Mu Mingtang sighed and casually tied her hair into a bun. Her wedding didn't live up to its name. She was so perfunctory on the wedding day. Naturally, she didn't go to see her aunt or visit her family temple afterwards. It was good that she didn't have to go through the formalities. Otherwise, she really couldn't meet people with her current appearance.
However, Mu Mingtang didn't plan to put up with it forever. No matter what the situation was, she had to live her life by herself. Others could trap her, but if she also lived a perfunctory life with unkempt hair, then she would really be trapped.
After Mu Mingtang tidied her hair and tidied herself up, the first thing she did was to go to the bedchamber to greet Hsieh Hyun-chen, "Good morning, Your Highness."
If one didn't talk to others for a long time, sooner or later one would get sick. Mu Mingtang had no choice but to treat Hsieh Hyun-chen as a normal person. She greeted him in the morning and evening and told him about the daily menu. After Mu Mingtang wiped Hsieh Hyun-chen's face and changed his dressing, the person who delivered the food also came. The breakfast in the prince's mansion was very particular. Mu Mingtang ate a lot of beautiful pastries until she couldn't eat anymore. Then she put away the lunch box and walked outside.
She had to find a way to go out today. At least, she had to find a mirror for herself.
Sure enough, she was stopped by the head of the imperial bodyguards at the door. Mu Mingtang had experience and wasn't afraid of him at all. She even dared to bargain, "Sir, I know you have official business and can't let me go. However, I'm not going out. I'm just going to Qingxin Hall to find my dowry. Although the main hall of the prince's mansion is well-equipped, there was no mistress before. There wasn't even a dressing table. Moreover, my clothes and jewelry are all in the dowry. You can't let me live on this set of clothes for the rest of my life, right? "
Yesterday, Mu Mingtang didn't find any female clothes, so she could only continue to wear the wedding dress. Obviously, she couldn't keep doing this. No matter what, she needed to get her dowry.
Not only that, she also had to fight for the right to freely travel between Qingxin Hall and Julin Hall.
The head of the imperial bodyguards was speechless by Mu Mingtang. Their target was Prince Qiyang, not the princess consort. Mu Mingtang went out for a short while. As long as he did not leave the Prince's Mansion, it did not seem to be a big deal.
The Imperial Bodyguard Captain's attitude softened, he sent two soldiers to follow Mu Mingtang to the front to carry the dowry.
Mu Mingtang looked at the two bodyguards behind him who were following him closely. He thought to himself, How could they be helping? They were clearly guarding her, afraid that she would run away. In any case, Mu Mingtang did not intend to escape. She did not care about the tail behind her. Instead, she confidently commanded the two soldiers.
It would be a waste not to use able-bodied men. Why should he be polite with them?
Mu Mingtang had been poor before, so she valued money more than her life. She had already kept the list of dowry and even carried the key with her. It was absolutely impossible for a dowry servant girl to bully the master and take advantage of the dowry.
Mu Mingtang had always had a good memory when it came to money. As expected, she quickly found the dressing table. Mu Mingtang's original plan was to choose a small and pocket-sized one. Otherwise, she would not be able to fit it in her compartment. However, in order to make it look good, the Jiang family's furniture was very tall and imposing. The dressing table in the dowry was a bit too big.
Mu Mingtang could not leave the mansion and did not have the right to be picky. She could only bite the bullet and accept it. She ordered the two soldiers to carry the boxes of clothes out. Mu Mingtang's original intention was for the two of them to carry it together. In the end, the two of them looked at each other and insisted that one of them carry the things out while the other stayed behind to guard.
Alright, in any case, it was not Mu Mingtang who would do the work. She had no objections. The soldiers moved her clothes several times and finally finished moving them. Mu Mingtang then ordered them to move the dressing table. She followed the two of them out. After locking the door, she walked towards Jade Qilin Hall.
When Mu Mingtang walked closer, she discovered that her mahogany boxes were all piled up in front of the door. They were actually so afraid of Hsieh Hyun-chen that they did not even dare to enter the hall. Mu Mingtang was speechless. She directly looked at their leader, the head imperial bodyguard, "Daren, you piling things up in front of the door. Could it be that you want me to move them?"
The head imperial bodyguard also felt awkward. He coughed and said, "This humble one does not dare. I will have to trouble Princess Consort to lead the way. "
Mu Mingtang snorted and turned to push open the door. She took two steps and impatiently turned back to urge them, "Hurry up. What are you all standing there for?"
Mu Mingtang clearly saw everyone take a deep breath before moving the furniture in pairs. There was even a group of people who pulled out their swords and escorted their comrades who were carrying the things into the hall. Mu Mingtang clicked her tongue and said with disdain, "Look at your courage. Even Sesame has more courage than you!"
Everyone was embarrassed to be disdained by a young woman. But no matter how embarrassed they were, they did not dare to put down the swords in their hands.
