Chapter 89
When using the morning meal, Xie Zhen's hands were sore, and she buried herself in the porridge, ignoring everyone else.
Suddenly, there was a piece of egg pancake with young elm seeds on the plate in front of her. She raised her head and looked at Yan Yu, who coughed and said, "Eat more."
She looked on it helplessly but did not move.
Yan Yu tilted his head and asked: "Don't you like eating young elm seeds? There are the ones who brought back from Lingyin Temple. "
That day, she had gotten the biddy to pick most of the bags of young elm seeds, and wanted to bring them back to make the elm egg pancakes. However, on the way, she was kidnapped by the First Prince's men and didn't get to eat it. Fortunately the young elm seeds was in Mammy Wang's arms, and only a little was spilled, so the rest could still be used to make a few dishes.
Xie Zhen raised her chopsticks and grabbed the elm egg pancake, but before she could put it into her mouth, the pancake had already fallen into her bowl. Her hands were sore, so she kept her head down to eat the porridge.
Yan Yu finally realised what the problem was, sitting closer to her, and he picked up another piece of egg pancake and placed it next to her mouth, "Go ahead and eat it."
What was with the tone of a cat teasing a dog?
Xie Zhen glared at him and humphed with a lowered head, "I'll just eat the porridge."
Unfortunately, before she lowered her head, Yan Yu had already raised her chin and pinched her cheek, "Are you going to eat it?"
She was very resolute. "No! I don't!" She purposely dragged the word out.
Yan Yu laughed, revealing a row of clean and tidy teeth, "Then do you want to eat something else?"
At first, Xie Zhen did not react, but when she saw the faint smile on his face, she recalled the scene from last night and her face immediately flushed red, "You, you are shameless!"
There was still the servant maids in the room. Although they might not be able to understand what he was saying, she felt that she did not have the face to see him, so she pushed his angrily aside and said: "I won't eat!"
Yan Yu knew that he was being too funny, he put away his smirk and said solemnly: "Quickly eat, after we finish eating, we still need to go to the palace, don't go hungry."
She turned her head, her eyes full of doubt. "What are you doing in the palace?"
Yan Yu fed her the amulet before indifferently replying: "I don't know, I'll know when I get there."
He had just returned from the border pass, so no matter what, the Emperor Yuan Hui would host a feast for him. Yesterday, when he returned, he went to Lingyin Temple to look for Xie Zhen, but did not get the time to enter the palace. As a result, Emperor Yuan Hui had an opinion of him, if he did not go today, it would not end well.
It was just hard on Xie Zhen... He felt sore all over and wanted to follow him around.
Xie Zhen took a bite of the cake made from elm money and all the food was wrapped into his left cheek.
Yan Yu scooped another spoonful of porridge for her, "father still doesn't know about this, I plan to tell him after today's banquet."
Xie Zhen opened his mouth to eat them, and his thoughtfully nodded.
Therefore, while he fed her, she obediently ate and occasionally asked a few questions.
Seeing that she was enjoying her food, Yan Yu opened her mouth and ate the food. She chewed on it slowly and then swallowed it. Even the way she ate was so attractive … He finished the last mouthful and wiped the corner of her mouth with the handkerchief. "Are you full?"
Xie Zhen nodded, after eating, he had almost recovered a lot of strength. When he looked at Yan Yu, who had been feeding her all this while, he actually did not eat much.
She went to the inner room to change clothes, and he just had time to eat. He hastily ate a few pieces of egg cake and radish cake, and she was already out of there.
*
Xie Zhen changed into a goose yellow spring gown, a flowery bird pattern dress, two scented sachet hanging from her waist, and a piece of jade pendant. On her head was a golden silk lantern hairpin and a pair of golden jade plum blossom hairpins. Yan Yu went to the side to wash his hands, allowing the steward Zhao to prepare the carriage before bringing Xie Zhen out.
The carriage stopped at the door, and they boarded it and headed directly for the palace.
Yan Yu carried her on his lap, and placed his hands on her waist, "Does it hurt?"
