Chapter 8 [8] Mid-Autumn Palace Banquet
【8】
During the Mid-Autumn Festival, before sunset, people living outside the city would pack up their stalls and drive their carts and donkeys out of the city to celebrate the festival. Meanwhile, every household in the city would hang up lanterns and steam moon cakes in preparation for the evening reunion dinner.
Compared with the bustling other mansions in Chongrenfang, the Prince Jing's Mansion, which has the largest gate, is deserted and silent as usual.
In front of the study room, surrounded by dense ancient cypresses, the eunuch Chang Chun bowed and said cautiously, "Your Highness, the palace carriage has been waiting at the door half an hour ago..."
The room was silent for a long time before a cold male voice, slightly impatient, was heard: "I already said I have a headache, I won't go."
"But...but Your Highness, today is Mid-Autumn Festival..."
"So what about Mid-Autumn Festival?"
"Mid-Autumn Festival is a time for families to reunite. The Empress Dowager and His Majesty are waiting for you in the palace."
As soon as he finished speaking, a faint sneer came from the study.
This laughter made Chang Chun's back shiver. He was about to persuade her again when he heard a cold and fierce "Get lost" from behind the dimly-lit wooden door. Chang Chun: "..."
Ever since he was assigned to serve the prince six years ago, he still couldn't figure out this prince's temper, but one thing he knew was that if the prince said to get out and he didn't get out, he would be courting death.
Chang Chun hurriedly replied, "I'll get out of here right away," sighed, and turned to leave the study.
The setting sun was being swallowed up by the night bit by bit, but the moon had already cast a bright and round shadow in the pale blue sky.
In the dimly lit study, a young man stood by the window with his hands behind his back, gazing at the rising moon in the distance.
Mid-Autumn Festival.
Family reunion...
A hint of sneer flashed across his dark eyes. He took a deep breath, raised his hand and closed the window, blocking out the bright and annoying moon.
"Look, Mom, the moon is especially bright this year!"
When the carriage stopped at the Vermillion Bird Gate for inspection, Yun Ran lifted a corner of the curtain and looked curiously at the bright moon reflected on the palace wall.
Zheng Shi did not stop her daughter's unseemly behavior. After all, it was the girl's first time in the palace, so she was bound to be curious. She let her see enough this time, so that she wouldn't find it strange next time.
"Yes, I also think the moon is particularly beautiful this year."
Zheng leaned on her daughter's shoulder and looked at the horizon. This Mid-Autumn Festival was indeed the happiest one she had experienced in the past twelve years.
"Hey, mother, look, isn't that the one from the Cui family... what's his name? Oh, right, Cui Boxu! Is that the Cui family's brother?"
Among the many luxurious cars and luxury vehicles entering the palace, Yun Ran rarely saw a familiar figure.
When Zheng looked in the direction of Cui's carriage, Cui Boxu, who was riding on a horse, also saw the carriage of Marquis Changxin's Mansion, including the bright little face half-hidden behind the curtain.
Before he could react, the curtain opened a little more, revealing the little face completely.
"Hey, Brother Cui!"
In the half-light, half-dark night, the lights flickered. A young girl, wearing a red brocade dress, with a hibiscus-colored face, bright eyes and white teeth, looked at him with a smile: "What a coincidence, we meet again."
Suddenly, Cui Boxu's heart seemed to skip a beat.
When he came to his senses, he tightened the reins in his hands and drove the horse closer.
"Uncle Yun."
Cui Boxu greeted the Marquis of Changxin, who was also on horseback, and then, from a distance, he greeted the mother and daughter in the carriage: "Aunt Zheng, Sister Yun Wu."
When Yun Ran greeted Cui Boxu just now, Zheng Shi had no time to stop them. Now that Cui Boxu came over to greet her, she could only put on a polite face and nodded with a smile: "Sanlang, are you also going to the palace to attend the banquet this year?"
Cui Boxu currently works in the Hanlin Academy and is not among the invited officials according to his rank.
Hearing Zheng's question, he lowered his eyes and said, "It is the grace bestowed upon the Cui family by the Empress Dowager."
After hearing this, Zheng Shi understood everything. It was nothing more than compensation for the Cui family's eldest daughter who died early.
Although Yun Ran didn't quite understand all this, he could feel the atmosphere suddenly become depressing.
She looked at Cui Boxu, who was riding a white horse and wearing a green robe, and saw a hint of sadness between his handsome brows. She guessed that he might be thinking of his poor sister who died young during this happy family festival.
When she returned home this time, she felt the love from her brothers and became more aware of the preciousness of brotherly and sisterly love.
"Brother Cui, don't be sad."
Yun Ran leaned against the windowsill, raised her face, and whispered to the man in front of her, "I've chanted sutras with your sister before. She will be reborn in paradise. And if she's still in heaven, she certainly wouldn't want to see you grieving for her."
Cui Boxu was stunned.
When he met the star-like black eyes of the young lady from the Yun family, his heart felt like a spring breeze blowing through it, and his brows relaxed. "Sister Yun Wu is so thoughtful. Thank you very much."
Yun Ran smiled at him with her eyes curved, "Meeting is fate, you're welcome."
