Chapter 47 Chapter 47 Sincerity
The palace banquet before the New Year was scheduled to be held in the West Garden beside the Taiye Lake, on the west side of the imperial city.
The Yongding Marquis' Mansion is located outside the Xi'an Gate to the west of the imperial city, in Jiqingfang, separated by a moat.
Other families might have to go around half the city to get here. Du Lingjing followed the marquis out of his house and arrived outside the palace gate.
So he was not in a hurry and told her that Taiye Lake was frozen and if he went there early he would just blow the wind on the ice.
"You've just been sick, and you'll suffer from the cold again. Let's wait until they are all here before we go."
He really did what he said and sent someone to inquire. After hearing that the old lady in her 80s from Dou Ge's hometown had arrived tremblingly, he asked Qiu Lin to wrap her in a thick cloak and take her to the imperial city.
Du Lingjing had been here before, when she was only a young girl, and she followed her father into the palace for a banquet. Because she was a young girl, only girls of similar age would pay attention to her.
But this time it was different. As soon as she and the marquis arrived outside the banquet hall by the Taiye Lake, all the eyes scattered around the lake began to turn to her one after another.
This was the first time that Mrs. Lu attended a banquet after marrying Marquis Lu.
It's not that every family has sent invitations to Marquis Lu's wife before, but it's only natural that the first time the Marquis' wife attends a banquet, she would choose an occasion like the New Year's Palace banquet.
However, because she had never been to any banquet, many people in the capital had never seen this woman who suddenly came to the capital from Qingzhou and inexplicably married the most prominent and powerful official in the capital, Marquis Lu, with the help of an imperial decree.
Everyone now looked at her intently and saw that she was wearing an amber cloak trimmed with snow fox fur, and an autumn-scented stand-up collar and double-breasted jacket. The dark patterns all over her body seemed to be embroidered with gold thread, and although she looked ordinary, the dark-colored flowers shone with a faint golden glow under the sunlight, just like the melting ice on the Taiye Lake, with the sun reflecting off the rippling water.
Under the double-breasted jacket, she wore a brown skirt, which made her look more gorgeous and steady.
Her eyebrows are long, slender and beautiful, and her feathery eyelashes gently cover her eyes as calm as water. She moves with moderation, and her every move reveals a strong scholarly air.
She is the most prominent wife of Marquis Lu in the capital today, and the only daughter of Lord Du, who was a powerful figure during the reign of the previous emperor. She is also respected by scholars in the literati circle, which is a status that many noble ladies with outstanding family backgrounds do not have.
At that moment, everyone was secretly watching her every move. She looked normal. Seeing that the women were gathered in the garden on the west side, separated from the men, and someone came forward to greet the Marquis, she said a few words to the Marquis and turned to walk to the west.
Unexpectedly, just as she took a step, the Marquis turned around.
The Marquis asked the person who came to greet him to wait for a moment, then turned around and said a few words to his wife.
Someone heard Lord Lu's voice. The man's voice was as low and hoarse as usual, but he did not tell his newlywed wife what to do like other men. Instead, he pointed at the lake and told his wife not to go on the ice. He also said that the wind was very strong under a section of willow trees along the river, so his wife should not go there, but could go to the plum forest on the other side.
Madam nodded one by one, but the Marquis was still reluctant to let her leave. He said that he was on the other side and said to her in a gentle voice, "If you have any questions, send someone to find me."
"I know." She had to say.
The man called her maidservant, "Qiulin, take good care of the lady."
"yes."
Only then was she able to turn around, and the Marquis watched her leave before he resumed greeting others.
Everyone who watched Lord Lu and his wife's every move began to think about it in secret.
Du Lingjing had just walked a short distance when the wife of the Marquis of Jing'an came up to talk to her with several young ladies.
The old Marquis of Jing'an is the deceased Marquis of the Lu family. They are old friends who have quarreled all their lives. Although they quarrel, the two families always help each other and have a very close relationship.
Every month, Du Lingjing heard about the important matters of the Marquis' Mansion, and the Marquis' Mansion of Jing'an was mentioned at the meeting. However, even this wife of the Crown Prince was of the same generation as her aunt, while several young ladies were of the same age as her.
