EBE Chapter 90 It seems like an old friend has arrived
Chapter 90 It seems like an old friend has arrived
At dawn, a royal carriage arrived at the west gate of the palace. A maidservant alighted from the carriage and handed the token to the guard at the west gate.
Through the silk curtains draped with gold threads and flowing clouds, the guards caught a glimpse of Princess Yongle sitting upright inside.
The royal princess's imposing presence made the guard dare not look at her for long. He lowered his head to pay his respects and was about to open the door to let her through.
"Wait!" a rough, hoarse voice called out to them.
A superior, dressed in a flying fish robe and with an effeminate appearance, strode in and demanded in a stern, hoarse voice:
"The Emperor's birthday is in two days. If you let the carriages into the palace without checking them, and something goes wrong, you'll have several heads to chop off!"
Under the oppressive, sharp gaze, the guard being questioned was so frightened that his legs went weak, and he kept saying, "This subordinate dares not."
Upon seeing her carriage stopped and hearing the familiar voices outside the royal palanquin, Princess Yongle's face instantly turned ugly. The woman beside her, noticing her unusual behavior, looked thoughtful.
Before the effeminate man could order an inspection of the imperial carriage, an arrogant voice came from inside to outside. Princess Yongle angrily rebuked him:
"Cui Chou, when did I need to be inspected before entering the palace? How dare you obstruct me? Have you lost your mind?!"
"Your subject would naturally not dare." The effeminate man was none other than Cui Chou. He met Princess Yongle's gaze inside the carriage with a forced smile and replied.
"However, the situation is tense now, and we must be cautious. We hope for the princess's cooperation."
Princess Yongle snorted coldly upon hearing this, "What if I don't cooperate?"
His rough, hoarse voice rose slightly, as if Cui Chou were teasing his lover, yet his words were undeniably firm:
"Then don't blame me for being impolite."
Before he finished speaking, the guards behind him stepped forward and surrounded the imperial carriage.
Princess Yongle's expression changed drastically. "You dare! If you dare to force your way into my imperial carriage, I will not let you get away with it!"
“The princess is of noble status, so there will naturally be no problem. But for the Emperor’s safety, please accept the examination.” Cui Chou did not back down, his effeminate face displaying an undeniable dominance.
With a swift, fair hand, Princess Yongle lifted the carriage curtain, glaring through gritted teeth at the hostile intruder outside.
"Look at me, look carefully, I will make you pay in front of the Emperor!"
The carriage was opulent and luxurious, with soft furs and gorgeous silks everywhere, and precious ornaments scattered about. Two maids knelt beside Princess Yongle; one trembled with fear, while the other glared at Cui Chou with the same anger as her mistress.
To the left of the two maids sat a simply dressed woman in blue, whose clothes were not even as luxurious as those of the two maids.
When his ulterior motives were drawn to the woman in green, their eyes met. Cui Chou was momentarily stunned, but quickly regained his composure before anyone else noticed.
In the blink of an eye, Cui Chou had a clear view of the situation inside the imperial carriage. Having achieved his goal, he narrowed his fox-like eyes slightly and said with a half-smile:
“Princess, I apologize. I was merely following orders. His Majesty’s safety is my duty. Even if I were to appear before the Emperor and he were to blame me, I would still give him the same explanation. By the way, who is this young lady? I do not recall her being among His Highness’s maids.”
Princess Yongle gave him a cold look.
"This is the驸马's distant cousin. The Empress Dowager has been asking me to find a maid who is good at mahjong to play with. I saw that my cousin is quite good at mahjong, so I brought her here to keep the Empress Dowager company. What, does Lord Cui also want to meddle in the affairs of Kunning Palace?"
"Your Highness is overthinking this. I only wish to do my duty. Since everything is normal in Your Highness's carriage, I will allow you to proceed." Upon hearing Princess Yongle's words, a glint of shrewdness flashed in Cui Chou's eyes. He stepped aside, bowed, and calmly instructed:
"Open the door!"
After this minor incident, the imperial carriage traveled smoothly to the outside of Kunning Palace.
The magnificent palace appears solemn and dignified at first glance, just like the personality of its inhabitant.
Fei Xi followed Princess Yongle down from the phoenix. She kept her head down and, being well-behaved, did not look around, only glancing at her surroundings out of the corner of her eye.
Princess Yongle, furious, dismounted from the phoenix and forgot all about the person.
