Chapter 874: The Pear Garden Festival
In contrast to his wife, Prince Beijing Shui Rong was overjoyed when he saw Sun Shaozong coming out to greet him. He laughed out loud from a distance, "Since we parted a month ago, Erlang has kept me waiting for so long!"
This was of course a mockery of Sun Shaozong's repeated refusal to attend the banquet at the palace.
But to those who don't know the truth, it sounds like there is something ambiguous.
Sun Shaozong spat in his heart, showing a bit of embarrassment at the right time, and shook his head and said: "I'm afraid I dare not go to the prince's house again. If the prince is interested, you might as well come to Wangjiang Tower more often. Without so many rules in the mansion, you may feel more at ease."
Shui Rong couldn't help but laugh out loud when he heard this: "Everyone says that Sun Jia Erlang is a romantic man, but I never thought that he would be forced into such a miserable state by a mere woman!"
Sun Shaozong also smiled, but his eyes swept across Shui Rong's wide sleeves and fell on the sedan chair behind him - although there was still quite a distance between them, he vaguely sensed that the long-legged princess was peeking out from inside.
Therefore, what he said just now was not only a response to Shui Rong, but also to comfort the long-legged princess, indicating that he would not break his oath and go to Beijing Prince's Mansion as a "guest" again.
If he had expressed his opinion like this before today, it would have somewhat reduced Wei Ying's resentment. But now, how could Wei Ying care about these things?
A pair of almond-shaped eyes were wide open, framing the burly figure, as if he wanted to eat him alive and cut him into pieces!
At this moment, another person came to the left. He was a handsome man with red lips and white teeth.
Then Sun Shaozong smiled and introduced: "Your Majesty, this is the famous Jiang Banzhu in the capital."
Jiang Yuhan bowed deeply and was about to introduce himself when Shui Rong held him up and looked him up and down. Finally, he exclaimed, "I've heard of Officer Qi's great name a long time ago. It turns out that he is extraordinary after seeing him today!"
Jiang Yuhan was also used to seeing princes and nobles, so he smiled generously, but said: "Jiang Yuhan is just an actor, how dare I accept such flattery from the prince."
"Of course I deserve it!"
No one knew whether it was love at first sight or they had known each other for a long time, but Shui Rong really couldn't let go of Jiang Yuhan. He even wanted to stick his eyes to Jiang Yuhan's face and see him thoroughly from inside out.
After praising each other for a while, the two started talking in the opera jargon. Sun Shaozong didn't quite understand what they were saying, but seeing that they were chatting very happily, he realized that Shui Rong's words about having long admired Jiang Yuhan were not necessarily just polite remarks.
Originally, he wanted to wait until the two of them were no longer excited before leading Shui Rong and his wife upstairs. However, when they were talking excitedly, Shui Rong suddenly pinched an orchid and said a few words: "Miss, look! The moonlight is just right tonight, but there is a heavy halo around it. There will definitely be a storm tomorrow."
As she spoke , she spun around gracefully with her sleeves fluttering.
This is what Hongniang said to Cui Yingying in "The West Chamber".
Jiang Yuhan was also someone who was used to flattering people. She immediately turned around to try to please him, then held Shui Rong's arm with her hand and looked up towards the sky. Her face looked haggard.
Then, a clear and pleasant singing voice, yet full of sorrow and panic, came out from his lips and teeth: "Raise your tearful eyes and look up at the moon, the heaven and the earth are the same. Who will pity the lonely Chang'e? The curtains surround the moon."
Then the two of them pretended to listen in a mysterious way, one reciting and the other singing, and they were actually enjoying themselves, completely forgetting about others.
Although Jiang Yuhan's singing style, which was famous all over Beijing, could be appreciated even by laymen, both of them were dressed in casual clothes now. It was really hard for Sun Shaozong to appreciate the way these two men were pinching orchids with their hands and their eyes flying.
In his eyes, it was clearly two rabbit gods flirting with each other - one of them even had a green head!
Not only Sun Shaozong disliked it, Wei Ying was also unhappy in the sedan chair .
If he had been playing with such an actor in private, it would have been fine, but to act so out of control in public, especially in front of Sun Shaozong, was really...
Especially when she saw her husband singing the same tune and even acting as if he was humble in front of Jiang Yuhan, it was even more difficult for her to accept it.
How could the dignified Prince Beijing, the head of the military family of the Great Zhou, be so humble in front of a mere actor?
