him.

  Qing Sang was feeling suffocated at home due to the many changes that had taken place, and thinking of Fu Xi's mention of an old acquaintance, he suspected it might be one of the three people he saw in the woods that day. He didn't bother with formalities, took his snow bowl, and followed them to Feng Ya Xuan, a place where only high-ranking officials could go. The environment was serene and elegant, Qing Sang had been there once three years ago with Qing Yu. Thinking of Qing Yu again brought another wave of heartache.

  Arrived at Fengya Xuan's second floor riverside VIP room, only to see the seventh prince Tong Huan, with one arm hanging down, staring blankly at the river view.

  "Seventh Highness, look who I've brought!" Xiu Hei exclaimed with a chuckle, provoking Qing Sha to glare at him angrily, fortunately there were only the few of them on the second floor.

  Tang Xun glanced sideways, and a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes, but he quickly covered it up with a faint smile at Qing Sang, asking: "Miss Pu's body is better now? I heard that after returning that day, Miss also fell ill and slept for two days." Tang Xun asked about Qing Sang's situation the next day after waking up, and upon learning that she was unconscious, he was anxious. However, his father, the king, found out that he was injured and ordered the Right Thousand Cow Guard to escort him back to the palace with five thousand cow guards. After returning to the palace, he was personally taken care of by his mother, Empress Chen Xian. It wasn't until today that he could come out for some fresh air, but he didn't expect to see Qing Sang, and he was extremely delighted, although he couldn't show it on his face. Moreover, he had already learned from his mother about the Crown Prince's interest in Qing Sang.

  "The slave is only tired, nothing serious, but it's the Seventh Highness who has suffered a loss. The slave is truly deserving of death." Qing Sang said in a neat and tidy manner, the humble attitude she showed made Tang Huan inexplicably feel a sour taste.

  "It doesn't matter, from now on you don't have to call me 'master' in front of me either. I've heard that your chess skills are quite good, would you like to play a game with me?" Tang Xun revealed a handsome smile and asked softly.

  Qing Sang originally wanted to say a few humble words, but seeing the expectation and tenderness in Tong Huan's eyes, he was somewhat at a loss for words, and smiled slightly, nodding his head.

  A cup of clear tea, a chessboard, two people spent a long time like this. Qing Shan occasionally smiled with her lips pursed, sometimes frowned deeply, beautiful eyes gazing afar, clever smile, often making Tong Huan sitting across from her lose his mind.

  Xu Xi, who was naturally fond of making trouble, had already run off to find amusement elsewhere. Xue Pan sat at a nearby tea table, occasionally adding some hot water, not daring to make any disturbance.

  If it weren't for the thunder on that spring day, the two of them would have continued talking with their hands, and who knows when they would have stopped.

  "The sky has darkened, I must hurry back to the mansion." Qing Sang was startled awake by Chun Lei and saw that the sky had already turned pitch black, fearing for her family's safety, she quickly got up and bid farewell.

  "It's getting dark, and this place is quite remote. I'll have someone escort you back to the mansion from here!" Tang Xun said, not waiting for Qing Sang to respond, he called out to the servants to prepare the carriage, and sent Qing Sang off together to the new residence in the west of the city.

  The family saw Qing Sang watching the ceremony for a long time without returning, and indeed his heart was anxious like burning fire. After hearing that the little servant who went to inquire at Shi Fu and Qian Fu had returned, saying that Qing Sang had left early, they were even more worried and didn't know where Qing Sang had gone.

  Just as they were in a hurry, a luxurious carriage arrived at the gate, and Qing Sang got out of the car with the help of Xue Pan. To everyone's surprise, a handsome young man also got off the carriage together with them, making the Pu family stare in amazement.

  Fortunately, the old lady immediately recognized this person as the Seventh Prince she had seen at Puzi Temple that day, and hurriedly led everyone to pay their respects and kneel down.

  Tang Xuan let everyone off the ceremony, originally intending to accept the old lady's invitation and sit in the mansion for a while. However, as soon as he raised his head, he saw that the bright red lanterns on the middle gate were prominently written with the words "Sangyuan". His heart tightened, and he immediately took leave of absence, citing Pu Changshi's "not being at home often has many inconveniences" as an excuse.

  Tang Xuan had already heard that the Crown Prince had a crush on the third miss of the Pu Mansion, but he didn't know it had gone this far. Seeing it with his own eyes today, his heart was filled with a mix of emotions.

  The old lady originally wanted to ask about tonight's affairs, but Qing Sang glanced around and spoke of other things. Knowing she didn't want to say more, she sighed and walked away with her cane to the Buddhist hall.

  The lady of the house has been neglecting her duties in the mansion since her husband was demoted and has been spending most of her time in her own chambers.

  Mother Wang saw that Old Lady couldn't get anything out of her, and asking more would only make things worse, so she just instructed Qing Sang a few words and took Jia Bao away.

  Qing Sang saw that everyone didn't ask much, secretly let out a breath of relief, and was about to return to her room. She raised her eyes and saw Qing Bi standing under the long corridor staring at herself, with no anger or contempt in her eyes as before, but instead showing a thoughtful expression.

  Qingbi saw Qing Sang and looked at her, without saying a word, turned around and left.

  Qing Sang was perplexed, but didn't think much of it and went back to her room to rest.

  As usual these days

  Several months passed and it was early summer

  Qing Sang has always been afraid of heat, in her previous life there was air conditioning available, but in this life as soon as summer arrives she becomes anxious.

  It's also unknown whether it was because ancient people were more heat-tolerant, but at this time they still wore sweaters.

  The sun was shining brightly, Qing Shao couldn't stand the heat, so she took off her jacket and wore only a light blue blouse and a pale blue skirt. She put on a blue-green smoke-colored shirt and leaned against the window, throwing crushed rice cakes into the lotus pond outside to feed the golden carp.

  Just as she was getting into the fun, a eunuch from the imperial court arrived to summon her, saying that Princess Jia had sent someone with an invitation to celebrate the full moon birthday of her child, and asked her to go to the inner chamber for a moment.

  Qing Sang immediately put away her playful thoughts and went to the room of Madame Liu.