Chapter 27 Chapter 27 Chunxiang
He invited her to go to the place outside the city, which was the towering building that had been built by the Ministry of Works for six years and was comparable to the royal Wenlan Pavilion.
The Du family's Mianlou was spacious and three-story, and it took most of his grandfather's efforts to build it. The Lu family's building was six stories high, with overlapping eaves rising up to the sky. The bricks, stones, and wood were all of the best quality, and it was rare that it did not have carved beams and painted buildings like the Marquis' Mansion, but was simple and majestic, majestic and solemn.
At first glance, it looks like a building that houses millions of books.
Chongping personally led the way for her. The door of the building was wide open, and the wind rushed down. She climbed the stairs and saw rows of bookshelves on the empty floors. However, the bookshelves were still empty, waiting for the new owners to fill them up one by one.
He was waiting on the third floor.
Du Lingjing walked all the way to the third floor, and inexplicably, she could still see some traces of Mianlou.
But the next moment, she saw the man standing in front of the large sandalwood desk.
Chongping asked her to step forward. Du Lingjing saw that in addition to the bookshelves, there was also a transparent study room.
The sunlight came in from the window on one side and sprinkled on the sandalwood desk, making it more and more like the study room on the third floor of Mian Building.
But this time, before she could ask any questions, he spoke first.
"I sent someone to Qingzhou specifically," he asked her, "are you used to it?"
Du Lingjing really seemed to be very used to it. For a moment, it seemed like she was at home in Qingzhou, except that outside the window, there was no bamboo forest outside the Mian Building...
He walked over.
"I've heard about the child that Jiang Liulang and Lady Hu left at home."
Du Lingjing calmed down and heard him say, "You should think that you can't wait any longer. Whether it's to spread the news or let them find you with peace of mind, this building is yours. You can open the building in the name of Du and Lu and collect the books yourself. This is the fastest way."
He was wearing a dark-patterned brocade robe today, and the hem of the robe swayed as he walked, like ink from the tip of a pen falling on it.
With every step he took and every word he said, Du Lingjing knew that what he said was as clear as black and white on paper, and she really had no way to refute it.
She slowly looked at the building. Both the bookshelves and the study were already in place.
The man let her look slowly, and after a while, she looked at him impartially.
From the chance encounter when he first came to the capital, to his insistence on marrying her with this building as a betrothal gift, to his repeated tolerance after marriage, to his full support today.
Du Lingjing has always had a question in her mind that she could not answer no matter what.
At this moment, she opened her mouth to ask.
"My Lord, what do you want?"
What exactly does he want and what can she give him? Can you tell her?
For the first time, she asked directly, asking the biggest question in her heart.
Lu Shenru paused for a moment after hearing this, then started laughing again.
"Can Quanquan guess what I want?"
He also asked her.
If Du Lingjing could guess it, she wouldn't ask.
She shook her head.
The man continued, "Then if I say I don't want anything, you won't believe me either?"
Du Lingjing nodded.
She shook her head and nodded, and Lu Shenru couldn't help but smile at his newlywed wife.
But he did not rush to speak, his gaze gently fell on her fluttering eyelashes, and her eyes filled with clear water.
Like the mountain sunlight shining through the trees on the water, it is clear, clean, quiet and peaceful.
Just by looking at it like this, one's ups and downs in this world, the messy and chaotic emotions, are cleansed and calmed down bit by bit.
"If you really want me to say it," Lu Shenru just looked at her, "I want you."
"I want to be your husband and wife for this life."
Du Lingjing paused.
His eyes were only on her.
"But this building is not a transaction. I promised it to my wife..."
He paused here briefly, looking at her slightly stunned expression.
Is it affection, or is it love...?
But he said gently, "It is the sincerity of a lifetime."
He stopped talking here, and seeing her standing there quietly with her lips pursed and her eyes in confusion, he did not disturb her, but walked to the Duobao Pavilion beside him, picked up a small stone screen that looked like the one used in Mian Tower, and wiped it gently with a handkerchief.
Du Lingjing didn't know whether this was an answer or not.
She also looked towards the Duobao Pavilion and saw him thoughtfully placing the stone screen on the top, and asked her softly.
"In the Mian Building, it is placed at the top, right?"
Du Lingjing ignored him and lowered her eyes.
She vaguely understood.
Regardless of whether he really fell in love at first sight at the Zhenyue Tower as he said, his "affection" probably does exist.
