Chapter 35 - The Little Secret of the Weasel Cave
I smirked at Xiaochuan and said, "Chuan, I can keep it to myself, but do you think your mother, with her intelligence, can't tell that something's wrong with you lately?"
Xiaochuan was stunned for a moment, then went crazy: "It's over, it's over! I was wondering why my mother kept sending things to the Imperial College lately. It turns out she wanted to catch me in the act!"
The boy turned around anxiously for a few times, and suddenly his eyes lit up. He pounced on me, grabbed my sleeve and said, "Sis, you have to think of a way for me. You know more about secret relationships than I do! If I get caught, I'll be doomed."
"Then you have to help me first." I blackmailed proudly: "Plus treat me to three servings of Sushan."
Xiaochuan nodded vigorously: "I'll do as you say. What do you want me to do?"
I hooked my finger at him and said, "Come closer."
After an incense stick of time, Xiaochuan used his beauty to send the little girl guarding the yard away, and sent Shushu to buy snacks for me.
After completing a series of tasks, he winked at me from a distance, his facial muscles moving wildly.
I nodded, seized the opportunity, and while no one was in the yard, I ran to the weasel hole at the foot of the wall, parted the grass, and looked out furtively.
But to my surprise, there was no one outside the weasel hole, and the streets were deserted and cleaner than my face.
Eh? Isn't Brother Meng here?
I scratched my head in confusion and looked up at the sun. It was indeed noon.
Could it be that Meng Xu is playing a trick on me?
But after thinking it over, I felt that he would not stand me up, so I parted the grass and looked around.
This time I finally got something. I found a letter from a pile of messy grass.
Is that all? Is that all?
I looked outside again unwillingly and confirmed that there was no one outside. I lost my temper, picked up the letter, and sneaked back into the room with my back hunched.
Xiaochuan was already waiting for me inside. Seeing me climbing through the window breathlessly, he said politely, "Sis, your injury hasn't healed yet. It's better to let your brother do things like gaining trust and running errands."
"How should I know he just wanted to send me a message?" I said listlessly as I plunged into the house. "I thought he would come by himself."
Xiaochuan said, "You're overthinking it. He's a young secretary of the Secretariat. If the censor finds him having an affair near a weasel hole, he'll be dismissed from office."
"...Well, at least there's a letter, it's better than nothing."
I threw the letter on the table and felt a dull pain in my shoulder. I quickly checked my wound and found that it had broken again and was bleeding. I was so worried.
I stood up and said, "My wound has been untied and I need to change the strips of cloth. Can you help me read it?"
Xiaochuan looked at me busying around and said awkwardly, "But this is a private letter from your brother-in-law. It's not good for me to read it, right?"
I was so disappointed: "I asked you to read the letter so that you can also learn and observe your brother-in-law's excellent love words, and then go back to coax your little Baicai. Xiaochuan, let me tell you, there are many outstanding young men in Chang'an City now. Our family is not well-off. If we want to win a beautiful woman, we must be good at talking."
He muttered, "It will be different when I pass the imperial examination. Xiaoyun's father will agree."
I raised my chin and said, "Student Shen Xiaochuan, I hope you won't be so ordinary and confident. Your policy essay is so bad. If you don't work hard, you won't even be able to get the title of Juren."
"Okay, stop talking, sister. I'll read it. Isn't it okay if I read it?" He resignedly opened the letter, took deep breath, and read aloud:
"Ahem... Yingying, my sister. 'The Book of Songs' says, 'One day without seeing you feels like three autumns.' I've been to your house twice, but you haven't shown up. I'm afraid you'll always want me to die..."
His voice trailed off. "What's wrong?"
"No, sister," Xiaochuan's features twisted into a ball. "This is too corny. I can't read it."
"What use are you to me?" I scorned him and said, "Let me see."
Ogawa handed me the letter. I read the next sentence which he couldn't read and fell silent.
"It seems a bit..." I smacked my lips: "He said I was a fairy who stole hearts, my God..."
