Chapter 21 The Feng Brothers and Sisters
The broom hit the screen wall, sparks flying. Chu Qirui shrank his neck and moved towards the corner door. Suddenly, his collar was grabbed: "Good nephew, go and persuade him!"
"Uncle!" Chu Qirui pointed to the sky with a bitter face. "Xiu Zhe hates people talking about marriage. Last time, the Minister of Rites mentioned 'a perfect match made in heaven,' and he got him drunk and hung upside down on the flagpole at the city gate."
Old Chu looked at the moonlight all over the ground, and suddenly pulled out a porcelain bottle from his sleeve: "Pour this into his tea."
"......This is?"
"Soft muscle powder." The old man smiled with wrinkles on his face. "The rice has been cooked..."
Chu Qirui took three steps back, and the porcelain vase rolled into the flowers with a clang.
In the sound of the night watchman's clapper, he seemed to see the tragic scene of himself being hung upside down on the city gate tower by Pei Ji tomorrow.
…
The next day, when the troops were being inspected in the parade ground, Xie Wuqi's hand holding the badge trembled slightly.
Chu Qirui's voice was particularly clear in the morning mist: "The flower viewing banquet at Prince Duan's Mansion is scheduled for the first day of the new year. All twelve guards of East City will be on duty."
"I obey your command." Xie Wuqi bowed his head and clasped his fists, but the corners of his mouth were slightly raised.
This flower-viewing banquet was his chance to turn things around.
As dusk drifted into the small window of the Jingxi Villa, Liu Yueli was drawing her eyebrows in front of the bronze mirror.
Xie Wuqi's footsteps startled her and made her hand tremble, leaving a thin line on her forehead with her black ink pen.
"There will be a flower viewing banquet on the first day of the new year." Xie Wuqi stroked the wooden hairpin in her hair, "Many nobles will come to Prince Duan's Mansion."
The bronze mirror reflected Liu Yueli's eyes, which suddenly lit up and then quickly dimmed. "What does it have to do with me?"
In the past, whenever the Fuyuan General's Mansion received an invitation to a banquet, Liu Yueli's heart was always filled with endless longing.
However, Luo Zhaohan never seemed to have the idea of attending the banquet.
She was puzzled by this. Why was Luo Zhaohan unwilling to participate in such a great opportunity to make new friends and broaden his horizons?
She had advised him tactfully several times, but Luo Zhaohan was only keen on sword dancing and martial arts, and felt out of place in elegant occasions. She always said that she found it difficult to fit into that kind of atmosphere, so she chose to avoid it.
She wanted to persuade him again, but was worried that being too forceful would make both of them feel awkward, so she could only suppress the impulse in her heart.
Now, if she wants to participate in those banquets again, unless she can become the young lady of the Wuwei General's Mansion, she may never have the chance.
Xie Wuqi sat opposite Liu Yueli, and seeing the loneliness on her face, he suddenly felt a deep sense of self-blame in his heart.
…
As dusk fell over the eaves of the green tiles, Xie Wuqi's black boots crushed the fallen leaves on the ground.
Feng Linzhi lifted her skirt and stepped over the threshold, frowning as she looked at the mottled courtyard wall: "Brother Wuqi lives here?" Her embroidered shoes inlaid with oriental pearls slipped on the moss, and were held steadily by the hand that reached out from behind.
"Be careful." Feng Linyu released his sister's arm, his white jade ring glowing warmly in the setting sun. "I told you to change into a pair of soft-soled shoes."
Liu Yueli paused as she lifted the bamboo curtain.
She looked at the brother and sister in gorgeous clothes in the corridor, glanced down at the edge of her lilac-colored skirt that had been washed pale, and dug her nails deep into her palms.
"Yueli!" Xie Wuqi stepped forward quickly, his dark official uniform still stained with the Ministry of Justice's incense. "This is the prince and daughter of the Marquis of Changtai."
Feng Linzhi tilted her head to look at Liu Yueli, the gold-inlaid jade bracelet on her wrist making a crisp sound: "Sister Liu is even more beautiful than Xi Shi in the painting!"
She held Liu Yueli's arm affectionately, her Shu brocade sleeves sliding over her coarse cloth skirt. "Tomorrow we have the flower viewing banquet. I must borrow your skillful hands to help me style my hair into a fashionable bun."
Liu Yueli smelled the faint scent of storax on the other person, and her throat tightened: "Miss Feng, you are joking."
"What's your name, Miss?" Feng Linzhi pouted her lips. "You're older than me, so just call me Linzhi."
