Chapter 17 Visitors
August 30th, the last day of January, also happens to be Xiao Mo's day off.
Early in the morning, Zhichun, Zhixia and other maids were waiting outside Mingzhe Hall with clothes, shoes and all kinds of toiletries.
Not far away, Xiao Mo's personal guards came hurriedly. Zhichun was the head maid in the courtyard. She just lowered her eyes. After a while, she heard someone calling "Come in" from inside, and then several people entered one after another.
Xiao Mo was wearing a white middle-length robe. He took the clothes from the maid and put them on neatly, then quickly put on his shoes.
The other two maids holding copper basins and soap towels also came forward.
After washing up, everyone filed out.
Xiao Mo then sat on the armchair in the hall and asked, "What's the matter? Tell me!"
Wuming glanced at the prince and said, "The Shen family sent in an invitation today. Madam Ruan and the eldest daughter of the mansion will visit the mansion later. The Duke's wife asked you to be present later."
After Wuming finished speaking, he felt that the temperature around him seemed to be a little lower. As the personal bodyguard of the prince, he naturally knew more than others.
The Crown Prince's attitude on the day of the wedding banquet was already very clear, but the Duke's wife and Old Madam Xiao still seemed to want to go through with the marriage.
Although the prince said in front of the old lady two years ago that it was up to the grandmother to decide, Wuming knew that it was absolutely not counted. If the old lady Xiao had really listened to him, the prince should have found a way to secretly obstruct this marriage.
Somehow, Wuming just felt this way.
But at that time, the eldest daughter of the Shen family was only fourteen, and Old Madam Xiao was just asking about it. She didn't do anything about this verbal engagement, and she didn't even exchange the engagement letter. So the prince didn't need to pay any attention to it.
"I understand. You can go out now!" Wuming was thinking about these things when he heard what the master in front of him said.
In Jiyunzhai, Xu Shuyao was helping Adi to sew autumn clothes. Brother Heng had grown fast, and the autumn clothes that were newly made last year were a bit tight this year. He could clearly feel timid when wearing them.
Xu Shuyao didn't feel comfortable going to her aunt to ask why the autumn clothes hadn't arrived yet, so she thought it would be the same if she made one for her younger brother herself.
Just as she was finishing the fabric, she heard someone coming from the Duke's wife's place. The maid who came was called Jinping. She hadn't entered the house yet, but when she saw her come out, she hurriedly said, "There are guests coming to the Duke's mansion. The lady asked me to call my cousin to accompany them."
Xu Shuyao nodded in agreement. Seeing that she was the capable maidservant of the Duke's wife, Nanny Zheng wanted to invite her into the house for a cup of tea before leaving. Jinping quickly waved her hand and said, "No, I have to go to Miss Liu's Rose Courtyard right now."
Jinping left in a hurry after he finished speaking.
Xu Shuyao and Nanny Zheng looked at each other, both confused.
The eldest lady of the mansion, Yu Jiyunzhai, had always been a figure that was out of her reach, and she had never asked her maids to come over for any reason in the past. But now, she called them over to keep the new guests company.
Xu Shuyao was surprised, but she quickly changed into a light apricot jacket and asked Qiao Wei to help her comb her hair into a bun before she went out.
After coming out, she remembered that Jinping had not told her where the guest was, so Xu Shuyao followed the usual practice and went to Songhe Hall with two maids.
Xu Shuyao's guess was not wrong.
At this time in Songhe Hall, Madam Xiao was talking with Madam Ruan, and the wife of the Duke Wang was accompanying them.
Sitting below were the Second Madam Chen and the Third Madam Liu. Xiao Jinshan and Shen Jingshu were tilting their heads to discuss the popular clothing styles in Beijing this autumn.
Although Xiao Jinshan was the third daughter of Duke Cheng's family, her father was a concubine's son after all, and her mother had no sons, so she had some intention of trying to please the sister from the Shen family who might become her eldest brother's wife.
One person is trying to please, and the other is happy to accept, so the atmosphere is naturally very good.
Everyone who should come to the scene has come, and those who shouldn’t come or don’t want to come won’t come.
How did it get to the point where the two cousins who were staying at the mansion came up? This all started with a conversation between Shen Jingshu and Mrs. Wang.
On the day of the second Miss Xiao's wedding banquet, Shen Jingshu hit a wall with Xiao Mo. Although she was talking to the third Miss Xiao at this time, she somehow thought of a comment made by someone at the banquet.
"The two cousins in your house are truly beautiful. If they weren't from lower social classes, how could anyone else have gotten them?"
Shen Jingshu couldn't remember who said this at the time, but it had entered her mind unconsciously, and she even remembered it word for word.
She thought of the time when she accidentally looked up at the bright and beautiful face of Miss Xu during the banquet, and the carefree smile on her face, but she felt a little annoyed for no reason.
Facing Mrs. Wang's praise for her at this time, Shen Jingshu's heart moved: "Aunt, don't just focus on praising Jingshu. The last time your niece saw your two sisters at your house, they were really good-looking."
Wang Shi didn't understand what was going on, but Xiao Jinshan asked, "Are you talking about Cousin Xu and Cousin Liu?"
"Is the other sister's surname Liu? Jingshu only knew that one of them was surnamed Xu. At that time, there were too many people around, so she didn't go up to make friends with her. Now she still feels regretful." The girl's voice was sweet with a hint of melancholy.
Madam Xiao and Madam Ruan, who were chatting over there, stopped talking and looked over.
"Who is Shu'er talking about?"
"It is said that there are two cousins living in the old lady's house who are outstanding in talent and beauty!"
Ruan said angrily, "You two have your own courtyards at home. If you're bored here, go find them with your sister Jinshan."
Wang remembered the instructions she had given her son in the morning, and was afraid that he would not be able to see anyone when he came, so she hurriedly said, "It's not difficult for you to see them!" After that, she asked Jinping to go find them.
Xu Shuyao heard voices coming from Songhe Hall from afar. As she was hesitating, her vision suddenly darkened and a tall man stopped in front of her.
She slowly raised her head and met Xiao Mo's sharp eyes.
She was indeed startled at first, but after seeing that the person in front of her was the prince of the mansion, Xu Shuyao somehow felt relaxed.
"My Lord!"
Xiao Mo looked at her for a long while.
But Xu Shuyao also showed herself to others openly. Could it be that the prince would be attracted by her beauty?
She intuitively felt that the cousin in front of her was no ordinary person and would not be the kind of person who would be easily seduced by beauty.
This was the first time that Xiao Mo took a serious look at this cousin who was staying at his house. She was wearing an apricot dress that made her whole body glow with warmth. Her skin was as white as porcelain, and her slightly tilted neck was illuminated by the sunlight, revealing even the fine hairs.
Looking at the pair of eyes that were looking at him, they were as bright as autumn water, with the corners of the eyes slightly raised, but with a hint of charm.
When Xiao Mo thought about what he saw on the mountain a few days ago, the corners of his mouth somehow twitched up, as if he was smiling.
"Are you from the second house? Are you going to Songhe Hall?"
Xu Shuyao nodded slightly, feeling a little strange in her heart.
"Then go in and tell my mother I have something to do and leave first." After saying this, seeing Xu Shuyao still standing there in a daze, he raised his lips and smiled, "The emperor is looking for me in the palace, and I won't be back until tonight."
Xu Shuyao: “…”
At this moment, looking at the man's back that disappeared in an instant, many swear words she had heard on the streets of Huzhou suddenly came to her mind.
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