Chapter 75 Chapter 75 Handsome

In the outer city of the capital, there is the Dabaoguo Ciren Temple.

Some people paid a large sum of money for incense and prayed to Buddha devoutly by kneeling alone in a large hall.

The abbot personally prayed for her. After the abbot finished praying and left, Yang Jinyu knelt in front of the Buddha for another half a minute before slowly standing up.

The accompanying nanny came to support her and wanted to help her go to the meditation room to drink tea and rest, but Yang Jinyu stopped herself.

She looked at her chambermaid, and even more at the chambermaid's daughter who was waiting outside the hall.

"There's no hurry to have tea," she said, lowering her voice to the nanny, "Tell your girl to come and worship in front of the Buddha, too."

The nanny was stunned and immediately understood what she meant.

At the flower banquet in Prince Yan's villa that day, the lady sent her little daughter to secretly follow Madam Lu, but unexpectedly, she actually overheard a secret affair between Madam Lu's sisters.

At that time, the medicine bottle fell out of the sleeve of Mrs. Lu Hou's sister and fell into the deep grass without anyone noticing. Her daughter waited until no one was around, quickly took it out, and gave it to the lady.

The lady looked at the medicine bottle and laughed.

Just then, she heard that Princess Yan had gone to visit Marquis Lu's wife who had cut her hand, and had someone bring her some pain-relief wine. His wife immediately put the medicine bottle back into her daughter's hands.

"We won't keep the medicine we got from Madam Lu. We have to return it."

What Madam meant by "returning" was not just an ordinary return.

She couldn't help but feel worried at the time and tried to persuade the lady not to do anything risky, but the lady felt that the matter could be done without anyone knowing.

Fortunately, her daughter was very nimble and quickly poured the medicine into Madam Lu's wine. Then she threw the bottle into the lake and ran back swiftly.

The lady was naturally satisfied and gave gold and silver as a reward. However, the drugged wine did not enter the mouth of Marquis Lu's wife, but entered the mouth of Princess Nianjia.

The lady was unhappy, but she didn't expect that the Yongding Marquis' Mansion would actually start investigating.

The lady was a little worried after this investigation, but after a few days, they still hadn't found them. The lady went to Ciren Temple early in the morning and knelt down to pray for a long time. Now, she asked her daughter to go to the Buddha and pray for peace.

Seeing this, the accompanying nanny simply followed her daughter to beg again.

The mother and daughter burned incense and kowtowed, and Yang Jinyu also silently recited a few words in her heart -

She was just stealing that day, and the wine didn't fall into Mrs. Du's mouth, and no big incident happened, so let the matter just pass quietly.

After worshiping the Buddha, Yang Jinyu felt relieved.

Just as I turned around to go to the Zen room to have a bowl of calming tea, I suddenly heard hurried footsteps approaching from outside the hall.

In a short while, a crowd of people surrounded the hall, and they were all wearing flying fish costumes.

The next moment, someone walked slowly forward from behind the crowd.

His figure as he repaired the brush was as sharp as a sword. He was also wearing a flying fish suit, but it was of a crimson color. Under the bright sunlight, his crimson flying fish suit appeared dark red. He walked forward slowly and placed his hand on the imperial embroidered spring sword on his exquisite waist.

It is the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, Wei Jue.

The moment Yang Jinyu saw him, her heart skipped a beat.

Before Wei Jue could say anything, he just glanced back at his side. Immediately, several Jinyiwei came forward and arrested the mother and daughter of the accompanying nanny.

Yang Jinyu gasped, "What is the commander doing?!"

Wei Jue's voice was usually gentle, but at this moment it was calm and a little cold.

"Madam, don't worry. I will take the mother and daughter away. As for you, Madam, you must also follow me to the Jinyiwei."

As he opened his mouth to speak, the maid and her daughter's legs went limp, and Yang Jinyu couldn't help but sweat on his forehead.

But she refused to give in easily.

After all, she is the eldest daughter of the Rongchang Marquis's Mansion and the wife of the Crown Prince of the Weiguo Duke's Mansion.

"The commander must have a reason to arrest us, right?"

These words made Wei Jue smile slightly. He didn't say much and only let the Northern Pacifier who accompanied him tell him.

The Northern Pacifier directly reported that someone at the flower banquet had poisoned Madam Lu's wine, and someone else saw her maidservant haunting the tea room at that time.

When Yang Jinyu heard this, he sweated even faster.

But it was just a minor incident that didn't cause any real trouble.

