Late Ming Dynasty: Oops, I am surrounded by the Donglin Party

Chapter 567 It’s not the same after all, young man’s journey

"Well, it should be not bad." Liu Rushi said in a low voice.

Liu Rushi had more experience than Dong Xiaowan and the other women. When she first entered the hall, she noticed that there was something wrong with the way Princess Kunyi looked at her husband.

Considering that Zhang Shikang would take the prince and his sister on trips from time to time, they would have had a lot of contact with each other.

In the Ming Dynasty, girls could get married at the age of fourteen. Eighteen was considered an old maid, and twelve was the age for the first signs of love.

"But isn't our husband going to marry Miss Lingqi from the Borub family? If so... what should we do then?"

Dong Xiaowan wanted to say that if her husband married Lingqi, the little princess would probably be sad.

After all, they are the royal family, how could they be someone else's mistress, even if their husbands are marshals of the army.

"Alas, she is still too young, Xiaowan, you go and comfort her."

When Liu Rushi saw Princess Kunyi watching the fireworks alone, she said to Dong Xiaowan.

Dong Xiaowan handed the cub in her arms to Liu Rushi and ran towards Princess Kunyi.

Although she was only eighteen or nineteen years old, as one of the Eight Beauties of Qinhuai in the future, she naturally had good eloquence and high emotional intelligence.

The fireworks lasted for a full quarter of an hour. When they died down, Dong Xiaowan had become very familiar with Princess Kunyi.

No one knew what the two of them talked about, but Princess Kunyi not only stopped being angry, but instead she started chatting and laughing, and became good friends with Dong Xiaowan.

Just after four quarters past the hour of Xu, Zhang Shikang said goodbye to Emperor Chongzhen and Empress Zhou, and got on the carriage home with his wife and children.

On the way back, Dong Xiaowan and Zhang Shikang were in the same car. Zhang Shikang had drunk a few cups of sweet potato wine and was a little dizzy. Dong Xiaowan whispered to Zhang Shikang about her discovery today.

Zhang Shikang's expression was a little strange, and he shook his head and said:

"Don't make trouble. Your father has no interest in little girls."

In fact, long before the incident when he took Zhu Cilang and his sister out for fun and they were assassinated, Zhang Shikang had vaguely felt that there was something strange about Kunyi.

But Princess Kunyi was too young at that time, and Zhang Shikang didn't take it seriously at all.

How could he know that the little girl at that time was so precocious. He originally thought that he had a crush on someone since elementary school, but he didn't expect that it was the same in ancient times.

Alas, who told him that Zhang Shikang is so charming?

there's no way!

However, Zhang Shikang generally didn't take the child's little thoughts seriously.

After all, people always grow up. When Kunyi grows up, he may find the innocent feelings of his childhood funny, just like he did back then.

On the first day of the first lunar month, Zhang Shikang took Chen Yuanyuan and other girls to visit the City God Temple. In the evening, Sun Dasheng and others came to have dinner with them.

Fearing that it would be too noisy, Zhang Shikang chose his own vacant Duke of Zhenguo Mansion as the dinner location, and that night the group got drunk.

After spending nearly three years in the military camp, even Zheng Chong, the youngest, has become much more mature.

The military camp is the place where people are best trained, and the battlefield is the place where people grow the fastest. The only thing that remains unchanged is their indestructible friendship.

After everyone finished drinking and seeing that it was still early, Wang Jingduo suggested that they go watch cockfighting together, and everyone responded in unison.

As a traditional song among a group of childhood friends, they haven't played it together for a long time.

It was Chinese New Year and the curfew in the capital was lifted. When Zhang Shikang and others arrived at a newly opened cockfighting tavern, the tavern was already packed with people.

They pushed their way through the crowd and reached a more open area on the second floor, where they listened to the people who had participated in the suppression cheering loudly for the fighting chickens they had chosen.

