Tibet.

Chapter 1306 Winter Snow Warm Pavilion
Just as December began, a heavy snow came unexpectedly. This was the third snow in Chang'an since the beginning of winter, but the previous two were moderate and light snow, while this one was a rare heavy snow. The sky was full of snowflakes, falling down in large numbers, and the whole sky turned gray and white.

Although they moved into the Daming Palace, the tradition of Li Ye's family did not change. The whole family gathered together during the day. The children read, painted, and played together. The women also chatted and played cards together. There was laughter and joy in the air. Life in the palace was not so lonely and difficult.

The living and gathering place is in Qinghui Pavilion. From the name, Qinghui Pavilion should be a small and elegant pavilion, but in fact it is a large-scale pavilion complex. There are three main buildings, all of which are more than ten meters high, that is, more than ten floors. The three buildings are connected by corridor bridges and are surrounded by a huge garden. The garden is also dotted with more than a dozen small buildings several meters high. Next to it is the sparkling Taiye Lake, the lake scenery is beautiful.

The main building of Qinghui Pavilion is the building in the middle. The sky bridge is on the third floor, the fourth floor is the dining hall, the fifth floor is where everyone sits, chats and entertains, the sixth floor is the children's paradise, and the seventh floor is for reading.

A group of women gathered on the fifth floor. Each floor was extremely spacious. There were three lobby seats alone and dozens of rooms. They were all covered with glass, so there was no need to close the windows or turn on the lights even on rainy days. The light was bright and one could see the beautiful view of Taiye Lake by standing in front of the window.

There are two mahjong tables in a lobby. The invention of mahjong is simply the greatest benefit for the women in the homes of the rich and powerful. They sit together and play mahjong when they have nothing to do.

Why were two tables set up? Because Yang Yupei and Empress Dowager Zhang also came shamelessly. Empress Dowager Zhang lived in the Hall of Supreme Harmony to the north of Mingde Temple, not far from Qinghui Tower. She had tasted the joy of love from Li Ye and wanted to continue to have it in the future. Of course, she had to maintain a good relationship with Dugu Xinyue, and especially not put on airs as an empress dowager. She was actually only 28 years old, still relatively young, and she tried hard to please others, so she got along well with everyone.

Naturally, Yang Yupei would come every day. Yang Yuhuan changed her name to Yang Zhu, and she changed her name to Yang Ju. She had always been plain-faced during Li Longji's era, but now it was the opposite. She put on heavy makeup every day, and her appearance had completely changed. No one recognized her anymore.

In fact, except for Empress Dowager Zhang, all these women knew who they were, but no one would reveal it. This was the biggest secret of the Li family.

Empress Dowager Zhang did not know Yang Yuhuan and her sisters. Although she entered the palace early, at the age of fourteen, she had always lived in the East Palace until the tenth year of Tianbao, when she was named Liangdi. Only that time did she enter the palace to thank the imperial concubine, but the imperial concubine was sitting behind a bamboo curtain and she did not see her at all. The eunuchs were talking from beginning to end, and she did not hear the imperial concubine say a word.

Crown Prince Li Heng was also extremely cautious. He would attend any major event alone and would never bring her with him. He was really afraid of being targeted and if another Du Youlin case happened, he would be completely finished.

Empress Dowager Zhang never dreamed that Li Ye's second wife was actually the imperial concubine who had been missing for many years, and Emperor Li Heng had been brooding over this for many years.

However, Dugu Xinyue was very thoughtful. When arranging the seats, she did not let Empress Dowager Zhang and the Yang sisters sit at the same table. Instead, she let her younger sister Taiwei, Shen Li, Empress Dowager Zhang sit at the same table, and of course herself.

At the other table were the Yang sisters, Qingyu and Shen Zhenzhu.

Empress Dowager Zhang was called Zhang Qian, and Dugu Xinyue called her Qianniang. Since the eldest sister called her Qianniang, everyone else followed suit and called her Qianniang.

In the eyes of these women, the real empress dowager is their mother-in-law Pei Sanniang, and the Empress Dowager Zhang in front of them is not a empress dowager at all.

"So my sister is also from the Shen family! I was wondering why she is so beautiful and charming, it really is true that local climate and soil shape local people."

Why did Zhang Qian add the word "also"? Because there is another person named Shen Zhenzhu here, and she has a special relationship with her. They are mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, even though Zhang Qian and Shen Zhenzhu are the same age.

Zhang Qian has always been jealous of Shen Zhenzhu, who actually clung to the Regent's thigh, but she didn't have this opportunity. So when she said the word "also", she was actually mocking Shen Li and her aunt for serving the same husband.

If Zhang Qian knew that the most plump and beautiful one was the imperial concubine, her former mother-in-law, she would definitely go crazy.

Let me say a few more words here about why the Tang Dynasty was called the Dirty Tang. It is because the Tang Dynasty, like the Sui Dynasty, was a dynasty established by the Xianbei Han people. It was natural for a Xianbei son to inherit his father's woman. If a son unfortunately died early, his woman would be inherited by his father or brother.

