Chapter 60 Chapter 60 Moonlit Night
Jiqingfang, Houfu Shuseki Pavilion.
Princess Nianjia stood on the top of the rockery, facing the wind and looking at the imperial city not far away. She felt that the place where she grew up had become so far away.
"I don't know if I've been in Shaanxi for too long. Compared to the nobles in and outside the palace who are well-dressed and well-fed, I always think of the soldiers guarding the northwest border, especially the people in the Yongding Army."
She said that in the 14th year of Hongqi, the Yongding Army suffered a tragic defeat. "We were all young at that time, far away in the capital, and we could only feel terrified."
Indeed, at that time, Du Lingjing only saw that his father's correspondence became more frequent after the incident in Yongding Army. He either invited people to the mansion to discuss, or went out to talk with people. He would stay up all night writing memorials and submitting them. At that time, his father had not yet become a cabinet minister, and what he could do was very limited, but he also worked hard to quell the disaster.
Nian Jia said that he was only worried at the time, "but it was not until I arrived in the northwest that I realized how tragic the casualties of the Yongding Army were that year."
She first mentioned Lu Shenru's father, the then Yongding Marquis's son. "He was the next generation's leader of the Yongding Army. No one doubted him and everyone was loyal to him. But he was killed outside the Great Wall. When the news came back, not only the Lu family, the old Marquis Lu, and Lu Shenru, but also the generals of other families and surnames, and even the ordinary soldiers and civilians, all cried bitterly."
Without the Lu family's generation after generation defending the northwestern border, the military and civilians would not be able to live in peace, and how could there be peace and prosperity in the capital and the Central Plains?
In the Shushi Pavilion, Du Lingjing had someone bring tea, but Nian Jia did not sit down to drink the tea, but stood in the wind.
She said that too many people died in that battle, far more than just the Lu family. People from other families and mansions, from the nobles who had obtained the imperial seal of authority during the time of Taizu, to the military generals who fought their way out of the northwestern region.
That year, almost every household in the army hung white sails, and the cries shook the heavens and the earth.
Nian Jia finally talked about the Wei family of the Zhongqing Earl’s Mansion, which is Wei Cong’s family.
"The prince's uncle was beheaded by the Tartars and hung on a high hill for three days and three nights. When the blood had dried, the Tartars took off his head and sent it to the capital, asking for peace talks..."
The wind at Soseki-tei stopped for a moment.
Du Lingjing recalled this old incident.
That day, my father came back from the court with an extremely gloomy face.
Her father told her that the most capable and battle-skilled general of the Wei family in the Zhongqing Marquis's Mansion had been captured and his head had been cut off by the Tatars and sent back to the court.
The moment the head appeared in the hall, countless civil officials trembled.
"Negotiation! Let's negotiate peace. I'm afraid the Yongding Army is doomed to fail..." they argued.
Nian Jia is a person who will let go of everything and not take it to heart, but one day he will let out a long sigh.
She said that when she followed Wei Cong to the northwest, the Yongding Army had already regained its strength.
She said, "Of course, your Lord Lu will be indispensable to sit in the court for them."
She glanced at Du Lingjing and seeing that Du Lingjing didn't say anything, she didn't say anything more and just said.
"In the hearts of the soldiers and civilians in the northwest, only when the imperial concubine and her son take the supreme position and Lu Shenru takes charge of the power, can they feel at ease and continue to guard the border with their flesh and blood."
She sighed again, "After all, it was the war in the fourteenth year of Hongqi. It was too painful."
Du Lingjing also fell silent.
She did not look towards the high walls of the imperial city outside the mansion, but just silently overlooked every flower, grass and tree in the Yongding Marquis Mansion.
*
The Mansion of Marquis Yongding, Yuanxiu Pavilion in the outer courtyard.
Lu Shenru only mentioned the word "spy", and Wei Cong nodded slowly.
After the war in the 14th year of Hongqi, Lu Shenru's grandfather, Lord Lu, had someone investigate the cause of the incident. After much investigation, they discovered that there were spies lurking among the generals in the army.
