Chapter 76 Let's Try
There were many people on the Cuju field, and you had to greet everyone you met. Yu An didn't think much of it at first, but after a while, both of his legs started to ache.
The next day, another uninvited guest arrived at the mansion.
Princess Scarlett arrived, and all sorts of maids and guards poured into the mansion, filling it to the brim.
Before Yu An could even leave the hospital, she was blocked at the door by the woman.
"You're having such a good time. You only found out now that I've arrived. According to the rules of your Central Plains, when a princess arrives, aren't you supposed to kneel at the gate and wait?" The woman, whip in hand, lifted the curtain and entered the room.
Yu An smiled apologetically: "No one in the manor received any notification. It was only after the princess arrived that someone told me. It was my fault for being impolite."
The woman sat down naturally, adopting an air of entitlement. "Your manners have long been lacking. If they were, you wouldn't have dared to contradict me in front of so many people yesterday."
Yuan:......
She looked around and said with a smile, "You are a Lady of Imperial Decree, the former young mistress of the Ji family. How come you live in such a simple place? Wasn't your father the Grand Secretary before?"
“My father has long since passed away. Moreover, when he was alive, he often taught us to be diligent and thrifty, and we are already used to living here.” Yu’an accepted the tea and offered it to him.
The woman seemed to enjoy being served, glancing at him intimately.
She waved her hand, telling everyone who wasn't in the room to leave, and only spoke again after the room was completely quiet.
"Chu Yu'an".
She called her.
Yu An stood to one side.
The woman stood up, circled around her, looked her up and down, her expression a mix of flirtatiousness and smugness.
"You really are impressive. If it weren't for you, I would have thought that women from the Central Plains only knew how to cry and whine around men."
Yu An looked up and stared at her suspiciously.
"To seek justice for her father, she single-handedly struck the drum to appeal for forgiveness; after succeeding, she resolutely divorced her husband and stood up for her family..."
She pouted, "Look at how cautious you are now, you don't seem like the kind of person who would do something like this."
"Come on, since you're so extraordinary, this princess will take you to play polo."
Without giving Yu An a chance to refuse, she was taken away.
The Qiang people do not play polo, but this person is very skilled at it, and the horse he rides is exceptionally coordinated, achieving a perfect unity between man and horse.
Yu An, who was watching from the sidelines, couldn't help but feel a sense of admiration.
"Looks like you can do everything except play polo?"
With a neighing sound, the woman pulled on the reins and stopped in front of her.
"Princess……"
"Stop calling me princess. I have a name, Dorje. I allow you to call me by my name."
The woman spoke frankly, her tone heavy with barely concealed arrogance.
Yu An smiled and said, "Your Highness is joking. How could I possibly call you by your name?"
"I've already invited you to play polo with me, doesn't that make us friends? Even if we're not close, we're at least acquaintances." She raised an eyebrow. "I just asked you to call me by name, and you're refusing like this? Do you look down on me?"
"How dare I?"
Having no other choice, Yu'an had to call her name.
"I not only can't play polo, but I also have no musical knowledge." She had only just learned to ride a horse.
“It seems you don’t like these things,” Doraemon said.
Yu An remained noncommittal for a moment before saying, "I didn't like horses, and I didn't learn music because no one taught me. When my parents were alive, no one in my family was good at music, so my younger brother and I were both unfamiliar with music. Later, when we wanted to learn, we were already too old to learn."
Duoluo: "I'm the exact opposite of you."
"That's true. In our northern frontier, we've never seen any women from the Central Plains riding horses. The soldiers are all men, and we've never seen any women. But it's better here in the capital; at least they can ride horses."
“It’s not just the Qiang people who have female generals; the Central Plains have had them too, just not in this dynasty,” Yu’an corrected.
The Qiang people do not encourage women to lead troops into battle; it's just that there are occasionally one or two female generals in the world.
She dismounted, and Duoluo followed closely behind.
"I'm not laughing, but ever since General Yang stepped down two years ago, it's been Cao Bowei who's been in charge of your Central Plains. His military skills are questionable, but your Central Plains emperor seems to trust him completely, as if there's no one else in the court."
"General Cao guards this frontier and has achieved numerous military exploits. How could the princess speak of him in this way?"
Yu An was puzzled and inadvertently made a slip of the tongue.
