Chapter 446

"Creak~"

The two wooden doors by the street were pulled open from the inside,

The noisy clamor of the main street suddenly became loud and clear, rushing toward her.

Behind the door,

Appeared a woman dressed as a respectable family woman with a pretty face and a slightly sallow complexion.

The fabric of the woman's clothes, which clung to her waist and hips, was of good quality and very much accentuated her shapely figure.

Watching the carved carriages and fine horses passing by on the street not far from the door,

The embroidered cloud shoes under the woman's skirt, which were about to step over the threshold, were pulled back.

"Creak."

The hands resting on the wooden door closed the wide-open wooden doors,

The woman left only a gap the size of a palm and tilted her head to look outside,

Her gaze followed the carriages and horses to look back,

And when she saw a horse of extraordinary spirit, the woman's eyes widened!

Immediately, she lowered her hands from the wooden door, quickly smoothed her temples, and straightened her clothes.

Her eyes blinked,

Her lips pursed,

Her cheeks simulated a shy expression several times,

After taking several deep breaths,

The woman then delicately and gently opened the wooden door and looked outside with deep affection.

On the street,

Rong Xian held the reins with one hand while riding on the horse,

Seemingly looking around in boredom,

But in reality, he was secretly rubbing his waist with the hand holding the horse whip as he rose and fell with the horse's back.

As Rong Xian scanned, he saw the slowly opening wooden door,

And the woman behind the wooden door.

"Hiss!"

Rong Xian gasped,

His waist straightened up,

This riding posture gave Rong Xian, who had handsome features, quite the air of a noble descendant—

Hmm... although his complexion looked somewhat excessive in indulgence.

Watching the woman behind the door stealing glances at him from time to time,

Rong Xian nodded slightly and looked back.

The Rong family servant following behind nodded cleverly, signaling to note this place down.

"Young Master, next time you want to hit someone, remember to call me~"

The voice came faintly from further behind,

"Young Master!"

The Rong family servant exclaimed.

It turned out that Rong Xian, who was rubbing his waist and looking at the woman, had lost his focus and felt his waist and legs go weak, almost falling off the horse.

Rong Xian looked back at Xu Zaijing, who had grabbed his clothes, and smiled: "Thank you, Brother Jing!"

After sitting straight on the horse's back, Rong Xian looked down at one side and said: "Hoo... these silver stirrups are too slippery!"

Rong Xian looked back and told his servant: "When we go back, punish the person who bought these stirrups well; they almost harmed this young master!"

"Yes, Young Master!"

The servant behind hurriedly adjusted his expression and cupped his hands in agreement.

Rong Xian said "Hmm."

The group walked for a while longer,

The street began to become quiet and clean,

Rong Xian looked around and said: "Brother Jing, it looks like we have arrived at Chunmingfang; is Brother Jiong's courtyard not far from the Duke of Anguo's mansion?"

"Correct!"

When Xu Zaijing spoke, he did not turn his head to look at Rong Xian, but looked at the street corner ahead, where there were several tough-looking young men riding horses.

Rong Xian followed Xu Zaijing's gaze and muttered to himself: "I think this group is quite... ordinary!"

"Hmm! Not as tall and strong as a few of my servants!"

As soon as he finished speaking, before the Rong family servants behind could puff out their chests and bellies,

Rong Xian saw those tough-looking young men cupping their hands in salute to Zaiduan, who was walking in front.

"Hiss! Eldest Brother Xu knows them?"

Xu Zaijing, on the side, scratched his eyebrow and said: "Correct, they are several brave captains from the Northwest Army."

The Rong family servants following behind shrank their bodies upon hearing this; they were no match for these killers who had earned military merit in the Northwest.

The carriage of the Xu family's female relatives did not stop and drove directly toward Seeing Hu Yanjiong's courtyard,

While Zaiduan and Zaizhang stopped their horses at the street corner to wait for Xu Zaijing to catch up,

The captains of the Northwest Army in front of them mostly looked back and forth at Xu Zaijing's mount and the little horse trotting behind the carriage.

