Tang Dynasty, my wife Wu Zetian

Chapter 133 The Prime Minister's Wife

On the bank of the Jinshui River, Cai'er stood behind a plum tree, holding a branch of plum blossoms in her hands, looking at the people playing in the distance with envy.

Two goals were set up on the flat grass with wooden sticks.

Two little princesses and a group of eunuchs and palace maids under the age of fifteen were happily playing Cuju.

The Tang army recently won another victory, and I heard that even the leader of the Turks was captured.

Princess Changshan was also delighted and sent Cai'er out to find out the news.

After Cai'er asked around, she thought of picking a branch of plum blossom to take back with her. She happened to meet two little princesses playing with a ball near the plum garden.

Cai'er entered the palace at the age of eight and was always arranged to serve in the princess's courtyard. She was usually lonely and had never had a playmate.

Seeing so many people of the same age playing at this moment, my heart is filled with envy.

"When I get home, I'll ask Rong Po to make me a ball to play with in the courtyard."

Just as she was thinking about her little worry, someone exclaimed, "Be careful!"

Cai'er looked up hurriedly and saw a ball getting bigger and bigger in front of her eyes. With a "bang", it hit her in the face.

Cai'er fell backwards and fell into the river.

It was Princess Gao An who had kicked the ball. When she saw that she had kicked someone into the river, she hurriedly shouted, "Hurry up and save him!"

Some of the eunuchs around could not swim, some did not have the courage to jump into the water to save people, and some of the older ones had bullied Cai'er and were unwilling to save her.

Just at this moment, a man jumped into the river, hugged Cai'er, and when he emerged from the water, it was Xiaoji.

Cai'er was floundering in the water and grabbing Xiaoji's hair.

Fortunately, Xiaoji was a good swimmer and quite strong, so he managed to pull her out.

Princess Gao An hurried to Cai'er's side and asked, "Hey, are you okay?"

Cai'er choked on the water a few times, but Xiaoji was quick to save her. She coughed a few times and said, "I'm fine."

Princess Gao An breathed a sigh of relief and said to Princess Yi Yang, "Sister, go get her one of your clothes and put it on her."

Princess Yiyang frowned and thought to herself, "How can she wear my clothes?"

He turned to a palace servant and ordered, "Go get her a piece of clothing that's suitable for her."

The palace maid came back quickly with the clothes. The other palace maids gathered behind the curtain and Cai'er changed into clean clothes.

Princess Gao An saw that she was not much older than herself, so she wanted to pull her along to play with her. She asked with a smile, "Which palace are you from?"

Cai'er whispered, "I'm from the Princess' Courtyard."

Princess Gao'an also recently accompanied Xu Jin to meet Princess Changshan.

Princess Changshan was gentle and kind, and she liked him very much. She clapped her hands and said with a smile, "So you are Aunt Changshan's maid. That's great. Let's play together in the future."

Cai'er lowered her head and said, "I have to go back and ask Her Royal Highness the Princess for instructions."

Princess Gao An smiled and said, "Then go ahead. Aunt Changshan is so kind, she will definitely agree."

At this time, a eunuch came running over from a distance and said, "Your Highness, the two little princesses, Madam Chongrong is calling you back."

Princess Gao An grumbled, "We just came out of Penglai Palace, and it's not even dinner time yet. Why are you asking us to come over so soon?"

The eunuch said, "Madam Chongrong said that it was Madam Noble Consort who sent someone to call you back."

Princess Gao An asked curiously, "Why did Aunt Zheng call me back? Did Ye Ye go to Xunfeng Palace?"

The eunuch laughed and said, "Then I don't know."

Princess Gao An laughed and said, "Ye Ye must have gone to Xunfeng Palace. I can see Ye Ye now. Sister, let's go back."

Princess Yi Yang nodded, and the two left hand in hand.

Cai'er stared blankly at the two's backs. Suddenly, Princess Gao'an turned her head and smiled at her, saying, "Remember to tell Aunt Changshan about playing football when you go back. We can play together tomorrow."

Cai'er was overjoyed and said, "I'll remember it."

After the two of them walked away, she walked quickly back to the princess's courtyard.

Princess Gao'an and Princess Yiyang returned to Penglai Palace together, only to see Xu Jin appreciating poetry in the room.

These poems were sent by the Hanlin Academy.

After the imperial examination results were announced, many of the candidates' excellent poems were circulated.

There were many great poets in the Hanlin Academy, so they collected these poems, added their own comments, and sent them to the concubines in the harem who liked poetry to read.

Princess Gao An walked over and looked up and asked, "Auntie, did Ye Ye go to Xunfeng Palace?"

Xu Jin smiled and said, "It's not Your Majesty, it's a relative of your concubine Zheng. You should go back to Xunfeng Palace and take a look."

Princess Gao An immediately showed a look of disappointment and pouted, "I don't even know any of Concubine Zheng's relatives, why do you want me to meet them?"

Princess Yiyang said, "Mrs. Zheng has been so kind to you, it's only right that you meet her relatives."

Princess Gao An thought the same and said goodbye to Xu Jin and Princess Yi Yang with a smile.