Xie Zhen opened her round almond eyes and stared at him: "What do you think?"
He bit her pink lip and massaged her waist time and time again. His strength was just right. Every hit on the spot could indeed remove a lot of fatigue. Unfortunately, Xie Zhen was a ticklish person. She fell into his embrace while laughing and begged for mercy while crying, "Big Brother Xiao Yu, don't touch me anymore!"
She did not dare to sit in his arms again. She slipped into a corner and looked at him warily.
Yan Yu's eyes revealed helplessness, "Didn't you say that my waist is painful?"
She wiped the water from her eyes. "But I'm ticklish."
Her voice was soft, and she sounded extremely delicate.
If he didn't touch her, she would say that it would hurt, and if he massaged her, she would say that she was ticklish. In the end, Yan Yu simply placed her legs on top of his legs and gently massaged her calves with all his might. Only then did she feel better and not blame him anymore. She blinked her bright and clear eyes as she sized him up without moving, and her words shocked people: "Big Brother Xiao Yu, are there other women in the border trial?"
Yan Yu's movements paused, he turned and glared at her: What did you say?
She trembled under his gaze, and didn't even have the courage to speak anymore. "How can you be so lovable …"
No one could blame Xie Zhen for his misgivings. The impression he gave others was really too bad.
Putting aside the fact that he didn't know how to show kindness to others, he was even throwing away his face for her to see... Now, he would take care of her feelings and massage her legs and feet. He didn't even hate to talk anymore. Xie Zhen felt that it was rare. Other than this reason, she really couldn't think of anything else.
When he touched Yan Yu's reverse scale, his thin lips curled into a line and stopped what he was doing, "Other than you, who else have I tried to please?"
Xie Zhen thought about it seriously, it seemed like there really wasn't any.
She was silent.
He continued to knead her calf. "You want me to find another woman?" he asked slowly.
Xie Zhen almost jumped up, "You dare!"
He sat down on his lap and looked him in the eye with his head. "If you dare to find another woman, we will leave you!"
There was no room for negotiation.
Yan Yu's eyes flickered, moved.
After a while, she sat back down on her seat and lazily laid on the couch, mumbling to herself, "I was just speaking casually." He paused for a moment before adding, "You are not allowed to take it to heart."
The corner of Yan Yu's mouth slowly rose, "What do you mean by saying it casually?"
She laid her head on her arms and hummed softly. "You know that."
In fact, she had just asked him if he had any other women in the borderline and immediately regretted it, because he didn't seem to have any experience at all … Last night had hurt her so much, she had bled so much, he was so stupid, she was the only one who was so unlucky and willing to let him do it.
Yan Yu slowly placed his hand on her waist, and massaged her sore waist bit by bit. His tone was always cold and aloof, "Is it not enough to cause a ruckus with just you? What do I want others to do? "
Xie Zhen turned his head to protest, "I'm not going to cause a ruckus."
He asked, "Where are you not making a ruckus?"
"Here and there."
Yan Yu was angered to the point of laughing, he struck her forehead hard.
*
When they reached the entrance of the palace, Xie Zhen and Yan Yu separated first. One went to the Palace Linde, and the other went to the Palace Zhaoyang.
Xie Zhen was brought to Palace Zhaoyang by the palace maid and Empress Wang was waiting for her inside the palace.
When she arrived, she found out that the Emperor Yuan Hui had actually given the order of bestowing the title of Wang to Yan Yu in the morning assembly, bestowing him with the title of General Huai Hua. When Xie Zhen heard this news from Empress Wang, she couldn't help but think that maybe she would become An Wang Fei in the future.
As expected, Empress Wang clapped the back of her hand with pride, "I'm afraid you guys still need to rebuild your residence outside the palace. You will be the An Wang Fei in the future, and there will be even more people under your command.
Of course, Xie Zhen would not refuse, and said sincerely, "Thank you, Empress."