It was not uncommon for Tartar spies to sneak in, but when the Yongding Army led the army to war, all details were kept strictly confidential, and ordinary spies could not infiltrate at all.
The spy not only stole extremely important combat deployment and passed it out without anyone noticing, but more importantly, they had no idea who sent the spy.
Afterwards, Lu Shenru's grandfather had people investigate the various Tatar tribes for many years, but they were able to find out where the group of spies came from.
Until we discovered that this group of people appeared in Henan and Shandong areas.
That year was the second year of Yin You. Lu Shenru received a secret order from his grandfather and quietly went to the Henan and Shandong areas to search for traces of spies. As soon as he found a slight clue, he brought disaster upon himself.
He was seriously injured and hid in the Mian Building of the Du family for a whole summer, and only then did he barely escape the disaster.
Unfortunately, Lu Hengru failed. After the two brothers left Qingzhou, they went to look for clues again. That day, Lu Hengru blocked an arrow for his brother and died in his eldest brother's arms.
Lord Lu was devastated by the loss of his second grandson, but he also issued a strict order not to investigate the spies any further.
This went on for many years until Lu Shenru inherited the title of Marquis of Yongding, took charge of the Yongding Army, and stepped into the court.
He reopened the matter and handed it over to Wei Cong.
"What do you mean?" Lu Shenru asked.
Naturally, there would be no possibility of the news leaking out from Lord Lu's Yuanxiu Pavilion.
Wei Cong said straightly.
"The spies have shown up, right in Gyeonggi."
"The capital?" Lord Lu raised his eyebrows.
The origins of this group of spies are very unclear. Some of them have the appearance of Tartars, while others are completely from the Central Plains. They appear and disappear alternately, and the forces behind them are obviously not to be underestimated. They have protected them and allowed them to hide safely for many years, sometimes outside the Great Wall and sometimes in the Central Plains.
Now, we have arrived in Gyeonggi Province.
Wei Cong said, according to the intelligence he got, "They have a secret base in the capital area. I have a vague grasp of the location of this place, but I won't alert them for the time being."
So he made a special trip back to Beijing to discuss with Lu Shenru.
These spies are not ordinary people, and the forces behind them are even more extraordinary.
Upon hearing this, Lu Shenru did not respond immediately, but stared into the distance with his dark pupils.
He suddenly said, "The Marquis's Mansion has a mountain house in Wanping. After the birthday banquet for Marquis Jing'an's wife in a few days, you can take the princess there to stay for a few days and have a good rest."
He said, "When I have time, I will go to visit you."
Wei Cong immediately understood what he meant——
To investigate the spies, Lu Weishi had to go there in person.
... ...
After the conversation in Yuanxiu Pavilion ended, it was already late.
However, neither of them sent anyone to ask the two ladies to come over, but they went to look for them in person without any prior arrangement.
As soon as I walked to the back garden, I saw Du Lingjing and Nian Jia had already walked around the garden for a short while and then returned.
Both of their eyes fell over, each to their respective wives.
Du Lingjing pretended not to see it and didn't react at all. The eyes of a certain marquis fell deeply.
But Nian Jia only felt the gaze of her husband, the prince opposite her, slowly falling on her, and then she felt the floor under her feet become hot, neither left nor right, and she felt uncomfortable all over.
She quickly said it was getting late, "Sir, don't you need to take medicine? Let's go back quickly."
Wei Cong nodded with a smile, saying "OK" to whatever she said.
But she was so uncomfortable that Lu Shenru glanced at her, and Du Lingjing smiled secretly.
After sending them both to the front yard, he couldn't help but chuckle.
Why didn't Nian Jia hear her giggle? His face was slightly hot, but when he sat in the carriage with the others, not only his face, but also his ears and neck were hot.
Wei Cong was injured and of course couldn't ride a horse, so he sat next to Nian Jia.
Nian Jia was sitting next to the host, but the way he sat there seemed to occupy the entire space in the car.