She couldn't help but think of the maid who had come to their room to light incense on the wedding night a few days ago. The maid smiled, lit the acacia incense and left.
When he came back he smelled it, glanced at the incense burner and shook his head.
He said that this was a rule passed down from his grandfather's time. It was said that his grandmother saw that his parents were busy with their own things and did not do anything all day, and she was embarrassed to urge them directly, so she asked the nanny to come and light incense every few days.
But after he explained to her that day, he put out the incense.
Looking out of the window, I could see all kinds of precious tree species, but there was no bamboo forest. There were only a few bamboos planted in the far corner of the wall.
Du Lingjing knew that it would be difficult to change her mind.
But, perhaps, she could also be his wife in this life...
He put the stone screen in place, and Du Lingjing spoke slowly.
"Thank you, my Lord. I'll take this building."
He turned his head to look at her, then wiped his hands and walked over with a smile in his eyes.
"Then please, Madam, give this building a name first."
She even has to come up with the name.
Du Lingjing thought about it and said two words.
"Return to the forest."
Guilin Tower was the library she opened to find the missing members of the Fu Party.
Acquisition means a weary bird returning to the forest.
The man nodded slowly upon hearing this.
Not only the weary birds return to the forest, but also the roosting birds return to fly and the young swallows return to their nests.
He looked at her profile and smiled.
“What a nice name.”
Du Lingjing didn't know what he was laughing at, so he picked the day after tomorrow and asked someone to carve the plaque as soon as possible and open the building to collect the books for storage.
On the day when Guilin Tower was opened, countless people came to congratulate.
But within a day, the whole capital knew that Mrs. Lu had opened a building in the suburbs of Beijing to store books. The building was named Guilin, and within half a month of opening, all books sent to the building would be collected at high prices.
Not to mention the scholars, even ordinary people started talking about this matter.
Someone mentioned a rumor they heard from somewhere, saying that Marquis Lu's wife was depressed on her wedding day. The Marquis lifted her veil and saw tear marks on her face. However, the Marquis didn't care at all. He spoke softly and wiped her tears.
"Marquis Lu got married at the age of twenty-five. She is the only daughter of a minister, and the marriage was granted by imperial decree. If he really put his heart into it, it would be hard not to impress the Marquis' wife, right?"
"Yes, from now on, this Guilin Building will probably become the largest library in the entire Northland, except for the royal family."
The news spread like leaves in the forest, carried by the wind.
Du Runqing lived in her mother's dowry farm outside Beijing and had never returned to Beijing. Her illness had recovered, and standing in the farm, she could see the towering buildings in the mountains from a distance.
She had an inexplicable feeling.
She felt that perhaps this building, which the Marquis had spent six years building, was built for her sister.
The capital city, Du Mansion in Chengqingfang.
Du Zhiqi had not seen anyone from the Marquis's Mansion since his niece came home that day. Who could not tell that the Marquis's Mansion did not come to visit? Was there a friend who wanted to meet him for a drink? Now he was gone.
He could only go out for a drink alone, but restaurants everywhere were talking about the fact that Marquis Lu had opened a bookstore for Jingniang. It was such a big thing, but he, as her uncle, didn't even know about it, and he only heard about it in the restaurant.
He was too embarrassed to go out, so he retreated back to his home. However, he did not forget to send someone to Huanghuafang next door to ask about the condition of his uncle's injuries.
Gu Mansion in Huanghuafang.
When Madam Wan heard that Du Zhiqi had sent someone to check on her son, she snorted coldly, "He won't die."
The news that Marquis Lu's wife had opened a building to store books spread throughout the capital, and many people went out of the capital to show their support for the Marquis's mansion.
Mrs. Wan’s Rong Yu Hall was silent.
But she inexplicably recalled this marriage.
After all, she was known as the Matchmaker of the Capital, and had handled so many marriages for high-ranking families. She could guess to some extent what the Emperor in the palace was thinking. How could she have failed in this matter?
The more she thought about it, the more she felt that this marriage was very strange.
"Du Shi... Lord Lu?"
Within three days, the chief steward of the clan successively transferred eight accountants to Guilin Tower to help.
Du Lingjing found that it was normal when she received the books at first, but this marquis was very generous and the books she received in the past two days had become a little strange.
"It's too expensive to go on like this." She wanted to persuade him to at least set a threshold.
He said it was okay, "Guilin Tower is so big. If it is according to my wife's vision, how long will it take to fill it up? Besides, we have just opened the building, so we should accept everyone who comes."
Du Ling was silent and quietly opened a brand new booklet that had just been collected.
