Planning
The Cui and Lu families were old friends. Before the Lu family fell from power, although the two families were located in the south and the north respectively, their fathers had a close relationship, but this was not known to outsiders.
Lu Chang did not want to offend his old friend's daughter, nor did he want his words and actions to cause her any misunderstanding. He simply put down the book in his hand and asked Dong Chi, "And you, what are you doing here?"
Dong Chi sighed, his words tinged with helplessness. He knew his friend had no feelings for his sister. To be honest, if his sister hadn't forced him to come along, he wouldn't have bothered Lu Chang so easily.
Seeing that he didn't respond, Cui Dongchi didn't want to make a fool of himself any longer. He glanced at his sister and saw that she looked gloomy. He then took on the responsibility of being a younger brother and went out of his sister's predicament, taking all the blame for the purpose of the trip upon himself.
"Have you heard that Pingdu has sent people to Jianchuan?" Dongchi asked leisurely, fanning himself with a folding fan. "Jianchuan has never caught the emperor's eye, but this time he has sent a military supervisor. Does he really intend to wipe out all the bandits of Fengming Mountain?"
He waved his fan again, pondered carefully, and felt something was amiss. The world had been in turmoil for the past few years, with numerous uprisings of varying sizes across the land, but none of them had gained any real momentum. When would this gang of petty thieves from Fengming Mountain be able to win the emperor's favor, and when would he be able to send a eunuch to urge Yuan Qifeng to suppress the rebels?
With a "whoosh," Cui Dongchi closed his fan and deliberately lowered his voice, whispering to Lu Chang, "Could this eunuch be the emperor's eyes and ears, sent specifically to keep an eye on Yuan Qifeng? Has the emperor become suspicious?"
Lu Chang did not respond.
He had come to Jianchuan under the guise of studying abroad and did not intend to reunite with his old friend in Jianchuan, but he unexpectedly ran into him in the city.
As he walked down the street, he heard someone calling "Lu Chang". He turned around and saw a man sitting in a carriage, lifting the curtain and looking at him with surprise.
He felt the man looked familiar, but couldn't quite place his name. Suddenly, the man in the carriage jumped down, ran up to him, grabbed his shoulders, and laughed, "Are you Lu Chang? Are you Lu Chang?"
He asked twice, and before he could answer, the man said urgently, "Don't you recognize me? I'm Dongchi!"
He suddenly remembered, it was Cui Jiadongchi!
At that moment, Lu Chang smiled bitterly to himself. He clearly didn't want to have any more contact with him, but somehow he ended up running into him anyway.
Not wanting to tell Cui Dongchi the purpose of his trip, Lu Chang only said in a few words that he had failed the imperial examination and had come from Pingdu to travel around and relax.
Cui Dongchi didn't ask any more questions. Even though Lu Chang's attitude was cold, he didn't care. He just assumed that Lu Chang's temperament was inevitably cold because of what happened back then.
When invited to his home again, Lu Chang refused several times, always citing the fact that the Lu family army's affairs were too far-reaching and he did not want to implicate the Cui family.
Unexpectedly, Cui Dongchi actually managed to get his father to come and personally visit Lu Chang.
As a boy, Lu Chang always knew that his father respected this old friend the most.
Cui Dongchi's father was named Lang, and his family genealogy records him as belonging to the Cui clan of Wanxi. However, Cui Lang was not famous for being born into the Cui family. He was the youngest son of Emperor Daizong and the half-brother of the late emperor. His mother was Consort Huide.
Cui Ce and Cui Shu, collateral relatives of the Cui family, died while helping Emperor Daizong retreat. This line had no descendants. Emperor Daizong was heartbroken and adopted his newborn son to Cui Ce's family, giving him the name Lang. The following year, the Imperial Noble Consort, who was only twenty years old, passed away and was posthumously honored with the title Huide.