The people from the Jing'an Marquis' Mansion were the first to come forward to greet her, and then one after another, the women from other families who were on good terms with the Yongding Marquis' Mansion also came forward to greet Marquis Lu's wife one by one.
Du Lingjing was still fine, but Qiu Lin, who was standing beside her, was already facing a great enemy.
There were so many ladies, wives, and girls from this family and that mansion that she broke out in a sweat trying to remember all of them for her own wife, fearing that she might have made a mistake.
Qiu Lin heaved a sigh of relief only after the people who had finally come forward dispersed and Du Lingjing also walked around the plum forest and was surrounded by them to the front of the banquet hall.
"Madam, I may have only remembered 50% or 60% of it."
With so many people, it would be good enough if you can remember half or six out of ten.
Du Lingjing comforted her and told her not to be nervous, "I remember everything."
Qiulin breathed a sigh of relief, and then he remembered that his wife had read countless books and could remember them all, so the people in this garden were nothing to her.
Those sitting in the banquet hall were the elderly dowagers and madams from each family.
Although Du Lingjing was young and of a low generation, the status of that marquis was too transcendent. When she stepped into the banquet hall, she was led by the palace servants all the way to the top, almost to the front under the royal family, facing the old lady of Dou Ge's old family.
Now even Du Lingjing couldn't help but feel a little warm under everyone's gaze.
Just at this moment, someone strode into the banquet hall from the east side.
As soon as he stepped into the hall, he looked at her from afar, his eyes looking at her across half of the people in the banquet hall, and smiled at her gently.
For some reason, Du Lingjing felt as if he had discovered her, and she began to sweat nervously.
Was he laughing at her?
Du Ling glanced at the man silently, and saw that he smiled even more and was also being carried upstairs. She turned her head away and ignored him.
It was getting late, and everyone came into the banquet hall one after another and took their seats, waiting for the emperor, empress, and imperial concubine to arrive.
Madam Wan was at home a few days ago, worried about the palace banquet before the New Year, and the Emperor would not allow her to enter the palace. But the Emperor finally allowed her to come for the sake of her deceased sister, Concubine Wan.
Madam Wan felt relieved and felt quite relieved for a few days. But today, she sat in an inconspicuous position, and few people came forward to talk to her. But she saw the girl from the Du family come into the hall, and she walked up to sit opposite the old lady from the Dou family.
After a moment of daze, Madam Wan realized that she was no longer the orphan girl of the Du family, but the wife of Marquis Lu of Yongding.
All kinds of feelings surged in his heart at once, but he couldn't say much. He just stared at the back of Mrs. Lu in silence for a long time.
There was also one person who almost failed to attend the palace banquet.
There was a murder case in the Rongchang Marquis' Mansion, so Yang Jinyu's mother, Lady Rongchang Marquis, was naturally not among the invited guests. Fortunately, married daughters were not implicated. Although her mother-in-law did not want to take her with her, she was the wife of the Crown Prince of the Weiguo Duke's Mansion after all, so she still had to consider her dignity.
The Duke of Wei's Mansion and the Marquis of Yongding's Mansion are not close. On the contrary, the Duke's Mansion has been declining since the first Duke, and is now suppressed by the Marquis of Yongding's Mansion.
However, the Yongding Marquis' Mansion is very powerful, and if the children of the Weiguo Duke's Mansion want to make meritorious service in the army and accumulate honors, they can only rely on the promotion of the Yongding Marquis' Mansion.
Initially, the Duke of Weiguo's Mansion wanted to marry Lu Huairu, the eldest daughter of the Lu family, to the Crown Prince.
However, more than one monk or Taoist predicted that Lu Huairu would be the mother of the country. At that time, several young princes of the late emperor were interested in marrying her, but the Duke of Weiguo's Mansion could not get her, so they could only settle for the second best and marry her.
They married her because the Rongchang Marquis' Mansion and the Yongding Marquis' Mansion's Lu family had been friends for generations, and she could be valued by the Lu family because of this.
