Chapter 70 Chapter 70 Coral
After going around in circles, Du Lingjing finally put on the red coral headdress.
She was awakened early in the morning by the sound of someone getting up to attend court. She lost her sleepiness and simply packed her makeup to go to the villa of Prince Yan's mansion for a banquet.
She was not one of those who would wait until everyone else had arrived before showing off and arriving late. Now she had combed her hair into a bun, put on a headdress, and changed into a peach-colored jacket with embroidered floral patterns and a rouge-colored pleated skirt.
The rouge red skirt and the coral red hairpin matched each other, her face was lightly powdered and her lips were rouge. Lu Shenru was about to go to court on time, but his eyes fell on his wife beside the dressing table and he took back his steps to walk out of the room.
He pursed his lips and repeatedly looked at his wife who had just finished dressing up. Seeing this, Qiu Lin and others looked at each other and retreated.
Du Lingjing was putting on a pair of coral pearl earrings in front of the mirror, and after checking the symmetry between the two, she stood up. Unexpectedly, as soon as she turned around, she fell into someone's arms.
Du Lingjing was startled by him, "Didn't the Marquis go to court?"
However, he said, "How can I go to court if you are like this?"
Du Lingjing was stunned. She saw that he was half smiling and half melancholy. He looked at her and shook his head.
She was like a red butterfly that had just flapped its wings and flew out from the dim light of morning light, and landed on the tip of his eyebrows.
Lu Shenru sighed, "Unfortunately, there are so many things to do in the court meeting today. I'm afraid I won't be able to get there until later."
It was just a Spring Flower Banquet hosted by Prince and Princess Yan. Such a leisurely and elegant banquet had little to do with the major affairs of the court. It seemed that Wei Cong was still recuperating from illness, so he did not plan to go. Only Nian Jia went.
And this marquis was even more busy with many things. Du Lingjing originally thought that he would not go, so she had to go on his behalf and also have a small gathering with Nian Jia.
But he said he would rush over and said it was a pity.
Du Lingjing blinked at him and saw that only her shadow was reflected in his eyes.
What's a pity? She can't just dress up for him to see.
She turned sideways to get out of his arms, but he held her waist tightly and refused to let go, whispering instructions to her.
"Eat less alcohol."
She can drink a lot, but after a few more drinks, her cheeks would turn red.
He was already in a state of disrepair, and if he got a little drunk, he might even lose his focus, with his eyes fixed on her hair.
Is it possible for others to look at the wife of Marquis Lu?
He could only say to her, "I'll pick you up later, remember to drink less."
Du Lingjing: "..."
He made it sound like she was some kind of alcoholic.
She quickly pushed him to go to court. He was already later than all the other officials, and if he was any later, even the emperor would have to wait for him.
Du Lingjing pushed someone away and ate a little. It was getting late, so Nian Jia sent someone to urge her.
"The princess has set off, Madam, please follow soon."
Du Lingjing had just finished packing, and Chongping personally escorted her all the way to Prince Yan's villa outside the capital.
Unexpectedly, when Du Lingjing arrived at Prince Yan's villa, the first person she saw was not Nian Jia, but Yang Jinyu, the wife of the Prince of Weiguo and the eldest daughter of the Yang family.
Prince Yan and his princess invited old and new officials in the capital, so it was not surprising that Yang Jinyu was among them.
She also saw Du Lingjing's carriage with a cold expression, and saw the steward of Prince Yan's Mansion go first to greet Du Lingjing, the wife of Marquis Lu. His face became even gloomier, but he did not say a word. He took a deep breath to recover his composure, and walked into the villa while chatting and laughing with others.
After the incident between the Zifu Party and the Yang family of the Rongchang Earl's Mansion, whether the two young masters of the Yang family who committed crimes were sentenced to heavy penalties or pardoned had nothing to do with her. As for Miss Yang Jinyu, she just pretended that she had never met her and had no intersection with her.
When she entered the villa garden, Nian Jia quickly stepped forward to greet her.
