Chapter 39 Chapter 39 How

After Lu Shenru left, Qiu Lin and Ai Ye poured cold water to cool Du Lingjing down.

At first, he thought that taking some pills for colds might work in the afternoon. When Chong'an noticed something strange and asked about it, Du Lingjing told him that nothing was wrong.

But by dusk, her whole body was completely burning with fever. Not only did her head become dizzy, but she even lost the strength to speak. Chang Pu ran to ask a doctor to come to her house.

Of course, Chong'an couldn't be hidden from it.

Chong'an saw that his wife's face had turned pale, and his heart was trembling, "Could it be that the wife has had a fever since this morning? Why didn't you tell the Marquis about it?"

If the Marquis knew that his wife was ill before he left and had kept it from him...

Du Lingjing shook her head and said, "My Lord, you have something else to do, and it's not easy to travel. Don't report it to me yet. If you still have a high fever tomorrow, it won't be too late to report it later."

After she finished speaking, her throat was so sore that she couldn't speak.

Chong'an looked miserable, but seeing that his wife had difficulty speaking, he quickly responded vaguely.

But report it tomorrow? He noticed something strange in the afternoon, so he should ask for clarification and report it to the Marquis. This has already delayed most of the day. If he waits until tomorrow when the lady's high fever persists before reporting it, Chong'an feels that he does not need to stay in the Marquis's mansion.

Seeing that his wife was too busy to take care of him, he went out and sent someone to follow the Marquis' steps and report.

Lu Shenru took a detour to the Zijing Pass Guarding Thousand Households under the city defense.

No matter how strict the military discipline is or how severe the punishment is, there are always opportunists every year who are bold enough to embezzle the soldiers' military rations and cotton clothes.

He has already given his word. If he catches another general under his jurisdiction daring to knowingly commit a crime, it would be a pity if he does not make an example of him.

However, he went around to the Qianhu Office of Zijing Pass and unexpectedly saw that just yesterday, the Qianhu of Zijing Pass had just paid the money that was secretly owed to the military households.

When Lu Shenru heard that it was just made up yesterday, he said "Oh" with a bit of regret in his tone.

The close guards all breathed a sigh of relief for the Captain of Zijing Port. They were afraid that the Captain didn't even know that he had escaped a disaster, otherwise it would be hard to say where he would celebrate the New Year.

But since he failed to find out by surprise, Lord Lu did not stay any longer, and even left quietly without informing the generals of the Qianhu Division.

Going northeast from Zijing Pass, the capital city is in sight.

Lu Shenru had a smooth journey and soon arrived in the capital.

He first asked about the Rongchang Marquis's Mansion. The rest of the staff stayed in the capital to assist the Rongchang Marquis' Mansion in supervising the matter according to his wishes.

His wife, the Duke of Dao, had done as the Marquis had wished, and now the two young masters had been personally sent to the Dali Temple jail by his wife.

"The emperor has ordered the Dali Temple to investigate, but has not yet said how to deal with it."

If the punishment is lenient, these two people will only be ordered to pay with their lives. If the punishment is severe, although the entire family of the Earl will not be executed, they will be punished, and Earl Rongchang himself will also be charged with lax management of his household.

Lu Shenru has not been in the capital for the past two days. Yu Muyou said, "Lord Dou and the Shao family know that Shao Boju's affair has been exposed, and they are also making a fuss in the court about the Bo's Mansion, asking the emperor to be strict. However, the war in Liaodong must be controlled by the Bo's army outside. Some people also say that it will not be too late to deal with this matter after the war is settled. In my opinion, this is what the emperor means."

Lu Shenru nodded. He had already written a letter to the Earl of Rongchang. His eldest son died on the battlefield, and his two younger sons had committed serious crimes. Fortunately, he still had a illegitimate son who was brave and good at fighting. He would make use of this illegitimate second son in the future. As long as he could keep the Earl's Mansion, he would support this second son to inherit the title. There was still a chance.

