Chapter 22 Chapter 22 "Tomorrow we'll go on an outing in the countryside, follow me...

The Duke pretended she didn't hear him and tried to pull her up again.

Jasmine shook off his hand and muttered, "What good things did my master do last night? Do you have the nerve to wake this servant up?"

After saying this, he rolled into the inner bed like a loach.

The Duke's hands were frozen for a moment, then he turned and walked away silently.

Only when she heard the sound of her grandfather leaving the house did Jasmine open her eyes and look outside.

She loosened her arms again and fell back into the bed.

He suddenly sat up in shock again.

She was careless!

If the Duke thought she was too obedient, she could pretend to be disobedient, but what if the Duke saw that she had discovered that he thought she was too obedient? In other words, the Duke would think that her current disobedience was also a disguised form of obedience.

How could she be so stupid and so self-righteous!

Jasmine could only hope that her grandfather was a fool and couldn't notice these clues.

The Duke entered the palace as usual, receiving the gazes of his colleagues. However, he felt that the officials were a little too enthusiastic towards him.

The Minister of Works said: "The Duke is looking particularly dashing today!"

The Minister of Justice asked: "Did the Duke encounter any urgent matters today?"

The Duke had no suspicion of anything.

After the court session, His Majesty summoned him to a private meeting. He said straight to the point, "Duke Yan, what do you think of the court? How can you be so disheveled?"

The Duke looked down at himself and said, "I think it's quite neat."

His Majesty signaled Yaoping to bring a mirror.

The mirror is a diamond-shaped mirror inlaid with various gems. Needless to say, it must be the concubine's.

Yao Ping stood behind the Duke holding a mirror. The Duke turned his head and saw in the mirror his clothes tucked messily into his belt at the back of his waist.

His Majesty frowned again and said, "In such a great Duke's Mansion, how could a dignified Duke not even have a maid to help him change his clothes?"

The Duke couldn't say anything bad about his concubine, so he said, "Your Majesty, you know I am a warrior and I am not used to being served. I take care of my official robes myself."

"I don't know," His Majesty asked, "where is your concubine?"

The Duke hesitated for a moment, but His Majesty's sharp eyes immediately caught his eye: "But the concubine is so proud of her favor that she won't serve you?"

His Majesty was experienced and made a blind guess. But he immediately rejected it: "No, I remember now. Your concubine always obeyed you in everything. So the Duke was showing sympathy to the concubine and didn't let her serve him?"

Now the Duke had no choice but to tell the truth even though he didn't want to explain.

"...I don't understand why I feel depressed."

His Majesty listened to the story silently and said, "Your Majesty, please do not take what I said to you that day to heart. I was careless that day. In fact, it is a good thing that my concubine is obedient. Your Majesty should be grateful."

The Duke's face was filled with confusion. He asked uncertainly, "Your Majesty, are you serious?"

His Majesty nodded: "Golden words and jade words."

His Majesty sighed deeply and said solemnly, "I don't want the Duke to repeat my mistakes. I am beyond redemption, but there is still time for the Duke."

His Majesty continued solemnly, "Whether marrying a wife or taking a concubine, it is a great honor to have a virtuous woman. Furthermore, now that she is in your backyard, she has nowhere to escape, so what is there to fear? Duke, there is no need to take such trivial matters to heart; it is not worth it."

"Your Majesty is absolutely right. I will accept your advice."

"Now that you have been taught, go ahead."

The Duke bowed out.

The Duke walked out of the Daming Hall with brisk steps. His Majesty was right. It was a good thing to have a virtuous and obedient concubine. He was actually entangled by this.

Look, His Majesty is regretting it. It would be tragic if every woman in this world were like the Imperial Concubine.

Look how miserable and helpless His Majesty is. But because the Imperial Concubine gave birth to the eldest prince, His Majesty cannot depose the Imperial Concubine even for the sake of the eldest prince.

It is too late for Your Majesty to regret now!

And he, Yan Ke, should go back and burn incense to express his gratitude for having such a virtuous concubine.

The Duke just wanted to run back home immediately to tell his aunt that he was wrong and that he shouldn't have done that, so as to comfort his aunt.

...

After seeing off the Duke, Yao Ping did not return to the palace, but waited at the door.

The imperial concubine's charming and melancholy voice echoed from the palace: "Your Majesty, what is it that is irreversible? Your Majesty, do you think I am not virtuous enough? Where am I not virtuous enough? Your Majesty, tell me, and I will change."

"When did the imperial concubine hide here without telling me? Yao Ping!"

Yao Ping decided to pretend not to hear for the time being.

His Majesty said urgently, "Noble Concubine, please do not be unreasonable. Those words were meant to comfort the Duke, not my original intention."

"Your Majesty once again said that I was being unreasonable. In your Majesty's mind, I am just being unreasonable, right?"

"Nonsense. In my heart, the imperial concubine is especially well-behaved and considerate."

...

The first thing the Duke did when he returned home was to explain to Jasmine.

"I'm sorry for making you worry. You've done very well in the past few months following me."

She just knew it!

She knew he had seen through her and that she had been pretending from the beginning. He even went out of his way to explain it to her.

Jasmine facepalmed.

Praising her for the good work she'd done in the past few months? Was this a way of asking her to keep up the good work and stop pretending?

Jasmine immediately promised, "This servant will serve you well for the next ten years, just as she did every day."

The Duke nodded with satisfaction.

Jasmine was still unsure of the reason for the master's tantrum, but it didn't matter now.

