Chapter 68 Chapter 68 Honor
The mountain villa of Yongding Marquis Mansion is located in Shunyi County, some distance away from Shunyi County.
But the first person to arrive in the morning was the magistrate of Shunyi County.
Originally, it was an ordinary matter for a nobleman from the capital to stay in their villa in the capital, but it was a big deal when a scholar from the county insulted the nobleman.
When the magistrate learned that the old scholar in his county had cursed and swore at the people in the Yongding Marquis's Mansion, especially the Marquis's wife, he was so frightened that he could not sleep all night. He rushed to the door of the mountain house in the morning to apologize.
There was no drunk old scholar in the marquis's mansion, but all the scholars in the mansion were considered disciples of the county magistrate. The county magistrate went forward tremblingly and knocked on the door himself.
Lu Shenru didn't expect that the first person to come to his door would be the magistrate of Shunyi.
Chongping then had time to report to the Marquis what happened at the town market yesterday.
The man was slightly startled, "You dealt with the old scholar?"
Chongping said no, "I just taught him a lesson and threw him far away."
The man breathed a sigh of relief and asked again, "What did the lady say?"
She is also a scholar.
She might be quite sensitive to remarks like "powerful officials commanding their own troops and disrupting the government".
Chongping recounted the situation at that time.
"... Madam only asked if this always happened, and then she didn't say anything else."
If it was just this incident, Lord Lu would probably have to think about it differently, but she mistook Chong'an for him last night and ran over with disheveled hair and a pale face...
Lord Lu was in a good mood. He said a few words to the magistrate and let him go.
Wei Cong came from behind and glanced at the magistrate who left the mountain house trembling with fear.
"If only the magistrate came today, something strange would happen."
Lu Shenru snorted and laughed.
"That's really... Let's wait and see."
The four of them had breakfast together and chatted for a while when someone else came to the door.
Chongping came to report.
"It's at Prince Yan's Mansion."
The clan ordered the emperor's uncle, Prince Yan, and the princess to hold a flower banquet in the palace's villa. The palace's chief secretary came in person to deliver invitations to Marquis Lu and his wife, the princess, and the prince of Wei.
The courtyard was quiet, and Lu Shenru tapped the table twice with his fingertips.
Du Lingjing glanced at him, and saw that Wei Cong also had a thoughtful look in his eyes.
The two of them remained silent. Finally, Nian Jia asked, "Shouldn't we invite the chief official of Prince Yan's Mansion in?"
She asked and Wei Cong nodded.
"Of course I will."
After saying that, he looked at Lu Shenru, nodded, and asked Chongping to go over and invite the person in personally.
When the chief official of the palace saw that the four of them were all there, he stepped forward to pay his respects, stated his purpose of coming, and handed over the invitation, saying that this year's flower banquet of the Prince of Yan's Palace would be held in the palace's other courtyard outside the capital in ten days, and asked the four of them to be sure to attend.
He didn't say anything else. Because he was quite familiar with Princess Nian Jia, he said a few words of greeting to Prince Yan and Princess Consort Yan, then took his leave.
Lu Shenru and Wei Cong left their wives behind and continued to drink tea in the backyard. They then went to the west yard where the three spies were imprisoned.
Up to this point, everything in the mountain house was calm and nothing could be seen.
Lu Shenru went outside to give a few instructions, and just as he returned to the hall, the doorman came to report that someone else had arrived.
"Who?" Wei Cong asked.
The doorman stepped forward and said, "Your Highness, it is Imperial Doctor Li who is here to give you a follow-up examination. Also here is someone sent by Concubine Jiang."
Doctor Li, Concubine Jiang?
The extent of Wei Cong's injuries could not be hidden from Imperial Physician Li, and Concubine Dowager Jiang was Nian Jia's grandmother.
Wei Cong and Lu Shenru looked at each other, and asked someone to invite Princess Nian Jia to the courtyard where they were staying. Wei Cong also got up and went there.
