Fortunate Life of the Rural Beauty
Chapter 534 - 525: Prince He

Chapter 534: Chapter 525: Prince He

Four days later, upon receiving the news, Mrs. Jiang, accompanied by Chen Yuqing and her three siblings, returned to Capital City. Knowing that they might reside permanently in the Capital City in the future, they moved many of their belongings there.

After having a meal with her child, Chen Afu did not go to see Chen Yuhui. In her view, Chen Yuhui was beyond redemption, and she did not want to intersect with her anymore.

On the sixteenth, The Xies officially proposed a marriage alliance through a matchmaker. The Chens accepted, finally securing Chen Yuqing’s engagement with Xie Feng.

Mrs. Jiang was overjoyed. Xie Feng’s family background, personal character and intelligence, undoubtedly, made him the best suitor that Chen Yuqing had ever had over the years, even better than all previous ones. She was deeply grateful to Chen Afu and Chu Hua because the marriage was covertly engineered by these two people.

On the twenty-eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, as everyone was immersed in the joy of the Lunar New Year, the emperor suddenly died.

The new emperor declared that he would hold a grand funeral for the former emperor. The civil and military officials of Capital City mourned and wept for the former emperor, and the officials of a certain rank were required to concentrate on mourning for three days without returning to their homes. The court ladies of third grade or above in Capital City were asked to mourn for the emperor for 3 days, going inside the palace in the morning and leaving in the evening.

This dismal news deeply saddened the Grand Empress Dowager; her health which was recovering, worsened once again and she passed away on the second day of the first lunar month. Before the mourning for the former emperor was over, the royal family welcomed their second funeral.

The death of the Grand Empress Dowager shattered the Third Madam who fell unconscious repeatedly from the immense grief. Chen Afu took care of her closely, comforted her, and even stayed with her in the palace for three days.

On the evening of the fifth day, when the mourning period ended, Chen Afu helped Third Madam, who looked tremendously poor in health, to leave the palace.

Mr. Chu, Chu Lingwei, was waiting outside the palace gate. Seeing the completely devastated Third Madam, tears welled up in Chu Lingwei’s eyes. He went up, held her, and said, "Mother, please restrain your grief. If you continue like this, it will cause my great-grandmother’s soul unrest in heaven."

After entrusting Third Madam to Chu Lingwei, Chen Afu finally sighed in relief. Throughout these days, she had been extremely worried about the trio aged between one and two years old at home. Each time she thought of their uncontrollable crying at night, her heart bled.

Returning to the Marquis’ Mansion, Chen Afu directly went to Anrong Hall. Chu Lingwei had told her that during these days, all four children had been living with their grandfather in Anrong Hall.

The moment she entered the room, she saw Chu Hanyan sitting on a brocade stool, skipping rope with Luo Mei. The three younger ones were playing with Animal House, while Marquis Chu was sitting aside, watching them.

On seeing their mother return, all the children rushed towards her. Each of the younger brothers hugged one of their mother’s legs, calling, "Mom". Chu Hanyan held the unsteady Yu’er. Yu’er, on the other hand, wept as she looked up at their mother, clearly feeling wronged.

Chen Afu picked up Yu’er and said, "Good child, mom’s back."

She excused herself from Marquis Chu, led the kids, and went back to Bamboo Pavilion.

On the eighth day of the first lunar month, a grand coronation ceremony was held. Li Zeping officially ascended to the throne, renaming the era to the First Year of Qingguan. Empress Shan was titled Empress Dowager, while the original crown prince’s consort was named Empress. The princes who had not been conferred yet were also bestowed the title of Prince, along with mansions as their residence. Eleventh Prince, Li Zetai, was titled Prince He. The younger brother of the Second Prince, Eighth Prince, was named Prince Su, who was assigned to guard the royal tomb and was forbidden to enter the Capital City for life.

Hearing that Shiyi was conferred as a prince and would move out once the renovation of his mansion was completed, Chen Afu was quite pleased. It meant that she would have more opportunities to see him in the future.

Chen Shiying was officially appointed as the Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Industry. One of his main tasks was managing and farming the military-agricultural colonies.