Mu Mingtang's original intention was to put the dressing table in her own small room, but after entering the hall, everyone was clearly walking towards Hsieh Hyun-chen's direction. Mu Mingtang immediately reacted. That's right, she was the Princess Consort. She should be sleeping with Hsieh Hyun-chen.
This time, it was Mu Mingtang's turn to be embarrassed. She could not say that she was sleeping separately from Hsieh Hyun-chen. She could only watch gloomily as several tall and strong imperial bodyguards carried the dressing table and boxes to the innermost part of the hall. After carefully placing them next to Hsieh Hyun-chen's bed, they immediately jumped up as if the ground was hot. In an orderly manner, they covered each other and retreated out of the bedroom. She did not even have time to say anything before the soldiers closed the door.
… … They ran so fast. Mu Mingtang gloomily looked at the tall and sturdy dressing table and boxes. Then she gestured with her small arms and helplessly admitted that she would never be able to move such heavy things by herself.
The clothes were easy. She could carry them back to her own space, but what about the dressing table?
Could it be that she would have to dress herself in front of Hsieh Hyun-chen every day in the future?
Mu Mingtang was extremely depressed. But no matter what, her hair still needed to be combed. Mu Mingtang sat in front of the dressing table. She could even see Hsieh Hyun-chen's face in the mirror.
In order to allow ventilation, Mu Mingtang hung up all the curtains on the first night she entered the room. Hsieh Hyun-chen's bed curtains were also open all day. Mu Mingtang felt extremely awkward. If Hsieh Hyun-chen opened his eyes, wouldn't he be able to see her face?
She did not know if it was a psychological effect, but when she thought about it, she really felt that Hsieh Hyun-chen was about to open his eyes. Mu Mingtang was shocked. She did not even bother to clip her hair and hurriedly turned around to look at Hsieh Hyun-chen.
Hsieh Hyun-chen was still sleeping quietly. Just looking at his sleeping face, it was as beautiful as a painting.
Mu Mingtang stared at him for a long time. She felt that he might have been alone for too long and was a little paranoid. She turned her head and continued to fix the unfinished hair bun. Then she inserted the hairpin into the comb, tassels, and beaded flowers.
In the past, when she wanted to imitate Jiang Mingwei, Mu Mingtang could only use silk flowers and ribbons. Beautiful gemstone hairpins could only be seen but not touched. Now that she had a large box of jewelry, she could finally choose sparkling jewelry to her heart's content.
Mu Mingtang picked carefully. Later on, she immersed herself in the process and completely forgot about the existence of the outside world. By the time she finished dressing up, she was so happy that she could not help but look at herself in the mirror. At this time, she had completely forgotten about Hsieh Hyun-chen.
After dressing up, Mu Mingtang was obviously in a good mood. She hummed a song as she organized the clothes in the rosewood box into the closet in her room. Even when she was feeding him lunch, she was clearly in a good mood.
In the afternoon, everything was done. With the money in her hands, Mu Mingtang slowly began to think about how to nourish Hsieh Hyun-chen's body.
The kitchen did not know that she had fed her porridge to Hsieh Hyun-chen, so the liquid food that was sent over was the most common. It was fine for ordinary people to drink it, but if it was to be fed to a patient, it could not be so casual.
Unfortunately, she could not leave the residence, so the task of going out to buy things fell to the imperial bodyguards outside. Although military orders were like mountains, there was a saying that money could make the devil turn millstones. She might be able to give it a try when the imperial bodyguard captain was not paying attention.
·
Mu Mingtang sat under the sun as she slowly peeled almonds. She had used a jade hairpin as the price to ask a guard to buy these nuts as snacks.
When the imperial bodyguard captain did not allow Mu Mingtang to leave Jade Qilin Hall, Mu Mingtang secretly bribed the other imperial bodyguards and asked them to buy the snacks outside. Mu Mingtang only said that she was bored and wanted to eat some snacks to pass the time. She was only fifteen years old and looked about the same age as their younger sister, but she would have to spend the rest of her life in captivity. Even if the imperial bodyguards had military orders, it was inevitable that they would feel sympathy.
Most importantly, a jade hairpin would always be more expensive than a nut. Since Mu Mingtang gave them the hairpin, it was impossible for her to ask for change. How much could a jade hairpin of high quality be pawned for? How much could a handful of fried nuts be sold for?
Just like that, Mu Mingtang received the snacks outside. Mu Mingtang definitely did not go through so much trouble for herself. She planned to grind these almonds and hazelnuts and mix them into the porridge to feed Hsieh Hyun-chen in the future.
Hsieh Hyun-chen had slept for a long time and did not see the sun all year round, so she urgently needed nourishment. However, Mu Mingtang did not dare to ask the imperial bodyguards to buy her eggs, goat's milk, and other things. It would be too obvious. She was afraid that her actions would be discovered by outsiders, so she could only start with the nuts and slowly nourish Hsieh Hyun-chen's body.