As before, Imperial Doctor Li examined Wei Cong's injuries again and said that he was getting better day by day.
Tong Nianjia smiled and said, "I have conveyed the message to the princess on behalf of the princess."
After he said this, Nanny Park started laughing.
This time, Concubine Jiang asked Nanny Pu to personally prepare a lot of medicinal food and bring it over, Nanny Pu said.
"The Concubine Dowager has already known that the princess is taking good care of the prince. I am afraid that the princess is also tired, so she asked me to bring food."
Nanny Park brought a lot of things, and she was from the same year as Jiaqing and Daoguang.
"In addition to the ones for the princess and the prince, there are also some for the marquis and his wife."
No wonder there were some Qingzhou-style food in there, it turned out they were for Jingniang.
"It turns out that the Queen doesn't only love me!"
She curled her lips and raised her eyebrows. Wei Cong looked at her with a smile. Nanny Park smiled even more. Then she thought of something and called someone forward.
It was a young servant, holding two large ceramic jars in his arms.
"Our Sixth Master heard that the princess and the prince were recuperating here, so he sent these two large pottery jars of spring water to invite the princess and the prince to have tea."
Jiang Fengchuan's servant explained the origins of the two jars of spring water, and found out that they were both gifts from the abbot of Hongluo Temple.
"That's really good stuff. Thank Liu Lang for me and the prince. We are just waiting for the palace examination to be over and the Jiang family to have a new Jinshi. Then we can have a banquet and wine."
Nanny Pu spoke a few more words to Nian Jia, but since this was Marquis Lu's mountain villa, she avoided suspicion and did not go to see Du Lingjing. Seeing that it was getting late, she took Jiang Fengchuan's servant and Doctor Li and returned to the capital.
Wei Cong returned to the west courtyard and saw the marquis shaking his head at him.
The wind is calm and the trees are still, there is no movement.
This is the third group of people.
Nian Jia didn't know what was going on between the two of them, but he asked someone to bring two large jars of mountain spring water and went to the backyard to look for Du Lingjing.
Du Lingjing looked over and Nian Jia smiled.
"Liu Lang sent some spring water to me," she said softly, "but I don't think it was really for me."
Nian Jia and Wei Cong do not have the habit of using mountain spring water to make tea, so it is self-evident who is the best at this.
Du Lingjing was stunned for a moment, and Nian Jia sat next to her, "Liu Lang is quite filial to you?"
Filial piety?
Du Lingjing smiled and shook her head, "I'm not his benefactor or elder."
Nian Jia blinked.
But Jingniang is Jiang Liulang’s “sister-in-law”.
But Sanlang was no longer around, so she couldn't say anything to make Jingniang lose her mind.
He just said, "Since it was sent to us to eat, we can use it to make tea today."
As he spoke, he asked someone to bring Nanny Park's snacks and placed them on the table.
Du Lingjing personally scooped up some mountain spring water to boil, and after taking a sip with the tip of her tongue, she could tell that this was something Liu Lang had obtained from the abbot of Hongluo Temple.
He had previously given her spring water from the abbot as a gift of thanks for reviewing his articles.
She gave it to him again this time. Could it be a return gift for the gift she gave him?
But this time he called in the name of Nian Jia and Wei Cong, otherwise if a certain marquis knew about it, he would go crazy again...
She was just afraid that someone would get sick, and she wanted to drink the two jars of spring water quickly, without considering Jiang Fengchuan's intentions.
The spring water was clear and sweet, just like her taste.
Du Lingjing and Nian Jia had just finished half a cup of wine when they heard footsteps outside.
"Why are there so many people coming today?"
Nian Jia looked up and asked, "Who is it this time? Could it be that the Imperial Concubine has sent someone here as well?"
Her maid went to ask a few questions, and came back from time to time, taking a special look at her own princess.
"My lord, it's not the Imperial Concubine's men. It's... the Imperial Guards."
