Chapter 12 Flower Festival Lady Wang, would you be so kind as to let me see that golden house too…?
Fu Sui couldn't understand why Wang Lingshu wasn't having any fun, so he went to her room to ask her.
She was never polite to Wang Lingshu, and barged in. Wang Lingshu's maid was startled, thinking some lecherous man had barged in, and hurriedly shielded Wang Lingshu behind her. Only after recognizing Fu Sui did she bow with lingering fear.
Fu Sui walked past Wang Lingshu's maid and sat down opposite Wang Lingshu. He saw a plate of pastries and a pot of tea on the table. The pastries were untouched, and the tea was very strong, so he guessed that she hadn't drunk much of it.
Wang Lingshu sat upright at the table, her posture ramrod straight, her expression indifferent.
Fu Sui thought to himself, "They don't even know proper etiquette. I wonder who's even more unruly."
Wang Lingshu coldly watched as Fu Sui sat down as if he were no one else was there, and slowly asked, "Did the princess come to see me?"
"Is there anyone else in this room?" Fu Sui took a cup, poured himself a cup of tea, took a small sip, found it bitter and cold, and put it down in disgust.
Wang Lingshu acted as if she hadn't seen Fu Sui's actions, her face remaining unchanged. She simply asked, "I wonder what business the princess has with me?"
Fu Sui said bluntly, "I only came because I heard you were coming today, but I've been waiting here for two hours and you've been sitting here like you're nailed to the ground. What exactly did you come here for today?"
Wang Lingshu let out a barely audible sneer: "I'm just having some snacks and tea, taking a short rest here. Is it really worth the princess making such a fuss over this?"
Fu Sui found Wang Lingshu's impassive demeanor amusing. Wang Lingshu's composure was truly lacking. Among her peers, Zheng Zizai was the best at concealing her emotions, genuinely always wearing a smile. Wang Lingshu was only slightly better than Feng Xiang'er; even Fu Sui could put on a better act than her.
Fu Sui poked at the tightly covered gauze curtain with her finger and said, "I thought you came for Xue Lang. I wonder what Xue Lang looks like. Can you see him clearly through the gauze curtain?" After saying that, Fu Sui turned to look at Wang Lingshu and saw that Wang Lingshu's lips were already pursed. She then added fuel to the fire, "Wang Niangzi, would you be willing to let me see the beauty in the golden house as well?"
Wang Lingshu took a few deep breaths before she could barely suppress her anger and said, "I'm sorry to disappoint you, Princess. I don't know Mr. Xue. Besides, Mr. Xue is a top scholar in the local area and a pillar of the nation. You should show him some respect."
Fu Sui was slightly surprised. Wang Lingshu really didn't recognize Xue Guangting. What was she doing here? Surely she couldn't just be there because she could hear him?
She asked whatever came to mind. Wang Lingshu stared at Fu Sui for a few moments before weakly saying with a self-deprecating tone, "So the princess came here specifically to mock me."
Fu Sui often couldn't understand Wang Lingshu's awkwardness. He said she was self-admiring, yet she actively participated in gatherings and tried hard to maintain her reputation and relationships with the noble ladies of the capital. He said she was sycophantic, yet her annoyance and impatience were written all over her face. He said she was obedient, yet she ran to the Zhuangyuan Tower for a complete stranger. He said she was willful, yet she covered herself completely with a gauze screen and didn't even dare to steal a glance.
"Wang Lingshu, this is rather pointless of you. I've heard that the Wang family women have seen their value rise considerably thanks to your talent and reputation, and your clansmen are raking in dowry money. And you can only sit here like this, without even a chance to look out?"
Although Wang Lingshu was unwilling, she did not want to show it in front of Fu Sui. Instead, she retorted, "If the princess is too idle, she should cultivate her virtue, appearance, speech, and skills, so that she won't even have a place to give her dowry in the future."
If it weren't for Qin An's life, Fu Sui would be extremely arrogant and unrestrained. Wang Lingshu's mockery of her bad reputation and inability to get married would have no effect on her.