But she didn't expect that when her two younger brothers got into trouble this time, Lu would just give up.
In the past few days, the attitudes of her husband's family towards her have completely changed. Even the prince has not come to her courtyard for half a month...
Yang Jinyu felt a tightness in her chest whenever she thought about this.
She also looked silently at the wife of Marquis Lu who sat upstairs.
However, Du Lingjing felt more and more stares, and she gradually adapted to everyone's gazes. Not long after, the emperor, the queen, the imperial concubine, and other concubines entered the banquet hall.
Du Lingjing looked at the imperial concubine and found that she was still the same as she had been a few months ago, with not much change.
However, I heard that the emperor was indeed ill due to the court officials. He had been ill for a few days ago and it seemed that he was not fully recovered yet. His face was pale and he looked listless.
As for the Empress, this was the first time Du Lingjing had seen her. It was said that she was devastated by the death of the Crown Prince and almost died with him. After that, her health was bad and she could only show up three times a year. This year, she only showed up twice, at the Empress's Thousand Years' Day and at this palace banquet.
It was obvious that her relationship with the Imperial Concubine was not good. The Imperial Concubine was very polite, but the Queen didn't even look at her.
Du Lingjing thought to herself that the followers of Lu and Prince Hui were probably waiting for the Queen to pass away. Only when the Queen passed away could the Imperial Concubine enter the Pepper Palace, and Prince Hui would be the undisputed legitimate son of the Emperor and the only candidate for the Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace.
However, the Emperor seemed to have some affection for the Empress as they were married couples, and he had ordered the imperial physician to take good care of the Empress's health. Now that he himself was ill, he even had someone burn a charcoal basin under the Empress' feet.
But the Queen was in no mood. The banquet was just half over, and after receiving everyone's New Year blessings, she said she was not feeling well and left.
The emperor sighed.
As the imperial concubine's sister-in-law, Du Lingjing is very careful in what she says and does.
From time to time, the emperor expressed his joy at the New Year and words of encouragement to his subjects, and then left the table for a while.
As soon as the person at the top left, things below gradually became more lively.
The imperial concubine spoke to her for a few words and then left for the time being. Then someone else came to greet her. After Du Lingjing perked up and talked for a while, she felt a little tired.
Just as I took a sip of tea and took a breath, I felt a familiar gaze falling on me.
She looked up and their eyes met his in mid-air.
He spoke to her from a distance, "Are you tired? Go change your clothes and take a rest."
The sound couldn't be transmitted, but Du Lingjing could always understand his lip language.
"Okay," she said.
His eyes softened and he raised his chin to her, signaling her to go and rest quickly.
As no one came forward at this moment, she turned and went to the guest house where guests could change their clothes.
Other female relatives who were familiar with each other had already gone to the side rooms of these small courtyards to chat. Du Lingjingruo could also find a quiet courtyard with no one in the side room, take a nap, and then return to the banquet hall to continue the palace banquet after she had rested.
However, she had just walked a short distance out of the banquet hall when someone stopped her on the path.
She is the wife of the Crown Prince of Weiguo, Miss Yang Jinyu.
When Du Lingjing saw her, she just nodded and said nothing. It was obvious that she didn't want to say more to Miss Yang.
But Miss Yang did not retreat, but took a step forward.
"Madam Hou, please stay. Jin Yu wants to talk to you."
She was quite humble, totally different from the angry and annoyed attitude she had when they met on the street that day.
Her attitude changed so drastically that even Qiu Lin noticed it and secretly pulled Du Lingjing's sleeve.
Du Lingjing knew what was going on, and also knew that the marquis didn't want her to listen to what Miss Yang said, so she said it.
"Today is the palace banquet. If the Crown Prince's wife has anything to say, it won't be too late to talk later."
There is no need to say more about it later.
Yang Jinyu was secretly annoyed when she saw that she didn't want to pay attention to her. Then she saw that she was about to miss her and the nanny behind her and go to the other side. She turned sideways and completely blocked Du Lingjing's way.
"Madam, this matter is urgent and cannot wait any longer."
She refused to let Du Lingjing go no matter what, and Du Lingjing sighed inwardly.
