To Hold One’s Joy

  Chapter 420 Xu Fang leaves the court

   The autumn of the eighteenth year of Yongan is coming to an end soon.

   Concubine Xiao was three months pregnant, and the good news finally came from the palace.

   This good news immediately overshadowed all the gossip, and became the most concerned matter of the imperial court even though it was inconvenient to discuss it in public.

  Thank God, there will be a dragon son born.

   While the courtiers were relieved that there were successors to the Great Zhou Dynasty, when they thought about the fate of the abolished Prince Qiang, they felt chills in their hearts and felt suddenly enlightened.

   No wonder the emperor acted so swiftly and resolutely to depose the prince. This is because the noble concubine Youxi gave the emperor confidence.

  The noble concubine can conceive, which proves that the emperor can still give birth, so sooner or later there will be a prince. In this case, if you don’t hurry up and abolish the prince who made a mistake, what are you waiting for?

   If you miss this opportunity, it will not be so easy to depose the prince without reason after the prince is born in the future.

   It can only be said that the abolition of the prince is unlucky, and he committed a crime at this time.

  By this time, many ministers felt scared.

   Fortunately, when the prince was deposed, they didn't jump out to stand up for the deposed prince, otherwise they would definitely be unlucky.

  Even if you are not unlucky now, you will be settled by Qiuhou.

  Alas, such a great happy event as the imperial concubine's happiness should have been announced earlier.

  After the good news came out, Emperor Yong'an heard countless congratulations, and found that he didn't get bored no matter how many times he heard them.

  When the ministers went to the court, they found that the emperor who always had a straight face in the past was more pleasant, and life was easier.

  For a while, the entire capital was shrouded in a festive atmosphere.

  Under such circumstances, the happy event of the eldest daughter of the Marquis of Changchun coming out of the cabinet seems a bit insignificant.

   Except only those who are closely related.

  In the backyard of a restaurant, the sound of chopping firewood was continuous, and the young man chopping firewood moved with ease, as if in a trance.

   "Xu Qi."

  Xu Qi snapped back to his senses and looked at the girl who spoke.

   "Today is the day when your sister will leave the cabinet, and the wedding party has already gone to Changchun Marquis Mansion."

  Xu Qi clenched the handle of the ax tightly and said nothing.

  Luo Sheng sighed in his heart: "I don't need to chop firewood today, go and have a look."

   "I won't go." Xu Qi swung his ax and slashed down hard, the stick split into two.

  The much taller boy said with a cold face: "I have nothing to do with the Changchun Houfu."

   "It was your father who drove you out of the house, not your sister." After saying this, Luo Sheng turned and went to the lobby.

  The expression of the young man who stayed in the courtyard kept changing, and he swung his ax to chop firewood one after another.

   After an unknown amount of time, he threw the ax on the ground and ran out quickly.

  The people in the lobby only saw a whirlwind blowing by, and the shadow disappeared in the blink of an eye.

  Hong Dou opened his mouth: "What is Xu Dalang doing so fast? I couldn't talk about it just now."

  Kuer laughed and said: "You don't understand, why would my sister not want to go out of the cabinet, Xu Dalang is just being awkward."

  Hongdou frowned: "Since this is the case, why did the girl ask him to be reserved? Do you want our girl to persuade you again?"

  What's wrong with this child, are their girls good at coaxing people?

  Keer is thinking about other aspects: "It's not good to see my sister come out of the court and dress like that, others will laugh..."

  Luo Sheng listened to the chatter of the two little maids, and took a sip of tea with a smile.

  Out of the wine shop, Xu Xi ran fast.

  It was still hot, and he was sweating after running like this for a short time, but the boy never slowed down.

  He saw a long procession to welcome the bride, heard the festive suona sound, and threw handfuls of happy money into the air.

  Those festive reds blurred his eyes, until the bridegroom officer riding a tall horse came into view.

  The young man in the wedding dress is not the refined and coquettish kind that the young lady in the capital prefers, but thick eyebrows and big eyes, clear eyes, giving people a sense of reliability.

  Xu Xi knew this person.

   This is the young master of Xu's family in the General's Mansion, and he has met him several times before.

  Xu Qi grinned.

  Brother Xu's family is a good person, and the eldest sister will live well in the future.

  Xu Qi's eyes fell on the sedan chair.

  His elder sister sat in the sedan chair and became Xu's wife from then on, starting a new life.

  But it was not him who carried his sister on the sedan chair.

  Xu Qi's nose was a little sore, he raised his hand and rubbed the tip of his nose.

  At this moment, the groom officer glanced over here inadvertently, and seemed to have spotted Xu Qi in the crowd, with a look of astonishment on his face.

  Xu Qi didn't expect to be found out, and after a moment of daze, he turned his head and ran away.

  The figure of the young man was overwhelmed by the crowd of onlookers in the blink of an eye. The groom's eyes flickered and he looked away.

  That night, Xu Fang heard from her new husband-in-law that her younger brother had seen her leave the cabinet.

  Although she still feels unfamiliar with the person in front of her, Xu Fang couldn't help crying.

  The groom's official comforted him clumsily, and the distance between the two of them was naturally shortened.

   Next, I spent the candlelight night smoothly and sweetly. Needless to say, it will be the day when I will return home in three days.

  Xu Fang got dressed early in the morning, and was accompanied by her husband back to the Marquis of Changchun.

  The Marquis of Changchun’s mansion, which lacks the head of the house, has a feeling of forced joy. The Marquis of Changchun looks at the smile on the eyebrows of the eldest daughter and the thoughtfulness of the son-in-law with cold eyes. Instead of feeling relieved, he feels a little heavy.

  He has always suspected that the eldest daughter saw the death of Princess Huayang, but he also felt that the eldest daughter was not yet six years old at that time, if she really saw it, it would be impossible to cover it up so well.

  Over the years, doubts have come and gone, becoming an inextricable knot.

   He is contradictory.

  How many times he wanted to attack the eldest daughter, the secret would remain a secret forever after death, but seeing the demure and docile appearance of the eldest daughter, he was afraid that he was being overwhelmed.

   It was his daughter after all, if she didn't know, why would she take her life.

   With such contradictions, an inattentive daughter grew up and became someone else's wife.

  Now the Marquis of Changchun has to admit that he has almost lost control over his eldest daughter who has left the cabinet.

   Fortunately, it seems that there is nothing unusual about the eldest daughter, and the son-in-law is also honest, and even quite flattering to his father-in-law.

   This was a rare time for Marquis Changchun to be happy after being impeached, so he naturally got drunk.

  The back alleys of Changchun Hou's Mansion are narrow and long, and the bright sunshine seems to never shine in. It seems that it has been a humid and cold winter here.

   There is a knock on a dilapidated door.

  The door opened with a creak, and the gatekeeper poked her head out: "Who is it?"

  The woman in the veiled cap raises the veil that covers her face.

   "Miss?" The gatekeeper was taken aback, and then realized, "Oh, today is the day when my aunt returns home. I haven't had a chance to congratulate you yet."

  Xu Fang stepped in and said calmly, "Yes, I'm going back today to see Mrs. Yang."

  Just as the gatekeeper woman was about to say something, the maid who accompanied Xu Fang put a piece of silver into her hand.

  The lady guarding the door stopped talking nonsense immediately, closed the door and said, "Master Hou ordered no one to come to see it. Auntie and grandma, please leave early after you have seen it, otherwise this old servant will not be able to explain."

  Xu Fang smiled: "Don't worry, I won't embarrass you."

  (end of this chapter)