Chapter 12 They were truly a match made in heaven…
The sky was cloudless, and the summer solstice heat in Shengjing City was sweltering, but the clear blue sky, like a wash of azure waves, added a touch of beauty to the scene.
Wen Lingzheng sat in Lixin Courtyard, turning the pages of a book in her hands, when she heard Yuheng outside the door say, "Madam, it's done."
The wind chimes under the eaves swayed, their sounds melodious.
The unfinished pages fell back to their original place, and a faint smile appeared on Wen Lingzheng's lips.
But as she laughed, tears welled up in her eyes again.
Holding the book, she murmured, "My lord, you can rest in peace now."
The dream was full of ups and downs.
However, in the blink of an eye, the scene before my eyes changed drastically.
The sudden chill made Wen Lingzheng involuntarily shrink her neck.
She looked around.
Is this a prison?
But why is she here?
Following her hazy memories, Wen Lingzheng saw a familiar figure.
In the damp prison, the man was wearing only a thin prison uniform.
He sat cross-legged in the corner, his back ramrod straight.
His hair was slightly disheveled, and the bright red showing through his clothes was shocking.
He heard footsteps and calmly raised his head.
Xiao Weiyuan?
How did he end up here?
Xiao Weiyuan: "You've arrived?"
Did he know she was coming?
In the pitch-black prison, only the lamp in Wen Lingzheng's hand emitted a faint yellow glow.
She saw him smile, and she also saw tears of blood streaming down his cheeks.
She heard him say—
"Wen Lingzheng".
Do you know how Pei Lin died?
"Ah Zheng!"
The absurd dream abruptly ended.
In the dim light, she heard the sound of students reading aloud.
"Ah Zheng!"
"If you keep sleeping, when Scholar Liu comes, he'll punish you by making you copy the 'Discourses on Salt and Iron'!"
I suddenly woke up with a start.
Wen Lingzheng touched the cold sweat on her forehead.
She actually fell asleep in class?
She glanced around quietly and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that Liu Xuejiu had not yet arrived.
She turned her head and glared at Pei Ning, who was smiling broadly, and said in a low voice, "Ning! Why are you cursing me!"
"The Discourses on Salt and Iron is such a thick book; copying it almost killed me!"
What's more, she has to write with her left hand!
"It's because you were sleeping too soundly!"
"No matter how I shake you, you won't wake up."
Pei Ning placed the ink-dipped brush into Wen Lingzheng's hand.
"You'd better use your brain!"
"I heard that two more people will be joining us to study today, so don't end up at the bottom again."
Wen Lingzheng's mind was not on her studies.
Not only was his handwriting a mess, but he would always come in last place in every exam unless Pei Ning offered him a small favor.
She herself didn't care, but Pei Ning was extremely troubled.
Waving her hand absentmindedly, Wen Lingzheng said, "It's just another place we drop! From another perspective, we're still in first place, aren't we?"
Wen Lingzheng smiled, a hint of cunning flashing in her gentle eyes.
Pei Ning sighed helplessly and decided to use the most effective method.
She smiled mysteriously and whispered in Wen Lingzheng's ear, "Do your best on the exam this time! I'll trade you an embarrassing story from my second brother's childhood!"
"make a deal!"
Wen Lingzheng answered readily, and her sparkling eyes made Pei Ning momentarily stunned.
She pouted, a hint of disdain in her voice: "He values romance over friendship!"
“A Ning, Wen Si.”
What are you two talking about?
Wen Lingzheng and Pei Ning turned their heads to look behind them, and saw a head peeking out from the end of the screen separating the men's and women's seats.
With Liu Xuejiu absent, most of the students in the hall began to whisper among themselves, and Luo Xu, being the type who would fall asleep as soon as he started reading.
Seeing his sleepy eyes and even a tuft of hair sticking up, Pei Ning covered her mouth and chuckled: "If Brother Luo Wu keeps sleeping like this, I'm afraid he'll get a scolding from Madam Wu again during the autumn imperial examination!"
In the fourth year of the Xuanren era, there were twelve students who entered the private school. In addition to six girls, including Princess Mingzhu, there were also six young men, one of whom was Luo Xu.
However, by the eighth year of Xuanren's reign, apart from eleven-year-old Wen Shizhen, only this seventeen-year-old "problem child" remained.
Yang Songjian, who is the same age as him, won the imperial examination last year. At the age of seventeen, he was the third-ranked scholar, a unique honor in Shengjing City.
Meanwhile, Gu Jianhai, the young master of the Gu family of the Rongguo Duke's Mansion, who is the same age as Luo Xu, is now also a Juren (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations).
Even Xiang Zhiyuan and Zheng Kaique, who were only fourteen years old, obtained the title of Xiucai last year, leaving only Luo Xu.
