Poor Family

In the new year of the sixth year of Jiankang, there was no Eldest Prince at any of the large and small palace banquets, so the rumors that the outside world treated him badly became more and more intense.

After the Lantern Festival, the Imperial Academy and the Imperial College for Women started school.

As soon as she arrived at the Women's Prison, Shi Fuxin could hear all kinds of discussions about the eldest prince's condition.

"It's going to be February soon. If the Eldest Prince's health is not good, will his wedding with Miss Zhou's be held normally?"

"During the Chinese New Year, the gate of the Zhou family was never opened, and all relatives and friends who came to visit were turned away. I heard that the Zhou family was gloomy, and the girl of the Zhou family was crying so hard that she couldn't keep her eyes open."

"Don't tell me, the girl from the Zhou family is really pitiful. Although she is married to the prince, the eldest prince is not only in poor health, but also, the girl from the Zhou family is suffering."

"Zhou Ge always loves his granddaughter. I heard that Zhou Ge has already made a promise to the prince. I'm afraid he wants to reject this marriage?"

Hearing this, Shi Fuxin pulled Qiao Xinyu aside from the crowd, and asked, "The Zhou family really wants to reject the marriage?"

Qiao Xinyu gave her a supercilious look: "How is that possible? That's the eldest prince, the emperor's son. The Zhou family didn't want to live, so they dared to regret their relationship with the royal family?"

Shi Fuxin frowned: "If the girl of the Zhou family is not happy, even if she marries the First Prince, the two of them probably won't be able to get along well."

Qiao Xinyu looked at Shi Fuxin in surprise, and said with a broken smile, "I didn't expect you to worry about this? I don't know, but I thought you were the eldest prince's elder."

Shi Fuxin groaned in her heart, isn't she the eldest prince's elder, she naturally has to take care of her apprentice's marriage happiness.

After school in the afternoon, on the way back to the uncle's mansion, Shi Fuyin also mentioned the eldest prince: "Didn't you say that the eldest prince's body is fine?"

Shi Fuxin nodded: "It's all right."

Shi Fuyin: "But now everyone is saying that the First Prince is going to die."

Shi Fuxin: "He's pretending to be sick. He probably wants to paralyze his opponent hiding in the dark." After a pause, "We can't really understand the situation of the First Prince. All I can do is cure him. As for him How to take the next road is his own business."

Shi Fuyin nodded and didn't say much.

"I used to think that the Zhou family was lucky enough to get married with the eldest prince, but now it seems that this is such a lucky thing?"

"Isn't it? The eldest prince is weak and sick. I don't know when the Zhou family hired a daughter-in-law in vain. Not to mention, she will be rejected by other princes. I really lost my wife and lost my army."

"It's no wonder that the Zhou family has been closing their doors to thank guests now, and there is no joy at all about marrying their daughter."

"Hey, in the situation of the First Prince, even the family of the First Prince's ancestral home, Duke Wen's Mansion, seldom interacts with him. The close relationship of the Zhou family is not only not a help, but a drag."

"It's a pity, the Zhou family has Zhou Ge old, and there is a cabinet scholar. If you can go to another level, it will be no worse than the noble family, but it is tied to the eldest prince. .”

"It's a pity for the eldest prince."

"Throughout the ages, when the imperial power changed, there was a debate about whether to establish the heir or the elder. The eldest prince managed to occupy both the heir and the elder, but his health was not good enough."

"The emperor has made it clear that in the future, the eldest prince will be allowed to rest in the mansion. I am afraid that the eldest prince will never enter the court and participate in politics."

Similar discussions continued to be staged in various families in the capital. The eldest prince played Wu Qinxi several times, while taking a medicinal bath, he listened to Gao Changshou's report.

"What's the attitude of the Zhou family?"

Gao Changshou: "The Zhou family is actively preparing for the wedding, and Ms. Zhou is also embroidering the dowry in the room with peace of mind. I heard that the wedding dress on the day of the wedding was embroidered by Ms. Zhou stitch by thread. It can be seen that she really wants to marry His Highness. of."

