Chapter 226
Acting Like a Spoiled Child (3)
Mu Mingtang did not expect to be hugged by Xie Xuanchen suddenly, so she was slightly stunned. However, Xie Xuanchen only hugged Mu Mingtang for a while and released her soon, making her sigh in relief. Xie Xuanchen’s behavior was too open and upright, which made Mu Mingtang feel embarrassed. She looked at him shyly and murmured, “Then I’ll go to sleep?”
Xie Xuanchen put away the Ruyi knot and said in a gentle tone, “You go to sleep first. I have something to do. The court’s congratulation ceremony will start in an hour, so I have to wear formal clothes and prepare to go. I’m afraid I will not be able to accompany you tonight.”
“Ah?” Mu Mingtang was surprised. “Then you will not be able to sleep tonight?”
“Hmm.” Xie Xuanchen nodded: “Yes, no official will be able to sleep tonight, even the emperor.”
Mu Mingtang thought to herself, ‘Oh! Being an official is not easy. He even has to stay up all night for the congratulation ceremony.’
Mu Mingtang said with a sigh, “Don’t tire yourself too much. If you are really sleepy, just close your eyes and rest for a while.”
“I know.” Xie Xuanchen caressed Mu Mingtang’s head and said with a nod, “You go to sleep first. I’m leaving.”
Mu Mingtang wanted to send Xie Xuanchen off, but he didn’t allow it because she still had half-dried hair. In the end, she could only sit on the bed and see Xie Xuanchen leave.
The New Year celebration was the most important and solemn ceremony of the year. All the officials in Beijing must be dressed up to attend the ceremony. Even envoys from other countries such as Beirong, Xixia, Gaoli, Jiaozhi, Dali visited the Ye Dynasty to celebrate the New Year.
After Xie Xuanchen left, Mu Mingtang tried to sleep, but she could not fall asleep because she was not used to sleeping without Xie Xuanchen. In the end, she only fell asleep in a daze when it was almost dawn.
Mu Mingtang slept till late in the morning, but she still felt tired after waking up. By the time she woke up, Xie Xuanchen still hadn’t come back. Since Mu Mingtang didn’t need to see her in-laws, she slowly got dressed and had breakfast without any hassle.
After Mu Mingtang had finished her breakfast, a maid came in to report, “Princess, the Song residence has sent generous gifts.”
“Song residence?” Mu Mingtang responded, “Song Prime Minister?”
“Yes.”
Mu Mingtang could guess that Prime Minister Song was apologizing for Song Wulang. Honestly, she was even looking forward to it. “Bring the gift list here.”
On the day, they had an incident with Song Wulang, he was drunk and could not recognize Xie Xuanchen, so his words were quite disrespectful toward Xie Xuanchen. If Song Wulang had scolded someone other than Xie Xuanchen, it would not be a serious matter. Unfortunately, that someone was Xie Xuanchen.
After knowing that the incident happened on the street, Prime Minister Song became so angry that he whipped Song Wulang with a cane. Although Mrs. Song and his daughter-in-law tried to persuade Prime Minister Song to stop, Song Wulang could not escape from his father’s punishment and had to copy his family motto in the ancestral hall.
In the end, no matter how angry Prime Minister Song was, Song Wulang was his son and Prime Minister Song always had to clean up after his son. Yet Prime Minister Song did not dare to come to Xie Xuanchen directly to apologize because he was afraid of being misunderstood by the emperor.
Since ancient times, monarchs had always been suspicious of officials, so if Prime Minister Song, as the prime minister of the dynasty, gave generous gifts to the son of the late emperor during the festival season, it would have passed to the emperor’s ears and arouse his suspicion. Therefore, Prime Minister Song did not dare to make a move until he met Xie Xuanchen at the New Year’s Eve banquet yesterday. Now that the emperor was aware of that incident, he finally asked his family to send apology gifts.
Mu Mingtang went through the gift list and was very satisfied. She couldn’t help but sigh as she thought, ‘Sure enough, all the officials in the Ye Dynasty are very rich.’
When she was in the Jiang family, she felt that the Jiang family was quite rich. At that time, Jiang Honghao was no more than the deputy envoy of the Third Division, but Prime Minister Song had been a leader of the officials for many years. So naturally, the Song family was more capable than the Jiang family.
It was a good sign to make a fortune on the first day of the new year. Mu Mingtang put down the gift list and said, “I see. Put the things in the warehouse and take this list to register.”
Receiving the order, the maid left with the gift list.
In addition to the generous apology, Mrs. Song sent a handwritten letter to apologize on behalf of his son. After reading that, Mu Mingtang took the pen and simply replied to Mrs. Song.
In addition to the Song family, the concierge of the palace also received many gifts as New Year’s greetings. Giving gifts in the New Year was also part of the etiquette and it was very popular. After all, sending gifts was much more convenient than visiting in person.
Xie Xuanchen had a special status so no one dared to come in person to pay New Year’s greetings, but they sent gifts. So when the maid brought over the gift list, Mu Mingtang was shocked. The list was really long.
When Mu Mingtang was reading the gift list, a maid suddenly came and informed her that Xie Xuanchen was back. Mu Mingtang was very happy. She had only stood up and taken two steps before Xie Xuanchen lifted the curtain and entered.
Han Chinese had always regarded red as the most precious color, so on occasions like the first day of the New Year, everyone from the emperor to the courtiers wore red. Xie Xuanchen, who was wearing a red robe today, was extremely attractive and full of heroic spirit.
When Xie Xuanchen came in, Mu Mingtang felt as if he had illuminated the room.
Normally, Xie Xuanchen only wore purple clothes and didn’t pay such attention to aesthetics.
When Xie Xuanchen saw Mu Mingtang, he complained with a bit of grievance, “I’m finally back. After the court meeting, the emperor gave a banquet and insisted on inviting envoys from other countries to enjoy songs, dances, and zaju. After tossing around all morning, I can only come back now.”
[T/N: Zaju was a form of Chinese opera. You can read more at wikipedia.]
Xie Xuanchen hadn’t slept all night and had to wait outside the Xuande Gate until early this morning which was really physically tiring. Older and physically weaker courtiers found it really hard to hold on at all, but even so, everyone was proud to be able to participate in the ceremony.
However, after listening to Xie Xuanchen, Mu Mingtang didn’t feel that there was anything wrong and accompanied him to change clothes.
After he changed into home clothes, they sat on the bed. “You didn’t sleep last night so you must be feeling tired and sleepy. I have already asked the maid to prepare lunch. Go to sleep after eating.”
After Mu Mingtang finished speaking, Xie Xuanchen asked: “What about you? Are you also feeling sleepy?”
“No, I am not. You eat first. You can sleep after that.”
Xie Xuanchen closed his eyes, leaned on Mu Mingtang’s shoulder with peace of mind, and said, “I had stayed awake the whole night. I am also feeling a slight headache. You will have to sleep with me, or else I will not be able to sleep properly.”
Even though Xie Xuanchen’s tone was calm, servants in the room were so surprised that their eyes almost popped out.
Is the prince really acting like a spoiled child?!