Chapter 36 This kind of thing naturally needs to be clarified.
She had just raised her head, but lost interest and immediately lowered it again.
Li Xu's lips curled up in a smug smile.
Her fingertips, painted with cinnamon, touched the kingfisher feather hairpin at her temple. This was the latest style from Ruyi Pavilion. In contrast, Yu Tan was wearing a drab gray dress, and her hair was adorned with a jade comb, an item from several years ago.
At previous banquets, Yu Tan wore the latest and most gorgeous clothes, looking every bit like a flamboyant peacock. Now, it's just a pity that a fallen phoenix is worse than a chicken.
Li Xu took a few steps closer and chuckled softly, "It seems that Miss Yu hasn't been doing too well lately."
She glanced at Li Xu, a forced smile on her face: "Second Madam Li, we have nothing to reminisce about. If there's nothing else, please stay away."
Li Xu seemed completely oblivious to her avoidance and sat down intimately next to her.
"I have nothing better to do right now, and the princess doesn't need me. I'm only telling you this out of kindness because of our past relationship. Why don't you appreciate it?"
It turns out he had ingratiated himself with the princess and was showing off in front of her.
She moved aside and said sarcastically, "It's kind of Li Erniangzi to do this."
In the past, if she had shown even the slightest impatience, Li Xu would have clenched her handkerchief and started to cry.
She used to look down on her, but now she's quite calm.
Li Xu boasted, "Do you know which princess I'm on good terms with?"
Yu Tan shook her head: "I don't know."
Li Xu proudly raised her head: "The eldest princess's daughter, who was abducted many years ago, has been found. His Majesty, out of pity for her years of wandering, bestowed upon her the title of Princess Chang Le."
"That would be a wonderful thing."
This is contrary to her background, but even so, what does it have to do with her?
Li Xu sarcastically remarked, "Some pearls end up in the hands of ordinary people, while some fish eyes are passed off as pearls."
Yu Tan's expression turned cold, and she could no longer maintain her forced smile: "Li Er Niangzi, what do you mean?"
"Young Lady Yu, do you still remember Ji Yushang?"
Yu Tan gritted her teeth and said, "Of course I remember. I haven't forgotten how you colluded with Ji Yushang to frame me. I'll get my revenge, don't worry..."
Li Xu smiled and didn't take her threat to heart.
“On the day before Ji Yushang died, he told me that he had captured a young woman who looked very much like you and lived in Tonghua Lane.”
She said coldly, "Li Erniangzi, you seem to be a little too concerned about my affairs."
"Young Lady Yu, I haven't finished speaking yet. Do you really not want to hear the rest?"
Yu Tan fell silent.
"Until I heard a letter from my cousin, in which he mentioned an interesting story."
Lord Yu became close to a young man at the border, offering him various forms of support and even recruiting him as his personal bodyguard.
Soon after, the young man became a young woman.
Everyone laughed at Yu Hou, a widower for many years, for his infatuation, but in the end, he could not withstand the passage of time.
Then an old general familiar with Yu Hou remarked that the young woman's face resembled his deceased wife.
"Li Xu, you can't gossip about my father behind his back." Yu Tan was furious, her fists clenched. "If you weren't a woman, my slap would have landed on your face long ago."
Li Xu laughed heartily a few times and shook her head.
"Yu Tan, all the ladies of noble families are laughing. Your father is going to find you a concubine."
But the matter of Princess Chang Le reminded me; that young lady is about your age….”
Yu Tan angrily said, "You're just spouting nonsense and making wild guesses based on a few rumors. It seems that what happened last time didn't teach you a lesson enough."
“Yu Tan, what I say is unimportant. Yu He’an must have found out a long time ago. Did he already know?” Li Xu looked her up and down. “That’s why your status in the Marquis’s mansion has been declining.”
From Li Xu's sympathetic yet mocking gaze, she finally understood. She clutched her sleeve and said, "Second Madam Li, this is brocade made of silkworm silk, and the embroiderer chose the most understated stitches. It's not the junk you think it is..."
Li Xu's expression changed, and her smile disappeared.
