Chapter 15 Chapter 15 Stealing the Dragon
When Du Lingjing arrived, the doctor gave her an acupuncture injection and her sister Du Runqing had already woken up.
Du Zhiqi hurriedly asked the doctor what happened, and the doctor took the girl's pulse again.
Du Lingjing saw that her second sister's face was pale and uncertain, and the doctor said that she had caught a cold. She looked at Du Runqing again and said, "Young lady, you are so young, but you worry too much. If you worry too much, it will easily lead to evil spirits entering your body, and you will inevitably suffer."
These words made Du Runqing look even worse. Du Zhiqi first asked the doctor to write a prescription, then turned around and asked his daughter.
"I think what the doctor said is right. It's also my fault that I've been working as an official away from home for many years and haven't been able to take good care of my family. I'll borrow two more capable stewards from the Gu family to help you share the burden. Don't ask about other things and worry less."
He thought his daughter was exhausted from the household chores. Du Runqing lowered his head and said in a hoarse voice, "Yes."
After saying this, he went out to talk to the doctor, and for a moment only the two sisters and their maids were left in the room.
Du Lingjing asked her sister a few words about how she felt, but Qiulin couldn't help but look around the room.
This is the east wing of the main courtyard, and it was where Du Lingjing lived when she lived with her father in Beijing.
She saw that all the big furniture in the room had been kept. They were made by the eldest master with fine materials for the young lady, and they were just right for the young lady's age. But the details had been completely changed.
My own daughter is quiet in nature, so she often uses plain porcelain green cups, but the second daughter is obviously more delicate at this age, so she often uses pastels with flower and bird patterns.
It’s quite pretty, Qiu Lin muttered to himself.
Unexpectedly, she said nothing, but the second girl spoke.
"This was originally your wing room. I occupied it for no reason and changed its appearance. Please don't mind it, sister."
She spoke with a heavy nasal voice, as if she was half crying. "My sister is about to get married, and I shouldn't do this. But now I'm sick, and I'm afraid I can't do anything. I'll ruin my sister's wedding, and also humiliate..." She paused, "The Marquis's dignity."
Du Lingjing looked over and heard her lower her head and say, "I can't help you, sister. Mother also needs to rest. I will move out with her tomorrow and live in a farm outside Beijing for a while. Please don't blame me, sister."
She kept her head down while speaking and didn't look at Du Lingjing, but Du Lingjing saw that her eyes were red and her eyes were blue. Her voice was hoarse and nasal, as if she was holding back her tears.
Du Lingjing didn't respond to her immediately. She looked at her sister several times before she spoke slowly.
"Second sister, you are indeed overthinking it. This marriage is not what I want, and Marquis Lu is not my ideal man. If it were up to me, it would be better not to do it. So whether it is a happy occasion or not is not important, so don't think too much about it."
When she said this, she saw her sister couldn't help but look up at her. Du Lingjing was telling the truth and let her look at her.
After looking for a while, Du Runqing suddenly came back to his senses and quickly lowered his head.
"That's right, sister."
Seeing that her elder sister was indeed not in a happy mood, she just told her to take good care of her health and left with Qiulin.
However, as soon as Du Lingjing and her servant left, the maid Ruixue couldn't help but say.
"The eldest girl is really weird. She doesn't like the second wife of the third place winner, and she has no interest in the marquis marrying the marquis's wife. This... Is it true that the eldest girl only has Mr. Jiang San in her heart? Mr. Jiang San has been dead for three years."
Ruixue couldn't believe it, and Du Runqing was also stunned and speechless for a while.
But Ruixue asked her again, "Miss, are we really going to leave Beijing and give the wing room to the eldest girl?"
She asked. Du Runqing was about to say something when the maid outside came to pass on a message that Madam Wan's maidservant had come. "The old lady heard that the young lady had a high fever and fainted this morning. She was very distressed and wanted to take the young lady to stay at Gu Mansion for a few days."
... ...
Chengqingfang Gu family.
Madam Wan ordered people to clean up the side rooms in her courtyard, "The girl is about to reach the age of marriage, and she can no longer use the old things she had before. She should be replaced with new ones from the storehouse. She should be more dignified and respectable."
