Chapter 120 Invitation from Prince Beining
"Meow!" An orange figure rushed to the windowsill at lightning speed and disappeared into the night in the blink of an eye.
"Did we run into a book thief?" Tingcha walked in holding a lamp and found a bamboo slip dropped on the ground, but nothing else was missing.
Some thieves in Shangjing City like to steal ancient books. Old ancient books are indeed very valuable on the black market.
"How strange, there's no one here!" Tingcha looked around in confusion, only to see the window half open. He bent down to reroll the bamboo slips and put them back in the bookcase, "Maybe the wind blew them down."
***
Fang Qianxue went to the Princess's Mansion that day to discuss Prince Yong's case with the Princess. When she came out, she saw a tall figure looking at her from afar in the garden.
He stood beside a stone table in a bamboo forest, an ebony hairpin inserted diagonally in his black hair, a few strands of hair hanging down on his angular cheeks.
The mountain breeze swept across the stone table, and the wide sleeves were filled with wind, revealing the jade bat-patterned pendant on the waist, and the tassels swayed lightly like the morning mist in the forest. The tall figure was like pine and bamboo, reflected on the bluestone, and she was unaware of the tiny bamboo leaves falling on her shoulders.
"Young Marquis is here to see Godmother too?" Fang Qianxue walked over to greet him, then remembered something and smiled softly, "I almost forgot, you are here to see Yi'an County Lady, right?"
A few days ago, I heard that the Liaoyuan Marquis' Mansion had sent people from the south to the Princess' Mansion to discuss marriage. The two families should be getting married soon.
Jiang Xu's face was not looking good today. He looked at her with his peach blossom eyes half closed. The slightly raised curve at the end of his eyes was like a distant mountain covered with dark blue. His eyes were like the moon reflected in an ancient pond, with warm waves in the coldness. "There is no word about my marriage with Yi'an County Lady. It's all rumors from others."
"Oh." Fang Qianxue wanted to ask him whether Liaoyuan Hou would come to Beijing to testify for Prince Yong, but she thought about it and didn't ask. Why would Liaoyuan Hou come to Beijing for this matter? What's more, Emperor Ming was suspicious of Liaoyuan Hou's mansion, and if he went to Beijing, he might not be able to return alive.
After a moment's silence, she asked again, "Young Marquis, have you found the letter between Prince Yong and the Marquis discussing the purchase of war horses?"
"My father didn't let me get involved in this matter," Jiang Xu said, "He said it was over."
Fang Qianxue was disappointed, but still said, "It's human nature. It's okay. Young Marquis, don't worry about it anymore. I will find other ways."
The shrewd Liaoyuan Hou could of course see the danger of this matter. Overturning the verdict for Prince Yong meant offending Emperor Ming, and for a minister to offend the emperor was a sure way to death.
But when she thought of her skinny uncle and her uncle covered in wounds, she could imagine that everyone in the Fang family in Luzhou must be suffering every day. Fang Jue said that his mother had been ill since she arrived in Luzhou, and she didn't want anyone to tell her.
This case must be turned around, black is black and white is white.
"I'm sorry, I couldn't help." Jiang Xu felt extremely guilty.
He once thought that his father would at least ask someone to send those letters to the capital to save the lives of everyone in the Fang family, but he didn't expect Jiang Tianxing to directly refuse him and told him not to interfere in the matter and to return to the southern border obediently to wait to become the crown prince and get married.
"How can I blame you for this?" Fang Qianxue smiled and comforted him, "The court has always been full of twists and turns and endless fighting since ancient times. The most difficult thing for people in the court is to protect themselves. The Marquis is right to think so."
Which is more important, the great principles of the world or the lives of loved ones? I think most people know how to choose.
"Since Lady Fang hates fighting, why do you want to be a female official and stay in Shangjing?" Jiang Xu asked.
He had been a hostage for more than ten years and had had enough of the law of the jungle and power struggles. If one day he could leave Shangjing, he hoped to go to a pure land.
Fang Qianxue seemed to understand him very well. After all, her family was also a victim of the struggle, just like him, trapped in the vortex of power struggle since childhood.
"I can't leave," Fang Qianxue smiled at him gently, looking at the rolling clouds in the distance, "My family is here, I will rescue them safely."
Jiang Xu looked at her profile and suddenly felt inferior to her.
There are few women in the world as brave as she is.
Many people are fearless because they don't know that the road ahead is full of mud and will consume all the light and sharpness they have accumulated before. But she is fearless because she knows that the road ahead is turbid, but that turbidity cannot hurt the clarity in her heart and eyes.
"When did you and the King of Beining get engaged?" Jiang Xu asked hoarsely, "Why haven't I heard you talk about you and the King of Beining before..."
"Just a few days ago." Fang Qianxue turned back to look at him, "It was a last-minute decision. It must be fate."
"I haven't seen you wear the hairpin you wore last time." Jiang Xu knew that the hairpin was destroyed by King Beining, but he didn't question her. He just took out another wooden hairpin from his sleeve and said, "I made this one. If you don't mind, you can wear it as a toy."
She needs a strong backer, but I am still young and it is not appropriate to stop her now.
King Bac Ninh was a better choice for her.
Fang Qianxue took the hairpin and was amazed at the carving again. It was a huanghuali wood hairpin, carved into the shape of a phoenix, more exquisite and complex than the last one. "Thank you for your trouble! I will treasure it."
This time I have to hide it in the dressing table and not let Xiao Mingzhe see it, as that man has a very bad temper.
"Then I would like to congratulate you and Prince Beining on your happy marriage." Jiang Xu bowed and smiled gently, "When you hold the wedding banquet, please invite me to have a drink. I will be returning to the southern border in two months. The less we see each other, the less."
Although it was a smiling expression, he looked somewhat melancholy and lonely.
"Yes, we will hold a banquet the day after tomorrow at Fang Mansion. I hope you will come and have a good time, young marquis."
"good."
Fang Qianxue bowed to him and said, "Then I won't bother you anymore, young master. I'll take my leave now."
***
Two days later, the Fang residence was packed with people.
Fang Qianxue didn't expect that Xiao Mingzhe would move a total of thirty boxes and cages here. There was almost no space to put them in the main courtyard. Later, they had to open another courtyard to store them.
In addition, there were dozens of guards, servants, and palace soldiers. These people alone almost filled the Fang Mansion to bursting. Fortunately, Fang Qianxue had bought a big house in the first place, and the originally deserted house was instantly crowded.
The number of guests who came also exceeded Fang Qianxue's expectations. She hadn't even sent out invitations, thinking that Xiao Mingzhe didn't have many friends in the capital, at most those people in the Princess's Mansion, plus Yan Fenghua and other former disciples of Master Fang, no more than thirty people. As a result, there were hundreds of guests who came to congratulate, and some of them brought their families.
Speaking of which, these people were quite generous. The gifts piled up in the front yard filled up two large rooms. Accountant Yang and a few of his men were counting the money until their hands were tired.
"Oh no! There's not enough food and wine," Fang Qianxue twisted the big red handkerchief in her hands, looking at the crowd of people outside the window worriedly, "Where on earth did these people come from?"
"It's said that it's an invitation from Prince Beining!" Accountant Yang waved a bright red invitation in his hand, "Princess, what should we do now? Our Prince Beining's Mansion is well-known, we can't let people go hungry."
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