In his early years, Cui Lang traveled around and met Lu Zhi, who was in charge of suppressing the Rong in the northwest. Later, he went south to Pingdu to serve as an official, but he was not comfortable with the darkness of officialdom, so he continued south and returned to Jianchuan.
Later, the late emperor did not want the main branch of the Cui family to become too powerful, so he specially supported Cui Lang's lineage, appointing him as the governor of Jianchuan and granting him the title of Duke of Dingguo.
Cui Lang was no ordinary man; otherwise, Lu Zhi would not have befriended him. With the emperor's support, he managed things in Jianchuan for several years and became a local king, highly respected by the people of Jianchuan.
Although born into nobility, he was gentle, not arrogant or irritable, and very approachable. He personally led the people of Jianchuan to repair canals, build city walls, and engage in agriculture. Under his rule, although Jianchuan was not as wealthy as the southeast, the people were still able to have surplus grain at the end of the year.
Later, the Haiya people invaded the border, and Yuan Qifeng rose to power, posing a threat to the Cui family. Fortunately, Yuan Qifeng had no intention of becoming the sole ruler and admired the Duke's civil administration. The two had no major conflicts and have lived peacefully together ever since.
That day, Lu Chang originally planned to pack his things and find a new place to stay, and did not intend to see Cui Dongchi again. However, he did not expect that Cui Dongchi would come to this remote rural area with his elderly father. When he saw that Cui Dongchi had packed his things, he immediately scolded him for leaving without saying goodbye and not treating him as a friend.
Cui Dongchi was kicked out by his father and waited outside.
When the two came out again, Cui's father was in tears, and Lu Chang felt guilty.
The next day, Lu Chang actually visited the Cui family in person. Every now and then, he would come to talk and play chess with Cui's father. He finally rekindled his childhood friendship and resumed his old friendship with Cui Dongchi. However, he did not tell the Cui family a single word about what he came to Jianchuan for.
He had been concealing his true purpose, but he always had to leave Xinghua Village for a period of time because of the Fengming Mountain matter, and sometimes he was even injured... If you don't want people to know, then don't do it in the first place. Lu Chang didn't know if the Cui family father and son could see through his scheme, after all, Cui's father had seen Yi Gong with his own eyes back then.
Hearing Cui Dongchi's question, he leaned back lazily in his chair and laughed, "How would I know so much? But if Jianchuan is not peaceful, I'd better find another place to relax!"
Upon hearing this, Gu Qingchen hurriedly asked, "Are you leaving?"
Seeing his sister lose her composure, Dongchi put away his fan and cleared his throat. Reminded by her younger brother, Gu Qingchen regained her composure, frowned, lowered her head and remained silent, turning away without saying another word.
Dongchi watched as she wiped away her tears with a handkerchief, and he couldn't help but admire how easily a woman could shed tears.
Sister is so clever, how could she not see that Lu Chang has no feelings for her? She's already tried to get close to him several times, doesn't she get cold?
He was slightly annoyed. What kind of celestial being was Lu Chang trying to marry? He didn't even look at the Qin family's daughter. Looking at Lu Chang again, there was a hint of impatience between his brows. Cui Dongchi didn't want to annoy him, so he immediately closed his fan and said with a smile, "I want to see what purpose this eunuch has in coming here. Alright, I won't bother you anymore. Keep these pastries for yourselves. Let's go back first."
Gu Qingchen turned around, wanting to say something but swallowing it back. She simply nodded slightly to Lu Chang and left.
The siblings boarded the carriage, and Gu Qingchen was sullen.
With no one else around, Cui Dongchi finally advised his sister to give up on Lu Chang: "The Lu family has declined, and judging from the current situation, there is no chance of a resurgence. No matter how talented Lu Chang is, he will never be appreciated by the imperial family. In the future, he will just be an unknown junior. Sister, you should give up your thoughts."
Gu Qingchen sensed the disdain in her younger brother's words and was quite dissatisfied. She immediately glared at him and scolded him: "If you only cared about family background, I would have married long ago. Why wait until now? Only Lu Chang is upright and virtuous. How many men of such character are there?"
