good season

Chapter 144 The Two Princesses (Two chapters combined)

Before long, the day of the flower viewing party arrived. The noble ladies of the city had been preparing for this day for many days. Yang Shengqiu also changed into his best clothes. He walked out of his house and was about to get into the sedan chair when he saw a magnificent and spacious carriage without any family crest or insignia parked in front of his house.

A well-dressed servant stood in front of the carriage. Upon seeing Yang Shengqiu, the servant quickly stepped forward and bowed respectfully: "I am Feng Shun, serving by the Second Young Master's side. Today, the Second Young Master is also going to the flower viewing party. He left ahead of me and instructed me to make sure that Scholar Yang is safely delivered."

Actually, Yang Shengqiu knew who Feng Shun was even without him introducing himself.

Yang Shengqiu has an exceptional memory; even though he had only met her once, he was still able to recognize her at a glance.

The second son mentioned by Feng Shun is named Feng Yanxing. He is the second son of Feng Ke, the Grand Secretary of the current dynasty, and one of the elder brothers of the Third Imperial Concubine, Feng Jiahe. He is also a famous painter in the capital, known as the Master Feng, because of his skill in painting landscapes.

Feng Yanxing was a child prodigy who gained fame at the age of fourteen, but he only loved painting. He left home at the age of seventeen and returned three years later. He amazed the world with twelve landscape paintings at Xiecaixuan. His painting style was called "Feng Shan". Some people even traveled thousands of miles to the capital just to see Feng Shan's true face.

After gaining fame, Feng Yanxing neither took the imperial examinations to enter officialdom nor wrote books. Like a wild cloud or a wild crane, he roamed among the mountains and rivers. When he occasionally returned to the capital, he would always produce a powerful work.

Yang Shengqiu was also skilled in calligraphy and painting. When he first arrived in the capital, Feng Ke extended an olive branch to him. However, at that time, he had not yet passed the imperial examination, and Feng Ke only sent him a letter inviting him to participate in a painting appreciation event.

That art appreciation event invited many skilled painters, as well as many newcomers eager to make a name for themselves.

When Yang Shengqiu first arrived in the capital, he brought his paintings to participate and received personal comments from Feng Yanxing.

Feng Yanxing praised him highly and gave him a folding fan that he had painted himself. It was on that occasion that Yang Shengqiu met Feng Shun.

Later, Yang Shengqiu became the top scholar in the imperial examination. Feng Yanxing held another painting appreciation event, but did not send him an invitation. Yang Shengqiu thought that this master painter had forgotten him. Unexpectedly, at today's flower appreciation event, Feng Yanxing sent Feng Shun to pick him up.

Yang Shengqiu certainly didn't think this was about saving face for himself, much less that it was Feng Yanxing's idea.

He had met Feng Yanxing before. Feng Yanxing was unrestrained and bold, and he would send a carriage to pick up someone he had only met once. This was not Feng Yanxing's style.

Yang Shengqiu thought of Feng Ke, or the Third Prince.

A few days ago, he might have declined, but now he did not refuse and gladly got into the magnificent carriage.

He thought of the little girl and the letter he had burned.

He is no longer the outstanding scholar with a clear conscience; he is still a survivor of that massacre. His most urgent task is to find a powerful backer.

And Feng Ke is the biggest backer he can find right now.

The carriage slowly drove away, and Yang Shengqiu, sitting inside, didn't see that another carriage drove into the alley where he lived.

He didn't see it, but Feng Shun, who was sitting with the driver, did. Not only did he see it, he also recognized whose carriage it was.

Although the carriage also lacked a family crest, Feng Shun was a servant carefully chosen by Feng Ke for his son. He was not only loyal and reliable but also had a keen eye.

This carriage belongs to the Dong family, and Dong Qinglin, the retired Hanlin Academician in the capital, is the Crown Princess's uncle!
The Dong family were all scholars. Although they had no real power, they enjoyed a high reputation among scholars. Moreover, the Dong family produced a Crown Princess!

If they're lucky, the Dong family might produce an empress.

But the crown prince has to be lucky enough to do that.

Feng Shun narrowed his eyes slightly. He needed to report to the Grand Secretary as soon as possible that the Crown Prince also wanted to win over Scholar Yang.

Yang Shengqiu was unaware of this matter at the time, but he knew Dong Qinglin. He had just entered the Hanlin Academy, while Dong Qinglin had already retired. Logically, they should not have any further contact. However, in his first month in the Hanlin Academy, it happened to be Dong Qinglin's birthday. The Hanlin scholar personally led a group of Hanlin scholars to Dong's residence to offer their birthday wishes, including the top three scholars who served as compilers and editors in the Hanlin Academy.

Dong Qinglin was very pleased and invited the three of them to his study to see several ancient books he had just collected.

