Chapter 61 Chapter 61 Birthday Banquet
Whenever there was a banquet, even one at the palace, he would appear only at the very end.
Today was no exception. Du Lingjing wore a rather plain honey-colored jacket embroidered with orchids and a set of silver and pearl headdress. After dressing up, she sat under the window and read a book leisurely for a while. It was indeed getting late when she heard the chief steward of the clan send someone to deliver a message.
"My Lord, please ask Madam to leave."
Du Lingjing walked all the way to the carriage and saw him standing beside the carriage with his hands behind his back, giving instructions to someone.
No matter whose party it was, he would ask others to wait for him, but whenever he had to go out, he would go out a few breaths in advance and wait for her by the carriage, never letting her wait.
Du Lingjing turned the door and walked over. As soon as she arrived, he stopped giving orders and turned to look at her.
He seemed to have noticed at a glance that there was no coral headdress on her bun that he had sent to her in the morning, and his eyes turned gloomy.
Du Lingjing ignored him. It had been many days since she went out, and she walked straight to the carriage.
But as she walked over, he also came forward.
Usually Qiulin or Ruan Gong helped her get into the car, but this time he handed her his hand before she even lifted her foot.
The man was as tall as a pine or cypress. At this moment, he was standing beside her car with his hand raised, waiting for her to support him. There was no one more stable than him.
But Du Lingjing glanced at him quietly from the corner of her eye, deliberately not noticing the hand he extended to support her.
She pretended that no one was there to help her, so she leaned over and held onto the frame of the bicycle to climb up.
She dodged him and pushed the bike up by herself. Just when she took half a step, she noticed that the man waiting beside her paused.
No one dared to move, only Chongping hurried forward.
He was afraid that his wife would fall while getting on the carriage, and the Marquis would be so frightened that he could not hold back his expression.
He could only reach out and help his wife into the car himself.
Du Lingjing did not get angry with Chongping. On the contrary, she often felt sympathy for Chongping for having to carefully serve the marquis.
At this time, Chongping stretched out his hand, and she readily supported Chongping's wrist and got on the carriage.
Du Lingjing didn't realize anything was wrong, and Chongping didn't dare to make any unnecessary movements or expressions.
But Chong'an, who was standing by, felt his heart lift for his brother——
The Marquis's face was extremely gloomy, and his eyes were fixed on his brother's wrist, which was supported by his lady.
Can his brother still save his wrist? !
Chongping felt a chill on his wrist, but he had to persuade him gently.
"My Lord, it's getting late. Let's get on the horse."
Lord Lu's eyes were gloomy. He took one last look at the carriage before getting on his horse.
... ...
Du Lingjing was in a good mood along the way.
The eldest brother of the former Japanese family, Du Jicang, went to Chengqingfang. Wenbo sent a message saying that Uncle Cang's face was glowing and it seemed that he had done well in the examination. After the test, he talked with others and learned that the essay he wrote was very consistent with the questions set by the examiner.
He rewrote the essay he had written at that time and asked Mr. Liao, Lord Hong and Hu Tinglan to help review it. The three of them all felt that with Brother Cang's essay, he would definitely get a rank in the imperial examination.
Everyone thought so. Although it would take a few days to post the notice, Brother Cang couldn't help but look happy.
If he could pass the imperial examination and become a Jinshi this time, the Du family would no longer be headed by her uncle Du Zhiqi, who was also a Jinshi, but would have a real Jinshi, which would bring a new atmosphere.
And Brother Cang's ability to judge the situation is much better than her uncle's.
However, Brother Cang also said a few words to Wenbo about Jiang Fengchuan's situation.
Liu Lang's articles are unconventional and quite different from Brother Cang's steady and balanced ones, but Liu Lang has unique insights and it is not impossible for him to pass the exam.
But no matter what, the final result will not be known until the second half of the month when the examination results are posted.
The carriage creaked towards the Jing'an Marquis's Mansion. As expected, when they arrived, most of the guests had already entered the gate. However, the Jing'an Marquis's Mansion had specially left someone waiting for the late Marquis Lu.
He was greeting people and looked at Du Lingjing. Du Lingjing ignored him and went inside first as led by others.
He quickly caught up and followed her, and the two of them first went to meet the wife of Marquis Jing'an who was celebrating her birthday.
The old lady sat high up on the mahogany longevity chair specially made for her. When she saw the two people coming together, she smiled and nodded to them.
