Her feigned fierceness only elicited a tremor in the man’s chest: “My wife seems to have been looking forward to tonight for quite some time.” The petite woman retorted viciously, “Of course! Do you think I’d let you off so easily?” With that, she rose and looked down at the man, condescendingly declaring, “What follows is your punishment!”
As the words fell, Hua Yaoyao gently brushed her delicate hands across her chest and deftly removed her outer garment under Si Yiyuan’s gaze. However, she put her outer garment back on after removing her inner garment, leaving the man puzzled.
Ignoring the man’s questioning gaze, the young woman put on her wide-sleeved wedding dress and began to dance in front of him. The man, bound by her, lay on the bed, watching this young woman, full of lust, flirting with him.
This was not any of the dances he was familiar with. The head tossing, hand waving, leg kicking, and waist twisting were all full of power, yet they did not appear stiff. Instead, the powerful beauty was filled with a seductive and alluring charm.
Moreover, she was only wearing an outer garment, with nothing underneath. With her exaggerated movements, the red wedding dress and her fair skin complemented each other, making the red even more alluring and the white even brighter.
How could a man resist such blatant seduction? With a gentle effort, he freed himself from the ropes binding his hands. As the woman wandered back to the bedside, he reached out and pulled her onto the bed: “My wife, I truly enjoy this kind of punishment! But we should cherish this precious moment of love!”
After a night of passionate lovemaking, the bride still had to pay respects to her parents-in-law the next morning. As the maids dressed her up, Hua Yaoyao muttered to Si Yiyuan, “I’ve been married to you twice and had to pay respects to your parents-in-law twice. My marriage has been quite arduous!”
Si Yiyuan said with a grin, “Marrying a young talent like me is bound to be a bit of a hassle!”
Hua Yaoyao glared at him, annoyed: “Shameless!”
The two chatted and laughed as they went to the palace to pay their respects to the Empress Dowager and the Emperor, receiving a host of rewards before returning home in high spirits.
The days that followed were too leisurely. As a carefree prince, Si Yiyuan neither needed to get up earlier than the rooster to attend the morning court session nor needed to sleep later than the dog to work hard to earn money to support his family.
Given his status and position, it’s impossible that his quality of life would be worse than a pig’s or an ox’s. So the newlyweds spent their days doing what newlyweds love to do!
After persisting for half a month, Hua Yaoyao couldn’t take it anymore. Every day, besides eating, drinking, and having fun, they were engaged in endless baby-making activities. They were both still young, yet they were already living a retired life. When would this end?
Therefore, Princess Hua decided to move her previous plan to open an embroidery shop from Dayu to Dayan and continue with it. Of course, there was a reason why she still chose to open an embroidery shop.
Since the princess expressed her desire to find something to do, Prince Yu showed a very sincere and cooperative attitude.
However, whenever the Princess Consort suggested opening a shop, Prince Si would always cite some difficulties to politely decline, as follows:
Princess Consort Yu: It’s so boring to just eat, drink, and have fun every day. Let’s get down to business!
Prince Yu: Alright, what does my wife want to do?
Princess Consort Yu: How about opening a restaurant?
Prince Yu: Hmm, opening a restaurant requires hiring an accountant to keep accounts, a chef to cook, waiters to serve dishes and wash dishes, and run errands to pour drinks. It’s too much trouble!
…
Princess Consort Yu: How about a clothing shop?
Prince Yu: Clothing shops—those ugly women come and go every day, and I’d have to choose clothes for them and lie to my conscience saying they look good. My wife, I don’t want to sully my eyes.
…
Princess Consort Yu: How about a pawnshop?
Prince Yu: Pawnshop? Almost all the good stuff has been taken into the palace by my elder brother. The things people bring to pawn are either junk or fakes. It’s a waste of time!
…
Princess Consort Yu: Then tell me, what exactly do you want to do?!
Prince Yu: Is it okay to do anything?
Princess Consort Yu: You can do anything as long as you’re not idle! Hey! Stay away from me! In broad daylight…
…
After several attempts, Princess Hua realized that she shouldn’t discuss such important matters with her husband. So, with a wave of her hand, she made the decision to open the embroidery shop!
Si Yiyuan politely declined as usual: “My wife, running an embroidery shop is too hard. You have to do embroidery and be picked on by those women. I can’t bear to see you so tired.”
Unfortunately, this time, Hua Yaoyao ignored his sweet words. Listening to his nonsense was pointless; staying home all day was the best option!
The furious Princess Hua ignored her husband’s earnest advice and was fully immersed in the initial stage of her career, working with great enthusiasm. Si Yiyuan was powerless to dissuade her and had no choice but to accept it.
Half a month later, Hua’s Embroidery Shop opened. Because Princess Hua’s second marriage scandal was too famous at the time, her embroidery shop also benefited from the fame and welcomed a large number of guests on the opening day!
Of course, not many people came to see the embroidery. Most people wanted to see just how beautiful this second-marriage princess was, that she could make Prince Yu so infatuated that he married a discarded woman despite the ridicule of the whole world.
Unfortunately, their wishes were completely dashed. Princess Yu had no time to be a tourist attraction for them to watch. After all, no matter what the rumors were, her status as a princess was confirmed. The ladies and young women of those official families were too busy trying to curry favor with her to let Hua Yaoyao show her face in public.