However, Dong Qinglin had already retired from officialdom, and Yang Shengqiu had only met him once.

The carriage continued its journey and finally arrived at the residence of Princess Jianing.

The flower viewing party was held in the garden of the Princess's residence, where elegant ladies and beautiful women gathered amidst a profusion of flowers.

Yang Shengqiu soon met Zhao Wenjing, the son of Princess Jianing.

Princess Jianing married at the age of fifteen and divorced at the age of sixteen. After the divorce, she was diagnosed with pregnancy and gave birth to twins, Zhao Wenjing and Zhao Wenting, at the age of seventeen.

Before the two brothers were even a month old, Consort Meng, who was then still a concubine, petitioned the Emperor Emeritus to grant them the surname Zhao.

Although the two brothers shared the surname Zhao, they did not attract the attention of the retired emperor.

Although Xiao Zhen did not remember the Emperor Emeritus's appearance, he had entered the palace when he was young and had seen the Emperor Emeritus.

However, the brothers Zhao Wenjing and Zhao Wenting never attended palace banquets during festivals, nor did they ever see the Emperor Emeritus.

However, the retired emperor treated Princess Jianing very well. All along, Princess Jianing received the same amount of rewards as Princess Jiayi, which was higher than those given to other princesses.

When Yang Shengqiu saw Zhao Wenjing, he thought of the rumors he had heard at the Hanlin Academy.

The reason why the retired emperor distanced himself from the two brothers was because of Princess Jianing's marriage.

Princess Jianing fell in love with a poor scholar surnamed Hong. The Emperor Emeritus and Consort Meng were both dissatisfied, but she was madly in love with him. In the end, the Emperor Emeritus agreed to the marriage.

However, after only a year, Princess Jianing divorced. After the divorce, she gave birth to two sons. The retired emperor ordered her to send the children back to the Hong family, but Princess Jianing threatened to kill herself and insisted on keeping the two sons by her side. She even asked the retired emperor to bestow surnames upon them. As a result, the censors submitted memorials one after another, condemning Princess Jianing's inappropriate behavior. The retired emperor was extremely annoyed and thus also grew to dislike his two infant grandsons.

However, Emperor Yongjia favored his two nephews, especially after Xiao Zhen's "death." Emperor Yongjia paid great attention to the children of the princesses in the capital, giving them rewards every now and then and summoning them to the palace to test their knowledge and martial arts skills.

He especially valued the brothers Zhao Wenjing and Zhao Wenting, and as a result, the brothers are now prominent figures in the aristocratic circles of Beijing.

Zhao Wenjing personally accompanied Yang Shengqiu and introduced him to his friends and cousins. Facing the admiring, curious, or disdainful gazes of the crowd, Yang Shengqiu handled himself with ease and humility, neither reserved nor arrogant. His erudition and refined demeanor made people unconsciously overlook his humble origins.

Not far away, a pair of eyes followed him. The owner of those eyes sat behind a flowering tree. The wind blew, and petals fell on her shoulders, tinging a blush on the girl's pale cheeks.

"Ming'er, so you're here." A girl hurried over, looked her younger sister up and down, and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that her sister's clothes were neat. But when she looked down, she saw her sister's feet hidden under her skirt.

Her left embroidered shoe was perfectly fine, but her right foot was only covered by a silk stocking. "Where are your shoes? And where is Chunying?" she asked in a low voice, looking around.

The girl named Ming'er pouted and her eyes reddened: "I was pushed just now and my shoes got stuck in the mud. Luckily, we brought spare clothes and shoes, and Chunying went to get them for me."

The older sister gently comforted her, "Thankfully you're alright. By the way, who pushed you?"

Ming'er lowered her eyelids, her long eyelashes casting a moon shadow: "One is the young lady of the Qingchuan County Princess, the one named Lang Yuyu. I don't know the other one, I think her surname is Fan."

The older sister snorted coldly: "Since when did the county princess's lackeys start daring to bully the princess? Lang Yuyu's father was only transferred to the capital last month, and he's only a fourth-rank official."

Ming'er smiled bitterly: "Royal sister, what kind of princesses are we? Aunt Jiayi, Aunt Jianing, Aunt Jia'an, and Fourth Sister, they are the real princesses. As for us, we are just orphans."

The older sister sighed, and the two sisters remained silent.

At this moment, the maid Chunying came running over, glancing around as she ran, afraid of being seen.

"Princess, the embroidered shoes have been brought. This servant will help you put them on."

Princess Huiming breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing the embroidered shoe that matched her left foot perfectly. If people saw that she was only wearing one shoe, she would be ridiculed again.

The older sister, Huixin, took out a handkerchief and wiped the moisture from her younger sister's eyes.

They were the daughters of Emperor Xiaokang. Although they grew up in the capital and had the title of princess, they were marginalized and dispensable members of the royal family.