The Prince of Yan's villa was truly filled with nobles from the capital. Du Lingjing saw clusters of flowers everywhere in the villa, but there were more people than flowers, walking among them in gorgeous clothes, just to make the flower banquet more colorful.
Du Lingjing couldn't help but say, "The Yanwang Mansion's villa is really huge, otherwise how could it accommodate so many people?"
The maid of the palace who was leading the way said, "My lady, this is the largest courtyard of the palace in the suburbs of Beijing. It's just that in the year of the Spring Examination, the prince and the princess have invited so many distinguished guests that the two neighboring families have opened their doors and lent their gardens to the palace, otherwise they are afraid that they will not be able to entertain them well enough."
Nian Jia said that this kind of neighbor borrowing the garden is also a common occurrence, "Who doesn't like to add icing on the cake for others?"
Although the Prince of Yan did not hold great power in the court, he was of high rank and respected by the emperor. He had a certain reputation among the royal family and the noble families in the entire capital. Who would not come to support the flower banquet held by the Prince of Yan's mansion?
Nian Jia remembered that the east side was another relative's courtyard, and the maid Lian Dao was right there, saying that the neighboring family on the east side "lent their back garden to the palace."
Nian Jia asked again, "Whose neighbor is on the west side?"
She couldn't remember, the maid said.
"To the west is the new courtyard that Madam Baoguo bought. Madam Baoguo lent the small courtyard in the back garden to the distinguished guests of the palace to rest."
It turned out to be Mrs. Baoguo, the villa of Wei family.
Nian Jia had nothing more to ask. The maid led the two to greet Princess Yan.
Princess Yan liked Du Lingjing very much when she met her last time, so she kept her to talk for a while this time. Seeing that more and more people came to pay their respects, she let her stroll around and enjoy the flowers.
Du Lingjing and Nian Jia had not walked far in the garden when they saw someone coming towards them from another direction.
Unfortunately, it was Madam Baoguo who rented out the courtyard to settle down. She was followed by many ladies, among whom was Madam Wan, and behind Madam Wan was Du Runqing.
Nian Jia was about to take another route, and Du Lingjing followed her, but she also looked back at Qiu Lin.
Qiu Lin whispered in her ear.
"Don't worry, Madam. I asked Ai Ye to follow the second young lady secretly."
There are so many people at the flower banquet at Prince Yan's Mansion this time. Even if you want to do something very secretive, there is always a chance that something might go wrong and be discovered.
If you cause trouble here and embarrass yourself, the whole capital will know about it.
Du Lingjing secretly clenched her hands and took another route with Nian Jia. This route passed through a purple bamboo forest and passed along a flower path beside a high platform on a rockery.
As soon as they walked over, they heard someone on the high platform composing a poem. Prince Yan clapped his hands and said it was wonderful. People nearby came forward to appreciate and comment on it, and Prince Yan praised it endlessly.
Nian Jia looked up and laughed, "Who do you think wrote the poem?"
She called Du Lingjing, and Du Lingjing couldn't help but look up. At one glance, she met the eyes of the person who was writing poetry on the podium.
He was wearing a crimson purple robe with a red jade brocade belt. At this moment, he was standing on the high platform with his hands behind his back. Du Lingjing almost didn't recognize him.
It’s Rokuro.
After Sanlang passed away, he changed all his clothes into the colors that Sanlang used to wear when he was alive, and even tied the belt that Du Lingjing had made for Sanlang around his waist.
The clothes he was wearing today were as brightly colored as the red maples on the mountaintops in late autumn, without the elegance of green bamboo. Du Lingjing almost didn't recognize him.
However, Liu Lang is indeed different from before. He used to be a candidate for the imperial examination, and was below San Lang, who was ranked first in the imperial examination. But now he is a tribute scholar, and next month he will be on the list of Jinshi, which means he is above San Lang.
Seeing that he had also seen her, Du Lingjing nodded slightly to him. Nian Jiayi greeted him, and the two of them followed the flower path to the peach forest on the other side.
But someone's gaze was fixed on the long hairband behind Du Lingjing's bun from the high platform, passing through the flowers and willows.
