The Eldest Daughter Is Beautiful and Saucy
Chapter 443: Elixir
Chapter 443 Pills
“Sister, Xiaoqi just told me in the carriage that Lu Yuanpeng and his group of playboys have joined the army and gone to the northern border! I think they should be among the new troops that went to garrison the border when we came back!” Bai Jinzhi’s voice was very cheerful.
“Yes!” Bai Jinse said obediently, “When Lu Yuanpeng left, there was quite a commotion. A bunch of playboys in the capital who were good friends with them all ran to the military camp! Later, Lord Shoushan and the commander of the patrol camp, Mr. Fan Yuhuai, ran to Prime Minister Lu’s mansion and asked Prime Minister Lu to control Lu Yuanpeng. Several adults even ran to the military camp to take their children back. Lu Yuanpeng was quite righteous and said that it was the duty of every man to defend his country. Even the daughters of the Bai family went to the battlefield to sacrifice their lives for the country. And you adults are in high positions and are supported by taxes from the people of the world. Could it be that you want to restrict your passionate men to stay at home and embroider and marry?”
When Bai Jinzhi heard this, his eyes widened: “How can Lu Wanku say such a thing?”
After thinking about it, Bai Jinzhi felt something was wrong and frowned: “Why do I feel that Lu Yuanpeng is saying that our Bai family’s daughters should embroider and get married?”
Bai Jinxiu covered her lips with a handkerchief and smiled softly, “However, Lu Yuanpeng’s words have changed the people of the capital city’s view of these playboys. Even His Majesty praised them as the passionate men of Jin. Although they are playboys, their flaws do not outweigh their merits.”
“Later, those who had used force to force the military camp to release their people and forcibly dragged their children back, hurriedly sent their children to the military camp! It was in vain that Prime Minister Lu had to condescend to apologize to them one by one.” Bai Jinse wanted to laugh just thinking of that scene.
Although Lu Yuanpeng likes to tease cats and dogs, he is not a bad person by nature. Under his nonchalant appearance, he has a kind heart, otherwise the boys of the Bai family would not have been close to Lu Yuanpeng.
Seeing that they were about to reach the gate of the small courtyard, Wei Zhong took two quick steps and opened the canopy curtain for Bai Qingyan and his group.
The eldest princess had her hair combed meticulously, with only a gold-inlaid jade hairpin inserted in it. She was wearing a summer dress made last year, embroidered with crabapple patterns, comfortable and elegant. She sat in front of the stone table in the courtyard, holding a chess piece in her hand and looking down at the chessboard. The very faint sunlight was cast through the gaps between the leaves, reflecting the sweet white glaze vase with a few osmanthus flowers on the side, as if there was a hazy halo.
Compared to the last time we met, the eldest princess had lost a lot of weight. Perhaps it was because she had always been a vegetarian, her cheeks were thinner and her eye sockets were deeper.
Bai Qingyan came in with her three younger sisters. After respectfully bowing three times to the Grand Princess, she stood up and asked, “Greetings to Grandmother! I heard from Nanny Jiang that Grandmother is ill. Is Grandmother feeling better now?”
The eldest princess put the chess piece in her hand into the chess box and asked in a hoarse voice: “Did you get hurt during the trip to the northern border? Is Xiaosi’s hand okay?”
“To answer grandma’s question, this minor injury on the back of my hand is nothing serious!” Bai Jinzhi replied to the Grand Princess as Bai Qingyan instructed, with a smile in his eyes that was clear and pure, still like a child who had never grown up.
The eldest princess looked at Bai Qingyan and wanted to reach out and call Bai Qingyan to come to her side, but when she saw her in armor and thought of her children and grandchildren, she felt so guilty that she couldn’t lift her hands holding the Buddhist beads.
The wind blew, the leaves rustled, and a corner of the emerald green ribbed tablecloth on the stone table was lifted.
The eldest princess still asked in a low voice: “Abao, what about you?”