She couldn't help but say, "I have never done such a thing, and you Jinyiwei, don't you have anything important to do? Are you just targeting the women in the harem?!"

She was quite arrogant and even dared to ask back.

This time Wei Jue spoke personally.

"Not only this incident, but also the incident last night when Marquis Lu and his wife were assassinated in the street. Someone saw a thief who looked like the assassin, right next to the Duke of Wei's mansion."

"What?!" Yang Jinyu was shocked, "No! I didn't hire anyone to assassinate me!"

But it just so happened that everything was related to her, so it was not unfair to ask her to go to Jinyiwei.

"When the Jinyiwei investigates a case, they don't just listen to someone's one-sided story."

Wei Jue looked at the pale-faced wife of the Crown Prince, and thought of her old father, the Earl of Rongchang, who had guarded the border in the northwest for his entire life. He shook his head silently and gave her his final advice.

"If the Crown Prince's wife doesn't want to implicate the Duke of Weiguo's Mansion and the Earl of Rongchang's Mansion, it would be better for her to cooperate."

As soon as he finished speaking, he turned around, and his embroidered spring sword shone in the sunlight outside the hall.

"take away!"

*

Before Yang Jinyu joined the Embroidered Uniform Guard, the news had already reached the Yongding Marquis' Mansion.

When Du Lingjing heard about the two things, especially the first one which was closely related to her, she remembered Yang Jinyu's unfriendly look when she met her at the gate of Prince Yan's Mansion that day.

But Yang Jinyu was, after all, the second master Lu Hengru’s cousin from his uncle’s family, and she glanced at Lord Lu beside her.

The man closed his eyes.

Last time, he had given face to the Yang family. This time, Yang Jinyu's hand had reached his wife's neck.

If he holds back again, what's the point? !

Lu Shenru noticed his wife's gaze and opened his eyelids to look at her.

"Leave this matter to Wei Jue and the Imperial Guards. Quan Quan doesn't need to worry about it."

Du Lingjing sighed, and seeing that his right arm was injured and it was inconvenient for him to write with his left hand, she walked forward.

"Whatever you want to write, I'll write it for you."

If Lord Lu wanted to write, he could find ten thousand people to write for him, but today it was his wife who took the initiative to write for him.

It’s hard to imagine, Lu Shenru thought.

Before he could say anything, there was a commotion outside, especially from the direction of the General Staff Office, where faint whispers mentioned the results of the palace examination.

Today is the palace examination for this year's spring imperial examination. The Emperor personally goes to the palace to examine the new candidates who passed the imperial examination last month.

Originally, Marquis Lu was also supposed to be on the list, but he was injured last night, so the Emperor exempted him from entering the palace early this morning and ordered him to rest at home.

Three days after the palace examination, the list of candidates for this year's spring exam will be published, with all the candidates' rankings on it. However, on the day of the palace examination, the emperor will call out the top three candidates who have passed the first-class Jinshi exam.

Du Jicang was ranked twelfth on the list of candidates for the imperial examination, and there was a good chance that he would be promoted to the top three in the first class because of the emperor's favor.

Seeing his wife looking outside repeatedly, Lu Shenru immediately asked someone to call Yu's staff over.

As soon as Yu Muliu entered the room, Lord Lu asked him.

"Are there any people from Qingzhou among the top ten this year?"

Du Jicang, Du Lingjing and the entire Du family are from Qingzhou.

Yu Shujiao paused for a moment after hearing this, and then said, "It's true."

These three words made Du Lingjing's eyes widen.

But the rest of the staff looked at the lady and the marquis and gave a slightly dry laugh.

"But this person from Qingzhou is not the eldest master of the Du family, but... the sixth master of the Jiang family."

As soon as the words were spoken, the study fell silent.

Du Lingjing was surprised and thought she had heard it wrong.

"Liu Lang Jiang Fengchuan?"

Yu's staff responded that it was indeed the Sixth Master of the Chiang family.

"Sixth Master has been chosen by the Emperor as the top three scholar in this year's spring imperial examination!"

Lord Lu frowned silently.

Du Lingjing was stunned. She couldn't understand it at all.

Jiang Fengchuan was ranked third from the bottom on the Xingbang, so how could he be ranked third on the Jinbang? !

*

At this moment, the front door of Jiang's house in the capital, as well as several streets and alleys, were crowded with people like a flood.

Jiang Fengchuan did not return to his newly purchased mansion. After coming out of the palace, he rode directly to Hongluo Temple in the outer city.

He went to kowtow to Concubine Jiang, who shed tears, and even Madam Pu followed with red eyes.

