Soft and crispy waist

October 23rd, light snow.

In response to the solar term, Kyoto had its first snow of the year.

Small snowflakes were falling slowly from the sky. Xia Zheng reached out from the window to catch one, and the moment she put it into the carriage, the snowflakes turned into water.

Looking at my hands now as green as green onions, I recall that in previous years I would get frostbite every winter, which was painful and itchy, and would not heal until the warm spring.

She never imagined that one day, she would wear a new cotton-padded jacket and skirt, a rabbit fur cape, hold a warm hot water bottle in her hand, and ride in a charcoal-burning carriage on a winter day to attend the banquet of the Princess of the First Rank.

If it weren't for the little one in her belly dancing again, she would have felt like she was dreaming.

She lightly touched the place where the little guy had made a small bulge with her finger, and then immediately retracted it as if she was shy.

"We're almost there." Frost and Snow, who was following outside the car, reminded in a low voice.

Xia Zheng immediately suppressed the gentle smile on her lips, raised her head and checked her clothes and hair accessories in the bronze mirror hanging inside the carriage. After making slight adjustments, the carriage stopped.

Frost Snow lifted the carriage curtain. Xia Zheng looked at Wei Qingqing in front of her and saw that she had already gotten out of the carriage. Then she stood up, put her hand on Frost Snow's hand, and stepped on the bench to get out of the carriage.

After landing, the view became clear and I saw more than ten cars around. Under the guidance of the people in the palace, they parked in an orderly manner, got out of the cars, and walked towards the parking direction.

In just a short while, dozens of people got out of the car.

All of them are dressed gorgeously and have elegant temperament.

In terms of clothing and jewelry, Xia Zheng is the least noticeable among everyone, but in terms of appearance and figure, she is an existence that cannot be ignored.

In addition, the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion is currently at the center of controversy. This is the first time the female members of the mansion have appeared in public since the incident, so naturally they attracted attention as soon as they appeared.

Everyone looked at Tao Yurong first, but when they caught sight of Xia Zheng following behind her, they almost instantly looked away.

"Who is that person? I've never seen him before."

"Is there even a need to ask? Concubine Wei is here because she's pregnant, so this person is also pregnant. Is there anyone else in the Zhenguogong Mansion who's pregnant besides Concubine Wei?"

"That concubine! Why did you invite her here? I heard she was born a maid, and a kitchen maid at that."

"A mother's status depends on her sons. Now that the Crown Prince is gone, only these two bloodlines remain. Princess Yi feels pity for them, so she has disregarded all others and invited them to come and see them as well."

"Don't join us for a banquet later, that would be really annoying."

"If I had known that all these weird people would be coming to this Mei Banquet, I wouldn't have come. It would be embarrassing if I told anyone about it."

The words became more and more unpleasant, as if Xia Zheng was a plague and being infected would bring bad luck.

"This is just the beginning. What happens next will be even worse. Can you bear it?" Wei Qingqing, who was walking in front, raised her eyebrows at Xia Zheng with a gloating look.

Xia Zheng raised her head, her eyes hazy. "What did the concubine say? What did she say? I didn't hear anyone talking."

"I...you..." Wei Qingqing's mouth was so stuffed with cotton that it was almost inarticulate. "You're pretending! Let's see how long you can pretend. This isn't the mansion. You have nowhere to hide."

"I don't understand what the concubine said. Why should I hide?" Xia Zheng asked.

Wei Qingqing opened her mouth but couldn't say anything, so she simply waved her hand and ignored her.

Xia Zheng continued to follow at a leisurely pace, turning a deaf ear to the ridicule from the superiors around her who could not cause any real harm to her, and only focusing on the scenery inside the palace.

The Zhou Dynasty had always had few descendants. Of the old emperor's generation, only he and Prince Yi grew up to adulthood, and they were brothers from the same mother. Prince Yi was already of outstanding status, and later died while leading the old emperor in the war, so he was given even greater honors. Prince Yi's palace was also moved directly from Chang'an Lane, where the royal relatives lived under the imperial city, to the original royal villa, with the same meaning as the Nine Lords.

