Chapter 29: "What are you looking at, Lord Song?"
Song Linsheng looked at Wen Yu with a smile. Although they both held tea bowls, Wen Yu raised her bowl and clinked it with him, as if toasting. The clinking of the bowls produced a rich, yet not dull, sound.
Wen Yu and Song Linsheng sat opposite each other, drinking tea, listening to the music and looking at the flowers, feeling very relaxed.
Men and women sat in groups of three or four, some washing their hands by the stream, some reciting poems and composing couplets, each with their own leisurely interests.
She was like an elf that had fallen into the mortal world. She had a strong interest in everything. She couldn't help looking around, and her braids shook like a rattle, and she couldn't sit still.
Song Linsheng looked at her and realized that she looked exactly like when he was five or six years old and first visited Jiangyang Restaurant with his father.
"It's really strange!" Wen Yu leaned forward to watch and said something without any reason.
"Hmm?" Song Linsheng had just brought the tea bowl to his lips when he heard Wen Yu talking and stopped to answer her.
"When Xiyan brought the little fish lantern back that day, he clearly said that Lord Mu invited me?" Wen Yu's eyes widened, and he swept his gaze over the scattered crowd in front and behind, but he couldn't see the man who was as straight as a tree.
"What's more, when you and I went to the Jiangyang government office together, he even told us in person that he would invite us to have a banquet at the Jiangyang Restaurant!" Wen Yu searched for him several times but couldn't find him, so he turned around and asked Song Linsheng this question.
"How come we've been here for so long, but Master Mu is nowhere to be seen?"
Upon hearing this, Song Linsheng tilted his head and glanced around. Indeed, Mu Jingli was nowhere to be seen. He speculated, "Mu Jingli has a lot of responsibilities to attend to during the sacrificial ceremony. Perhaps he's been unable to leave for the moment?"
"Didn't Lord Jia just say that he was here to help Mu Jingli keep an eye on the place?"
Song Linsheng teased Wen Yu, "You! I don't know if you're thinking about Mu's experience, or the feast they mentioned!"
Wen Yu curled her red lips, like a little fox whose tail had been stepped on, and feigned indifference as she retorted, "I'm clearly worried that Lord Mu will miss such a unique and interesting event, not that I'm worried about whether there's a banquet or not."
Before she could finish her words, Wen Yu looked at Song Linsheng's half-smile and added haltingly, "How could I... be someone who only cares about food and drink?"
Speaking of the desire for food, Wen Yu's thoughts flew back to the past few days. Thinking of the nightmare of "meeting with the fish head spirit at night", he immediately felt guilty and his voice gradually weakened.
"Oh?" Song Linsheng's eyes and eyebrows were filled with a smile that was so thick that it couldn't be dispelled. "So, Madam Wenyu must not be interested in the Shangsi Water Feast at all!"
"Why don't you and I go out of the city and head to the Wutong Ancestral Temple to wait for the sacrificial ceremony? We don't have to eat!"
Song Linsheng picked up the tea bowl, brought it to his lips, covered his face with his sleeve, and gently blew away the foam in the bowl. His dimples deep in the pool were reflected in the clear tea water.
"That! How can that be possible!" Wen Yu objected without thinking. After the words came out, Wen Yu realized that she was too hasty.
"Didn't you say that on the third day of the third lunar month, there are three sacrifices: a purification feast to worship the God of Spring, and to protect me from disaster and illness?"
Song Linsheng put down the tea bowl and slowly poured himself some tea, nodding slightly to indicate that what Wen Yu said was correct.
Seeing that he remained silent, Wen Yu continued, "We've just completed the purification ceremony! How can we miss this crucial step, the water feast?"
Wen Yu only heard Song Linsheng talk about eight cold, eight hot and four sweeping, and she felt extremely curious and salivating. Her heart was hanging in anticipation of the Shangsi banquet, so how could she let it go easily?