Xu Jin suddenly called her over, took out a scroll and handed it to her, saying with a smile, "This poem is quite interesting. Take it to your concubine Zheng to read."

Princess Gao An agreed, and ran and skipped with the scroll in her arms. It took her a long time to return to Xunfeng Palace.

As soon as I reached the door, I heard a woman's voice coming from inside.

Seeing that there were outsiders present, Princess Gao An entered the main hall with small steps and performed standard court etiquette towards Concubine Zheng. "Auntie, I'm back."

When I looked up, I took a glance and saw Concubine Zheng talking to a woman in her forties.

The woman bowed to Princess Gao An with a smile on her face and said, "My concubine greets you, Princess."

She is very plump and when she smiles you can't even see her eyes.

Princess Gao An returned the gift as a junior.

Because Princess Gao'an was not the daughter of Concubine Zheng, Concubine Zheng did not recognize her generational status and simply asked her to call the woman Madam Zheng.

Princess Gao An stood aside and listened to Madam Zheng and Concubine Zheng talking.

For some unknown reason, Madam Zheng said a few words and then stood up to leave.

Princess Gao An looked confused. Didn't Concubine Zheng ask her to come back just to let her talk to the guests?

She just came back, why did the guest leave?
After the palace servants sent Madam Zheng away, Concubine Zheng lay on the couch, yawned, and smiled at Princess Gao An, saying, "I'm so tired, Gao An. I have to thank you very much."

Princess Gao An asked curiously, "Auntie, why did the eldest lady leave so soon?"

Concubine Zheng smiled and said, "Of course it's because of you."

"I?"

Concubine Zheng laughed and said, "She came to me to plead for someone. She said a lot of things in a roundabout way, and I couldn't stand it, so I had to ask you to come back."

"Why did she leave when I came back?" Princess Gao An still looked confused.

Concubine Zheng asked, "Do you know who her husband is?"

Princess Gao An shook her head.

Concubine Zheng said, "Her husband is Prime Minister Li Yifu. She came to me because she wanted me to speak for Li Jingxuan in front of everyone. If you were present, she wouldn't be able to continue."

Princess Gao An nodded, not quite understanding, and asked, "Will you help her?"

Concubine Zheng shook her head and said, "Silly child, I can't help you with this kind of thing. His Majesty hates the harem interfering in government affairs. She went to the Empress first, and even the Empress rejected her. Why should I get into that bad luck?"

Princess Gao An said blankly, "Then should I also be careful not to interfere in government affairs?"

Concubine Zheng chuckled and said, "You are not a concubine, so don't worry about it."

Princess Gao An frowned and nodded.

Concubine Zheng suddenly asked, "What are you holding in your hands? Aren't you tired of holding it all the time?"

Princess Gao An then remembered, took the scroll and handed it to Concubine Zheng.

"Auntie, Auntie Xu asked me to give this to you."

Concubine Zheng took it and saw a poem written on the scroll.

"Spring water fills the spring pond, spring grass grows in spring. Spring people drink spring wine, spring birds sing spring songs."

Concubine Zheng smiled and said, "This poem is quite interesting. At first glance, it seems vulgar, but on second thought, it has elegance within it. It's quite extraordinary. I wonder who wrote it..."

When his eyes moved to the corner, he was suddenly stunned.

Princess Gao An blinked her eyes and said, "Auntie, what's the matter?"

Concubine Zheng stared at the corner of the scroll and saw the three words "Zheng Mingyu" written on it.

"Gao An, where did your concubine Xu get this poem?" Concubine Zheng asked nervously.

Princess Gao An said, "I don't know."

Concubine Zheng sat up and asked, "Do you still want to go to Penglai Palace?"

Princess Gao An nodded and said, "I think I didn't play much just now, but you called me back."

Concubine Zheng said, "Okay, let's go to Penglai Palace together."

The two of them came to the main hall of Penglai Palace together, and saw Xu Jin teaching Princess Yi Yang to read.

She seemed to have guessed that Concubine Zheng was coming, and smiled at Princess Yiyang, "Go play with your sister."

The two little princesses went out together, leaving only Xu Jin and Concubine Zheng in the palace.

Concubine Zheng sat down next to Xu Jin and asked hurriedly, "Sister, where did you get that poem by Mingyu?"

Xu Jin smiled and said, "These are the imperial attendants of the Hanlin Academy, collected from Chang'an City. I heard they are related to Gao Youdao."

The Zheng family had already sent someone to the palace to report that Zheng Mingyu had a good personal relationship with the newly crowned number one scholar Gao Youdao.

When Concubine Zheng heard that it was related to Gao Youdao, she became even more curious.

"You have to tell me in detail what's going on."

Xu Jin smiled and said, "I heard from the eunuch that yesterday, the newly-minted Jinshi held a literary and wine party in Furong Garden. During the banquet, they competed in poetry. Gao Youdao recited this poem and said it was written by Zheng Mingyu of the Zheng family in Xingyang."

As the new number one scholar and a close minister to the emperor, Gao Youdao is now very popular.

These words were obviously meant to help Zheng Mingyu become famous.

"It's rare that university students are so thoughtful." Concubine Zheng said with emotion.

(End of this chapter)