Xiaochuan stared at my face, as if trying to see a hint of fairy charm from his grumpy sister's face. My old face turned red and I covered my face shyly.
He sighed, "This is the magic trick of love. Even a female demon can become a fairy."
"He wrote more than ten pages, and he was praising you in different ways." Ogawa came over to take a look.
I deftly pulled out the last piece of letter paper and said, "You don't understand, right? To read your brother-in-law's letter, you have to read from back to front."
As I read, I said, "He said at the end that he was considering moving out, and asked me if I wanted to go to Jiangnan after we got married."
Xiaochuan's eyes widened: "Outward?"
I folded the letter and shook my head. "Maybe it's for me."
"For you?" Xiaochuan asked, "Sister, aren't you staying in Chang'an?"
I said, "I'm afraid the emperor might get a whim one day and take me back to the palace to work for him."
"No way, the emperor has already sent you away and granted you a marriage. It doesn't seem like he wants you to come back."
"You don't understand the Dog Emperor," I said calmly, "Once he gets mad, no one can stop him."
Meng Xu's mind is much more delicate than mine. He must have seen that Li Siyan was interested in me a long time ago, so he gave up his good job as the Chief Secretary of the Secretariat and tried to find a way to be transferred to Jiangnan.
Since I was a child, he has always considered me and compromised for me. When I grew up, the trouble I caused indirectly delayed his life. From this point of view, I owe him a lot.
"Okay, I'll write him a letter," I said, starting to grind ink. "I've got some free time anyway, so why don't you tell me about your little lover?"
As soon as I mentioned this, Xiaochuan immediately became excited. He ran over happily and sat down opposite me with his chin in his hand. A shy smile appeared on his handsome face.
"Sister, where do you want to start?" he asked.
I thought about it and said, "What's her name? How did you know her? How long have you known her?"
"Then I'll tell you one by one. Her name is Guan Yunyu..."
"Guan Yunyu!" I was so scared that I dropped my pen: "Chen Xiaochuan, you've made it! You've even hooked up with the daughter of the Imperial College's chief academic officer!"
Xiaochuan was also shocked: "You...you...you know her?"
"Of course I don't know her. She's several years younger than me." I said, "But I've seen her poems written on the wall of that shabby restaurant at the entrance to Anyifang. They're quite good."
"Of course, Xiaoyun is a talented woman." Xiaochuan began to blush again: "That day she went to the Imperial College to see the Master of Imperial Sacrifices. The Master of Imperial Sacrifices was busy, so she went to the Sutra Room to read, and happened to run into me."
I teased him, "Did she think your policy paper was terrible and come here to enlighten you like a female bodhisattva?"
Xiaochuan said, "Don't talk nonsense. Xiaoyun said that I write very well and that I am the most talented young man she has ever seen. She also said that I shouldn't take the imperial examination and should change my career to be a beggar because every time she sees me, her heart is empty and she is lost, and she can't recover for a long time."
I thought to myself, how dare you despise the love letter Meng Xu wrote to me? It’s obvious that your Xiao Yun is much more corny than this.
"Then why don't you tell your aunt? You two are a perfect match, and Guan Yunyu has a good personality. Your aunt won't object."
Xiaochuan said: "My mother said that I can't discuss marriage before I pass the imperial examination, for fear of delaying the marriage of other girls."
I patted his shoulder and said, "Is that so? That's easy. Hurry up and pass the imperial examination. Are your policy essays still that bad? Give me a few of them and I'll ask my friends to show them to you."
"Okay!" Xiaochuan clenched his fists and said, "I must pass the imperial examination and marry Xiaoyun!"
After seeing Xiaochuan off, I called Shushu and asked her to give the article written by Xiaochuan to my good friend Shangguan Lan.
Shangguan Lan's grandfather used to be a tutor. Now he is retired and lives at home. He enjoys teaching a few little kids. His occupational disease from his youth is still there, and he loves to revise articles for others.
Unexpectedly, Shushu shook her head and said, "My lady, you don't know. Madam Shangguan has also been preparing for her wedding recently and has closed the door to visitors."
