Chapter 31 Husband and Wife as One
As July arrives, the summer heat dissipates, and the air becomes much cooler.
Before the Qixi Festival, Aunt Ningguo held an autumn banquet and invited many young men and women.
One reason is her own hobby; as she gets older, she enjoys being a matchmaker and often holds banquets to bring her children together.
Secondly, it was to help her divorced niece relax and clear her head.
This time, Lin Lanting learned his lesson and didn't cause Lin Zhongshu and Madam Guo any worry. He obediently fulfilled his duties as the imperial son-in-law and went along with them.
Lately, things have been relatively calm between the two, and they can even be said to have gotten along much better.
Aside from some trivial bickering, they can also crack a few jokes from time to time.
What his parents said was true. Lin Er was a cheerful and talkative young man. As long as he didn't want the atmosphere to become awkward, the atmosphere was always lively.
Without any arguments or confrontations, Lin Er's naturally gifted sweet talk came into play.
Huiyi was pleased with this, and her gaze towards him became less critical.
The carriage came to a steady stop in front of the princess's residence in Ningguo. Huiyi leaned out and, together with Lin Er, placed her hand on his outstretched hand, appearing as a harmonious couple.
Passersby and guests who saw this all looked surprised.
Ignoring the stares of others, Huiyi continued to maintain marital harmony and entered the Princess's residence with Lin Er.
She made a fool of herself in front of the people of Chang'an when she went to Xinfenglou to arrest someone last time; she'd better make amends.
"Look, nobody believes we can make a living."
Lin Lanting spoke to her with a smug smile, and Huiyi turned her head to glare at him, saying coolly, "That's obvious, and I don't believe it either."
Lin Lanting was so choked up by these words that she could only manage a soft hum.
Huiyi attended the banquet with great pomp and circumstance; upon arrival, she was the center of attention, making it difficult for others to miss her.
"Greetings, Princess Chang Le."
Wherever he went, people bowed in worship, and for a time, voices rose and fell.
Lin Lanting followed along and took one too, finding it both novel and noisy.
Li Huaiyu arrived early and was overjoyed to see her sister. She quickly led her daughter over.
Aunt Ningguo also arrived with a smile. As the host, she was dressed especially brightly today. Although she was over forty, she was still beautiful, elegant, and full of charm.
Those retainers, guards, and musicians were fortunate to be able to serve Aunt Ningguo.
"You've finally arrived. We've been waiting for you, Rhinoceros Slave."
"The prince consort has arrived as well, still as dashing as ever. Of all the men in Chang'an, the second prince is the most spirited!"
Huiyi was unhappy that her aunt praised Lin Er right away, and muttered, "Auntie is exaggerating too much. He's just a crude and vulgar martial artist. He's not that good!"
Hearing this, Lin Lanting immediately wanted to go over and challenge her, but this wasn't her own little territory, and she would only make herself a laughingstock.
So he adopted the posture of an honest prince consort and said with a wimpy smile, "What the princess says is true. I am but a rough and uncouth military general, not worthy of the princess's praise."
Princess Ningguo laughed heartily and said to Huiyi, "Xi Nu is quite skilled at managing husbands. Look at how you've tamed the most troublesome and difficult Lin family lad in Chang'an!"
Huiyi didn't find it funny at first, but when she turned her head and saw Lin Lanting's forced smile, she laughed too and laughed along with her aunt.
Li Huaiyu smiled as the two of them led her to smile, but she was the most considerate and attentive of them all. Noticing her brother-in-law's increasingly pale face, she said gently, "Alright, everyone's watching. The 'Floating Wine Cups on the Winding Stream' should be ready. Let's go."
Upon hearing this, Princess Ningguo snapped out of her reverie and clapped her hands, saying, "Oh right, I almost forgot about that! Come with me!"
