Chapter 191: Visit in the Palace
Seeing Zhao Xing get out of bed, Zhang Guifen quickly pulled the quilt to cover herself.
Zhao Xing did not continue to tease her. He put on his underwear and called the palace maid to help them wash up.
By the time the two of them finished packing, it was already completely bright.
The couple took a carriage to the palace.
.........
"Meet the father, the emperor and the queen!"
In Renming Palace, Zhao Xing and Zhang Guifen bowed.
"No gift."
The official waved his hand, looked at his son and daughter-in-law kindly, and said: "Fu'er, now that you are married, you need to be more cautious in the future, sooner. Spread the branches and leaves for the royal family.”
"Yes."
Zhao Xing muttered in his heart, wondering where he was losing his stability.
The official said a few more words, and Empress Cao also gave some instructions. Then she called Zhang Guifen to the front, took off a blood jade bracelet from her wrist, and put it on Zhang Guifen's hand.
"Thank you very much, Queen Mother."
The elders gave the gift, but the younger ones dared not say goodbye, so Zhang Guifen could only express her gratitude.
"I don't have much to do in the palace on weekdays. Since Fu'er moved to the East Palace, she doesn't come to see me much. You will have to come to the palace more often to talk to me in the future." Empress Cao said with a smile.
"Mother, you have wronged me. I wish I could greet you every day when I wake up in the morning or dusk. It was you who told me not to come here every day." Zhao Xing cried out unjustly.
Actually, he also knew that Queen Cao did not allow him to come to greet her every day because she was afraid that he would not have a good rest and did not want him to go back and forth.
As for Queen Cao saying she was bored, Zhao Xing thought about playing mahjong quickly.
In fact, this stuff was first spread from the palace, and it would be appropriate to tinker with it for Empress Cao’s entertainment.
Anyway, there are many concubines in the harem, so there is no need to worry about finding one.
If Empress Cao is infatuated and plays mahjong every day, she will not cause trouble for him in the future, and the love between mother and son will be maintained.
After hearing this, Queen Cao glared at Zhao Xing angrily and said, "I said so, but you can't come over and talk to me if you have nothing to do?"
"Yes. , I will definitely come often in the future, as long as the queen mother doesn’t bother my son,” Zhao Xing said with a smile.
After a while of joking, Zhu Neiguan came to report that the meal was ready. Upon hearing this, Queen Cao ordered the meal to be passed on.
Although the Song Dynasty already had round tables and the meal-sharing system was no longer used in most cases, the meal-sharing system was still basically practiced in the palace.
The same goes for banquets with ministers.
The emperor and the ministers cannot sit at the same table.
After the meal was served, Zhang Guifen was about to serve Queen Cao.
Generally, when a new daughter-in-law enters the house, she needs to serve her parents-in-law to eat first, and then she can eat after her parents-in-law have finished eating.
This is the same in the royal family.
In other homes, the new daughter-in-law has to wait outside the door even when her mother-in-law is taking a nap, which is commonly known as the standing rule.
Situations like the discord between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law in later generations, where the son and husband were caught in a dilemma, did not exist in ancient times.
In ancient times, filial piety came first, just like Mrs. Wang. Even though Mrs. Sheng was not Sheng Hong’s biological mother, she did not dare to be disrespectful at all. If Mrs. Sheng scolded her and punished her, she could only suffer. , at most, a few curse words in private.
Hua Lan was made things difficult for her mother-in-law at the Yuan family, so she could only endure it.
This is not a lack of means, but natural suppression.
Otherwise, there would be no saying that a daughter-in-law of many years becomes a mother-in-law.
"Sit down and have a meal. I am waiting for you." Queen Cao waved her hand.
Some of the reasons why the mother-in-law makes things difficult for the daughter-in-law are to make her daughter-in-law understand the rules, and some are simply because she has been made difficult by her mother-in-law and wants to make her addicted.
However, there are also some tolerant mothers-in-law who will not deliberately make things difficult for their daughters-in-law.
Queen Cao had no intention of making things difficult for Zhang Guifen. After all, Zhang Guifen often went to the palace with her mother, and Queen Cao was very familiar with her.
Hearing this, Zhang Guifen looked towards Zhao Xing, saw him nodding slightly, responded, returned to his seat and sat down.
After breakfast, the officials went to deal with government affairs.
Zhao Xing and Zhang Guifen stayed to talk to Queen Cao.
After chatting for a while, Queen Cao smiled and said: "I am a little tired and want to take a rest. Fu'er, please take the princess to Yongning Palace to sit."
"Yes, my son-in-law (daughter-in-law) is resigning!" The two of them saluted.
“Are you nervous?”
After leaving the hall, Zhao Xing smiled.
"A bit." Zhang Guifen nodded.
This is not the first time she has met the Guan family and Empress Cao, but now that their identities are different, she is afraid that she will not perform well and make them dissatisfied.
Zhao Xing squeezed her hand and said, "My father, the Queen, and my mother are very kind. You should be more natural. There is nothing to be nervous about."
"Yes." Zhang Guifen nodded and said, "Thank you, Your Highness. "
"What do you call your highness? It depends on the situation. From now on, you can call me husband or officials in private." Zhao Xing said with a smile.
Husband officer and future husband have similar meanings.
As for His Highness, everyone can shout.
"Your Highness, it's not polite to call him that." Zhang Guifen shook his head. "What etiquette? At home, you obey your father, and when you get married, you obey your husband. Isn't it etiquette for you?"