This story was compiled by modern people, the printing plate is crude, and there are many mistakes and omissions.
That’s fine, but what’s the content of this storybook?
Du Ling patiently flipped through two pages and glanced at the man next to her who accepted everyone who came to her.
"Does the Marquis accept even books like this?"
Lu Shenru looked up and saw that it was a storybook compiled by modern people. It had little collection value, but the books they collected also included storybooks compiled by ancient people. It would be worth keeping it for a few hundred years.
He said he wanted to collect them because he didn't want the library to be too empty.
After he finished speaking, he heard her let out a long "Oh" and called out to Acorus, "Put it away for the Marquis."
These words sounded a little wrong to my ears, and I couldn't help but look over again. When I looked over, my neck froze.
There was a line written crookedly on the book: A few things about the charm of Lord Lu.
Flipping through the pages, one can see that the book "records" in detail the romantic affairs between Marquis Lu, a powerful figure in the capital, and his many confidantes, including a Tatar princess, a singing girl in a restaurant, a lady from an aristocratic family, a nun in a temple, and a pretty widow.
This is only the first volume.
"... ..."
Lu Shenru felt his face a little hot, but he managed to hold it back and glanced at his wife calmly.
Du Lingjing was not impatient and took out a few similar storybooks from the side. "These few books can be put together to form a set."
The man muttered, "Madam, do you want to help me compile a set, and then print and sell it?"
She seemed to think about it.
"If the Marquis wants to publish it," she said, "although Du's Publishing House has never published such a book, if the Marquis insists, we can ask Manager Zhao to come up with another name to publish it."
Lu Shenru saw that she was very serious.
She said she could help him print it, but she felt it was embarrassing to sell such books, so she would never use her name.
The man couldn't help but laugh.
Just changed his mind and paused.
Was she teasing him? Was she joking with him in a serious way?
He was stunned and looked at her. Her pretty face still had a normal expression, but her eyes were filled with a pleasant smile, and the corners of her eyes were slightly curved.
He watched for a moment.
He didn't care about any romantic affairs, even if it was a nun from the temple or a pretty widow who came to him.
He only looked at his lady.
There was a moment of silence in the library.
Du Lingjing claimed that he had collected books for many years, but this was the first time he had seen a book about him. He thought it was written by someone in Beijing.
She tried her best not to smile too obviously, but when she turned around, her eyes met his.
My heart skipped a beat for no apparent reason.
She immediately turned around and called Qiu Lin, "Let's take a look at the bookshelf upstairs."
She went upstairs quickly.
The man looked at her back for a long while, until her back disappeared.
All he thought about.
... ...
Within a few days, the news spread not only to northern Zhili, but also to several nearby provinces.
In a dilapidated Taoist temple in the mountains.
Hidden among the broken trees and ruins, several people sat beside an extinguished fire.
"Gui Lin Tower, does it mean a weary bird returning to the forest?" The man sitting in the middle was about twenty-five or twenty-six years old, with a slightly pale face. He whispered the news he had just heard.
As soon as he finished speaking, the woman next to him held his hand.
"Brother, that's what I mean!"
Hu Tinglan looked at her sister, and saw that she couldn't stop crying. She kept saying, "It's Jingniang, it's Jingniang who is looking for us! She used the same method that we used to use in the bookstore to read books and play. She is looking for us and she is so anxious that she even opened this Guilin Tower!"
Hu Tinglan was silent for a moment, then he sighed deeply. It seemed that the slightest movement had hurt the wound, and his face turned even paler, but he said.
"After all, Jingniang was involved."
After Shao Boju's first wife passed away, he saw that Jiang Zhuxiu also died of illness, so he wanted to remarry her and asked the Hu brothers and sisters to negotiate the matter.
But neither the brother nor the sister agreed.
Jingniang had lost her parents. After Jiang Jieyuan passed away, she just stayed in Mianlou. She had no one else in her heart, so how could she talk about becoming Shao Boju's second wife?
After Hu Tinglan knew that Shao Boju had been selected as the third place in the imperial examination, he didn't want to be suppressed by his uncle anymore. He was valued by the emperor and favored by Lord Dou. As long as he could build up his own power, he could become completely independent from his uncle.
He once tried to ask him to help him contact his former Fuchen party members, originally wanting to use the Fuchen party to help him gain a foothold.
But the reason why Fu Chen is Fu Chen is that he is impartial, and he does not want to get involved in the fight between the Yong Wang and Hui Wang factions.
