Chapter 225 Punishment
Minglan's smile became even more intense. She had not had much contact with Princess Kang.
But because Old Lady Sheng was very annoyed with her, she asked Mother Fang and got to know her a little.
She could more or less guess the purpose of Lady Kang's visit this time.
I had originally thought of reminding Rulan at the critical moment, but I didn't expect Rulan to be so annoyed with Kang Wangshi and didn't give her a good face.
Her worries were unnecessary.
"You..." Kang Wang said angrily, "I am your mother's biological sister, your aunt!"
"Okay, I know. It's fine if you came to the Sheng family to show off in front of me before, but this is the Eastern Palace, so it's better for your aunt to follow some rules." Rulan said impatiently: "Tell me, what did my mother ask you to come over for? Why didn't she come herself?"
If a female relative wanted to see the Crown Princess, she would just hand in a visiting card. Whether she would meet him or not depended on her mood.
However, meeting the concubines is not that easy. You need to submit an application first and get the consent of the Crown Princess.
When Wang Kang applied, her reason was that Dai Rulan's mother came to see her.
"After all, you have just entered the palace not long ago. It is not appropriate for your mother to come here at this time. But she was worried about you, so she asked me to come here." Princess Kang suppressed the anger in her heart and explained.
Rulan's expression darkened when she heard this, she also missed her mother.
After a moment of silence, he stopped mocking Kang Wangshi and said, "Aunt, please go back and tell mother that everything is fine in the East Palace. It will be Mid-Autumn Festival in a few days. Your Highness has been so kind as to allow me to go home for one day so that we can be reunited then."
"Your mother must be very happy to hear the news." Queen Kang said with a smile.
"Aunt, if you have nothing else to do, please go back first. After all, I am just a concubine, and it is not appropriate for you to stay in the East Palace for too long." Rulan said.
Queen Kang was so angry at Rulan's words that she almost died.
She had been at Shuanglan Pavilion for less than an incense stick of time and was still standing there without even a sip of water, yet Rulan had actually chased her away.
Kang Wang originally wanted to talk about family affection with Rulan first, but now she couldn't care less and said, "I came here this time to ask for your help. Your cousin Jin is not young anymore, but he still doesn't have a job, so it's hard to talk about marriage. I complained to your mother, and she said she could ask you for help."
"I want to help?" Rulan waved her hand and said, "How can a woman like me help?"
"You are favored by the prince. Say something good about it in front of him. His Highness will definitely not refuse such a small thing." Princess Kang said with a smile.
"Aunt, you make me sound like the Crown Princess. I'm just a concubine. There are many people in the Eastern Palace who have a higher status than me. How could I have that ability? Aunt, you'd better go back quickly. Someone, please see the guest out!" Rulan said.
"Aunt Kang, please!" Mother Hua said, extending her hand.
In the entire Sheng family, only Madam Wang is easily fooled by Lady Kang, while the rest of the people know Lady Kang's true face.
Mother Hua was one of the women who came to the Sheng family as a dowry along with Madam Wang, so she knew Wang Kang's temper and personality very well.
I was worried that Rulan would agree to it for the sake of face, and I was ready to interrupt her.
I didn't expect that Rulan has made so much progress after entering the palace. When she returns this time, the lady will definitely be pleased to see her.
"The concubine is now in a high position. Not only do her relatives look down on her, but even her mother ignores her."
After saying this, Kang Wang snorted coldly and walked out.
Mother Hua hurriedly followed, saying that outsiders in the East Palace were not allowed to walk around without permission, so she had to escort Princess Kang out of the palace.
"Fifth sister is awesome!" Minglan gave a thumbs up and praised.
"What's so great about it?" Rulan looked at Minglan blankly.
"Fifth sister, stop pretending. Didn't you see that Aunt Kang had bad intentions and that's why she treated her like that?" Minglan said.
"I didn't notice it, I just really hate her. In the past, mother and father quarreled, and most of them were because of my aunt. I told mother about it, but she just kept lecturing me, saying that we are all family and we should respect our elders. It's so annoying, and I'm too lazy to say anything." Rulan said.
"She asked Fifth Sister for help, why didn't Fifth Sister agree?" Minglan asked curiously.
"That can't be what my mother said. Although my mother cares about sisterhood, she won't let my elder sister and I help my aunt with anything. My aunt seemed to have asked my elder sister to help her with something before, but my mother didn't agree, and the two of them even had a fight. I just entered the palace not long ago, and it's even more impossible for my mother to let me help my aunt." Rulan said.
After hearing this, Minglan didn't know what to say.
Is this considered great wisdom in the form of foolishness?
Rulan didn't realize anything at all. The reason she treated Kang Wang like this was simply because she disliked him.
She refused simply because she felt her mother wouldn't let her do these things.
After leaving the Eastern Palace, Princess Kang became angrier and angrier. She went straight to the Sheng family and stayed there for more than half an hour before leaving. No one knew what she said.
…………
A few days before the Mid-Autumn Festival, the Western Xia envoys came to Bian Jing again.
Communicate with the Song Dynasty about the marriage.
Finally, the date was chosen by the Imperial Astronomical Observatory and Princess Naxixia was married on the fifth day of the eleventh month.
The eldest princess of Western Xia was of noble status, and represented the marriage between Western Xia and the Song Dynasty. The emperor appointed her as the prince's concubine, which naturally could not be as simple as taking an ordinary concubine.
Even if it is not a grand ceremony, a simple ceremony is still necessary.
"Zhonghuai, the eldest princess of Western Xia is coming to the Song Dynasty to marry. According to the agreement, the two countries have to reduce their border troops. After you get married, you can go to serve in the Northwest Frontier Army." Zhao Xing said.