The palace covers an area of ​​more than 5,000 acres, with carved beams and embroidered pillars, painted buildings and flying eaves, pavilions, towers, lakes and rocks. There is a scene every ten steps and a scene every hundred steps. It is a scene that Xia Zheng could never have imagined in her dreams.

Being in the situation, Xia Zheng felt a strong sense of separation and became more calm.

Her current identity does not belong here. If she is blinded by the prosperity in front of her and loses her soul, it will only bring disaster upon herself. She must always be sober and not take a wrong step.

Following them all the way to the outside of the waterside pavilion, Xia Zheng could see from afar that there were many people sitting in the huge flower hall in the center. Although it was winter, there were many flowers in the hall that only appeared in spring and summer, and they were all in bloom. The people inside were not wearing cloaks or jackets, as if they were in spring.

It can be seen that the temperature in the flower hall is like spring.

It's hard to imagine how much it would cost to do this in winter.

They were stopped outside the pavilion by an old maid. Tao Yurong and Wei Qingqing did not ask anything, and it was obvious that they all understood each other tacitly. Xia Zheng also waited obediently.

It was not until several people came out of the flower hall and walked away from the other side that the old lady stepped aside to make way.

"Don't be afraid, Princess Yi is a kind person." When they were a few feet away from the flower hall, Tao Yurong comforted her in a gentle voice.

"It's not like I haven't seen Princess Yi before, so you don't need to tell me." Wei Qingqing rolled her eyes, took a step, walked straight past Tao Yurong and went to the flower hall.

"Sister Wei!" Tao Yurong's voice was not loud, but there was no one else in the water pavilion, and it was not far from the flower hall, so everyone in the flower hall heard her shout.

There are no walls blocking the view of the flower hall, so the situation here can be seen clearly in a blink of an eye.

Seeing Wei Qingqing walking in front, Madam Wei, who was sitting in the flower hall, froze in her expression. However, Wei Qingqing showed no emotion and walked straight into the flower hall and saluted obediently towards Princess Yi, who was sitting at the top seat.

"My daughter Wei Qingqing greets the princess and all the ladies."

Princess Yi is now forty-seven years old. Although her temples are gray, she does not look old. She is slightly plump, with smiling eyes that make her look kind, but her majesty is hard to ignore.

Princess Yi did not show any emotion on her face regarding Wei Qingqing's presumptuous behavior. She only smiled and said, "She's the daughter of the Wei family. She's already grown up, about to become a mother, yet she's still acting like such a frivolous girl. I'm afraid the baby in her belly is also a little kid."

"What the princess said is true. This girl has been like this since she was a child. She is impossible to control. I thought she would be more obedient after she went to the Duke's Mansion and was under the supervision of the Crown Prince's Consort. But it turns out that it is difficult for the Crown Prince's Consort." Madam Wei complained and said that it was her nature. She finished her words when Tao Yurong came in.

Tao Yurong happened to be listening to the following words, so she could only follow up, "Sister Wei has a naive and straightforward personality, which is rare. The younger generation envies her, so I'm not going to restrict her. But I have to be more restrained in the future, otherwise the baby in my belly will learn from her."

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone in the hall burst into laughter. This act of usurpation had been committed openly, but as for what everyone thought in their hearts, that was their own business.

But it undoubtedly deepened the outside world's impression that Wei Qingqing was arrogant and did not take his wife seriously, and Tao Yurong was virtuous and generous.

After following Tao Yurong to pay a visit to Princess Yi, Xia Zheng sat at the very end, in the least conspicuous place.

Unlike outside, no one in the flower hall paid attention to her. The topic of conversation and laughter was all about Wei Qingqing's belly, as if she had not come today.

Until Princess Yi said, "It's been so long, I almost forgot. I prayed for a safety amulet for the baby in your belly."

The word "you" referred to Xia Zheng. She immediately stood up, lowered her head and walked quickly forward, one step behind Wei Qingqing to stand in front of Princess Yi.

At this moment, she felt Princess Yi's gaze fall on her belly.

Things are coming.