Chapter 90 Chapter 90 Generosity

At the birthday banquet for the old lady of the Dou Mansion, Du Lingjing presented two gifts.

One was presented by her as the wife of Marquis Lu on behalf of the Marquis Yongding's Mansion. When the ceremony was being performed, all the civil servants who came to the Dou Mansion looked as if they had eaten rotten water and were quite disgusted.

Even Lord Dou above him looked helpless, which was unnecessary.

Fortunately, the Marquis did not see it, otherwise he would be gloomy and make these civil officials suffer in the future.

The other gift was presented by Du Lingjing in her own name and under the name of the Du family. This time, everyone's faces calmed down a little.

She looked at Dou Ge Lao deliberately. This time, Dou Ge Lao did not show the helpless expression just now, but paused slightly and said nothing.

Du Lingjing asked Chongping to present the gift and then went to the back to celebrate the birthday of the old lady who had specially sent her an invitation.

However, she had not walked far when she saw someone wearing a lavender brocade robe embroidered with round flowers, looking at her walking towards her.

It’s Rokuro.

The young man gradually lost his former talkative and cheerful appearance, and beneath his brocade clothes and jade crown, he showed a bit of noble bearing.

Du Lingjing stopped.

He looked her up and down, "Madam, why have you become thinner?"

Du Lingjing was pregnant, but she had not told anyone else except Nian Jia. She did not speak for a while, but Chongping stepped forward and half-blocked her behind him.

"Tanhua Jiang, Madam has to go celebrate the birthday of the old lady of the Dou family, so it is inconvenient for her to stay longer."

Chongping had a stern face.

Du Lingjing took a quick look and knew who had given the order.

Lu Weishi guessed that Liu Lang was also at the Dou family today.

But how could Jiang Fengchuan be dismissed so easily? He snorted and laughed, looking at Chongping.

"Marquis Lu is really amazing. He keeps such strict watch on people. Those who know that the girl from the Du family is the wife of Marquis Yongding, while those who don't know would think that she has become Marquis Yongding's prisoner."

As soon as these words came out, Chongping's expression changed slightly. Of course, he didn't care what Liu Lang said, but he cared about what his wife thought.

Du Lingjing was just thinking, if Liu Lang told this to a certain marquis, he wondered how that person would respond.

He, Lu Weishi, was indeed too much, and he would forbid her from entering the house at any time. Only he was allowed to do it, but others were not allowed to say anything?

But that person was not here at the moment, and Chongping had no right to suffer for him. She was about to say forget it, saying that she and Liu Lang rarely saw each other, so there was no need to quarrel over it.

Liu Lang obviously stood on the side of Prince Yong. I'm afraid there won't be many days when they can meet and chat in the future.

However, before she could open her mouth, a greasy smell blew in from somewhere, and she had just taken a half sip when her stomach churned.

She quickly covered her mouth and nose with her hands, but Jiang Fengchuan suddenly took a step forward, his handsome face darkened, and his fingertips were about to clasp her wrist.

But Chongping reacted much faster than him and blocked him directly.

"Tanhua Jiang." It sounded like a strong warning.

But Jiang Fengchuan had no time to pay attention to Chongping. He just frowned and lowered his head to ask Du Lingjing.

"Are you pregnant?"

He saw it at a glance, and Du Lingjing could only nod, but this matter had nothing to do with Liu Lang, she just said, "You don't have to worry about me."

She mentioned that she asked Ruan Gong to retrieve two large boxes of old papers left by Sanlang from the Jiang family.

"I don't have any evidence at the moment, but I always feel that Sanlang is very involved in the affairs of the court, which is unusual. Maybe he has some connection."

She called Jiang Fengchuan, "If you also want to find out the reason for Sanlang's death, why don't you pay more attention to it."

Jiang Fengchuan paused slightly. Third brother's old friends Zhu Feng and others had also mentioned this matter before.

He said he knew it, and then wondered if she was trying to excuse Lu Shenru in front of him.

After all, she was pregnant with Lu Shenru's child...

Jiang Fengchuan felt complicated for a moment, but Chongping still stood in front of him, preventing her from getting close to her.

At this moment, the aroma of food wafted over from the nearby banquet hall. Seeing that her face became even uglier, he could only say to her.

"Don't stay here long."

Du Lingjing covered her mouth and nose and nodded to him, and Chongping glanced at him quietly.

Unexpectedly, Jiang Tanhua stopped saying anything sarcastic and treated his wife attentively.