Peeling hazelnuts and almonds required patience. Mu Mingtang was peeling the skin when she suddenly heard movement at the door. She thought that it was the person delivering the food, so she did not raise her head and said, "Leave it at the door, I'll be right there."
After Mu Mingtang finished speaking, she still felt strange. Why did the person delivering the food come so quickly today? However, after she finished speaking, there was no response from the door for a long time. Mu Mingtang suddenly felt that something was wrong. She raised her head and found that Xie Xuanji was standing at the door, looking at her with an indiscernible expression.
Mu Mingtang's fingers subconsciously tightened, but then she calmly exposed the shells of the nuts on the table. Xie Xuanji appeared here, most likely he already knew about her little trick. It was useless for her to hide it, and it would only make her look guilty.
Mu Mingtang wiped her fingers with a handkerchief, then stood up unhurriedly: "So it's Prince Jin. This concubine did not know and did not welcome you."
Xie Xuanji walked into the main hall. When he saw the surrounding decorations, he secretly frowned. He did not know if he was frowning because of the lifeless atmosphere of the Jade Qilin Hall, or because even in this kind of environment, Mu Mingtang was still calm.
The imperial bodyguards were scared to death and did not dare to take a single step into the main door. Xie Xuanji did not seem to have such misgivings. He stopped in front of Mu Mingtang, looked at the large pile of nuts in front of her, and asked: "Where did you get these?"
"Don't you know where they came from, Prince Jin?" Mu Mingtang did not seem flustered at all. She wrapped the peeled nuts in a piece of paper and said: "I stay in my room all day, and I can't even go out for a breath of fresh air. I just want to eat some fruits. Is it against the law? "
Xie Xuanji did not go so far as to denounce her for such a small matter. As long as Mu Mingtang was alive and brought into the Prince of Qiyang's residence, their goal would be achieved. As for what would happen to Mu Mingtang after this, the Emperor did not care.
Mu Mingtang had only asked someone to go out of the fu to buy a handful of nuts. Strictly speaking, it was not a big deal. If the steward of the Prince's residence had not presented something to Xie Xuanji, Xie Xuanji would not have specially come to see Mu Mingtang today.
He saw that Mu Mingtang was still muddle-headed and did not understand what was going on. He endured his displeasure and took out something from his sleeve. He stretched out his hand and spread it in front of Mu Mingtang: "Then what is this?"
Mu Mingtang lowered her head and glanced at it. It was the jasper hairpin that Mu Mingtang had given away as a bribe. Sure enough, the imperial bodyguard had pawned the hairpin.
Mu Mingtang could not directly bribe the imperial bodyguard with money, so she could only use jewelry to bribe the imperial bodyguard. In any case, she did not like these elegant and simple jewelry. Wouldn't it be just right to give it away as a favor? She was not willing to give away those shiny gold hairpins.
This style was what Jiang Mingwei liked. The dowry that the Jiang fu prepared was naturally prepared according to Jiang Mingwei's preferences. Therefore, Mu Mingtang also had a lot of light and elegant jewelry. Mu Mingtang only swept a glance before withdrawing her gaze and saying: "That's right, it's mine. It is only right and proper for me to dispose of my own dowry. Does Jin Wang even want to care about this? "
Xie Xuanji suppressed his anger and said: "Even if you are angry, you cannot ruin your own dowry. You used to like this hairpin so much, but now you are selling it away for just a bit of food? "
Mu Mingtang was simply baffled: "I don't like it. Can't I sell it in exchange for food?"
"You are still stubborn." Xie Xuanji looked at Mu Mingtang. He wanted to say something but hesitated. His gaze was heavy, "After you married him, you have been wronged to this extent. It's just a few snacks, yet you still need to sell your dowry. "
"I really don't like it!" Mu Mingtang felt extremely wronged, "I already said that I don't like it. If it weren't for the fact that it wasn't easy for the craftsmen to carve jade, I would have thrown it away. To be able to use it in exchange for food is already making the best use of it. Besides, you were the one who married me to your older brother. Why can't I go out, don't you know? "
Xie Xuanji still didn't believe her. He sighed and said: "So you are still blaming me. Jin Wang fu is close to Qiyang Wang fu. You can enter Jin Wang fu's garden from a small door on the east side. If you have anything you want in the future, you can come find me. "
Mu Mingtang's face suddenly sank. She stared at Xie Xuanji and suddenly sneered: "Oh, what does Jin Wang mean by this? Your sweetheart has returned and you are in high spirits after meeting your old love again. Now you feel pity for the substitute that you have abandoned? I am your sister-in-law. Now that your older brother is seriously ill in bed, you want me to go to Jin Wang fu through a small door. What do you mean? "
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