Chapter 2 Chapter 2 Happy Event

Six months ago.

Three days of heavy rain dissipated the last of the summer heat in the capital. As soon as August began, the autumn spirit from the mountains flowed along the ditches and overflowed into the fields.

Under the old elm tree outside the farm gate, the ground was thickly covered with golden elm seeds. Following the storm, the old tree shook its branches clean, and swayed briskly in the autumn breeze, feeling refreshed.

Du Lingjing stood in front of the door. Her situation was not comparable to the old elm tree that her father had planted when he won the first place in the imperial examination.

She was kept in the capital for five days because of the heavy rain. Although the rain has stopped now, it is too late to return to her hometown in Shandong before the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Manager Ruan suggested to her, "Miss, you are going north to collect books. Since the wind and rain want to keep you here, why not spend the Mid-Autumn Festival here? It just so happens that the second master and his family are all in the old house in the capital, so if you go there, your family will be reunited."

Du Lingjing thought about it seriously.

After her mother passed away when she was five years old, her father never remarried. She followed her father around to serve as an official, and later came to the capital and lived in the old house left by her grandfather. Her father's official career rose step by step. The late emperor loved her father and when he was seriously ill in his later years, he often called him to his side, and later promoted him to the Grand Secretary of Wenyuan Pavilion.

It was the first time that a cabinet minister was 36 years old, even if he was the top scholar in the imperial examination.

But after the death of the previous emperor and the succession of the current emperor, her grandfather also passed away. She left Beijing with her father to return to her hometown in Qingzhou, Shandong to observe mourning.

Originally, my father would return to Beijing to resume his post after three years of mourning, but unexpectedly, he encountered a mountain torrent on his way back to Beijing... ...

She was seventeen when her father died unexpectedly.

Before her father died, he arranged a marriage for her with Sanlang of the Jiang family. She grew up with Sanlang and had no intention of marrying anyone else. However, Sanlang was in poor health and died before they could get married.

That year, she was just twenty years old.

Her aunt, Mrs. Gu, had always been concerned about the fact that she had no parents and later even lost her fiancé, saying that she was not a lucky person.

Du Lingjing didn't care. But if it was any other day, it would be fine, but it was the Mid-Autumn Festival, and she suddenly came to disturb him. In the eyes of others, it might not be a happy reunion.

Du Lingjing stopped talking and asked Manager Ruan to prepare Mid-Autumn Festival gifts to send to his uncle and aunt, and also to prepare one for his second sister and younger brother.

"... ...I just haven't seen my brothers and sisters for many years. I don't know what they like. And I don't know how my aunt is doing recently."

Du Lingjing's aunt, Madam Gu, had an accident when she went out last year. She barely survived, but was seriously injured. She was unconscious most of the time and couldn't even recognize people. She could only stay in bed and recuperate, no longer as graceful as before.

Manager Ruan Gong immediately sent someone to inquire about Madam Gu's dowry farm outside the capital. The servant ran back and forth in an hour, and when he came back, his face looked a little strange.

"Is there something wrong?" Du Lingjing asked Ruan Gong to call the person into the hall.

The servant's name was Changpu. He stammered twice and didn't know what to say.

Ruan Gong stepped forward and kicked him, "Just tell me everything you heard from beginning to end."

Acorus covered his butt and said this.

"I went over, and the second lady's maid was shocked to see that it was me. I told her how we were trapped here by the rain, and asked her questions according to her instructions."

"They said that the second master was waiting for a vacancy at the Chengqingfang mansion in the capital, but there was no suitable one at the moment, so he had to wait for a few more months. The second wife was still the same, but she had a minor illness a month ago and became weaker. She had to take expensive medicine every day. The second daughter took over the household chores and had to go to the Gu family to study on weekdays, so she was very busy. The young master went to Baoding Academy to study at the beginning of the year, and he didn't come home often."

Qiu Lin raised an eyebrow, "Isn't this all good? Why do you look like a date pit is stuck in your throat? You can't swallow it or spit it out."

Qiulin asked, and Changpu looked like he had a choked throat again. Ruan Gongzhao kicked him again, "What else? Say it quickly."

The kick was so hard that Changpu staggered and mumbled all the words.

"I was about to leave after asking questions, but I saw a lot of boxes and crates in the yard, all with patterns of birds climbing branches and lotus flowers. They looked like dowry boxes. One was open, and inside were four rolls of red silk, as if they were going to be used right away. I asked, 'Is the second young lady going to get married?' Who would have thought that after asking this question, they all hesitated."

Ruan Gong and Qiu Lin gave each other strange looks. The second girl was not yet of marriageable age.