"Is there such a thing?" I quickly asked, "Who is she marrying? Who dares to marry her?"
"The second son of the Marquis of Wu'an." Shushu said.
The image of Wu'an Hou Erlangjun, who was powerless and unable to even tie a chicken, appeared in front of my eyes, and I felt that Xiaolan's future life would be very good.
It is a beautiful spring when everything is growing. I am getting married, Xiaochuan is in love, and even Xiaolan has found a marriage partner. Everything is very happy.
"Speaking of which," Auntie said, helping me with a piece of beef shank, "Do you want to see a play? The Yuji Opera Troupe in Nancheng has put on a new play based on a very popular legend. It's said to be very bold and racy, and they refuse to let men in."
I asked, "What's your name?"
"A den of femme fatales."
“Cough cough cough!”
"Poor kid, why did you choke? Hurry, go drink some water..."
Perhaps my aunt felt that keeping me locked up in the house for a long time was too cruel to me, so after keeping me locked up for half a month, she took me out for some fresh air.
It is difficult to describe this wonderful feeling. As the author, I was sitting in the audience, eating fried noodles while watching my legend being turned into a big drama.
I should ask them for copyright fees! I thought to myself with melancholy that although my legend was a bestseller, for various reasons, I didn't make much money from it...
"This dancer dances well," my aunt nudged me and gestured for me to look at the stage: "The one who plays the concubine."
I took a look and thought, isn't it? The climax of the whole play is now being played out - the concubine is going to give Dalang the medicine.
Seeing the concubine dancing alone with a bowl in her hand, step by step approaching the male entertainer who played the philandering official, my aunt held her breath and looked very excited. I looked around and saw that the women around were also staring at the stage intently.
Finally, the female entertainer handed the bowl to the male entertainer and ended her monologue with a sharp high note. The male entertainer took the bowl and pretended to drink it.
The male entertainer's acting was exaggerated. After drinking the medicine, he used a long solo dance to express his pain, and finally struggled to the ground.
The moment he fell to the ground, some heroic woman shouted angrily, "Good!" and then the whole audience burst into cheers of delight.
I listened to the thunderous applause, shrank my neck, and thought to myself, indeed, which married woman has not dreamed of ending her husband with a knife and living a carefree life with the money?
This is the secret pursuit of most mature women!
My aunt had a very high opinion of the play, and on the carriage ride back she enthusiastically discussed the plot with me: "...The concubine is bold in love and hate, but why did she just believe the first wife's words so blindly? She even dared to poison her."
I said casually, "It's written in the book. The eldest wife has a habit of polishing mirrors, and she moved the concubine with her true feelings."
Auntie paused: "Have you seen it?"
I was silent for a while: "I guess I've seen it..."
Of course, my aunt would not suspect me. In her opinion, I was a pure girl like a little white flower, and she could not imagine such plots in the adult world.
She said, "Now that you mention it, I'd like to go and see the original work. Zhang San, drive the carriage to the bookstore in the East Market and I'll take a look."
I was so shocked. My aunt, who gets dizzy at the sight of words, wanted to read a book? The shock I got was no less than when Qingfu dressed up as a woman and sang a piece called "Xiao Taohong" with a red tooth plate.
After being surprised and secretly delighted, I shyly said, "Oh, how can this book be so good? I think the plot is very vulgar."
My aunt pooh-poohed me: "What do children know? You will understand once you get married."
Her energy came quickly, and after a stick of incense, the shabby carriage of the Shen family stopped steadily in front of the largest bookstore in the East Market.
My aunt got off the carriage excitedly, and before leaving, she did not forget to put a huge veil on my head.
I'm not used to this thing and I twist my neck with difficulty to maintain my balance.
As I was thinking about how to make this tattered hat stop blocking my view, I heard a woman ask the waiter, "Are there any new works by Mr. Canglang recently?"
Canglang layman.
Hearing my shameful pen name being read out in public, I slowly turned around and lowered my veil a little more.
The clerk rubbed his hands, looking troubled. "Since that Den of Femme Fatales, the layman hasn't sent any manuscripts in a long time. All the bookstores are asking people to inquire about him."
