Upon hearing this, the Empress Dowager remained silent for a long time before asking, "Miss Huo has also rarely appeared in public recently."
"Your Majesty, Miss Huo doesn't just rarely show her face; she doesn't even leave the house. All the noble ladies in the capital send her invitations, but she politely declines them with generous gifts, and then we never hear from her again." Granny Zhong sighed as she spoke of Huo Danlan. A few years ago, Miss Huo always wore a veil on every occasion, making her very mysterious. Now she doesn't wear a veil anymore, but she stays indoors all the time.
"Yes, there were rumors before that she had contracted a terrible disease." Ji Yun had heard the rumor from somewhere, and she spoke very carefully, afraid that it would reach the ears of the Huo family and cause unnecessary trouble. "But in my opinion, Miss Huo is just too opinionated. What woman is over thirty and still unmarried? I'm afraid..."
Before she could finish speaking, everyone's eyes fell on her, and they all understood.
That's where we stop. The Empress Dowager wasn't one to gossip, and she rarely spoke ill of people behind their backs.
"Send her an invitation. The Empress's Ice Festival is approaching. If it can be settled, I will bestow the marriage upon her on that day." She really didn't want to marry off her precious granddaughter so soon, but those despicable people spread such nasty rumors.
When Huo Danlan received the invitation, it was already evening. The Empress Dowager did not issue a direct decree summoning her to the palace, but instead sent an invitation, which puzzled her quite a bit.
“Young lady, it seems the Empress Dowager is about to finalize the princess’s marriage. You need to make a decision,” the ugly old woman said from the side.
Huo Danlan placed the invitation on the coffee table, stood up, and walked to the window. A summer breeze blew by, making people feel restless and hot.
"Miss, the young master has sent word that Young Master Xian does not wish to marry the princess." Magpie's expression was somewhat unpleasant. Over the years, Huo Danlan had treated Zhao Shu as her daughter, and Huo Guxian had been raised by her as her son. Both were her flesh and blood. Now that Huo Guxian was unwilling to marry Zhao Shu, it made her, who had lived a few years longer than expected, quite anxious.
It's a pity.
Huo Danlan grunted in agreement and then fell silent. Just when the magpie and the ugly old woman thought she wouldn't say anything more, they asked again, "Where is the young master?"
"Just got back to the manor," the magpie replied.
"Call him over."
The magpie and the ugly old woman exchanged a glance, not quite understanding, but the magpie respectfully went down to invite Huo Baichuan.
This year's weather has been exceptionally strange. After a few showers last time, it hasn't rained in the Beijing area since. Every day the sun shines brightly, and the scorching sun feels like it's baking people dry.
Before a cup of tea could be brewed, Magpie had already invited Huo Baichuan. He had just returned, his body soaked in sweat, and he hadn't had time to wash up. Sweat streamed down his cheeks, and he was fanning himself rapidly with a folding fan.
"My elder sister is looking for me?" He sat down casually as soon as he entered Baoxia, without even asking Xiaopang to pour tea. He picked up the teapot and started drinking. Fortunately, the tea in the mansion was all iced tea; if it were in winter, it would definitely burn him.
Huo Danlan sighed at his perpetually unsteady demeanor, "Even Xian'er is more composed than you. When are you going to change this habit?"
After speaking, she sat opposite him, her tone full of disappointment. Knowing that Huo Danlan had something to say, Magpie and Ugly Granny consciously withdrew, and Little Fatty and Duozi also retreated far away.
"The Huo family has enough with one virtuous son, don't you think, elder sister? By the way, what brings you here?" He was very busy, with affairs of the court and the Yongwang Mansion to worry about.
However, Huo Danlan knew that he was upset because he didn't like her decision to marry Song Tianhe and was throwing a tantrum. "The Empress Dowager sent me an invitation."
I handed the post to him and got straight to the point.
Huo Baichuan was taken aback, picked up the invitation and looked at it. "Lady Zhang's handwriting is elegant and refined. Her handwriting reflects her personality. No wonder she has never made a mistake while serving the Empress Dowager all these years."
He started talking about other unrelated things, and Huo Danlan snatched the post from his hand. "The princess is very willful, and no one can make decisions for her. But the empress dowager is also very willful and used to making decisions for others. There are such rumors outside. If she wants to suppress those rumors, the princess's husband must be of high status. If he is even slightly less, people will say that the royal family is covering it up. Even if it is not true, it will become true. You should know that three men can make a tiger."
"So, what do you want, elder sister?" Huo Baichuan stopped beating around the bush, placed his folding fan on the table, spread his hands, and looked directly at Huo Danlan. "Xian'er is old-fashioned, but he is only twelve years old. A three-year age difference is nothing. But elder sister, don't you think Zhao Shu looks like a thirty-year-old?"
"...How could you say that..." Huo Danlan paused, her words blaming Huo Baichuan for his inappropriate remarks, but she lowered her head, implicitly acknowledging the truth in his words.
“Aying passed away early, and the prince doesn’t manage affairs anymore, so she was naturally more mature than the young ladies of ordinary families. Aren’t I the same? I was in charge of the household affairs from an early age. Which family’s woman is like me?” Although she felt that Zhao Shu was too mature, she was not surprised. Judging from her own experience, she had once been in charge of the household affairs.
"Eldest sister, when I first met her," he said, his expression somewhat wistful as he recalled the past, "her eyes were filled with a sense of vicissitude, a kind of vicissitude that seemed to have come from having lost our mother at a young age."
Even the most intelligent little girl with a tragic past could not possess eyes that conveyed the world's vicissitudes and the vicissitudes of life that come with having seen countless sails pass by, and that held a touch of indifference.
Many women would unconsciously look at him with admiration when they saw him, but when he first saw Zhao Shu, although her face was still very childish, her eyes seemed to be full of obsession, and at the same time, they seemed to have seen through something.
Experienced and wise.
He hadn't known what that hint of insight in her eyes meant before, but now he understood.
She saw through the illusions of male-female relationships!
"Don't give me that nonsense. Just tell me, if Xian'er doesn't marry A-Jun, who else can treat her wholeheartedly?" Huo Danlan recalled what Zhao Shu had said. The medical book was written by Jiang Ying, but she knew that Jiang Ying didn't understand medicine and had never accepted any medical books.
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