She suddenly leaned close to Liu Yueli's ear and asked, "Sister, do you know that Brother Wuqi knelt in the Marquis' Mansion for half the night to ask Mother to allow me to take you to the flower viewing banquet?"
Liu Yueli looked up suddenly and met Xie Wuqi's gentle eyes.
The purse she embroidered around her waist had faded, but it was still tied neatly on the jade belt hook.
Xie Wuqi had already noticed yesterday that Liu Yueli's face showed an infinite yearning for the flower viewing banquet.
So, today he specially invited the Feng brothers and sisters, hoping that they would bring Liu Yueli to the flower viewing banquet.
As for Luo Zhaohan, she has never liked such lively occasions, so there is no need to worry about meeting her there.
At that time, with the careful care of the Feng brothers and sisters at the banquet, Xie Wuqi completely put aside all his worries.
"Miss Liu." Feng Linyu suddenly took a half step forward, lifting the bamboo curtain with his folding fan. "I heard that you are good at playing the zither. Would you like to have the honor of listening to a piece of music at the banquet tomorrow?"
"Lin Yu." Xie Wuqi stepped in, his dark sleeves separating the two of them. "Yue Li is timid, don't scare her."
The dusk cast four shadows on the blue brick ground.
Feng Linyu looked at Liu Yueli's thin back, and suddenly remembered the white fox in the hunting ground last month - it also looked at him timidly, and in the blink of an eye, it was pierced through the throat by Xie Wuqi's arrow.
Liu Yueli also secretly looked at Feng Linyu. Seeing that he was handsome and elegant, her heart couldn't help but beat wildly.
During dinner, Feng Linzhi chattered about interesting stories in Beijing.
Liu Yueli stared at the bird's nest soup in the gold-painted porcelain bowl in front of her, listening to those unfamiliar names: rouge from Baohua Tower, jewelry from Linglong Pavilion, and peonies from the Princess's Mansion.
"Sister Liu, try this." Feng Linzhi picked up a piece of shad with herring. "It was just shipped from Jiangnan this morning. It's chilled and tastes great."
"She can't eat fishy food." Xie Wuqi naturally moved his celadon bowl over. "She caught a cold last month, and the doctor told her to avoid eating fishy food."
Feng Linyu paused, chopsticks in his hand. He watched Xie Wuqi carefully picking bones from the shad, then suddenly smiled and said, "No wonder my colleagues in the Ministry of Justice say Wuqi has changed his personality. Now it seems it's because of the mistress he's hiding."
A jackdaw startled outside the window, fluttering past the dead branches. Liu Yueli blushed, clutching her handkerchief as she stood up: "I'll go get some more tea."
In the misty steam in the kitchen, she stared at the bubbling teapot and fell into deep thought.
"Miss Liu?"
Liu Yueli's hand trembled, and boiling water splashed on the back of her hand. Feng Linyu grabbed her wrist and pressed her into the cold water tank, then lifted her chin with his folding fan. "With such a beautiful face, isn't it a pity to be trapped in this shabby alley?"
"Prince Feng, please be careful with your words!" Liu Yueli hurriedly broke free from the shackles and fled like the wind.
Feng Linyu witnessed the beauty's hurried departure, gently waved his folding fan, and raised the corners of his mouth with a playful look.
…
After dinner, Xie Wuqi and Liu Yueli saw the Feng siblings off.
Liu Yueli leaned in Xie Wuqi's arms, and the rough calluses on the man's palms rubbed the red rope on her wrist, which was the peace knot that women tied before getting married.
"General." Her fingertips traced the cloud pattern on Xie Wuqi's collar. "How can I be worthy enough to attend the flower viewing banquet?"
Xie Wuqi rested his chin against the crown of her hair and gently rubbed it: "After the flower viewing banquet tomorrow, I will ask His Majesty to grant me a marriage."
He suddenly tightened his arms, "Yue Li, can you trust me?"
Liu Yueli looked at the black iron sword on the antique shelf, and Feng Linyu's handsome eyes suddenly flashed through her mind.
My face gets hot involuntarily.
"I..." Her throat tightened, and she suddenly felt the red rope around her wrist loosen and fall to the ground.
Xie Wuqi leaned over to pick up the red string, the candlelight reflecting the dark light in his eyes: "It's an old custom in my hometown, if the red string breaks, the marriage will end."
He bit his fingertip and smeared the blood on the knot, "But I want to defy fate and change my destiny!"
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