allonlinenovel Chapter 5 She is my enemy
Chapter 5 She is my enemy
After Fang Shixin left, Qin Yizhen had someone prepare pen, ink, paper, and inkstone, as she wanted to write a letter.
After seeing the guests off, Lü Qiao saw her writing and drawing and asked her what she was writing.
"Write a letter to my elder sister."
"Write a letter to Princess Huizhen?" Lü Qiao was surprised. Weren't the two of them on bad terms?
"Yes, she's been short of money lately, and I happen to have a good way to help her."
Qin Yizhen never intended to let Fang Shixin off the hook; having Fang Shixin make a few more velvet flowers and send them over was merely a temporary measure.
Fang Shixin is still keeping the method of making velvet flowers a closely guarded secret, so Qin Yizhen naturally doesn't know it. However, in the previous life, when velvet flowers were popular in the Qin capital, many people had already figured it out.
At that time, Fang Shixin did not hide it from Qin Yizhen. In order to cheer her up when she was in a bad mood, he personally taught her how to do it.
Therefore, Qin Yi really knew the method of making velvet flowers.
She herself is not short of money and has no interest in doing this, but her elder sister, Princess Huizhen, would probably be very interested.
Princess Huizhen was a big spender, and Empress Dowager Cheng had always kept a strict rein on her, so she was short of money and giving her the money was the most suitable option.
Moreover, if Fang Shixin dares to compete with Princess Huizhen for this money-making opportunity by then, he'll be in for trouble.
If Fang Shixin dared to open Fanghua Pavilion, it might be razed to the ground the very next day.
Green Bridge was shocked: "Princess...you didn't like Miss Fang the most? How could you..."
How could they turn around and betray someone so easily?
"That was before." Qin Yizhen looked up at her with a slightly cold gaze. "Lü Qiao, you must remember that she never had any good intentions from the moment she approached me. From now on, she is my enemy, and I will never like her again."
"Ah...oh..." Green Qiao was a little confused, but she still responded.
Qin Yizhen nodded: "Go and invite Granny Gui and Granny Jin over, and have them come back to serve you."
"Yes."
......
At this time, in the Qin Palace, Empress Dowager Cheng summoned Cheng Yan.
Empress Dowager Cheng stood on the jade steps of the palace.
She wore a nine-phoenix dangling pearl crown and a red phoenix robe that trailed on the ground. Her phoenix eyes had long phoenix tails at the corners. When she stood there, she looked down from above, dignified and majestic, with a graceful demeanor that made people dare not look up at her directly.
"The pacification of this rebellion between the two kings is largely due to your efforts. In three days, I will host a banquet to entertain all the soldiers. Is there anything you would like?"
Cheng Yan said, "This is my duty. I dare not claim credit, nor do I ask for anything in return."
Empress Dowager Cheng looked at him and said, "Suppressing the rebellion and bringing peace to the country is your duty, and you deserve credit for it. However, you are already the Marquis of Pingxi. It would be too much to grant you a higher title. In that case, I can only reward you with some money and jewelry."
Cheng Yan kowtowed and expressed his gratitude: "Your subject thanks the Empress Dowager."
"We're siblings, why be so formal?" Empress Dowager Cheng stepped forward to help the man up, a slight smile appearing on her usually stern face.
"Your Majesty is still young, and I am also a woman. In addition, there are many matters of state to attend to, and Your Majesty and I need your help in many ways."
"By the way, how are things between you and Yizhen?"
"Very good."
"Very good?" Empress Dowager Cheng did not believe this, as she was quite familiar with the situation between the couple.
She frowned slightly, somewhat displeased: "Nowadays, all the countries are eyeing Eastern Qin covetously, the princes in the court are also restless, and some aristocratic families are also quite ambitious, plotting to see the Qin family fall so that the throne can be passed around among them."
"You are the only person that His Majesty and I can trust. There are many things that need to be done by you. Although I have always hoped that you would be safe and sound, the battlefield is unpredictable and even gods and immortals are unfathomable. What I hope for now is that you can have an heir as soon as possible. Do you understand what I mean?"
Empress Dowager Cheng was afraid that if Cheng Yan died on the battlefield one day, he would have no offspring, no one to carry on the family line, and no one to worship him.
"I understand."
"You don't understand." Empress Dowager Cheng's expression was somewhat unpleasant. "If you understood, you wouldn't indulge Yizhen like this, letting her act recklessly. Do you really want everything you've worked so hard for to benefit those people in the old mansion?"
This old house naturally refers to the Cheng family's residence, the mansion of the Marquis of Chengen.
Empress Dowager Cheng and Cheng Yan's mother, Lady Ming, were the first wives of Marquis Chengen before he rose to power. After Marquis Chengen married his later wife, Lady Zhang, he divorced his first wife and abandoned Lady Ming and Empress Dowager Cheng in the countryside.
As for Cheng Yan, she was conceived by Ming Shi when the Marquis of Chengen returned to his hometown to pay respects to his ancestors.
After learning of this, Zhang outwardly acted benevolently and took Ming and Empress Dowager Cheng back to the Cheng family. However, when Ming gave birth, Zhang ordered people to cover her up and pushed the newborn child back in, causing Ming to die in excruciating pain.
Empress Dowager Cheng was forced to watch the entire process by Zhang's men.
After Ming died, the siblings survived by sheer luck, but their lives were worse than those of animals, and everyone could trample on them.
When Empress Dowager Cheng was fifteen, Zhang arranged a marriage for her with an old man who was over fifty years old and had taken thirty-four concubines. He even claimed that being a concubine was Empress Dowager Cheng's destiny.
To protect herself and her brother, Empress Dowager Cheng devised a plan to get close to the emperor and become one of his concubines.
When she first entered the palace, she was just a minor beauty.
She endured many years of hardship until the emperor died and her son ascended the throne, finally bringing her success.
The first thing she did after ascending the throne as Empress Dowager was to confer the title of Marquis Cheng'en upon Cheng's father, and then have his three legs broken and his tongue pulled out, leaving him to lie in bed for the rest of his life, suffering a fate worse than death.
Zhang also ordered her face to be slashed and her mouth to be poisoned. Every three days, she would throw her into a brothel, making her the lowest and most despicable prostitute, providing amusement for others, making her life worse than death.
She also did not spare any of Zhang's children.
Those methods were extremely ruthless and cruel, which shows how much hatred she harbored.
"Of course not." Cheng Yan's expression turned somewhat cold and somber when she mentioned the Cheng family.
"If I die without an heir, elder sister, please take care of Yizhen for me. If you wish to leave me an heir, please choose one of the children who have no parents to adopt. I ask for nothing more than that he be filial to Yizhen."
Because of his father and siblings, Cheng Yan truly didn't care about the incense offerings. Once someone dies, they're gone; he didn't care whether anyone would come to pay their respects.
"But if that's the case, I'll have no family left. How can you bear to leave my sister all alone..." Empress Dowager Cheng said, her eyes reddening slightly, as if tears were welling up in them.
Cheng Yan fell silent.
He may not care much about life and death, but there are two people he can't let go of in his life: his elder sister, who is like a mother to him, and the wife he insisted on marrying.
“Ayan, just think of it as a matter of Yizhen and your sister’s sake. Don’t keep arguing with Yizhen like this. If she’s unhappy, just coax her a little more.”
"Besides, there is a real difference between being husband and wife and not being husband and wife."
This couple is deeply in love, sharing the same bed every night, and their affection naturally grows stronger. Once you have children, you will surely live a loving and harmonious life together...