This is what he meant by trying to win over Fu Chen or remarrying Jing Niang.
After all, all the officials in the Fu clan were united by following Du Zhili, the Lord Du. They admired his knowledge and political ideas and followed his new policies. Jingniang was his jewel in the palm of his hand and was well-known among the literati for her collection of books and seals.
But no matter which path he took, Shao Boju failed.
Hu Tinglan had advised him that he was already a third place winner, and that as long as he kept moving forward, his uncle would not be able to suppress him forever. If he won over his cronies and became a powerful official who could command the support of all, he would only be one step away from becoming a treacherous official.
He always wanted to give advice, but he could never have imagined that the moment Shao Boju was chosen as the third place in the imperial examination, he had been deeply immersed in power and unable to extricate himself. In order to win over his cronies and gain a firm foothold, he did everything he could.
Not until he had the evidence of the Shaw brothers' crimes in his hand did he point the sword towards him.
At first, they tried to coax him into giving them the evidence, but when he refused to hand it over, they asked his cousin to kill them.
The wound on his shoulder was aching slightly, but Hu Tinglan knew that the pain was not actually the wound, but the pain from his old friend who was inseparable and had a close relationship with him.
He also tried to transfer the evidence away and find someone to report it to the court.
But whoever he looked for, Shao Boju would stare at him.
Shao Boju knew him too well, and he even wanted to threaten him with other people.
He could only write a letter asking all his acquaintances to avoid the Shaw Brothers, and then he went into hiding temporarily with the people who knew the evidence of his crime.
It was expected that the imperial court would notice so many people missing.
But he forgot that those who were hiding were all members of the Anti-Party, who were already being ostracized and neglected in the court, while Shao Boju was the emperor's favorite, and everyone would give him face.
Shao Boju naturally would not sit idly by and allow them to release the evidence of his crimes. Shao Wuxing's methods were so ruthless that they could hardly even hide.
It was not until later that Shao Boju wanted to force Jingniang to marry him and threatened those former followers of Lord Du to hand over the evidence. This caused rumors to spread throughout the capital overnight, and more people came to look for him.
But with so many people, it is difficult to tell who can be trusted and who cannot be trusted.
At first they thought of simply handing the evidence over to the Yongding Marquis' Mansion.
However, the Yongding Marquis's Mansion did not get along well with the civil officials, and the Marquis Lu was the most powerful official among them and extremely unfathomable. He discussed with everyone many times but was unable to make the plan.
Who would have thought that with a piece of paper of marriage, Jingniang would become the wife of Marquis Lu.
Everyone discussed this matter a few days ago.
Can they trust Lord Lu now?
And today, news came that Guilin Tower was open for business and was collecting books.
"Brother, even if we don't dare to trust the Marquis Yongding easily, we should also trust Jingniang." Hu Tingjun looked at his brother's pale face, "Your injury can't be delayed any longer!"
After being chased for many days, everyone was inevitably injured, among which Hu Tinglan was the most seriously injured.
Mr. Liao Xuliao from Baoding Academy also spoke.
"We can't figure out whether Lord Lu can believe it, so let Jingniang decide. If she believes Lu Shenru, it will only take a moment for the Lu family to rescue us. If she doesn't believe it, we can discuss other methods."
Hu Tinglan was silent for a moment, then nodded slowly.
He called his sister and said, "You are closest to Jingniang. You can pass the letter to her by hiding it in the book."
Hu Tingjun responded immediately.
Hu Tinglan thought about it again, "It may not be appropriate to directly give us our location. It would be better if someone could go to Beijing to meet her."
Hu Tingjun then said that he could go.
But Mr. Liao waved his hand and said, "The people under Shaw are too familiar with you. You can't go. I'll go instead."
But his leg was injured, and it was difficult for him to walk. A few people said that he could go to the capital. Hu Tinglan looked over and saw a man tightening the white cloth band on his arm to stop bleeding and walked out from behind the crowd.
"Why are you all fighting? I'm here to see my sister-in-law."
Everyone looked towards him.
The man seemed to be in his early twenties, wearing a bamboo green robe and a sword at his waist. He smiled as he spoke, and his every move revealed the elegance of a scholar as well as the vigor of a warrior.
He is Jiang Fengchuan, the sixth son of the Jiang family and the younger brother of Jiang Jieyuan and Jiang Zhuxiu.
He said he was going, and everyone was silent.
Hu Tingjun asked him, "Liu Lang, is it appropriate?"