The woman exclaimed, "Why don't you go visit this man's residence?"
The clerk smiled and said, "Madam, you don't know, that Canglang Layman is very mysterious. When he delivered the manuscript, he was wrapped tightly and his whereabouts are unpredictable. He disappeared recently and we have no place to look for him. We can only wait for him to come back on his own.
I silently wrapped my vest tightly around myself.
Not long after, my aunt came back carrying a bundle of books, looking surprised. I asked her what was going on, and she let out a breath and said calmly, "Nothing. The boss said the legend I want just sold its last copy, and the new one hasn't been copied yet."
"Is it such a coincidence?" I scratched my chin, thinking that since my aunt wanted to see it, should I write a copy for her?
"Yeah," Auntie pulled me away with a lack of interest, pointing to one side and saying, "Look, that's the guy who bought the last set."
I followed her gaze. It would have been fine if I hadn't looked, but when I did, I was so shocked that I missed a step and fell in front of the car door.
"Ah!" A scream pierced the sky.
The man, holding a large pile of books, was startled by the movement behind him. He turned around and blurted out, "Mrs. Shen...Mrs. Shen?"
I got up, covered in dust and dirt, and gave him an ugly smile:
"Haha, haha, what a coincidence, Hu Yue'er."
It turned out that the wealthy customer who bought half of the wall of books was none other than Hu Yueer, who went out of the palace to help Grandpa Qingfu purchase cultural food.
Hu Yueer was very happy to see me and invited me to the second floor of the dim sum shop opposite for a chat.
Although the aunt was not very happy, she felt that the honor of being the only disciple of Yang Qingfu, the chief steward, was too great. After hesitating for a moment, she said, "Go ahead and come back soon."
Hu Yueer smiled innocently, gave all the pile of books in his hand to his follower, and went to the dim sum shop across the street with me.
The waiter provided attentive service, bringing pastries and drinks and carefully placing the screen to ensure privacy.
Hu Yue'er was very satisfied. He said, "Madam Shen looks really good. Is the injury on your shoulder still bothering you?"
"It's okay. The doctor said the knife went in a critical spot and nearly severed a meridian. He told me not to lift anything heavy in the future." I said, "It's not a big deal, though. It's only my left hand that's injured, so it won't affect my writing."
Hu Yue'er's expression was slightly serious. "The palace is still investigating this matter. The eldest princess has been confined to her house. Aunt Su Xing has also been punished for this. Recently, she has to go to the Shanggong Bureau to receive a whipping every day."
I curled my lips: "She deserves it. She even dares to put someone who served the princess next to the emperor."
Hu Yue'er sighed, "We can't blame Aunt Su Xing entirely. Who would have thought the eldest princess would be so bold..."
I waved my hands and said, "Forget it, forget it. Let's not talk about this anymore. It's unlucky."
My eyes fell on the pile of books, and I asked curiously, "You just said you bought these books for Grandpa Qingfu? Does Grandpa Qingfu also like reading?"
"I wouldn't say I've read any. Master's eyesight hasn't been very good lately, so he usually has people read to him." Hu Yue'er said, "It's not just Master. His Majesty has also been enjoying reading legends lately, so Master specifically asked me to buy a few good ones to take back."
I nodded, "I see." Then I asked, "How is things in the palace lately? Is the new Empress kind?"
Speaking of Wen Baibi, Hu Yue'er pondered for a while, and finally said, "We don't know whether she is friendly or not. The Queen is aloof and usually stays indoors. When Your Majesty wanted to go, she always said she was unwell. After a while, Your Majesty stopped asking."
I thought to myself that this girl was quite individual and dared to leave the emperor aside. She really was worthy of being the woman who almost became my sister-in-law.
Hu Yue'er said, "The Queen stays indoors, so His Majesty often stays at Concubine Shu's place. He also said that on the day of Qiqiao, he would leave the palace to celebrate with the people. Concubine Shu will also come out to visit her family, so why not come and see the fun, Madam Shen?"
