First Concubine

Chapter 10 The first bloom of glory (1)

　　Everyone was shocked by this sudden turn of events, but no one suspected that Guo Rong had ulterior motives. They all thought it was just an accident.

Xun Feng's heart trembled slightly, but he was in a pavilion several miles away and there was nothing he could do.

Yunli's mind moved and he blew out a strong wind.

Zhuge Yu smiled faintly and also blew out a strong wind.

Two strong winds collided fiercely in the air, and the ball that was supposed to hit Shui Linglong suddenly flew towards Shui Lingxi!

It was too late to try to remedy the situation. Shuilingxi just heard a scream and fell off the horse.

Yun Li frowned and looked at Zhuge Yu. Seeing his innocent face, an inexplicable undercurrent flashed through Yun Li's gentle eyes.

In this year's Plum Appreciation Banquet, Shui Linglong and Yao Xin won the literary championship and martial arts championship respectively, but the former's popularity far exceeded that of the latter. No one thought that a little-known concubine could achieve such an ideal. With her achievements, the previous remarks about how she was not worthy of being the Crown Princess of Zhenbei Palace were much lessened. As for Shui Lingxi, the beauty of the Shui family who was supposed to attract everyone's attention, not only did she lose completely, but she also fell to the ground, her face was swollen, and her image was completely lost. She became the most embarrassing daughter in the history of the Plum Appreciation Banquet.

After going to the dressing room to change clothes, Shui Linglong walked toward the gate of Ruixue Villa, where she "accidentally" bumped into Yunli.

Yun Li was about to stretch out his hand to support her: "How could I be so careless? What if I fell? How's the injury on my left hand? Let me take a look."

Shui Linglong took a step back and said, "It's okay. Thank you for your concern, Your Highness."

At this time, Zhuge Xi came over and took Shui Linglong's arm affectionately, as if they had known each other for many years. After saying hello to Yunli, she said cheerfully to Shui Linglong: "Linglong, Xin'er can get it." Thanks to you, Champion Wu, the Yao family has not been so majestic for a long time! As the sister-in-law, I would like to thank you on her behalf. Come on, come on, I will take you home."

 Smiling so weirdly, can there be any good things happening? Shui Linglong's eyes flashed and she left with Zhuge Xi.

Yunli looked at the two people's retreating figures and hesitated to speak.

Not long after, Shui Lingxi, who was wearing a veil, came over with tears in her eyes: "Your Highness...Lingxi has embarrassed you, Your Highness, please punish me!"

Yunli took out the handkerchief to wipe her face, but as soon as he held it in his palm, he noticed the difference in texture. He tried to withdraw his hand but it was too late. Shui Lingxi smelled the feminine fragrance on the handkerchief, she snatched it over, trembling her long eyelashes, and said with a smile: "Your Highness, I'll wipe it myself. I'm really sorry for staining your handkerchief. I'll wash it another day." Sent to you."

This veil is obviously not his, could it be the collision just now? Linglong's smiling face flashed through his mind, and Yunli shook his head: "No, if you don't dislike it, just keep it. I'll take you back home."

Shui Lingxi leaned against his chest and smiled shyly: "Thank you, Your Highness. Your Highness will get in the car first. I will explain a few words to my friends and then I will come."

After saying goodbye to Yunli, Shui Lingxi looked solemn and walked towards Guo Rong's carriage. As soon as she entered the carriage, she slapped Guo Rong in the face without saying a word: "No wonder you haven't accomplished anything, you simply can't do anything." You have never thought of framing Shui Linglong, you have always wanted to harm me, right? I warn you, don’t have any thoughts that you shouldn’t have! Do you think the Guo family is as high as you were a hundred years ago? A prominent family among the top ten families? Wake up! The Guo family has been torn apart, and your father, Guo Rong, is just a dog under my father’s control! Disappear from the capital!"

In the carriage, Shui Linglong listened quietly to what was going on over there, with a mocking arc on her lips. The Guo family was indeed no longer as prosperous as it was a hundred years ago, and could even be described as depressed. But according to the memory of her previous life, it would not be long before the Guo family Guo Yan, the eldest son of Guo, will return from the battlefield in triumph, be named a mighty general, receive great praise and favor from the emperor, and marry the three princesses. One of them will ascend to heaven, and the Guo family will rise again, and Guo Rong, who Shuilingxi offended today, will also He will become a very popular and powerful figure among noble ladies.