Border generals were still allowed to bring their families with them. For example, Gu Tingye’s father had brought Da Qinshi with him and served in the northwest for more than ten years.
Back then, Gu Yankai insisted on marrying Da Qin despite his family's opposition.
After Da Qin came into the family, she fell ill with a minor illness every three days and a serious illness every five days. She looked sick all day long and looked like she would not live long.
That would have been fine, but Da Qin had no children due to health reasons.
Gu Yankai was worried about irritating her and was unwilling to take a concubine.
Gu Yankai's father thought that Daqin would not live long, and that he would marry his son again. But Daqin was very tolerant and refused to die.
Now Old Master Gu was not happy about this. Gu Yankai was the eldest son, so how could he not have any offspring?
So they forced Gu Yankai to divorce his wife and remarry. Gu Yankai was so angry that he asked for permission to go to the northwest border to guard the border, and he took Da Qin with him to the northwest.
Gu Yankai has served in the Northwest Army for many years, and many of the current Northwest generals were his former subordinates. This is also one of the reasons why Zhao Xing sent Gu Tingye to the Northwest.
Gu Tingye had just gotten married, so Zhao Xing naturally couldn't let them be separated, so he allowed him to take his wife with him to take up his post.
"Thank you for your grace, Your Highness!" Gu Tingye said gratefully.
He was also worried about leaving his wife at home. Although Xiao Qin had been imprisoned in the Shenjiesi, her son and daughter were very hostile to him.
If he left, his wife would have a hard time at home.
Zhao Xing waved his hand and said, "Once you get to the northwest, contact Wang Shao and follow his arrangements."
After Wang Shao went to the Northwest to take up his post, he wrote him several letters, describing the situation in the Northwest and Hehuang regions.
However, the position he held was somewhat restrictive to him, so he wanted to resign and go deeper into Hehuang to personally understand the situation there.
Zhao Xing did not agree to it. However, in history, Wang Shao resigned and traveled around the northwest and Hehuang areas before formulating the "Plan for Pacificating the Rong".
But now that he has intervened, who knows if Wang Shao can return safely as happened in history.
Talents like Wang Shao, who are both civil and military, are particularly valuable in the Song Dynasty, an environment that values literature over military affairs.
Although Zhao Xing intended to change the situation of emphasizing culture over military affairs, this change could not be achieved overnight.
If anything happened to Wang Shao, he would suffer a great loss.
Therefore, Zhao Xing prepared to send some helpers to Wang Shao as soon as possible.
"Yes!" Gu Tingye replied.
"Mid-Autumn Festival is just a few days away. Your wedding will be after Mid-Autumn Festival. You will not be able to return in a short time if you go to the northwest. You don't need to work in the East Palace from now on. Stay at home and spend time with your family."
After Zhao Xing finished speaking, he let Gu Tingye go back and thought about the deployment of personnel in the Eastern Palace after Gu Tingye left.
Today, the 5,000 imperial guards of the Eastern Palace are under the command of brothers Cao Qin and Cao Mian, and they are usually not responsible for his protection when he goes out.
As long as he does not leave the city, Gu Tingye will bring people to protect him.
Gu Tingye is about to go to the northwest, and someone is needed to take over this position.
Zhao Xing thought for a while and made a decision that Zhang Feng would be the most suitable person to take over this position.
When he ascends the throne in the future, Zhang Feng will be the best candidate to serve as the commander-in-chief of the Palace Front.
The Dianqian Division was responsible for guarding the imperial palace, or simply put, the Imperial Guards.
The position does not require strong abilities, and you don’t even need to know any military tactics. The most important thing is loyalty.
Zhang Feng is Zhang Guifen's elder brother. The interests of the Zhang family are directly linked to Zhao Xing, so his loyalty is definitely guaranteed.
Unless Zhao Xing does not intend to make the son born by Zhang Guifen the crown prince in the future, Zhang Feng would never betray.
Let’s not talk about whether this is possible or not. Even if it is true, Zhao Xing would transfer Zhang Feng away before that.
…………
Zhao Xing rested in Shuanglan Pavilion at night. He hadn't been to Shuanglan Pavilion for some time.
After all, he has a lot of women, and it takes several days to rotate them all.
After having sex, Zhao Xing called the palace maid to help him wash up. He held Shuanglan in his arms and talked in a low voice.
During the chat, Rulan told Zhao Xing what Mrs. Kang Wang had said a few days ago.
Zhao Xing also knew that Queen Kang came to visit Rulan.
However, he didn't know what was said specifically, nor did he pay attention to it.
No matter how many thoughts Queen Kang had, she just wanted to gain some benefits from Ruolan and the others, and she didn't have the courage to plot against him.
"Your Highness, my sister didn't mean anything else." Seeing that Zhao Xing didn't say anything, Minglan thought he was overthinking it, so she hurriedly explained.
Zhao Xing turned his head to glance at Minglan. Although the lights were on in the room, it was a little dark in the tent and he couldn't see her expression clearly. He could only see that Minglan's head, which was originally resting on his neck, was raised up.
"I've already told you not to be so cautious in front of me. Rulan has done a great job in this regard, but you refuse to change despite repeated admonitions. I'm going to punish you."
Just as Minglan was about to admit her mistake, her mouth was blocked.
Zhao Xing's kiss was very wild, like a violent storm.
Zhao Xing didn't let Minglan go until she was out of breath.
"Snapped!"
The sound was very clear in the quiet house.
"Your Highness."
Minglan covered the place where Zhao Xing had hit her, and the sound was as soft as a mosquito.
(End of this chapter)