Concubine Dowager Jiang gave birth to Prince Yu for the late emperor. The Jiang family was originally the prince's maternal family and shared the glory and wealth with him. However, Prince Yu died young and the Jiang family had no one capable to come forward. The family remained silent for many years until Jiang Zhuxiu won the provincial top scorer in high school. The entire Jiang family had placed all their hopes of glory on him, but unfortunately he was ill and died young.

The Jiang family never imagined that the abandoned son of the family picked up by Jiang Zhuxiu would pass the imperial examination and become a Jinshi, and even more so, the Tanhua Lang chosen by the emperor!

"The emperor has taken a liking to you?" Concubine Jiang found it hard to believe.

Jiang Fengchuan said yes, "The emperor asked about my age, read my essay, and nodded three times. I didn't expect that he would really select me as the third place winner!"

Like a dream.

Concubine Jiang wiped her tears and said, "You should be a good person and thank your parents, and your third brother Qianyun."

Jiang Fengchuan immediately wrote a letter to his adoptive parents to report the good news. As for Jiang Zhuxiu.

"I have built a cenotaph for my third brother outside the capital. I will go to him today and tell him in person!"

"Go ahead, go ahead."

Concubine Jiang was supported by Nanny Pu and returned to the Buddha. After Jiang Fengchuan wrote the letter, he whipped his horse and galloped out of the city.

He lifted his robe and knelt in front of the cenotaph that had just been built.

When his brother was alive, he and his brother agreed that they would go to Beijing together for the imperial examination three years ago in the spring. Since his brother could not walk, he carried him to the capital on his back.

But today, three years later, he came by himself, and unexpectedly won the title of Tanhua.

Thousands of words gathered in my heart, but I didn't know where to start when talking to the deceased, or what to ask him.

Should I ask him why he committed suicide to end his life prematurely, or should I ask him whether he was able to achieve such a high score this time because his brother's spirit from heaven had come down to earth and followed him into the examination room?

He said nothing, but knelt down in front of his cenotaph.

He was an abandoned child picked up by his brother, and he should live for his brother in this life.

After his brother died, he was the one who took the initiative to spread the rumor that the younger brother would inherit the throne. At that time, he only wanted to marry his brother and bring his brother's sweetheart home.

But now...

"The whole capital is looking for a son-in-law, but Liu Lang really doesn't have anyone else he wants to marry."

He told his brother the truth in a soft voice.

"Except her."

Could this be what my brother meant, to let him completely replace his inner feelings?

The breeze brings responses from the deceased, but the mountains and rivers remain silent, and the trees are silent.

Jiang Fengchuan could only kowtow slowly in front of the grave, three times, and leave respectfully.

He returned to the Guangning Gate of the outer city of the capital and heard people talking in front of the Dabaoguo Ciren Temple.

Jiang Fengchuan asked someone to go up and ask around, and the person who went there reported back that the Jinyiwei had asked the wife of the prince of the Duke of Wei, who had come to burn incense, to be taken away, and that it seemed to be related to Marquis Lu and his wife.

The people around were talking about it, saying that the assassin who tried to assassinate the Marquis seemed to have been sent by Madam Yang.

Jiang Fengchuan raised his eyebrows.

Is that so?

The poisoning was most likely related to this person, but he didn't think so about the assassination.

He thought about it and did not go home immediately. Instead, he walked towards the Gu family in Huanghuafang.

... ...

At the Gu Mansion in Huanghuafang, Gu Yangsi could not bear it any longer, so he changed into inconspicuous clothes, slipped out of a small door to a teahouse on the street, and found a secluded place to sit down.

There were all kinds of people in the teahouse, and he pricked up his ears to listen, and heard someone talking about the assassination of Marquis Lu. Then he also heard that the Jinyiwei took away Miss Yang, the wife of the Prince of Weiguo.

"The Duke of Wei's Mansion is indeed not in the Yongding Army, but Madam Yang's family, the Duke of Rongchang's Mansion, is there, and her father is a general in the northwest. What good will it do her if the Marquis is injured?"

"Who knows? There are so many twists and turns in the lives of the rich. But the person who shot the arrow last night was seen by someone near the Duke of Wei's mansion, so she may not be wrongly accused..."

Everyone said this, and Gu Yangsi couldn't help blinking as he listened.

A few days ago, he found a lucrative marriage for his niece, but the person was detained in the Du family's house, and he couldn't get her out no matter what, so the good marriage fell through.

