Chapter 54 Chapter 54 Ask Him
"... ...Ms. Du has no father or brother, and her fiancé has passed away due to illness. Her marriage is entirely up to the emperor."
The emperor propped up his chin and asked, "Should we ask the girl herself what she thinks?"
The man shook his head slowly, "The Holy Will decides, there is no need to ask her."
The emperor laughed when he heard this.
"Since Weishi wants her, I will grant you the marriage. After the Mid-Autumn Festival, I will let her be your bride."
"I thank the emperor."
... ...
The Zhenyue Tower was bustling with noise. The Spring Examination was approaching. The noise, sometimes near and sometimes far away, tugged at Du Lingjing's ears, causing pain in her ears and making her vision blurry. She walked out of the building, but after taking only two steps, her feet staggered and she almost fell to the side.
Someone held her up, and she turned around and saw that it was Liu Lang.
Jiang Fengchuan helped her steady herself.
The redness in the eyes of the person in front of him was also reflected in his eyes. He didn't know if it was because of the alcohol, but his throat was hoarse as if it had been rubbed roughly by sand and gravel.
"I suspect that my third brother's death was also related to him."
As soon as the words fell, the noise in the entire Zhenyue Tower was suppressed. Du Lingjing opened her eyes wide, "You mean Sanlang?!"
Ruan Gong stepped forward and said anxiously, "Sixth Master, you can't say anything without evidence!"
Jiang Fengchuan chuckled and said, of course.
The lights in the corridor flickered vaguely, flickering in front of his face.
"You may not believe it now, but I will find evidence."
His voice was so low and hoarse that it made people feel cold. When Ruan Gong escorted Du Lingjing away, he couldn't help but shake his head.
"It's been three years, and Sixth Master has never accepted Third Master's death."
There was no moonlight outside the Zhenyue Tower, the weather was gloomy, and the wind blew under people's sleeves and skirts, carrying with it the damp and cold air. The chilly spring weather was still there, as if we had returned to winter.
In the Zhenyue Tower, the eunuch woke up for a moment, turned his head and lay down on the table to continue sleeping.
Jiang Fengchuan leaned on the railing alone, watching the singing and dancing in the lobby, and drank another pot of wine.
Why would a man be willing to kill himself? Just to avoid dragging down the woman he loves?
A singing girl passed by and saw a handsome young man standing in front of the railing and drinking alone. She said he looked like a scholar, and had a dissolute air of not fearing the world. If she said he was a dandy young man, his every move was quite poetic and elegant.
Seeing that he had finished all the wine in the cup, the singer stepped forward and refilled his cup. Her eyes fell on his handsome face and her eyelids trembled shyly.
The young man laughed, but did not disappoint the singer's kindness. He raised his head and drank it all, showing her the empty cup.
The singer became more and more shy and couldn't stop looking at his handsome face. Unfortunately, she was called away in a loud voice and had to leave.
She turned and left, and the man's face instantly darkened.
Would a person really be willing to commit suicide?
Or maybe he didn't do it voluntarily at all, but was... forced by someone? !
Suddenly, from the lobby downstairs came the sound of the Spring Examination candidates raising their glasses to congratulate each other.
Jiang Fengchuan also raised his glass upstairs, but he didn't look at the group of people. He just looked somewhere in front of him.
"Brother, the Spring Examination is coming soon, Liu Lang will do his best to get on the list. When the time comes, can you tell me, what are you..."
His voice got even hoarser, "Why the hell did you leave like that?!"
He closed his eyes with sore eyes. The noisy toasts and chaotic singing and dancing in the Pillow Moon Tower all faded away, and before his eyes there only appeared a low table, with someone sitting beside him, holding his hand, practicing calligraphy stroke by stroke.
He was an abandoned child from the countryside, who had no food to eat every day, let alone the beginning of education. Children in the clan school began to study with teachers at the age of six or seven, but when he was ten, he couldn't even hold a pen.
The first time he picked up the brush, he suddenly asked a question, "Can I dip this brush into the sauce and eat it?"
At that time, all the servants were laughing, but the third brother was the only one who did not laugh at him. He just held his hand, brought him into the school step by step, and put him on the list of successful candidates in the province.
But when he waited for him to come to Beijing for the Spring Examination as promised, he only heard the news that he had died in the cold winter. There were only three months left before the Spring Examination of the following year...
Hot tears slid from the corners of my eyes into the wine glass.
Uncle Hui came hurriedly from downstairs.
Jiang Fengchuan saw his panic and laughed, "Why did Uncle Hui come just now? She's gone."
Uncle Hui took a deep breath, "Sixth Master, you..."
The young man laughed even more hoarsely, but he also looked in the direction she had just left.
"She is in a bad mood, but I have to go to the examination room. Uncle Hui, please help me keep an eye on her. If there is anything, I will take care of it after I leave the examination room."
*
The sky in the capital was gray, and the tall lights along the streets could not hide the chill of the spring night.