"Great!" I said excitedly, "I've been out for so long, I miss her a lot. I wonder how she's doing?"
Hu Yueer smiled shyly: "Madam Shen, why don't you go and ask her in person on the day of the Qiqiao Festival?"
After saying goodbye to Hu Yue'er, I climbed onto the carriage heading home and pulled Shushu along to calculate: "Shushu, when is my wedding date? Is it the day after the Qiqiao Festival?"
Shushu took a deep breath: "You can even forget this?"
I was shocked: "Did I remember it wrong?"
"It's the ninth day of the seventh lunar month! Two days after the Qiqiao Festival!" Shushu wanted to fish out my pig brain and stew it in soup.
I shrank my neck and thought to myself, why should I remember it so clearly? Isn’t it enough for me to know who I will marry?
But Shushu didn't think so. She believed that forgetting the wedding date was a disregard for the ceremony, disrespect for the husband's family, and a deaf ear to the imperial edict. So, at the strong request of Shushu and my aunt, for the next month, I stayed in the mansion and was the eldest daughter of the Shen family, listening to Shushu emphasize eight hundred times a day that the wedding date was approaching.
I hugged my head tightly and said, "Stop nagging me, Shushu. I really know. It's the ninth day of the seventh month, which is still twenty-eight days away."
Shushu asked, "Madam, do you know how much the wedding dress cost? How much the Meng family sent as betrothal gifts? And are the wing tips of the wild goose in the betrothal gifts white or black?"
I:
Shushu said righteously, "There's still most of the wedding dress left to be embroidered. The Meng family sent twenty-eight loads of betrothal gifts. The goose in the betrothal gifts had black tips on its wings, but one feather had split and turned white. You don't know any of this, you don't care, you only care about yourself."
I:……
The innocent wild geese captured as betrothal gifts: ...
Who invented this boring sense of ritual?
Fortunately, the management style of our Shen Mansion is generally more humane. After I skillfully memorized the entire wedding process, my aunt rewarded me with another opportunity to go out. The specific project was: to add makeup to Shangguan Lan.
This is a wedding custom. Families that are on good terms with the bride will send wedding gifts to the newlyweds to show that the family has good connections and is respectable and prominent.
My aunt had a good impression of Xiaolan and prepared a set of expensive headwear for her. When she heard that she had given me five taels of gold when I was in the Yunting, she immediately added a pair of gold hairpins without saying a word.
"She has taken care of you since you were a child, so you must give her more." said the aunt.
I thought to myself, is she taking care of me? It’s obviously me who helps her with her homework more often.
On the day of her wedding, my aunt and I got out of the car in Shangguan Mansion with great dignity, walked into the mansion with a gait as if we didn't recognize any relatives, sat down at the guest seat with a big horse and a golden sword, and opened the brocade box for adding makeup. In an instant, precious light shone everywhere, and all the women in the room gasped.
My aunt puffed out her chest proudly. "I also watched the eldest daughter of the Shangguan family grow up. She and my daughter Yingying have known each other since childhood. We still feel that adding these things is not enough. A good girl like her deserves mountains of gold and silver."
This is the power of gold. It coaxed Shangguan Lan's mother so much that she couldn't stop smiling, and she even began to like her own daughter a lot more.
The bride, Shangguan Lan, pulled me aside and whispered, "Yingzi, what's wrong with your aunt today? She's so generous."
I helped smooth the messy powder on her face and said, "My aunt is just like that. She never hesitates to spend money on people she likes. And have you forgotten that when I was in the palace, you gave me five taels of gold. I am helping you pay it back."
Shangguan Lan scratched her head. "Ah, you mean that thing? I wanted to give you ten taels of silver back then, but my sister was too timid. After she agreed, she kept dithering. So I had to ask Du Shanggong to bring it to you."
I was so touched that I reminded her, "Thank you, but Xiaolan, you messed up your hair."
She shook her head irritably. "Oh, you don't know how heavy this thing is. Getting married is such a pain."
I agreed: "That's right, I did the same thing recently. I was feeding the geese in the yard every day to get married, but the geese were ignorant and stretched their necks to bite me."
