Chapter 90: Shouldn't we find a woman surnamed Yang to have a fight while building the gate...?

The day before Zhang Liang and Li Fanniang's wedding, Li Shimin, Changsun Minxing, A Cai, and several servants carrying baskets and boxes paid a visit to the engaged couple.

Ah Cai was overjoyed.

As Li Shimin instructed his men to build a simple hut, he smiled and comforted Zhang Liang, saying, "This is not my wife, but the maid who does my wife's hair and clothes. Just do as she says."

"My lady, I'm sorry." The young man awkwardly hung his arms at his sides.

Ah Cai helped Zhang Liang fasten his official hat and took out a bronze mirror from the box she had brought: "The groom looks so handsome in this crimson official robe that he'll make all the guests look like gray geese in comparison."

Zhang Liang scratched his head awkwardly. A Cai put away the bronze mirror and pointed to several boxes of items, saying, "These were collected by my wife from various markets over half a month. Remember to thank her in person on our wedding day."

"Definitely. I'll remember." Zhang Liang touched the groom's cap on his head, overjoyed.

Ah Cai then pointed to the several boxes that had not yet been unloaded from the horse and said, "Those are the dowry that my husband prepared for Li Niang. They are stored at Li Niang's house today, and my husband will bring them to the wedding."

"Yes, yes, I will do whatever you say, my lady..." Zhang Liang never expected that he would receive so much reward for simply asking someone for a small favor. "Young master, I have nothing to repay you with."

"Do you look down on me? You're acting all coy and childish," Li Shimin said. "The utensils needed for your new marriage, as well as Li Niang's dowry, were all arranged by my wife. Today, she has to deal with those troublesome relatives for me, so I can't bring her along. She will naturally come to congratulate us on the wedding day."

“Zhang Lang, take us to meet the temple elders and the double-cup envoys. We need to understand the wedding process in Beiman Village. If we make a mistake on the day, we will lose face for the Zhang and Li families…” Changsun Minxing looked around, trying to control his rude expression of being shocked by the poverty of the house, and reminded them with the common sense he knew.

"I also need to meet my cousin. I need to make sure the whole neighborhood knows that her wealthy cousin is officiating the wedding, so that no one will dare to underestimate her." Everyone laughed and pulled the happy groom-to-be to pay their respects to the village elders and his fiancée's family.

Changsun Qingjing was somewhat dissatisfied with Li Shimin's decision to appoint her as a secondary strategist in the future. She originally wanted to meet the legendary brave commoner boy and his feisty fiancée in advance.

However, Li Shimin repeatedly instructed her not to tell anyone except Zhang Houyin about her participation in the commoner's wedding, so she could only stay quietly in her villa to avoid being visited by relatives, and Guoniang sat with her in silence.

Since he already considered Guoniang a confidante, Changsun Qingjing decided to be frank with her: "It's not that my husband and I don't believe you can style Li Niang's hair into a high bun, but we really don't dare to put you in danger. Zhang Lang's matter is a bit complicated. He saved your life, and of course you wanted to repay him, but unexpectedly, he only wanted you to impersonate his fiancée's cousin to attend the wedding."

"Huh?" Guoniang was completely confused by this strange request.

Changsun Qingjing put down his chess piece and sighed, "That Lady Li has truly had a tragic fate. She only has a widowed mother and a young brother at home, and she has suffered countless injustices from her clan before severing ties with them. Without any elder brothers from the same clan to accompany her to the wedding, the ceremony will inevitably be shabby, and the bride will likely be unable to hold her head high in the future. Hence, she has this request. Although Zhang Lang is acting on Lady Li's behalf, he himself has lost his father and brothers, and is in great misery..."

She recalled her own experience of being kicked out of her home, and the helpless state of Li Shimin when Lady Dou first passed away. She couldn't help but feel that this engaged couple had suffered a hundred or a thousand times more than she had.