The wind on the high platform blew up the hem of Jiang Fengchuan's crimson purple robe, and an aide came to invite Prince Yan to meet guests in the front hall.
King Yan immediately invited everyone to go with him, but mentioned Jiang Fengchuan. Jiang Fengchuan smiled and apologized to him.
"The scenery of the prince's courtyard is truly intoxicating. Please allow me to stay for a while, enjoy the breeze from the high platform, and look out at the scenery, and then follow the prince's footsteps."
He wanted to stay a little longer, and King Yan agreed. "The front hall is noisy, it's fine for Qiu Yi to take a break here, but I can't do that."
He called Jiang Fengchuan by his courtesy name, and then said that he would ask someone to invite him after he was done with the work.
Although Jiang Fengchuan did not rank high in the imperial examination, King Yan loved and respected him very much, and others also respected him and said goodbye to him one by one. Sometimes he was the only one left on the high platform, standing silently in the wind.
The person who was walking away from the flower path had just stepped into the peach forest. The peach blossoms were gradually falling, leaving only half of the tree still on the branches.
She was wearing a pink embroidered jacket and was standing among the flowers. Just by walking lightly, she mended the half-broken peach tree.
The young man's eyes were fixed on her fluttering skirt and flowing hairband.
In the past, when they were in Qingzhou, he and she had gone to the peach forest outside the city every spring.
At that time, the third brother was still alive and walked in front of her. There was clear spring water in the mountains, and the third brother personally scooped it out to make tea for her.
She liked to use spring water to make tea, and the third brother always remembered it. But he remembered more than that, he would remember what clothes she wore, what jewelry she wore, and what color hairband she tied in her hair when she went out with him.
Then the third brother went back home and wrote down the travel notes of the day under the window. He would not write in detail what she wore or tied, but he would weave the color of her hairband into the clouds, flowers and water in the travel notes, and into the winds that the third brother could travel in one of the few times.
He didn't understand at the time, and didn't even notice that his third brother would write like this. It was not until he was sick at home and couldn't go out that he kept taking out his old travel notes and reading them over and over again.
He only realized it when the pages turned yellow.
He asked him, "Brother, why are you writing this? If you don't know, you might think that the scenery on that day was really the color of her hairband? Isn't that untrue?"
He asked directly without any hesitation, but saw that his third brother blushed slightly.
"How can you understand?"
Then she looked at him again and smiled softly.
"Maybe in the future, you will understand it one day."
Of course he didn't understand at that time. Every time he went out, he would only remember how his brother was feeling, what his mood was like, and what kind of articles his wonderful pen had written.
Today...
Jiang Fengchuan closed his eyes and shook his head.
But all he could see was her coral red headband.
He suddenly opened his eyes, and suddenly he felt that there was nothing to shake his head about.
He laughed at himself and kept watching the people in the peach orchard until they disappeared on the other side of the orchard. Then he slowly walked down the platform.
*
Du Lingjing and Nian Jia passed through the peach forest and met several noble ladies from the royal family.
Du Lingjing had seen him before, but they were not familiar with each other. This time, Nian Jia specially introduced him to her and whispered in her ear, "If Lu Shenru asks you who you met when you go back, you can tell him directly. Don't let him think that we are just here to eat, drink and have fun, but we are doing serious business."
She was used to some tricks, and Du Lingjing was very amused. Although a certain marquis would never ask such a question, Du Lingjing still tried to get to know him seriously.
The group walked and chatted along the river. Just after they had walked halfway, Du Lingjing heard someone nearby.
"I heard that Commander Wei has also arrived, and is coming from the front hall to the garden with the prince."
Du Lingjing first found out that Wei Jue had not come, and thought that it would take two to tango and nothing ugly would happen. Unexpectedly, now all she heard was the news that Wei Jue had come.
She said she was a little tired, changed her clothes, and left Nian Jia and the ladies. After she parted with them, she immediately asked Qiu Lin what was going on with Wei Jue.
