Xiu'er: "You can't say that. The prince can't just sit around doing nothing. Since he's your husband, shouldn't he stand up for you? Look at that Eunuch Wang, he's not a real man, but he still loves his wife! If he didn't love his wife, he wouldn't even be a great eunuch."
Tang Zhuyun: "..."
"Song Jingyang, am I right?"
"Yes, yes, yes," Song Jingyang said. "Your Highness should not be ashamed to ask me about this matter and should learn from me."
Tang Zhuyun: "So, Zong Heng knows the Prince is alright, so he went there. Then, was it Zong Heng who did the assassination attempt on the Prince?"
"No, that's a different group."
Tang Zhuyun: He's like a rat crossing the street, hated by everyone. How did the Prince of Jin get along with this?!
"You don't need to worry," Song Jingyang said, "Your Highness can handle it."
Tang Zhuyun rolled her eyes. "If the prince hadn't been seriously injured time and time again, I would have truly believed you."
Song Jingyang: "... It was an accident, purely an accident. Your Highness is very capable!"
Tang Zhuyun: "Alright."
As the direct victim, Tang Mingfan's actions were quite remarkable.
He ran to the emperor and cried, expressing his resentment at almost losing his innocence. The emperor then ordered a thorough investigation into the matter.
Tang Zhuyun: Is that even possible? So his father used to act all sweet and whiny in front of the Emperor, and the Emperor just happened to like that?
However, she didn't expect the Emperor to find out. Zong Heng was very careful in doing these things, and before the real "culprit" could be pointed at him, the chain broke.
Tang Mingfan said that it was not important. The emperor was not stupid. The lack of evidence did not mean that he was not suspicious.
Tang Zhuyun: My dad is still the best!
Tang Mingfan then asked, "Won't Sangsang, who helped me, be blamed?"
Tang Zhuyun: "I don't know."
"How could you not know?" Tang Mingfan frowned. "Never mind, I'll let Chang Zhi handle this. His mistress probably knows quite a few people."
Tang Zhuyun remained silent. She would leave Tang Mingfan and Sangsang's relationship to their own discretion; she neither encouraged nor opposed it.
After becoming an apprentice, Linlin had to go to the Great Xiangguo Temple every day to study with the Great Confucian Scholar Kong, and every other day she would have half a day to practice martial arts, so she was very busy.
Tang Zhuyun was determined to settle scores with Zong Heng, but since the latter didn't return, she could only give up and wait patiently.
The Prince of Jin would send a letter every six or seven days, but he never mentioned the progress of the search. Instead, he spoke of revisiting familiar places and expressing his melancholy.
Tang Zhuyun didn't know how to respond, so she could only tell him trivial things: Today I made a new dish that was so delicious that I cried; Today Yanran shot the chicken that ran into the neighbor's house; Today Linlin received praise from the great Great Confucian Scholar Kong... and so on.
The two were on their own channels, talking at cross purposes, yet surprisingly harmonious.
Before they knew it, it was April 12th, Tang Zhuyun's birthday.
She received many gifts early in the morning. From Tang Mingfan to Yanran and Xiu'er, everyone in the family prepared something for her.
Even Tang Baixin, who lives far away in Jiangbei, specially had someone bring back gifts.
Yanran gave Tang Zhuyun a purse and a gold necklace inlaid with jewels.
Tang Zhuyun: "Why are you giving two gifts?"
"The necklace was a gift from my father," Yanran said solemnly.
Tang Zhuyun laughed heartily, "Your father already sent it, have you forgotten the box of pearls?"
"The ones sent in advance don't count; I'll send another one today," Yanran said. "I chose the heaviest one. Didn't Mother say that real gold and silver are true love?"
Tang Zhuyun: "..."
Sigh, she was just making a fuss with Xiu'er, and she never expected that Yanran would overhear her and remember it.
Just then, Song Jingyang rushed in.
Xiu'er scolded him, "What have you been busy with these past few days? I haven't seen you for days."
Song Jingyang was also full of grievances, but what could he do? A single word from the prince was enough to make his subordinates run themselves ragged.
How could the prince not be exhausted if he had to give the empress a unique gift?
Song Jingyang said, "Your Highness, the Prince has sent you a birthday gift..."
He was too embarrassed to ask, because he felt that Tang Zhuyun would probably criticize the gift to death...
"Oh, what?" Tang Zhuyun said casually, as she looked at the gift box Qin Sang had sent, which contained a bottle of rose water from the Western Regions.
Rose water is actually the ancient version of perfume.
This is a rare item, and it's very expensive.
Tang Zhuyun said that she could also try making rose water. She wasn't expecting to make money from it, nor was she a professional, but perhaps she could make some inexpensive versions for personal use and as gifts.
"You should see this gift for yourself," Song Jingyang said with difficulty, his Adam's apple bobbing.
Tang Zhuyun: "???"
The Prince of Jin wouldn't send her a ferocious beast or bird of prey, would he? After all, those are his hobbies.
Prince of Jin: I love tigresses the most, and the shrew from Hedong are indeed fierce beasts.
"You'll understand when you go to the Prince's residence."
"Do we still have to go back to the Prince's residence?"
Song Jingyang nodded vigorously.
Xiu'er said, "What's all this mystery? I think the prince just doesn't know what to give, so he's resorting to this to grab attention, humph!"
Yanran said, "Mother, Mother, let's go see! I want to know what gift Father gave you."
"Then let's go take a look," Tang Zhuyun said lazily.
She was going back to check the accounts of the Prince's residence, and also to let the servants know that she, the Princess Consort, hadn't given up her duties and still had to pull herself together and work hard.
Tang Zhuyun followed Song Jingyang to the back garden of the Prince's mansion. When she saw the Prince of Prince of Jin's "grand gift", she was completely stunned.
She swore that she had never received such a gift in either her past or present life!
Xiu'er's eyes widened. "What, what is this? Mu Hai?"
A "muhai" is a huge wooden tub used by wealthy people to keep goldfish for ornamental purposes.
But what appeared before them were hundreds of round wooden barrels, each the size of a sea of wood, filled with water drawn from the river beside them.
Has the Prince of Jin decided to become a playboy?
There was no sea in his mansion, but there was a sea in his heart, and he created a sea out of thin air?
Especially the outer edge of the wooden barrel, which is carved with fish of all shapes and sizes, and decorated with seashells, pearls, corals... What a huge fake sea!
Song Jingyang said helplessly, "His Highness also wanted the area to be fenced off, but the construction schedule was too tight, and we didn't have time... Once it's fenced off, you can swim freely..."
He couldn't even continue speaking; he really didn't understand why the prince thought the princess would like swimming.
The Empress is not a goldfish!
Moving this enormous sea of wood into the mansion was Great Zhou, and soon people outside would know that the Princess Consort was obsessed with fish.
Tang Zhuyun: "..."
Although she did want to go swimming, it was just a thought; did she really need to announce it to the whole world like this?
Well, while other widows count prayer beads, she's counting fish in the prince's mansion?
She wanted to shove the Prince of Jin's head underwater to bring him to his senses.