However, Lord Rongchang is also old. He has thought about it for the past two days and said, "After this matter, I will transfer Lord Rongchang back to Xi'an to take charge and let his illegitimate son continue to train in Ningxia."

Yu Muzuo said, "My Lord, Mr. Yang is still young and inexperienced. I'm afraid he can't handle it alone."

"I know." Lu Shenru nodded, "Transfer the son of the Duke Zhongqing from the Shaanxi Xingdusi to Ningxia, and Wei Cong can take charge of it on his own."

Seeing that although he was leaving Beijing, he had considered every possible means, the rest of his staff breathed a sigh of relief.

"Your Highness, it is appropriate to place him there. Otherwise, if the war at the border goes badly, those people in the court will have something to say."

The man laughed indifferently, "It's nothing unusual. I still have to go to court tomorrow morning."

But after he said this, Yu Muzuo suddenly remembered something.

"Your Majesty has just returned, so you don't know yet, right? This morning, the Emperor saw that many people in the court were sick, and even Lord Dou couldn't attend the court. He said that he had caught a serious cold recently, so he simply stopped attending court for five days."

The emperor has always been in poor health and is most afraid of being infected with disease. Whenever this happens, he always has to suspend court for a few days.

But Lu Shenru didn't expect, "Even Lord Dou is sick?"

An aide on the other side said, "Mr. Dou has been trembling with fear and treading on thin ice every day. It's time for him to take a break."

Over the years, this cabinet minister has given the Marquis many problems.

When the aide said this, everyone in the room couldn't help but laugh.

In his later years, the late emperor wanted to promote cabinet ministers. At that time, Dou Ge was over 50 years old, which was the appropriate age to join the cabinet. Unexpectedly, the late emperor promoted the 36-year-old Du Zhili.

In the 15th year of Hongqi, Lord Du entered the cabinet at the age of 36. It was not until the 3rd year of Yinyou that Lord Dou entered the cabinet at the age of 56. Now he is over 60 years old.

This man strongly supported Prince Yong as the crown prince, and fought fiercely with the Lu family who supported Prince Hui, making him extremely difficult to deal with.

The Marquis was also trained by him, and became more thorough and profound at a young age.

On the other side, Mr. Sun, the aide, is getting older. Although he has not been in the court in recent years, he has seen people coming and going in the court.

He sighed, "It's a pity that the Prime Minister is Lord Dou. It would have been much better if it was Lord Du from back then."

These words made everyone think about the past.

After the Marquis got married, Lord Du, that was the lady’s father and the Marquis’ father-in-law.

If Lord Du were still alive, the situation would be much better now.

The man was lost in thought for a few breaths, and after a while, he said something indifferently.

"The past cannot be retrieved."

He asked a few more questions and then the staff dispersed.

He didn't have to go to court these days, and he couldn't help but think of his wife who was still in Baoding, and thought that the typhoid fever in the north was indeed quite severe recently.

He asked someone to bring tea, drank a cup of tea, and called Chongping.

"Return to Baoding."

But just as the Marquis left, the guard sent by Chong'an to deliver the letter arrived.

But when he saw that the mansion was empty and the Marquis had gone back early as if he had foreseen it, he wondered if the Marquis and his wife had a telepathic connection.

The return trip was much more leisurely.

When Lu Shenru was taking a break in a roadside teahouse, he saw an old lady carrying a box of hairpins to sell.

Unfortunately, most of the people passing by were men, except for two nuns, whose hair had long been shaved off, and who could not wear these flowers.

The old woman was old, or perhaps because of poverty, she came out to sell hairpins. Seeing that she couldn't sell a single flower, she couldn't help but feel disappointed and sighed softly, "Dear guests, I am old and can't walk far, but all the flowers are good. Even if you don't wear them, you can buy some for your wives to please them."

She tried her best to sell them, but all the men started laughing. Some said they had not found a wife yet, some said they were too far away to bring them with them, and some said the hairpins were too fresh and their wives were old.