Zhao Xing said: "I let you call me that in private, and I didn’t let you call me that all the time. Tinggu, call me husband..."
"This..."
Zhang Guifen hesitated when he heard this. It was indeed illegal to call him this, but Zhao Xing said That's right.
The three obediences and the four virtues come from "Rituals". Nowadays, absolute obedience has not yet been formed. For example, a wife has the responsibility to support her husband and educate her children.
The so-called prime minister refers to assisting the husband, just like the prime minister assists the emperor, and it also means to persuade.
Women in the Song Dynasty were not as obedient to men as they were in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, but in general they still had to obey their men.
Although it was somewhat illegal for Zhao Xing to ask her to call her husband, it was still acceptable to just shout in private.
Zhang Guifen's face was rosy and she said shyly: "Husband...husband..."
"Haha, I'll call you that in private from now on." Zhao Xing laughed.
Zhang Guifen called her husband, and the relationship between the couple became a little closer.
Chatting along the way, we arrived at Yongning Palace.
Concubine Zhu was very happy to see her daughter-in-law. She asked a few questions with concern and gave Zhang Guifen a lot of jewelry.
"Fu'er, your cousin has been serving in the local government for several years. A few days ago, my sister-in-law came to see me in the palace. She missed me very much in her words. See if you can bring your cousin back. ." Concubine Zhu asked.
"Mother and concubine, the child is just a prince now, how can he interfere with the transfer of officials. My cousin's appointment in the local government will be good for him in the future. Now that my uncle and aunt are in good health, they are not in a hurry to let my cousin fulfill their filial piety. A few years." Zhao Xing said.
Zhu Jingyu passed the Jinshi examination in the same year as Su Shi and others, but only got the top three.
Zhao Xing made a secret signal and was sent to Jiangnan to serve as a county magistrate.
The reason for doing this is not only to train him, but also to let him serve as an official in Jiangnan and understand the situation in Jiangnan.
The secret guards can investigate some situations, but they may not be able to understand the real situation in the officialdom.
Although Zhu Jingyu's official position was not high, he was considered to be in the circle at least. He had a good evaluation the year before last, and Zhao Xing worked hard again, and now he is the county magistrate.
"You are the prince after all, this is not a big deal." Concubine Zhu was a little dissatisfied with her son for not helping.
Although she is in the palace, she knows some things and does not think it is a big deal.
Zhu Jingyu is the eldest son of the Zhu family, so she naturally wants to help her mother's family.
"Concubine, how about you ask your aunt to write a letter to ask my cousin. If my cousin intends to return to Beijing, I will think of a way. After all, this kind of thing depends on my cousin's own wishes." Zhao Xing said.
When Zhu Jingyu left, Zhao Xing had a deep chat with him. This matter should be his aunt's intention.
It might even be just the intention of the mother-in-law. His aunt seems to be a shrewd person and may not say this.
But as a mother, after not seeing her son for a long time, it is normal to express some thoughts in her words.
No matter who it is, Zhu Jingyu probably won’t choose to come back.
"Well, I'll ask your aunt to ask later." Concubine Zhu nodded with satisfaction.
After lunch at his mother's house, Zhao Xingcai left with Zhang Guifen.
After leaving Yongning Palace, Zhao Xing said: "In the past, there was no princess in the East Palace, and no female family members came to visit. Now that you have entered, people will inevitably visit you in the future, and there will be no shortage of similar things like this."< br>
In the past, Zhao Xing did not marry a concubine, and there was no mistress in the East Palace, so naturally there were no female relatives to visit.
Now that Zhang Guifen has entered the door, whether it is to please or for some other purpose, it is certain that officials and family members will come to visit her.
"Your Majesty...husband, don't worry, I will not agree." Zhang Guifen said.
"That's not what I mean. It's not okay to refuse some things blindly. Some people can refuse, but some are difficult to refuse. I tell you this to remind you that in such a situation, neither refuse nor agree, imitate Ling Liang is the best," Zhao Xing said.
Just like the mother and concubine just now, he refused directly and the mother and concubine were unhappy, but he could not agree directly.
This kind of situation will not only happen to him, but also to Zhang Guifen.
The Zhang family is also a big family, but all the main members of this generation died in the war, and there are no males.
But there must be a lot of relatives of all kinds, and it’s normal for someone to ask for help.
Zhang Guifen nodded thoughtfully and said, "I understand, I understand."
The two of them rode on a chariot and just came out of the harem when they met Eunuch Liu.
"Greetings to His Royal Highness, Crown Princess." Eunuch Liu saluted.
"What's the matter with Eunuch Liu?" Zhao Xing asked.
“Back to Your Highness, Your Majesty said that Your Highness will accompany the Crown Princess to the British government the next day.” Eunuch Liu said.
"I understand." Zhao Xing nodded.
The day after tomorrow is the day to return. He is the prince, he may or may not return.
His father asked him to accompany Zhang Guifen back home. This was to give the Zhang family dignity.
Even if his father didn't say anything, Zhao Xing planned to go back with Zhang Guifen.
"My husband is busy with official duties, so there is no need to accompany me back home. I can just find time to go back by myself in a few days." Zhang Guifen said.
"I haven't had much to do recently. Father has already said that I will continue to send Zhazi to the East Palace in May. I just want to go to my father-in-law to ask for advice." Zhao Xing said with a smile.
Although Sheng Shulan is pregnant, she is a concubine after all.
In order to have a legitimate child as soon as possible, the official family not only stopped sending children to the East Palace, but also told him before the wedding to let go of the Fengfu matter after they got married.
(End of this chapter)