Just as he was about to leave, the chief steward of the Princess's residence hurriedly arrived. He glanced at Li Huaiyu first, then whispered, "Your Highness, the eldest son of the Xie family has arrived and requests to be allowed in."
Upon hearing this, Li Huaiyu was the first to react, his eyes flashing, but he remained silent.
Compared to Princess Ningguo's frown, Huiyi reacted the most strongly, directly telling him to leave: "What is he doing here? Is he just trying to cause trouble for everyone?"
"Don't let him in!"
As she said this, Huiyi glanced at her elder sister discreetly. Seeing that her sister remained silent in agreement, Huiyi repeated, "That's right, don't let him in, keep an eye on him!"
Seeing that his master also nodded, the chief clerk said something and hurriedly left.
Outside the residence of Princess Ningguo, Xie Yun was greeted by a smiling chief secretary. Before he could even feel happy, the secretary said, "I'm sorry, Young Master Xie, our master said that you cannot be allowed to enter."
Xie Yun's expression tightened, and he pressed on, unwilling to give up, "Does Princess Changji know?"
Huaiyu cares about him the most, so how could she be so heartless if she heard this?
The chief secretary, who was of one mind with his master, had long felt that the Xie family was ungrateful and rolled his eyes inwardly, but on the surface he smiled and said, "Princess Changji is also speaking."
Xie Yun looked dejected and said no more.
Being turned away, Xie Yun initially wanted to leave, but he felt that if he didn't wait for the person this time, it would be even more difficult in the future.
After struggling for a few moments, Xie Yun forced a smile and thanked her, insisting, "Then I will wait here for Princess Changji to come out."
The chief clerk hesitated, then left without saying anything.
Guests were still coming and going, many of whom knew Xie Dalang. Seeing him waiting forlornly outside the Princess's residence, they could roughly guess what had happened.
This time, the Xie family made a foolish mistake and offended the imperial family. Even their former acquaintances dared not speak much to them anymore.
The chief secretary returned to the inner courtyard and quietly told the princesses about Xie Dalang's insistence on waiting.
Princess Ningguo glanced at her eldest niece, as if to ask a question.
Huiyi wanted to curse, but she held back and looked at her elder sister.
Being watched by the two of them, especially the younger sister, Li Huaiyu inexplicably felt like she was being monitored by her elders.
She chuckled and said, "Why are you all staring at me like that? Let him wait if he wants."
"Let's go."
Huiyi then beamed with joy, and the three of them, aunt and niece, took Minghui to the Crescent Moon Pond at her aunt's residence.
Lin Er was a restless person. Even being asked to come here with Huiyi made him feel restless. He had no interest in the winding stream party, and Huiyi didn't care and let him wander around as he pleased.
The three women, aunt and niece, soon arrived at Crescent Moon Pool.
Named for its long, narrow, crescent-shaped pool, it is perfect for the traditional "winding stream party" game.
At this moment, several young men and women were already sitting by the pond. When they saw Huiyi and the others coming over, they hurriedly greeted them.
For Huiyi, the winding stream party was both fun and not fun.
The lotus-shaped jade cup stopped moving with the sound of the drum. Whoever it stopped in front of had to draw a jade token and demonstrate their talent.
Those who fail to complete the task will be punished with a cup of wine.
Although Huiyi could refuse the penalty drink because of her status, it would spoil the fun.
Now that she had joined the flowing water party, Huiyi no longer wanted to put on airs.
At most, I'll ask my aunt to prepare some non-intoxicating wine.
Huiyi sat with her older sister to the left of her aunt, looking at the clear pool water flowing in front of her. She even had the urge to put her feet in.
Back in Lingzhou, she loved playing in the stream with her older siblings, and they would often catch fish and shrimp to eat with.
The elegant and serene sound of the piano rang out, sounding especially beautiful in such an environment.
It makes one feel peaceful and serene.
Huiyi glanced over instinctively and saw a musician playing music to entertain the guests.