"The young master was torn between observing mourning and attending his benefactor's wedding. Fortunately, Master Zhang enlightened him in time, and he finally made up his mind to temporarily lift his mourning and attend the banquet to repay the kindness. Although it is the proper course of action to lift the mourning and attend the banquet, it is still difficult to silence the gossip. Therefore, this matter should be kept secret and not let many people know about it. Under no circumstances should a word be revealed to the Duke, the estate clerk, or the head of the household. As for Lady Liu, I only subtly told her that the Zhang and Li couple would be rewarded handsomely, but I did not mention that I would personally attend the banquet."

“My lady, I understand,” Guoniang replied, holding the chess piece. “Anyway, I will be on duty in your room at dusk on the day you and the young master went to the banquet. If anyone comes to visit, I will keep my mouth shut. If pressed, I will say that I know nothing. I will never tell you that you went to the wedding, so as not to make things worse and give them a handle to use against me.”

Changsun Qingjing nodded: "That's exactly right."

"May the Bodhisattva protect us, and may Heaven not make things difficult for this ill-fated couple any longer," Guoniang said, clasping her hands together. "May Zhang Lang and Li Niang be a loving couple forever, growing old together in harmony."

The mischievous maid suddenly withdrew her hand and said happily, "I don't know about anything else, but I do know that after we maids met our lord and mistress, our lives became smoother and smoother. I suppose that couple will be the same."

“You’re getting better and better at talking,” Changsun Qingjing said. “The way of Heaven has always been quite fair, but the way of man, the way of the court, and the way of the emperor are inevitably biased, often taking from the surplus and giving to the deficiency, which is regrettable.”

She figured the grasshopper wouldn't understand her complaints, so she waved her hand, signaling the grasshopper to continue playing chess.

Just then, a maidservant came to report that Lady Chen was visiting, and Changsun Qingjing's head suddenly throbbed with pain. He wondered if this esteemed aunt had come specifically to see her nephew or his new wife.

As the new mistress's confidante, Guoniang casually revealed some information about the duchess: "My lady, the Duchess of Chen is a harsh and picky person. For a while, she was very keen on arranging marriages for the young master... You know the young master's temperament... He cherishes the people and things he likes, taking care of them meticulously; but he won't even bother to look at or ask about those he doesn't like. So, all the marriages that the Duchess of Chen wanted to arrange were rejected by the young master and the Duchess of Tang with various excuses... My lady, you should be very careful when you see this disgruntled lady."

The young couple had not received any prior notice, nor had any trusted servants from the Chen family arranged a time for their visit. It seemed that this lady was indeed as Guoniang had said, prone to acting on impulse, and her visit was certainly not well-intentioned.

Changsun Qingjing tidied up her mourning clothes and made her newly combed low bun a little messy before leading several of her maids to greet Lady Chen.

Unfortunately, this stroke of good fortune did not make the lady more humble; on the contrary, it made her feel that it was her due.

"Aunt, are you well?" Changsun Qingjing led his servants to personally greet Lady Chen, bowing respectfully and then helping her down from the carriage.

"Where is Shimin? Why did you stay home alone to observe the mourning period?" Lady Chen asked sharply. She was still resentful that her nephew hadn't come to welcome his aunt.

"Today he led his troops to practice scouting skills, which required a twenty-mile round trip along the mountain streams." Changsun Qingjing invited Lady Chen into the inner room of the villa. "Why didn't you say you wanted to meet with us sooner, Aunt? Shimin would surely be waiting with a swarm of bees and wouldn't have gone anywhere else. I wonder which forest he's hidden in now. I'll have someone find him immediately..."

"You yourself said it was a rehearsal technique, how could he be found so easily?" The arrogant Lady Chen suspected that the couple were deliberately neglecting their elders, but lacking evidence, she could only make a few half-hearted complaints.

Guoniang and the others set up seats for guests, lit incense sticks, and served drinks. Changsun Qingjing then invited Lady Chen to take a seat.