Jinyiwei, Wei Jue’s men.
He only went to the front yard and didn't come to their place.
Nian Jia paused, didn't ask another question, just picked up the teacup and continued to drink tea.
Du Lingjing glanced at her silently without saying much.
... ...
In the west courtyard of the mountain house, after seeing off the Jinyiwei, Lu Shenru and Wei Cong exchanged glances.
Wei Jue learned some rumors that Marquis Lu had arrested someone the night before. He did not come in person, but sent someone to ask Lu Shenru if he was injured and whether he needed help from the Jinyiwei.
The Jinyiwei had their eyes and ears open in all directions, so it was not surprising that Wei Jue knew about this matter first.
At this time, the Jinyiwei people came to ask, and when they saw that the marquis had no other orders, they left quickly.
The sun was setting in the west. Lord Lu supported his chin with his hands and looked up at the sky.
"There should be only these four groups of people today."
Wei Cong also glanced at the sky and asked Chongping, "Is there still no movement in the prison?"
Chongping nodded in agreement.
Lu Shenru said there was no rush, "It will happen."
The masters behind the spies certainly cannot watch these spies fall into the hands of others.
It is extremely difficult to rescue someone, but it is easy to silence them.
Lu Shenru called Chongping, "Keep an eye on that Han spy."
Chongping understood.
It was already late as they were talking, and indeed no one had come to the mountain villa.
Du Lingjing sent someone over to ask about the meal.
The four of them had dinner together in the garden at the back. The sky darkened, like thick ink dropped into water, and the dark sky slid down from top to bottom across the fields.
Birds are chirping and clouds are floating leisurely.
But there was suddenly movement in the west courtyard.
Du Lingjing saw Wei Cong turned his head and looked towards the west courtyard, and slowly stood up. After a few breaths, Chongping came quickly.
Lu Shenru finished the rest of the wine in the glass and looked at Chongping.
Chongping stepped forward.
"My Lord, Prince, two Tatar spies are dead."
Du Lingjing's heart skipped a beat when he heard the words "Tartar spies". It turned out that he had attacked the Tatar spies at night two nights ago.
But why would Tatar spies appear in the capital?
She didn't know what was going on, but after he caught the spies, four groups of people came to his house today, and two of them died just as the sky got dark.
However, Lu Weishi's expression did not change, and Wei Cong also looked like he knew what was going on.
The two followed Chongping back to the West Courtyard.
There was a blazing fire in the west courtyard, and Wei Cong's personal guards came forward with a few sheets of paper.
He said that someone had sneaked into the west courtyard and killed two Tatar spies. The two knew little, and under torture, they only vaguely revealed a few old stories that Lu Shenru knew.
"But the person who came to silence us this time left a mark."
Wei Cong's personal guards handed over a few pages of paper, on which were drawn the secret symbols of mutual trust between the spies and their accomplices.
Lu Shenru took a closer look and found that it was a very special Tatar pattern, which looked like a certain tribe, but not one of the major tribes that were currently active. Wei Cong had never seen it before either.
He then asked about the person who came to silence him.
"How many people came? Are they all gone?"
The people below nodded solemnly, "Two people came. They were extremely agile and shot three arrows at them. They also disappeared into the night."
This group of spies had been captured for more than ten years, and after many battles, the Yongding Army was unable to gain the upper hand.
Today, four groups of people happened to come——
The Shunyi County Magistrate, the Chief Clerk sent by Prince Yan, Imperial Physician Li, Jiang's men, and the Embroidered Uniform Guards.
The people who come to silence us tonight must be among these four groups of people who come to explore the way.
Who is it? It is worth pondering.
However, Lu Shenru and Wei Cong did not think about it and immediately captured the person and pulled out the master behind the scenes.
He handed the spy's contact mark to Wei Cong for careful examination, "See which tribe it is."
Then he walked towards the dark and dank prison, "Is that Han spy okay?"