Du Lingjing left and turned to walk the other way.

She didn't notice Liu Lang behind her, and silently looked at the ribbon in her hair for a long time, until someone came to invite him.

"Tanhua, His Royal Highness Prince Yong heard that you are also in the palace, and would like to invite you to come over."

The person who came was someone close to Prince Yong Fengqi, but before Jiang Fengchuan met Fengqi, Du Lingjing met Prince Yong who was surrounded by civil officials.

The young man did have the appearance of Shao Shi, and at first glance, he was somewhat similar to Shao Boju. But he was not as impatient and flamboyant as Shao Boju, but rather looked gentle and reserved, and his every move exuded a scholarly air that was even more noble than that of the royal family.

Du Lingjing felt unwell, so she simply sat down on a secluded forest path to rest for a while.

The young Prince Yong and a group of civil officials were in the rockery pavilion next to her resting place.

It was a rare opportunity to see Prince Yong up close, and he couldn't help but sigh, "No wonder the scholars are so fond of him."

Chongping also took a look and said, "The fact that His Royal Highness Prince Yong's temperament is loved by the civil officials is not the credit of these civil officials, but the credit of the queen."

"Your Highness has raised His Royal Highness Prince Yong for many years?"

Chongping said yes, "From the fourteenth year of Hongqi, when the Imperial Concubine came to the Emperor's side, until the fifth year of Yinyou, when the Empress's prince passed away, during these eight years, it was the Imperial Concubine who raised Prince Yong from a two or three-year-old orphan to a young man."

He said that Prince Yong's enlightenment was before the emperor ascended the throne. At that time, the late emperor was seriously ill and the capital was in turmoil. The emperor had no time to take care of the affairs of his second son. The queen also did not want Prince Yong to study in the same class with the crown prince, saying that it would not be too late in a few years.

"The Imperial Concubine had no choice but to write a letter to the Marquis, asking him to select the most patient gentleman from among the staff of the Yongding Marquisate to teach His Royal Highness Prince Yong."

Du Lingjing was slightly surprised.

The teacher who enlightened Prince Yong Fengqi was actually the staff member of the Yongding Marquis' Mansion.

"Which staff member is it?"

"It is Mr. Yu."

Yu Muliu was the one who helped the Marquis a lot in the incident of two sons killing someone in the Rongchang Marquis's mansion. He was one of the Marquis's trusted aides.

Du Lingjing was even more surprised and stunned.

Therefore, back then, both the Imperial Concubine and the Marquis raised Prince Yong Fengqi as if he were Lu's own bloodline.

But later, they fell out. The young man returned to his mother's family, the Shao family, and became the one who was most at odds with the Yongding Marquis's Mansion and the one expected by the surrendered civil officials.

Du Lingjing didn't know the details of why the rift between the imperial concubine and her adopted son Prince Yong arose, but she didn't want to ask too much since she was at the Dou family now.

While Du Lingjing was talking to Chongping, all the people from King Yong's group in the pavilion not far away came down from the rockery, perhaps going somewhere else.

Her discomfort eased a little and she was ready to sit for a while before leaving.

Who would have thought that a group of footsteps would suddenly come from behind the green trees and turn onto this road.

Before Du Lingjing could react, the young prince who had been in the pavilion on the rockery walked out from behind the green trees and landed in front of her.

Feng Qi didn't expect that there would be someone sitting at the intersection, and when he saw Chongping, he knew who the woman in front of him was -

Madam Lu.

Both of them were stunned, but a few civil servants with apologetic smiles behind Prince Yong also came over. They saw that His Royal Highness Prince Yong was standing, but Madam Lu was still sitting firmly. Someone immediately said something.

"Tsk, is the Yongding Marquis's disrespect to His Royal Highness Prince Yong so blatant? Fortunately, His Royal Highness still remembers the old friendship..."

Accusations of disrespect kept coming out, and Du Lingjing quickly stood up and saluted.

Chongping was alert. Fengqi didn't say anything, but the person behind him said something more.

"The Marquis's wife behaved inappropriately when she met His Highness and bowed lightly, so are you going to let it go? According to us, we should bow deeply and apologize in front of His Highness."

They actually made Du Lingjing kneel down and apologize before King Yong.

Not to mention that Du Lingjing did not intend to be negligent, even if he was really negligent, he could not kneel down to greet him.

That would only be a slap in the face of the Marquis and the Madam.