Shui Lingxi got off the carriage, Guo Rong cried so hard that the maid Tao'er said cautiously: "Miss, how did your veil end up on His Highness the Crown Prince? Did someone frame you?"

Guo Rong sniffed and said angrily: "The frame-up can only be done by her! Why would you want to accuse me? She just blamed me for not completing the task for her, and deliberately found an excuse to punish me. Unless I It threatens her position as Crown Princess, otherwise the Shangshu Mansion and the Prime Minister's Mansion will not care about my petty quarrel with her, she is really vicious!"

At the corner near the gate of Ruixue Villa, Yao Cheng was instructing Zhuge Yu on how to control his wife. Although this brother-in-law was unruly and unruly and did not understand etiquette, he was still quite nice to him.

He spat and said: "Brother-in-law, you are about to get married. Let me tell you a few words from the bottom of my heart. Women are bad. The nicer you treat her, the more unambiguous she will be to you. On the contrary, the more you ignore her, she will The more I try to get on you! Let’s talk about your sister. Isn’t she tough? Even the princess in your house can’t control her, but since she married me, she has been under my extremely tough wife control policy. Come on, she's as good as that! If I say east, she doesn't dare to go west; if I say west, she doesn't dare go north! So, even though your wife is in the limelight today, you still have to treat her later! Don’t let her put her eyes on her head! We are pure men, so we must act like men! Do you understand?”

 Zhuge Yu raised his eyebrows: "Oh? Oh."

 Little…little…little brat, don’t you believe it?

Yao Cheng looked at Zhuge Yu's retreating figure, wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, and got on his carriage in a few steps. There, Zhuge Xi was leaning on the soft pillow. As soon as she put Shui Linglong on the carriage of Zhenbei Prince's Mansion, she looked for The excuse to go to the toilet is gone. Counting the time, the medicine will take effect in a quarter of an hour.

Zhuge Xi glanced sideways at Yao Cheng, raised his legs, and asked lazily: "Have you told Yu'er?"

Yao Cheng's solemn aura instantly disintegrated. He smiled ingratiatingly, sat on the couch, put Zhuge Xi's legs on his own, and gently tapped them: "Hey, madam, you still don't feel at ease when I do things? Since I After marrying you, under your extremely tough husband-control policy, I am as obedient as that! If you say east, I will not dare to go west, if you say west, I will never dare to go north!"

Zhuge Xi suppressed his laughter and hooked one foot, and he fell on top of her...

The gift from Ruixue Villa was said to be delivered in ten days. Shui Linglong thought that after ten days, she might be able to see Xun Feng in person. She was looking forward to meeting her for the first time after her rebirth.

But he said that after Zhuge Yu drank the wine in Leng Yixuan's hand, he found that something was wrong with him. He seemed to be... extremely hot. Having never experienced a woman, he really didn't understand what was wrong with him. It wasn't until he opened the curtain of the carriage that he saw Shui Linglong sitting inside, and he wanted to pounce on her immediately and "eat her to pieces", then he realized that he was being raped. Calculate!

 Leng--Yi--Xuan!

"today…"

Before Shui Linglong could finish saying the three words "Thank you", Shui Linglong felt her eyes darken, the curtain was lowered, and Zhuge Yu had disappeared. He left as if he was running away, and he didn't even notice that he had dropped something.

"Am I that scary? It's inexplicable!" Shui Linglong leaned down and picked up the object on the floor into her palm. It was a twisted gold bracelet for women. The workmanship was very ordinary, but the texture was high-quality. It didn't look like something bought outside. , it seems that he made it himself, and judging from its color, it can be inferred that it is several years old.

Shui Linglong’s first reaction was: Zhuge Yu has a sweetheart.

The Zhuge family was originally the leader of the Kashiqing tribe in the west. They occupied the land and became kings and did not submit to the court. The people of Kashgar believed in gods, and only the Zhuge surname was respected. Whenever the imperial court sent troops to attack the Kashgar tribe, the people along the way, regardless of gender, Old and young, regardless of whether they were sick, weak or strong, they all spontaneously blocked the front of the imperial army. The imperial court could not brutally massacre the people of the Zhou Dynasty, and the war between the two sides entered a stalemate. The general who conquered the West at that time was Leng Yu'an, the head of the Leng family. He had peace talks with the Zhuge family many times, but with little success. Later, Leng Youru, the legitimate daughter of the Leng family, married Zhuge Liuyun and gave birth to their eldest daughter Zhuge. Xi and his eldest son Zhuge Yu, the Kashgar tribe finally surrendered to the imperial court.