She pouted, and without waiting for the palace maids to announce her arrival, she barged into the hall, approached Empress Wang who was listening to the female official's report, and grabbed her arm, pouting sweetly:
"Mother, you must stand up for your son."
The noble and dignified woman, with good temper, dismissed the female official. She then tapped Princess Yongle's forehead with a slight smirk and said:
"You're married now, yet you still act so childish. What happened? You're already being kind by not bullying others; does anyone dare to offend you?"
Despite her words, Empress Wang's gaze turned sharply to Granny Chang and the two maids who were accompanying Princess Yongle.
Lan Yu said yesterday that she would bring that woman who was so good at playing mahjong to her so that she could take a look.
Could it be that the woman did something wrong, causing her child to suffer?
Granny Chang, who came from the palace, knew what Empress Wang wanted to ask the moment her mistress's gaze fell upon her. She immediately knelt down and replied:
"Your Majesty, when the princess entered the palace today, she was stopped by Lord Cui, who insisted on inspecting the princess's palanquin..." Granny Chang recounted the entire incident to Empress Wang without any emotional expression.
Empress Wang frowned slightly upon hearing this, "This Cui Chou is far too audacious, daring to even block the princess's carriage."
Princess Yongle chimed in, "That's right. Cui Chou doesn't respect me at all. I haven't even settled the score with him for bullying my sister, and he dares to bully me today. Mother, you must stand up for me!"
As she finished speaking, Princess Yongle clung to Empress Wang's arm and shook it back and forth, constantly acting coquettishly. Empress Wang, annoyed by her constant teasing, soothed her, saying:
"Alright, your sister is already married. Let's not dwell on the past. Today's incident was just a misunderstanding. I will send someone to reprimand him."
Seeing that her mother had agreed to teach the other party a lesson, Princess Yongle's anger subsided slightly. She thought that after Emperor Hua finished court, she would definitely complain to her father about that blind Cui Chou.
Princess Yongle couldn't help but laugh at the thought of Cui Chou's misfortune.
Her expression caught the eye of Empress Wang, who chuckled and sighed, "She's such a grown woman, yet she still has the heart of a child."
Consort Li was still talking about this daughter who caused her the most worry yesterday.
Empress Wang was about to send Princess Yongle to Changle Palace to visit her mother, Consort Li. Looking up, she saw her personal maid, Qiuyue, standing at the door with a young woman.
"You told me yesterday that you would bring that peerless woman to show me. Have you brought her today?"
"Ah, I forgot her outside the palace."
The Empress Dowager's question startled Princess Yongle, and she quickly looked up to let Granny Chang bring people in.
Looking over, she saw people standing at the door with Aunt Qiuyue:
"Mother, she is the Marquis of Huaiyin I was talking about in Mahjong, an invincible master of the game."
Princess Yongle happily pointed to Fei Xi and introduced her to Empress Wang.
Empress Wang glanced at Chunying, the female official who was close to her and knew martial arts.
Chunying nodded to her. 'There's nothing wrong with this person not knowing martial arts.'
Empress Wang, abandoning the tenderness she showed when facing Yongle, commanded with supreme authority:
"Qiuyue, bring her here to give us an answer."
Aunt Qiuyue led her people to a stop five meters away from Empress Wang.
"What is your name? Where do you live? Where are you from? Raise your head and let me see you."
Fei Xi bowed and curtsied, then calmly replied:
"May Your Majesty be blessed with good health and peace. I am Fei Xi, a native of Danchu, and currently residing at the Tie Mansion on Weisu Street, at the home of my sworn brother."
He raised his head, revealing a delicate face, and his clear, watery eyes stared directly at Empress Wang without fear.
Empress Wang stared at Fei Xi, a hint of surprise flashing in her eyes. She looked at Qiu Yue, who had followed her the longest, and Qiu Yue nodded excitedly at her.
"Good child, do you know how to play mahjong?" Empress Wang asked kindly.
"Yes," Fei Xi readily agreed.
"Play a few rounds with me. If you can truly play like a peerless hero, I will reward you handsomely."
"Mother, I'll join too!" Princess Yongle had been itching to fight for a long time. This young girl was unmoved by fame or fortune. No matter who it was, if she lost, she would not fight again.
In order to fight her again, she used the most experts from the imperial palace, and even had her mother issue an imperial decree to summon all the experts in the world to fight her, in order to lure people into the palace.
Even if she can't win today, she must carefully observe the opponent's playing style.