Recognizing people
Mu Qing went back to the Lu residence to catch up on her sleep. When she went out in the afternoon, she was in great spirits. She and Lu Tongxue rushed to Yiye Residence and learned that Du Jiniang had already booked a private room. The room was located in a place where the platform could not be seen due to the staircase, but the tea room in the building could be seen clearly.
The interior has windows on two sides. One window faces the alley, where a few cool breezes occasionally blow in. The other window faces into the building, where you can hear what's happening inside. In the center is a set of yellow wooden tables and chairs, with tea set on the table and spring branches adorned with flowers in a porcelain vase, adding a touch of life.
"I brought that booklet."
Du Jiniang opened the wooden box on the corner of the table, took out the booklet, and placed it on the tea table.
The booklet was brand new, with the words "Collection of Outstanding Talents" neatly written on its blue cover.
The single pages record detailed information about the man, such as his name and preferences, in small regular script. The double pages depict his portrait in bright colors and fine brushstrokes. Each portrait is young and handsome, with the hem of his clothes fluttering, making the descriptions even more vivid and detailed than those provided by the matchmaker.
After quickly flipping through the booklet, Lu Tongxue's face flushed slightly.
Feeling embarrassed to look at it alone, she sat down next to Mu Qing at the table, placed the booklet in front of them, and flipped through it haphazardly for a while. Just as she was about to say something, she looked up and couldn't help but pout, "Sister Qing, why are you looking at me?"
Mu Qing smiled and said, "For me, whether you like it or not is more meaningful than reading this booklet."
Lu Tongxue let out a soft moan, picked up the booklet, and turned her back to look at it.
Seeing this, Du Jiniang chuckled and said, "It's still early, you can take your time looking at it. I've already sent someone to wait at Wansong Academy. Once my brother leaves the academy, I'll call him here. Some students from the academy will also be here then, so my brother can look at the booklet and recognize the people."
Lu Tongxue cleared her throat. "Ahem, I'm not that interested, I'm just a little curious."
After a few cups of tea, the building became increasingly noisy. Looking out through the window, one could see a number of young men who looked like scholars.
After a while, someone outside the door called out loudly, "Sister!"
Upon hearing the sound, Mu Qing and Lu Tongxue put their veils back on and, through the veil, saw a young man dressed as a scholar in white stride in.
"Sis, you actually came..."
Seeing that there were other people in the room, he stuck out his tongue.
"You have no manners, you're asking for a beating!" Du Jiniang frowned and scolded him, "There's a young lady here who is Master Lu's daughter, show some respect!"
Du Xiang was short with a round face and looked honest, but his smile had a hint of cunning. He immediately bowed to the two young ladies wearing veils behind his sister to express his apology, and then turned to ask in a low voice, "I remember that Miss Lu is already a prospective princess. Why is she here for a matchmaking?"
Du Jiniang pinched him, "Don't talk nonsense! Miss Lu and the others are just accompanying me for tea."
"Alright, alright." Du Xiang jumped away, clutching his arm. "Why did you call me here while you're having tea?"
Du Jiniang picked up the "Collection of Outstanding Works" on the table and waved it in front of him. "We spent so much money to have you compile this booklet, so we have to check it out."
Du Xiang grinned and said, "What you've got in mind isn't already..."
"Stop talking nonsense, just tell me, which of the outsiders are listed in this booklet?"
"I'll go outside and take a look."
Du Xiang gave a mumbled reply and crouched down as he walked toward the door, only to be pulled back by Du Jiniang by the collar.
"There's no need to go outside; you can just identify it at the window."
The diamond-shaped window was half open. Du Xiang leaned over the windowsill and peered into the building. After a long while, he finally spoke up: "That's strange. None of the group listed in the brochure came here today."
Du Jiniang stood to the side with her arms crossed, her eyebrows raised in anger. "It's a good thing you only had half a day off, and you're all still wearing Wansong Academy's uniforms. Just by looking at that teahouse, you can tell that at least twenty people from the academy are here. Can you honestly say that not a single one of them is on the register?"