In order to appease the people of Kashiqing, the imperial court exempted them from taxes for twenty years and retained the leadership of the Zhuge family in Kashiqing. The second son of the concubine, Zhuge Liufeng, became the new patriarch, and the eldest son Zhuge Liuyun came to Beijing to receive a title. Zhuge Yu was five years old that year when he became the King of Zhenbei.

Five-year-old children definitely don’t know anything about love, and after entering Beijing, Zhuge Yu had never been in contact with a woman with a foreign surname, so Shui Linglong thought that this bracelet was not for her sweetheart.

In Changlexuan, Shui Lingxi lay in Qin Fangyi's arms, crying until her voice became hoarse: "Mother, that **** is too much! How could she do this? Mother, you must vent your anger for me! Ugh..."

 Isn’t Qin Fangyi angry? Of course she was angry, thinking that her daughter who was carefully cultivated by the daughter of the Prime Minister's Palace was lost to the daughter of a businesswoman, and the Prime Minister's Palace was completely disgraced by Shui Lingxi. She didn't reprimand her, so she complained instead? In the past, Qin Fangyi would have softened her heart when Shui Lingxi cried, but now Qin Fangyi is so worried about the affairs in the house, how can she have free time to compete with a concubine who is about to get married? The new year is approaching, and Shui Minyu and Shui Minhui are both returning from Xishan Academy. Thinking of Shui Minhui, who grew up under the old lady's knees since childhood, her head hurts.

"Okay, good daughter, if you lose this year and win back next year, it would be disrespectful to compete with a concubine. His Highness the Crown Prince has already made it clear that he will treat you as he has done in the past by sending you back home, so don't feel aggrieved. "It's gone." Qin Fangyi touched her swollen face and said, "Don't go out of the yard for the next few days until the swelling subsides."

"Mother! I..." Shui Lingxi wanted to say something else, but Qin Fangyi had already ordered Huayi to take her back to her yard.

Not long after, Shui Hangge walked in, with no anger on his face.

Qin Fangyi was overjoyed. Although her daughter had been embarrassed, she was still the Crown Princess by default. No matter what the master said, she had to give the Crown Prince some favor. She served Shui Hangge a cup of tea: "My husband, this is your favorite Longjing. "

"Hmm." Shui Hangge sat down on the couch, took the tea cup, and thought about how to talk about this. He saw that Qin Fangyi had ordered Shiqing to put hot water in the bathroom, and he had no intention of staying here overnight! He cleared his throat and said, "Well, Linglong has earned face for Shangshu Mansion this time."

Qin Fangyi did not deny this: "Yes, Linglong is a well-behaved child. I will take more care of her in the future."

But I was thinking that the betrothal gift given by Princess Zhenbei would be much more expensive!

Shui Linglong took a sip of tea and said, "Ahem, I mean, she is considered a respectable person now, so her dowry should be generous to avoid being criticized."

Qin Fangyi's biggest problem is her greed for money. When Shui Hangge mentioned this, the hairs all over her body stood up. She clenched the veil tightly and said with a smile: "The master is right, I have already paid for the original dowry." How about showing it to you and adding a village and a shop? Don’t worry, I’ll pick it up.”

 A village or a shop? Shui Hange couldn't help but be a little disappointed. He had saved his salary, and Qin Fangyi's dowry was locked up. In total, all the food and clothing in this house were spent on Dong Jiaxue's money. Now that Dong Jiaxue's daughter is getting married, Qin Fangyi But he didn't even buy a decent dowry. He, who was previously lacking in confidence, suddenly became angry: "Give Linglong five shops on East Street and South Street, as well as two shops in Tong County, as a dowry!"

"Ms. sir!" Qin Fangyi's face turned pale, "Then...those are the best shops and shops, but they were all given to Linglong. What will happen to Lingxi?"

“Do we still have few villages and shops? You can move others to Lingxi’s name.”

“Ms. Lingxi is going to be the crown prince. If her dowry is worse than that of a prince’s concubine, it will be a disgrace to the crown prince!”

As soon as these words came out, Shui Hange's expression became a little relaxed. No matter how good the Zhenbei Palace was, he was still a minister and had to serve the prince. But when he thought of the old lady's tough attitude, he, who had always been filial, couldn't bear to give up. What the old lady meant was that he really didn't understand why the old lady was so partial to a concubine's daughter.

Just when Shui Hangge was in a dilemma, outside the door, Huayi said that Liu Guanshi wanted to see him.