Gu Yangsi didn't care about what happened to his niece.
"Mother, why would you care about that? The wedding is scheduled for the sixth day of next month," he was puzzled. "Does Lord Lu really want to marry Du Lingjing? Does he like her?"
Madam Wan snorted when she heard this, "Maybe not."
She looked at her son and said, "You have seen the current situation of the Shaw Corporation."
She said that Shao Boju was suspected of murder, which caused a sensation in the city. It was originally a trivial matter, but the Hui Wang party headed by the Yongding Marquis's Mansion attacked Shao for committing crimes. Although he was only a new Jinshi, he led to the fact that princes were guilty of the same crime as common people, which caught the Yong Wang faction off guard.
There were some people in the court who claimed to be loyal ministers. They did not want to get involved in the struggle between the two parties and were also opposed to Shao's blind help to Prince Yong to win over civil officials. Once this incident happened, many ministers who were already wavering changed their minds.
"At this time, if Marquis Lu follows the emperor's wishes and marries the daughter of the noble Du family as his wife, and is willing to make friends with the civil officials, wouldn't that win over a group of civil officials to stand on the side of King Hui? Even if they can't win them over, these civil officials will have a little more approval of the Yongding Marquisate."
Madam Wan said, "The Du family is not as prosperous as before, but with this trend, the daughter of the Du family is more suitable than the noble lady."
She patiently told her son the story, but Gu Yangsi still frowned.
"But it's of no benefit to our family."
He said, "Who knows that the marriage between the Shao family and the Du family was originally arranged by Madam Wan. "The Shao family lost the emperor's favor, and we were also implicated. There are very few people coming to our house these days."
He originally hoped that people from outside would come to him for help and receive some benefits.
Now that the people are gone, the benefits will naturally disappear as well.
At the beginning, the Gu family and Madam Wan did not stand on the side of the two princes in the court. No matter whether it was a clan relative or a noble, a civil official or a gentry, she could help with the marriage, and no matter which prince inherited the throne in the future, the Gu family would be invincible.
However, because Madam Wan was born into a royal family, she had close contacts with nobles, so when Shao Shi offered her this time, she thought about it and agreed. If she could help Shao Shi with a marriage, she would be able to stand firm on both sides.
Unexpectedly, this matter suddenly went wrong, and the Gu family was tied together with the Shao family and was met with cold shoulder.
At this moment, Gu Yangsi couldn't help but blame his mother.
"Mother, you are really something. I've seen you do things the most prudently in the past. How come you offended Du Lingjing this time? Now that she's the wife of Marquis Lu, she will definitely not give us face in front of the Marquis. We are really tied to the Shao family."
He was full of resentment, "Mother, this move has really brought trouble to my son!"
Before the Mid-Autumn Festival marriage, Madam Wan promised her son that nothing would go wrong. However, once the marriage was arranged, everything changed.
Gu Yangsi became annoyed. When a maid came to refill the tea, her hands trembled when she walked up to him. He immediately glared at her, and this glare almost scared the maid into dropping the teapot in her hand.
Madam Wan quickly sent the little maid away, and asked her daughter-in-law Liang, "Gongrong, go and get him a cup of tea yourself."
Liang hurried over to comfort her husband, and when Mrs. Wan saw that her son had calmed down, she spoke in a friendly manner.
"Although things are not what mother had imagined before, there may be room for redemption. If we can make friends with the Marquis's Mansion, we won't be afraid of being tied to the same boat with the Shao family."
Gu Yangsi raised his eyebrows, "Is mother confused? How could Du Lingjing allow us to be on good terms with the Marquis' Mansion? She is not Qing'er."
Madam Wan didn't mind her son's rude words and instead laughed.
"Of course she is not Qing'er, but Madam Lu doesn't necessarily have to be her."
Gu Yangsi was stunned.
Just then, a servant came to report that Nanny Guan had brought the cousin to the door.
Madam Wan asked Liang to go over personally and welcome Du Runqing in.
Du Runqing did not dare to trouble his aunt, but Madam Wan just asked her to sit down, asked about her health first, then looked at the prescription written by the doctor. Seeing that she was still a little weak, she personally sent her to the side room.
