Flower viewing at Lu Mansion
After Bai Yongsi graduated from high school, various visiting cards were constantly sent to the Bai family, and many matchmakers came to propose marriage, but Bai Yongsi rejected them all on the grounds of poor health.
But there was one person whom he really couldn't refuse, and that was Prime Minister Lu Yu.
Not only did he send the invitation, he also sent his long-time attendant Fugui to deliver the message.
As the Prime Minister's confidant, Fugui was naturally received by the Bai family in the front hall. When Bai Yongsi pushed the door open, he saw Fugui constantly looking behind him. He asked in confusion: "Could it be that the Prime Minister didn't pass on a message to me?"
Fugui immediately retracted his gaze and said sternly, "Top Scholar, the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion will hold a poetry gathering the day after tomorrow, and my master would like to invite you and your sister to attend."
Bai Yongsi took the invitation with some hesitation, and only when he saw his and his sister's names on it did he confirm that the Prime Minister had also invited his younger sister.
Of course he would go, not only to give face to the Prime Minister, but also maybe to meet his future colleagues.
But he was really not sure whether his sister would be willing to attend any poetry gathering, as she had never liked reciting poems or composing couplets.
So he said, "If the Prime Minister invites me, I will definitely be there, but I need to ask my little sister what she thinks."
Fugui replied: "That's natural."
After saying that, he didn't show any intention of leaving. I guess he wanted to wait here for the results so that he could go back and report back.
Bai Yongsi didn't want to keep people waiting for long, so he asked his servant to call Bai Miaoke to the front hall.
In many old-fashioned official families, unmarried daughters are not allowed to meet men other than men. However, since Bai Miaoke is in charge of the business, the Bai family naturally does not have so many rules.
When Bai Miaoke heard the servant report that the Prime Minister's long-time attendant was looking for her, she was more curious than surprised. She had never doubted that Lu Yu could find out her identity as the young lady of the Bai family, nor did she want to conceal it deliberately. After all, he was the Prime Minister, so he should have this ability.
In just a moment, a girl in a light apricot-colored double-breasted silk dress came to the front hall.
He first called him brother, and then greeted Fugui: "How is your son doing recently?"
Ever since the last time she drank and embarrassed herself and caused Lu Yu to be injured, except for the time when she went to apologize, the two had not met again. Naturally, what Bai Miaoke asked about was the injury on his neck.
When this was mentioned, Fugui remembered that his son had been wearing bandages for a long time, which led to all kinds of speculation.
The emperor thought that the prime minister had been assassinated, so he rewarded many guards to protect the prime minister and vacated two courtyards in the Lu Mansion to accommodate so many guards. However, a few days later, Lu Yu found the emperor again and sent all the guards back on the grounds that he could not afford to support so many guards. Of course, the emperor made an exception and increased the prime minister's salary, which was an unexpected gain.
But in order to protect his master's image in front of the girl, Fugui simply replied: "Miss Bai, the master invites you to attend the flower viewing banquet at the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion the day after tomorrow. You can come and see it for yourself then."
She likes to appreciate flowers, so Bai Miaoke thought for a moment and agreed: "Okay."
After thinking for a while, she added, "Tell your son that I have a surprise for him. Ask him to think carefully about what to exchange with me."
Fugui responded respectfully, keeping Bai Miaoke's words in mind, and prepared to report back to the young master without missing a word.
After finalizing the time for the banquet, Fugui left the Bai Mansion.
Bai Yongsi looked at his hurriedly leaving back and thought, wasn't it a poetry gathering just now? How did it become a flower viewing...
He asked his sister, "You have a good relationship with the Prime Minister?"
Bai Miaoke replied nonchalantly: "It's OK. He originally owed me a favor, and now we're even."
Bai Yongsi didn't ask any more questions.
Fugui returned to the Lu Mansion and first went to Mrs. Lu to reply and said that Miss Bai agreed to attend the banquet. Mrs. Lu was very happy.