The eldest prince was silent for a while: "Father still has a bit of father-son affection for me after all."

Zhou's family is a scholarly family of Qingliu, and his conduct is well-known. His father chose such a noble in-law's family for him, and he really had plans for his future life.

Gao Changshou looked at the eldest prince with distress, not knowing what to say.

The emperor was busy with government affairs, although he would send palace officials and imperial physicians to visit His Highness from time to time, but he seldom came to see His Highness. He knew that His Highness wanted the Emperor's attention very much.

At this moment, there was a noise outside the house, Gao Changshou hurriedly said: "It should be people from the inner court who came to arrange the decorations for the wedding day, and this old slave immediately went out to tell them to keep their voices down."

The eldest prince waved his hand: "The snobbish guys in the inner court are snobbish. Now that I have been abandoned by the emperor, how can they listen to you?"

As soon as the words fell, there was a voice outside the house. It was the servants of the First Prince's Mansion who were reminding the people in the inner court to keep quiet, but who knew that the people in the inner court were very arrogant and shouted loudly:

"It's not that the servants don't want to keep their voices down. It's just that the construction period is too fast. The eldest prince will get married in February, and the fifth, sixth, and seventh princes will follow soon. We must speed up the progress."

After the eldest prince heard this, he laughed mockingly. He had long been used to the fact that the inner court faction worshiped the superior and trampled the inferior, but when he was really ignored and treated poorly by the people below, his mood still fluctuated involuntarily. As peaceful as he wanted it to be.

In Uncle Wuchang's Mansion, Shi Fuxin and Shi Fuyin came back from school and went to Yixiang Hall to greet Mrs. Shi, and happened to see Mrs. Shi and Mrs. Shi were arranging gifts.

"Is this a gift for someone in the house?" Shi Fuxin asked curiously.

Mrs. Shi smiled and said: "This is a wedding gift for the princes."

Shi Fuxin's expression changed: "The prince is married, should we also go to the residence?"

Mrs. Shi and Mrs. Shi's faces paused at the same time.

Mrs. Shi smiled stiffly and said: "Our manor has nothing to do with the princes, but we still have to send congratulatory gifts."

Hearing this, Shi Fuxin was a little disappointed, she actually wanted to attend the wedding of a cheap apprentice.

At this moment, Director Shi came in with a few servants, and Mrs. Shi immediately began to assign tasks: "This is a congratulatory gift for the Fifth Prince, this is for the Sixth Prince, and this is for the Seventh Prince."

Shi Fuxin watched from the side, and hurriedly asked: "Is there no eldest prince?"

Mrs. Shi glanced at Mrs. Shi, and after Manager Shi left with the young servant, she said: "The congratulatory gift for the First Prince has been prepared, but we have to wait for other houses to start delivering it, so we can follow along."

Shi Fuxin and Shi Fuyin looked at each other without asking any more questions, and after a few words with Mrs. Shi, they left.

"Instead of giving congratulatory gifts to the eldest prince who got married first, they gave gifts to the princes who got married later. People in the capital don't know the rules that well."

After leaving the Yixiang Hall, Shi Fuyin couldn't help sighing.

Shi Fuxin said indifferently: "It's just seeking advantages and avoiding disadvantages."

Shi Fuyin looked at her: "It's like this in our house, and it's the same in other people's homes, I'm afraid the eldest prince will feel bad."

Shi Fuxin was silent: "Since he chose to go dormant, he has to bear this loneliness."

Even though he said so, when he thought of the contempt the cheap apprentice received, Shi Fuxin's protective temper came up, and she immediately returned to Lanyue Tower and wrote a letter to the cheap apprentice.

"Your Highness, letter."

Gao Changshou handed the letter he just received to the First Prince.

"My dear apprentice."

Seeing the familiar words, the First Prince quickly opened the envelope.

"Disciple, you are getting married, what gift do you want, do you need to support your teacher?"

The eldest prince silently looked at this line of words, the corners of his mouth slightly raised, and after a long silence, he wrote back the letter.

"All the disciples like the gift from the master."