Du Runqing never expected that the appearance of the wing room had been changed, and all the items had become expensive and exquisite.
She was about to say something when she saw her grandmother had sent everyone away, leaving only the two of them in the room.
Du Runqing was a little at a loss, but she heard her grandmother talking to her with a smile.
"Your coming-of-age ceremony will be on the 29th. Just stay at your grandmother's place for the next two days and take good care of yourself. On that day, I will give you a good ceremony."
With her sister and the marquis's marriage at the forefront, Du Runqing almost forgot about her coming of age.
She lowered her head and said forget it, "Grandma, don't worry about your granddaughter. Just put a hairpin in the house."
"How can that be possible? After you reach the age of 15, you will be a married woman. How can you be so careless?"
Madam Wan disagreed, but Du Runqing had no intention of getting married. She lowered her head even more and said, "My granddaughter doesn't want to get married..."
But as soon as she said this, she saw Madam Wan raised her eyebrows.
"You've only lived with your elder sister for a few days, why are you imitating her and becoming so rebellious?"
The tone was quite serious, and Du Runqing immediately shut his mouth.
She saw her grandmother looking at her seriously, "What have I taught you? Being a girl is the hardest thing in the world, and it's even harder if you're not smart. What do you think it takes to be a smart girl?"
She asked, how could Du Runqing not answer, he quickly said.
"You should be modest and docile, and go with the flow."
Seeing that she answered, Madam Wan's eyes showed some satisfaction.
"Exactly. This world belongs to men. All we can do is to stick to men, judge the situation wisely, and live our lives well."
She said slowly, "Like your elder sister, who became arrogant after reading some books, disregarding others and acting recklessly, is the worst thing to do."
When Mrs. Wan said this, she hummed and sighed.
"In fact, it's not entirely her fault. Her name itself was wrong. A woman comes into the world to prosper the family and bring harmony to the family, but her father gave her such a name."
Play the seven strings and listen quietly to the cold pine wind.
Cool and quiet.
"Listen to this name. It only means singleness and tranquility. Is this a name a girl should have? If she wants to live a peaceful and happy life for the rest of her life, in my opinion, she should change her name first."
Du Runqing suddenly remembered that after his aunt Liang came into the family, his grandmother changed her name.
She couldn't remember what her aunt's maiden name was originally, but her grandmother gave her the characters "Gong" and "Rong". After that, her aunt was just called Liang Gongrong.
Later, my grandmother felt that her name was too masculine and not gentle and cheerful enough, but she did not bother to change her name.
At this moment, she didn't dare to speak, and only listened to her grandmother saying, "A name has the greatest influence on a person's life. Her name is really wrong, and she will not live a good life in the future."
Du Runqing was a little confused.
"But my sister is going to marry the Marquis, so how can she live a bad life?"
She said this in a hoarse voice, but her grandmother laughed and her eyes fell on her face.
"If grandma's guess is correct, this is the root of your illness, right? Lord Lu is the person you've always thought of, right?"
Du Runqing was stunned. Her mind, which was already dizzy from the high fever, was now blank.
Grandmother... ...how did you know?
She was in a trance, and the scene of her first meeting with the Marquis emerged in her mind.
It was when she first came to the capital last year, her mother suddenly fell ill, and two nearby doctors gave her acupuncture, but they were unable to calm her mother down. Her grandmother and aunt were out of the capital to worship Buddha, so she had no choice but to take her father's invitation and go to the west of the city to ask for a famous doctor who could treat hysteria.
Who would have thought that halfway through the journey, the road was blocked by the carriages of a group of dignitaries. She was so anxious that she asked her servant to go and ask the dignitaries to make way.
Unexpectedly, the person standing in the middle of the road was none other than Marquis of Yongding Lu Shenru.
When she heard the name of the Marquis, she was shocked. Who would have thought that the Marquis would hear her purpose and look towards her carriage.
"It turned out to be the Du family's carriage," he said, and then he spoke directly to the officials who were traveling with him, "Please give face to Mr. Lu and let the Du family's carriage go first."