Du Lingjing paused, "Go on."

Chang Pu said hurriedly, "Then the head of the manor came. I saw that he looked unfamiliar, and after asking, I found out that he was sent by the Gu family."

He said that the man was called Gu Jiu. He first said a few nice words, and then said that it was raining heavily and the road was difficult to walk on.

"They said it was inconvenient for the girl to come to Beijing, so they would send her there on their behalf. They also asked when we would go back, and they could send someone to escort the girl... Gu Jiu said a lot, and I asked if the family was going to have a wedding, but he said no, and just said that the second girl was about to come of age, and they were just preparing some utensils for the coming-of-age ceremony."

Changpu finally spoke out all his words in one go, like spitting out a date pit stuck in his throat.

"Miss, Master Gong, Sister Qiulin, don't you think it's strange? If the second young lady is having her coming-of-age ceremony, why don't the others tell her directly? Besides, it looks like a dowry box to me. Is the second young lady going to get married after her coming-of-age ceremony? Then why didn't they let us know about such a happy event? Can we ruin their happiness..."

Before he could finish his words, Ruan Gong almost kicked him out of the hall. "What nonsense are you talking about?"

Acorus covered his butt, looking aggrieved and depressed.

"Okay." Du Lingjing spoke in time and stopped Ruan Gong's fourth kick.

She nodded to Acorus, "It's nothing, you must be tired after running all this time, go and rest."

Her voice was like the remaining raindrops under the eaves, dripping into the large vat of Menhai filled with water, creating ripples.

But Changpu felt more and more indignant. Whatever he wanted to say was glared back by Ruan Gong, and in the end he could only utter one sentence.

"Don't take it to heart girl, it's not worth it!"

After saying that, he covered his butt and ran away.

Qiu Lin let out an "ouch", Ruan Gong almost chased him out and kicked him, but Du Lingjing couldn't help but curled up the corners of her mouth and smiled.

Qiu Lin said, "The girl is still smiling?" She muttered in dissatisfaction, "She is being guarded against like a thief."

Ruan Gongze pondered for a moment, "Miss, are we really going to avoid this suspicion? Should we go to Beijing and inquire carefully?"

He was not sure. The girl had been managing the library at home alone in the past few years and always believed that less is better.

Ruan Gong looked over and heard the girl sitting at the head of the table speaking slowly.

"To understand things first and then avoid them is to keep things quiet; to avoid things without understanding them is likely to lead to something bizarre."

Ruan Gong's eyes lit up.

What the girl said was exactly what he was worried about. No matter what the situation was in the second house, he wanted to find out first.

The girl called him, "You should go to the capital in person."

"yes!"

*

Ruan Gong left, and Du Ling sat quietly under the eaves and read a book for a while. The sky did not brighten but became gloomy instead, and a light rain began to fall from time to time.

Qiulin quickly asked someone to take away the books that had just been hung out to dry.

"Girls' books are never exposed to the sun. If they were in the south, they would have gotten moldy long ago."

She worried and told people to be more careful, "These books are more valuable than people. I spent a lot of money to buy them. They are also older than people. Each one is hundreds of years old! Don't bump into them."

The maids' movements were so light that it seemed like pinching a strand of hair.

Du Lingjing chuckled beside him.

Du started studying since her great-grandfather, and her grandfather produced the first Jinshi.

My grandfather was a serious book lover. Not long after becoming an official, he could not stand the tedious officialdom and resigned to return to his hometown, where he devoted himself to studying and teaching. He had many students all over the world and became a famous scholar in the local area.

The library he built was called Mianlou. Unlike other libraries that were built for private use, Mianlou was originally built with the intention of his grandfather to provide a place for people all over the world to read.

When his father returned to his hometown to observe mourning, he worked hard to expand the book collection, invited many book lovers, and made it convenient for people to come and read.

After her father passed away and her uncle worked as an official away from home, she took over Mianlou and devoted herself to searching for rare ancient books. Every time she found one, it was like discovering a dusty treasure, and she would carefully organize, print and publish it.

Her original intention was just to worry that the ancient books would be put aside, but she did not expect that Mianlou would become famous because of this. In recent years, it has gradually become comparable to the libraries of the great bibliophiles in Jiangnan. Du Lingjing herself also inexplicably gained some fame in the literati circle.

But the reputation of Mianlou's collection of books is not only the work of three generations of her family. Her future husband, Jiang Jiasanlang, has also devoted himself to Mianlou.

The Jiang family was originally a large farming and reading family in the local area. In the previous dynasty, there were many children who held high positions in government. However, after the founding of this dynasty, there were few talented people. Only Sanlang stood out and won the provincial championship at the age of sixteen.