Arriving near the group,

The tough-looking young men cupped their hands one after another:

"Fifth Young Master!"

"Brother Jing!"

Those who knew Rong Xian also added a "Second Young Master."

Xu Zaijing pointed to Lu Junyi, Wu Song, and others to introduce them to Rong Xian.

Rong Xian cupped his hands with a smile on the side, occasionally bumping fists with someone. After bumping fists with the whole circle, Rong Xian actually had some cold sweat on his palms.

Xu Zaijing smiled and spoke with a young man with fair skin:

"Zhang Shun, why did you come alone? Is Zhang Heng on duty in the Northwest?"

The fair-skinned young man Zhang Shun cupped his hands: "Returning to Fifth Young Master, my younger brother, he..."

As he spoke, Zhang Shun shook his head with a sorrowful expression.

Xu Zaijing was startled, and the image of the young man he had seen by Jinming Pool flashed through his mind.

"How did he pass away?"

"Returning to Fifth Young Master, before, when the Marquis attacked the Houqu area, my brother entered the water at night and was stabbed by a rusty blade... In such days, this humble person shouldn't be saying these things!"

Zhang Shun hurriedly cupped his hands to apologize.

Xu Zaijing shook his head: "For the sake of Great Zhou, for the sake of the Huyan family, he sacrificed his life; what is there that shouldn't be said?"

Zhang Shun bowed even deeper.

Xu Zaijing patted Zhang Shun's arm.

Seeing the somewhat somber atmosphere on Xu Zaijing's side, Rong Xian leaned over: "Are you that 'White Streak in the Waves' Zhang Shun that Liang Liu Lang mentioned?"

"Returning to Young Master, it is indeed this humble person!"

"Are you also returning to the Northwest Army?"

"This humble person is following the Eleventh Young Master."

Rong Xian shook his head regretfully: "What a pity! Liang Liu Lang said that if you few were there, he could be invincible in Bianjing after Jinming Pool opens!"

"Liang Liu Lang overpraises!"

Xu Zaijing shook his head on the side: "!"

The group rode their horses to the front of Seeing Hu Yanjiong's residence,

Xu Zaijing relied on the height of his horse to look around along the way; the number of carriages and horses today was much higher than when Anmei gave birth.

But the horses and carriage decorations parked along the way were mostly beautiful,

Some had flowers stuck on the heads of the carriage horses,

Some had cute cat patterns embroidered on the carriage boxes,

Which didn't look like they were ridden by the mistress or Eldest Madam.

Rong Xian followed behind Xu Zaijing, occasionally speaking a few words with Lu Junyi,

"Old Instructor Zhou is your master? Then our relationship is..."

Rong Xian didn't continue, his eyes looking at a somewhat large and magnificent carriage by the roadside.

Lu Junyi on the side looked over in confusion: "Brother Xian? What is it?"

Rong Xian's throat moved slightly, his eyes looking hopefully toward Xu Zaijing in front.

Before the main gate,

Seeing Hu Yanjiong, with a face full of joy, stood there with his two elder brothers from the fifth branch,

As Xu Zaijing and this group of people approached,

They had quite an imposing air walking through the street alleys.

After Zaiduan, who was at the front, dismounted, Seeing Hu Yanjiong and the other three smiled, cupped their hands, and walked near.

"Eldest Brother, Third Brother, Brother Jing, why did you only just arrive?"

After some conversation, the group entered the courtyard.

Huyan family's back courtyard,

Five main rooms,

The wooden partition doors of each room had already been removed by the servants,

One could see from the east room wall to the west room wall,

Which made the main hall appear exceptionally large.

At this time, the hall was filled with the fragrance of clothes and the glimmer of hairpins, and many female relatives were already sitting on the chairs and embroidered stools placed there.