Dressed in pristine white, with delicate and gentle features, she possessed an extraordinary bearing.
Sensing her gaze, the musician looked up and glanced back at Huiyi, then smiled gently.
Like him, his eyes were clear and gentle, like the endless flow of spring water.
Huiyi had a good impression of the musician, but when she thought that he was her aunt's lover, she lost interest.
However, Princess Ningguo had sharp eyes and saw this scene. She smiled and asked, "If Xi Nu likes to hear Xi Bai play the zither, then summon him over to play a piece just for you."
When her elders noticed her little action, Huiyi felt a little embarrassed and said with a smile, "This belongs to my aunt's family. How could I take away what my aunt loves?"
Princess Ningguo waved her fan and laughed loudly: "Xi Nu, you misunderstand. These are not the musicians of my household, but musicians from the Jiaofangsi. Their musical skills are superb, and I often summon them to entertain you."
He was not originally one of his aunt's lovers.
After hearing this, Huiyi nodded to herself.
The gentle sound of the zither flowed across the tranquil water, making one feel even more refreshed.
After several rounds of drumming, the jade cup slowly came to rest on the water in front of Huiyi. Under the watchful eyes of everyone, Huiyi drew out a jade token.
"A single pipa tune won thunderous applause."
Huiyi slowly recited the drinking game rules, her expression unreadable.
Everyone in Chang'an knew that Princess Chang Le was not good at playing the pipa, and the tunes she played were always hard to describe.
It perfectly matches the saying, "It sounds harsh and discordant, and is hard to listen to."
Huiyi knew that her pipa skills were as if they were cursed; no matter how much she practiced, she couldn't improve.
Not to mention, it won a standing ovation.
Although the crowd dared not fail to applaud, Huiyi disliked their fake and exaggerated performance and decided not to make a fuss.
"My pipa skills are not good, so I won't bother. I'll just drink the penalty wine."
As he spoke, he raised his cup to drink the wine that the maid had poured for him.
So what if I'm drunk? Anyway, with my aunt and older sister there, nothing bad will happen.
The jade cup had just touched her lips when it was suddenly snatched away from her.
Huiyi looked in the direction she was looking and met Lin Er's smiling black eyes.
Why did you come here?
"You even stole my wine?"
It's utterly baffling.
Lin Lanting put down the jade cup, glanced around, and said slowly, "I'm not here to steal the wine; I'm here to help the princess out of this predicament."
“Husband and wife are one. The princess is not good at playing the pipa, but I am. Since there is nothing else to do, why not play a tune?”
Having said that, he casually took the five-stringed pipa from the musician's hand, sat cross-legged on the blue stone beside Huiyi, and began to tune it.
Upon hearing this, Princess Ningguo smiled brightly and said, "Look how useful this consort, Xinu, is! We must thank Erlang properly when we get back!"
Huiyi had no idea what Lin Er was up to, but seeing that he had already started playing, she had no choice but to go along with him, smiling as she spoke to her aunt.
"Aunt is absolutely right. The prince consort is a very useful man."
As soon as the words were spoken, the lively and cheerful melody of the pipa rose up, drowning out all the elegant and serene sounds.
In particular, the music played by the musician Xi Bai was almost completely muffled and inaudible.
Huiyi's gaze wandered, and she glanced at the musician, who was probably also disturbed and had stopped playing.
"Has the princess taken a fancy to you?"
They thought all of this was insignificant and secretive, and no one would notice such a trivial matter, but Lin Er happened to see it.
He played the pipa in his arms without stopping, his fingers nimble as snakes, plucking the five strings like rolling beads falling onto a plate, making listeners want to sway left and right to the tune.
Huiyi snorted coldly, "What's it to you?"
It was impossible to tell whether he liked it or not, nor did he show any anger, which left Lin Lanting somewhat unsure.
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Author's Note: I've written 3,000 words! I'm so energetic! [heart emoji]
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