Unfortunately, Sanlang had been sickly since childhood, and the imperial examinations took up a lot of his energy. After he won the title of Jieyuan, his health deteriorated and he had to give up the imperial examinations.

Sanlang invested his limited energy into her Mianlou. He also used the Jiang family's money to buy the Song version and kept it in Mianlou. He also printed and published it in the name of Du.

She said that this was not a good idea. "You and I are not married yet, and it is inevitable that others will criticize us. Besides, Mianlou is not my dowry, and I am not going to take it away."

Sanlang laughed, coughed while laughing, and called her softly.

He called her "Quanquan", which was a name he secretly gave her. When her father heard it one day, he said, "Quiet water and cool breeze are like a spring. The name Qianyun is a great choice", which made them both blush for half a month.

At that time, Jiang Zhuxiu and Jiang Qianyun smiled and said, "Quanquan, are you thinking too much? I spent a lot of money to buy the Song version, which has nothing to do with our marriage."

She was stunned, her face heated up, "So what do you want to do?"

Sanlang smiled at her and said, "I just want to use your Mianlou to fulfill my wish of flattering Song."

In recent years, people have loved ancient books handed down from the Song Dynasty. Some people's pursuit of Song books is almost flattering. She didn't know when Sanlang also became a flatterer of the Song Dynasty.

She heard Sanlang say, "I once made a great wish, saying that I would collect 100 books of the Song Dynasty and become the best at flattering the Song Dynasty. But you know my body, if, I say if, my fate is not enough, please Quanquan will collect 100 books of the Song Dynasty for me and put them in Mianlou for people to read."

What he said came true.

In the seventh year of Yin You, she had just finished mourning for her father, and there were only three months left before her wedding to Qian Yun.

He left her alone in the snowy night, abandoning her in the icy world...

The snow was very heavy that year, and the Mian Building was about to collapse in the blizzard. Qiu Lin knelt in front of the study door and begged her, "Miss, you can't lock yourself in the study anymore, the Mian Building is about to collapse! The Third Master's books will also collapse in the snow!"

Grandfather, father, Qianyun, why did they leave her so many things?

But her grandfather built the tall building and her father entertained the guests, and she couldn’t let the building collapse in her hands.

But the ambition that someone had made was far from being fulfilled. He naively wanted to collect a hundred volumes of Song Dynasty books and leave half of his fortune to her, perhaps wanting her to work for him for the rest of her life.

But she could only cheer up and force herself to take care of the Mianlou, and to search for the rare Song edition for Sanlang in this lonely world...

There are too many bibliophiles in the world who admire Song Dynasty books. Song Dynasty books are priceless and in demand. Du Lingjing has only collected seven or eight copies in the past three years.

Unexpectedly, news came from Jinan a few days ago that the Song Dynasty books had been leaked. She immediately left Qingzhou to pursue the traces of rare ancient books. Unexpectedly, she collected them one after another, and collected as many as eight books in one breath. She also went all the way north to the gate of the capital.

Seeing that it was about to rain again, Du Lingjing was not worried about not being able to collect the books in time. She looked at the gloomy sky.

"The river to the west was about to burst its banks earlier. Did anyone repair it after the rain stopped yesterday?"

Qiulin hurriedly went to ask the people in the village, but when they saw that the rain had stopped, they stopped caring about the river. While they were talking, raindrops from the eaves fell down in strings.

Qiu Lin exclaimed, "Miss, are you worried that if there is another heavy rain and the dam breaks, our farm may be lost?!"

However, the rain had started again, and there were only a few people working in the nearby villages, so it was too risky to protect the embankment in the rain.

Du Lingjing pondered in silence.

Qiu Lin looked at the heavy rain outside the eaves and wrinkled his face with worry. "It seems that the rain has no intention of stopping. Otherwise, I will take care of the girl and the book and leave the manor to a higher place first?"

But the road outside was muddy, and the nearby hills were quite far away. Just then, Chang Pu ran over happily in the rain, "Girl, there are soldiers coming to repair the dike! There are so many people!"

Chang Pu said they were from a nearby camp. "I don't know why they came, but at least they came to protect us from being flooded!"

Du Lingjing was slightly startled, then turned around and asked Qiulin to order the stove to cook some food. When the food was ready, she asked Changpu to drive and went to the embankment herself.

It was raining heavily, and the water in the river was surging, hitting the embankment fiercely. If it burst here, the farmland below would be in trouble. Many old people from nearby villages came and discussed with the soldiers about dredging the river.

Fortunately, when Du Lingjing arrived, everyone had already discussed the countermeasures, but it would take time. Du Lingjing took advantage of everyone's break to send food and tea over.