Duo Luo: "I didn't see any impressive military achievements, but his act of bullying and tyranny is quite convincing..."
What was said without malice may have been taken to heart by the listener.
The general who was pointed out by the Yan family to be colluding with Chu Xingjian was none other than Sun Jingyuan.
He was beheaded along with Chu Xingjian, and after his family's property was confiscated, his wife and children were exiled. The vacant seat was then filled by Cao Bowei, who was recommended by the crowd.
Before this, Yu An had never heard of this name.
Unlike Sun Jingyuan, who is almost a household name.
The fact that the Yan family could extend their influence beyond the Great Wall suggests that their aim wasn't just to drag the Chu family down, but also to support their own soldiers in taking power.
She's been lacking ideas lately, so it wouldn't hurt to do some research.
After only half a day of rest, news came from the palace again—
Mingjia wanted to take her to the Longevity Festival.
There were many decorations and crowds at the birthday celebration. Mingjia held her arm and chattered incessantly.
The little girl was in high spirits.
"Teacher, I want to tell you something, but I don't know if you would like to hear it."
"Speak."
Mingjia tiptoed and whispered in his ear, "When I served tea to my father, I overheard the court officials talking behind Lord Ji's back, saying bad things about him to my father."
"He said he has recently impeached many people in order to eliminate dissidents."
Only someone who doesn't know him could say something like that.
Perhaps Ji Jinghe's words stung, which is why he acted this way.
The emperor knew him well; even if he heard these words, he probably wouldn't believe them.
Yu An patted the child's shoulder and said with relief, "Aren't you afraid of being scolded by the Emperor and Empress for telling me something like this?"
"I told the teacher secretly, and no one else knows... Does that mean the teacher wants to report me behind my back?"
"Of course not."
It has nothing to do with Ji Jinghe anymore. Just listen to such gossip behind his back and let it go in one ear and out the other.
The two laughed and joked. Mingjia rushed over to the new and interesting things and couldn't take her eyes off them. She stood aside and waited for her to play.
If you stand there for a long time, you'll run into more acquaintances.
After a while, several people gathered around and started chatting and laughing.
"This birthday celebration is truly lively; it's a spectacle you only see a few times in your life..."
"Who can argue with that?"
...
Yu An agreed and saw a woman standing a few steps away. She was gentle and quiet, and looked older than Yu An. She glanced at them several times, and seemed about to go up and talk to them, but then looked hesitant and lowered her head.
She gently patted the woman beside her. "Who is that?"
As soon as the words were spoken, someone hurriedly replied, "You don't know, that belongs to General Cao's family."
Yu An silently recited it in her mind, her brows furrowing slightly.
"It's her. She's from the border region. Two years ago, after the Cao family got promoted, she moved back to the capital."
"General Cao is still guarding the border, why is he sending his wife back to the capital?"
If there is no war to disturb the border, there is no threat of war, so why suffer the separation between the two places?
As they chatted, everyone unconsciously took a step closer to each other, pressing their shoulders together.
"Firstly, so that our children can have a good teacher in Beijing; secondly..." The lady glanced around and then lowered her voice.
"It is said that General Cao kept a concubine in the border region, whom he doted on. In order to have some peace and quiet, he sent his wife to the capital."
"She has been stationed at the border for a long time, and her speech is straightforward. No one is willing to talk to her, which is why things are like this."
Yu An understood and nodded.
After glancing at the person not far away, his mind became even more certain.
“General Cao is guarding the border for us. No matter what, we should treat his wife well and be able to say a word to her.” Yu’an said, glancing at the expressions of the people around him.
No one objected, so he took it upon himself to tell Baozhu to go and fetch someone.
Qi was surprised. She glanced back at Yu An and stepped forward without delay.
"There are a lot of people and dust over there, so Madam Chu asked Madam Cao to come with us to avoid it," someone nearby said.
Yu An smiled and said, "What you said is right, that's exactly what I meant."
"If Madam Cao is bored standing here, why don't you chat with us? Most of us here have never been to the frontier, so why don't you tell us what the frontier is like..."
Qi wanted to integrate into the circle of noble ladies in the capital, so Yu'an took the initiative to make connections, and the two became acquainted in just one afternoon.
She is a kind-hearted person. After spending a few days with Yu'an, they became close friends, and Yu'an would talk to her about many things.
