Chapter 81: Auspicious Beast Sachet
After passing through the turbulent vortex of the court, Qiandeng, who had not slept all night, left the Daming Palace and returned to the Changhua Palace, where he fell asleep.
I slept until noon, and when I woke up it was a beautiful spring afternoon outside.
She looked at the lush flowers on the bed curtains and listened to the chirping of birds outside. The quiet and gentle spring day made her hesitate for no reason and feel empty in her heart.
In such a beautiful world, Princess Gao, who had led a prosperous country for forty years, is really gone just like that?
Because she was afraid of the coming storm, she gave up everything without hesitation and walked into the water in her nightmare?
Even though everything seems to be over, Qiandeng still has some worries in his heart.
She got up from her bed and asked Amber in the outer room, "Have you found Shangluo?"
"Not yet. Ling Sijie and Ji Xiaowei haven't returned yet. County Lady, just wait for news."
Amber and Pearl helped her wash and change her clothes. Liuli, who had sprained her waist, lay on the couch in the outer room, embroidering apricot flowers.
Aunt Yingluo told her with joy that the palace had sent a large reward, saying that she had made great contributions in this case and deserved the reward.
Qian Deng saw that the reward was delivered along with the festive gifts from the Inner Palace Bureau, and was not a gift from the Emperor or Empress, so he said, "Investigating the case has repeatedly disturbed the gentlemen. Now that the case is settled and Qingming Festival is approaching, why don't we borrow flowers from the Buddha and prepare some gifts for the gentlemen as well."
She took the list and looked at it. She saw a set of silver-gilt auspicious beast sachets on it, so she asked someone to bring it over to have a look.
As Amber applied medicine to the lingering red marks on Qiandeng's skin, she muttered distressedly, "That Prince Mingjiu is the most despicable. He's made the county lady like this... Don't give him the sachet!"
Qian Deng smiled and said, "Everyone who comes to the mansion is a guest. Besides, they carefully prepared gifts for me on my birthday. How can I show favoritism?"
Aunt Xuanji held Qiandeng's face and looked at it again and again. She was relieved when she saw that most of the tiny marks had disappeared and there would definitely be no scars left.
After lunch, the food was delivered.
A set of ten hollow silver sachets, except for the different patterns, each one is gilded and inlaid with gems, small and exquisite, just right to fit in Qiandeng's palm.
Qiandeng carefully selected the one with the auspicious cloud and blue dragon pattern, which should be given to Ling Tianshui; the one with the tiger pattern would be the most suitable for Ji Linyou; the one with the auspicious elephant pattern could be given to Jintang; the one with the flying phoenix holding a zhi tree should belong to Meng Lanxi; and the one with the yellow flower pattern (note: the yellow flower pattern is a fairy beast that looks like a fox) would definitely be given to Xue Xiyang...
Liuli suddenly exclaimed, picked up a silver sachet and showed it to Qiandeng, then asked in surprise, "County Lady, who do you think this should be given to?"
Qiandeng looked up and couldn't help laughing. There was a chubby civet cat on it, which was catching a small fish with its paws. There were two small cat eyes on its face. No matter from which angle you looked at it, the civet cat seemed to be looking at the person in front of it, and it looked particularly cute.
"Shangluo will definitely like this." Qiandeng said, taking the civet cat sachet, but the stone in his heart became heavier and heavier.
After searching the princess's mansion for such a long time, she couldn't even find someone like Ling Tianshui. Could it be that her guess was wrong?
But his cinnabar pendant was indeed together with the duck-cheeked fur coat of the princess's mansion. There is no doubt that the princess's mansion contacted him after he disappeared.
Could it be that... he was indeed in the secret room, and Princess Changyi took him away in the moment of her hasty escape from the mansion?
Aunt Xuanji was so delighted that she didn't notice her thoughts. "Tomorrow is Cold Food Festival, and as usual, no fire can be used. The kitchen has made some green rice balls and pastries and is about to send them over. If the county lady wants to send something to the gentlemen, why don't you come with me to the backyard and hand them over to them personally?"
There are seven days of rest during the Cold Food Festival and Qingming Festival, and the gentlemen are all at home during these days.