Over the years, the occasions they least wanted to attend were those like today, because they were always isolated at such times.

Things like today have happened before. Sometimes tea gets spilled on me, sometimes I get knocked to the ground by a little girl who suddenly appears out of nowhere, and sometimes I even fall into the water in public.

They had no grudges against those noble ladies of the capital, yet they were still bullied by them because, in their eyes, they were just helpless orphans.

“They’ve bullied us a lot before, and they’re sure they won’t let us off the hook today. Maybe we should just hide here,” Princess Huiming said.

Although many noble ladies have been invited to today's flower viewing party, everyone knows that the real purpose of this party is to select husbands for the three princesses.

Other noble ladies, no matter how high their status, could only choose their ideal husbands from among the men left over by the three princesses.

That alone is enough to embarrass the sisters in public.

These three princesses, who are choosing husbands, are all in awkward positions.

In addition to Emperor Xiaokang's two daughters, Princess Huixin and Princess Huiming, there was also Princess Jiale.

Although Princess Jiale was the daughter of the retired emperor, her birth mother was the deposed empress Wang.

If the Wang family had not been deposed, Princess Jiale would have been one of the Emperor Emeritus's only two legitimate princesses, as noble as Princess Jiayi.

Unfortunately, she was unlucky. Before she could remember anything, Empress Wang died in the cold palace. Princess Jiale's status was not much better than her two nieces, and she was often disciplined by Consort Li.

If it were any other princesses choosing their consorts today, how would the noble ladies dare to compete with them? But it was these three, so you can imagine how unwilling the noble ladies were to accept that they had to choose what the princesses had left over. But that was the reality. Although they were not well-liked, they still had the title of princess.

Princess Huixin knew her younger sister was frightened. She felt both heartache and helplessness. Glancing at the figure of a man in the distance, she asked softly, "Ming'er, have you noticed the guests today? Is there anyone you've taken a fancy to?"

Princess Huiming bit her cherry lips and shook her head, but her cheeks turned even redder.

The two sisters depended on each other and grew up together. Seeing her younger sister like this, Princess Huixin guessed what was going on. She smiled and asked, "Which young master has Ming'er taken a fancy to?"

Princess Huiming finally raised her head, her gaze passing through the branches of the flowering tree, but she could no longer see the group of people who had just been chatting together.

"I don't know who he is. He was dressed in a moon-white robe, with a face as handsome as jade, and an ethereal and otherworldly air."

This was the first time she had seen that person, and in just one meeting, that person was etched into the young girl's heart.

Princess Huixin was happy that her sister had found someone she liked, but a sense of loss welled up in her heart as well.

The younger sister had found someone she loved, but she and her beloved were now separated by death.

Noticing her sister's disappointment, Princess Huiming gently took her hand and said softly, "Sister, since this is a matchmaking event for us, take your time and look around. Perhaps you'll find someone suitable."

Before her younger sister could finish speaking, Princess Huixin shook her head: "No, it won't happen."

She gave a bitter smile: "We're getting old, and we'll have to get married eventually. Let them arrange it. We're not going to be mute or lame. At worst, we'll just have to go and be married off to a foreign land."

That being said, both sisters knew that Emperor Yongjia was concerned about his reputation, and even if he really needed a princess for a marriage alliance, it wouldn't be them. The Dayong Dynasty had plenty of imperial relatives, and any random woman from the imperial clan would be more suitable than Emperor Xiaokang's daughter.

So, as Princess Huixin said, as long as the emperor wanted them to get married, the chosen husbands wouldn't be too bad. Besides, among the princesses of the Dayong Dynasty, apart from Princess Jiayi, none of them had long-lasting marriages; they either divorced or became widows.

But they still wanted to get married, because after marriage they would have their own residence, and once the doors were closed, they wouldn't have to be at the mercy of others.

Meanwhile, in a flower pavilion in the garden, Princess Qingchuan was cautiously observing the woman before her.

Sitting in front of her was the Third Prince's Consort, Feng Jiahe, while standing behind the Princess of Qingchuan, sharing the scolding, were Lang Yuyu and Fan Qiuyun.

Feng Jiahe was furious. She said, "Do you know where you are? This is the Princess's residence! I think you've got some nerve, daring to mess with them here. What? Are you worried they'll steal the man you've got your eye on? Don't you have any shame? Have you no sense of decency?"

Princess Qingchuan kept her head down, not daring to even breathe loudly.

The Third Prince's wife scolded her, and she dared not argue back, but she did not regret it. She was just angry at Lang Yuyu for being such a fool, letting Princess Huiming get her shoes dirty.

Her original plan was to have Princess Huiming fall into the lake, just like in the storybooks, and then have the servants of the Princess's mansion rescue her.

She hated Princess Huiming; she had hated her since she was a child.

(End of this chapter)