But this was the Dou family, and all she saw were civil officials. It was really a bit awkward, and no wonder that person didn't want her to come.

She frowned slightly and thought for a moment, preparing to speak a few words for herself and put the matter behind her.

Unexpectedly, Prince Yong Fengqi spoke first.

"Ma'am, there is nothing wrong with your behavior. You are probably just stopping here to rest." He raised his hand, signaling the people behind him not to say anything more.

Du Lingjing blinked, and the boy nodded to her very lightly, then turned and left.

But the person behind him was still a little angry, and kept muttering about Du Lingjing's inappropriate behavior, wanting to hold her back.

But at this moment, Jiang Fengchuan came over from the other side.

Jiang Fengchuan bowed to the prince first, then his eyes passed over the prince and fell on the wife of Marquis Lu.

Everyone came back to their senses at once. Madam Lu was the sister-in-law of Jiang Tanhua before he married into the family. Who would they be embarrassing if they were to embarrass her now?

Everyone knows that this year's newly promoted Jiang Tanhua is the favorite of His Highness.

Jiang Fengchuan stepped forward and everyone stopped talking. Du Lingjing took this opportunity to walk away.

Chongping was more nervous than she was, with sweat on his forehead. Du Lingjing comforted him, "It was just a quarrel at most. They wouldn't dare to do anything to me in the Dou Ge Lao Mansion."

Chongping nodded in agreement. However, Du Lingjing turned back to look at the young prince who was leaving.

Perhaps it was because he was raised by the Imperial Concubine herself, he seemed to still have some of the Imperial Concubine's gentleness, kindness and generosity.

After this incident, Du Lingjing didn't want to stay any longer and went straight to the birthday celebration hall of the old lady of the Dou family who had sent her the invitation.

The female members of the family were not too angry and looked at her with consideration, but the women of the Dou family were extremely embarrassed. They didn't dare to cheer up and entertain her, and they didn't dare to stand aside.

Even Dou Ge Lao's old wife was a little confused about the situation. Instead, the trembling old lady saw her and stretched out her hand to beckon her to sit next to her.

The old lady is too old, so no one is suitable to sit next to her. It would be fine if there were younger people in the family who love to talk and laugh, but she is old and often cannot recognize people.

This time he called only Du Lingjing and sat next to her.

Chongping was not able to come in, so he stayed outside. At this time, Qiulin was beside Du Lingjing, also looking hesitant.

Now that Du Lingjing is here, don't be afraid to approach her.

She was also a junior, so she simply followed the old lady's wishes and sat on the couch next to her.

All the women in the room were silent.

Only the octogenarian old lady smiled with her eyes bent, and gave instructions to the wife of Lord Dou.

"Go get some salty cakes and some strong tea for the child. She likes it."

The old lady spoke so convincingly that people who didn't know would really think she understood Du Lingjing's preferences.

But the women in the Dou family were all embarrassed. They had only heard that Madam Lu liked to eat the Liaohua candy from Longfu Temple. When did she start to like eating salty cakes and drinking strong tea?

Du Lingjing really didn't like it, but she remembered something and looked at the old lady for a second longer.

Unexpectedly, the old lady clapped her hands and said, "You are pregnant, don't you want to eat the black plum candy the most?"

When these words came out, Du Lingjing was shocked.

She had never told anyone that she was pregnant, so how could the old lady of the Dou family know about it?

She was stunned, and the women of the Dou family were so embarrassed that they wanted to crawl into the cracks in the ground.

My dear ancestor, what are you talking about?

Dou Ge Lao's wife stepped forward to smooth things over, "The old lady must have recognized the wrong person again, please don't blame me, Madam Lu."

Du Lingjing said it didn't matter, and the old lady of the Dou family had indeed recognized the wrong person.

But, she might know the old lady and mistake her for someone else?

The people under the Dou family quickly brought up these three items.

Du Lingjing's eyes fell on the salty cake, strong tea and black plum candy, and her heart couldn't help but be filled with waves.

The old lady recognized the wrong person.

But he mistook her for his mother!

The old lady urged her to try these three things. Du Lingjing picked up the black plum candy and took a light bite.

The sweetness of sugar and the sourness of plums suddenly spread in her mouth.

She remembered that her mother was in poor health and died early. She had almost no memory of her mother, but her father often thought of her.

Whenever my father missed her, he would talk over and over again about the time when my mother was alive.

He said she had a strong taste, liked salty cakes and strong tea, and that she could eat sour food.