Qiu Lin just found out, "Originally, only Madam Baoguo brought the second master of the Wei family, his wife and the daughter here, and the commander didn't come. But just now, Madam Baoguo seemed to have specially sent people to invite the commander, saying that since she had borrowed the garden, she was half the owner, and asked the commander to come and show his support and at least have a drink."
Du Lingjing pinched her brows and asked, "Where's the second girl?"
"The second young lady was drinking tea with a few girls she knew well in the pavilion of the Pomegranate Garden. There was nothing much going on."
Du Lingjing didn't breathe a sigh of relief, she just said, "Keep staring at her."
*
Pomegranate orchard.
What Du Runqing wore today was not eye-catching, but this was the dress chosen for her by her grandmother, so it was good that it was not eye-catching.
People always respect clothes first and then people. Seeing that she was wearing ordinary clothes, the girls who were familiar with her ignored her. Instead, they talked about the coral-red headdress that Marquis Lu wore today. It was neither gold nor silver, but it was dazzling. They asked her, "Why didn't Qingniang attend the banquet with Marquis Lu's wife?"
Du Runqing didn't want to answer this question and kept mumbling it. The girls ignored her again and planned to make some flower wine to eat later.
She was put aside, and just then, Nanny Guan, who was beside her grandmother, waved her hand and asked her to come over.
Before her grandmother came, she told her that there was an important matter to be done today and asked her to be obedient.
She had no choice but to get up and walk quickly. Nanny Guan looked around and saw that there was no one around, so she immediately stuffed a finger-sized porcelain bottle into her sleeve.
"According to the old lady's words, let the girl drink with others later, mix the medicinal wine in this porcelain bottle into the cup and drink it together."
She said, "The medicinal wine in this bottle is strong, you must endure it and drink it, but you can't let anyone see it. After that, when your face is full of wine, tell others that you can't handle the wine, and go to the west yard to change clothes."
Nanny Guan pointed to the far west, "That's the courtyard that Madam Baoguo lent to the palace. There are few people over there, so you must go there. Let Ruixue help you, and I will pick you up there."
After she finished speaking, she called Du Runqing's maid to give her instructions again.
Nanny Guan said that it was inconvenient to stay for long and left immediately. Du Runqing and Ruixue were left alone in the shade beside the bushes.
Du Runqing held the porcelain bottle that could not be known to others in his sleeve, lowered his head and said nothing.
Ruixue kept swallowing her saliva.
"Girl, I'm afraid this is inappropriate, right?"
Even Ruixue figured out what was going on. The porcelain bottle didn't contain ordinary medicine or wine. It was clearly...
She suddenly held Du Runqing's hand and asked, "What do you think, young lady?"
What does she feel? Du Runqing felt a pain in his heart.
My grandmother also knew that Commander Wei did not agree to the marriage. Now, she wanted to take advantage of the commander's unpreparedness and make her lose her virginity before getting married!
Didn't my grandmother always say that girls should stick to women's morals and education? Why did she give her a bottle of medicine this time?
Du Runqing felt very uncomfortable. The more Ruixue asked her what to do, the more she felt the pain in her heart and she almost fainted.
She doesn't want this either.
But since the Marquis had married my elder sister, it was impossible for him to marry anyone else. And she was inferior to her elder sister in every way, so she could not marry a good man.
Her heart trembled, and at this moment, someone suddenly appeared on the road at the edge of the woods.
The girls in the Liuyuan Pavilion were just envious of the jewelry and head ornaments that Madam Lu was wearing today, but when they suddenly saw Madam Lu appear before them, they were all startled and quickly stood up to greet her.
Du Lingjing nodded gently to the girls, then looked at Du Runqing outside the pavilion.
"Qingmei, come here. I want to talk to you."
She suddenly appeared and suddenly had something to say. Du Runqing froze all over and almost dropped the porcelain bottle in his sleeve.
When the girls saw that the Du sisters wanted to talk, they all knew the opportunity and hurriedly bowed to Du Lingjing and left. After a few breaths, only the two sisters and their maids were left at the pavilion beside the forest.
Du Runqing had no choice but to step forward and asked, "What do you want, elder sister?"
Du Lingjing didn't beat around the bush and spoke directly.