One day, Madam Qi invited her to the Cao residence as a guest.
By chance, someone delivered a letter from home. Qi glanced at it and casually opened it in front of Yu'an.
"Look at you, so serious. You probably only act like this when you're reading letters home," Yu'an teased.
When the fragrant flower tea was served, Madam Qi took the teacup without hesitation and placed the family letter on the table.
Yu'an, who was doing needlework, glanced at it several times and smiled, "Did the general say something?"
Ms. Qi: "She didn't say anything, just told me to take good care of the house and the children."
"I just heard you say a few days ago that you sent a letter home, how come there's another one today?" Yu'an then remembered.
“My general values his family, and he often sends two or three letters every half month.”
The smile on Qi's lips had a unique sweetness that didn't seem fake.
Didn't they say that Cao Bowei had a concubine outside the capital before sending her back to the capital?
This is...
Yu An concealed her doubts and responded with a smile, revealing nothing.
After waiting for a while, estimating that it was getting dark, Yu'an took her leave.
After the carriage had traveled some distance, Baozhu said, "I followed the maid around and the mansion was no different from ours. It was as simple as ours."
Unlike the Shen family, they are not extravagant and do not flaunt their wealth in the open.
Yu An: "Alright, this matter can't be rushed."
She's testing the waters now, unsure of herself.
Judging from Qi's behavior just now, the relationship between the couple still needs to be explored.
As they were pondering, the carriage suddenly stopped, nearly causing them to fall.
Baozhu, making sure Yu was safe, called out, "What's wrong?"
No one answered for a long time.
"It's me."
Yu An was taken aback, got up, lifted the curtain, and saw that...
"What's the princess doing here?"
With that, she got out of the carriage.
Astride her horse, holding her whip, Duoluo smiled and said, "Why do you still call me princess?"
"I happened to run into your carriage while I was shopping here."
Yu An glanced at the street, which was packed with people.
There were commoners and guards, but they wouldn't make way for a carriage.
"I'm sorry to bother you, Princess. I'll have someone take another route right away." Just as Yu'an was about to turn and leave, Duoluo called out to her.
"No need. Look behind you, it's the same."
Yuan:......
Duo Luo sighed, "There's nothing I can do. It's just that the people of the Central Plains are too enthusiastic. They all want to see the beauty of this princess. This is... a real problem?"
At first glance, it wasn't all people; people were just blocking a section of the road.
After hesitating for a long time, Yu An said, "Fine, I can walk back to the manor."
"Hey..." Duoluo blocked her way, "Why are you in such a hurry to leave?"
Yuan:......
I wonder what she's up to.
Duo Luo looked at her calmly, "Why don't you talk to me for a bit?"
Helpless, Yu An told the servant to put down the stool and got out of the carriage.
"What does the princess want to say to me?" He knew she had something to hide, but he had no choice but to obey.
Duoluo looked up at the distance, then leisurely dismounted. "It's nothing serious..."
She put her hands behind her back, and the small braids on her head fell on both sides of her shoulders, making her face look even smaller. Her cheeks were rosy, and she was both dashing and cute.
Yu An looked at her and noticed that she kept looking into the distance, so she followed her gaze.
Upon closer inspection, Ji Jinghe and Pei Chengyu were riding horses, standing side by side in the distance.
This girl...
"Since we're going to buy something anyway, why don't you come with me and help me pick something out?"
The Qiang princess was traveling with various high-ranking officials from the court, including Ji Jinghe and Pei Chengyu. The reason she was stopped earlier was simply to ensure she encountered these two.
Yu An silently let out a long breath and forced a smile: "Thank you for your kindness, Princess, but I have matters to attend to at home, so I'd like to take my leave."
Why?
Duo Luo pouted, "You don't want to be with me? Or you don't want to see them?"
Yuan:......
The two stood frozen in place, Yu An remained silent, so she also remained silent.
Glancing into the distance, just as expected, the two people were walking back and forth.
Duo Hou took a step back and relented, saying, "Alright, since you're so unwilling, I won't force you. I'll have the Minister of the Court of State Ceremonial make way for you..."
Just as Yu An caught her breath, a thunderous neigh suddenly rang out above her head. The centaur in front of her reared up, and without warning, a pair of iron hooves lifted above her head, ready to stomp down hard in the next instant.
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