Dad said that when mom was pregnant with her, she loved eating black plum candy the most.

Du Lingjing looked at the old lady, who curved her eyes and smiled as before.

According to her understanding, Dou Lao Madam was from Huguang, and her mother, like her father, was born in Qingzhou. Her maternal family was not a prominent family, but her grandfather was her father's teacher when he was studying.

It is impossible that her mother had any relationship with the old lady of the Dou family. Her mother was born in Qingzhou and lived in Qingzhou. It was only after she married her father that she followed her father out of Qingzhou.

Why did the old lady of the Dou family know her mother's preferences, and even knew that her mother liked to eat black plum candy when she was pregnant with her?

Du Ling was calm but the situation was turbulent.

At the previous palace banquet, Old Madam Dou had shown her goodwill towards her, and now it was Old Madam Dou who personally sent someone to send her an invitation and recognized her as her mother.

Was he really confused, or did he want to tell her something?

Unfortunately, Du Lingjing didn't find out anything by the time she left, and others thought that the old lady was really confused.

Du Lingjing left the Dou family with a lot of questions in her mind.

The Marquis came to pick her up a quarter of an hour earlier.

He frowned when he saw that she looked unhappy. He had heard about the encounter with Prince Yong in the garden.

"Did they embarrass you and make you feel uncomfortable?" His handsome face looked extremely ugly. "Don't worry, my lady. I already know who these people are."

Du Lingjing: "..."

She quickly said that these people were not a big deal, and then told her about the old lady of the Dou family who mistook her for her mother.

Lord Lu was also somewhat puzzled by what he heard.

But he reacted quickly, "I have never heard that my father-in-law and Dou Ge Lao know each other. At least they are not from the same province or hometown, and they have never served as officials in the same place. But if my father-in-law had any contact with Dou Ge Lao when he was studying, it is hard to say."

Du Lingjing followed his train of thought and thought, "When my mother was pregnant with me, my father was studying in Henan. At that time, Dou Ge Lao..."

"Mr. Dou was an official in Henan more than 20 years ago."

After the words fell, the two looked at each other.

If Du Lingjing's father had some relationship with Dou Ge Lao, why was it never mentioned and no one knew about it?

Lu Shenru also found it strange and sent someone to investigate.

Du Lingjing was quiet for a while, and the man held her in his arms, "What are you thinking about?"

She lowered her head and leaned on his shoulder. "I was thinking, there are many things my father never told me."

Maybe Sanlang knows more than she does.

Lu Shenru looked at his wife.

The father-in-law loves his daughter, and not telling him some things is a way of protection.

He held her in his arms and changed the subject, asking her, "These few days are the anniversary of my father-in-law's death. Do you want to go back to Chengqingfang for a stay?"

Du Lingjing nodded quietly.

The man could go with her, but he suddenly thought of a problem.

"Now the Du Mansion in Chengqingfang is divided into three parts. It is spacious and has many houses. I wonder which part you want to live in? I'll have someone clean it up in advance."

Du Lingjing was still thinking about what she had seen and heard at the Dou Mansion today, so she spoke without thinking carefully about what he meant.

"Stay in the middle."

She wants to live in the middle.

Although it was not the west road with bamboo forest, it was not something he expanded for her.

To be honest, she has never lived there since the East Road was expanded.

The man didn't say much for a while, just told someone to clean up.

He was a little silent.

Du Lingjing had just come back to her senses. Seeing the silent man beside her, she thought about what he had just said and began to understand a little.

She had never lived in the East Road he built for her, but on the day he rushed back from the northwest, heartbroken, she was in the west wing of the West Road...

But didn't he say he didn't mind?

Du Lingjing didn't say anything for a while, just secretly looked at him. He became more silent, but didn't say much to her about this matter. When the carriage entered the mansion, he carried her down in his arms without saying a word.

His eyes gently fell on her lower abdomen.

"My dear, please pay attention to our baby in your belly. Tell me immediately if you feel any discomfort."

His voice was muffled, but he really looked magnanimous, as if he "didn't mind". He didn't tell her anything about where she lived in Chengqingfang, but he didn't put her down and carried her all the way back to the main courtyard.

Du Lingjing: "..."

Does he really want to interpret "don't mind" to the end?

Given his personality, why wouldn't Du Lingjing believe it?

However, on the anniversary of her father's death, when Du Lingjing went to Chengqingfang for a short stay, she met a man in an old teahouse in the alley.