Chapter 8
The wind in August was a bit hot and humid. After returning to the capital, Liang He became a young lady who never left the house.
On the eighth day of the eighth month, several young ladies of the Fu family received invitations from Princess Jingrou, and Liang He was no exception.
Princess Jingrou's flower show will be held on August 17th, when all unmarried men and women in the capital will gather together to enjoy the flowers and recite poems.
Princess Jingrou had been the Queen Mother's favorite since she was young, and she was still her beloved daughter. Her life was a life of prosperity and prosperity.
However, her husband Lu Nan passed away early. He had been plagued by illness since childhood and left behind Princess Jingrou and their son Lu Niannan at the age of 25.
Speaking of which, Lu Nan is a sickly man. If he becomes his wife, she may have to be prepared to be a widow at any time. How could a beloved princess marry him and become a widow?
That’s another story.
The Queen Mother wanted to choose a husband for the princess, so she held a flower party to gather the nobles from all over the capital. As the son of the Prime Minister, Lu Nan was naturally invited to attend.
The flower show was held in the palace.
The current Empress Dowager loves flowers. More than ten years ago, the late Emperor learned of this and gifted her a garden called "Jing Garden." Jing is the Empress Dowager's name. Jing Garden is filled with a variety of unique flowers, some of which were seeds specially found by the late Emperor.
Lu Nan accidentally stumbled upon the pavilion where Princess Jingrou often played chess, and the two met. Princess Jingrou was struggling to solve her chess game, and so lost in thought that she had forgotten to attend the banquet. Lu Nan, finding the flower party boring, decided to pay his respects to the Queen Mother before returning home. However, he got lost and encountered Princess Jingrou, who was also solving a chess game.
Later, Lu Nan helped the princess solve the chess game, and the two played another round of chess, which lasted for an entire day. During those rounds of chess, Jing Rou appreciated Lu Nan's talent, and Lu Nan also felt that Princess Jing Rou was his soulmate, and the two gradually fell in love.
Later, despite the opposition of the Empress Dowager and the late Emperor, Princess Jingrou was determined to marry Lu Nan. In the end, she got what she wanted.
However, Lu Nan was unlucky and died before he turned 30. Their son, Lu Niannan, became a monk at the age of 15. Princess Jingrou, believing that everything in life is important and not obsessed with worldly matters, agreed.
The Lu family was deeply troubled by Lu Nan's death. Prime Minister Lu had only one son. Although he was mentally prepared for Lu Nan's death, he was still deeply saddened when faced with the truth. More than ten years later, he fell ill and remained bedridden.
The Lu family originally intended to train Lu Niannan as the heir, but who would have thought that Lu Niannan would shave his head and become a monk? By then, Prime Minister Lu had already resigned to recuperate. Princess Jingrou, concerned that there was no one left to inherit the Lu family's legacy, petitioned the emperor to choose a successor.
The emperor chose a virtuous son from the Lu family, Lu Xiuyuan, and specially granted Lu Xiuyuan the title of crown prince.
Lu Xiuyuan is the son of Lu Xiang, the younger brother of Prime Minister Lu. Prime Minister Lu has been raising him by his side since his brother and sister-in-law died, as he had no one to take care of him.
Now, in order to commemorate her encounter with Lu Nan, Princess Jingrou specially held this flower show, hoping that lovers can finally get married and stay together forever.
Liang He read the contents of the invitation and placed it on the tea table.
Liang He put the invitation away, and Chu Li silently handed another letter to Liang He.
"What is this? Whose family is having another flower show?" Liang He took the envelope Chu Li handed her and opened it to take a look.
What caught Liang He's eyes was the beautiful regular script, which was graceful, elegant and clear.
"From Miss Fu Er..."
"Is this written for me?" Liang He asked puzzledly.
"Miss, this was given to me by the second son of the Zhao family's servant today. He asked me to hand it to you personally."
Liang He looked at Chu Li and frowned. He obviously didn't know who the second son of the Zhao family was that Chu Li was talking about.
Chu Li looked at Liang He, who had already forgotten what the second son of the Zhao family looked like, and sighed silently for him in her heart.
The young lady is interested in General Song and has no intention of marrying the second son of the Zhao family. It would be better if the young lady also liked the second son of the Zhao family, Chu Li thought regretfully.
"Isn't Zhao Fangyu the second son of Prime Minister Zhao? How did you think of going boating with me?" Liang He sat on the chair and poured himself a cup of tea.
"Miss, don't you remember? This year it's the Zhao family's turn to host the lake party, and this lake party is held every year. Counting the dates, it's almost the Lu family's." Chu Li stood by the tea table, packed up the invitation sent by Princess Jingrou, and put it in a box to avoid losing it.
The customs of the Chu people were relatively open. The children of wealthy families and high-ranking officials often invited each other to go boating on the lake, and they did not specifically emphasize the separation of men and women.
Liang He probably understood the content of the letter. It was basically an invitation to her to go boating on the lake. He was looking forward to her joining him and had something to give her.
After reading it, Liang He thought the calligraphy was really good. Liang He repeatedly observed Zhao Fangyu's calligraphy and said, "Chu Li, the second son of the Zhao family writes well."
Liang He doesn't have any hobbies except collecting calligraphy and practicing it. Therefore, Liang He's calligraphy is pretty good.
Upon hearing Liang He's praise, Chu Li quickly explained, "The second son of the Zhao family is also a well-known talent in the capital. Even the great calligrapher Gao Fang praises his calligraphy."
Zhao Fangyu, the second son of the Zhao family, is the second legitimate son of the current prime minister. It is said that he has a gentle and kind personality and treats his servants very well. He often helps people in need and has a very good reputation.