"I'm so sorry to have troubled you, I'm doing very well... and my brother is also very good to me." She turned her head and smiled at Li Xu, "Second Madam Li, do you still remember what happened to Ji Yushang?"
Li Xu stood up and shrank back. She knew all too well how miserable Ji Yushang's fate would be.
She was just making things up to expose this good-for-nothing, but she didn't expect to be outmaneuvered by Yu Tan.
"What do you mean, Yu Tan? I am the wife of the Minister."
"It's nothing, Li Xu. From now on, we'll go our separate ways. Don't bother me, and I won't touch you..."
Otherwise, if you fell into the water at the banquet and were sent to another man's room, I could do such a despicable thing even if I held my nose..."
"you……"
"Why is it always me who's targeted?"
Li Xu held the handkerchief in her hand and looked at Yu Tan's face.
That year, she wore a brand-new silk dress, and everyone's eyes were on her, even he looked at her several times.
But she later learned that Yu Tan had already worn the dress, and everyone was laughing at her for trying to imitate Yu Tan.
She was just pretty and had the background of a noble family, so everyone revolved around her.
"I've hated you for a long time, no one will like you." Li Xu jogged towards the racetrack and waved to a woman in the distance.
Yu Tan pursed her lips, her fingertips pinching the hem of her sleeve, her tense back relaxing slightly, revealing a hint of weakness.
If Li Xu could guess it, wouldn't Yu He'an also be able to guess it?
But he treated her no differently; in fact, their relationship became even closer.
She fell into deep thought, recalling the moments they had shared.
She recalled how, when Yu He'an was studying, she would sometimes stare blankly at her face, wondering if she noticed that they didn't look alike.
There was also the letter she was never shown during the New Year. Yu He'an saw Zhao Qingwu's face, which resembled hers, but never asked her a single question.
That face was so expressionless that she really couldn't tell what was going on.
Did he already have the answer?
Yu Tan swallowed hard. No, it can't be.
If Yu He'an knew she wasn't her biological sister, she certainly wouldn't have been so kind to her.
He definitely didn't know.
Once no one was paying attention to her, Yu Tan's straight back bent down, and she dejectedly covered her face.
She thought she had kept it a secret very well.
But she had never been able to hide anything from Yu He'an since she was a child.
She was extremely flustered, her fingertips gripping her palms tightly.
Her mind was in complete chaos; she couldn't figure it out at all.
One moment they say they definitely know, the next they say they don't.
Originally, I was excited to learn how to ride a horse, but now I'm just filled with worry.
"Yaoyao, so you were hiding here all along."
A woman in a pale yellow ruqun (a type of traditional Chinese dress) moved closer and tilted her head to look at her.
"Sisi." She reached out and pushed Qi Yuansi's head away.
"Why are you looking so gloomy? Did you hear those people gossiping behind your back? I'll go and get revenge for you later. Stop talking nonsense."
"It's not because of that..."
"Princess, this is Lady Yu."
Yu Tan looked up and saw a young woman behind Qi Yuansi, about sixteen or seventeen years old, with a slender figure.
Her long hair was tied in a simple bun, her lips were red and her teeth were white, and her eyes were bright and curious as she looked at her. This was the girl that Li Xu was going to greet.
"Princess." She rose and curtsied, but was pressed back down.
"You are Yu He'an's younger sister."
Princess Chang Le sat casually on the ground, her posture quite unrestrained. Her right leg was bent, and her hand was casually placed on her knee. If she were to hold a knife in front of her, she could practically block the road and extort money from passersby.
She nodded: "My name is Yu Tan."
Princess Chang Le tugged at his sleeve, and suddenly became restrained. In a shy tone, she cleared her throat very close to him, speaking in a voice loud enough for all three of them to hear, "I have something I want to ask you."
"Please speak, Your Highness."
"Yu He'an...do you have any preferences?"
She paused for a moment, then asked her about Yu He'an.
Qi Yuansi sat down next to her, smiling as he took her arm.
She lowered her head and thought for a long time before saying, "My brother likes to read."