"Since the world will not change its surname, I need not trouble you, Madam Wang, with my affairs. As you know, Madam Wang, I am not short of money. You do not need a dowry of ten million to enter my Princess's mansion. Naturally, I am not as good as Madam Wang, who is highly talented and waiting for a high price to sell herself."
Fu Sui stood up and said goodbye to Wang Lingshu with a smile, leaving Wang Lingshu alone in the room with a livid face.
When Qiao Zhenzhen saw Fu Sui return with a smile in her eyes, she knew that she must have won the argument: "What good news?"
"Wang Lingshu is so funny, she can set off like a firecracker at the slightest touch."
Qiao Zhenzhen said helplessly, "Are you touching a sore spot again?"
Fu Sui protested, "I never intended to poke her." She then asked Qiao Zhenzhen mysteriously, "Guess what Wang Lingshu came here for?"
How could Qiao Zhenzhen possibly guess: "What are you doing?"
"She wanted to see what Xue Guangting was like, but she was worried about her own reputation and dared not look, so she sat in the private room for two hours." Fu Sui's tone was full of surprise. "What kind of life does the Wang family lead to raise such a genius?"
Qiao Zhenzhen sighed inwardly: "The Wang family is a prestigious family with a hundred-year history, so naturally their family education is very strict."
No matter how self-important Wang Lingshu was, the Wang family had made her a role model. Her chastity and reputation were all bargaining chips for the Wang family. She could only be trapped and die in the Wang family's boudoir.
Unable to find amusement in Wang Lingshu, and finding the poems of romance in the hall uninteresting, Qiao Zhenzhen and Fu Sui set off to leave and head to Li's Restaurant.
This restaurant was small and located in a secluded alley in the neighborhood. It was hard to find, and if Tian Ganyou hadn't brought them here before, Fu Sui and Qiao Zhenzhen would never have known about such a small shop.
Li Family Restaurant specializes in soups and doesn't have a fixed menu. They prepare ingredients daily according to the season, and their cooking methods differ from ordinary restaurants, often resulting in delightful surprises. With spring in full swing and various seasonal delicacies available, the two women were curious whether Li Family Restaurant would have any new dishes.
"Chen Chengguang, don't go too far. I've asked you to drink with me, and you refuse eight out of ten times. Today is a festival, and since Uncle He has returned to the capital, I haven't had a welcome-back dinner yet. I even snatched all the good wine that my father has treasured for many years. And you, you wait until sunset to come. You have to give me an explanation." Tian Ganyou propped one hand on the table and used his elbow to prop up the table, pointing at the person opposite him.
The man in question was in his early thirties, wearing a jade-colored, round-necked robe with floral patterns. He had bright, star-like eyes, a smile playing on his lips, and his eyes were full of affection. He was Chen Jingyang, the son of the Duke of Ying, and his mother was the elder sister of the Man of Nancheng County.
Chen Jingyang bowed and apologized: "It's really not that I deliberately delayed, but my wife went on a trip today, and I was really worried about her, so I had to go with her. I just dropped her off at home and rushed over here." He then turned to the side and said: "Uncle, please don't be angry. I'm late today, so I'll punish myself with three cups."
A man leaned back in his chair, one sleeve of his black round-necked robe pulled down to reveal a grey half-sleeve underneath. He casually fiddled with two dice on the table, his eyes half-closed. Hearing Chen Jingyang speak, he looked up, revealing a pair of dark eyes—it was Yue Shanling.
Yue Shanling smiled slightly: "It's alright." He had lived in the Grand Princess's Mansion in Linhai for a long time and was an old acquaintance of Chen Jingyang.
Chen Jingyang got up to take the wine jar next to Tian Ganyou, but Tian Ganyou quickly picked up the jar and dodged Chen Jingyang's hand, gesturing towards the wine pot on the table: "This is top-quality wine, you should sip it slowly and savor it. You can drink the other wine as punishment." The wine in the pot was from the shop, and he didn't mind drinking it down without a care.