The Bai family has always been low-key, and it was only after a top scholar was born recently that Mrs. Lu found out that the little girl that day was actually the top scholar's sister.
Mrs. Lu immediately decided to hold a banquet, and the first person invited was Miss Bai. In order to avoid embarrassing the little girl, Mrs. Lu also invited some noble ladies who were easy to get along with to accompany her.
When ordering her son to attend the banquet, Mrs. Lu thought Lu Yu would refuse, but she didn't expect her son to agree readily. He also added several court officials and this year's newly appointed officials, and the top scholar Bai Yongsi was naturally among them.
Mrs. Lu was naturally happy to have more young talents to liven up the party, so the flower-viewing banquet turned into a flower-viewing and poetry-writing banquet.
After leaving Madam Lu, Fugui went to reply to his own master. He repeated Miss Bai's words to Lu Yu word for word. Listening to Fugui's meticulous retelling, Lu Yu's mind emerged with the girl's high spirits.
He couldn't help curling his lips, thinking, what kind of surprise is this? Seeing her must be a surprise.
Fugui saw the change in his young master's expression and grinned, "Young master finally got it. He is so happy to know that Miss Bai is coming."
Lu Yu did not comment.
Bai Miaoke was indeed the most special woman he had ever met. She always brought him surprises. As for the others, the road he was walking on was too narrow and too dangerous. A wrong step would lead to an abyss. How could he bear to let the flowers under the sun accompany him into the dark abyss.
…
In a blink of an eye, it was the day of the flower viewing banquet.
Bai Miaoke was called up by Chun Xing early in the morning, "Miss, you may have forgotten that you have to go to the Zhenguo Mansion for a banquet today."
Bai Miaoke didn't forget, but she thought it was not a big deal, as she often went out to appreciate the flowers before.
Chun Xing didn't think so: "This is the first time for Miss to attend such a banquet for noble ladies, and she is with the eldest master, so of course she has to dress up well."
After hearing this, Bai Miaoke perked up. She couldn't afford to embarrass her brother.
She sat up suddenly, took the wet towel handed to her by Chun Xing, wiped her face and said, "Help me figure out what to wear today, and then go to the storehouse to get my new jeweled headpiece."
Soon, a maid brought a set of exquisite and beautiful headpieces on a tray and placed them on the table. Scarlet gems of various sizes were inlaid in it, making it even more dazzling in the sunlight.
Bai Miaoke nodded with satisfaction and said to Chun Xing, "The shopkeeper of Jinyulou really understands my preferences more and more."
Chun Xing took out a silver ingot and gave it to the maid as a reward for the shopkeeper.
After choosing the headgear, a few maids brought a few sets of early autumn clothes and dresses sent by the embroidery workshop.
Bai Miaoke hesitated for a long time, and finally chose a honey pink Su satin long dress inlaid with silver thread, which matched her headdress perfectly, making her look bright but not ostentatious.
Finally, Chun Xing put on a little makeup on her face, which gave her a natural beauty.
After everything was packed up, it was almost time, so Bai Miaoke took Chun Xing to the front hall.
Bai Yongsi had been waiting here for a long time. He was still wearing light green clothes today, and he looked low-key and cool.
Seeing Bai Miaoke's elaborate yet casual outfit, he secretly admired his sister's beauty in his heart, but if he said the words of praise out loud, her tail would be lifted up to the sky.
Before noon, the two of them took a car to the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion.
Some guests had already arrived at the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion, and as soon as the brother and sister got out of the car, they were welcomed into the house by the servants.
Today's banquet was divided into two groups, men and women. Mrs. Lu brought her female relatives to the pavilion near the backyard garden. The scenery here was excellent and the chrysanthemums were in full bloom. The women were just enjoying the flowers and drinking tea in the pavilion.
The men were mainly entertained by Lu Yu on the other side of the backyard, not far from the women. There was a water pavilion in the middle, and an arch bridge connected the two places. Young men and women could look at each other across the water without appearing disrespectful.