She was older and of higher generation, and the Zhou and Lu families were close friends. When the old lady saw Lu Shenru, she treated him as her own grandson and looked at him with narrowed eyes and a smile.
Lu Shenru no longer looked so arrogant. He was unusually humble, steady and polite in front of the old man, which made Du Lingjing look at him more curiously.
He had already prepared a birthday gift and had Chongping bring it up personally. Lady Jing'an accepted it with a smile and asked her daughter-in-law to give a gift in return, but not to him, but a pair of flawless white jade bracelets, which she presented to Du Lingjing.
The value of the jade bracelet is certainly not comparable to the gift brought by Marquis Lu, but the people of the Zhou family said the same thing to the two of them.
"This pair of jade bracelets was the dowry our old lady wore on her wrists when she got married. Today, I give it to you, Madam. I'm sure you and Madam know what it means."
Marquis Jing'an and his wife are both over 70 years old. They have been together since they were young and have been through thick and thin together until they are already in their seventies. The jade bracelets that the old lady wore on her hands when she got married are worth more than an ordinary gift.
Before Du Lingjing could speak, the Marquis's eyes beside her completely relaxed and he spoke first.
"Thank you for your kindness."
Then he bowed deeply again.
Du Lingjing also hurriedly bowed and expressed her gratitude, and the wife of Marquis Jing'an personally put the pair of white jade bracelets on Du Lingjing's wrists.
Her wrists were white, slender and soft, with a faint scent of books between her sleeves. At this moment, a pair of white jade bracelets fell on her wrists, making her whole body look more elegant.
The old birthday man at the head of the table smiled and nodded at her.
"It seems that this pair of bracelets should have been yours."
When the old lady said this, everyone echoed her. I don't know how many people have said the words of growing old together.
Du Lingjing only felt that someone's eyes were fixed on her.
She knew who it was without even looking. But to be honest, she got such a valuable and suitable bracelet in exchange for his expensive birthday gift.
Du Lingjing didn't want to get angry with him today, so she left the birthday celebration hall and went to look for Nian Jia.
I had just walked a short distance when I suddenly met someone I hadn't seen for many years.
Du Lingjing had seen him several times in the palace before. He always wore a robe that was either silver, moon white or jade, with a white jade belt tied around his waist. He looked noble and scholarly, and his whole temperament was pure and flawless.
Nian Jia liked him wearing this kind of light brocade robe the most, so he always wore it for her to see when he entered the palace.
Nian Jia once asked her out of impulse, "Jingniang, do you think it's possible for me to make a silver-white brocade robe that fits Wei Jue, with my poor needlework skills?"
She liked him wearing the silver-white color, but the needlework skills of a woman at that time couldn't even make a straight line when sewing a handkerchief for herself.
She was a princess who grew up in the palace and the only pearl left by Prince Yu in the world. She had to do all kinds of needlework by herself, so it was difficult for her to do it properly, not to mention her skills were not good.
Du Lingjing could only comfort her, "It won't be too late in a few years."
But a few years later, Nian Jia and Wei Jue parted ways and had no more contact with each other. The silver-white brocade robe that Nian Jia had suddenly come up with must have disappeared into the old memories with the wind.
At this moment, the man was standing in the shade of the tree under the wall. He was wearing a plain dark blue robe with no pattern on it and a simple black brocade belt. He stood with his back to Du Lingjing not far away, and the shade of the tree enveloped him.
A little girl about four or five years old looked up and asked him for directions.
The little girl obviously didn't know who he was and called him randomly.
"Uncle, have you seen my mother?"
The man was tall, but the girl was only a little bit taller. It was difficult for her to look up and talk to him, so he squatted down.
"What does your mother look like?" the man asked in a soft voice.
The little girl quickly gave a description, but he hesitated, apparently he had not seen the person she was describing.
Just at this moment, a woman came over, calling out.
The little girl immediately responded. The woman took two steps to her and asked her why she was running around. "You are really worrying!"
As she said this, she looked at the man next to the child. Just one glance and the little girl's mother gasped.
"Commander?!"
Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, Wei Jue.
When the woman saw him, her expression changed a little. Wei Jue stood up. The woman seemed to realize that her reaction was a bit obvious. She didn't dare to look at him again and just said, "Thank you for taking care of me, Commander. We will leave now."
After saying this, without even waiting for the little girl to thank Wei Jue again, he quickly took his daughter and left.
They happened to pass by Du Lingjing not far away, and Du Lingjing faintly heard her say something.