At a glance,

There were more young ladies with bangs on their foreheads and hair draped behind their necks,

And truly not many married women with their hair pulled up both front and back.

Near the east side of the main hall,

Marquis Xu's wife, Sun Shi, held her grandson in her arms,

With Pingmei and two daughters-in-law standing on both sides.

"Mother, let me hold him!"

Pingmei reached out with a smile.

Sun Shi looked at her grandson in the swaddling clothes and somewhat reluctantly handed him to Pingmei.

Pingmei skillfully picked up her nephew and looked at him together with Xie Shi and Hualan.

Sun Shi stepped aside, sat down, smiled at the two Eldest Madams, Wu and Bai, on both sides, leaned forward, and said to Eldest Madam Pan: "I say, In-law, where has Anmei gone?"

As she spoke, she looked around.

Eldest Madam Pan shook her head with a smile: "An'er's few close sisters in the capital are all here, and I don't know how they mentioned a peony jade carving, so they all went to her room to see it."

Sun Shi looked somewhat helpless: "She is already a mother; how can she still be so childish! She should have just had a maid fetch it; how could they go to her room."

Eldest Madam Pan and the two Eldest Madams, Bai and Wu, smiled: "Childish is good; with An'er here, we three feel much younger!"

Anmei's two sisters-in-law on the side nodded with a smile.

Glancing at the young ladies talking in the hall,

Eldest Madam Wu took advantage of a pause in the conversation, looked at the three young ladies sitting on the west side of the room, and said: "Those three children look unfamiliar; which family's young ladies are they?"

The Eldest Madams present all looked over, but no one spoke.

It was Ni Qiqiu, sitting not far from Sun Shi, who leaned forward with a smile: "Eldest Madam, two are the younger sisters of my husband's comrades-in-arms, and the one on the very edge is a young lady from my maiden Ni family."

Eldest Madam Wu looked at the three young ladies and nodded with a smile: "Then they are all from families of military captains! Have they been betrothed?"

"Not yet!"

The families Eldest Madam Wu was looking at were somewhat high-ranking, so Ni Qiqiu found it difficult to say that she wanted Eldest Madam Wu to help find matches.

"Good!" Eldest Madam Wu nodded with some calculation in her eyes.

Sensing the gazes of the Eldest Madams,

The Ni family's younger sister turned away somewhat uncomfortably,

While the Jin family young lady on the side pretended nothing was wrong and continued talking: "The Eldest Madams over there are looking this way; they aren't trying to pick daughters-in-law, are they?"

This Jin family young lady's brother-in-law was a comrade-in-arms of Zhu Qinghu, and she had a relative who was a concubine in the Kang family.

The Ni family's younger sister shook her head while turned away: "They wouldn't. You saw the demeanor of the noble young ladies just now."

Hearing this,

The other two looked at each other, and the Jin family young lady said: "However, your sister became a Viscount's Eldest Madam directly!"

"Those few sitting there are different from my brother-in-law's family; they will only pick daughters-in-law from the young ladies you saw just now."

The Jin family young lady thought about the scene she had just seen and sighed somewhat defeatedly: "I had heard before that the Rong family young lady was very beautiful, and I was actually unconvinced in my heart, but seeing her today..."

Ni family's younger sister: "I actually think the Chai family young lady is better looking; her chin is not held as high as the Rong family young lady's."

The other young lady without a surname nodded in agreement.

Outside Anmei's bedroom,

An exquisite wooden box was placed on the table,

Chai Zhengzheng and Rong Feiyan sat on one side,

Zhang family's Fifth Da Niangzi and Gu Tingyi sat on the other,

And in the middle was Zheng Ni.

Inside the wooden box was an exquisite peony jade carving, which was the prize Seeing Hu Yanjiong had won at Jinming Pool.

The five noble young ladies present had seen all kinds of exquisite jade carvings, but this one had great significance.

