On the wedding day, my wife was abnormal

In late spring, fine willow catkins were floating in the Regent's Palace. As Lin Zhen's carriage turned the Nine-Bend Bridge, he heard screams coming from the direction of the East Corner Gate.

"Be careful, it snorts!"

"Don't get too close!"

"what!!"

“Old Zhao, Old Zhao!!”

On the bluestone road, three or four servants were pulling the camel's reins and turning around. The felt saddle on the camel's hump was crooked, and the parrot on the flower stand was startled and flapped its wings and screamed.

The servant named Lao Zhao was knocked to the ground by the camel, and his expression was very painful.

Lin An was so anxious that he was jumping up and down. He wanted to give orders but he didn't understand how to give them.

"be careful!"

"What are you doing!" Lin Zhen got off the carriage and looked over here.

Lin An saw him, as if he had seen a savior. He rushed forward with sweat on his forehead, the edge of the account book in his hand curled up. "Prince, you are back! The five camels sent by His Majesty are like crazy, snorting at the sight of the maids in red clothes. They have already trampled down three rose trees in the west wing! What do you think we should do? They are too big and we can't control them at all!"

Lin Zhen frowned as he looked at a camel swishing its tail not far away. Its hump shone a light brown in the late spring sunshine. "A camel sent by His Majesty? Why would you send a camel for no reason?"

He reached out to take the wet wipes handed to him by the servant, wiped the court beads on his sleeve, and suddenly caught a glimpse of the bright yellow ribbon still tied around the camel's neck.

This was probably tribute from the Western Regions. Lin Zhen had seen it at the Honglu Temple last month. Furthermore, the Shaocheng of the Honglu Temple had contracted a lung infection from being sprayed by a camel. If Sun Zhitui hadn't personally intervened, he would have died by now.

Lin An leaned forward and lowered his voice, "The eunuch who delivered the camels said that His Majesty wanted to comfort the young master, saying that you've worked hard accompanying Miss Qizhu'er, and specially sent five camels to milk the milk for the young master." He paused, wiping the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve, "He also said... this is a gift from his mother to the young master."

"A meeting gift?" Lin Zhen laughed dumbly.

It seems that it's not just Sima Chunlei who is jealous, but also the empress who sits in the palace.

Alas, women, after all, can't escape a little pettiness. Isn't it just a skinny horse, what's the big deal?

"Hey, hey, hey, don't stand in front of it. Be careful. If you get hurt, you'll have to see a doctor and take medicine!" Lin An instructed them to lead the camel to the east corner gate.

There was another sound of camels braying, and a female camel swung its reins and crashed into the rockery, scaring the little maid who was passing by with a zither so much that she screamed and hid behind a tree.

Lin Zhen looked at the withered flowers under the camel's hooves and suddenly chuckled - Murong Yan was reminding him that even if he doted on his concubine, he should not forget her identity as his wife.

This girl.

Lin Zhen smiled and shook his head, calling out, "Old Lin."

He handed the wet wipe to the servant and traced the phoenix pattern on the camel's saddle with his fingertips. "First, take the camel to the stable and find a few veterans who know animals to take care of it. If they don't know how to take care of it, go out and find professionals. Also, can the milk we squeeze every day and send it to Cheng Yu. Your Majesty's kindness, we can't let you down."

Your Majesty's kindness...

Lin An didn't think this was a good intention.

This is clearly looking for trouble.

He quickly agreed, then said with a sad face, "But this stable has always only been used to raise war horses and camel food..."

"Double the price according to the standard for war horses." Lin Zhen interrupted him, his eyes falling on the silver bells on the camel's neck - they were awarded by the palace, and each bell was engraved with the words "special supply".

Lin Zhen said, "Let's get a veterinarian back to carefully examine the camel's teeth. Make sure nothing goes wrong with the food sent from the palace."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

After giving the instructions, Lin Zhen turned and walked towards Tingqinju.

As he walked through the peony garden, willow catkins fell on the hem of his moon-white clothes, like frost falling on his head.

The carved door of Tingqinju was ajar, and intermittent piano sounds could be heard.

Lin Zhen pushed open the door and saw Qizhu'er sitting in front of the window plucking the strings of a musical instrument. A half branch of magnolia was embroidered on her moon-white skirt.

She looked up when she heard footsteps, and her fingertips made a tremolo sound on the strings.

"Prince!" Qizhuer stood up and saluted, her words revealing unconcealable joy, and the osmanthus flowers in her hair swayed gently.

Lin Zhen looked at her pale face and remembered that she was uneasy because of Sima Chunlei's weird behavior and could not sleep all night.

"Zhu'er, there's no need to be so polite." As he approached, he smelled the faint scent of agarwood on her.

Those were the spices from Murong Yan's palace, but they were a bit more bitter than those in the palace.

Outside the window, the sound of camels braying could be heard faintly.

Qizhuer looked at the willow catkins on his hem and suddenly chuckled, "My Lord, I noticed there was a lot of commotion in the mansion today. But what treasure has arrived?"

Her tone was very calm, but Lin Zhen could hear that she was deliberately avoiding the question.