Chu Li had just finished speaking when she continued to persuade: "Miss, the second young master of the Zhao family is not bad. I think he seems to be interested in you. Why don't you...consider this man from the Zhao family?"
Chu Li has always thought that her lady must be with Song Ji, and wants to persuade her to let it go.
Liang He has been admiring the letter written by Zhao Fangyu, and has also considered what Chu Li said, but she has a mission and it is impossible for her to argue with Zhao Fangyu.
Liang He suddenly felt like practicing calligraphy.
"Chu Li, please help me prepare pen, ink and paper. I also want to show off my skills." Liang He walked through the screen and came to the desk. There was a rare energetic look on his face, which made people feel happy.
Liang He had been here for almost two weeks. She had never done any missions in the ancient group before; she was a member of the modern group. For two weeks, she had no cell phone, no internet, and her only entertainment consisted of eating, sleeping, and the half-understood books and storybooks she read.
The house was steaming hot. Liang He told Chu Li not to close the door, so when Fu Jinwan and Yuan Jing came, Liang He and Chu Li didn't know.
The door was open, and the morning sun shone through the trees in the yard and into the house. A golden screen in the room blocked half of the light, but the light shone on the screen, and the jasmine flowers embroidered with gold thread on the screen bloomed brilliantly.
The beam of light also shone on an area of the floor next to the desk. Liang He was wearing a white pleated auspicious flower dress today. The cufflinks and collar were embroidered with blue auspicious flower patterns, as well as on the hem of the skirt.
What caught Fu Jinwan and Yuan Jing's eyes was Liang He's elegant and quiet appearance when she was practicing calligraphy. There was a calmness, confidence and vigor on her face that they had never seen before.
Although Fu Jinchu was elegant and quiet in the past, she was also timid and self-deprecating. She was rather sad and melancholy, which made people feel depressed just by looking at her.
Compared with the past, Fu Jinchu is particularly eye-catching today.
Liang He wrote two lines and was about to stop when he noticed the gazes of two people in front of him stopped at him. Liang He looked up and saw that it was Fu Jinwan and Yuan Jing.
Liang He put down the pen in his hand, walked forward and greeted: "Why did mother and Wanwan come to Jinchu's place? If you have anything to say, you can talk to the maids. Why did you come all the way here?"
Liang He had a smile on his face and asked the mother and daughter to sit down, and asked Chu Li to make another pot of tea.
As far as they knew, Fu Jinchu was an excellent embroidery artist. Every time Yuan Jing came to see Fu Jinchu, she would see her embroidering patterns for handkerchiefs and collars, but she had never seen her write.
Fu Yuanshi walked closer and gently picked up the piece of rice paper Liang He had just written on. She praised him, "How come I didn't know Jinchu's handwriting was so good? Not only does Jinchu embroider beautifully, but her handwriting is also beautiful."
On the paper were two lines of poetry: "I hold the moon in my hands while scooping up the water; I fill my clothes with the fragrance of flowers."
Liang He wrote in running script, which was more sloppy than Zhao Fangyu's regular script.
Yuan Jing's words aroused Fu Jinwan's curiosity. Fu Jinwan leaned over to take a look, and became more suspicious of Fu Jinchu.
This handwriting was somewhat different from what she had seen before.
"Second sister, your handwriting is really good. Did you put a lot of effort into it? I remember that your handwriting style was a little different from what I see today."
Fu Jinwan raised her doubts.
Fu Jinchu's previous handwriting was relatively standard, but also quite delicate, without the heroic feeling of Liang He's writing today.
After listening to this, Liang He asked them to sit down, "Mother and Wanwan, please sit down and have a cup of tea first."
"I have indeed been practicing deliberately these days. Ever since I saw Mr. Gao Fang's calligraphy, I thought it was pretty good, so I practiced in my free time. Now that my mother and sister Wanwan have praised me, all my practice has paid off."
Liang He brought Chu Li over and poured cup after cup of tea, then handed them to Yuan Jing and Fu Jinwan in turn, then pulled a chair out from under the table and sat next to Yuan Jing.
The three of them chatted casually for a while. When Yuan Jing talked about the jewelry in Xianhua Pavilion, he suddenly became interested and suggested going out for a walk.
"I guess you haven't been out and about lately. When you get married, you might not have such a leisurely life anymore," Yuan Jing lamented. Before marrying into the Fu family, Yuan Jing had also been traveling with her brothers and sisters, and had a rather lively personality.
Since entering the Fu residence, Yuan Jing's life has been good, but she lacks the carefree and joyful life she had in the Yuan family. Yuan Jing looked at the two children on her left and right. They were young and beautiful, smart and pretty. At fifteen or sixteen years old, they were in their prime and deserved a few more years of carefree life.
Yuan Jing watched Liang He and Fu Jinwan with a smile as they discussed Gao Fang's calligraphy and then the patterns of hairpins. She thought of Xianhua Pavilion and then came up with the proposal to leave the house.
"Princess Jingrou's flower show is coming soon. New jewelry has arrived at Xianhua Pavilion in the past few days. Let's go and take a look today." Yuan Jing continued.
Liang He had never really ventured out of her house since arriving in Chu. Ever since returning from the farm, the weather had either been too hot to leave, or too rainy, making it unsuitable for going out.
The weather is clear and sunny today.
But the air was very stuffy, and although there was a breeze, it couldn't drive away the day's heat.
The two people chatting nearby shook their heads silently when they heard they were leaving the house. It was hot and tiring. However, they couldn't bear to refuse Fu Yuanshi's proposal.
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