Nian Jia didn't dare to look at him, but just glanced at him from the corner of her eye. Seeing that he closed his eyes and rested, she breathed a sigh of relief, but couldn't help but think of what happened a few days ago.
When she heard the news that he was seriously injured, she was so shocked that her face turned pale.
She couldn't imagine how such a brave and combative man could be injured so seriously that someone had to tell her in Xi'an.
He would not tell her about his normal injuries.
So how badly was he injured? He wouldn't just... die, would he?
She was terrified and rushed to Ningxia, where she saw him lying on the bed with his eyes closed.
She stepped forward and couldn't help asking.
"Prince, are you dead?!"
When she asked, the whole room fell silent, and the guards and doctors serving on the side didn't know what to say.
The general, who was still lying on the hospital bed, had to open his eyes, look at her, and reply to her personally after hearing this question.
"Not yet," he replied.
Then he asked, "Does the princess want me to die?"
Her answer was similar to his.
"Not yet!"
She didn't want to be the only widow left in Prince Yu's mansion.
The Queen Dowager lost the late emperor, and her mother lost her father, so she can't be a widow too!
She quickly shook her head at him and the man laughed.
"Then I will live."
He said, "I also don't want the princess to remarry."
The carriage creaked along the road, and when he finished saying this that day, he looked at her with a smile on his face. It seemed that it was not just that day, she always seemed to see some gentle smiles in his eyes when he looked at her.
But what was he laughing at? Was she, Princess Nianjia, funny?
Besides, she wasn't familiar with him, was she? Except for the wedding night, when they were together and there were palace maids outside, she had never slept in the same bed with him since then...
Nian Jia's head was like a tangled ball of thread, so she simply closed her eyes and rested.
However, Wei Cong, who was standing next to her, raised his eyelids slightly and glanced at her with a smile.
*
Yongding Marquis Mansion.
Du Ling waited quietly until Nian Jia left. Thinking of her awkward appearance, like a soft white silkworm twisting left and right, she couldn't help laughing.
There was a smile in the corners of her eyes and eyebrows, and the spring breeze gently caressed her long eyelashes.
She hadn't laughed like this in many days. Lu Shenru looked at his wife in a daze and couldn't help but said softly.
"Shall we go to the Pillow Moon Tower for dinner tonight?"
The spring breeze flowed between the two of them, but after these words came out, the wind slowed down for a moment.
Du Lingjing glanced at him and asked, "My Lord, are you going to let me out?"
Eight days.
She finally spoke to him and said her first words.
But the man did not answer this question.
No answer means no release.
Du Lingjing turned around, but he raised his hand to stop her.
"I heard that there was dance and music in the Zhenyue Tower to worship the flower god recently."
Even if there was nothing, as long as she said go, he could immediately make people play music and dance.
He was in charge of everything in Beijing.
But Du Lingjing just smiled faintly.
"It seems that the Marquis has some free time and wants to take me out personally..."
She paused, looked into his eyes, and said, "Let go."
Let out some fresh air.
Treatment of prisoners.
These two words pierced Lord Lu's heart.
The smile on her face just now disappeared, and Lu Shenru didn't know how she could say such harsh words to him.
And she said, “I’m not going anywhere.”
She lowered her head and walked back.
The cool breeze from the stone slabs was whipped towards him by the hem of her skirt.
Lu Shenru felt that he was about to die, that was all.
... ...
There was a spring rain in the mansion in the evening, and the cracks between the bricks in the corners of the wall were wet and damp.
Du Lingjing asked Qiulin to boil some water. She immersed herself in the deep bucket, briefly put aside all her thoughts, closed her eyes and took a nap for a while.
When she woke up, she saw Qiulin had added water to her bucket several times. The hot water almost drowned her. The whole bathroom was filled with moisture, which spread like thick fog, making her figure a little blurry.
Seeing this, Du Lingjing finally twisted her hair and called someone softly to help her get the long scarf she was wrapped around.
Someone came up from behind her.