“Well, upon closer inspection, there are some.” Du Xiang pointed, “The one playing chess on the far left, his name is Wei Jinyu.”
Upon hearing the name, Lu Tongxue hesitated whether to go and take a look, when she saw Du Jiniang return to the table, flip through the booklet, and speak in a resentful tone.
"I knew you were being cunning. That person could at best be considered to have decent features, but look at the drawing here, he's practically an absolute heartthrob!"
Mu Qing glanced at the booklet and saw that the man in the portrait had a face like jade, eyebrows that flew into his temples, thick eyelashes and deep eyes, and a straight nose. Not only was he exceptionally handsome, but he also had a dashing figure. He was both masculine and refined, truly a rare and handsome man.
Isn't that how I am?
Mu Qing looked out the window, also wanting to see them.
But Du Xiang pointed at the portrait and said, "It's easy to paint the skin and bones, but hard to paint the heart. The painter I found certainly didn't just paint the appearance. Although he doesn't look particularly remarkable, his virtuous character, extensive knowledge, and wealthy family background make him quite handsome."
"Did he give you any benefits?" Du Jiniang asked him coldly. "Wasn't the money I gave you enough?"
"Sister, you taught me that the more money the better."
"I didn't teach you to cheat your family!"
"I didn't cheat you. The one you wanted is completely genuine. As for the others, why bother with them? Everyone's willing to spend money to embellish it and make themselves happy. It also makes the booklet visually appealing to those who read it. Isn't that a win-win situation?"
"Happy my foot!"
Du Jiniang raised her hand to give him a sharp rap on the head, but Du Xiang anticipated this, turned around cleverly, and rushed out the door.
"That brat!" Du Jiniang spat, having failed to catch him. "I'll definitely teach him a lesson when we get back!"
Out of curiosity, Mu Qing and Lu Tongxue both got up and went to the window. They lifted the gauze curtain and peeked through the crack in the window. Sure enough, they saw that the person playing chess had an ordinary appearance and only looked somewhat like the portrait.
With a snap, Lu Tongxue slammed the window shut, her indignation palpable: "To engage in such deception, and yet be a scholar!"
Du Jiniang put the booklet back into the box and said, "When I first got the booklet, I was puzzled. If there really were so many handsome and talented men who were not married, how come there was no word about it in the city?"
Lu Tongxue glanced at her sideways, "If you had told us earlier, we wouldn't have needed to come."
Du Jiniang said, "Seeing is believing. Even if I told you earlier, you might not have believed me, and you might have thought I was hiding something."
Perhaps that's the case, but Lu Tongxue felt she had been tricked and didn't want to admit it at all.
Returning to her seat, Mu Qing took a sip of tea and said, "Judging from what you just said, Ji Niang already has someone she likes?"
Du Jiniang also sat down at the table, smiling shyly, "I've only met her a few times, and I think she's nice, but I wouldn't say she's my sweetheart."
Lu Tongxue was quite interested, "Also from Wansong Academy?"
Du Jiniang nodded, "But he was a poor scholar and not very good-looking."
"Then how could it be..."
Before the question could be finished, the sound of string music filled the air outside, and the musician took to the stage.
Du Jiniang made an excuse to get up, went to the window to look outside, and sighed, "This music is really beautiful."
There is no platform to be seen here, only the lively and cheerful music, like melting ice and snow, and the babbling of a brook. It is as if one can see the clear water flowing, the fish swimming smoothly, reflecting the flowers and green leaves, and exuding the warm and cozy feeling of spring.
When the music ended, thunderous applause erupted inside the building.
Someone asked loudly, "Master Lu, these past few days everyone has been unable to leave the city, and I heard that you've been staying in the backyard of Yiye Residence the whole time, barely even stepping out of the door. How could you have had the inspiration to compose such a beautiful piece that makes people feel as if they're bathed in spring sunshine?"
Then a clear and melodious female voice rang out from the platform: "Springtime is not only found in mountains and rivers, but in every flower and leaf."
"Well said!"
Amid applause, some tea drinkers requested several pieces of music, which the musician played one by one.