She was surprised, and before she could come to her senses, all the dignitaries made way for her.
When the carriage passed through the crowd, she couldn't help but look at where the marquis was.
That day, he was wearing a dark blue brocade robe with dark patterns. He stood on the street with his hands behind his back. He was extremely tall. He looked at her across the crowd, smiled faintly, and nodded to her.
Her heart thumped violently.
After she hurriedly called a doctor, she asked the servant to take the doctor home first, and then she returned to where she had been.
The man had already entered a restaurant nearby with a group of officials, leaving only two guards guarding the door.
She stepped forward clutching her handkerchief, "Du Shi Runqing came to thank the Marquis."
Upon hearing this, the guard went upstairs and came back from time to time.
It's not surprising that the Marquis didn't see her, she heard from the guard.
"The Marquis said that today, everyone is occupying the street, so they should give way. The young lady doesn't need to thank you."
She lowered her head and responded, thinking that the marquis would just say this, but she didn't expect the guard to speak again.
"The Marquis also instructed that the Qingzhou Du family is a family of poets and scholars, and that if the young lady has any difficulties in the future, she can come to the Marquis' Mansion for help, and the Marquis' Mansion will definitely help her."
At that time, the words went beyond the scope of politeness, and she was surprised.
Two months later, when she went to buy medicine for her mother, she found that there was a rare herb in short supply. She went to several stores but all were told it was out of stock and she would have to wait several months for it to be available.
She was only afraid that she would delay her mother's illness, and in her anxiety, she inexplicably thought of the Marquis' words. Logically, she shouldn't take it seriously, but inexplicably she felt that the Marquis was someone she could rely on.
She sent someone to take the invitation to the Marquis' Mansion, but she never expected that the medicinal materials that were supposed to take more than a month to be prepared would be delivered to the Du family's door the next day!
Seeing that she could no longer hide her thoughts from her grandmother, she simply told her grandmother everything.
"... Not only did they deliver the herbs, but the Marquis' Mansion even paid for it."
Although Madam Wan guessed what her granddaughter was thinking, she did not expect such a thing to happen.
Her eyes softened, "So you didn't follow the etiquette and thank the Marquis?"
"How dare my granddaughter be rude? I came here in person. But there was a war at the border at the beginning of the year, and the Marquis was out of the capital, so I didn't see him." She clenched her hands gently, "But my granddaughter wanted to return the money to the Marquis' Mansion, but the Marquis's steward said that the Marquis had instructed that the Du family didn't have to pay it back, and told me not to worry about it."
When the little girl said this, a blush appeared on her originally sickly face.
Madam Wan couldn't help but laugh, and looked at her granddaughter with more loving eyes.
"It turns out that the Marquis and Qing'er have been connected before. This is really a good thing."
The little girl's heart started beating, but she seemed to think of something and suddenly felt empty in her heart. This emptiness made her throat dry.
"But the Marquis... is already my sister's husband."
But her grandmother raised an eyebrow, "Really? What did your eldest sister say about this marriage?"
Du Runqing didn't quite understand what her grandmother meant, but she remembered what her eldest sister said in the morning and repeated it to her grandmother.
Madam Wan laughed when she heard it, "Look, your elder sister doesn't like it."
"But even so, since the marriage is granted by the imperial decree, my eldest sister must marry the Marquis."
But her words made my grandmother laugh even more.
"Who said that? The book submitted to the clan government was written by your father under my instruction. If I remember correctly, it was not written on it that she was the only daughter of Du Zhili, but the granddaughter of your grandfather Du Yijing."
Madam Wan left this hope at the time, thinking that maybe she would have the chance to marry her granddaughter to Shao Boju, the top scholar in the imperial examination.
Who knew that Shao Bo could not succeed and was replaced by Yongding Hou!
She looked after her granddaughter Du Runqing.
"Your grandfather has more than one granddaughter, and you, my son, will be old enough to get married after the 29th of this month. Isn't it a coincidence that you just happen to be eligible for the imperial decree granting marriage."
As soon as the words were spoken, the room fell silent.
Du Runqing could only hear his own heartbeat, pounding like a drum.
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