"His Majesty sent five camels, saying they were for milking Chengyu." Lin Zhen deliberately pronounced the word "Chengyu" very lightly and saw Qizhu'er's fingers pause on the strings.

She was new and didn't know much about the house. She heard a lot of things from the maid who had just entered the courtyard.

She knew that Chengyu was Qingwen's child, and Qingwen was Lin Zhen's most beloved concubine, no doubt about it.

Even the maids said that Qingwen was a maid before, not a high-ranking maid, but just a small maid. She became a concubine just because she took the initiative to climb into Lin Zhen's bed. Now she is the mother of her son and has the final say in the mansion.

To be honest, no servant in the entire palace did not envy Qingwen's inspiring experience, and Qizhuer was no exception.

She also wanted to be someone like Qingwen, but that was impossible after all.

Qizhu'er looked down at the zither strings, her fingertips tracing the broken lines of "Dragon's Roar of the Sea." "Your Majesty... does care about the young master. It's just that it's hard for Sister Qingwen. This child is clearly hers, but she has to drink milk sent by others."

"Chengyu is different from normal children. He eats a lot. Four wet nurses are not enough to take care of him. He even has to eat camel milk."

"Ah? Four wet nurses are not enough?" Qizhuer subconsciously looked at her flat chest and her face turned red.

Even the wet nurse couldn't feed Lin Zhen's child, so what about me...

Never mind, I can’t have children anyway.

Lin Zhen seemed to sense something and held her cold hand, which felt warmer than in winter.

"Don't overthink it. Her Majesty sent the camel to vent her anger on me. She knew that we stayed at Tingqin Residence yesterday."

"Ah?" Qizhu'er opened her mouth wide, then thought about what happened in the palace. How could the emperor know?

"Your Highness, do you mean there is a spy in the palace?"

"I can't call her a spy, but His Majesty is definitely planting spies. This is a common problem among emperors. But it doesn't matter. We're staying here tonight, so it might as well be a deliberate attempt to piss her off."

Qizhuer retracted her hand and said, "Your Highness, please sleep with the Imperial Concubine. The way she was this morning...I'm a little scared."

Qizhu'er's eyelashes trembled violently, remembering the murderous look in Sima Chunlei's eyes when she left in the morning.

In her early years in Yangzhou, she was taught that marrying into a large family would inevitably lead to jealousy, intrigue and deception.

But Qizhuer didn't expect that this day would come so soon.

She didn't even think about how to protect herself.

Just as Lin Zhen was about to speak, Qi Zhu'er interrupted him, saying, "Your Highness, there is no need to explain. I know my place."

"Position?" Lin Zhen suddenly chuckled, his fingertips stroking the thin calluses on the back of her hand - left by years of playing the zither. "In my heart, you are no longer just a skinny horse, but my concubine."

"Am I also considered a concubine?"

"Of course they count. As long as they are my woman, Lin Zhen, they are all my concubines. So there is no difference between you and Chun'er."

He suddenly leaned in close and smelled the sweet osmanthus flowers in her hair. "Do you remember your Fengqiuhuang last night? When your new zither is ready, I want to listen to it again."

"I will obey the prince in everything, but you should go to sleep with the imperial concubine tonight. I want to play the piano by myself."

Being sensible makes people feel distressed.

In this case, Lin Zhen had no reason to be stubborn. He stood up and held her in his arms, his fingertips running across the jade bracelet on her wrist.

This bracelet was carefully selected by Zhang Li and given to her as a gift to her sister.

The low mooing of camels outside the window mixed with the fragrance of osmanthus flowers drifted in, and he suddenly heard hurried footsteps coming from the corridor.

"Prince, Hou Chun requests to see you." The knock on the door was light and urgent, with a bit of trembling.

Lin Zhen released his arms around Qizhuer and saw that the tips of her ears were red and the osmanthus flowers in her hair were half crooked.

"Come in." He straightened his clothes, his voice still filled with tenderness.

Hou Chun pushed the door open and walked in, his eyes lowered, not daring to look at Qizhuer. "Editor-in-Chief Chen wants to see you. He said he has something urgent to tell you. He's been waiting in the reception room for half an hour."

Qizhu'er quickly stood up and adjusted the strings of her zither, her fingertips running across the music score of "The Phoenix Seeks the Phoenix": "Prince, please go and do your work. This is a good opportunity for me to touch up my makeup."

When she turned her head, osmanthus flowers fell on the piano table, like a piece of faded moonlight.

Lin Zhen held her cold hand and whispered, "If His Majesty plays any tricks again, I will go to the palace tomorrow to ask for an explanation. Don't worry, with me here, no one will dare to hurt you."

After saying that, Lin Zhen let her go.

"Go quickly." Qizhuer chuckled, her fingertips touching the calloused area on his palm. "Editor-in-Chief Chen's late-night visit might be related to the newspaper."

When she turned around, her moon-white skirt swept across the willow catkins on the ground, like a floating cloud.

The candlelight in the reception room illuminated Chen Mo's official robe. The brand new blue satin was embroidered with bamboo patterns in silver thread, which was exactly the style for a sixth-rank official in the Ministry of Works.

