Chapter 203 - Yuan Xue’e and Lu Guanlun Got Engaged

Song Yixiao was stunned for a while and then said, “No matter how rich the heritage of Jinxiu Hall is, as you said, the Duanmu Family has declined. Isn’t the Crown Prince backed by the Wei Family of Ruiyu Hall? Now thanks to Commandery Prince Zhongling, Lord Gu has been coaxed out of retirement to assist the Crown Prince. In this case, even if Elder Lady Duanmu arrives at the imperial capital and doesn’t help the Crown Prince, it won’t be a problem, right?”

Moreover, “Since Elder Lady Duanmu considered letting Uncle Limiao inherit the assets, maybe this time she will still choose him too. After all, Uncle Limiao is raised by her and he also submitted a petition for them before.”

“It’s not that simple!” Jian Xubai slightly shook his head and said, “Prince of Chengyang was in favor of making Noble Consort Shentu’s birth son ascend to the throne back then, so after Uncle took the throne, Uncle wanted to put Prince of Chengyang and all his family to death. Fortunately, Aunt and Duke of Ji pleaded for leniency given the friendship of their ancestors so only Prince of Chengyang was sentenced to death and his family were exiled!”

“Even after Uncle Limiao submitted the petition, it was Aunt’s persuading Grandmother and Uncle that led to the amnesty for the clansmen of Prince of Chengyang.”

He chuckled, “Tell me, how can the clansmen of Prince of Chengyang return such a big favor to the Su Family?”

Song Yixiao was pondering with a frown when Jian Xubai said casually, “Most importantly, I owe a life to Elder Lady Duanmu. If she helps the Su Family, what should I do then?”

“You owe her a life?” Song Yixiao felt astounded, “I thought you never met her before.”

“Do you remember the Yewu Paste?” Jian Xubai gave a smile of mockery or self-deprecating, “That man is determined to kill me. Do you think that he would use an ordinary poison on me? If Elder Lady Duanmu hadn’t sent Aunt Yun to Wuhuan, I would have died there!”

It reminded Song Yixiao of what Su Shaoge said and she took a tumble, saying, “You mean the descendant of Ji Qubing, the famous doctor in the days of yore?”

As he nodded his head, she couldn’t help sighing. The cause and outcome were so complicated that even the most righteous judge couldn’t give a verdict! No wonder Jian Xubai was so emotional when he heard that Elder Lady Duanmu was arriving at the imperial capital!

“I knew it! He even didn’t hide the private matter of her mother from me, let alone the thing about a relative who he has never met!” Song Yixiao found out the ins and outs of the matter and pondered, “It seems that the reason why he would rather avoid me than confess to me was simply that he knew it pointless to tell me and that I would feel worried then. Once he brought it up, we would be extremely annoyed!”

She ruminated for a long time and still failed to find a good way to comfort her husband. Eventually, Jian Xubai spoke first, “Anyway, she won’t arrive until a few days later. As you mentioned just now, the priority at the moment is to urge Prince of Yi to settle the case, or it will get increasingly troublesome as it lasts!”

Song Yixiao was relieved with a sigh and tucked him in, saying with a grin, “No, the priority now is to sleep. You need to get up early and go to court tomorrow morning!”

The next morning, it was dawn when Song Yixiao got up and Jian Xubai had left for work.

After freshening herself up, she had breakfast and intended to meet the heads of the servants who were waiting for her when Liyu rushed inside hastily and reported, “Words came that Princess Consort Wei had sent betrothal gifts to Marquis Boling’s mansion today!”

“So soon?” Song Yixiao was a bit surprised to hear that. It was in the first lunar month that Yuan Xuepei decided to agree on the marriage arrangement proposed by Wei Mengying. Now the first lunar month was not over yet and the engagement was officially made. After all, at the end of last year, Lu Guanlun just broke off the engagement with Wei Chan!

However, on second thought, she figured it out, “Qiu Shuxia has advised abolishing the Crown Prince openly, which suggests the war of throne has turned fierce. How can Yuan Xuepei dare to stall his sister’s marriage?”

If it was still put off and the Crown Prince was placed in a disadvantaged position, Prince of Hengshan might not agree to let Lu Guanlun marry Yuan Xue’e!

Song Yixiao and Yuan Xue’e were childhood friends. Now that Yuan Xue’e was finally engaged, she must take it seriously. Then she summoned Jinxun and Qiaoqin to deal with the heads of servants on her behalf and she herself went back to the inner chamber and changed her clothes for going out. After that, she had the servants take the prepared gifts, “I shall go to send my congratulations to Xue’e!”