Du Lingjing left Zhenyue Tower and walked aimlessly on the street. Sometimes she was carried forward by the crowd, and sometimes she was blocked by a carriage, until Ruan Gong behind her suddenly called a person on the roadside.
"Mr. Zhang?"
Du Lingjing then looked over and saw that the person standing next to him was Mr. Zhang, an old friend of her father who worked at a bookstore in the outer city.
Mr. Zhang came to the inner city to do some shopping. Just as he was about to leave the city before the city gate fell, he met Du Lingjing.
But when he saw Du Lingjing, his face became a little embarrassed, as if he had something to say but didn't want to.
"Sir, is there anything you can't tell me directly?" Du Lingjing asked directly.
Mr. Zhang from the bookstore sighed when he heard this.
Du Lingjing asked again, "Is it true that... the eight Song editions that I asked you to check to bring me to Beijing were all written by him?"
He is, of course, the Marquis Lu.
The time Mr. Zhang has spent on asking someone to investigate is still short, so he cannot be sure that all of them were done by Lord Lu.
"But as of now, Jingniang, these eight Song books are indeed related to Yongding Hou."
He said, "If it is accurate news, I am afraid I will have to inquire about it carefully for a few days."
How could it be so easy to get accurate information about the Yongding Marquis' Mansion?
But Du Lingjing shook her head, "Sir, there is no need to investigate further."
If there were four books, it might be a coincidence, but all eight were related to him, and she could not find any excuse for him.
After saying goodbye to Mr. Zhang, the sky became even gloomier, as if it was going to snow.
Du Lingjing walked on the road, feeling cold from the soles of her feet to her shoulders.
It was extremely difficult for ordinary people to purchase eight copies of the Song Dynasty edition, but he just raised his hand and used the eight copies of the Song Dynasty edition to lead her out of Qingzhou and all the way to the capital.
She walked with her head down on the streets of the capital city where the spring chill had seeped in.
He had used the emperor's will to force her to marry him early on, but it happened that Shao Boju and the Fu Party were involved in an incident. In order to blackmail the Fu Party, he discussed with her uncle about marrying her.
Shao Boju married her to cover up his crime, but why did he marry her?
But no matter what the reason was, whether it was Shao Boju or him, neither of them needed to ask her opinion, or know whether she was willing or not.
Shao Boju used her uncle to force her, but Marquis Lu was even more powerful and directly used the imperial decree to finalize the marriage.
So what was she to him? An object of exchange between men?
She didn't need to know anything. She just needed to marry him, enjoy his sex life, and then have children.
The lanterns left over from the Lantern Festival also dimmed a bit against the gray sky.
Du Ling walked quietly under the lamp, laughing silently.
But he is much smarter than Shao Boju.
He knew that even if the imperial edict came down, she would be unwilling to do it. Even if she could only come to Beijing and live in his mansion, it was unknown how long it would take for her to obey him.
So as soon as he found out that Shao Boju had conspired with his uncle through Madam Wan to force her to marry him, and also intended to ask for an imperial decree to grant the marriage during the Mid-Autumn Festival, he immediately realized that this was the best opportunity to cover up for him.
So he distributed eight copies of the Song Dynasty version in one breath and led her from Qingzhou to the capital.
At first, she felt strange and didn't want to enter the capital, but as long as he used a little trick, she had no choice but to go along with his wishes.
Under the street lights, my girl kept her head down and smiled.
Ruan Gong followed closely beside them and couldn't help but think of what happened before and after they arrived in the capital.
At that time, the second wife's dowry farm was preparing wedding supplies, and the girl felt that it was not appropriate, so she asked him to go to Beijing to inquire. At that time, he hardly spent any effort to find out from one person that Shao Boju and the second master were in collusion.
At that time, whether he, the girl, or Qiulin and the others, they were all focused on Shao's ill intentions. They never thought that every step was planned by the Marquis to let them go.
Ruan Gong sighed deeply.
The girl had only the Third Master in her heart before, because she had known the Third Master since childhood and grew up together with him, and they were very sincere to each other and loved each other.
As soon as the Third Master left, half of the girl's soul followed him. If it weren't for the Third Master's long-cherished wish to collect Song books, he felt that the girl might not survive that winter.
After that, year after year, the girl lived in loneliness in Mian Tower.
Last year, the girl married the marquis according to the imperial decree. Qiu Lin was so sad that he couldn't sleep every day, "Why is the girl's life getting worse and worse..."
But who would have thought that the girl and the Marquis would gradually get along well, and later on, they were more than just getting along well. Qiu Lin secretly told him a few days ago that the girl wanted to stop taking contraceptive medicine, "Girl, I want to have a child with the Marquis!"
He was so surprised that he pulled Chang Pu over and gave him a beating...
He has been with the girl for so many years, and he knows her temper best.
The girl is the last person to be easily fickle. On the contrary, her temper is the slowest and least likely to change.