"He's the commander of the Imperial Guards. What did your mother teach you before? Stay away from the Imperial Guards..."
The woman pulled her daughter away quickly.
Du Lingjing did not turn around and leave. Her eyes fell on Wei Jue, and Wei Jue also noticed and turned to look at her.
"lady?"
He paused, then nodded politely to her.
"I haven't seen you for many years."
All in all, Du Lingjing hadn't seen him for ten years.
She stepped forward and greeted him.
Wei Jue's appearance has become much more mature than before, and his features are quite handsome for a man of military origin.
He has very long eyebrows with drooping ends, his eyes are calm with the ends of his eyes drooping slightly, and his skin is fair.
In her past memories, Du Lingjing always remembered him standing in the sunlight with a book in his hand, his skin was fair but bright.
At this moment, he stood tall in the shadow of the tree, his face pale but with a hint of coldness.
Even so, it is difficult to associate his appearance with the Jinyiwei commander who was feared by the world.
However, Du Lingjing was not afraid of him. Firstly, they were old acquaintances. Secondly, his mother, Lady Baoguo, was from the Lu family, so he and the marquis were cousins.
Du Lingjing immediately thought of the four Song Dynasty editions he had brought back for her when he returned from Fujian.
She mentioned the gift, "The commander's gift was too expensive, and I didn't return the gift."
Collecting four Song Dynasty editions in a short period of time is not only valuable, but also very difficult to obtain.
Actually, when the news of her marriage to a marquis reached Fujian, he prepared wedding gifts on the spur of the moment and returned to Beijing. It took only a few months in total. How could it be easy to buy four Song editions at once?
When she mentioned it, Wei Jue smiled faintly at her and shook his head.
"It's nothing, Madam, just accept it with peace of mind."
Du Lingjing thanked him.
The biggest topic between her and him was Nian Jia. Without Nian Jia, she would not have been able to know him.
But at this time, Nian Jia was also in the Marquis of Jing'an's mansion, and neither Wei Jue nor she mentioned a word.
His attitude is surprisingly the same as Nian Jia's...
Du Lingjing could only talk about her father.
At that time, Nian Jia said that the gentleman Wei Jue respected most was her father, Lord Du.
He respected her, but knew that he was from a noble family and not a serious scholar, so he did not dare to show his "crude" articles to her father.
Nian Jia simply stole it from his school bag, gave it to Du Lingjing, and asked Du Lingjing to take it home to show her father.
My father naturally didn't care about these things. He commented on the four or five articles written by Wei Jue one by one and put them aside.
Later, Du Lingjing heard Nian Jia say that Wei Jue received comments from her father. At first, she didn’t dare to look at it, but later she saw that her father didn’t say a word of dislike. She was so excited that she couldn’t sleep at night. The next day, she was working in the palace and almost hit her head on the doorpost. Nian Jia laughed for a long time...
At this time, Du Lingjing mentioned her father, but Wei Jue was slightly stunned. She didn't know if he was thinking about the old things in the past. He didn't say anything more, but just smiled at her gently.
"Madam, please go inside. I will go to the outer courtyard to look for the Marquis."
He said, and bowed to her.
He left the shadow of the tree, walked in the sunlight for a few breaths, and quickly returned to the shadow.
Perhaps being a feared Jinyiwei means that this is the only way.
Du Lingjing inexplicably felt that he had turned into a shadow.
She continued to go to the back and found the maid beside Nian Jia from time to time. The maid said that the princess had been called away by someone. It was the princesses or princesses of other royal families. Du Lingjing was not familiar with them, so she just walked around casually and waited for Nian Jia to come back.
Unexpectedly, as she walked down a corridor, she met a group of little girls walking towards her, talking in low voices and laughing.
She looked down, and everyone looked up and saw her.
When the girls saw her, their eyes paused. Several of them looked at her involuntarily, but then they remembered something, gave way to her and bowed politely.
Lord Lu, the Marquis of Yongding, had been late in marrying, and this was the Marquis' wife he had waited so long to bring home.
"Madam Lu."
Madam Lu raised her hand and told them not to be so polite.
However, a few people noticed the pair of crystal clear white jade bracelets on her hands.
They all heard about what happened in the birthday celebration hall just now.
Marquis Lu and his wife arrived late, but today, the old birthday girl, the wife of Marquis Jing'an, gave the white jade bracelet she wore when she got married directly to Marquis Lu's wife, and asked the Crown Prince's wife to help her put it on her wrist.
