In the morning of early spring, there was a slight chill in the air. A carriage was walking on a slightly deserted street, and the horses' hooves made a crisp sound. Mingruo was sitting in the carriage, his eyelids were heavy, and he was not awake at all. Si Haochen was light.
He laughed and put her little head on his shoulder.
Mingruo gave up struggling and simply closed his eyes: "Why do you have to go out so early in the morning...it's not fully light yet..."
"You really want to know?" Si Haochen's tone was slightly positive.
"I just want to sleep."
"Then go to sleep." Si Haochen changed his position, "You can sleep in my husband's arms."
"Haha." Mingruo smelled the aroma of wontons and suddenly opened her eyes, "Let's go down and have breakfast before leaving."
"Whatever you want to eat, let Shi Fifteen buy it."
"Are you in a hurry?"
"Yeah." Si Haochen nodded.
After a while, Fifteen came back after buying wontons and sugar cookies. Mingruo moved the high table that had collapsed on one side and fixed it, and started a pleasant breakfast time.
In the dim morning light, a carriage drove very fast and ran to the door of Prince Yun's Mansion. The driver suddenly pulled the reins, and Eunuch Zhang, who was sitting in the carriage, almost flew out of the carriage. Fortunately, he had quick eyes and quick hands, so he used his hands.
Hold the shaft of the car.
"Do you want to throw our family to death?" Zhang Jinliang cursed and got out of the car.
The little eunuch driving the carriage also felt aggrieved. If you hadn't been urging me along the way, would you have run too fast and almost passed Prince Yun's palace?
Zhang Jinliang came forward and knocked on the door. The concierge had just woken up. This man's father-in-law often ran to the palace last year, and all the servants in the concierge recognized him: "Hello, Mr. Zhang."
Zhang Jinliang never dared to make big claims in Prince Yun's Mansion, so he said politely: "We are here to announce the decree, please let me know."
"Wait a moment." The boy announced inside.
Zhang Jinliang twitched his lips. If it were other mansions and heard that he came with an imperial edict, they would at least welcome him into the main hall, serve tea and snacks, and prepare an incense table to receive the edict.
After a while, Butler Zhou came out and saluted Eunuch Zhang: "Eunuch Zhang, my prince and his wife went on a spring outing. They left early in the morning. Look at this..."
"Ah!" Zhang Jinliang wanted to find a place to die first. Based on experience, he should have thought that the errands in Prince Yun's palace would be difficult, but he was only responsible for announcing the decree. It was none of his business whether Prince Yun resisted the decree. How did he do it?
I didn’t expect that this edict could not be announced. “Where did the prince and the princess go for a spring outing?”
"Your Majesty only said that he was going for a walk. We don't know exactly where he went." Butler Zhou spread his hands and said he had no comment.
"How long have the prince and princess been gone?" Zhang Jinliang wiped the sweat from his forehead.
"It's about time." Butler Zhou replied.
"Hey." Zhang Jinliang sighed and quickly climbed onto the carriage. He first went to the East City Gate to find it. There are several places to the east of the imperial capital that are suitable for outings.
Zhang Jinliang took the imperial edict and searched around the four city gates, and finally determined that the carriage of Prince Yun's Palace left the imperial capital from the south gate. Zhang Jinliang chased him to Shili Pavilion outside the city, but did not even see the shadow of the carriage of Prince Yun's Palace.
.There was a tea stall next to Shiliting Pavilion. Zhang Jinliang asked the young eunuch driving the carriage to stop.
"Bring me a pot of tea." Eunuch Zhang went to Prince Yun's Mansion early in the morning to announce the decree. He didn't even eat breakfast. He was thirsty and hungry after working hard all morning.
"I only have one penny for a big bowl of tea here. Do you want it?" the stall owner asked.
"Yes." Eunuch Zhang sat down at the simple wooden table, "Is there anything else to eat?"
"Shaobing, three eggs and five eggs. What do you want to eat?"
"Both of them." Eunuch Zhang felt that he could eat a cow now.
The stall owner quickly brought what Eunuch Zhang wanted to the table. Eunuch Zhang asked while eating: "Did you see a carriage leaving the city this morning?"
"Yes, there are more than a dozen of them."
Eunuch Zhang described the appearance of Prince Yun's carriage in detail. The stall owner thought for a while and said, "All I saw were small caravan carriages, not as big as you said."
"Hey." Eunuch Zhang suddenly felt that the dry sesame cakes were even more difficult to swallow. He took a big sip of tea and thought about how to communicate with the emperor when he went back.
The emperor wanted to catch Prince Yun off guard, and there was no news before the decree was delivered. Unexpectedly, Prince Yun was even more caught off guard. How could he be so lucky if he didn't wait for the good palace?
Eunuch Zhang was so worried that his hair almost fell out, but the palace's carriage arrived at a place with a pleasant scenery - a large peach grove with endless flowers as far as the eye could see.
Mingruo got off the carriage and walked forward while exclaiming: "Wow, ten miles of peach forest!"
"It's only three to five miles." Si Haochen walked beside Mingruo with his hands folded, "There are still some more on the mountain ahead."
"It turned out to be a real peach blossom. I thought I was going to the Shangshu Mansion or Tianlao to beat up the culprit." Mingruo raised her hand and broke off a peach blossom.
"You don't have to worry about those dirty jobs, my husband will take care of them." Si Haochen took Mingruo's hand and returned to the carriage, "There is still a long way to go to the villa."
When the carriage walked out of the peach grove, we saw the mountains not far away. They were not very high but big, as if they were surrounding the peach grove. The mountains were colorful, and there should be more than one kind of peach tree. But they were very regular, almost the same kind.
The colors are all gathered together in one place, and it doesn't look wild at first glance. There is mist on the mountainside, and there are faint farmhouses scattered among them. Further up, the clouds are shrouded, like a fairyland.
"Where is this?" Mingruo leaned against the window lattice, looking at the dreamlike scenery outside.
"The palace is located in Zhuangzi on the outskirts of Beijing, and they specialize in growing fruits." Si Haochen remembered that his little princess liked to pick everything, including flowers, herbs and fruits. "When the fruits are ripe, I will bring you to pick them."
"Okay." Although there are fruit trees for her to pick in the space, Mingruo still prefers 'patrolling the mountains', "What do you plant in your orchard?"
"Peach, apricot, plum, loquat, pomegranate, etc...I don't know the details." Si Haochen didn't eat much fruit before, but it was Mingruo who liked it that made him pay attention.
The carriage stopped in front of a large courtyard. On the first day of the Lunar New Year, the horse was reined in, and on the fifteenth day, the pedals were moved and placed.
Si Haochen helped Mingruo get out of the car, and the two of them walked into the courtyard side by side. A man who looked like a butler came forward to greet him: "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, Your Majesty."
"Yeah." Si Haochen led Mingruo inside. Although the scenery along the way was not as grand and gorgeous as the palace, the small bridges and flowing water were exquisite and wild.
The style of the main courtyard is a bit cold, with white walls and black tiles, and the plants are mainly foliage-free and not in bloom. There is a pomegranate tree in front of the courtyard, but it has not yet reached its flowering period and is still green.
"Take a rest here first, and I'll take you to see something good later." Si Haochen smiled mysteriously at Mingruo.
The scenery along the way was extremely beautiful. Mingruo was already very satisfied with today’s ‘peach blossom chopping’ activity. There was actually something better. Mingruo’s eyes were bright, “What is it?”