Lin Zhen pushed the door open and saw him sipping tea from a mutton-fat jade teacup. The smell of ink on his cuffs had faded a lot.

"Greetings, Prince." Chen Mo stood up and saluted, his official boots making crisp sounds as they tapped against the blue bricks.

Lin Zhen stared at the gilded badge on his waist. The newly engraved words "Public Opinion Supervision Department" shone coldly in the firelight.

"Please sit down." Lin Zhen sat down on the rosewood chair, and the Biluochun tea in the teacup was steaming.

"What? Has the war correspondent issue been resolved?"

After he finished speaking, Lin Zhen noticed his official robes and said calmly, "You're dressed so neatly. Could it be that you've hooked up with someone powerful in the palace?"

He deliberately used the tea lid to stir the tea leaves, but his eyes were scanning Chen Mo's expression.

Chen Mo pulled a sheepskin map from his sleeve and spread it out on the desk. "Your Majesty has promised that the families of war correspondents will be exempted from corvée service for ten years, and those who die in battle will receive twenty dan of millet."

He ran his fingertips over the sketch of the camel-patterned waist badge on the map, and there was a faint pattern of the word "Yan" on the camel's hump.

"He also said he wanted to carve a camel-patterned waist badge to use the prince's reputation to inspire scholars."

"Using the prince's reputation to make a fuss?" Lin Zhen suddenly sneered, "You are really generous to others."

He picked up the teacup, but spilled the tea due to excessive force. "The newspaper used to receive 50,000 taels of silver per month, but now it's replaced with jade plates and golden cups in the palace. Do the scholars really think this is the emperor's magnanimous favor?"

Chen Mo lowered his voice and asked, "Sir, do you know that Li Gousheng's mother knelt at the door of the newspaper office this morning?"

His eyes behind his glasses passed over the camel outside the window. "She said it was the first time in her life that she had seen white rice. Your Majesty's pension is 30% more than what we give."

"Thirty percent?"

Lin Zhen slammed the table and stood up, causing the teacup to fall to the ground. "Thirty percent is also my money! He used my money to buy people's hearts, which makes it seem like I, the prince, am being harsh on my subordinates!"

Chen Mo nodded and took out a brocade box from his sleeve. "His Majesty gave me a pigeon whistle for secret messages. He said it can be used to dispatch express horses from the post station, but each secret letter must be sent in two ways: one to the Military Affairs Office and one to the secret room."

Lin Zhen took the pigeon whistle, feeling it was cold. "Openly recruiting, secretly monitoring. She even wanted to learn my code words?"

After saying that, Lin Zhen looked at Chen Mo: "And you! How dare you betray me and stand on His Majesty's side!?"

Chen Mo was so frightened that he knelt among the broken porcelain pieces, his official robe quickly staining the knees with blue-gray. "Sir, I'm innocent. I just wanted to improve my reporter's pay! Do you still remember Zhang Xiucai? Last month, he brought back a grain map for Northern Yan, and his tongue was cut off and thrown at the city gate. But before he died, he wrote in his blood, 'No Grain in the West,' and saved the lives of three thousand brothers."

He suddenly looked up, his eyes landing on the sweet osmanthus flowers on Lin Zhen's chest. "Your Majesty's pension will allow his mother to live in a brick house and have his name engraved on the Martyrs' Shrine. This is something we couldn't give him before."

Lin Zhen's fingers left red marks on the chair handle, and he thought of the broken pen that Zhang Xiucai had handed to him before his death. The words "iron pen" were engraved on the pen shaft.

"So you'll use the blood of our brothers to exchange for her royal favor?" He suddenly kicked away the broken porcelain at his feet, and the pieces hit the camel-patterned sketch on the desk, scratching the "Yan" character on the camel's hump into pieces.

"Don't you know that I gave His Majesty her money? It's all mine! She used my money to buy you off, and now you're crying poor to me? Did I give you too little in terms of compensation? Besides, our newspaper strives for freedom of expression, and now, with the imperial plates and golden cups served and the official badges and boots on, you've forgotten who you're supposed to write for!"

Chen Mo kowtowed fiercely, his forehead hitting the blue bricks with a dull thud. "Your Highness, do you think I don't want to be tough? Your Majesty wanted to remove all the reporters without connections, and it was only after I knelt for two hours that I was able to save Li Gousheng and the others."

He ripped open his collar, revealing the ink tattoo beneath his collarbone. It was the newspaper's original headline. "I sold my body to the newspaper a long time ago. Now I am merely borrowing your Majesty's shell to protect our roots!"

Lin Zhen looked at the tattoo on his chest and suddenly remembered the couplet that Chen Mo posted at the door of the newspaper on the day of its founding: "The iron pen is bright, illuminating the mountains and rivers."

He suddenly turned around and stared out the window at the silver bell on the camel's neck. "She can recruit him if she wants, but all confidential letters from reporters must go through me first."

He suddenly sneered: "Haha, Yan'er, this is not good. Your husband must go to the palace to meet you."