Sister Zhao sent an invitation to Lanqin, asking her to go to a villa in Longkodo the next day. Lanqin didn't expect Sister Zhao to send her an invitation so quickly.
The next day, Lanqin got ready early and, at the appointed time, took Sihua and Yuxiao to the place designated by Zhao Sijie. Lanqin knew that the high-ranking officials and nobles in the capital usually had other residences besides their own main houses, which were mostly places where they kept beautiful concubines and young ladies.
The carriage wound its way through Shijing Hutong in the southern part of the city until it finally came to the front of a large mansion.
After Lanqin and the others knocked on the wooden door and announced their names, a woman in her forties or fifties immediately came out. She was dressed in a dark gold jacket and trousers, with her hair styled in a bun, looking every bit the part of an official.
"Greetings, Consort. My mistress instructed me to wait here for you, Consort." The madam quickly instructed the servant inside to open the door wide, while bowing to Lanqin.
"No need for formalities!" Lanqin helped Sihua step through the threshold, and Yuxiao followed behind her.
I never expected that such a large mansion could be hidden in the alley. As soon as I entered, I was immediately stunned by the magnificent eaves. Although it could not compare to the mansions of princes or palaces, the courtyard in front of me was obviously very expensive and different from the courtyards of ordinary officials.
A woman who called herself Zhang Mama led Lanqin and the others through the moon gate and into a long, winding corridor. In front of the corridor was a pond, and opposite the pond was a magnificent house.
Zhao Si'er was already standing at the door, smiling at Lanqin. Lanqin immediately returned the smile. She knew that Zhao Si'er was not an ordinary person. If it were someone else, they would have greeted her at the door by now, but she had sent a stewardess instead. This showed that she did not consider Lanqin a noblewoman and wanted to curry favor with her.
"The concubine has arrived. I didn't go to the door to greet her. Is the concubine unhappy?" Fourth Sister was dressed in a light purple casual dress, with only a Huasheng hairpin and a gold hairpin on each side in her hair, nothing else.
"Sister's temperament is just so carefree. If she were angry, she wouldn't have come here with Wenxiu. Has she arrived?" Lanqin, being helped by her maid, had already begun to take off her outer cloak. It was almost March, and although there was still a bit of wind from time to time, it was no longer cold.
"She hasn't arrived yet. Come on, let's sit in my room for a while." Zhao Si'er grabbed Lanqin's hand and led her through the high threshold.
The furnishings in the main room were very exquisite. Even Lanqin, who was used to seeing genuine works and masterpieces, couldn't help but start to examine Zhao Si's main room.
Sister Zhao instructed the maid to serve tea to Lanqin, and then said, "This is a separate courtyard prepared for me by my master. When he is not here, if I feel bored, I can come and stay for a while. In this way, I can avoid having to go to the main wife's place to observe the rules."
Lanqin was slightly surprised, thinking that Longkodo really doted on Zhao Si'er.
"Concubine, what do you think of my room?" Zhao Sijie asked with a hint of pride. She certainly had reason to be proud; being pampered by her master like this naturally made her quite content. Judging from the furnishings of the main room alone, the amount of silver spent on it was probably no less than 100,000 taels.
“Sister, this place is quite special. Look at those paintings, they are all genuine works by Tang Bohu. And these pieces of furniture are all made of small-leaf sandalwood, which is very rare. I imagine Lord Long spent a lot of money on this set of furniture. And look at the carpet on the floor, it's a Persian carpet, that's also a rare item.” Lanqin said, as if reciting a treasure.
"As expected of Consort Zhao, you've seen a lot in the world. I was quite embarrassed by what you just said. But I really like it here, and I'll probably live here most of the time. Anyway, back in the master's old mansion, there's the principal wife, and every time she sees me, she looks like she's going to eat me alive," Zhao Sijie said with a smile.
Lanqin also heard that Longkodo had almost fallen out with his wife over Zhao Si'er; if it weren't for appearances, he probably would have divorced her. It's said that even their eldest son had been kicked out by Longkodo.
"If Sister Zhao has something to say to someone, then speak to me." Lanqin noticed that Sister Zhao seemed to have something on her mind, so she knew that she might just be acting on a whim today and didn't necessarily want to play cards.
Zhao Sijie waved her handkerchief and said, "Would the concubine like to stroll around this courtyard? It's really boring sitting here waiting."
"I couldn't be happier!" Lanqin stood up and began to tour the villa with Zhao Sijie. The maids followed behind them at a distance. Lanqin followed Zhao Sijie to the back of the villa, where every step revealed a beautiful view. Every five steps there was a small garden, and every ten steps there was a small courtyard, all connected by winding paths. It was truly exquisite and elegant.
"It seems that Lord Long dotes on you very much, allowing you to live alone in such an exquisite and luxurious villa?" Lanqin and Zhao Sijie arrived in front of a house, where a plaque on the door read "Qin Room".
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