She is the ancient books in the library that have survived for hundreds of years, the spring flowing quietly at the foot of the mountain, and the tree that takes root in the land and will not be moved away.
She knew how to use old things and she remembered how to cherish old people. She had used these servants for more than ten years and never scolded that dishonest boy Changpu. Even when she separated from the second master, she remembered to take back the old people like Wenbo and bring them back to Qingzhou to live out their retirement.
A girl is pure water. If she has a man in her heart, she will give all her true feelings to him.
My Lord, how could you have framed her and deceived her over and over again?
Ruan Gong felt so sad and uncomfortable. If Qiu Lin were here, he would definitely cry out of anger.
But the girl was just on the street, walking silently with her head down.
Du Lingjing finally figured out what happened before and after the arranged marriage.
He used the matter of Shao Boju to get her involved, and then suddenly issued an imperial decree to grant them marriage. Although the whole capital was surprised, everyone, including her, thought it was the emperor's will.
Not to mention, he himself said so.
He lied to her, saying that it was difficult to disobey the emperor's will.
Du Lingjing lifted a strand of hair from her forehead and gently tucked it behind her ear. There was a hint of ice and snow in the wind.
But there was still one thing she couldn't figure out.
That day at the Zhenyue Tower was indeed the first time she saw him in her memory.
And his voice was also unfamiliar.
He planned to marry her step by step, but she didn't know him at all...
The cold air seeped up from the ground, and the cold wind also poured into her collar and sleeves.
She was getting colder and colder.
The lights on the street dimmed, and only the palace inside and the city wall outside stood there like two giant beasts, standing silently and solemnly in the darkness, looking at this place quietly. No one knew how long they had been standing there.
But the sound of horse hooves suddenly rang out in front of him.
Du Lingjing looked up and saw a man riding a horse coming towards the road ahead.
As soon as he saw her in the crowd, he dismounted from his horse, his clothes fluttering, and he walked quickly towards her.
But Du Lingjing subconsciously took two steps back and avoided it at this moment.
"Quanquan..."
Du Ling stopped still.
It had only been fifteen minutes since she came out of the Zhenyue Tower.
She saw him walking faster and faster until he was right in front of her. He didn't say anything immediately, but just lowered his head and looked at her carefully.
It was obvious that he had already known the news.
And Du Lingjing spoke.
"Why?"
She frowned and looked at him quietly, as if the dim light behind her was shining on his face from afar.
The man answered her.
"I have seen the lady before, it was definitely not in the Pillow Moon Tower. But I fell in love with her at first sight and couldn't help myself, it's true."
That year, he was seriously injured and was placed in a secret room in Mian Tower by Lord Du. Lord Du told him that his daughter often came to Mian Tower and did not know there was a secret room in Mian Tower, but she loved the books in this library the most and would come over at any time, so there was no need to pay attention to her.
He was so exhausted from his injuries at the time that he thought, how can he have time to care about a girl?
But on the first night he moved in, he was unable to fall asleep until midnight because of the pain from his wounds, and he just leaned against the wall to rest.
But she suddenly came with a lantern, stepped on the moonlight, and her watery eyes were reflected in his eyes for a moment...
He said love at first sight was real.
She asked amid the dim lights of the capital.
"when?"
She suddenly asked this question, and Lu Shenru was silent for a moment.
"Three years ago."
Three years ago? After Saburo passed away?
Du Lingjing looked into his eyes and smiled.
He lied to her again...
It turned out that it was really impossible for Lu Shenru, Lord Lu, to be honest with her and not hide anything from her.
She thinks too much.
She lowered her head, avoided him and continued walking forward.
There were some glittering things in the air, falling down.
She didn't believe it, and the man frowned deeply and closed his eyes.
But he said nothing more, just followed her. In the distance, the sound of the city gate closing could be heard. The entire capital was locked in the night.
The lights were getting dimmer, and the dampness that floated in from the dark night sky fell on people's shoulders.
The man took off his cloak and wrapped it around Du Lingjing's shoulders.
She paused and said something.
"I want to go back to Qingzhou."
Before he finished speaking, he spoke immediately.
"no."
Du Lingjing was silent, her lapels were covered with white petals, one upon another, all pressing on her.
But the man stopped her from moving forward.
Lu Shenru looked at his wife and whispered.
"It's snowing hard, let's go home."
... ...
The banana tree outside the main courtyard window froze to death in the snow before the arrival of spring. Thick white snow covered its dead leaves and crushed the broad leaves to the ground.
The charcoal basin in the room was removed, the sounds of the candlelight and charcoal fire dissipated, and the sound of snow falling outside became clearer.
Someone under the quilt silently held her hand.
Du Lingjing turned around.
But the next moment, he suddenly pulled her back, clasped her waist with his broad palms, and used his strong arms to pull her into his arms as strong as a mountain and an iron wall.
"Quanquan..."
But Du Lingjing stretched out her hand and pressed it against his chest in resistance.
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