At this point, she became quite dejected. She had seen countless men, drawn by beauty and power, many of whom were opportunists seeking to climb the social ladder, wearing only a handsome exterior while harboring a rotten core...
The thought of marrying a man like that in this lifetime makes me think I might as well live alone forever...
The elder sister rarely showed any sadness, which startled Cui Dongchi, who quickly apologized: "I didn't mean to look down on Lu Chang. He is the son of the General of Fuyuan. As the saying goes, even a starved camel is bigger than a horse. Sister, don't be sad."
Gu Qingchen ignored him and drifted off into a daze again.
Born into a prestigious family with a long history, her features always carried the sharpness and pride of a noblewoman. Now, as she is saddened, a hint of melancholy washes away her pride, making her appear somewhat pitiful.
Cui Dongchi also had his own thoughts. As the wheels rolled over the gravel road, he listened to the clattering sound, but he was thinking about what Lu Chang had just said. Dongchi smiled and thought, "You, Lu Chang, are you still wary of me?"
He stayed in Jianchuan for three years, and both he and his father suspected that Lu Chang had ulterior motives.
Father secretly sent people to investigate for a year before they found some clues. It turned out that the bandits of Fengming Mountain were somewhat connected with the Lu family army from back then!
Lu Chang stayed in Jianchuan for three years. Although he went out during that time, he spent most of his time in this place. Could it be that he really liked traveling in Jianchuan?
He didn't believe it.
My father too.
Is there any possibility that Lu's army could be reinstated?
What once seemed impossible has now taken a slight turn for the better, which is a good thing for him and his father!
As soon as the two left, Lu Chang took out the letter from Pingdu and read it carefully.
Two letters arrived in Pingdu, but they came from different places.
Prince Li Zheng of Zhongshan instructed him to keep an eye on Wang Min's movements, saying that his trip was for the Jianchuan copper mine. Lu Chang was aware of this and had already made arrangements.
The other letter was from Shen Xiaozhou. He read it several times, once wasn't enough, he read it again and again, just to get more information about her from the straightforward language.
Waking up from countless dark nights, Lu Chang asked himself if he regretted it. He had a million reasons to convince himself that not taking her away was for her own good, but at this moment, his regret grew stronger.
Shen Xiaozhou may have exaggerated, but Lu Chang couldn't guarantee that Jingwan would really wait for him.
He left in such a hurry that he didn't even have time to say goodbye. After she gets angry, she'll probably forget him!
Lu Chang gripped the letter tightly, his brow furrowed in distress, and remained silent. He needed to return to Pingdu as soon as possible; he couldn't delay any longer.
Lu Chang's premonition was correct. Jing Wan, far to the north, was immersed in jade carving. When she was engrossed in it, she could sleep soundly every night. The pain and sorrow she had felt earlier seemed to have quietly disappeared. Only when she was busy would she suddenly remember that there was such a thing, that such a person had appeared. But in an instant, these thoughts would dissipate. She could only blame herself for being young and fickle at the time.
On the 8th and 30th of each month, she would sneak out on those two nights and go with Qin Ziyou to Uncle Gong's house, where she would stay for two hours before leaving.
While Professor Gong Shu was reading quietly, Qin Ziyou would lie lazily on the large rocking chair in the courtyard, swaying back and forth. He would turn the pages of his book, reading by the dim light of the oil lamp hanging in the tree. Occasionally, when he got tired of reading, he would sneak off to the bustling market to buy some good wine and food for the two of them to have as a late-night snack.
The same thing happened that night. Gong Shu held the jade material and carefully examined the Pixiu shape outlined by Jing Wan. The outer door creaked and then quickly closed. Neither of them looked at it, but they could hear Qin Ziyou's voice.
"The delicious food from Zuixianlou is here! Come and eat!"
He brought over two large food boxes, casually tidied the table, and then carried out plates of food, quickly filling the small table.
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