Forbidden Autumn, Summer, Winter and Spring Rebirth

Chapter 190 (No more)
Life in the Prince's Mansion was different; even the air was fresher than in the palace.

Xia Dongchun was very busy every day. She would either go shopping with Qiong Wei pretending to be an ordinary mother and daughter, or dress up as an unmarried girl to burn incense at the Buddhist temple, or live in a house in the suburbs of Beijing for a few days. Occasionally, she would be summoned by the Empress Dowager and the Imperial Concubine to stay in the Old Summer Palace for a while.

Within a year, Xia Dongchun could no longer stay in the capital and asked the empress dowager to mediate. The emperor reluctantly agreed to her request to travel south for fun.

Why did she go south? It was because she received a letter from a small town in the south of the Yangtze River that day. The signature was in a familiar handwriting, and it was signed by Wen Qingmei.

She could no longer suppress her restless heart which had been restless for a long time.

Unexpectedly, before she had packed her luggage and left the capital, Concubine Ji got the news and came to the Yangxin Palace to beg for mercy. The emperor could do nothing about her and could only agree with a helpless smile.

Concubine Ji traveled light and followed a small group of people. She hurried and finally caught up with Xia Dongchun fifty miles outside the capital.

This is getting lively. Xia Dongchun held his forehead helplessly, wondering who leaked the news.

Concubine Ji smiled slyly. She naturally wouldn't say anything. As soon as Xia Dongchun left the mansion, a street vendor not far away reported the matter to the Ninth Prince's Mansion.

They were not lonely along the way. Tiffany Ji was still happy and cheerful, and her little mouth was chattering, which greatly satisfied Xia Dongchun's gossipy nature.

She talked on and on, and Xia Dongchun listened quietly.

The concubine named Mo in the Third Prince's mansion was the only one favored by the Third Prince. However, the legitimate wife who came into the mansion later was not liked by him and often had to stay alone in the empty room.

After Mo gave birth to her eldest son, she gave birth to a daughter last year. She then wrote a letter to the emperor requesting that Mo be made a concubine. The emperor only knew that Mo was the concubine that the third prince had kept in his early years and her background was unknown. He wanted to approve it, but was stopped by the empress dowager.

A concubine must be listed in the imperial edict, which means she is a legitimate royal daughter-in-law.

If the late emperor knew about this... he would probably be so angry that he would come back to life.

The wife of the Third Prince was also smart, she never fought or competed, and was content. Of the dozen concubines and princesses in the Third Prince's backyard, half were selected by the wife, so although the Third Prince was not as indifferent to her as Mo, he was no longer as indifferent as before.

In this way, from the backyard of the Third Prince to the backyard of Prince You, and then to the emperor's harem, she seemed to know everything.

After walking, stopping, eating and playing along the way for about a month, we finally arrived at Nanxun, the Jiangnan town mentioned in the letter.

After getting off the carriage, Concubine Ji's eyes lit up. There were small bridges, flowing water, pavilions, waterside terraces, and pleasure boats everywhere.

“It turns out that this is what an undeveloped ancient town looks like. It has such a great atmosphere!”

Xia Dongchun looked up at an old locust tree not far away that was so thick that it was so thick that three people could hug it, and he knew he had arrived at the agreed place.

"Sister, let's go eat. Hey? Who are you waiting for?" Yan Ning's cheerful voice sounded, but Xia Dongchun did not move.

Not far away, a woman dressed like an ordinary woman was walking towards them, followed by a young boy about ten years old.

Yan Ning was suspicious, "Why is the Tenth Prince here?"

"Who is that..." Yan Ning looked carefully and saw that it was Concubine Hui who passed away a few years ago.

"Hui...Shen...Mei...Mei'er," Yan Ning stuttered, "You, you guys, Sister Xia, you guys, you're so good, you just hid it from me and wanted to sneak out and have fun, luckily I was smart."

"Okay, just call me Mei'er. Let's go and go home first." Xia Dongchun just smiled but didn't say anything. Several people got on Shen Meizhuang's carriage.

After entering a courtyard with a plaque that read "Wen's House", Shen Meizhuang asked them to rest first and come out for dinner in half an hour.

At the dinner table, Yan Ning saw Wen Shichu who had returned from a medical visit. This time he was not surprised at all, but had an expression that said, "No wonder."

After lunch, Xia Dongchun and Yan Ning went to rest together. The fatigue of the past few days finally found an outlet at this moment. The feeling of being at home was incomparable to any inn.

At dinner time, Shen Meizhuang sent someone to wake them up, saying that they wanted to go out for a walk together.

Xia Dongchun and Yan Ning did not suspect anything and walked to a house. Shen Meizhuang knocked gently on the door. After a while, a servant came with a lantern to open the door.

Without any words exchanged, Shen Meizhuang motioned for the two to follow her and entered the courtyard. The yard was a bit narrow, and they walked for a long time after turning around and around until they passed an inconspicuous corner gate. Behind the gate, the view suddenly opened up to a spacious and flat courtyard.

Xia Dongchun was secretly guessing in her heart, and an answer was about to come out, but Yan Ning just thought it was some famous private dish.

After turning around a courtyard, the person who appeared in front of him was exactly what Xia Dongchun had guessed.

"Ah..." Yan Ning cried out, "Hanhuan? Huanhuan is still alive!" Yan Ning was a little excited.

Zhen Huan just looked at her with a smile.

Zhen Huan came forward and shook Xia Dongchun's hand, and said with a little excitement, "Sister Xia, long time no see."

"I had guessed long ago that my sister was blessed with good fortune and would never die. Sure enough, we will meet again one day." Xia Dongchun said with a smile.

A figure walked out of the house and called out, "Don't stand there, come and have dinner."

Yan Ning looked at the man, then at the children playing in the courtyard. The two older ones were of the same height, and seemed to be a boy and a girl. After a long time, he finally came to his senses.

"Prince Guo, ah, Guo Huan and CP are separated from now on, it's true! That's great." Yan Ning was so excited that no one could understand what she was saying.

Everyone sat down to eat. Yan Ning was so shocked today that he even smiled while eating.

After dinner, everyone reminisced about the past, talked by candlelight and had endless fun.

Prince Guo mentioned that the noble lady Uya gave birth to a prince some time ago and was promoted to Concubine Ning.

There was a concubine named Xu Changzai who was not very outstanding. She was a concubine who entered the palace in the third year of Qianhe. Her family background, appearance, and talent were not outstanding, but she was promoted to a noble lady a few days ago.

Everyone knew that Prince Guo would not mention this nobleman for no reason, and it turned out to be true.

Concubine Xu had a brother who went out to make a living a few years ago and did not return for ten years. He returned home two years ago. He traveled across the ocean to the West and not only brought back improved varieties of our local crops, but also introduced advanced farming techniques.

He selected ten acres of his own land for trial planting, and had a bumper harvest for two consecutive years. The output was more than five times that of ordinary varieties, and the quality was also superior. After the matter was verified by the local prefect, it was reported to the emperor, who immediately summoned Xu Guiren's brother Xu Kenian.

The two of them had a secret conversation in the Yangxin Palace for a whole day. No one knew what they talked about. All they knew was that the emperor turned over Xu Changzai's name card that night and promoted her the next day.

Xu Kenian spent eight years in the West and learned a lot of skills. The emperor specially named him "the best person to communicate with foreigners" and summoned him to the palace for secret talks every day.