The carriage brought Fu Mingyu and Xia Pingting into the palace after they had lunch at the Fu family.
The Empress Dowager attended the wedding in person. Now that she has returned from three dynasties, the Empress Dowager's Ci'an Palace can be regarded as one of Fu Mingyu's natal homes. Fu Mingyu should go back to see the Empress Dowager. Besides, she will soon follow the people from the Dingguo Palace to the Hot Spring Villa to stay temporarily for a few days.
Today, you should also come to the palace and talk to the Queen Mother.
Fu Mingyu had a license from the Queen Mother, so he did not need to pass the news to enter the palace. Xia Pingting followed Fu Mingyu and entered the palace smoothly.
When they arrived outside the courtyard of Chuxiu Palace, they could no longer ride in the sedan without the approval of the Emperor and the Queen Mother, so Fu Mingyu and Xia Pingting got off the sedan here and walked hand in hand.
"The sunshine is so beautiful today." Xia Pingting raised her head and looked at the sky. Although it was winter, the afternoon sun was still piercing her eyes. "I hope it will be a great day when we leave Beijing tomorrow!"
"My mother disappeared early in the morning. I went to the backyard and didn't see her. Where did she go?" Fu Mingyu asked.
"She went to the Ministry of War to report early in the morning." Xia Pingting said. "You don't know, according to our laws, if a family like ours wants to leave Beijing with their whole family, they must explain the situation to the Ministry of War and where to go.
Yes, you have to figure out how many days you want to stay!"
"There are still such rules?" Fu Mingyu was slightly surprised.
"That's right." Xia Pingting said with a smile, "I didn't know this at first. I only found out after marrying into the Dingguo Palace. Do you think it is that easy for the whole family to leave Beijing for a trip? We still need to find a guarantor. If we don't
If you come back, the guarantor will be in trouble!"
"Ah? Isn't this a series of sittings?" Fu Mingyu was even more surprised.
But then I thought about it, and it’s true. In a family like Dingguo Gongfu, the men in the family are armed with heavy troops at the border, and the family members in the capital are the emperor’s bargaining chip to contain them. If such a family wants to go on a family trip, then
The family went on a trip, and it was just a trip. If they encountered a situation where they would not come back, wouldn't the emperor lose a chess piece that could contain the border defenders?
"Shush!" Xia Pingting hurriedly made a shushing gesture to Fu Mingyu, "Forget it if you know, don't say it so harshly. Your Majesty is protecting us!"
"Uh!" Fu Mingyu nodded, "Then who is the mother looking for to vouch for it?"
"If nothing else, it should be Duke Anguo's Mansion." Xia Pingting said with a smile, "Anyway, we are just going out to have fun, and we will be back in a few days."
"That's right." Fu Mingyu nodded.
The two people came to the Imperial Garden talking and laughing.
There has been a lot of snow in the past few days. Although it is a rare sunny day today, the branches of the trees in the Imperial Garden are still covered with deposits from the snow of the past few days.
"In another month, the red plum blossoms here will bloom." Fu Mingyu specially pulled Xia Pingting to a corner of the imperial garden. "Look, some buds have already sprouted here!" she said carefully.
He parted the snow on the red plum tree and said happily to Xia Pingting. "In the past, when the red plum blossoms bloomed, the maids from each palace would come to collect the snow on the stamens and store them in jars to make tea later.
Sometimes they even steal it!”
"Then have you been here?" Xia Pingting asked with a smile.
"Of course I've been here before." Fu Mingyu said with a smile, "It's just that I'm from the Queen Mother's Palace, no one dares to compete with me! It's just missing an experience."
While the two were chatting and laughing, Xia Pingting saw a woman in palace attire walking past with several palace maids in the distance.
"Look at that person's back!" Xia Pingting interrupted Fu Mingyu's topic and pointed at the woman in palace attire in the distance for Fu Mingyu to see, "Does it look like Zhou Meijuan?"
As soon as she raised her finger, the woman in palace clothes stopped as if she had eyes behind her back, and then turned around.
Xia Pingting... Fortunately, she closed her hands quickly, otherwise she would have been embarrassed if someone saw her!
"It can't be Zhou Meijuan." Fu Mingyu was slightly startled and looked over, but when she saw clearly, she was stunned.
Who is it if it’s not Zhou Meijuan?
"It's really Zhou Meijuan!" Xia Pingting said in a low voice.
Although they were far apart, Xia Pingting and Fu Mingyu both saw clearly. Isn't that girl in gorgeous palace clothes Zhou Meijuan who was rumored to be meditating in Cihang Temple?
"Why is she in the palace?" Xia Pingting pulled Fu Mingyu and asked.
"I don't know either!" Fu Mingyu frowned slightly. She subconsciously wanted to hide away, but then she thought about why she wanted to hide...
The girl in palace clothes also saw Xia Pingting and Fu Mingyu, raised her head slightly, and walked towards them.
"Are you here to cause trouble?" Xia Pingting muttered and subconsciously stood in front of Fu Mingyu. "I will answer her right later, so please stop talking!"
Looking at the figure standing in front of him, Fu Mingyu felt warm in his heart, "Second sister-in-law, it's okay. There's nothing she can do to me."
Not long after, the girl in palace clothes walked up to Fu Mingyu and Xia Pingting. She looked at the two people up and down, as if she had never seen them before. "Which palace are you from?" she asked.
"Miss Zhou, are you a little stupid for eating too many steamed buns in Cihang Nunnery? Which palace do you think we are from?" Xia Pingting said to Zhou Meijuan angrily.
"Do you know that my surname is Zhou?" The girl in palace clothes blinked, looking very surprised, "You are so rude! You don't even show courtesy when you see me!"
"Zhou Meijuan, why are you pretending to be a big clove of garlic?" Xia Pingting glanced at the girl in palace clothes, "Fu Mingyu and I are both princesses, why don't you be polite when you see us? You pretend not to know us, and you want to act like an opera again?
"
"You call me Zhou Meijuan?" The girl in palace clothes blinked with confusion on her face, "Do you know Zhou Meijuan? She is dead. My name is Zhou Yuheng, and I am the cousin of Miss Zhou Meijuan you mentioned."
Fu Mingyu and Xia Pingting were both stunned after hearing this...
The two of them looked at me and I looked at you, both looking confused.
"Your Majesty, the two princesses, this is indeed Zhou Meiren. She is your majesty's new addition to the palace." A palace maid behind the girl in palace clothes quickly took two steps forward, saluted, and said, "The two princesses have just entered the palace.
I don’t know anything about the palace, your Majesty just sealed it this morning.”
"Isn't she Zhou Meijuan?" Xia Pingting asked in surprise.
"Indeed not." The palace maid said, "The Miss Zhou mentioned by the princess passed away yesterday! The Zhou family issued an obituary last night."
"What the hell!" Xia Pingting looked at the so-called Zhou Meiren's face carefully again, "This is obviously Zhou Meijuan."
"Bold!" Zhou Meiren's eyes widened, "Even if you are the princess, I am your majesty's new beauty! You must not be rude!"