“Thank you for your concern, grandma. Everything is fine, Abao!” Bai Qingyan replied.
The eldest princess nodded, and saw Lu Ninghua lift up the bamboo curtain of Concubine Xiang and come out of the side room, holding a black lacquered and gold-painted square plate in her hand, which was as big as the tip of a thumb… There were very delicate crabapple-shaped snacks and a bottle of sweet osmanthus that had been warm for a long time.
Lu Ninghua greeted everyone and then said with a smile: “The eldest and fourth girls have returned triumphantly today. The Grand Princess specially asked someone to prepare a pot of sweet osmanthus instead of wine to congratulate the two girls!”
There is no Bai family ancestral hall here, and the army she led to the battle was not the Bai family army.
But today the eldest princess seemed to be thinking about the scene when the Bai family returned victoriously and reported to their ancestors that they had returned to the capital safely.
Bai Qingyan stepped forward and nodded to Lu Ninghua, then picked up the wine cup on the black lacquered square plate, drank the sweet osmanthus wine, and then knelt down to the eldest princess and saluted: “Bai Qingyan, the eldest daughter of the Bai family, returned to the capital safely.”
Bai Jinzhi’s eyes were slightly moist. She recalled the day when she met her seventh brother, when he knelt in front of her eldest sister and said that they had returned to the capital safely. How she wished… every man in the Bai family could come back, kneel in front of their grandmother, and inform their ancestors and elders that they had returned safely.
Bai Jinzhi followed suit, stepped forward to finish drinking the sweet osmanthus honeysuckle, and bowed to the eldest princess again: “Bai Jinzhi, the fourth daughter of the Bai family, return to the capital safely!”
The eldest princess nodded with tears in her eyes: “Okay! As long as you are safe!”
Nanny Jiang also brought out the tea that Lu Ninghua had brewed and had someone put a few cushions on the stone bench.
Bai Jinxiu was pregnant, so Nanny Jiang served her osmanthus tea, which had a very pleasant aroma.
“Xiao Qi… take your fourth sister to pick more osmanthus flowers. Your eldest sister is here today! For dinner tonight, let Madam Jiang cook the osmanthus yam dish that your eldest sister likes.”
The Grand Princess intentionally sent Bai Jinzhi and Bai Jinse away. Bai Jinzhi was not unaware of it. She nodded and pulled Bai Jinse aside, saying, “Okay! I haven’t had the sweet-scented osmanthus yam made by Nanny Jiang for a long time. Xiao Si really misses it!”
After Bai Jinzhi and Bai Jinse left, the Grand Princess asked Lu Ninghua to sit down.
After a long while, the eldest princess spoke with a look of heartache: “The emperor is becoming more and more absurd now!”
After Lu Ninghua stood up and saluted, she said, “Ninghua has been checking the emperor’s pulse for a while now. He seems to be in high spirits, but his pulse is a little strange, as if he has taken cinnabar!”
“Aunt, are you saying that His Majesty is taking elixirs?” Bai Jinxiu was startled and looked up at Lu Ninghua.
“That’s right! But I heard that elixirs have become popular among the Wei nobles in recent years. Taking them can make people glow and be energetic. There are rumors that they can prolong life. Although cinnabar is also a medicine, if taken internally in moderation, it can cure palpitations, insomnia, epilepsy and madness, but it is not advisable to take too much, let alone for a long time.”
If we talk about longevity and health-preserving elixirs, they really became popular in the State of Jin. The eldest princess’s grandfather, Emperor Wende, died because of these longevity and health-preserving elixirs. Later, when the eldest princess’s father succeeded to the throne, the first thing he did was to forbid the royal family from taking these elixirs except for illness.
Bai Qingyan lowered his eyes and thought carefully, so… Prince Liang presented the elixir to the emperor, which is why the emperor showed him favor?
Lu Ninghua glanced at the Grand Princess before continuing, “If the emperor continues to take this elixir, plus the Xiliang love potion, I’m afraid the emperor won’t be able to last two years.”
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