People never paid too much attention to ethical relationships. It was very normal for a son to marry his stepmother and a father-in-law to marry his daughter-in-law in the upper class of the Tang Dynasty. As long as it did not involve blood ties, no one in the Tang Dynasty would care about such things. Only when Zhu Xi and Cheng Yi's Neo-Confucianism became the mainstream thought in later generations did people find such relationships unacceptable.

Every dynasty has its own ethics. For example, Emperor Hui of Han, Liu Ying, had his empress who was his own niece, that is, the daughter of his sister, so they were related by blood. The Sui and Tang dynasties could not accept this kind of uncle-nephew marriage, but it was allowed in the early Han Dynasty.

Shen Li could hear the thorn in Zhang Qian's words. If it were her temper, she would have retorted harshly, but with her elder sister beside her, she held back and just smiled without saying anything.

Taiwei next to her refused to agree. She was the same age as Shen Li, both were smart and had a very good relationship. They chose to live in Lingqi Palace together, and when her husband didn't come, they slept in the same room.

Shen Li was afraid of the princess being beside her, so she didn't dare to get angry. But Tai Wei was not afraid of her elder sister. She raised her eyebrows and said, "There are thousands of noble families in Jiangnan, but your husband chose Ah Li. You can't compare to the small families in Luoyang!"

Taiwei wanted to tell Empress Dowager Zhang that Shen Li represented the entire Jiangnan family and was not comparable to the Zhang family, which was just a small family of officials in Luoyang.

Zhang Qian's face suddenly turned red. Dugu Xinyue glared at her sister and said, "Taiwei, don't talk nonsense." Shen Li reached out and touched an eight-string card, put it down and said with a smile, "I'm confused!"

Taiwei jumped up and said with a smile: "So the eight strings of coins are in your hands. I'm still waiting for the eight strings of coins!"

Zhang Qian piled up the cards and said with a shameless face: "Princess, my head hurts a bit, so I won't play anymore!"

Dugu Xinyue smiled slightly, "Then take a break and have some tea!"

Taiwei was about to shout out the winnings and losses and settle the bill, but Dugu Xinyue glared at her fiercely. Taiwei pouted and dared not say a word.

Shen Li gently pulled her, and they ran to another table to look at the cards.

Zhang Qian and Dugu Xinyue sat down by the window, and a maid immediately brought them hot tea. In front of them were several floor-to-ceiling windows, so they could enjoy the snowflakes dancing in the sky outside while sitting down.

Dugu Xinyue smiled and said, "My sister is still too young and speaks rashly. Qianniang, please don't take it to heart."

"No! No! Taiwei is innocent and cute. I like her very much."

Dugu Xinyue changed the subject. She pointed to Penglai Island in the distance and said with a smile, "Has the Taiye Pavilion on the island been repaired? I remember it was very shabby before."

"It has been rebuilt a long time ago. It is now called Taiye Tower instead of Taiye Pavilion. It is too cold now. Let's go there in the summer. The building is very big, almost the same size as this one."

Zhang Qian smiled and asked, "Did the princess live in Daming Palace before?"

Dugu Xinyue smiled faintly, "I was born in Daming Palace, lived in Daming Palace for ten years, and only returned to Dugu Mansion when I was ten years old."

"I see. No wonder the princess is so familiar with Daming Palace. Does the princess like Daming Palace or Xingqing Palace?"

"That's about right! I just like the atmosphere of everyone being together. My husband likes it too. He always says that we should let the children grow up together so that the relationship between brothers and sisters will be deeper."

Zhang Qian's lips moved. She almost said that there was no family affection among the royal family. But when the words came to her lips, she stopped them in time and smiled, "Your Highness really has good intentions. Especially the fact that the princess and Your Highness are of the same mind is even more precious!"

Dugu Xinyue smiled slightly, "We mainly come from ordinary families, and we didn't live in the royal family from the beginning, so we all have the ideas of ordinary people, that husbands and wives should love each other, and families should be harmonious. Even though I have many more sisters, we are polite and orderly, and everyone consciously abides by the rules, so we get along so well."

Zhang Qian's eyes turned red. How much she wanted to strictly abide by the rules and fit in!
She drooped her eyelashes and said sadly, "I want to continue living in Daming Palace next year. Will the princess allow it?"

Dugu Xinyue pondered for a moment and said with a smile: "This is not something I can decide, but I personally have no objection!"

Zhang Qian was immediately grateful, "Princess, you are so magnanimous, please accept my greeting!"

After she finished speaking, she stood up and was about to pay her respects, but Dugu Xinyue quickly stopped her, "Queen Mother, don't!"

Zhang Qian suddenly realized that she was still the empress dowager and would not step down until a month later!
She nodded and said, "I'm worried about the child, so I'll go back first."

"Okay! I'll take you out."

Dugu Xinyue stood up and sent Zhang Qian out.

(End of this chapter)