It's no wonder that Madam Wu was angry.
Luo Xu gave an awkward smile, pouting and complaining, "I don't want to go into literature..."
"You think martial arts are easy?"
"Let's put aside other things. Of the sixteen volumes of military strategy of our dynasty, how many can you memorize? And can you integrate them into a coherent whole?"
"You think joining the army is about shooting eagles in the wilderness? With your mediocre skills, you might end up stabbing yourself in the foot instead of shooting the eagle."
Xiao Shanghua leaned forward from the front, and Luo Xu was startled back by her voice.
He sighed and muttered to himself, "Reading, reading... I must have had a grudge against books in my past life! How could they do this to me..."
Xiao Shanghua pursed her lips helplessly and moved closer to Pei Ning and Wen Lingzheng.
"Ignore this monkey, I have good news to tell you two!"
"I heard that the Emperor is going to hold a spring banquet at Lingyuan Garden in the suburbs of Beijing!"
Hearing a whisper of news, Chen Lingwen, who was sitting in the front, also rushed over.
Her radiant beauty grew even more dazzling with the passage of time, surpassing even the most exquisite South Sea pearls in her jewelry box.
"You little rascal, winter isn't even over yet! And you're already planning the spring banquet."
Xiao Shanghua laughed and pulled Chen Lingwen to her side, saying rather irreverently, "Sister, you're wronged! I don't care about the banquet at all!"
"I'm just wondering which young master will be able to snag our Mingzhu sister, such a high-born daughter!"
Neither Emperor Taizu nor Emperor Taizong had many sons.
Emperor Taizong had three sons and two daughters. Unfortunately, his second son, Li Cong, died young. His youngest son, Li Shan, is the current emperor, while his eldest son is Prince Liang, Li Heng.
The eldest daughter, Princess Chang Le, was the emperor's elder sister born of the same mother. She married Xie Yiting, the heir of the Pingjiang Marquis's family. The second daughter of Emperor Taizong was Princess He Ning, who went to Dayue.
Now that the eldest daughter of the official, Princess Li Zhen, is still young, the unmarried girls of the royal family are especially valued as Princess Leling and Princess Mingzhu.
"You little rascal!"
"How shameless!"
Chen Lingwen sat down next to Xiao Shanghua.
A hint of shyness crept into her bright eyes, and even her earlobes turned pink.
"A-Ning, A-Zheng, don't listen to this little girl's nonsense!"
"Sister Leling has already passed her coming-of-age ceremony, and only now is the Emperor planning to find her a husband!"
"I...I'm not...not in a hurry!"
Princess Li Jiao of Leling was the youngest daughter of King Xiang.
She had thirteen older brothers and four older sisters, and as the legitimate daughter of the emperor, she was greatly favored by the King of Xiang.
She is one year older than Chen Lingwen.
Her coming-of-age ceremony should have been a grand affair, but at that time the second prince was ill, and the Jiangnan region had just recovered from floods.
To bring good fortune to the second prince, she not only requested to reduce the expenses of her coming-of-age ceremony, but also used her own money to set up soup kitchens outside the city to provide relief to disaster victims, thus winning praise throughout Shengjing.
The fact that the emperor values her so highly, even going so far as to personally host a spring banquet to choose a husband for her, is likely a decision made after weighing the pros and cons.
Wen Lingzheng rested her chin on her hand, her thoughts drifting far away.
Scenes from her previous life's spring banquet gradually surfaced before her eyes.
The spring banquet ended abruptly.
After the banquet, the Wen family and the Dingbei Marquis's family formed a marriage alliance. Song Jinghe, the heir of the Xiangyang Marquis, was forced to marry a merchant's daughter, while the Princess of Leling married Sun Shuji, the heir of the Huaiyuan Marquis's family...
From the time the heir of the Marquis of Xiangyang was framed, to the Emperor's furious investigation, and finally to the point where no one dared to mention it again...
Thinking back on each and every one of these events, they all seem a bit strange.
Chen Lingwen's embarrassment and anger provoked Xiao Shanghua's teasing.
She reached out and touched Chen Lingwen's chin, seemingly with a hidden meaning.
People admire Zhuang Jiang's beauty, saying that her smile is charming and her eyes are bright.
"Zhuang Jiang is the daughter of the Marquis of Qi, but our Mingzhu is no less beautiful than her!"
"I wonder which family's young master our Mingzhu's 'Marquis Wei' will be?"
Pei Ning teased with a smile, "Tell us sisters what kind of man can be Mingzhu's 'Lord Wei'!"
"ah!"
"You, you!"
Chen Lingwen was extremely shy.
She reached out to cover Xiao Shanghua's mouth, and then cast a pleading look at Wen Lingzheng.