Song Linsheng placed the tea bowl upside down on the table, and put the tea tray and other utensils back in their places. He always had this good habit of putting all kinds of ornaments and objects back in their proper places.
Wen Yu didn't know why he didn't answer, she was just busy collecting things and kept staring at his movements.
After tidying up, Song Linsheng stood up under Wenyu's puzzled gaze, brushed off his robe, and said to Wenyu, "Alright! I was just joking with Madam Wenyu."
"It's almost time, Madam Wenyu, please follow me back to the front hall and take your seat." Song Linsheng stopped teasing her.
The three major events of Shangsi are: purification to wash away disasters and delusions for the past; offering sacrifices to gods to seek blessings for the future; and the Shangsi water feast to savor delicious food, which is the most important thing at present.
How could he let Madam Wenyu not have anything to eat? Song Linsheng thought to himself.
Wen Yu stood up immediately after hearing that, her eyes curved and her eyebrows were smiling. Her jet-black braids swayed gently as she moved, and the silver butterfly hairpin on it fluttered as if it was about to fly, which was extremely vivid.
"Wenyu has received the order! Sir Xiao Song, please go first!"
Wen Yu clasped his hands together and saluted Song Linsheng like a servant in the mansion. His quirky look made Song Linsheng laugh.
Song Linsheng turned his back to Wen Yu, pursed his lips and chuckled, then tried hard to control it.
He turned sideways and said jokingly, "Lord Wenyu, why don't you catch up?" Then he started walking.
Wen Yu said "Hey" and trotted off to follow Song Linsheng.
Song Linsheng said so, but before he took two steps, he let Wen Yu stand in front of him, and he followed slowly behind Wen Yu, only half a step away.
"Madam Wen!"
A shout stopped Wen Yu and Song Linsheng.
A woman in bright clothes walked towards them. As her figure approached, her face was not visible. The first thing Wen Yu noticed was her clothes.
It is truly extraordinary and elegant.
Her hair was tied high, and she was draped in brocade, unlike any other woman. Her whole aura was dazzling and captivating, as bright as the rising sun and the morning glow, as dazzling as lotus flowers emerging from the green waves. Even if all the other women in the garden were put together, they would not diminish her beauty in the slightest.
As she got closer to Wen Yu and the others, the hairpins and pearls on her body jingled, the sound as clear as the melting ice and the gurgling of snow water in the mountains.
At first glance, the hem of the skirt is embroidered with patterns of sprouting spring leaves and a slowly flowing stream, and upwards is a pearl jade belt around the waist. When she walks, she is glittering with jewels and is eye-catching.
She wore a waistcoat embroidered with lotus patterns on her shoulders, with three pairs of green tassels hanging down on each side, all the way to the bottom of her skirt.
Wen Yu looked up and saw that her hair was even more exquisite: she wore a crown studded with pearls and jade, and a pair of velvet flowers shaped like spring peaches on each temple. Her ears were adorned with round silver earrings, and below them hung a tassel of amber and green that reached down to her chest.
Wen Yu's gaze froze, glued to the woman. He stood there for a moment, unable to move his feet.
The closer the woman came, the more Wen Yu felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity. Her elegant attire weighed her down, and she walked very slowly, yet her figure remained erect as a pine tree, swaying gently in the wind like a tree.
"Madam Wen!"
The man finally came to Wen Yu and Song Linsheng and called Wen Yu again.
Wen Yu just felt very strange. She seemed to have returned to the time when she was still a paulownia tree with no intelligence. She could not move or speak, and could only stay where she was.
She nodded to Song Linsheng beside her and said, "Sir Song!"
"Today, I am dressed up like this, so I will not greet you as you would greet Master Song!"
Wen Yu always felt something was wrong. The vague sense of familiarity became stronger with this conversation.
A light bulb went off in her head! She knew something was wrong!
The fairy-like sister in front of me actually has a man's voice. Although it is not rough, it is very easy to distinguish!