When she arrived at Marquis Boling’s mansion, Jiang Muting was there too. Jiang Muting saw her and said with a smile, “Surprise! I’m the first one who has come to congratulate!”

“It’s okay. When you are engaged, I will try to be the first person to congratulate you!” Song Yixiao looked at her smiling face. Obviously, she had freed herself from the shadow of being dumped by her ex-fiancé, Prince of Wei. Then Song Yixiao took the opportunity to say teasingly, “By then, don’t forget to give a heavy red packet!”

“You are the mistress of a duke’s mansion. Will you care a prize?” Jiang Muting blushed and snapped with feigned anger, “Xue’e doesn’t give me anything!”

Yuan Xue’e took up her refrain, “Exactly! I not only gave nothing to Muting but also gained a pair of filigree hairpins dotted with kingfishers and worm grass from her!”

“You are urging me to take out the gifts for you!” Amidst laughing, Song Yixiao asked Yuedeng to bring the box over, “Here it is. Take a look and see if you like it!”

Yuan Xue’e opened it grinningly and saw a pair of blood double-fish jade pendant. Blood jade was a kind of precious jade and the double-fish was exquisitely carved with several red agate beads at the bottom. The beads each had a pair of colorful flowery palace sashes. Evidently, the gift was not only valuable but also well prepared.

“I thought that you would send me an embroidery. Unexpectedly, what I got are only palace sashes!” Yuan Xue’e had anticipated that in terms of the relation between her and Song Yixiao, the thing inside the box couldn’t be an ordinary thing. However, she never expected it to be so priceless. With a glint of surprise in her eyes, she didn’t mean to reject it and only said with a smile, “I was wrong!”

“I’m too busy these days. How can I have the time to do any embroidery?” Song Yixiao didn’t mind what she said, saying resignedly, “I’ve spared the time to make the four palace sashes for you. Just be satisfied!”

Jiang Muting blurted out, “Then when it is my turn, you must send me one embroidery or two as the gift! You are really good at embroidering. My mother told me that the embroidery you sent to Dowager Consort of Hengshan last year was fabulous enough to be a family heirloom!”

“Muting, are you going to be engaged too? With whom? When?” Song Yixiao and Yuan Xue’e were surprised and hastened to ask.

“I just said it carelessly!” Jiang Muting felt that she had just misspoken and hastily said, “What are you thinking about? Nonsense!”

Song Yixiao glanced at her doubtfully and felt like saying something when a maid suddenly came to report, saying that Wei Yinlian had arrived. Jiang Muting rose and said then, “It has been some time since I met her last time. I’m wondering how she is doing recently.”

Amidst talking, she went out to receive the guest.

“Have you been tipped off?” Song Yixiao took two steps backwards and asked Yuan Xue’e in a low voice. She held a higher social position than Yuan Xue’e, but she was not in the same social circle with Jiang Muting. Hence, she was not as informed as Yuan Xue’e.

Yet, Yuan Xue’e shook her head and said, “If I did, I would tell you.”

Song Yixiao couldn’t argue about that.

After a while, they received Wei Yinlian and went back to the Embroidery Compound together. After exchanging pleasantries, Wei Yinlian gave Yuan Xue’e a pair of carved mutton-fat jade bracelet with malus spectabilis pattern and took a sip of the tea served by Meiyan, saying with a smile, “Shanyao, the entangled floral branch leaves in your collars must be embroidered by you, right? The pattern is not special, but just because this is embroidered by you, it looks different!”

“After all, some are ingenious and some are not,” Jiang Muting also raised the tea bowl and said with a gentle smile, “Relatively speaking, our embroidery is literally sewing and mending only.”

“Given our identity, embroidering is only a hobby!” Song Yixiao smiled, “As I said just now, I don’t have time to do it. I even have to find time to make a palace sash.”

The topic was shifted on the family trifles. No one remembered to ask about Jiang Muting’s marriage when they parted.

After returning to the mansion, Song Yixiao recalled it herself. However, after sending someone to inquire about it, she still didn’t learn that the Jiang Family was looking for candidates for their son-in-law. Qiaoqin, the one who was assigned to the task, reminded Song Yixiao, “The top-level national examination is around the corner. Now all the scholars in the imperial capital are prepared to take the exam. Even if the Jiang Family has chosen someone, they will fear disturbing him at the moment.”

“You are right!” Song Yixiao recalled the message sent by the Wei Family before and enter into deep thought, “I’m wondering how Cheng Chongjun is doing with his academic work.”

Qiaoqin said smilingly, “The man who the Wei Family chose for Princess Consort Wei was the champion of the imperial exam back then. Now the future husband selected for Lady Chan cannot be too bad, can he?”