When the emperor had arranged the marriage, no one was optimistic about this girl named Du, who came from a family of declining civil officials, and she had just come to Beijing from Qingzhou.
But at this moment, she was standing in the corridor on the stone steps. She was dressed plainly yet elegantly. A pair of white jade bracelets of Lady Jing'an Marquis made her wrists look as white as snow.
But you have to know that the person standing behind her is Lord Lu.
Her husband was Lu Shenru, Marquis of Yongding.
No one dared to look down on Madam Lu.
At this moment, someone walked over and saw the white jade bracelet on Du Lingjing's wrist before stepping into the room.
It was the second Miss Du, Du Runqing, who came with her grandmother.
She looked up at her sister. The sunlight fell on her sister's thick eyelashes under her long eyebrows. The light in her eyes was as bright as the ripples in the Taiye Lake.
Du Runqing was stunned for a moment until a girl gently pushed her.
It would have been fine for others, they just politely greeted Madam Lu.
But Du Runqing's identity was slightly different. Although her family background was not as good as those of the noble ladies around her, she had to step forward and perform the ceremony separately.
"Big sister."
Du Lingjing didn't expect that she was there too, so she nodded to her and asked her to stand up.
While the two sisters were talking, everyone else left.
Only two sisters were left under the Chaoshou Gallery.
Shortly after the New Year, Du Lingjing asked Ruan Gong to urge her uncle Du Zhiqi to leave Beijing and return to that remote place to serve as an official.
She didn't want her uncle to be confused and get involved in the turbulent situation in the capital, which would bring trouble to the entire Du family.
But his uncle left on his own as usual, leaving his wife and daughter in the capital.
Du Lingjing asked Wen Bo to take care of them, but she never heard about the condition of Du Runqing and her daughter again.
At this moment, she asked Du Runqing, "How is Auntie these days? Are you still living in the farm outside Beijing?"
When she asked, Du Runqing couldn't help but look at her again.
Her eldest sister, although she had married a marquis and had become prominent, she still cared about the Chengqingfang mansion. Not long after her marriage, she took Chengqingfang back from her father.
Since she and her mother did not live in Chengqingfang, they could only live in a farm outside Beijing.
But how can the manor outside the capital be compared with the mansion in the capital? Moreover, it is quite far from the capital, and it is difficult to enter the capital even once.
The eldest sister not only drove my father away, but also, like my uncle, refused to support my father in any way.
It was just a matter of a word in front of the Marquis, but she refused to speak for her father.
After her father left, life outside Beijing became even more difficult for her and her mother.
In the end, her grandmother took care of her and her mother, and her uncle let bygones be bygones and brought them back to the capital.
Grandmother said to her, "All the people in the Qingzhou Du family are now surrounding your eldest sister. She won't take care of you. You should stay with grandma. Grandmother promises to find you a distinguished marriage, so that you can stay in the capital safely and become a noble lady..."
Du Lingjing went to ask and saw that the second sister had a cold expression.
"It's okay, mother. I'm living with my grandmother right now, so you don't have to worry about me."
Her attitude made Qiu Lin frown.
Du Lingjing didn't want to argue with the little girl, but she didn't expect that after the sisters' marriage, Old Madam Wan never asked anyone to look after Du Runqing at all. Why did she bring him back to the Gu Mansion now?
In her opinion, there were many things wrong with Madam Wan's behavior. Du Runqing followed her... Du Lingjing thought about it and couldn't help but say something.
"If you find it inconvenient, you can take your aunt to live in Chengqingfang."
No one lives on Chengqingfang 3rd Road now. It's not that the Du family doesn't have a house, but they can't let the girls of the Du family live in their parents' house forever.
But when she said that, her second sister's voice became even colder.
"I appreciate your kindness, sister. It's not necessary."
After she finished speaking, she bowed and left.
Du Lingjing watched her disappear from the doorway at the side and heard Qiu Lin couldn't help but say.
"It seems that Madam Wan has been saying a lot of bad things about us in front of the second young lady, but since we have divided the family, they can do whatever they want."
Indeed, could Du Lingjing still restrain this second sister? As long as she had no plans to get married and she was willing to be close to her grandmother, what else could Du Lingjing do?
She shook her head and turned away.
... ...
Ruixue followed Du Runqing closely, and seeing that there was no one around, she couldn't help but speak.
"Will the young lady be too rude to the older girl?"