"Then Madam Prince, please speak."
Seeing that she looked calm, Yang Jinyu did not get impatient or angry when he tried to stop her. Instead, he felt a little nervous.
But she still said, "Madam, you should know why I came. I heard that the Marquis is supporting the ministers who are against Madam and returning to the court to serve as officials. We know that the Marquis has worked hard to plan for His Royal Highness Prince Hui, but the Marquis has accepted all the ministers who are against Madam, so shouldn't he also consider us old friends? Save my two younger brothers."
Although she said she wanted to save her brother, her implicit meaning was that Lu Shenru was focusing on winning over the Fu party, and even if he had to ignore his old friends, he would take the opportunity to make the Fu party his own.
Du Lingjing still knew about it when he was arranging the members of the Fu party to return to the court.
If he wanted to recruit people, why would he leave aside the ministers who opposed his party?
Does Miss Yang think that she will stop the Marquis from employing people?
She looked at Yang Jinyu and said, "I'm afraid I can't say anything about your brother's affairs. Madam Crown Prince, please find someone else who can help you."
But Yang Jinyu said, "How could Madam be speechless? The Marquis values Madam so much that he went to the Emperor to ask for an imperial decree to grant her marriage in order to marry her. Only then did he bring her home. How could he not value her?"
There was no one on the path in Meilin, only the wind blowing from Taiye Lake, blowing the flower buds on the branches that had not yet fully bloomed.
Qiu Lin was shocked when he heard this.
Miss Yang is saying that the Emperor's marriage between the Marquis and his wife was not an accident, nor was it the Emperor's intention, but was something the Marquis specifically requested? !
But that’s not what the Marquis told his wife.
She tensed her expression and looked secretly at her wife.
Du Lingjing said nothing, just looked at Miss Yang.
Yang Jinyu became more and more worried. She didn't know how this marriage came about. She couldn't ask the emperor or Prince Yan.
But if Lady Lu believed that the Marquis intended to marry her, then it would be different.
Isn't it that she is still concerned about the Jiang family champion and doesn't really want to get married?
She took a deep breath and looked into Du Lingjing's eyes.
"I don't know if Madam knows about this. But the Marquis has not been married for many years and has never been interested in any woman. No one in the capital has heard that the Marquis is going to get married this year, but he suddenly married Madam."
"Of course, the lady is a virtuous woman with great talent and intelligence, but more importantly, the lady is the daughter of Lord Du. Even though the Lord has passed away, those ministers who opposed the party still care about the Du family..."
Yang Jinyu no longer cared that they were in the imperial city, beside the Taiye Lake, and needed to be extremely careful with her words, she said.
"The Marquis wants to recruit the Fu Party officials for his own use, but they don't dare to trust the Marquis. After the Shao Boju incident broke out, the Marquis immediately realized that this is a perfect opportunity. If he can marry the lady, and then save the Fu Party officials in the name of the Du family's son-in-law, everyone will definitely come to his side."
Yang Jinyu said, "Madam, please don't blame me." "I'm not saying that the Marquis asked for Madam's hand in marriage in front of the Emperor in order to win over Fu Chen. What I mean is that Madam is very important to the Marquis. If the Marquis doesn't help with my brother's case, they will have no choice but to die. But the only one who can speak in front of the Marquis is Madam!"
As she spoke, she was about to perform a great ceremony, "Please, Madam, speak well of me in front of the Marquis!"
Du Lingjing held her up, and Qiu Lin also hurried forward to pull her up.
Miss Yang really went through the formalities of asking someone to say something nice and asked the maid in the chamber to bring a box.
When the box was opened, it was filled with oriental pearls.
"Please accept it, ma'am."
Of course Du Lingjing didn't want to. She had just said that the Crown Prince's wife was too polite when she saw a few more people coming on the road. They happened to be the old lady from Dou Ge's old family and a group of civil officials and their wives.
Dou Ge Lao was holding on to the people from the Rongchang Marquis' Mansion and refused to let go. It would be bad if they heard it.