Instead, Lu Shenru took a look at the box of hairpins that the mother-in-law had.

I don’t know if all the bright-colored flowers have not been picked, and what’s left are only some pink and white tender hairpin flowers, like peach, apricot and pear blossoms. Although they are not brightly colored, they are full of spring.

Lu Shenru inexplicably thought of the day when she apologized to him and brought him beauty, she wore a light pink pleated skirt and a white silver silk jacket, which looked like overlapping peach and pear blossoms.

He said, "I want all the boxes."

The mother-in-law exclaimed "Oh!" and then looked up to see that it was a young nobleman with heroic eyes, sword-like brows, and a noble aura. She guessed that his wife was also of the age to wear flowers.

Chongping directly paid a silver ingot without asking her to pay back, which made her mother-in-law even happier.

"If your wife knew that you were thinking about her all the time, she would be so happy."

Yeah?

The man is not sure, but who doesn't like to hear pleasant words?

He turned around and asked Chongping to hand over another ingot of silver.

Everyone in the teahouse was stunned.

Lu Shenru looked at the box full of hairpins of various colors.

As long as she stopped keeping every detail to him, settled every single thing, and treated him politely, not like a husband and wife in this world, he would be satisfied.

He turned around and told his subordinates, "Go back and tell the sewing room to prepare several sets of clothes of different colors for the lady according to the colors of these flowers."

There are still spring flowers in winter.

If you marry him, stop wearing those heavy or plain clothes you used to wear.

*

Du Lingjing had a fever for two days in a row, and it finally subsided.

She asked Chong'an, "Did you send a letter to the Marquis? I'm almost well now."

Chong'an hesitated and hadn't answered yet, when Mrs. Hu Tingjun came over to check on Du Lingjing.

Du Lingjing had heard that Lord Hong and Mr. Liao were also ill, and wanted to visit them, but she was quite ill and had just gotten better. Tingjun told her not to go, "Why don't you rest for two more days?"

She went on a trip for Du Lingjing, delivered the medicine to the gentlemen, and chatted with them for a while.

When he came back this time, Du Lingjing didn't care about Chong'an. She raised her hand to let him go first and talk to Tingjun.

"How are the gentlemen?"

Hu Tingjun said that Mr. Liao was more seriously ill and Lord Hong was almost recovered. Fortunately, the two lived in the same room. When Hu Tingjun went there, they and several other people who came to visit were drinking tea in the room.

"It seems that the gentlemen are enjoying their conversation?"

Hu Tingjun said that it was natural. The situation of Shao Boju had been resolved and everyone was out of danger. It was time to relax and relax. "But I heard the gentlemen mentioned an old friend who had been missing for many years."

She glanced at Du Lingjing and said, "It's Mr. Chu Muchu."

Mr. Chu Mu was her father's staff member in the past. Later, her father returned to his hometown to observe mourning, and the few staff members left, only Chu Mu remained with her father.

Later, my father returned to Beijing to resume his post, and suddenly a mountain torrent broke out. The people he brought with him, including Wenbo's son, Ruan Gong's father, and of course his aide Mr. Chu, were all buried in the mountain torrent.

She rushed over upon hearing the news, only to see her father's body being salvaged...

However, Chu Mu’s body was never found. He had no family, and Du Lingjing searched for him nearby for a long time but couldn’t find him.

She was surprised, "Why did the gentlemen mention Mr. Chu?"

Mr. Chu was nowhere to be found alive or dead. At first, everyone wondered if he had survived and wanted to find him to ask about the flash flood, but after not hearing from him for many years, they no longer held out hope.

Hu Tingjun said, "The reason why the gentlemen mentioned this is because someone once saw someone who looked like Mr. Chu in Northern Zhili."

"Ah..." Du Lingjing was surprised, "Is it him?"

Hu Tingjun shook his head, "I don't know, but Mr. Liao heard from two friends outside that they looked very similar. After hearing that, he went to look for someone, but still couldn't find anyone."

