Because Song Jingyang is back.
Song Jingyang returned with a thousand taels of silver and a treasure box.
He opened the treasure box, and Tang Zhuyun said that her titanium alloy eyes were almost blinded by the light!
This box is full of various jewels: gold, jade, coral, agate, jadeite, and gemstones of all colors...
"Song Jingyang, weren't you supposed to be protecting Hongfu?" Huaishang asked anxiously.
This doesn't look like they're protecting someone, it looks like they're going to rob someone.
Why didn't you call him?
Song Jingyang said, "Your Highness, this is Hongfu asked me to bring you. This one thousand taels of silver is her reward to me."
Huaishang was completely devastated.
Tang Zhuyun reached out and rummaged through the things, tsk tsk, she'd certainly seen something new today.
Xiu'er stopped her. "Your Highness, it's filthy. Who knows how many people have touched those things? Let me fetch a basin of water to wash them!"
After saying that, he tried to run out.
Tang Zhuyun pulled her back. "Let me play a little longer. Just wash your hands. Anyway, you can't take this."
Hongfu must have had an ulterior motive for sending her such a generous gift; Tang Zhuyun wouldn't accept it if she didn't want to befriend a tiger.
Xiu'er: "Don't want them? Don't you like these things the most? Well, yes, we shouldn't! If we accept her things, what if she takes the opportunity to enter the Prince's mansion? Everything in the Prince's mansion's storeroom is yours!"
The Prince of Jin cleared his throat.
Was he dead?
Song Jingyang chuckled and said, "Xiu'er is right! Hongfu said she doesn't seek a formal title, she just wants to give her child a proper birth, but I don't think that's appropriate."
"Why did you bring it back? You should have just thrown it in her face," Xiu'er said.
Song Jingyang: "This, this..."
Originally, they wanted to secure a good birth for their child—but what kind of birth? The heir apparent to the Prince of Jin? The Prince of Jin?
Tang Zhuyun looked at Prince of Jin with a forced smile, "Your Highness, what do you think we should do?"
The Prince of Jin said, "Give the things back to her, and say that the Princess Consort did not agree."
Did Hongfu really think she was the only smart person in the world?
However, Tang Zhuyun never wanted these things from the beginning, which gave Prince of Jin the illusion that she didn't want to give him up easily, so he was in a rather pleasant mood now.
Song Jingyang: "Yes!"
Huaishang the box of jewels, Huai Shang sighed, "I never imagined that a courtesan like her could amass such a fortune."
Tang Zhuyun: "Are you tempted? How about I introduce you to Qingfeng?"
Huaishang: I dare not move!
He chuckled awkwardly, "Your Highness is too kind."
Song Jingyang was walking out with the silver notes and the box when Prince of Jin suddenly called him back, "That thousand taels of silver is your reward; just accept it."
Tang Zhuyun immediately looked at Huaishang and, sure enough, saw him looking as if he had been struck by lightning, as if he had lost a fortune.
She strongly suspected that the Prince of Jin did it on purpose.
Song Jingyang, however, didn't care about money. He took out a silver note and handed it to Xiu'er, who brought in the water, saying, "Keep this."
Xiu'er raised an eyebrow. "Who am I to you? Why should I let you keep this?"
Song Jingyang muttered, "Then I'll have to find a way to lose to you later. Just consider it a favor and keep it for me. My mother isn't around, and I..."
"I don't want a son as big as you!"
Huaishang: Have these people considered his feelings as they keep passing the money around?
He's having trouble breathing and is almost fainting.
A thousand taels of silver! Song Jingyang only stayed one night! If only he had known earlier... how could he have known earlier?
Looking at his expression, the Prince of Jin finally felt the pent-up anger from yesterday's fierce attack on Huaishang.
After Tang Zhuyun took the two children out, Prince of Jin summoned Huaishang to his presence.
"Regarding what happened back then, although you were wrong, in any case, with Linlin, it was a happy ending by a twist of fate. You contributed one hundred taels of silver, so I'll reward you with one thousand taels, Nanny Rong's retirement allowance..."
"I have no intention of taking it!" Huaishang suddenly came back to life.
Prince of Jin: "That's pathetic. Go to the accounting office and get some extra five hundred taels of silver. Take it home to Auntie Yao."
He was referring to Yao Jinhua, the mother of the woman from Huaishang.
"Then, I'll keep it for her," Huaishang said with a shy smile.
Although he was stingy, he always felt very embarrassed whenever he received a reward.
In front of outsiders, he is the same elegant gentleman, without any sense of incongruity.
Prince of Jin said, "Auntie Yao is not one to scheme, so don't be too restrained. Let her spend this five hundred taels of silver as she pleases, as long as she's happy."
Huaishang reluctantly agreed.
Not a single penny could survive three days in his mother's hands!
The Prince of Jin then said, "You better be more sensible! If you keep haggling over such a small amount of money, see how I deal with you!"
Huaishang blushed and smiled shyly.
"You and Jingyang take turns watching over Hongfu. Let others know that you both respect her and are very concerned about the child in her womb."
"Understood," Huaishang replied solemnly.
His master is dead, possibly leaving behind a posthumous child. He knows very well what he should do.
Tang Zhuyun didn't care about Hongfu's matter. She hadn't planned to let anyone in before, and now that she heard it wasn't the Prince of Prince of Jin's, there was even less reason to consider it.
She secretly thought that the Prince of Jin already had enough with one son and one daughter; any more Zidu cause trouble.
If it weren't for her conscience forbidding it, and for practical reasons, she should have castrated the Prince of Jin to prevent future troubles.
Sigh, so sad.
On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, the lanterns are as bright as day, and the crowds are as numerous as a woven tapestry.
Linlin and Yanran were led by Song Jingyang to the rooftop, where they excitedly watched the commotion outside.
"Brother, that rabbit lantern is pretty!"
"I'll buy it for you."
"That revolving lantern is also beautiful."
"I'll buy it too."
The Prince of Jin stood in the courtyard, looking up at his two young children with a gentle smile on his face.
Tang Zhuyun fried some glutinous rice balls and brought them out, asking Prince of Jin, "Would Your Highness like some?"
Seeing that no chopsticks were prepared, the Prince of Jin picked up a glutinous rice ball with his hand. It was a little hot, but it tasted sweet.
Tang Zhuyun made one herself and tasted it, saying, "There's a bit too little sesame filling; it's not as good as the ones I made myself."
She climbed the ladder again, handed the glutinous rice balls to Song Jingyang, and said to the two children, "Watch for another fifteen minutes and then come down."
The two children were clearly unwilling and both called for the Prince of Jin.
Prince of Jin cleared his throat and looked at Tang Zhuyun: "How about half an hour?"
"No, what if he catches a cold?" Tang Zhuyun said. "I've already agreed with the Prince that you handle the important matters, and I'll handle the minor ones. We'll each do our own job!"
"So what's a big deal, and what's a small deal?"
"Apart from changing the world, nothing else matters!"
Prince of Jin: "..."
Tang Zhuyun, having succeeded, couldn't help but burst into laughter.
A lamp hung under the eaves, its light illuminating her radiant smile, a moment etched into the mind of the Prince of Jin.
Her smile was incredibly infectious; her eyes crinkled as she laughed heartily, making everyone who saw her happy too.
The Prince of Prince of Jin's gaze was too direct. Tang Zhuyun, puzzled, wiped her mouth with a handkerchief. "Is there something on my face?"
The Prince of Jin lowered his eyes. "He's not even as good as a child."
Tang Zhuyun rolled her eyes at him.