He was drunk, thinking about how Marquis Lu had broken his leg, and how Marquis Lu's wife had kept her niece and refused to hand her over, leaving the Gu family to spend money to support that mad man.

He wanted to get rid of the couple. He couldn't get rid of Lord Lu, and the same thing could be done with his wife!

Unexpectedly, there was a wanderer in the tavern at that time. The two chatted and drank for half the night. He suddenly told the pent-up thing, and the wanderer said, "Although this is dangerous, it may not be impossible. I am very good at archery, but I will need some money for the journey afterwards."

The prodigal son was short of money, and he wanted to kill someone but failed, so the two of them hit it off, and he let someone take the money before he sobered up.

When he sobered up afterwards, he realized that he had lost both his money and his life, and thought he had been cheated.

Who would have thought that last night, Lord Lu was suddenly stabbed by a hidden arrow.

The assassin's whereabouts are unknown and his whereabouts have not been found to date.

When he first heard it, he was scared to death, but now that he heard that the matter was actually taken care of by the wife of the Prince of Weiguo, he couldn't help wanting to laugh, but he didn't dare to. He covered his mouth as hard as he could and moved his lame leg, wanting to hear a few more words.

He didn't want anyone to sit at the same table with him and share the table with him.

Gu Yangsi was afraid of being seen, so he covered his face at first. But when he looked at the young man sitting next to him, he vaguely recognized him.

Isn’t this Liulang from the Jiang family in Qingzhou?

He had seen it when the Du family was holding a funeral for Du Zhili.

At that time, Jiang Liulang was just an adopted son, not even half as good as Jiang Sanlang, so he didn't take him seriously.

But today, if he was not mistaken, Jiang Liu just selected the third place!

Obviously Jiang Liulang didn't recognize him. He seemed to have rushed back from outside and just kept drinking tea with his head down.

Two days later, the palace examination results were posted, and the third place winner rode a horse and walked on the street wearing red. Everyone in the world knew him, but no one recognized him at this time, except Gu Yangsi himself.

What good luck he had today, first the daughter of the Yang family took the blame for him, and then the third place winner of the imperial examination sat at his table.

Gu Yangsi just felt that his hard work had paid off and his luck had finally turned.

He called out Jiang Fengchuan's name as soon as he opened his mouth, "How did the top scholar find the time to come here for tea?"

He asked and saw the young man's handsome face raised eyebrows in surprise. He looked at him carefully for a long time before recognizing him.

"Master Gu?"

Seeing that he still recognized him, Gu Yangsi was even more delighted.

Shao Boju, the top scholar three years ago, died in prison, so there is no hope for him. This time, the top scholar might be able to soar in the future, so why doesn’t he hurry up and build up a relationship with him?

He smiled flatteringly, and when Jiang Fengchuan saw him smile, he couldn't help but sneer in his heart.

Ever since Gu Yangsi went to cause trouble in front of the Du family in Chengqingfang a few days ago, he had people keep an eye on this person. He also knew that Gu Yangsi had drunk with a wanderer all night and offered him a large amount of gold two days ago.

How could it be such a coincidence that when the assassination happened, the target was not Marquis Lu, but Jing Niang instead. Who could it be that has a grudge against her and wants to kill her?

And today, it is said that Gu Yangsi is very evasive.

The person who wants to kill Jingniang is this Master Gu, Gu Yangsi, right?

There was a flash of compassion in his eyes, but his face showed no trace of it.

Gu Yangsi didn't pay any attention and asked him why a newly crowned third place winner came here.

Jiang Fengchuan kept shaking his head and said, "When I passed the imperial examination, many people wanted to propose marriage to me. I didn't know any of them, so how could I marry them? This time, the emperor showed his favor and appointed me as the third place winner. There were so many people in front of the gate that I didn't dare to go home. I was afraid that someone would come to the list to grab a son-in-law. I hid outside the city for half a day and just came back to have tea."

He also requested Gu Yangsi, "I hope Master Gu won't make it public, and let Liulang drink more tea."

Seeing that he looked frightened, Gu Yangsi couldn't help but laugh.

He said that when someone said someone was getting married, others were so happy that they couldn't wait to ask, "Why is Tanhua afraid?"

But he suddenly remembered something, "Speaking of which, it is really embarrassing to ask someone you don't know to marry you. But you and I are acquaintances, how about I find you a match? I guarantee you'll be satisfied!"

As soon as these words came out, Jiang Fengchuan turned his head and looked over.

"What kind of marriage does the master want to propose to Jiang?"