Jasmine immediately put the question out of her mind. She had to help the Duke come up with a plan to arrange a meeting with the lady from the Luo family.

In the Great Qi Kingdom, it was not uncommon for men and women to go on dates alone. If they were in love, going shopping and dining together before marriage was acceptable.

But this was limited to the common people. For example, the wealthy and powerful families in Kyoto City still kept a strict watch on it. After all, the wealthy and powerful wanted to use their daughters to establish connections, so they couldn't be careless when interacting with men outside the family.

Even if the two parties have confirmed their relationship, when they meet, they must be accompanied by maids and attendants from both sides.

Jasmine suggested that the Duke invite the Lady of the Luo Family out for an outing. They could prepare an extra carriage, load it with fine wine, delicious food, and the candied snacks that the Lady loved. They could enjoy the scenery, eat delicious food, and chat. The key was that there would surely be many young men and women dating around, so the Lady of the Luo Family wouldn't feel constrained.

The Duke thought this was great.

I sent the invitation that day.

The next day, Mrs. Luo replied and expressed her willingness.

Jasmine chose an auspicious day for the two of them, one that was sunny and had a slight breeze.

The auspicious day is six days later.

Shancha helped her count the things she needed to prepare. "...I've prepared the Duke's new clothes for the date, and I've given the kitchen instructions for the food. I didn't bring the soup, but most of it is portable, so I can make tea or warm wine on the way. I've also prepared three kinds of snacks and six kinds of candied fruits. Auntie, is there anything else missing?"

Jasmine: "And the driver. Pick someone you don't know, and don't pick the one who got into trouble last time."

The driver last time clearly obeyed the Fourth Young Master's wife. That was the Duke's carriage, and he didn't check it before leaving? It was fine all the way there, so how could a wheel suddenly break?

Afterwards, the horse was frightened. It was heard that the carriage fell, but the driver was safe and sound. After returning home, the old lady said she would punish the driver, but the fourth young lady's wife even pleaded for him.

Jasmine had never expected that after the first and third young wives, the fourth young wife would also treat her like a fool.

But this is also good. Idiots have no enemies.

Shancha: "I understand, Auntie."

"Let's prepare a couple of little things the girl might like. It's not like I'll go empty-handed when we meet."

Shancha: "What are you preparing for?"

Jasmine thought: "Master has given me clothes and jewelry, what else has he not given me? I have it, how about perfume and cream?"

Shancha nodded straight: "Sure, there is no girl who doesn't like these."

Jasmine was too lazy to go out and buy it, so she reminded the Duke to buy it and bring it back when he came back in the morning.

This was the first time the concubine had asked him for something. The Duke felt both happy and guilty. He felt that he had neglected the concubine and had actually asked her to ask for something.

He is really unfit to be the head of her family.

So, when the Duke returned home in the evening, he passed by Concubine Liang's clothing store and bought up an entire counter of cosmetics and perfumes. He didn't understand the difference between the small bottles and jars in front of him, but he took them all anyway.

Jasmine was stunned when she saw Zuo He and Chun Li coming in with two large boxes and opened them to find that they were full of things women use to wipe their faces.

The Duke smiled and said, "These are for Auntie. When you're done, just let me know and I'll buy them back."

Jasmine knew that she hadn't had time to explain clearly what she said that morning. She looked at the item in front of her with mixed feelings and said to the Duke, "I actually wanted you to give it to the Luo family's wife."

The Duke knew she had been worried about his date with the Luo family girl these past two days, but he hadn't expected her to be so thoughtful. But the Duke was too lazy to praise her.

The Duke smiled faintly and said, "Send them all. The Luo family girl still thinks I run a rouge shop."

Jasmine chuckled, "Then I'll help you pick out a few items as a gift. The rest is for you."

After realizing it belatedly, the Duke also thought what he had just said was quite funny and started laughing too.

The two smiled at each other, and the atmosphere was quite warm for a while.

The spring evening came a little late, and there was still a circle of gorgeous clouds hanging in the sky, which looked like a painting by a master.

Jasmine stood in front of the door frame, watching a bird fly up to the eaves and then fly towards the rosy clouds. She quickly chased it, ran a few steps, jumped onto the fence beside her, stood on tiptoe, hugged the pillar and looked into the distance.

When the Duke came back from dinner, he saw his aunt trying to climb up the pillar to the eaves.

"What are you looking at?"

Jasmine reluctantly withdrew her gaze and turned to look at her grandfather, fearing that he would misunderstand that she longed for a life outside the Duke's Mansion and would not help her.

Jasmine quickly explained, "I was looking at the colorful clouds... and the wall pillars. Master, don't you think these lotus-shaped pillars are particularly beautiful under the sunset glow? I really like them."

This was not the first time that the Duke saw her looking into the distance from a high place. He had seen her chasing birds flying away twice.

The Duke didn't think the pillars were beautiful.

But the Duke didn't want to see her embarrassed, so he asked her, "Do you still want to watch?"

As they spoke, the sky darkened completely. Jasmine shook her head and tried to climb down, but she saw the Duke's hand reaching out to her.

Before Jasmine had time to hesitate, her grandfather had already grabbed her arm and lowered her steadily to the ground.

The face in front of me was not white to begin with, and it looked even darker in the faint moonlight.

Jasmine heard him say, "Let's go for an outing in the countryside tomorrow. Come with me."

Although the outline was unclear and the surroundings were pitch black, Jasmine felt that the face in front of her was particularly gentle and reassuring.