"I hate reading the most. Do you have any other hobbies? Preferably something like swordsmanship or fighting."
Princess Chang Le pouted, her expression awkward and shy.
“Brother, I practice swordsmanship for an hour every morning, and I used to enjoy pitch-pot when I was young.”
Princess Chang Le pouted: "These are all things I don't like. I like to sleep until noon, I don't like pitch-pot, and I like to go boating and watching beautiful women."
Qi Yuansi chuckled a few times: "Princess, don't look for Yu He'an anymore, look for Yu Tan instead. You two can get along well. When you return to the mountain stronghold as the chief, take Yu Tan back with you..."
"A mountain stronghold." Yu Tan's eyes darted around, remembering what Changming had mentioned before: Yu He'an had almost been kidnapped and taken to a mountain stronghold...
"Did the princess and my brother know each other before?"
“I know him…” Princess Chang Le touched the top of her head. “Two years ago, I kidnapped him and brought him to my mountain stronghold. He burned down my mountain, which made it take me a year to rebuild my strength. That created a grudge between us.”
The main force of Changle County has fallen into the hands of the common people, and it seems they have become bandits, and even bandit leaders.
Since they've already formed a grudge, why bother finding out Yu He'an's preferences?
"I apologize on behalf of my brother." She said, trying to get up, but Princess Chang Le pressed her back down.
Princess Chang Le waved her hand magnanimously: "It's alright. Think again about what other preferences Yu He'an has, something similar to mine."
Perhaps noticing her confusion, Qi Yuansi pulled her aside and explained, "The Princess is anxious to find a husband for Princess Chang Le. The Princess is satisfied with some, but Princess Chang Le is not. The Princess likes some, but the Princess finds them too frivolous. Finally, she has chosen someone who satisfies both of them, and that is your brother."
Princess Chang Le's behavior just now, switching between seeking revenge and choosing a husband, had confused her. So that's what she meant.
She secretly observed Princess Chang Le. She was straightforward and unpretentious, and of noble status. Although she was different from the high-born lady she had imagined, she was still a good match for Yu He'an.
They are a good match, one active and one quiet, and they have a past connection.
She hesitated for a moment: "Brother likes the sound of wind chimes."
"Wind chimes?"
"The sound of glass clattering around him indicates that when my brother is thinking, he tends to get lost in thought, so he likes some noise around him."
She lowered her head; actually, that wasn't the case.
When Ning Weiqing was kidnapped, he hurriedly hid Yu He'an in a cave. Yu He'an was only two years old at the time. In his panic, he only knew to wander around the cave. By the time the servants found him, it was already two days later. Fortunately, he survived.
Memories from when you were two years old may fade, but the fear is already ingrained in your mind.
Yu He'an never stayed in a closed, dark, and silent place. The long nights of his childhood became unbearable. He was also taught that he would have to take on the responsibility of the entire Marquis's mansion in the future, so he could not utter a single word of fear.
As a child, she noticed that she would cry every time it got dark at night. For three consecutive nights, all the palace lanterns in the Marquis's mansion were replaced with specially made ones, each adorned with a glass wind chime.
From then on, it was no longer a long, silent night where the wind passed without a sound.
“That’s easy, I can make wind chimes.” Princess Chang Le patted her thigh proudly, then realized she was being impolite, so she followed their example and sat properly. In just a few moments, she leaned over to her side. “Do you know what kind of woman he likes?”
Yu Tan shook her head.
She had thought about it, but she couldn't imagine it.
She and Yu He'an were only together when they were young. When they were young and confused, they separated. She went to Yuyang, and then Yu He'an went away to study.
Princess Chang Le shrugged: "Then I'll ask him later."
Yu Tan's eyes widened: "Just ask?"
She was once again shocked by Chang Le's bluntness.
"Of course, we should ask about this."
Princess Chang Le went to the edge of the archery platform, and she followed her as if possessed.
She was also curious about what kind of girl Yu He'an would like.
Could it be someone as open-minded and free-spirited as Princess Chang Le, or a gentle and virtuous lady from a noble family?
Author's Note: Thank you MiMao for the nutrient solution.
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