Helpless, Chen Jingyang pointed at Tian Ganyou twice, picked up the wine pot, poured three cups in a row and drank them all in one gulp. Then he poured another cup and said to Yue Shanling, "This cup is to welcome Uncle He away."
Yue Shanling reached for the wine jug, poured himself a cup of wine, and drank it all with Chen Jingyang.
Seeing that the two of them had put down their cups, Tian Ganyou quickly interjected, "Stop with the formalities and hurry up and try my wine. I'm not bragging, but my father treasures this wine like a precious gem. He didn't even bring it out for my mother's birthday. I had to go to great lengths to coax it out of my father. It's definitely a good thing."
He repeatedly ordered the restaurant to serve the dishes, and then opened the wine bottle and poured the wine himself.
In this border region, only strong, murky wine exists. Yue Shanling once got drunk and wept all night during the mourning period for the old Yue Marquis, and also used wine to help him sleep when medicine was scarce. Now, sitting in a tavern as he did in his youth, looking at the bustling scenery outside the window and drinking fine wine, he feels as if he has lived through another world.
Chen Jingyang drank the three cups of penalty wine quickly and hastily. A few drinks were coming in, and his amorous eyes were as clear as water. He stared at Tian Ganyou, who was vividly recounting how he tricked his father out of wine, with amusement: "If you are willing to arrange a marriage, let alone a few jars of wine, you can choose any of my uncle's entire fortune."
The mere mention of marriage made Tian Ganyou tremble like a duck with its neck being grabbed. The Grand Princess of Linhai, for some unknown reason, was determined to force him to marry her, and young ladies came and went from the princess's residence like a flowing stream, scaring Tian Ganyou so much that he dared not go home.
He first stayed in the guardhouse of Qianniuwei for several days, and later went to share those few dilapidated rooms with Yue Shanling. As a result, Zhou's sister-in-law's mediocre cooking skills made Tian Ganyou sigh with frustration, so he bought a lot of cookbooks and kept telling Zhou's sister-in-law to work hard and improve her cooking skills. Zhou's sister-in-law was so annoyed that she asked Yue Shanling every day when he would send this big Buddha away.
It was only in the last few days, seeing that the Grand Princess of Linhai had calmed down a bit, and Tian Ganyou, wanting more of the few jars of fine wine his father had, that he reluctantly moved back home.
He couldn't marry the women he could, and he couldn't marry the women he liked. Tian Ganyou felt irritable whenever he thought about getting married: "You, who values women more than friends, are still criticizing me. What's so good about getting married? When you go out for a drink, you still have to be mindful of women's feelings."
Unfortunately, Tian Ganyou was not a heartless stone. He felt guilty saying those two sentences, so he quickly shifted the blame: "Shuhe is older than me, why don't you urge him?"
Yue Shanling was taken aback; how did this suddenly become a topic of conversation with him?
Chen Jingyang, without hesitation, exposed Tian Ganyou's little scheme: "How can you compare to Shuhe? Madam Zhou doesn't invite young ladies from various families to banquets every day. Besides, you've always been a troublemaker. If you had half of Shuhe's temperament, the Grand Princess wouldn't be chasing after you every day."
Tian Ganyou pouted and said defiantly, "Stop talking nonsense. I've been smart and obedient since I was little. My mother just loves to worry."
Chen Jingyang shook his head in disapproval: "How come I remember someone making the Grand Princess so angry when they were young that she chased them all over the mansion with a stick, disregarding all etiquette?"
He leaned towards Yue Shanling and asked, "Do you still remember when we were little, the Grand Princess wanted to ask the Yue family for you, saying that since the Yue family has many children, what's wrong with giving her one? At worst, she could give A-Xu to the Yue family instead."
When the topic of his childhood antics came up, Yue Shanling smiled but remained silent. Chen Jingyang, seeing that Tian Ganyou wanted to argue but couldn't find a way to do so, laughed even harder.
Tian Ganyou angrily turned his head away, not wanting to see Chen Jingyang's grinning face. It was in this glance that Tian Ganyou saw a familiar face.
A note from the author:
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