The next day, upon hearing the news about the He and Fu families, the Fu family had their noble title revoked. Lord Fu retained his official position, but Fu Rongxuan, for his act of insubordination, was demoted to a commoner, and his descendants were forbidden from entering officialdom for all eternity. In contrast, although the situation of the He family was more serious, perhaps because they were the maternal relatives of the queen, they were still given a bit of face. They were only demoted to the rank of earl, and He Wenhao's position as the heir apparent was removed, with no other punishments.
As for the queen in the palace, since she had been unaware of the previous events and considering that she was the mother of the eldest prince, she was only fined three months' monthly allowance and ordered to copy books ten times. There was no news about any punishment for Sheng Chenyi, but since it was said yesterday that the crown prince would be deposed, he was no longer the crown prince.
Lu Wanning stared at her dark - circled eyes and yawned, which startled Ji Yue, who had just come in to serve her.
"Your Highness... Oh no, Princess. What did you do last night? Didn't you sleep at all?"
Lu Wanning shook her head. "I just went to bed late."
Ji Yue was shocked when she saw the purses in the basket beside the bed. "Did you embroider these?"
Lu Wanning lay on the bed. "No way. If your princess were that capable, it would be great. I just made them. I wanted to make some small pendants that could be hung on the body. I can't embroider flowers."
Ji Yue rummaged through them and found that the princess had embroidered quite a few small purses. The early ones were rather crude and large, but the later ones became more and more delicate and small. The last one seemed to have just been finished. It was made of red silk cloth with a Chinese rose on it. The red flower and green leaves were very beautiful.
She quickly reached out and grabbed Lu Wanning's hand, looking at it with distress. "Your Highness has been busy all night. It's not only bad for your eyes but also for your hands. What are you making these for? Let this servant do it for you, won't that be okay?"
Lu Wanning rubbed her eyes and got up. She was in a daze for a long time before shaking her head. "It's more meaningful to make them myself. He has saved me so many times. It's only right for me to repay him this little bit."
Ji Yue didn't understand what she meant and asked again. "Is Your Highness going to give these to someone?"
Lu Wanning ignored her and went to the dressing table to rummage through it. She found a small amulet, which the Empress Dowager had asked for her before she passed away. She always used to wear it when she went out.
Once the rope broke, she had just left it there.
Lu Wanning carefully put the amulet into the small purse. Feeling that it fit perfectly, she nodded in satisfaction. "You don't need to worry. I have my own plans. By the way, where's my father?"
Ji Yue said, "Uncle Rong came back this morning and said that the prince and His Highness, the Prince of Yu, were going to inspect the troops at the drill ground and then discuss matters about going to the battlefield. They won't be coming back."
Lu Wanning frowned. "They've been discussing for a whole night. Do they still need to continue? Didn't Father get injured yesterday? Shouldn't he take a rest? And the Prince of Yu is going to go on an expedition soon. How can he go without a good rest?"
After she washed and dressed, she had a hasty breakfast. She asked someone to tell the princess and then prepared to go out with Ji Yue.
Just as she was about to leave the courtyard, Lu Wanning stopped and looked seriously at Ji Yue. "How's my state today? How's my complexion?"
Ji Yue was taken aback for a moment and then answered honestly. "Your Highness is as beautiful as a celestial being. It's just that you didn't rest well last night. Your eyes are a bit red, and..."
Before she could finish her sentence, Lu Wanning had already run back. She looked at herself in the bronze mirror, took out the rouge and powder, and started applying makeup. After applying it once, she felt it was a bit too thick, so she carefully wiped it off and applied a thin layer again. She kept looking at herself in the mirror and was satisfied only when she saw that there were no flaws at all.
A woman dresses up for the one who pleases her.
This sentence suddenly popped into Lu Wanning's mind. She was usually very lazy and didn't like to dress up. The previous owner of this body used to wear heavy makeup, all for Fu Rongxuan. Since she didn't like Fu Rongxuan, she naturally didn't bother to dress up.
But now, was she actually going to put on makeup?
The key was that she wasn't putting on makeup for her own pleasure. She was doing it for another man.
Lu Wanning felt a bit dejected. She wanted to be nicer to him and show more gratitude, but he might not like her. Even if he had a little bit of liking for her, it was probably just because she was brave, not afraid of him, and seemed to admire him.
He was so fierce...
Lu Wanning took the handkerchief and started to wipe off the makeup on her face clean.
Ji Yue was completely confused and didn't understand what her mistress was doing again and again. "Your Highness, aren't you going to put on makeup? Or are you not satisfied? Otherwise, let this servant do your makeup for you?"
Lu Wanning shook her head with a straight face. "The period of mourning isn't over yet. How can I be so exaggerated? This dress of mine is also inappropriate. Go and help me find that set without silver embroidery from last time."
Ji Yue quickly said, "Your Highness, that's the one you wore yesterday. This servant asked Yilong to take it to be washed."
"Then get it back!"
Ji Yue choked for a moment and obediently went to get the clothes back. She served Lu Wanning to change into them. In her heart, she thought silently that even other girls would try every means to adorn themselves even during the period of mourning, aiming to make themselves stand out. It seemed that her own princess was really heart - broken. No, she had to tell the princess later and find a way to prevent the princess from being so dejected.
After changing her clothes, Lu Wanning went out with a plain face.
On the way to the drill ground, Lu Wanning held the amulet in her hand. The closer she got to the drill ground, the stronger the feeling of wanting to escape became. She had come here today to see him. She wanted to summon up the courage to see him.
Soon, he was going to the battlefield, and they would be separated. She didn't know when they would meet again. She also didn't know if everything would change when he came back.
It was rare to see such a delicate girl in the drill ground. The soldiers didn't even dare to breathe loudly, for fear that their rough actions would scare the precious princess in front of them.
The leading junior general carefully led Lu Wanning in and explained as he walked. "The prince and His Highness are inspecting the troops. Your Highness might as well wait here. It's quite clean here."
Lu Wanning shook her head. "No need. I also want to see what inspecting the troops is like."
After entering, besides the Prince of Yu and Lu Hongxi, there were several people who looked like generals, who were talking. At a glance, one would have thought that the Prince of Yu would be out of place among them, but there was not a single bit of disharmony. Moreover, the Prince of Yu standing there looked like a natural king, the way a person in a high position should be.
Was this what it felt like to be in love?
There was a woman in the drill ground. The junior generals, who hadn't seen much of the world, couldn't calm down to listen to Lu Hongxi anymore. Their eyes were fixed on Lu Wanning without blinking.
Sheng Jinyu was the first to notice something was wrong. He looked back and squinted his eyes in surprise. What was this woman doing here? Didn't she notice that all the men here were staring at her motionlessly? Did she like being stared at so much?
Lu Hongxi realized later that his daughter had come. Scratching his head, he said, "Hey, my daughter is here. She must be worried because I didn't go home last night. Wait a moment. I'll be back soon..."
Before he could move, Sheng Jinyu had already strode towards Lu Wanning. Frowning, he asked, "What are you doing here?"