“However, in terms of talent, appearance and scheme, my cousin is no match for my mother!” Song Yixiao heard that and stayed silent with a bitter smile, thinking to herself, “Especially, Chan is no longer… Alas, just wait and see!”

She shook her head and didn’t continue the topic, saying, “Yamen has been opened. We don’t have a lot of things to do at the mansion. Send a message to Wuying to let her continue coming again!”

Qiaoqin took the order and said, “The third day of next month will be Commandery Princess Qingjiang’s birthday. The gift list has been prepared but the date is due soon. Your Highness, will you take a look at the list again?”

Song Yixiao nodded and said, “Give it to me!”

She added, “My mother’s birthday has just passed and she didn’t hold a lavish feast. I suppose that Qingjiang won’t have a big birthday party. It is better to remove those noisy and eye-catching things, or it will appear inappropriate.”

Qiaoqin said, “Yes.”

After thinking for a while, she reminded, “The ninth day of next month will be Your Highness’s birthday. His Highness said that he would celebrate it greatly for you!”

“The situation has changed. Think about this. A few days ago, as to my mother’s and my grandmother’s birthday, they only had a meal with their own families. Qingjiang will surely have a quiet celebration on her birthday, not to mention my birthday.” Song Yixiao, looking through the gift list, said casually, “Just ask the chefs to add two dishes. Don’t invite guests!”

Although she said so, after Jian Xubai came back, he heard the report from the servant and said, “Even if you don’t want to celebrate your birthday on a big scale, we should at least set up two tables of meals, and hire some singers and dancers. After all, it is your first birthday since you married me. How can we not celebrate it well?”

“It is so cold. I don’t want to stay in the wind in the garden!” Song Yixiao laughed in spite of herself, saying, “Moreover, even your mother’s birthday didn’t involve singing and dancing. Neither do I like it. How can I do anything that might get me in trouble? As to the first birthday thing, aren’t you going to celebrate my next birthday for me?”

Jian Xubai was about to say something when Song Yixiao directly leaned forward and held his neck, saying sincerely, “I know you are good to me! But I really don’t care about it! Besides, we are juniors and we’ve just picked up the management of the mansion. After all, we don’t have juniors or trustworthy subordinates to work for us. We need to take care of everything on our own. If we make a big celebration, I’ll be the one to be exhausted.”

Jian Xubai looked sideways at her and said grinningly, “You are right. I shouldn’t have wasted those several months. In this case, we can have sons and daughters-in-law to work for us a few months earlier in the future.”

Song Yixiao, who was thinking for him, was at a loss whether to cry or to laugh for being suddenly flirted by him. She thumped on his shoulder, “I was talking business with you. What are you thinking about?”

They frolicked for a while. In the end, they decided to act as per Song Yixiao’s requirement. In the following two or three days, they didn’t have time to joke anymore, because, under the joint pressure of Qiu Shuxia and the Crown Prince, Prince of Yi had to leave his mansion and started to investigate Cui Jianlian’s death.

However, as was known to all that instead of investigating on his own, the Crown Prince, Prince of Zhao and Prince of Wei were attacking each other under his guise.

Therefore, Jian Xubai was extremely busy. It was late at night when he returned to his bedroom for several days in a row. Song Yixiao waited for him till he came back but considering that he was tired and needed to go to court the next day, she didn’t dare to talk much with him. She only showed some concern for him before going to bed.

The second lunar month arrived. On the third day, together with his wife, Jian Xubai specially spared half the day to go to Commandery Princess Qingjiang’s mansion to congratulate on her birthday. As was expected by Song Yixiao, Commandery Princess Qingjiang followed Jinguo Grand Princess’s example and even made it even simpler. She didn’t even ask the guests to stay for dinner.

Of course there was a reason for that, “Doctor Han has retired. Now the rubbish in the Imperial Academy of Medicine…”

Speaking of that, Commandery Princess Qingjiang shook her head with a gloomy face and continued saying, “Thus, as Ping’an’s condition is getting worse, I don’t have time. You just drink the tea and then go back home. Don’t hinder you from having the meal on time. I’ll not ask you to stay!”

Since the Commandery Princess said so, the couple had to leave. After getting out of the mansion, Song Yixiao said, “No wonder I didn’t see anyone else when we entered the mansion. It turns out that they all have been asked to leave.”

She was not blaming her sister-in-law for inhospitality, “Qingjiang looks so serious. I’m wondering how Ping’an is now. Is there really no doctor who will endeavor to treat him?”

Jian Xubai was about to answer her when a horse suddenly rushed towards the carriage, regardless of the guards!