Empress Wang's pale face revealed a smile, as he carefully sized up the girl in front of him. To be honest, when she had just married Yan Yu, she did not think well of the two of them. She thought that if Yan Yu took a fancy to her looks, there would be conflicts after a long time. She didn't think that they would actually have a good relationship after a year, and now that their relationship was better than ever.
Even when Yan Yu had been in the border trial for such a long time, he had not separated them.
Empress Wang had no choice but to re-evaluate Xie Zhen. I wonder what kind of special method does this girl have to make Yan Yu happily submit to her?
He didn't know what methods to use. As long as a person likes you, no matter what you do, his heart will be tied to you. If he doesn't like you, then it doesn't matter what you do.
Xie Zhen sat at Empress Wang's place for a while, and during this time, he paid a visit to the Ping Wangfei, Crown Princess and the other Prince's wife s one after another.
It seemed that Emperor Yuan Hui had invited many people to the banquet in the palace.
Those who received the news all went up to congratulate Xie Zhen, who stood up and returned the greetings. It was only until Princess Ping came before her that she said it flawlessly, "Congratulations the sisth sister-in-law, I had told King Ping that Sixth Brother was the most outstanding out of the few brothers and was also recognized by father. Sixth Brother really lived up to everyone's expectations and became the youngest brother to be crowned king."
Princess Ping wore the agallochum color with gold makeup and a short satin shirt. She wore an oily green palace dress with a wide top. Her makeup was exquisite, her smile was perfect, and even her words of congratulations were sincere. It was as if the person who had forcefully trapped Xie Zhen that night wasn't her, and it was as if the person who had tried to kidnap her had nothing to do with the First Prince.
Xie Zhen only replied, "Eldest sister-in-law is too kind."
Fortunately, the Princess He Yi also came, so Xie Zhen and the others did not keep quiet. Among these people were the eldest princess, the third princess, whom she had never seen before; the eldest princess, Yan Yuan, and the third princess, Yan Qianyin; the second princess, who had been sick since childhood; she died before she was five years old; the fourth and fifth princesses, who had married far away; and the fourth and fifth princesses, who had come back only once during the holidays. Yan Yao'an introduced them to her one by one, then pulled her to sit by the side and chat. As they talked, Yan Yao'an suddenly exclaimed.
Xie Zhen turned his head, and asked while pointing at her neck: "Ah Zhen, why are you red here?"
Xie Zhen didn't react and reached out to touch it.
She very quickly remembered that this was the place Yan Yu sucked at last night. Her face immediately flushed red and she said shyly, "She must have been bitten by a bug …"
She didn't notice when she was about to leave, but Yan Yu didn't remind her either!
The spring clothes were rather thin, and didn't cover her neck like in the winter. Fortunately, her mark wasn't very obvious, only someone like Yan Yao'an could see her from such a close distance.
Yan Yao'an was a young lady who had not come out of the pavilion, so she was not very familiar with such matters. She easily believed him, "You still have bugs in your house? servant is too careless, if it was me, I would definitely punish them! "
Xie Zhen smiled awkwardly.
*
They stayed in Palace Zhaoyang for most of the day, and had lunch here at noon. In the afternoon, they followed Empress Wang to the Supreme Pond to admire the lotus flowers, and only when it was dusk did they head to Palace Linde to participate in the palace banquet.
Because this time, the main purpose of the feast was for Yan Yu, Yan Yu sat on the left side of the Emperor Yuan Hui and the crown prince sat on the right side of the table. Xie Zhen and Empress Wang were sitting at the same table, and around them were his wife and his Prince's wife. She was smiling and responding to all the people who came to offer their congratulations, making it impossible for anyone to find any flaws in her every action and etiquette.
Empress Wang watched on expressionlessly from the side, and finally smiled and nodded his head in approval.
Xie Zhen returned to his seat and sat beside her.
She couldn't help but look towards Yan Yu's table. Beside Yan Yu was Xie Rong, the two of them had just returned from Wu Jiang and it was inevitable that a lot of people would go up to toast them. However, it was understandable. After all, with so many ministers present, a toast to each of them was more than enough for them to drink.
