Chapter 75 Dress up in the Feast
Hot air made the face of Qin Yunuan blush. She could hear each word of Leng Changxi, “It’s my pleasure. I just heard that you were bullied and I came for you from the horse carriage on purpose.”
Leng Changxi straightened his body. In his opinion, the girl he loved should not be bullied. It was so normal for him to protect her and it was also right to tell her that he was protecting her. He just wanted to let Qin Yunuan know that she should fight back when she met people like Infanta Shuhua.
But in Qin Yunuan’s view, what Leng Changxi did have another explanation. She stepped back unconsciously and made a buffer between her and Leng Changxi. They had different family backgrounds so she should not violate the rule even all people here were on her side.
Noticing that Qin Yunuan stayed away from him deliberately, Leng Changxi just stood still silently and watched that the shop was well tidied up. As he said, he let the master give him a list of those things broken by Infanta Shuhua, and he would give it to Infanta Shuhua. And then he comforted the master, “You will gain the compensation of all of these within seven days.”
Having seen that Leng Changxi turned back to get into the horse carriage to rein the carriage and then the carriage was driven away, Qin Yunuan tidied up her mood and raised the curtain to walk into the cella.
As expected, people dispatched by the shop came to report to Qin Yunuan that the compensation of those broken things had been sent to the shop by a eunuch from the Imperial Palace. Qin Yunuan packed off the servant who came here to report and then picked up another letter paper on the table.
It had been a few days later after the death of Shangguan Rang. The sensation in the Royal City had calmed down due to the suicide of Li Qiqi for fear of punishment. Today the whole mansion of Grand Commandant stayed unobtrusive, and even Qin Zhi kept guilty and polite when he met Shangguan Yuan in the imperial court.
The seeming silence was broken and stirred by the news that Shen Xun brought from the regions south of the River.
In prison, Li Qiqi had once said with emotion that Su Chenghai what we saw now was not the real Su Chenghai. The result Qin Yunuan concluded at that time was totally her assumption. Li Qiqi loved Su Chenghai deeply. She followed him to enter the mansion Su and learn the medicine. After the disappearance of Su Chenghai as the military doctor in the battle of East Qin, she returned to Jianzhou to wait for him.
Such a spoony woman became the concubine of Qin Family when Qin Zhi traveled to the regions south of the River. That was because the person she had been waiting for afflictively was gone.
The letter from Shen Xun stated in detail the information he investigated for Qin Yunuan in Jianzhou. Four months ago, the bone ash of Su Chenghai had been put down into the ancestral hall of Su Family. Su Chenghai had been obsessed with medicine and his father Su Rian kicked him out of the family tree of Su Family, so the burial of his bone ash into the ancestral hall was caught out secretly. Few people knew this.
Four months ago, it was before the feast of Flower Fairy Festival. Su Chenghai who stayed around Qin Yunuan and took much care of her was totally a fake one from the beginning to the end.
The heart of Qin Yunuan seemed to be hit heavily. Though she had already guessed the whole thing, she still felt astonished when the truth was revealed. She seemed to be wetted out by rains beside the coast of the ocean and her uneasy heart was blown fiercely by the sea wind.
Having sat dully on the Zen chair for half of the day, Qin Yunuan received an invitation card brought by Tong when Tong came to add hot tea for Qin Yunuan.
“What’s this?” Qin Yunuan said as she opened the invitation card with golden purfle.
Tong said, “It’s the invitation card from Prince Ning’s Mansion. They say it is for the birthday celebration for the Princess Ning in the Mansion. All the noble maidens and young masters have received this and even Forth Miss has one. It seems to be a great ceremony.”
Princess Ning was 48 years old this year and it was her zodiac year. So the birthday ceremony would be very ceremonious. The mild and virtuous Princess Ning had many friends in the Royal City. A significant number of people came to congratulate her and even the old princess who had settled down in Guo’an Temple came back to celebrate the birthday of her daughter in law.
Coincidentally, the birthday of Princess Ning was the 24th of May, the day before the birthday of Qin Yunuan.
On May 24th, all various of horse carriage with luxurious decorations crowded outside the Prince Ning’s Mansion. The whole mansion was decorated with lanterns and streamers, and involved in a joyful phenomenon.
Qin Yunzhuang who had been upset for a long time finally had a chance to go out. She sat on a carriage driven by three horses alone. She stepped down the long ladder with the help of the support of her maidservants. She wore a long ivory-white and light-yellow brocade skirt with a shining silvery purfle on the hemline and cuff. Her long hair was curled into a horse-shaped chignon, and the white hairpin and several dark-flower patterns on her dress expressed her elegance and gentleness. She was like a pure lotus in the mire.
Her appearance attracted much attention. Though there were many scandals about her, she was the first beauty in Qi. Besides, she was unmarried still so she did cause some remarks.
When Qin Yunuan went out of the back horse carriage, she exactly saw a young master flattering Qin Yunzhuang with adulatory smiles. Qin Yunzhuang now covered her face with a handkerchief and lowered her head with a smile. Her charming eyes seemed to catch the soul of those young men.