She said, "I think there are always people who look alike in this world, and not everyone is lucky enough to survive like us."

Du Lingjing was silent for a while.

If Chu Mu were still alive, she would really like to ask why her father would go to the mountains and why he happened to encounter a mountain flood...

The sun rose high and hung far in the sky, making people feel a little warm.

Du Ling lay still for two or three days, and was finally able to move around, so he asked Tingjun to walk a few steps toward the door.

Unexpectedly, just as I reached the door, I saw someone riding a horse towards me on the ridge of a field in the distance.

The sound of horse hooves thumped on people's hearts, and the inexplicable sense of familiarity made Du Lingjing look up.

Immediately, the man also caught sight of the person at the door.

His eyes were fixed on her, and he galloped forward even faster.

He saw clearly that she was wearing a lilac horse-faced skirt that was made for her by the seamstresses in the marquis's mansion. On top of that was a lilac double-breasted jacket, and on the outside she was wearing a rabbit fur cloak with a white background and purple floral patterns embroidered on it.

What a coincidence, there were two lively lilac flowers in the box of hairpin flowers.

The man dismounted from his horse. She had not expected that he would come to her. His watery eyes, illuminated by the sunlight from the sky or something else, emitted a bright light.

"My Lord?"

Du Lingjing opened her eyes wide, the light in her eyes flickered slightly, and she felt as if her heart beat twice faster.

Lu Shenru only looked at his wife. Was she more happy than surprised?

When had she ever looked at him like this?

The man immediately dismounted and walked towards her, but he also noticed that there was another person standing beside her.

The man had to bypass his wife and greet the people around her.

"Madam Hu Er is here too, you are polite."

Tingjun never expected that the marquis would leave and come back, first fixing his eyes on someone, and then greeting her politely.

She knew how prestigious Marquis Lu was. If it wasn't for that certain person, would the Marquis greet her?

She quickly returned the greeting and said that she had nothing to do today, "Come and talk to Jingniang."

The man said that he had heard that Hu Tingjun's husband, Guo Ting, wanted to go to Beijing to seek an official position. "If the second lady comes to Beijing, she should come to the mansion often and talk to my wife."

Wife.

Hu Tingjun replied, but also glanced at his friend secretly.

Du Lingjing also heard this word for the first time. She looked up at the man and thought about how he had previously referred to himself as "husband" and now he used "wife".

His relationship with her seemed different from her relationship with others.

She inexplicably had a different feeling and looked at him again.

Why is he back?

The man noticed her gaze and looked down, but only once, then he frowned.

"What's wrong?"

This sentence was incoherent. Du Lingjing saw that he had a happy expression on his face while talking to Tingjun just now, but now he was frowning.

She didn't quite understand. What happened?

But the man asked directly behind her, "Qiulin, is the Madam sick?"

Qiu Lin was no longer disrespectful and said quickly.

"My Lord, Madam has indeed been infected with wind evil and has caught a cold in the past few days."

"How many days?" The man frowned and looked at his wife, but he did not ask her. He only called Chong'an, "Madam is sick, why didn't you report it?"

This question made Chong'an confused.

He clearly reported it. Didn't the Marquis come back after hearing his report?

Chong'an didn't understand whether it was really a serious matter or not. Seeing the Marquis and his brother looking at him, he became anxious and couldn't say anything.

Unexpectedly, his wife answered for him.

"I told him not to report it. It's just a minor illness."

But Chong'an felt that the Marquis was looking at him.

"Really? Madam, is your illness a minor one? Do you think minor illnesses don't need to be reported?"

The Marquis spoke in a low, harsh voice, and Chong'an gasped.

He knelt on the ground immediately and said, "I dared not fail to report it. I actually delivered the letter!"

This made the lady look at him in surprise. He felt bitter and told her the truth directly.

"In fact, Madam, you were ill when the Marquis left. You had a high fever for two days and have been in bed recovering..."