As she was the younger generation and the new bride, she did not dare to sit in the main seat without permission, but instead set up another seat to accompany her.

"As expected of the new bride, she has changed everything; even the spices taste a bit sweeter than before," Lady Chen said, feigning emotion.

As expected, the lady had come deliberately to provoke them. Changsun Qingjing and Guoniang exchanged a glance, each revealing a mocking smile.

“I dare not. My mother has just passed away, so everything is kept simple. My father instructed me to be thrifty and manage the household well, so I usually halve the amount of styrax and osmanthus incense I burn, which makes the clove scent more prominent. The sweetness that my aunt mentioned is probably the taste of clove.” Changsun Qingjing replied neither humbly nor arrogantly. She then poured Xielu wine for Lady Chen: “I am observing mourning for my mother and cannot drink alcohol. Please forgive me, Aunt.”

Lady Chen raised her cup and took a sip of the scallion dew, speaking with the affected mannerisms typical of a first-rank noblewoman: "On the day of your wedding to Shimin, it happened to be the day when the ladies of the outer court were welcoming the Empress to Luoyang; when your mother passed away, I was unable to attend the grand funeral due to my duties as a lady of the outer court. I had thought I would see you and your husband at the Tang State Mansion in Luoyang after the Lantern Festival, but your father said he had already arranged for you to temporarily manage the Mangshan lands. I was concerned for your well-being, so I came here specifically to check on you..."

"Shimin and I thank Aunt for her concern." Changsun Qingjing bowed in thanks.

"I went to Jingyin Temple today to fulfill my vow and also to pray for your mother, Lady Tang. The abbot told me that a relative of the Li family, who may also be a relative of yours, is also on the estate..." Lady Chen's curiosity was tinged with a hint of disdain. "The abbot said he is a Confucian scholar with some trivial skills."

When the topic of Changsun Minxing staying at the manor came up, the lady's tone became more serious; however, she downplayed the manor owner's praise, as if Changsun Minxing were just a shameless scoundrel who relied on nepotism to live in the manor.

"The young master Changsun you mentioned is my second cousin," Changsun Qingjing replied. "He is a disciple of Lu Kaiming, the former tutor of the crown prince..."

"Lu Kaiming? Is that Lu Shuang who incited Prince Fangling?" Lady Chen asked casually, but in Changsun Qingjing's eyes, it was full of malice.

"Yes," she answered without hesitation, "it's this unfortunate Crown Prince's tutor." Changsun Qingjing didn't quite agree with the word "incitement."

"Then who are the parents of your cousin?" Lady Chen, who had an unusual obsession with social status and bloodline, pressed on relentlessly.

“His father was the registrar of Chang’an County, and he has already retired,” Changsun Qingjing said cautiously.

Lady Chen frowned subconsciously. As a member of the Sui imperial family, she had always thought her husband's nephew's marriage was a mismatch. Now, hearing that the new bride had brought a whole host of relatives who wanted to climb the social ladder to Luoyang as soon as she entered the household, she couldn't help but click her tongue in amazement.

"Oh!" This answer was full of disdain.

Guoniang didn't understand anything about Prince Fangling, the Crown Prince's tutor, or Lu Kaiming; she just disliked Lady Chen's haughty and arrogant attitude.

Although she, as a mere maid, had no right to sympathize with her mistress, after hearing about Changsun Qingjing's difficult life from Lady Liu, she felt that the new mistress was not only not eccentric at all, but also kind and strict, treating her subordinates with benevolence, and was truly a magnanimous and straightforward person.

Seeing her being so harassed by this rude person who claimed to be an elder, Guoniang turned to the silhouette of Lady Chen reflected on the screen and made a "pui" sound in the air, her disdain overflowing.

Author's Note: Dou Qing's wife is a member of the imperial family, the aunt who appears in chapter fifteen. No doubt, she's the [clown] who came looking for trouble after her matchmaking attempt failed.