For a time, Hua Yaoyao’s embroidery shop was bustling with activity. “Oh my! I never imagined the Princess Consort was so skillful! The mandarin ducks playing in the water she embroidered are so lifelike!” “Indeed! Look at these cranes—how leisurely and carefree they are!” “I think they’re not as cute as that little deer!”
Hua Yaoyao moved among the noble ladies and young misses, her smile twitching. But when she returned to the Prince’s Mansion that night to check the accounts, she couldn’t help but get excited. On the very first day of business, she had already received dozens of orders!
Seeing her so happy, Si Yiyuan, though distressed by his wife’s hard work, didn’t stop her. Instead, he gradually became involved in the embroidery shop’s business, sharing some of the burden with his wife. Although he didn’t understand embroidery, he could offer Hua Yaoyao very insightful business advice, which always brought her a sense of enlightenment!
With Si Yiyuan’s guidance, Hua Yaoyao was even more successful. A few months later, the embroidery business was on track. To Hua Yaoyao’s surprise, her embroidery was extremely popular! Many ladies from wealthy and noble families were proud to own a piece of Princess Yu’s embroidery, using it as a source of pride.
For a time, Princess Yu’s embroidery became extremely popular in Luoyang, becoming a rare item sought after by officials and wealthy families in Yandu!
But the good times didn’t last long. One day, the embroidery shop suddenly announced that Princess Yu would no longer make embroidery and would not fulfill any of the orders she had previously accepted. This made the women who had not yet received Princess Yu’s embroidery very anxious. After making inquiries, they found out that Princess Yu was pregnant!
Meanwhile, Hua Yaoyao, the pregnant woman who had just been diagnosed, was trying to persuade the determined Si Yiyuan: “I’m newly pregnant now—it’s okay to do less, at least let me finish the orders I’ve already taken!”
The man remained unmoved: “Now that you’re pregnant, you should rest well and take care of the pregnancy.”
Hua Yaoyao rolled her eyes: “Do you think I know more than you do? Staying at home all the time after getting pregnant isn’t good for the baby. A little exercise is actually beneficial!”
Si Yiyuan turned to look at the imperial physician: “Is that so?” He clearly didn’t believe his wife’s explanation at all.
The imperial physician was embarrassed: “Uh… the princess is right. Simply resting is not a good thing for a pregnant woman.”
The man was clearly dissatisfied with the answer. After a long silence, he said, “Then you can go for a walk in the garden, but you’re not allowed to do any more embroidery!”
Hua Yaoyao looked dejected: “What did your son wear when he was born? His own mother didn’t even make him a single piece of clothing. How heartbreaking that sounds!”
Upon hearing this, Si Yiyuan immediately pictured a miniature version of Hua Yaoyao’s face, looking at him pitifully. The man’s previous tough attitude vanished instantly, and he could only reluctantly agree: “Alright! But you can only make clothes for the child!”
Hua Yaoyao nodded repeatedly in agreement, so Prince Yu felt at ease and allowed the embroidery shop to send out the message. However, as a trustworthy and ethical business owner, Hua Yaoyao still took advantage of the time while making clothes for her unborn baby to complete the orders she had already accepted.
Of course, this disregard for her husband’s instructions also aroused the great anger of Prince Yu. Feeling guilty, Hua Yaoyao had no choice but to agree to a series of unequal treaties that humiliated the country and vowed never to touch needlework again before the child was born.
Amidst all this noise and joking, Hua Yaoyao spent her ten-month pregnancy with great ease. In the winter of the fifth year of the Shenghe era of the Great Yan Dynasty, Princess Yu gave birth to a healthy son for Prince Yu, who was personally named Si Jingyao by the Emperor.
From this point forward, Hua’s Embroidery Shop officially issued a statement that Princess Yu would no longer accept any embroidery orders! It was said that she was staying home to take care of the young prince—after all, a newborn baby couldn’t be separated from his mother!
However, the wife was so focused on the child that the neglected husband became quite angry. So, when the little prince was just over a year old, his own father threw him into the palace, ostensibly to relieve the Empress Dowager’s loneliness.
Subsequently, these irresponsible parents embarked on a round-the-world travel life. Of course, they would return every three to five months to see how their son had grown before continuing their journey.
After playing like this for two years, the young prince Si Jingyao had been raised by his grandmother and uncle to be a little devil, running around the palace all day long, fearless of anything!
Enraged, Hua Yaoyao refused to listen to Si Yiyuan’s laissez-faire parenting plan anymore! Even after leaving modern society, she still couldn’t avoid dealing with unruly children! And these unruly children were actually born from her own womb! If she didn’t discipline them properly, wouldn’t they grow up to be spoiled brats!
Thus, Si Jingyao’s carefree childhood came to an end, and he began a miserable academic career of ten consecutive years of struggle from elementary to high school!
His father, the prince, was said to have been kicked out of his room by his mother and slept in the study for a month! The young prince Si Jingyao bit his pen and decided to obediently listen to his mother. He didn’t want to sleep in the study; he wanted to be held by his mother while he slept!