Chongping said, "According to the Marquis's instructions, I hid this person in advance."
He led the way until they reached the prison where the Han spy was hiding.
When the torch was lit, the man's eyes, immersed in darkness, suddenly felt a pain.
His limbs were all tied up, and he slowly raised his head to look at the person in front of him.
It was Lu Shenru, Marquis of Yongding.
The man was tall and handsome, the firelight illuminated half of his face and shone into his deep eyes.
"Still not telling?" he asked. "The two Tatars have been silenced."
The Han spy's eyes trembled slightly, but this was expected.
If they fall into Lu Shenru's hands, neither Lu Shenru nor their master will let them survive.
Once the two Tatars were dead, he would soon be dead too.
The injuries from the torture were so painful that his nerves were numb, and even the pain dissipated a little in the numbness.
He thought it was a pity that the person who came to silence him did not kill him as well, otherwise he would have been free.
But Lord Lu suddenly spoke up and had him untied.
"No need to torture anymore."
The Han spy was startled and looked at him vigilantly, only to see the firelight flickering slightly and Lord Lu's eyes slowly turning.
"I know you know a lot. The more you know, the less likely you are to speak. Even severe punishment won't make you speak."
He said, "I won't let anyone torture you, and I certainly won't let you go, but I won't let you die either."
His already hoarse voice became even lower and slower at this moment.
"I will let you live. Every day you live, you will have hope of living one more day. With every day's hope accumulated, you will only want to live more. As long as you are willing to speak, I will let you live forever."
Every word of his words reached his ears, and the spy looked at him in surprise.
He saw the man close his eyes slightly, then suddenly open them, with firelight gathered in his eyes.
"I think a person who has hope of living will be willing to speak sooner or later."
"Especially, he is a Han Chinese."
The Han spy's fingertips trembled again and again, but he saw that Lu Hou had turned around and walked away slowly.
*
The four of them stayed in the mountain house for another night.
Marquis Lu had not attended court for several days, and the pile of documents and letters was too numerous to count. The civil officials in the court could not help but scold him for pretending to be sick but actually living a carefree life, and for becoming more and more treacherous and treacherous, and told the emperor not to indulge him any longer.
After hearing these words, Lord Lu simply ordered someone to roast an extra leg of lamb the night before returning to Beijing.
Nian Jia muttered, "Why do these people who are marching and fighting in the northwest like to eat roasted lamb so much? Don't they get tired of it?"
She had eaten enough meat in the Northwest, and the sight of a lamb leg dripping with fat made her stomach feel dizzy.
She took the wine and pulled Du Lingjing to the upwind side. "I don't even want to smell it."
Marquis Lu personally cut a plate of roasted lamb for his wife and had someone bring it over.
Du Lingjing saw that Nian Jia's eyes were rolled up, and seeing that Du Lingjing really gave him face and pinched a piece to eat, he couldn't help but say.
"You are not shy with him. Haven't you been married for only half a year?"
How should she answer this? Du Lingjing didn't reply, but threw the question to her.
"What about the princess? She has been married for three years, but she is still so distant with the prince?"
As soon as she finished speaking, the smell of alcohol wafted from Nian Jia's cup, and her face turned red from the alcohol.
"I'll tell you the truth, but I said you can't laugh at me. You have to help me with some advice. And you can't let the Concubine Dowager and my mother know about it, or they'll beat me to death!"
"Is it that serious?" Du Lingjing raised her eyebrows and blinked, "Then I'd better not listen to it."
Du Lingjing said this and really wanted to leave.
Nian Jia stamped his feet in anger, "If you want to leave, don't come back! I thought you were a good person, how did you become as bad as Lu Shenru?"
Du Lingjing didn't become like someone else.
She was just teasing Nian Jia. Now she pursed her lips and smiled softly. Seeing that Nian Jia was not as tense as before, she pulled her to sit down next to the tree.