"Good zither, please help me quickly."
"These two girls are clearly in cahoots!"
Suddenly realizing what was happening, Wen Lingzheng helplessly pulled Pei Ning to her side.
You'd better be careful.
"Be careful not to anger our little princess, or Mr. Liu will punish you by making you copy the 'Discourses on Salt and Iron'!"
Pei Ning reached out and poked Wen Lingzheng, smiling brightly as she said, "I'm not you!"
"I seem fearless most of the time, but I'm terrified of writing!"
The four people's cheerful laughter drew the attention of the others.
Yao Zhongxi couldn't help but let out a soft snort, but with Princess Mingzhu present, she didn't dare to act arrogantly.
Amidst the hustle and bustle of the surroundings, only Wen Shizhen and Xiang Zhining remained focused on practicing calligraphy from beginning to end.
Bored, Luo Xu leaned over to the women's section again.
"Wen Si".
"Your third brother and cousin haven't turned into bookworms!"
Xiang Zhining and Xiang Zhiyuan are siblings born of the same mother.
His father was Xiang Ruopu, the eldest son of the Minister of Rites and the current Registrar of the Court of State Ceremonial, who was also Xiang's elder brother.
Wen Lingzheng smiled nonchalantly—
"I heard that during the autumn imperial examinations some time ago, Madam Wu bowed repeatedly to the three schools of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism."
"Young Master Luo even adopted a bit of a simpleton's manner, thus fulfilling Madam Wu's wish to have golden statues made for the three families."
The girls burst into laughter.
Luo Xu's smile froze, and he let out a long sigh.
"Wen Si, Wen Si!"
"You have such a sharp tongue."
Thinking of Pei Lin, who was still far away at the border, Luo Xu shook his head and sighed deeply.
There's some truth to the saying that a pot and a lid go hand in hand.
Back then, Brother Pei was a troublemaker, even tricking the then-Crown Prince into entering the Golden Jade Workshop.
In the depths of winter, the white snow reflects the human form.
The young girl, who had just arrived in Beijing, playfully stomped through the snow. The melting snow soaked her shoes, and the splashing snow stained her socks.
The little girl exclaimed "Oh!" and the three people walking in front all turned around.
“Ah Shao”.
"That's not right."
The boy, who had just turned fourteen, was beginning to show a handsome appearance, with light and gentle eyebrows.
He stood with a stern expression, his seemingly thin body not actually weak, standing in the vast expanse of white snow like a towering pine tree reaching into the clouds.
Seeing her elder brother's stern face, the little girl felt a little wronged.
She walked pitifully to another boy, grabbed his sleeve, and hid behind him.
"Look, Brother Shen."
"I told you so! My older brother is the fiercest!"
Shen Que readily stepped in front of the little girl, and as if remembering something, he smiled with a hint of helplessness.
"It's common for young girls to be playful."
"Brother Zhao, you haven't seen my sister. It's common for her to climb onto the roof and remove tiles."
The young man sighed, shook his head, and clasped his hands in a respectful bow to his two friends.
“A-Shao grew up on the frontier.”
"The southwest is bitterly cold, and her parents at home, pitying her for being young and a girl, doted on her somewhat."
"If Ah Shao has been impolite in any way, please forgive him, Brother Shen and Brother Yang."
Upon hearing this, Yang Songjian slightly curved the corners of his lips and pointed to the faint outline of the Pine Breeze Courtyard in front of him.
"Brother Zhao, there's no need to worry."
"There's someone even more troublesome here!"
Shen Que was confused, and Zhao Bolin assumed that Yang Songjian was comforting him. However, Zhao Rushao, who was hiding behind Shen Que, smiled brightly.
She skipped along behind her three older brothers as they walked towards the Pine Breeze Courtyard.
The clouds pass and the sun rises.
Upon seeing Liu Xuejiu carrying a scroll of books as he walked in from outside, Wen Lingzheng and Pei Ning immediately sat up straight, and even Xiao Shanghua and Chen Lingwen pretended to be seriously practicing calligraphy.
Only Luo Xu, who didn't have time to sneak back to the men's section, was caught red-handed.
The bells under the eaves jingled joyfully, but Luo Xu felt only bitterness.
He helplessly spread his hands, and Mr. Liu's paddle landed right in his palm.
Those crisp sounds, one after another, were just like the harmonious chimes of a wind chime.
Zhao Rushao, who had been cheerful, saw this scene as soon as she entered the room and couldn't help but shudder.
She hid behind Chen Que again, only peeking out a small head.
When she caught a glimpse of the person approaching, Wen Lingzheng's eyes darkened slightly.
They're actually from the Duke of Ningguo's mansion?
A note from the author:
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