Jiang Fengchuan laughed.
"What's wrong with that? My brother has a bad fate, and my sister-in-law can't always stay with him, right? It's a good thing for her to get married again. I was going to Beijing to give her a gift, and this time I can see how she is doing."
This is not a problem. Besides, Jiang Fengchuan had just recently come into conflict with Shao Wuxing's people and had accidentally found them. Shao was not familiar with him.
Hu Tinglan thought about it and nodded.
Everyone agreed, and Jiang Fengchuan smiled and turned around to prepare to set off.
But Uncle Hui beside him glanced at him.
Uncle Hui was the former companion of Jiang Sanlang and Jiang Zhuxiu. When Jiang Fengchuan left home for the journey, he wore his brother's clothes, led his brother's horse, and asked his brother's old friends if they wanted to go with him. Uncle Hui followed him.
Uncle Hui couldn't help but look at him a few more times, "Sixth Master is really going?"
"What's wrong, Uncle Hui? Can't I go see my sister-in-law?"
He raised his eyebrows and smiled at Uncle Hui, "Don't worry, I know what is more important."
After saying this, she raised her starry eyes and looked towards the north in the direction of the capital city.
*
Capital city.
As the days went by, more and more books were collected in Guilin Tower.
But gradually, people picked out a few different books from the vast number of books.
When Du Lingjing first saw the handwriting on it, her hands trembled.
It's not someone else's handwriting, it's Hu Tingjun's!
However, since the books were collected in scattered pieces, Tingjun did not dare to spread the news in a high-profile manner. She worked carefully for several days and figured out the time, which was three days later, and the location was in the north of the capital.
As for where the north of the city is, no one knows yet.
Qiulin, Ai Ye and the others, as well as the people in the Marquis' Mansion, were almost blinded by what they saw.
There are so many books that it is impossible for Du Lingjing to sort them out alone.
Her eyesight was not good to begin with, and it hurt so much yesterday that she could hardly open her eyes. Lu Shenru came and took her directly back to the Marquis' Mansion.
But Du Lingjing still secretly asked Qiulin to bring back two boxes of books.
Today, just as she was about to flip through it, the man walked in.
"If you don't want your eyes anymore, sell them to me. I'll take any amount of money."
Du Lingjing: "..."
She glanced at him. He seemed to be very busy these past two days because of some military affairs in the northwest. But he came over, picked up a chair and sat down next to her desk. He took a pile of books and started flipping through them for her one by one.
She couldn't see anything, so she could only watch him.
He smiled and let her look at him. He lowered his head and carefully searched for any hidden codes in the books.
I don't know how long it took, but it got dark.
Du Lingjing stood up and lit the lamp for him. She was about to say forget it, there were still two days left, so it should be in time.
The man's hand that was turning the pages of the book suddenly stopped.
Du Lingjing took a look at his finger and found that there were three different words among those tiny book reviews.
It’s exactly Hu Tingjun’s handwriting!
Found it!
It was three days later, at the Fire God Temple eight miles north of the city!
Du Ling couldn't help but take a deep breath.
“I just don’t know who’s coming.”
Will Tingjun come? Or someone else?
The man also stood up and reached out to hold her hand.
"No matter who it is, I will go with you and we will definitely be able to pick him up."
As autumn deepened, her fingertips grew cold, but his palms were always warm enough.
The heat and strength all came from his palms.
At this time, there was the voice of a nanny asking questions outside the door. She heard him answer and the nanny walked in. Perhaps as soon as she entered the room, she saw the two of them holding hands together, blinking, and a smile appeared in the wrinkles at the corners of their eyes.
Du Lingjing tried to pull her hand back, but the man didn't let go.
The nanny smiled even more, but said nothing. She just went into the inner room, opened the incense burner, and quietly lit a stick of incense.
It is the fragrance of spring, the fragrance of cassia.
The nanny nodded and retreated.
The charming fragrance lingered and spread throughout the room.
The man paused, turned around and looked at his wife, and seeing that she was also stunned, he said, "I'll go put out the incense."
But before he could let go of her hand, he felt an extremely weak force in his palm, gently pulling him.
The man stopped.
"Quanquan?"
Du Lingjing said softly, "Don't go and extinguish it."
For a moment, Lu Shenru thought he had heard it wrong.
But that slight force and her gentle obstruction.
His heart thumped.
"Can you say that again?"
He stared at her, but she turned her head slightly away from him and looked only at the lingering fragrance.
"Tonight, keep this incense."
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