Comparing him with Sun Shaozong, who was standing tall and majestic next to him, suddenly an idea came to his mind - if the son could resemble the father, it might not be a bad thing for the Beijing Prince's Mansion.
However, Wei Ying quickly suppressed this thought in her heart, and instead, she was filled with endless shame and self-blame.
…
After lingering in the backyard for about quarter of an hour, Shui Rong, at the reminder of Sun Shaozong, reluctantly said goodbye to Jiang Yuhan and prepared to escort Wei Ying to the private room upstairs to wait.
"My dear family, please go upstairs, and all outsiders, please stay away!"
"Please wait for your family members in this building. Please keep away from outsiders!"
However, when Sun Shaozong led Shui Rong to the second floor, he saw the maids and old women who were leading the way in front of them. They didn't care whether there was anyone in the room or not. They first informed each private room, and then guarded the door to make sure no one would bump into the princess.
After they were seated, Sun Shaozong pushed open one of the private rooms and introduced it to Shui Rong, "This is prepared for the two ladies. Your Majesty may as well rest here with the princess first, and when His Royal Highness the Crown Prince arrives, it won't be too late to welcome him into the main room."
At this point, Sun Shaozong originally wanted to go downstairs to avoid it, but Shui Rong dragged him in forcefully, insisting on showing off their close relationship, so he had no choice but to accompany Shui Rong inside.
After sitting for a while, the long-legged princess walked in. Although she still had a heroic look in her face, she looked a little thinner upon closer inspection, probably due to her recent loss of appetite.
Thinking of this, when Sun Shaozong stood up to salute, his eyes couldn't help but linger on her lips. When he saw that she pursed her lips tightly and looked like she was trying hard to restrain herself, he couldn't help but feel a little swelled somewhere.
"My beloved."
Shui Rong also stood up from the table to greet them. When he arrived in front of Wei Ying, he turned his back to Sun Shaozong and winked at him, signaling his wife to apologize for Xia Jingui's "rude offense" that day.
Wei Ying's mood had calmed down a little after the delay downstairs just now. Seeing Sun Shaozong in the room, she was able to control her emotions with difficulty.
But seeing her husband, who was unaware of the truth, repeatedly signaling that she should apologize to Sun Shaozong, she could no longer suppress her shame and anger.
Fortunately, she gathered her wits and quickly walked around her husband. She returned the greeting to Sun Shaozong and said word by word, "I was rude to you that day. Please forgive me, sir."
Not only was her tone extremely stiff, but her face was filled with anger, shame, and stubbornness , without a single apology.
Of course, she had nothing to apologize for.
However, Sun Shaozong had originally decided to try to avoid provoking the long-legged princess as much as possible so as not to reveal any flaws.
Seeing her being forced to bow and salute, with a look of reluctance and indignation on her face, he could not help but want to tease her, so he returned the salute while saying with a double meaning, "It was actually me who was rude that day. Fortunately, Your Majesty is tolerant and tolerated my rudeness."
Words like 'tolerance', 'embracing' and 'inclusive', at first they sounded like compliments on Wei Ying's broad-mindedness, but to Wei Ying they clearly described the scene of her humiliation that day.
He glared at Sun Shaozong with shame and anger. Just as he was thinking of some way to vent his anger, he suddenly felt his stomach churning and he couldn't help dry heaving.
"My dear? What happened to you?"
Seeing this, Shui Rong hurried forward to support his wife, and asked with concern: "Are you feeling unwell?"
Wei Ying shook her head with all her might, but before she could say anything to show that she was fine, Sun Shaozong asked in surprise, "Are you having morning sickness, madam? Several of my concubines retched like this when they were pregnant!"
As soon as these words came out, Shui Rong's eyes widened in surprise.
Wei Ying also widened her almond-shaped eyes, but what was revealed was not joy, but fear and shame.
But when Shui Rong heard that he might become a father, how could he still distinguish these details?
He immediately put his arm around Wei Ying's waist and said happily, "My beloved concubine is really suffering from morning sickness? This... this is really God's will. Our Shui family finally has an heir!"
As he spoke, he began to thank all the gods and Buddhas in the sky.
Finally, he simply grabbed Sun Shaozong's wrist and said excitedly: "Thanks to Erlang's reminder, I know about this happy event - if Erlang doesn't mind, how about making this child your adopted son after it is born?!"