Entering the backyard, I saw the beautiful spring scenery, with flowers and trees in full bloom and the sounds of swallows in my ears.
Qiandeng looked up and saw that in the swallow's nest under the eaves, the little swallows had already grown full feathers and were huddled together in the nest, looking forward to the return of the adult swallows.
A small mat woven from reeds is hung under the bird's nest, swaying gently in the wind, blocking the dirty excretion of the little swallows, leaving the ground clean as new.
Qiandeng recognized that the reed mat was woven by Yan Penglai, and Aunt Xuanji also laughed and said, "I never thought that Mr. Yan, who is as aloof as a fairy, could actually make such delicate works."
"I heard from Master Yan that when he was young, his family was modest, so he often helped his mother with needlework." Qiandeng thought of the futon Yan Penglai had given him for his birthday. He had sewn it himself, but it was even more delicate than the work of the embroiderers.
"What a pity... Young Master Yan is so foolish. He's already entered the County Lady's backyard, but he's still working for the Princess's Mansion. Now he can only leave the mansion and return home..." Aunt Xuanji sighed. Seeing Qiandeng remained silent, she asked softly, "County Lady, have you made up your mind?"
Qian Deng didn't understand what she meant. Aunt Xuanji, noticing the maids lagging behind with their food boxes, moved closer to her and said, "The gentlemen have been in the mansion for six months now. After observing them for so long, which one do you think is worthy of your lifelong companionship?"
Qiandeng remained silent for a long time, looking at the vast expanse of white snow that appeared behind the winding path in front of him.
After the crabapple, peach, and apricot blossoms, the pear blossom season arrived. Within the palace, several tall pear trees stood amidst the vermilion pavilions with flying eaves, their myriad blossoms in full bloom, a majestic and ethereal beauty.
"Aunt, who do you think I should choose?"
"This is the County Lady's life, how dare I speak rashly?" Aunt Xuanji said, looking towards the nearest bamboo hall and sighing softly. "Originally, I thought if the County Lady could choose someone like Cui Shaoqing, the Madam, the Crown Prince, the Prince, and the Princess would surely be delighted in their afterlife. But recently, Cui Shaoqing was injured, and I see the Cui family's concern, and I also feel... the high hopes that the Bo Ling Cui family has for him, I'm afraid he's aiming for a dual position of Prime Minister, father and son..."
In this dynasty, there were father and son who served as prime ministers at the same time, including Su Gui and Su Ying. Now the Cui family is the top of the clan. Judging from Cui Fufeng's career development after he passed the imperial examination at the age of sixteen, achieving this goal is not out of reach.
——If he had the help of other families among the Five Surnames and Seven Aristocrats, for example, if he married another wife from Li, Zheng, Wang, or Lu, then everything would fall into place. After 20 to 30 years of experience, the two families would naturally be able to work together to push him to this position.
But if he married a helpless county lady, and married into a declining family that had no political prospects and whose palace would disappear as soon as the orphan girl got married, then this choice would definitely not satisfy the Cui family, and it would be even more difficult for them to accept it.
"Yes, Qi Da is not a match, I know." Qian Deng let out a long breath and whispered, "Even though Cui Shaoqing is the best man in Chang'an and even in the Tang Dynasty, my fate is unlucky and my future is uncertain. Why should I repay kindness with hatred and delay him for my own selfish reasons, dragging him into this quagmire of mine?"
Hearing her words, Aunt Xuanji's eyes turned red: "Why does the county lady think so?"
"Now I only hope to solve the mystery left by my mother before her death, so as to comfort her soul in heaven. As for other things, I can't take care of them for the time being."
Aunt Xuanji thought the mystery she was talking about was the husband Lady Qi had chosen for her, and she said hurriedly, "Yes, Lady, what you're most concerned about is the County Lady's marriage. Since the County Lady has made up her mind, and Cui Shaoqing is not in your selection, I wonder about the remaining candidates..."
Before they finished speaking, they turned around the corridor and saw Cui Fufeng standing under the pear tree at the corner.
The spring breeze was as tranquil as his face. Snowflake-like petals fell on his lake-blue robe, and the ripples on the robe were like the ripples on the lake of her heart.
She opened her mouth and looked at his face, knowing that Cui Fufeng had heard what they said.
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