She was still twisting her hair, not paying much attention until the long scarf was wrapped around her shoulders and then around her front, enveloping her completely.
She noticed that the figure behind her was not right.
He then carried her sideways out of the deep bathtub.
She was in his arms, as light as a handful of soft spring flowers, wetted by the spring rain. Water droplets from the ends of her hair fell to the ground, and then slid down to her chest, which was half wrapped in a long scarf.
The white towel on the chest was instantly soaked, sticking to the tender and undulating flower bud, revealing a unique posture.
Du Lingjing quickly pulled the long scarf up again and again, covering her collarbone tightly, and looked up at him with anger.
Could it be that he is sick again and wants to have a baby with her tonight?
Du Lingjing tensed her body.
The man noticed it immediately.
The mist diffused in the bathroom, slowly and quietly creeping in the air.
His injured voice was low and hoarse, like a drop of water about to fall into the abyss, sinking deeper and deeper.
"I won't touch you."
He couldn't persuade her, so he really didn't do anything. But he didn't put her down either, as if she had no weight at all, just like a bunch of flowers, he just held her quietly in his arms.
Qiulin and the others who were waiting outside were obviously sent away by him. There were insects chirping outside the window. The chirping of spring insects at night was not harsh, and from time to time there was a gentle sound, like drum music coming from afar.
He held her in his arms as she just came out of the bath and sat on the bench by the window.
He put her sitting on his lap. Du Lingjing wanted to get off, but he stopped her and took a white towel to wrap her body.
Du Lingjing was no longer cold, but she was wrapped up like a cocoon and couldn't move. She simply stopped moving and waited to see what he was going to do.
She naturally didn't treat him well.
He said nothing. It was unusually quiet today.
The moonlight sneaked in from the window, passing through the diffuse mist, and faintly sparkled like silver powder.
Seeing that he remained so quiet, neither speaking nor moving, just holding her like that, Du Lingjing couldn't help but glance at him quietly from the corner of her eye.
The moonlight passed through his temples and hit his tall nose, clearly outlining the two small scars from old cuts on his nose.
His eyes were downcast, he didn't look up to look into her eyes, but only fixed his gaze on her shoulder.
His brows, which were usually proud and heroic, were now furrowed in a deep frown.
The moonlight was beautiful, and he really didn't say or do anything. He just held her for half a minute.
Even Du Lingjing was completely uncomfortable with his quietness and silence tonight.
And he put her down before the bathroom got cold.
He put her on the bamboo couch beside him and got up.
The moonlight sprinkled on his brocade robe that was wet by her. He didn't look back, but just spoke in a low voice.
"I know you don't want to see me, so I'm leaving."
After saying that, he walked out the door.
As soon as he walked out the door, Qiu Lin and Ai Ye immediately ran into the room.
Du Lingjing was fine, but her eyes couldn't help but look out the window in the direction he left.
She couldn't see anything through the thick curtains, she could only hear his heavy footsteps, which gradually disappeared into the chirping of insects in the spring night.
*
On the day of the birthday banquet at the Marquis of Jing'an's mansion, he had someone send a set of headwear made of bright red coral and inlaid with gold thread early in the morning.
Du Lingjing had already changed into a plain honey-colored jacket embroidered with orchids, and she did not wear his headdress.
Today, the capital city is extremely lively because of this birthday banquet.
Although the Jing'an Marquis's Mansion is the home of military generals and nobles, the Marquis Jing'an has fought against the Japanese pirates in the southeast for many years and has good relations with the civil officials and families. This time, his wife who stayed in the capital celebrated her 77th birthday, and even the emperor attached great importance to it. All the prominent people in the capital went to congratulate her in person.
Du Lingjing did not get angry with anyone about this matter anymore. Besides, she had already agreed with Nian Jia to meet at the Marquis of Jing'an's Mansion.
But Du Lingjing thought of another thing.
Wei Jue, commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, will also attend this birthday banquet.
She was not very clear about what happened between Nian Jia and Wei Jue in the past.
I just don't know if the two will meet.
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