By the end of the second month, the remnants of the Second Prince’s party were essentially dealt with. Severe offenders, males aged seven or above, were executed, while their female family members were either admitted into the Yamen Brothel or allowed to remain as courtesans. Offenders with lesser guilt were processed differently: the main offender was executed, while the rest of the family was exiled three thousand miles away. The Hes fell into the category of lesser guilt where all, except He Quan who was executed, were sent to exile in Qiongzhou.

They said that before his execution, He Quan met his elderly wife and eldest son for the last time and asked his wife to agree to his second daughter-in-law divorcing, in order to protect the child she was carrying. Upon hearing from his wife that the child of Chen Yuhui had been miscarried due to physical assault by their son, and that the Emperor had already decreed their divorce, he burst into tears.

The Mas, guilty of severe crime, were dealt with accordingly. Due to the fact that they were only distant relatives of Chu Hanyan, her maternal family was sentenced to exile to the Northern Land and permitted to become military households. Their sentence was significantly lighter compared to those exiled to Qiongzhou, probably due to the Emperor’s consideration towards the future Prince He’s Consort.

Chen Afu felt that it was only right to exert some effort to provide assistance to the family that still had blood relations with Chu Hanyan. She gave Luo Fang a substantial amount of silver to pass onto the guards escorting the exiles, requesting them to ensure their safety. Moreover, using Chu Hanyan’s name, she sent her maternal grandfather some silver and medicinal materials, hoping this would make their life slightly more comfortable in the future.

Perhaps the only person who dared to aid the exiled individuals was the future Prince He’s Consort. It is known to all that Prince He was greatly favoured by both the Empress Dowager and the Emperor.

On the twenty-seventh day of the second month, it was Prince He’s ninth birthday and the Empress Dowager was sure to celebrate for him. Early in the morning, Chen Afu had prepared a birthday cake and had it delivered to the palace, along with a set of underwear she had personally tailored, and a bright blue bracelet made by Chu Hanyan.

To Chen Afu’s surprise, Prince He dropped by The Chus’ Mansion that evening.

Chen Afu was both delighted and baffled. She asked, "How did you manage to leave the palace?"

Prince He came over to lean against her and said, "Ever since my father, the Emperor, died, my mother has spent most of her time practicing Buddhism, I can only see her before late morning. If not for my imperial brother and my incessant advice, my mother would have become a nun..." His eyes reddened slightly. Stabilising his emotions, he continued, "I wanted to have the minced meat sauce noodles made by my mother-in-law, so I came."

Upon hearing this, Chen Afu went to the back courtyard to make the sauce noodles. She also sent someone to Anrong Hall to bring the children back, and invited Third Madam and Chu Lingzhi to Bamboo Pavilion to share the long-life noodles as a birthday wish for Prince He. She had not made any advanced preparations and was short on time, hence she decided not to invite too many people.

Prince He showed Chu Hanyan the bright blue bracelet on his wrist, saying with a smile, "My sister’s craftsmanship has greatly improved. This bracelet you made is really exquisite."

Chu Hanyan replied with a smile, "If you like it, I will make you a few more in the future." She added, "My mother said that I can start learning embroidery next year. By then, I can embroider handkerchiefs and wallets for you."

Prince He was even more delighted upon hearing this and said, "Good, I’ll be waiting."

As night fell, a large container of noodles and several large bowls of sauces were served on the table in the east room. Different sauces prepared by Chen Afu included minced meat, fried chives with scrambled eggs, braised oyster mushrooms with chicks, and ginger-flavored prawns.

Prince He said with a smile, "I will only have the minced meat and sauce noodles, no other noodles taste as good."

Chen Afu helped him with a bowl of noodles. After he finished it, he asked for more. So, Chen Afu served him half a bowl more and then stopped him, explaining that eating too much noodles at night would be difficult for digestion.

Seeing Prince He relishing the noodles, the two little brothers also insisted on having the sauce noodles and ended up having sauces smeared all over their faces.

Before Chen Afu could pull out a handkerchief, Prince He took out a silk handkerchief and wiped the faces of the two boys, coaxing them, "Slow down, there’s plenty more. These noodles are only liked by the three of us."