The Bai siblings were taken to the backyard by the Lu family's servants, and they were separated at the arch bridge in the middle.
As soon as Mrs. Lu saw Bai Miaoke on the arch bridge, she stopped talking with the other ladies and stood up to greet her.
This action attracted the attention of all the ladies present, who wanted to see which girl could be personally greeted by the Duke's wife.
The girl on the bridge was graceful and waved to Mrs. Lu with a smile.
The girls first noticed the woman's bright and elegant beauty despite her unmade appearance, and then they noticed her jeweled headpiece that sparkled brightly as the light changed. The scarlet gems made the girl's face look even more rosy and her smile more charming.
Among those present were ladies of noble status in the capital, as well as pampered young ladies from wealthy families. They were all nobles who were used to seeing fine things, but had never seen a jewel headpiece of such fine quality.
For a moment, everyone was guessing the identity of the visitor. Several girls who had seen Bai Yongsi's parade as the top scholar recognized her, but they didn't know how a top scholar's sister could have such precious and rare jewelry.
When Madam Lu and Bai Miaoke walked into the pavilion, the other girls discovered that Bai Miaoke's seemingly plain dress was actually embroidered with silver patterns, and it flashed silver light as she moved. The woman's bright eyes and white teeth matched perfectly with her low-key yet eye-catching jewelry and clothes, and she was so beautiful that people could not take their eyes away.
Mrs. Lu smiled and took in the surprised or jealous looks in the eyes of the girls, then slowly introduced them, "This is the daughter of the Bai family. This is her first time attending our banquet. Please take good care of her."
After Mrs. Lu said this, everyone knew that this was the sister of the newly crowned top scholar.
Some people who knew more about the Bai family knew that they were a wealthy merchant family. Some people who didn't know the Bai family thought that this top scholar's sister was attending this kind of banquet for the first time and was trying to show off.
Bai Miaoke didn't care what other people thought. Mrs. Lu arranged for her to sit in a seat near the lake.
Sitting by the lake, she immediately saw Lu Yu, who was entertaining male guests on the opposite side of the lake. He was talking to Bai Yongsi, and suddenly he turned his head as if he sensed something and looked towards the pavilion, and met Bai Miaoke's gaze.
He was wearing a moon-white brocade robe today. After seeing the cold and majestic Prime Minister in his official uniform, and then looking at Lu Yu, who was dressed in white as white as snow and had an elegant demeanor, Bai Miaoke actually felt an urge to tear off his dignified and noble appearance and see him lose control and behave himself. It would be very interesting to imagine the various expressions that might appear on this handsome face.
Thinking of this, Bai Miaoke couldn't help but laugh.
Thanks to her pair of clear and bright eyes, even if she was scheming a lot in her mind, Bai Miaoke still looked harmless when she laughed, making people feel inexplicably approachable.
Little did she know that her expression had a different meaning in the eyes of Lu Yu, who was looking at her. Although her expression was still indifferent, Lu Yu was a little excited: Why is she smiling at me? Is she very happy to see me...
Bai Yongsi, who was talking to him just now, naturally noticed the interaction between the two, and obviously he also misunderstood his sister's smile.
After this misunderstanding, the eldest brother of the Bai family felt that something was wrong when watching the interaction between the two. He took two steps calmly and blocked Lu Yu's view of his sister.
He is an old fox who has been in the officialdom for many years. My sister, who is so simple-minded, cannot be deceived by him.
Bai Yongsi started talking about business again to divert Lu Yu's attention, and the two of them had a very pleasant conversation.
The officials present also noticed the conversation between Bai Yongsi and Lu Yu, which seemed like they had met too late, and they all speculated that this new number one scholar would probably be supported by the prime minister.
How could Lu Yu not know what everyone was thinking, but he was happy to see it happen.
When Bai Zhuangyuan, who was eager to protect his sister, reacted, he found that he had been tied up on the prime minister's boat...
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