Xie Zhen turned her head and saw that Yan Yao'an was also staring fixedly at that direction.
Xie Rong was dressed really handsomely today. He was dressed in a profound green embroidered gold gown, and a jade pendant hung around his waist. He was even more formal than usual. When he returned from the border trial, Xie Zhen hadn't had the time to see him. Now that he saw him, he realized that his brother had changed greatly, and even his drinking appearance had become so calm and reserved. It was no wonder that Yan Yao'an couldn't bear to blink.
Xie Zhen turned his head, but had no choice but to worry for his brother.
Xie Rong was already twenty-one this year, but she had yet to propose a marriage. She said that under her brother's conditions, she would be able to match up to any girl. It was a pity that his eldest brother's thoughts were unfathomable, that even his aunt did not know what kind of girl he liked. She would rather wait for another year or two than let him marry someone he did not like.
Where's Yan Yao'an?
To be honest, Xie Zhen rather liked her. But she was His Majesty's daughter and an esteemed princess. Big brother was destined for nothing good to happen to her …
Xie Zhen rested his chin on his hands, finally understanding the melancholy of his mother.
When Emperor Yuan Hui once again spoke of bestowing sixth prince the title of An Wang at the banquet, the ministers below agreed without any objections. After all, with Yan Yu's achievements, even if someone wanted to pick a fight with him, they would not be able to find anything wrong with him. Only the First Prince, Yan Yun, sat on his seat, with a subtle expression, he smiled and said to Yan Yu: "Congratulations Sixth Brother."
Yan Yu replied expressionlessly: "Thank you, Big Brother."
Just as they were about to leave, they heard Yan Yu say to Emperor Yuan Hui: "This son has something to say."
Emperor Yuan Hui was very casual, "Go ahead."
He spoke slowly, "Yesterday, when this son returned from the Wu Jiang, and just as he returned, he heard from the servant that Prince's wife had met with an accident and was almost kidnapped by those people. Fortunately, this son was in time, and Prince's wife was able to escape calamity. After that, I went back to the residence to investigate. Only then did I find out that someone had faked news and lied that Prince's wife had come back, so I took the opportunity to ambush them on the way back. "
For the sake of Xie Zhen's reputation, he didn't say that she had spent the night at the farmer's house, but said that he had arrived in time to save her.
With that said, all the officials present were startled, the harmonious atmosphere immediately became rowdy, everyone looked at Emperor Yuan Hui.
Emperor Yuan Hui frowned, "Have you found out what happened?"
Yan Yu said: "We found out that it was a fake message from a servant maids in the manor. We have captured him now."
Emperor Yuan Hui asked: "How dare a servant maids have that much courage? Could it be someone was behind all of this? "
Yan Yu said. He then looked in Yan Yun's direction without leaving a trace and saw Yan Yun staring at him without moving. He said: "Right now, servant maids is in this subject's residence. servant has already interrogated him."
Emperor Yuan Hui slammed his hand on the table and said angrily: "Who has the guts to do this?"
However, he said: "This son doesn't dare to casually guess, I beg father to have someone interrogate him strictly."
The Emperor Yuan Hui thought for a moment, then sent his guard to his residence to capture the servant maids, and bring him to the prison to be interrogated. After all, murdering Prince's wife was not a small matter.
After he finished speaking, Emperor Yuan Hui called Xie Zhen over and personally paid her some respects. He was worried that she would be frightened, and even got someone to gift her with a lot of good stuff. Ye Zichen took a look and saw that there were Jade Ruyi Night Illumination Pearls and Emerald Agate … She kowtowed to show her gratitude and accepted the reward in front of the crowd's envious eyes.
When she turned her head, she coincidentally met the First Prince's unfathomable eagle eyes. She stiffened before she stood calmly beside Yan Yu.
After the banquet, the two of them sat in the carriage heading back to the residence and returned to the sixth prince Manor.
On the second day, someone from the palace brought over a new signboard. It was written personally by the Emperor Yuan Hui.