Cui Boxu's heart suddenly skipped a beat.
Before he could think about what was happening to his heart today, he heard the loud voice of the Marquis of Changxin from the front: "Young man from the Cui family, your carriage has been inspected. Hurry and catch up. Don't fall behind."
Cui Boxu turned around and saw that his carriage had moved forward, with the window slightly opened, as if his mother was looking at him.
"Okay, I'll go over first then."
He raised his sleeves and saluted the three members of the Changxin Marquis' family, then rode away.
Amidst the clatter of horse hooves, the low voice of Marquis Changxin could be heard from behind: "Ranran, don't smile at men like that in public anymore..."
The little girl seemed puzzled: "Why?"
"...Anyway, just listen to Daddy. Daddy won't harm you."
"oh."
“…”
Cui Boxu pursed his thin lips and straightened his back a little.
When he reached his carriage, his mother's puzzled face appeared from behind the curtains: "Why did you go over there? Is that little girl lying by the window the Yun family's newly found daughter?"
Cui Boxu hummed, "Just going over to say hello."
Mrs. Cui glanced at her son's unchanged face, then looked at the carriage that had fallen behind, and frowned.
It was dark at night and there was some distance between them, so she couldn't see the face of the daughter of the marquis clearly.
But leaning over a window and looking around in public was not the proper behavior of a lady. After all, she grew up in a rural Taoist temple. Even if she found him, so what? It would still be just as rude and disrespectful.
"That girl seems to have reached the age of marriage. Be careful and don't get involved with her."
Without waiting for Cui Boxu to speak, Mrs. Cui lowered the curtain and sat upright.
She had already lost a disappointing daughter, and her only son could not afford to make any more mistakes.
**
The night was dark, and a bright moon enveloped the spacious and magnificent Hanyuan Hall.
Inside the main hall, hundreds of goat-horn lanterns were arranged in a row. The warm yellow light shone through the thin gauze, illuminating the entire hall brilliantly and brightly, as if it were daylight. By this time, many guests had already arrived, all elegantly dressed and full of laughter.
But when the Changxin Marquis family entered the hall, the noisy conversation suddenly quieted down.
Yun Ran only felt that countless eyes were cast on her.
Those unfamiliar faces looked at her with different emotions, some were curious, some were amazed, some were impressed, some were ridiculed, some were contemptuous, or they were indifferent as if they were enjoying the show.
The feeling of being stared at by everyone made her very uncomfortable.
"Ranran, don't be afraid."
Suddenly, her fingers were gently pinched. Yun Ran turned her eyes and saw her mother Zheng smiling at her gently: "Mother is here."
As if taking a reassurance pill, Yun Ran's tense back relaxed a little: "Well, my daughter is not afraid."
Isn't it just a palace banquet?
She is a disciple of the Three Pure Ones, and is protected by the master.
Thinking of this, she touched the string of lightning-struck wood on her wrist, silently recited the meditation technique twice, and followed Zheng to take a seat in an orderly manner.
"Is that the daughter of the Marquis of Changxin? She looks well-behaved and doesn't look like someone who grew up in the countryside."
"Yes, I thought that after living away from home for so many years and growing up in such a lowly environment, I would not be able to be considered elegant. I never thought that she would be so quiet and elegant."
"She is also beautiful. Look at her eyebrows and eyes, so pretty and lively, like a flower bud."
"I heard she's already reached marriage age? Tsk, I wonder what kind of husband the Marquis of Changxin and his wife will find for her."
As soon as these words came out, the officials' wives and noble ladies looked at each other, and saw a hint of hidden avoidance in each other's eyes.
This little girl is beautiful, but she lacks more than ten years of education and was once a nun...
Well, there are a lot of noble ladies in Chang'an, and none of their families are lucky enough to have this "weird flower" with a special experience.
The seat at the Marquis of Changxin's Mansion was not remote. Yun Ran sat quietly and naturally heard a few discussions.
Marriage, husband's family...
These words were really unfamiliar to her. After all, she was young and a Taoist nun, so she naturally cut off worldly ties and didn't care about getting married.
Now when she heard these people talking about it, she felt as if it was a fairy tale.
Is she...getting married?
"Don't listen to their nonsense."
Zheng was keeping his eyes and ears open, and heard more discussions than Yun Ran.
Seeing those noble ladies' implicit and implicit disdain for her own daughter, Zheng was furious and cursed inwardly, "You are a bunch of blind people who have been blinded by the fat. It is my Ranran who looks down on those uneducated playboys in your family."
She held her daughter's hand, leaned over and whispered in her ear, "Your father and I have already discussed this. You should just stay home and be your aunt. In a few years, we will find you a son-in-law who is well-related, handsome, and considerate. He will depend on you for the rest of his life and will be absolutely obedient to you, never letting you suffer even a little."
When Yun Ran heard this, his eyes widened in surprise. It turned out that his father and mother had thought so far ahead?
Just as she was about to say that she had no intention of getting married in this life, before she could open her mouth, a shrill voice came from outside the hall -
"Your Majesty has arrived, the Empress Dowager and the Empress have arrived!"
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