According to the rule, Qin Yunuan, Qin Yuwan and Qin Yuzhao should take the same horse carriage. Qin Yuwan felt a little bit ashamed because Qin Yuzhao, her silly sister, also came with her to attend the birthday ceremony of Princess Ning. She thought Qin Yuzhao would be burdensome.
“Come on, hurry up. Just get off the horse carriage, do you fear that?” Qin Yuwan pulled the sleeve of Qin Yuzhao impatiently. Suddenly, the sleeve of Qin Yuzhao was broken and she almost fell on the ground.
The flower-embroidering skirt of Qin Yuzhao was from the abandoned dress of Qin Yuwan. The dress was a half-old one but Qin Yuzhao liked it very much. Having seen the dress was broken, she cried at the intersection, which caught the attention of many people.
“Ah! Enough,” Qin Yuwan said impatiently, “Just a ragged skirt. There are many clothes in my closet. If you want a new one, I would give you the most beautiful one after we get back.”
Qin Yuwan just wanted Qin Yuzhao not to cry here, but her words were distorted by those gossiping women. The daughters of concubines in the mansion of Grand Commandant lived a poor life. The younger sister wore the old clothes from her elder sister.
Qin Yuzhao had been raised by Concubine Liu in their courtyard all the time. She seldom communicated with others so she was always tongue-shy, “But… but, this dress I am wearing has been broken.”
“Why are you so carking?” Qin Yuwan pulled Qin Yuzhao and was about to check how big the breach was. But then she heard that Qin Yunzhuang front urged them, “Miss Second, Third and Fourth, father and elder brother have been seated at the feast. We shall go there quickly.”
Qin Yuwan loosened her hand. She looked at the boresome Qin Yuzhao, and she thought she should get rid of this silly girl but heard Qin Yunuan beside said, “Fine, Tong, fetch the feather circular fan in the horse carriage.”
Tong quickly fetched the white circular fan and gave it to Qin Yunuan, and then Qin Yunuan sent it to Qin Yuzhao. She directed how to use the fan in a gentle voice, “Look at me. Use the circular fan to cover the sleeves. It will be hard to see the broken sleeve.”
Qin Yuzhao used the fan as Qin Yunuan, and felt good. She finally smiled joyfully.
They entered the Prince Ning’s Mansion under the guidance of the servant. Gossiping seemingly could be heard, including those maidens’ whispering.
“Do you know that? Qin Yunzhuang actually has something to do with the death of young master Shangguan. The investigation ceased for the reputation of Left Chancellor and Qin Family.”
“As I said before, Qin Yunzhuang always plays with men, relying on her beautiful face. I have recognized such a slut in the earlier time.”
“To be frank, the Third Miss in Qin Family is easy to get along with. She has a low status in her family so she keeps humble and gentle.”
Qin Yunuan heard all about the gossiping of those maidens. She looked at the rising mouth corner of Qin Yunzhuang and knew that Qin Yunzhuang also heard those gossiping. Qin Yunzhuang should tolerate that because she should keep her elegance among people.
But the seated Qin Linfeng went forward after he heard those gossiping. Though Qin Linfeng lowered his voice, they could still be heard by Qin Yunuan.
“If you kept gossiping, I would twist your necks off,” Qin Linfeng threatened those gossiping maidens and glared at them fiercely, and then he went back to his seat.
Qin Linfeng protected and cared about Qin Yunzhuang meticulously, but sometimes Qin Yunuan felt that he did it overly, which had exceeded the pure brother-sister affection. He was more like a possessive male lion protecting his land and preys.
The feast was about to start. Fang Ziying invited Qin Yunuan to sit beside her, two-seat away from Qin Yunzhuang and Qin Yuwan, so they could whisper without violating the courtesy.
Fang Ziying was sipping the tea as introducing today’s host to Qin Yunuan – several young masters and madams in Prince Ning’s Mansion.
“The man with heroic-temperament dashing eyebrows is Leng Changan, the eldest son of Prince Ning, and his wife is the daughter of the concubine of King Gaoyang. That is the second son of the concubine, Leng Changxuan. He is perfect but weak-willed,” The excited and happy Fang Ziying now turned to be a little bit cold. She turned to a pretty cold beauty who wore a simple white dress, “That is the daughter of Prince Ning, Leng Suxin. She is very arrogant and hard to get along with. Each person who talked to her would be rebuked by her.”
Qin Yunuan knew that Fang Ziying disliked Leng Suxin, and then she distracted the topic and pointed at a charming beauty there who was talking with someone, “How about that lady?”
Fang Ziying said with a more disdainful voice, “She? She is just a poor relative adopted by the mansion. To be frank, she just wishes unpractically to be a noble lady.
The lady who was regarded like that by Fang Ziying was Xie Ruying. Just at the same time, she looked toward Qin Yunuan. Qin Yunuan thought that it was just a regular visual connection between strangers, but just in a minute, Xie Ruying suddenly stood up and walked toward Qin Yunuan.