Du Lingjing heard what he said and sighed secretly.

But Lu Shenru understood. He was looking at his wife, so her asking him to leave that day, saying that she wanted to stay and reminisce with friends, were all excuses.

He couldn't help but ask her, "Madam, are you afraid of delaying my business?"

Du Lingjing said frankly, "I see that the Marquis is very busy. I am just sick, it is not worth the Marquis to delay because of me."

"Oh," the man responded, "Is it because I helped you so much that you feel embarrassed to bother me again?"

He asked more.

Du Lingjing didn't know why he asked this, but she told the truth anyway.

Lu Shenru looked into her eyes and heard what she said was all in her heart.

"Indeed, I owe you too much, Lord. I would be sorry to bother you with such a small matter again."

disturb... ...

She has a knack for using words.

Before they got married, Jiang Zhuxiu was her "house husband", but she had been married to him for a long time and he was still just a "Marquis".

Jiang San left her so many Song Dynasty books, worth half a house, and she accepted them all. He only did a few small things for her, but she always kept them in mind and wanted to clear the matter with him.

Lu Shenru suddenly asked her.

"My lady, you have bothered me so much. If you just pay me back via the two routes from Chengqingfang to the west as you said in your letter, would that be too little?"

His question made Du Lingjing pause.

Hu Tingjun, who was standing nearby, was also stunned.

Jingniang had told her before that Lord Lu had taken back the Du family mansion in Chengqingfang for her and had also expanded the eastern route for her.

She said that Guilin Tower was fine, as it was the Lu family's place after all, but the expansion of Chengqingfang was too valuable. She came here in a hurry, so she could only give him the whole house as a token of her gratitude for his care.

She felt that Jingniang's "care" was a bit strange at the time, and now she heard the marquis mention this matter.

Pian Jingniang didn't understand and looked confused.

"What does the Lord want?"

He asked her, "Mianlou, are you willing to give it up?"

She paused for a moment, then added, "Your Excellency can take it."

Hu Tingjun closed his eyes.

Lu Shenru laughed softly.

Even Mian Lou could give it to him, so how much does she feel she owes him?

How could he be her husband? Rather, he was a creditor whom she had to treat with great care, right?

Du Lingjing didn't know what he was laughing at. She felt a little depressed, but couldn't describe it.

At this time, although he was looking at her, he spoke to Tingjun.

"Look, Madam Jing is so polite. She has made everything clear to me."

Just now when he was on the horse, he thought she saw him coming and there was surprise in her eyes.

But now it seems that he was just dazzled and wishful thinking.

The man's eyes finally fell on the lilac hem of his wife's dress. He said he was going to change his clothes and turned around.

"Excuse me."

In front of the door, someone followed his back as he walked inside, but when he refused to look back, he could only look away.

Tingjun watched from the side and saw that her friend's eyes were silent. After a while, she spoke to her in a hoarse voice.

"It looks like he's angry again."

"Then Jingniang, why do you think the Marquis is angry?"

If only Du Lingjing understood, "Are you blaming me for not telling him about your illness? But I didn't want to delay him."

Seeing that she really couldn't understand anything, Tingjun looked disappointed and even wanted to laugh.

She suddenly thought of Jiang Jieyuan.

Jiang Jieyuan and she had known each other since childhood and grew up together. It was natural that they were in love with each other and had a mutual understanding. Not to mention that with Jiang Jieyuan's gentle and modest personality, he would naturally think of everything for her, so she didn't have to worry about anything.

But the Marquis is different.

He is similar to Jiang Jieyuan in some ways, and even better than Jiang Jieyuan, but there are also differences.

Hu Tingjun called his friend softly.

"Actually, this matter is very simple. It depends on whether you care or not, Jingniang."

If she didn't care about the Marquis, she thought that the Marquis would be unable to do anything to her.

Tingjun looked at her drooping eyes, and she didn't seem to care.

"If you care, Jingniang, you should think carefully about why the other person is angry."