"What happened between you and the prince?"
Nian Jia drank the last of the wine and lowered his head on Du Lingjing's shoulder.
"It's just... the night when I got married to him, no, it wasn't going well..."
She said that among the people of the Wei family, she only knew Wei Jue. Wei Cong grew up in the northwest and had only been to the capital a few times. Nian Jia had only met him a few times.
"I have no impression of him at all. He was not in the capital when the two families were engaged. He had just left the battlefield and rushed here from the northwest before the wedding."
Nian Jia whispered in front of Du Lingjing.
"I knew I was going to marry him, and he would be my groom. We were going to have children for the Wei family and Prince Yu's mansion. But I was too unfamiliar with him. When the veil was lifted, I didn't even see his face clearly before I entered the bridal chamber."
She said that her mother had specifically taught her before and had the nanny explain it to her in detail. On the wedding night, she even assigned palace servants to wait outside the door.
"The more this happened, the more nervous I became. Especially when I saw that the prince was too big and burly, the bed was shaking when he sat down beside it..."
Du Lingjing suddenly thought of the night when she first married into the Marquis' Mansion. Although the situation was different, she felt completely unprepared.
When she saw Nian Jia talking about this, her face was indeed extremely tense, and she couldn't help but speak for her.
"Did it fail to accomplish the task at that time? Or did the prince..."
Did the prince use force? Du Lingjing felt that Wei Cong was not that kind of person.
She saw that Nian Jiaju shook his head and hid Lian behind Du Lingjing's shoulder. She could only see half of her embarrassed face.
"Neither... At that time, the prince saw that I was too nervous, so he said that he would talk about it later, but I felt that it would be better to do it quickly instead of waiting. After all, I am also the princess of the royal family, how can I act timidly?"
She took the initiative to undress, called back Wei Yibin who was about to go to bed, and had sex.
But Wei Cong's strangeness made her too nervous.
Wei Cong saw that she was impatient and said that it was okay, and even touched her hair, but she gritted her teeth and pulled his hand, not letting him go...
"Anyway, I was so powerful at first! I forced the marriage to be completed, thinking that I had done my job, but who would have thought that later on, the prince would take over, and I..."
She was almost crying as she spoke.
Later, whenever she saw the prince approaching the bed, her legs began to tremble, and she became afraid of him.
Especially in the first year of their marriage, their feet would sweat if they looked at Wei Cong for even a second.
Nian Jia was too embarrassed to say anything. It was all her fault that she had forced herself on him and broke her own string.
How could this be?
Du Lingjing was stunned and didn't know what to say.
Nian Jia was very upset.
"what to do?"
She would never dare say this to her mother and the imperial concubine.
In the past three years, the wars in the northwest were frequent, and Wei Cong had no time to come to Xi'an to look for her. The two lived in different places and it was not easy to meet. But now they both returned to the capital.
Nian Jia said out loud what was in his heart, and felt a little relieved.
She talked about the origin of her marriage.
"After Wei Jue and I parted ways, marriage became more difficult."
As the princess of Prince Yu's Mansion, her status was not low, but Prince Yu had passed away long ago, and the empty palace was not worthy of her status as a princess.
All the powerful young men in Beijing looked down on her, and those who looked up to her were either from poor families or had spoiled children.
There were several families who came to propose marriage, but Nian Jia was proud and angry with Wei Jue. She was unwilling to marry him so hastily, so she rejected all the matchmakers.
Who would have thought that this would cause a lot of gossip, and people were saying that Prince Yu's Mansion was nothing. No wonder Wei Jue refused to marry her. The so-called princess was simply empty.
They trampled on her dignity as a princess.
"I don't know how the prince heard these words."
She said Wei Cong.
Du Lingjing looked down and saw Nian Jia whispering.
"He sent a message from the northwest to the capital, saying that he wanted to give me this honor."
He wanted to marry her just when everyone was saying that Princess Nian Jia and Prince Yu's Mansion were just empty shells.