Du Lingjing immediately pushed the box of Dongzhu back. Yang Jinyu did not dare to say much in front of the women of the Dou family. She had said what she wanted to say, and seeing that Du Lingjing was about to leave, she did not try to stop her.
The two went their separate ways.
Yang Jinyu and Nanny Fang walked until they reached a place where there were few people around before stopping.
The nanny was so nervous that her hands were sweating. She whispered, "Madam, if you tell Madam the story of how the Marquis asked for permission to force the Marquis' wife to marry him in order to ward off his party members, will Madam believe it?"
Yang Jinyu didn’t know either.
She thought about this matter over and over for several days. At that time, the Marquis's wife did not want to get married, and everyone in Kyoto could see it. If she knew that the Marquis was forcing her to marry him in order to win over Fu Chen, she would definitely quarrel with the Marquis.
It's just that she prepared in a hurry and didn't have time to produce any specious "evidence".
"She probably doesn't believe me, but let her be suspicious first, and then I can get some evidence to prove it, and she will probably believe it."
But it will take some time for the two to come together. The emperor may consider not making a decision during the first month of the lunar year, but it will be hard to say after the first month of the lunar year.
Yang Jinyu was feeling anxious and was looking at the face of Marquis Lu's wife not far away.
The wind over Taiye Lake swept all the icy air on the lake surface to the pavilions and towers beside the lake.
The wind was quite strong, and a few yellow willow trees with all their leaves fallen by the lake swayed in the wind.
Qiulin just heard Miss Yang suddenly say that the Marquis was seeking an imperial decree to force his wife to marry him, and his heart was still beating fast.
"Does my lady think this is true?"
Miss Yang spoke without any evidence. Although it sounded shocking, it was not credible when you thought about it carefully.
Qiu Lin didn't want to ask, but heard his wife say.
"I think that the Marquis's request for a marriage is probably true."
Qiu Lin took a breath, but saw that the girl had a calm expression. The wind on the ice surface blew up the strands of hair on her forehead, and she lowered her eyes slightly.
Du Lingjing said slowly, "This can explain a lot of things."
This could explain why after Shao Boju was suspected of murder, the emperor obviously did not want to grant him marriage anymore, and she was originally unimportant, but suddenly the imperial decree came down, asking her to marry that marquis;
It can also explain why he set the wedding date for the next month, and why he was anxious to marry her and to have a real relationship with her.
It can explain why he opened Guilinlou to collect books for her, which was so grand and everyone knew about it;
It also means that she didn't want to embarrass him, so she took her people to Baoding, but he came right after her, and she was angry about it...
He then single-handedly rescued everyone and escorted them back to Beijing, preparing to use them again.
Shao Boju's case is no longer important; his ultimate goal is to make all the officials of the Fu Party work for him.
For this purpose, he went before the emperor to ask for his hand in marriage. It didn't matter whether she was willing or not. The most important thing was that he took her home and used her as a bridge to establish a relationship between him and the Fu party.
Many things that I couldn't understand seemed to be explained all of a sudden.
Du Lingjing lowered her eyes and smiled softly, "It's just hard for him to indulge me again and again..."
He even took the initiative to mention that he would worship Sanlang with her.
"My Lord, you are so patient."
Her voice was very soft, and Qiu Lin felt a little nervous.
She subconsciously felt that the Marquis might not be what the lady said, but she didn't know where to start.
*
Yang Jinyu turned to a place not far from the willows by the river. She looked intently at Du Lingjing's face, and then heard the nanny beside her say.
"Madam, why does the old servant think that Madam Hou's face looks a little strange?"
It was indeed not right, and Yang Jinyu also saw it.
She saw the bare willow branches tug at the sleeves of Marquis Lu's wife. The wind was so strong that it seemed as if Marquis Lu had warned her not to go under the willows by the river to get blown by the wind. But she just stood there with her head half lowered, looking depressed.
Yang Jinyu was stunned for a moment, then delighted, "Did she believe it?"
The accompanying nanny also thought so, "It seems that the Marquis's wife believes it! Madam, will she quarrel with the Marquis at the palace banquet?"