"Some things last a lifetime, you have to think carefully before you act."
As soon as she said this, Du Runqing looked up in surprise.
"Big sister sent someone to follow me?!"
Du Lingjing did not comment.
Du Runqing couldn't help but clench his hands, "What if I have already thought about it? My grandmother has paved the way for me, why don't I go for it?!"
The little girl's face turned slightly blue, and she looked over with her lips pursed. Du Lingjing frowned.
"Is the road your grandmother paved for you the smooth road?"
She didn't want to argue with her sister, so she just quietly ordered the medicine hidden in her sleeve.
"If you follow your grandmother's advice and use this medicine to lose your virginity before getting married, will you really be respected even if you get married?"
She thought for her slowly, "Maybe you can live peacefully at first, but if there is anything wrong, this matter will be brought up. Even if Wei Jue doesn't say anything, it doesn't mean that others won't bring up your past. What if Madam Baoguo brings up your past? Or what if other people in the Wei family, or even outsiders, find out?"
Mrs. Baoguo didn't want anyone to know about this kind of thing, so she just used the name of borrowing the courtyard to control the matter in her own courtyard.
Du Lingjing asked Du Runqing, "Can you really bear the consequences of making a mistake?"
If something goes wrong and everyone knows about it, the reputation of the Qingzhou Du family will fall, or if Wei Jue gets furious and causes Brother Cang, who has studied hard for twenty years to pass the exam, to be unable to take the palace exam, can the second sister afford it?
Du Runqing was stunned for a moment. She looked up at her sister and was really shaken for a moment, but suddenly she saw the precious coral headpiece in her sister's hair and her whole luxurious appearance.
She suddenly said, "Big sister, you don't feel back pain when you talk while standing. You have everything. Your uncle loves you, the third master respects you, and the marquis holds you in his heart! Of course, you can enjoy wealth and glory without having to swallow bitter fruits, but I am different. I still have to support my mother!"
Her words actually made Du Lingjing pause.
Qiu Lin, who was standing nearby, looked at the second girl in disbelief.
When the girl lost her father and her fiancé, and was bullied by the second wife as an orphan, the second girl did not have this attitude!
But Du Lingjing didn't say anything in response to her words, she just said.
"Then you don't have to do it this way. Have you ever thought about whether you are helping you and your aunt or your grandmother and your uncle?"
Her voice became a little stern. Although her second sister was not as noble as the ladies from the capital, it would not be a problem for her to choose a marriage that was well-matched with her and marry into a family of a well-educated man who had no worries about food and clothing and had a promising future.
Why should a clean girl take the wrong path?
But Du Runqing simply wouldn't listen to her.
"What do you know? Big sister only bullies me!"
It will only snatch the Marquis away from her marriage!
Du Runqing suddenly made up her mind that there was no need for her and Du Lingjing to keep any ties between them.
She simply said it to Du Lingjing's face.
"Keep your nose in my business! You're worse than my grandmother!"
After she finished speaking, she suddenly bumped into Du Lingjing's shoulder, pushed Du Lingjing away and was about to run out of the durian orchard.
Du Lingjing was suddenly hit by her and staggered. She quickly pressed her hands on the big rock behind her, but the stone cut her palm and she felt a sudden pain.
But she didn't pay attention to the pain in her palm and immediately called for help, "Stop her!"
As soon as she said this, Du Runqing hurried to run.
Unexpectedly, after taking two steps forward, he bumped into someone with a bang.
The young man's body was as hard and cold as ice. He did not move at all, but Du Runqing fell backwards to the ground with a thud.
She couldn't help but look up, and only then could she see the man in front of her clearly.
He was wearing a crimson purple brocade robe with a red jade brocade belt tied around his waist. His narrow eyes were slightly narrowed, and the moment she looked at him, his eyes were extremely cold.
Du Runqing had never seen such a cold and gloomy look before. His heart shrank with fear and he fell backwards.
The medicine bottle in her sleeve rolled into the grass without her noticing.
Du Lingjing also saw the person coming.
"Mukuro?"
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