Chapter 35 Dispute
Lu Qian, the young master of the Duke of Jin's mansion, comes from a prominent family and is a well-known bully in Kyoto.
When he said he wanted to find someone, the Jingzhao prefect dared not refuse. He immediately distributed the portrait and sent more people to search the city.
The Jingzhao government office was in complete silence.
Lu Qian sat in the government hall with a lazy posture, looking at the Jingzhao prefect opposite him with drooping eyelids.
"How long will it take to find the person?"
"It should take less than a day." The Jingzhao prefect replied with a smile.
Lu Qian narrowed his eyes, clearly dissatisfied with the efficiency of the government office. "I'll only give you half a day. Once you find the person, send him to Jinzun Tower immediately."
The Jingzhao prefect didn't dare to say anything and nodded repeatedly: "Yes."
Lu Qian stood up, stretched and walked out.
He had a hangover from gambling with a few friends at Hexian Tower last night, and had been busy for so long this morning. He had to find a place to have a good rest, take a shower and change clothes, and then return to the Duke's Mansion.
After seeing off the giant Buddha, the prefect of Jingzhao breathed a sigh of relief.
I don't know how the girl in the portrait offended this master, causing him to make such a fuss. Given the young master's temper, if she were sent to Jinzun Tower, I'm afraid her life would be in danger.
At the same time, Song Lingyi had arrived outside the East City Gate in an ox cart.
The plaque with the words "Xijing City" hangs high above the city gate, with the characters written in an elegant and freehand style.
The city gate was packed with people, all entering the city to do business. Through the gate, she could vaguely glimpse the prosperity of the capital, just like the free and easy life that was about to come.
A quarter of an hour later, Song Lingyi entered the city smoothly.
As the saying goes, with willows in the mist, painted bridges, and green curtains in the wind, the scenery of Kyoto is incomparable to Xuancheng or Huaizhou.
Unaware that she was wanted by Jingzhao Prefecture, the young woman was strolling leisurely through the streets. She looked around, her stomach full of sesame cakes, sweet pastries, and cheese, before she remembered the purpose of her trip to the capital.
The Duke of Jin's Mansion was located outside the imperial city. With its green tiles and red walls, the spacious three-story compound was a gift from the founding monarch.
Under the eaves of the main gate hangs a black-based mud-gold plaque with the four large characters "Jin Guogong Mansion" inscribed on it. This was written by the current emperor himself when the mansion was renovated two years ago. The emperor's private seal is also stamped on the lower left corner of the plaque.
It was almost noon and the sun was at its highest.
Pedestrians on the street were carrying loads and leading donkeys, shouting and hawking their wares.
A servant of the Duke of Jin's mansion was climbing a ladder to wipe the eaves when he suddenly saw a girl in green standing at the door. He looked at her curiously.
Song Lingyi looked up at the magnificent gate of the Duke's Mansion and couldn't help but feel like retreating.
The Duke of Jin's Mansion was so prominent that the original owner's mother resisted the marriage and married Song's father, having long since severed ties with her maternal grandparents. Now that the Song family was in decline, the people in the Duke's Mansion might not necessarily welcome her.
"Who are you?"
"Don't you know where this is? Get out of here, get out of here." The servant waved his hands impatiently to drive the man away with a very bad attitude.
Song Lingyi came back to her senses and stammered twice. She couldn't bring herself to say "the cousin of the Song family who came to live with her relatives" in such a cowardly way.
After a moment's silence, the girl retreated to the left corner and squatted, burying her head to calm her mind. The clamor around her only made her seem even more lonely and desolate, like a flower bowed by the dew.
A magnificent carriage, adorned with a emerald canopy and pearl tassels, lurched past her and stopped in front of the Duke's Mansion's main gate. The servant, who had been rude just now, immediately changed his expression upon seeing who was in the carriage and bowed respectfully.
Song Lingyi glanced sideways.
A middle-aged man in his forties, wearing a crimson pheasant's crown, stepped steadily down from the carriage. A look of worry lingered between his brows, and he walked straight into the gate of the Duke's Mansion.
The servant continued to wipe the red pillar at the door, and when he saw the girl in green in the corner, he frowned.
Where did this poor girl come from? She has been guarding the door all the time. Is she trying to cause trouble? The old lady has been in poor health recently, and the mansion is filled with gloom. If the incident is brought to the attention of the master, he will inevitably be punished.
With this thought, the servant quickly walked up to Song Lingyi and scolded her, "I told you to leave quickly. This is the Duke's Mansion. If you want food, go to the East Market."
“……?”
Song Lingyi suddenly stood up and glared at the servant.
He is not very old, but he has two faces.
"Can you speak? How am I bothering you by squatting here? You built this road, and it's your doghouse. I'm not even walking around you, so what right do you have to say that to me..."
Her little mouth was like a string of cannonballs, leaving the servant stunned and speechless for a long time.
The servant had never seen such an eloquent girl, and he started to argue with her, neither of them giving in, which attracted passers-by to stop and watch.
"Who is making noise here?" Suddenly, a stern female voice sounded.
The servant immediately fell silent and turned around to complain, "Sister Qingyue, this girl blocked the door. I tried to shoo her away, but she refused and started cursing. She was so rude!"
The woman called 'Sister Qingyue' was about twenty years old, with a beautiful face and a cool and graceful temperament. She glanced at the girl in green and said nothing much, but there was a hint of contempt in her eyes.
Song Lingyi frowned slightly.
He was already timid and didn't dare to go in to recognize his relatives. Now he had an argument with the servants in the mansion. If he went in to recognize his relatives again, he would definitely be laughed at by others.
While he was thinking, he saw a gorgeously dressed and dignified woman coming out of the Duke's Mansion, followed by several maids.
Qingyue turned around and saluted, saying softly, "Madam, the carriage will be ready soon. It's very sunny now, would you like to wait in the hall?"
The woman in fine clothes looked slightly anxious and shook her head, saying, "Old An has just woken up and is urging you to go to Huaizhou to look for someone. Pei Erlang is returning to the capital today, so I have to go and ask if there's any news."
Song Lingyi couldn't hear their conversation, but from the woman's dress and demeanor, she could roughly guess her identity.
Before Song's mother passed away, she briefly told her about the people in the Duke of Jin's Mansion.
The old Duke had two sons and one daughter. The eldest son, Lu Tanwei, who inherited the title, was her eldest uncle. Her eldest uncle married a daughter of the Yunyang Wang family, one of the four major aristocratic families of this dynasty, with an extremely prominent family background. Her second uncle, Lu Hanzhi, was the governor of Lizhou, in charge of local military and political affairs, and her second aunt was the only daughter of a cabinet minister.
Before Song's mother married Song's father, her eldest uncle and aunt were married, and the relationship between the two sisters-in-law was pretty good.
The woman in front of me is most likely my aunt Wang.
Seeing that she was staring at the lady, the servant pushed her and urged her, "Hurry up and leave, hurry up and leave. The Duke's Mansion is not a place where you can act arrogantly."
Song Lingyi was not careful and almost fell down. In panic, she held onto the stone wall, but the uneven wall scratched her delicate palms and hurt them.
The commotion here attracted Wang's attention.
She glanced at the girl in green and felt that she looked familiar. "Who is she?"
Qingyue said, "He said he was blocking the road and had just had an argument with a servant in the mansion."
Wang frowned, then looked carefully at the girl in green. Seeing her turn to leave, she hurriedly said, "Call them over."
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