TCN: Mei Gongqing

170

Chapter 170: People's Reaction

Dumbfounded, Chen Rong accepted the imperial edict and left the palace with the imperial messenger and one hundred knights in tow.

She was presently going to the Qing'yun hamlet. The emperor was so pleased with his decision that he wished he could announce it to the entire city of Jiankang. It had been at his urging that Chen Rong was to receive the hamlet at once.

She sat in the carriage that was led by warriors in the front and escorted by royal guards from behind, looking altogether the definition of impressive.

Chen Rong's eyes, however, were still wide open.

Along the road, there were people looking at her from time to time. Those who saw this pomp would turn to her carriage and become confused when they saw her insignia.

As they watched, several young scholars stared intently at the fluttering curtain and whispered to one another, "Which princess is this?" (1)

(1) 县主 xianzhu – this is a princess title used in various dynasties for daughters of a prince, similar to the more well-known term 郡主 junzhu.

"If she is sweet-tempered, we can try to make her acquaintance."

At this juncture, a young female general rode up and took a look at these people. "Sweet-tempered? A princess is inherently born with the best this world has to offer. What a waste of life if she has to be sweet to a stupid man."

They hastily bowed their heads in respect to the young rider. They didn't know who were sitting inside the carriage, but this one in front of them was a real daughter of a prince.

After she reprimanded them, she turned to look at Chen Rong's carriage. She narrowed her eyes for a moment before frowning in surprise.

"Is it Hong Yunzi, the Grand Chamberlain?" she cried. "His Majesty is being absurd. I can't believe a lowly woman like her can saunter her way into our circle like this."

The princess's cry overwhelmed everyone else's conversation.

They looked up at Chen Rong's carriage.

Despite the staring and pointing, contrary to Chen Rong's expectation, no one cursed her and not very many said ugly words. She didn't know that despite her unpleasant experience during this time, to outsiders she was friends with the emperors and Lang'ya Wang Qi. They say birds of a feather flock together. The people around her were the most powerful in Jiankang, thus in their eyes she was also extremely influential.

Her entourage took its time driving by.

The guards deliberately went very slowly at the order of His Majesty. Like a magnet, Chen Rong's parade attracted more and more spectators.

A plump woman squeezed into the crowd to watch the scene. She tugged the sleeve of a man in front of her and asked with a smile, "Pardon me." While the man impatiently side-eyed her, she stammered her question: "Who did they say is in the carriage?"

She vaguely heard them but she didn't believe her own ears, so she had to ask again.

This man was a commoner. Like most other commoners, he had a natural awe for the nobility. He admiringly and reverently looked at Chen Rong's carriage, replying: "That's Hong Yunzi whom the emperor appointed to be the Grand Chamberlain. Tsk tsk tsk, she's born to be noble. She's just a woman, yet in the blink of an eye she has obtained a hamlet, farmland and even bodyguards. What grandeur."

"Priestess Hong Yunzi?!" the plump woman cried.

Her shrill cry made some people scornfully look back at her. She quickly smiled and bowed her head for a while before the others withdrew their gazes.