Gu Yangsi smiled and said, "I guarantee you will be satisfied with the marriage I propose!"

He said, "That's my niece. She's from the same hometown as you, Qingzhou. She's the second daughter of the Du family!"

Du Runqing.

Gu Yangsi thought that there couldn't be a more natural marriage than this.

This time, his mother didn't need to step forward. He found a husband for his niece himself, and the one he married was a new top scholar who had just graduated from the exam hall!

After he finished speaking, he saw the young man opposite him laughing, his eyes narrowed slightly on his handsome face, and the corners of his lips raised.

His laughter inexplicably had some strange meaning, but he agreed immediately.

"This marriage is really good."

*

Jiqingfang, the Mansion of Marquis Yongding.

Wei Jue sent someone to report that Miss Yang refused to admit to the assassination, and after questioning her for a long time, she hesitantly nodded to the drugging.

Wei Jue has already sent people to hunt down the assassin. Once the assassin is caught, it will become clear who ordered the assassination.

Lu Shenru was not in a hurry.

At this moment, his wife brought people into the room and set the table for dinner. Then she sent the people away and took the dishes and chopsticks herself.

She noticed that he was staring at her and tilted her head to look at him.

"What's wrong? What are you looking at?"

Then he asked, "Are you hungry? I asked the stove to cook your favorite dishes."

The man took a quick glance and saw that they were indeed the ones he liked to eat.

Could she still know his favorite dishes?

A different experience never before had.

He walked over and just sat down, she poured him some warm tea and fed him some, then sat down beside him, ignoring her own meal, and just picked up every dish and put it in a bowl and fed it to him.

Lu Shenru's heart trembled, and he raised his hand to stop her.

"Quanquan, I'll eat by myself."

But she refused and insisted on feeding him with a frown.

"Unless you think I can't serve you well."

The man looked at his wife helplessly and smiled.

No matter how he told her, he could never have imagined that there would come a day when she would be so attentive to looking after him personally.

How could he tell her that he really couldn't adapt to the new environment? He married her and had no intention of letting her work hard for him anymore.

He took the dishes from her hands and put them down.

"I don't want you to wait on me. This injury is not a big deal. You can just sit next to me."

What kind of weird talk is this?

He couldn't move his right arm, so what could she do even if she served him personally?

Besides, he shouldn't have been injured.

But he had already called his personal guard in and asked him to serve him the food, and then spoke to her softly.

"Eat your meal quickly."

He was just a weird guy who had his own opinions on everything. Du Lingjing couldn't persuade him and could only eat by herself.

After dinner, he took her for a walk in the garden. He held her hand in his left hand, his eyes as joyful as the clouds in the sky. If you didn't know, you would think that Lord Lu was not injured.

When it was getting dark, he had people light lamps in the Soseki Pavilion and serve tea.

The weather in April is neither too hot nor too cold, and there are no mosquitoes breeding.

The night wind swept across the towering top of the imperial city's corner tower and blew into the Shuseki Pavilion, where a light rain began to fall.

He smiled and asked her, "My dear, does tonight feel like the day we consummated our marriage?"

It's a pity that he could talk about the consummation of the marriage so casually.

Du Lingjing glanced at him, but when she looked around, she saw raindrops still falling in strings under the eaves of the pavilion, and the wind was blowing gently.

It was indeed very similar to that day, when he asked her to change into new clothes for the banquet, and personally carried her back to the main courtyard from the pavilion.

The rainwater accumulated on the ground, he said.

"Don't get wet in the rain."

... ...

Du Lingjing couldn't help but look over at him. A bright beam of light from the lamplight just happened to shine on the two old scars in the middle of his tall nose.

Above the bridge of his nose that still had a scar, his eyes were like reflecting the deep night sky, his eyebrows were high at the peak and then lowered at the end.

Under the two old scars, his lips were thin, his jaw was strong, and his Adam's apple was prominent on his neck.

"What are you looking at me, madam?" he asked with a faint smile.

He smiled, and his resolute and sharp face softened instantly. Under the light, there was an inexplicable sense of charm.

Du Lingjing's heart began to beat faster and her face gradually became hot.

She was a little afraid to look at him.

Lu Shenru was quite surprised and didn't understand what was going on for a moment, but then she heard her wife speak softly.

"My husband is so handsome. There is probably no other man in the world who can compare to him."

She suddenly told him what was in her mind.

Her eyes fell between his brows gently and with a hint of shyness.

Lu Shenru was completely stunned on the spot.

Is she talking about him?

Not someone else?