"Of course! It's Linsheng's turn to greet you today!" Song Linsheng replied politely and courteously, and he actually bowed after he finished speaking.
Wen Yu's eyes wandered between the two of them for a while, then locked onto this "sister" with a masculine voice and a feminine appearance.
Her eyebrows are curved, her lips are shimmering, her beauty is breathtaking, and her bone structure is about 70% similar to...
"Master Mu!"
Wen Yu screamed and covered her mouth and nose in disbelief!
"It's you!"
Huge waves surged in Wen Yu's heart, like an overwhelming force.
She was really caught off guard. The sister in front of her who looked so radiant was actually the Lord Mu who was as clear as a tree.
No wonder she said before that she couldn’t find Lord Mu. It turns out that she is here...what is she doing here?
Wen Yu tilted her head, a hint of doubt creeping up her brows.
"What is this outfit, Master Mu?"
How beautiful! Wen Yu couldn't stop praising her in her heart.
Wen Yu lowered her head and looked around at the green dress on her body. It was a color that she had chosen specifically for the Shangsi trip. But when compared with Lord Mu's attire, hers looked like a typical "coarse linen dress".
She raised her hand to touch the silver butterfly on her bun, but her eyes were fixed on the beaded headband and the colorful hairpins in Lord Mu's hair. Especially the two pairs of velvet peach blossoms, which were so beautiful in both form and color that they looked like freshly harvested fruits.
Wen Yu couldn't help swallowing.
"It's me! Madam Wen!"
"Sister" lowered her head and looked at Wen Yu with a smile. Seeing that she was staring at herself with her eyes wide open, she could guess what she was thinking without saying much.
Mu Tong reached out his hand and touched the hair at the back of his head. He fumbled among the pearls and jades for a while, took out a hairpin and presented it to Wen Yu.
"Mrs. Wen! Do you like this one?"
The first thing I saw was a jeweled hairpin in a juxtaposition of green and yellow. A cluster of turquoise embellished branches and leaves formed the base, while a lush, chicken-fat yellow jadeite flower pattern covered the top. The design was simple, yet the craftsmanship was intricate. It was exquisite, vivid, and dazzling.
Wen Yu did not respond, but secretly glanced at Song Linsheng out of the corner of her eye.
"Madam Wen! What are you looking at Master Song for?"
"Just tell me whether you like it or not?"
Wen Yu hesitated, her cheeks flushing. She had some connection with Song Linsheng, but she wasn't familiar with Lord Mu. Therefore, Wen Yu felt a little embarrassed and said hesitantly, "This...this is..."
Mu Tong held the hairpin in both hands and explained its mystery: "This is called Yellow Flower Riding Green Waves. Look, Madam Wen, what kind of pattern does it look like?"
Wen Yu was so engrossed in admiring the glittering gemstones that she forgot to see the whole thing. Now, after a closer look, it was easy to see that—
"Is this a cluster of forsythia?"
"That's right! This hairpin is called 'Ming Kun', and it is made according to the shape of winter jasmine." Mu Tong explained to Wen Yu.
Song Linsheng, who was standing by, also chimed in, "The spring grass is growing, the ground is thick, and green and yellow are the two most striking colors among them."
"Seeing a flower blossom in the morning from a high building, I feel the spring is coming all around. It is just like people and flowers welcome spring."
Mu Tong continued Song Linsheng's words and said, "That's why people generally believe that the Goddess of Spring is the incarnation of the winter jasmine. They especially like to use the winter jasmine to welcome the Goddess of Spring, and this has led to the development of many styles of hairpins, rings, and dresses."
He handed the "Ming Kun" forward and said, "I'll give this hairpin to Madam Wen for good luck!"
Wen Yu was overjoyed in her heart, but she still looked hesitant. As she had said before, she and Lord Mu were not familiar with each other. Why would he give her such a precious Mingkun hairpin?
Wen Yu was puzzled...
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