However, Yao Cheng, Leng Yixuan, Princess Zhenbei, the third princess, and Prince Xun Feng of Prince Pingnan all sent congratulatory gifts to celebrate Shui Linglong becoming the champion of the literary examination at the Plum Appreciation Banquet.

It is reasonable for Prince Zhenbei and the Yao family to send gifts, but Leng Yixuan, the third princess and Prince Pingnan also sent gifts, which was completely beyond Shui Hangge's expectation. Obviously, compared to Shui Lingxi, who has a pair of peerless beauty, Shui Linglong, who is beautiful and smart, is more at home among the powerful.

In particular, the third princess is the prince's sister, Leng Yixuan is the prince's friend, and Xun Feng is the prince's confidant. They all expressed their affection for Shui Linglong in unison. The first two were nothing more, but Xun Feng did not attend the plum appreciation banquet at all. After sending congratulatory gifts, Shui Hangge began to speculate, maybe... they had the prince's instructions? The prince fell in love with Linglong? At this moment, Shui Hangge suddenly regretted why he had agreed to change Qin Fangyi's choice of Crown Princess?

But soon, he thought that the result of Linglong and Zhuge Yu's marriage has not yet come out, and the Prince's Mansion has not come to propose marriage. Does this mean that there is still room for change?

Naturally, Shui Linglong didn't know that her marriage was remembered by Shui Hangge. She walked through the second door and was greeted by Mother Zhong holding a cloak. Mother Zhong already knew that Shui Linglong had won the literary test championship, so she didn't want to mention how much she felt. Happy. Shui Linglong didn't say anything, but Ye Mao kept talking like he was pouring beans. Mother Zhong shed tears while listening. She had known how could the children taught by an outstanding woman like Madam be so bad?

While a few people were talking and laughing, they saw a figure walking slowly through the corridor in front. Mother Zhong took a closer look and was so frightened that she was stunned for a moment: "Husband... Madam?"

Ye Mao raised his eyes and saw that the man had turned around and disappeared.

Shui Linglong smiled faintly: "You also think Aunt Zhou looks a bit like my mother, don't you?"

In her previous life, she was just like Mother Zhong when she first met Aunt Zhou. She was so surprised that she was speechless. Even because of these three or two similarities, she had a good impression of Aunt Zhou, but these favorable impressions were completely eliminated by Shui Ling. The moon has gone by, so she and Aunt Zhou have no major conflicts of interest, and they have been getting along well for several years. In this life, Aunt Zhou took the initiative to break this balance, and she would never sit still and wait for death.

 Zhou...Aunt Zhou? Mother Zhong was stunned for a long time. She seemed to have thought of something, and a glimmer of realization flashed in her eyes.

After returning to Lingxiang Courtyard, Shui Linglong found out that Yao Cheng, Leng Yixuan, the third princess and Xun Feng had all sent congratulatory gifts. Yao Cheng had sent a pair of gold-embellished green hairpins with beads, rubies, gold bases, and blue green feathers. , with bright colors and novel styles, it looks like Zhuge Xi’s handiwork at first glance.

What Leng Yixuan gave him were the Four Treasures of the Study and the latest novelties.

The third princess sent a box of luozidai from Persia and several pieces of high-quality satin and silk.

What Xun Feng gave as a gift was a pair of warm jade chess pieces.

The prince is fond of raising birds and playing chess. At first glance, it seems to be the prince's handiwork, but Shui Linglong understands that this is definitely Xun Feng's own initiative, but in Shui Hangge's eyes, it may be the prince's instruction.

 It seems that Xun Feng intends to use his power to prevent her from marrying into the Zhenbei Palace.

“This satin is so beautiful, the third princess is so generous.” Liu Lu said enviously as she arranged the satin.

“I think the gift from Mr. Leng is good. Look at this little windmill. It can spin by itself when you put some water in it. How novel it is.” Ye Mao was having a great time.

Zhi Fan thought for a while and asked Xiang Shui Linglong: "Miss, the old lady gave you some satin as a reward last time. Do you want to show some respect to the old lady?"

Although Zhifan is not a son of the family in the family, he is shrewd. Shui Linglong looked at her approvingly: "I want to give it as a gift. Send a piece of silk to the old lady, and choose one of the novelties to give to the family in the family." Ladies, the four treasures of the study are also given to the old lady."

"Four treasures of the study?" Ye Mao packed up the windmill and asked puzzledly, "Miss, the old lady doesn't write."

Zhifan smiled at her and said, "The lady wants to give it to the second young master."

 (End of this chapter)