He was the eldest son of the Zhongqing Earl's Mansion, the powerful general in the Northwest Army, and a general with great military achievements.
He wanted to give her this honor.
Du Lingjing was stunned and couldn't help but look back at Wei Cong. Wei Cong's eyes happened to be on the person in her arms.
Nian Jia obviously noticed his gaze, but her face turned red and she didn't look up.
The wind under the tree blew away the smell of alcohol on Nian Jia's body, and Du Lingjing heard her say.
She said she never thought the prince would be willing to marry her. "I also want to get to know the prince. In fact, I have become more familiar with him since he was injured, but..."
But she was still at a loss about that matter.
Can she control her weak legs and trembling legs?
She asked Du Lingjing, "Jingniang, what do you say we should do? I'm counting on you!"
Du Lingjing: "..."
With the bloodline of Prince Yu's Mansion on her left shoulder and the offspring of Earl Zhongqing on her right shoulder, the responsibility on her shoulders suddenly became extremely heavy.
She thought back to herself, although she had some setbacks, but things went smoothly afterwards. As for the Marquis, she really didn't need to worry about him.
For a moment her mind froze.
She could only comfort Nian Jia and not to worry, "The prince is not well yet, so wait a while. The two of you can spend more time together, and maybe there will be an opportunity."
"Is this the only way?"
Nian Jia leaned on Du Lingjing, and Du Lingjing held her in his arms, and leaves fell on their long hair.
She said, "Don't worry, let me think about it first."
The men not far away all turned their heads to look.
Wei Cong's eyes fell softly on his princess.
However, Marquis Lu looked at his wife's relaxed expression. Even when she saw him from the corner of her eye, she did not turn her head away immediately. Instead, she looked at him for a second longer before slowly looking away.
This trip was really worthwhile...
The starry sky descends on the grass at night, the falling leaves dance like green butterflies, the wind blows the green grass like waves, and every breath is filled with the freshness of the open world.
The comfort in this world is always short-lived like quicksand. The moment you hold it in your hands, it begins to slip away.
I have to go back to the capital.
The next morning, the four of them set out on their way back to the capital. Before they could see the capital gate from afar, they ran into a carriage coming from another route.
It was the carriage of Madam Baoguo and Madam Wan.
Everyone stopped and greeted each other.
Mrs. Baoguo didn't say anything more to Du Lingjing, and naturally didn't talk to Nian Jia. She only asked a few questions to Wei Cong and Lu Shenru.
However, Du Lingjing was surprised to see Madam Wan with her second sister Du Runqing.
Madam Wan and Mrs. Baoguo went to a temple outside the capital to burn incense. It was not uncommon for Madam Wan to bring her granddaughter with her, but both times she brought Du Runqing to accompany Mrs. Baoguo.
Du Ling calmed down and secretly felt that something was not right.
Mrs. Baoguo has two sons, but the second son is already married. The only unmarried one is Wei Jue.
But Wei Jue doesn't seem to want to get married.
If he doesn't want to, how can the marriage be facilitated?
She frowned and guessed secretly, but she couldn't say much in front of Nian Jia.
She couldn't help but look at Du Runqing twice more, but her second sister ignored her.
After Du Lingjing returned to the Marquis' Mansion, she called Changpu and said, "Go to the door of the Gu family and ask about the Second Madam and the Second Miss's situation."
Acorus took the order and left immediately.
She called Ruan Gong again and said, "Ask Wenbo to clean up Chengqingfang West Road. In two days, you and Wenbo will go to the Gu family in person to see if you can take the second wife and the second girl back to the Du family."
Madam Wan is not an ordinary person. It was ok that my second sister and aunt lived outside the capital before, but now they live in front of Madam Wan.
Brother Cang has just passed the imperial examination. If something strange happens in Beijing, the reputation of the entire Qingzhou Du family will probably be damaged.
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