Yang Jinyu's heart was beating fast. She felt that it was a bit exaggerated to make a scene at the palace banquet. But if Du really made a scene regardless of the consequences, the Marquis would definitely lose his heart towards her and the Fu party, and would only remember the old friendship between the noble generals.
Just at this moment, a group of people came down from the high platform, and the leader was none other than Lu Shenru, Marquis of Yongding.
Yang Jinyu saw him at once, and then saw him at the riverside not far from her. Marquis Lu's wife also saw her husband, the Marquis. Miss Yang felt her heart beating so fast that it was about to jump out of her chest.
Will Mrs. Du go over and make trouble directly?
She stared at Du Lingjing closely.
By the river, Du Lingjing also turned around and saw the man walking nearby. But many people were talking to him, so he didn't see her.
Qiulin's heart tightened secretly, wondering if the lady would go to the marquis to ask for clarification immediately.
She also looked closely at her own wife, but saw that her wife only looked at the Marquis silently, then turned her head away, without any intention of questioning the Marquis.
Miss Yang, who was also observing secretly, was stunned.
"She believed it, didn't she? Why didn't she react at all?"
She thought it would be best if Madam Lu could go and make a fuss, but if not, there should be some other reaction. However, when she looked at the person by the river, she saw that her expression was extremely calm, with a faint smile on the corner of her mouth.
After the Marquis passed by, Mo Ran followed him back to the banquet hall.
Miss Yang had a headache for a moment.
This... ...why is it that every reaction of this Lady Lu is beyond her expectations?
*
Du Lingjing sat back in the banquet hall.
There were not many people in the banquet hall. She quietly poured herself a glass of flower-brewed wine.
Not far away, Lord Lu was also toasting with others.
She looked quietly at his tall figure, which stood out from the crowd like a crane among chickens, or like a peak rising from the ground.
She poured herself another glass of wine.
It wasn't that she believed Miss Yang easily, it was that if this couldn't be explained, then how could it be explained? She couldn't figure it out.
Apart from the books in Yimianlou, which he obviously had no use for, she was the only remaining connection her father had.
If he married her not because of this connection, if someone told her, he would have decided to marry her long before the Mid-Autumn Festival, long before she was still in Qingzhou.
Then, step by step, he led her to the capital, asking for an imperial decree to grant the marriage, and used Shao Boju's proposal of marriage as a cover-up, saying that he was really helpless, and never revealed anything after the marriage, and made this husband perfect until now.
That is the most terrifying thing.
After all, she has nothing, and he is cautious and careful in every step, without revealing anything. How much benefit is he trying to gain?
Compared to such a terrible and unpredictable situation, Miss Yang's explanation is more reasonable.
She picked up the wine glass and looked at the tall and powerful official Marquis Lu in the crowd.
At the age of twenty-five, he was able to firmly control the huge Yongding Army, gain a firm foothold, and dare to support the young prince. He carried the Yongding Army on one shoulder and supported his sister and nephew in the court on the other. He had to appease the cliques around him on the one hand, and deal with old ministers such as Dou Ge Lao on the other.
She saw how busy he was.
She was just a bridge for him to gather his opponents, but he was able to do it without any mistakes and always had the patience to coax her.
He did so well that even she vaguely thought that even if it wasn't what he called love at first sight, maybe he really did have some true feelings for her.
But she was obviously distracted.
How could a noble and powerful official like Lord Lu, who is able to hold a high position in the government, indulge in a love affair?
There were few people in the hall, and it seemed a little cold and quiet.
She drank another small glass of wine.
Perhaps the palace servant saw her drinking two more cups by herself, so she poured another pot of wine into her glass and served it to her.
As soon as the wine was handed over, Du Lingjing smelled the strong scent of green bamboo leaves.
Bamboo Leaf Green?
She sniffed the familiar bamboo fragrance in the wine, which rushed straight into her nose. She raised her head and drank the cup of bamboo wine in one gulp.
Her eyes involuntarily fell on the man on the east side again.
That's right.
This is what a powerful official should be like, decisive in killing and making the best use of people.
As for the other...
How could there be anyone else in this world, other than Sanlang, who would be so sincere to her?
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