She did not mention her family name, only saying that she was from a nearby village and was leaving after delivering the gifts. But the wheels of her car got stuck in the mud and she had to get off temporarily.

But as soon as Du Lingjing got out of the car, she felt someone's eyes looking at her from across the river.

She tilted her head slightly.

The rain curtain is like a wet gauze curtain, blurring the distant view.

On the high embankment on the other side of the river stood a man dressed in dark brocade clothes. The silken sheen of the clothes dimmed a little in the rain, but it made the dark jade belt tied around his narrow waist particularly dazzling.

He was standing under the wide umbrella, his eyes looking over the rain curtain and landing on her, as if they were fixed there.

But Du Lingjing couldn't see any sense of familiarity in his vague face.

She didn't know this person, so she turned around and asked, "Besides the generals and soldiers from the nearby camp, there are also other..."

The man on the other side of the river had an extraordinary aura. He stood in front with his hands behind his back, and the others followed behind. Du Lingjing paused, "Are there any other distinguished guests?"

Qiulin happened to ask this question when he was delivering the food just now.

"Miss, that person is probably," she lowered her voice slightly, "Marquis Yongding."

"The commander-in-chief of the Yongding Army in the northwest?" Du Lingjing raised an eyebrow. "Yongding Marquis Lu Shenru?"

Qiu Lin whispered, "I heard that the Imperial Concubine took Prince Hui to the temporary palace a few days ago to fast and worship Buddha, but the Mid-Autumn Festival is approaching, and the Imperial Concubine and Prince Hui must return to the palace before the Mid-Autumn Festival. If the dam breaks or the bridge is destroyed, the Imperial Concubine and her entourage will not be able to return."

"So, it was Lord Lu who called the nearby officers and soldiers to come here?"

Qiu Lin nodded.

Concubine Lu was born into the Lu family of the Yongding Marquis Mansion. She is the eldest sister of the young marquis in front of her.

Since the matter involved the royal family, Du Lingjing did not ask any more questions.

And this Lord Lu, commander-in-chief of the frontier army and a close minister to the emperor, at the age of twenty-five, is already a powerful figure among the military generals.

Du Lingjing had never met him before, and she had no intention of making friends with such a powerful official.

The sound of rain blocked her view of the distance. Just then, a carriage turned out of the mud and water. She climbed back into the carriage and left in the heavy rain.

The carriage went farther and farther away, and the sound of horse hooves was gradually drowned out. Only a shadow was left in the forest, which turned into a fallen leaf and swayed into the wind and rain.

The embankment protection project was almost completed. A general came to report, "My Lord, don't worry. The embankment is safe." He added, "After the rain stops, I will check the bridge on the embankment again. Your Majesty and His Royal Highness Prince Hui will be able to cross the bridge safely."

The general was unsure whether he could satisfy the Marquis, so he took a secret glance.

He saw the marquis with his hands behind his back, looking towards the woods on the other side of the river, not knowing what he was looking at. He was hesitating whether to ask, when the man slowly withdrew his gaze.

The Marquis had a calm expression when he came, but the general could see at a glance that his eyes were gentle and kind.

He said, "Thank you for your hard work, soldiers. You have done a great job in protecting the emperor and helping the people. I will commend you for your contributions in front of the emperor, and the charcoal and rice for this winter will be doubled."

His voice was much deeper and hoarser than that of ordinary people. The soldiers standing beside him originally thought that this marquis was out of their reach and must be overbearing, but they did not expect him to speak in a low, slow and thoughtful voice, seeking credit for the generals and rewards for the soldiers.

Everyone was surprised and delighted, "Thank you for your trouble, Lord! We are at your disposal!"

The man was polite and motioned his attendant to stay and help. "I cannot stay for long, so I will leave first."

The more polite he was, the less people dared to be negligent.

The general who had just arrived was about to go and see him off, but the marquis raised his hand to stop him.

When he saw the Marquis of Yongding, he did not stay any longer. When he turned to leave, his eyes seemed to glance towards the forest on the other side for some reason.

*

Capital city.

The heavy rain pounded against the window frames, and Ruan Gong couldn't hear clearly what the person on the other side said.

"You just mentioned that the Du family will have a big happy event. When is it?"

The person on the other side saw that his face looked a little strange, so he quickly raised his voice and repeated it.

"Within ten days. I say within ten days, the Du family will rise to great heights thanks to this great event!"

Happy events are things that should make everyone happy.

But after hearing this, Ruan Gong's face turned pale, his heart was pounding, and sweat that was difficult to distinguish between hot and cold broke out on his back.