She went to ask, and heard her own daughter say, "She is now the wife of Marquis Lu."
Shouldn't you be more polite?
But Ruixue saw that her daughter looked depressed and knew that she probably still couldn't forget the Marquis.
Ruixue didn't dare to say more, and listened to the girl's words again.
"I rely on my grandmother now, and she treats me well. Even if I am polite to my eldest sister, can she treat me as well as my grandmother does?"
She asked herself and answered, "I'm afraid not."
As soon as he finished speaking, Madam Wan sent someone over.
"My dear cousin, the old lady wants you to come over quickly so that you can put on your clothes and hair and pay your respects to an important nobleman."
Du Runqing did not dare to slack off. She immediately asked Ruixue to help her check her clothes and hair carefully, and then she quickly followed the maid.
Her grandmother was having tea with someone in a small courtyard. She walked through the courtyard, entered the room, lifted the curtain and looked up.
There sat a lady in her fifties.
The noble lady wore a pair of golden phoenix hairpins on her head and was dressed in luxurious brocade clothes. Even though she was sitting in a dim room, her whole body was radiant.
When she saw Du Runqing come in, she looked him over.
Du Runqing's heart beat faster. She looked towards her grandmother and heard her grandmother calling her.
"What are you standing there for? Why don't you go forward and pay your respects to Madam Baoguo?"
Madam Baoguo, the Emperor's aunt.
The mother of Jinyiwei commander Wei Jue.
However, Wei Jue, the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, has not yet married.
Du Runqing instantly understood what her grandmother meant.
But, can it really work?
*
In the garden of Marquis Jing'an's mansion, Du Lingjing waited for Nian Jia for a long time but he didn't come. Then she met a few ladies she had met at the palace banquet and chatted with them for a while. Finally, she saw that Nian Jia sent someone to invite her to go to the waterside pavilion in front.
Du Lingjing was led to the waterside pavilion, where they walked past flowers and willows. She saw that half of the capital's people had come to the Marquis of Jing'an's Mansion today, and guests were chatting in groups of three or five everywhere.
At this moment, she heard someone mention Princess Nian Jia and her Prince Wei Cong.
Obviously, compared to Nian Jia, the young girls and ladies are more interested in Wei Cong.
"I have never met the Crown Prince of Wei. I heard that he fought outside the Great Wall and frightened the Tartars. But is he as strong and sturdy as a general?"
Someone even said, "He may not be as strong as a tiger, but he is indeed very impressive. I was lucky enough to see him in battle. He is indeed an extraordinary person. In the future, he will inherit the title of Earl of Zhongqing and have countless military achievements. I think he will be even more powerful and will surely be a high-ranking official in a certain area."
They were speculating about how powerful Wei Cong would be in the future, and some people also mentioned Wei Jue, who was also from the Wei family.
"The Wei family is really full of talented people, and the commander is even more important. The emperor values him so much that he appointed him as the commander of the Jinyiwei at the age of 23, leading the Jinyiwei to arrest criminals. This time when he came back from Fujian, he entered the palace first. Then the emperor rewarded him with a lot of things. I don't know what kind of merit he has made, but he has made the emperor very happy. How can he be an ordinary person?"
Du Lingjing listened to Wei Cong with her left ear and heard Wei Jue with her right ear.
The Wei family, with his two brothers, is indeed unique in the court.
However, her ears were filled with the Wei brothers' words of praise, and before she could find Nian Jia, she was suddenly blocked by someone coming from a fork in the road.
The General Wei and Commander Wei, who were just mentioned by everyone in the garden, appeared in front of her at this moment.
There was silence in the garden. Du Lingjing noticed countless eyes behind her, all looking at the person in front of her.
One was injured but still looked as majestic as ever, while the other had a calm look in his eyes and stood tall and slender.
But at this moment, the two Wei brothers were standing on one person's left and right.
Today he was wearing a dark blue brocade robe embroidered with an endless dark pattern of ten thousand characters. He had a black jade belt around his waist and a black stone pendant tied to the belt. The sunlight made the black stone pendant shine brightly. It was casually hung on his waist.
He stood with his hands behind his back between the Wei brothers. His figure was as tall as the two of them, and his whole body had an even more powerful aura. The two of them could not take away even a bit of his glory.
Everyone's eyes gradually focused on him.
But he had a cold and arrogant face and just looked at Du Lingjing with his eyes lowered.
Du Lingjing: "..."
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