As the music ended, someone called out, "Master Lu, your skill is so exquisite. Have you ever thought about taking on students? I have a younger sister who is of learning age and would like to become your student..."
Someone chided, "Wei Jinyu, you don't have a sister! Just say so if you want to get close to her!"
Wei Jinyu said, "I just don't have a younger sister, but I do have a cousin!"
"The one who was born just last year?"
The room erupted in laughter and gossip.
At that moment, a slender figure carrying a zither descended the stairs by the window, her face covered, calmly walking down the stairs step by step.
Du Jiniang glanced around, closed the window, and turned back to see Mu Qing sitting there, also with his face covered, and with similar eyebrows and eyes, both surnamed Lu.
She was taken aback, a strange feeling flashing through her mind.
Unaware of anything amiss, Mu Qing was listening to Lu Tongxue complain, "They say they're students of Wansong Academy, but they're practically lecherous scoundrels?"
Mu Qing comforted her, "There are so many people in the academy, surely not all of them are like that. Those who undermine others are mostly students of the academy themselves."
Du Jiniang sat down again, and they chatted for a while, had some tea and snacks, until they left together.
As they left, passing through the lobby, where many people were coming and going, Mu Qing spotted Ye Yu, the owner of the teahouse. She immediately held her breath and tugged at Lu Tongxue's sleeve, asking her to answer Du Jiniang's question for her.
When they arrived at the gate, the Lu family's carriage also arrived, and they could take Du Jiniang back to Kangping Tower and travel together.
Back in the carriage, Lu Tongxue sat down next to Du Jiniang and asked with great interest, "Jiniang, is the scholar you've taken a liking to the one who brushed past you when you left just now?"
Just now, as I came out of Yiye Residence, I saw a scholar get up from his seat and walk past Du Jiniang. Lu Tongxue took advantage of the veil to glance at him.
Du Jinniang, unusually without a smile, asked, "How did you know?"
Mu Qing was also quite surprised. When she went downstairs and went out, she was so focused on avoiding A Yu that she didn't notice which scholar brushed past Du Jiniang.
Lu Tongxue smiled smugly, "He has a bare wooden hairpin in his hair, which shows how shabby he is. He's not bad-looking, but his eyes are staring at you. Isn't that eye-catching?"
Du Jiniang paused for a moment, then said, "You're a young lady from a respectable family, you wouldn't have taken a fancy to a poor scholar like that, would you?"
Lu Tongxue pouted and said, "You underestimate me. I won't fight you for a man."
Du Jiniang smiled and said, "A person of Miss Lu's stature deserves to be matched with a refined and noble gentleman."
Lu Tongxue found the words unpleasant and ignored them, sitting down next to Mu Qing and peeking at the street scene through the window.
"Hey, that person looks like one of the people in the booklet!"
She looked out the window for a moment, then turned back, her expression excited. She asked Du Jiniang for the booklet, quickly flipped through it, found a page, pointed to the portrait on it, and said, "There was a scholar on the street just now, and he looks exactly like him!"
The portrait depicts a man with delicate features, his jade-like face tinged with melancholy, giving him a deep and focused expression.
Mu Qing looked at it and felt that she seemed to have seen it somewhere before, but she couldn't remember where. But with such a good-looking face, how could she not remember it if she had seen it before?
When Lu Tongxue turned to the previous page, it said that the person's name was Song Baixuan, a native of Chongzhou, eighteen years old, with a hundred acres of fertile land and several shops. His mother died early, and his father did not remarry. He was the only son. He was kind, understanding, and considerate.
Upon seeing the description, Mu Qing thought that this couldn't possibly be someone she knew.
She had only been to Xifeng County in Chongzhou, which was Zhong Linlan's birthplace. Back then, apart from Zhong Linlan, she had never met any other kind-hearted people there.
But eighteen? He was only thirteen five years ago.
There were a few children in the village who were twelve or thirteen years old at the time, but because they were young and boys, she had little contact with them and was not familiar with them.
The surname Song is a common surname. There are several people with the surname Song in the village, so this should just be a coincidence.
Mu Qing calmed herself down and told herself not to think too much.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