But for some reason, everyone was not in a very high spirits. Sun Dasheng and others originally thought that they would be very happy, but the fact was just the opposite, as if the simple excitement of childhood was gone.

Finally, Zhang Shikang muttered, "I want to buy osmanthus flowers and carry them with wine, but it doesn't feel like the time when I was young."

On the third day of the Chinese New Year, Zhang Shikang sent someone to deliver a letter to Zhu Cilang and his sister in the palace, making an appointment to take them out to play the next day.

But on the next day, the only person waiting outside the Meridian Gate was Crown Prince Zhu Cilang.

Zhang Shikang didn't ask much, but Zhu Cilang said something casually while they were in the carriage.

"Master Zhang, I don't know what happened to my sister these past two days. She locked herself in her room and refused to come out. The maids in the palace said that she even ate less.

I thought my sister was sick, so I asked the imperial physician from the Imperial Hospital to examine her. The physician said that she was not sick.

Master Zhang, do you know what's going on?"

Zhang Shikang glanced at Zhu Cilang and found that the boy was a little dull, so he replied:

"How would I know? I am not a doctor."

"Oh, that's true, but I heard from Eunuch Fang that Master Zhang's medical skills are very good. Even the medical officer who went to Xi'an Prefecture to treat plague praised him.

If Master Zhang is free, please take a look at my sister." Zhu Cilang showed concern.

Although Zhu Cilang is one year older than Princess Kunyi, compared to girls, boys tend to be slower to realize things like this.

Zhang Shikang naturally ignored it, because doing so would only make things more complicated. Zhu Cilang was still in a playful mood, so Zhang Shikang only casually talked about fun places in the capital, and Zhu Cilang soon forgot about his sister's matter.

Forbidden City, Kunning Palace.

Princess Kunyi has not yet married, so she has been living with her mother in a side hall in Kunning Palace for many years.

At this time, she was lying by the window in a daze, and the sound of firecrackers from inside and outside the palace could be heard from time to time. Unlike the festive atmosphere of the New Year, Princess Kunyi felt particularly depressed.

At the beginning of the year, she knew that Zhang Shikang already had eight concubines and had four children this year.

But Princess Kunyi thought that no matter what, those women were just singers and were not worthy of her Master Zhang.

So she fantasized about growing up quickly to fourteen years old, when she would be old enough to get married, and with her father's approval, she could marry her Master Zhang.

She had a very strange feeling towards Zhang Shikang. Initially, she just wanted to help her father so as to bind Master Zhang tightly with their royal family.

But ever since the assassination attempt, Princess Kunyi often recalled the scene of Master Zhang running with her in his arms.

That was the first time she had physical contact with a man other than her father, and everything seemed to change suddenly. The feeling of being protected sometimes prompted her to wish for another assassination attempt when she traveled with Master Zhang.

But Princess Kunyi felt that her ideas were too crazy and too naive, and she often fell into this complicated regret.

Until New Year's Eve, she met Master Zhang's eight concubines. They were all so outstanding and beautiful, and it was obvious that Master Zhang treated them very well.

This was not the saddest thing that happened to her that night. When Master Zhang didn't come that night, she chatted with Eunuch Fang Zhenghua and learned that her Master Zhang was actually engaged to the daughter of the Bolu family.

When she heard the news, her mind went blank and she felt as if there was a stone blocking her heart.

It was not until Zhang Shikang arrived that the discomfort turned into grievance, but it was difficult to express this grievance, so he could only endure it.

So when Master Zhang treated her like a child and wanted to give her a red envelope, she finally couldn't help herself.

The sister named Dong Xiaowan was really amazing. She actually discovered what she was thinking. Although she didn't say it explicitly, Princess Kunyi could feel it.

"Kunyi, why are you so depressed these days? Are you feeling unwell?"

While he was daydreaming, Emperor Chongzhen and Empress Zhou came to the door of the side hall and said.

……