Shangguan Lan said, "Just be thankful. At least your goose was caught by Meng Xu himself. But where's my goose? Hey, you'd never guess it was caught by my fiancé's servant. My fiancé was fanning himself and reciting poetry the whole time, without even moving a foot."
I was outspoken and angrily said, "What kind of person is this! He can't even catch a wild goose. Shouldn't he be able to catch this thing if he had a hand?"
Shangguan Lan paused and said, "What you're talking about is called a chicken, not a wild goose."
I was melancholy: "Never mind whether it's a wild goose or a chicken, Xiaolan, you always told me that if you ever get married, you'd marry a hero. How come there's such a big difference now that you've grown up?"
She said indifferently, "I've figured it out. I've seen too many ugly men, and I've lost my ambition. I married him because his mother died young, his character is okay, he passed the imperial examination, has a job, and doesn't have a concubine. I don't care about anything else."
What kind of world is this? My vision went dark. Does having a job and no concubines make me a good marriage partner? This is clearly just passing grade, right?
Shangguan Lan said, "Yingzi, we haven't seen each other for so long. I can't just let you interrogate me. I also want to ask you something. How did you get thrown into the palace for no apparent reason, and then released for no apparent reason?"
I sighed, "Do you want to hear about the palace's private affairs?"
Shangguan Lan took a comfortable melon-eating posture and said, "Tell me! Tell me quickly, or I'm going to get married."
What a touching gossip spirit! Even if one is about to get married, one still stubbornly swallows this piece of gossip before worshiping heaven and earth.
I thought carefully and told her the important things.
It had probably been too long since she had read a novel or romance novel. Even this dry, detail-free story had her slapping her thighs and marveling at it.
"As expected of you, Chen Ying. You've been clever since you were little, acting like a spoiled child to Mr. Guo, bargaining with my grandfather, and doing all sorts of evil things. Now you've become even more capable, even bargaining with the emperor," she sighed. "You were supposed to be imprisoned for at least a dozen years, but now you've been released in two years, and you even got an imperial decree granting you a marriage. You must have cast a spell on the emperor, right?"
I pinched his philtrum and said, "You're still putting a curse on him? Why don't you say that I influenced him with my pure and good character?"
Shangguan Lan shook her head. "I believe others, but how could our emperor be influenced by you? Not twisting your head is a sign of mercy."
Li Siyan has a good reputation among the people, but his reputation among civil officials is extremely bad. The Shangguan family has been officials for generations, and Shangguan Lan's grandfather was the tutor of the late emperor. He attaches great importance to moral character, and he probably said a lot of bad things about Li Siyan to his granddaughter.
I wanted to continue talking to her, but Madam Shangguan was already urging her to come out quickly so as not to miss the time.
Shangguan Lan said listlessly, "I'm coming."
Seeing that her hairpin was falling down again, my occupational disease of taking care of Wei Wan'er suddenly came on. I rushed over to help her straighten it quickly, and by the way, tidied up her hair that was about to get messy in a few seconds.
Auntie looked at the two of us at the door and began to wipe her tears again: "When Yingzi was at home, she never did this kind of waiter work..."
Mrs. Shangguan also sighed: "Girls are no longer as free as they were when they were young. This is what will happen in the end."
Two middle-aged women sighed and wiped their tears with handkerchiefs, and a sense of sadness filled the air.
I smiled and went to comfort her. Shangguan Lan patted my hands and said calmly, "Don't worry about her. My mother cries eight hundred times a day recently. You'll get used to it."
After saying that, she raised her small round fan and covered her face tightly.
I suddenly forgot which young man in the Marquis of Wu'an's mansion she married, so I casually asked, "By the way, Xiaolan, what's your husband's name?"
Unexpectedly, Shangguan Lan was stumped by this question and put down the small round fan hesitantly.
She pondered for a moment and answered honestly, "I forgot. I'll ask my mother later."
I fell silent, and suddenly felt that I was quite concerned about getting married. At least I knew Meng Xu's full name.
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