Anmei, who had become somewhat chubby, stood on the side habitually supporting her waist,

Looking at the five people's appearance: "Have you seen enough? If you have, I am going to put it away!"

"Sister Anmei, wait a little longer!"

The Zhang family's Fifth Da Niangzi said.

Then the Fifth Da Niangzi touched the jade carving with her hand, closed her eyes, and muttered something.

Gu Tingyi leaned into Zheng Ni's ear in the middle and said in a voice everyone could hear: "Is Fifth Da Niangzi praying to become your little aunt?"

The Zhang family's Fifth Da Niangzi opened her eyes resentfully and glared at Gu Tingyi in shame and anger.

Chai Zhengzheng and Rong Feiyan on the side laughed.

Their smiling gazes met and then shifted away,

But Rong Feiyan didn't know why, her gaze fell on Anmei's chest,

After looking twice,

Rong Feiyan pursed her lips,

And glanced rapidly in Chai Zhengzheng's direction.

After the Fifth Da Niangzi finished,

Anmei put the wooden box away while asking Zheng Ni: "By the way, how is the Shen family brother's health recovering?"

Everyone looked at Zheng Ni,

Zheng Ni smiled, somewhat shyly saying: "They say he can already get out of bed and walk."

"And the wedding date? Has it been set?"

"Hmm, March of this year!"

Having the maid Ye'er put the wooden box back in the bedroom,

Anmei thought for a moment: "I will be able to go out by then; I will just go and join in the fun!"

"Come, let's go see other good things!"

The noble young ladies at the table showed confusion.

"Let's go see the congratulatory gifts from my maiden family."

"Sister Anmei, congratulatory gifts are either gold or jade, or furs and ginseng... what is there to see?" The Zhang family's Fifth Da Niangzi said, lying on the table in boredom.

The other four young ladies didn't speak, but they all had similar thoughts.

"What my little brother sent is not these... I had people transport them to the gate of this courtyard!" Anmei said with a smile.

"Xu Wu Ge Xu sent them?! Then I must go see!"

The Zhang family's Fifth Da Niangzi said, sitting up straight.

Gu Tingyi's eyes turned, as if she had a guess.

Chai Zhengzheng and Rong Feiyan began to tidy their clothes.

Walking out of the room,

In the half-quarter of an hour,

There was nothing at the gate of Anmei's courtyard.

Everyone: "..."

Han Wulang Da Niangzi stood beside Anmei and said: "Sister Anmei, what did Xu Wu Ge Xu send..."

Anmei turned to Ye'er: "Go, send someone to ask why..."

Before she finished speaking,

"Qingcao?! Why are you here!"

Gu Tingyi asked in surprise.

Anmei turned back and saw Qingcao leading a little horse with a completely black body, accompanied by the steward matron who had been sent to lead the horse.

The steward matron walked a few steps faster, bowed at the door, and said: "Eldest Madam, this little horse has a fierce temper; this servant couldn't lead it, and fearing that forcing it would hurt it, I could only go find the Fifth Young Master, which delayed things quite a bit."

Anmei waved her hand to indicate it was fine,

And after the person and horse reached them,

Qingcao first bowed,

The young ladies didn't move, but the maids behind them returned the gesture.

Several noble young ladies looked at the little horse, whose eyes were lively and whose shoulder height reached Qingcao's chest and abdomen, and showed expressions of liking in their eyes.

"Qingcao, is this a descendant of those two Northern Liao Long Ju horses of Xu Wu Ge Xu?"

The Zhang family's Fifth Da Niangzi asked excitedly.

Qingcao nodded with a smile and then soothed the somewhat restless little horse.

Chai Zhengzheng looked at Qingcao, a warm color in her eyes, and said softly: "Qingcao, can this little horse be separated from its mother?"

"Returning to Da Niangzi Zhengzheng, it still needs to wait another month; the Young Master said bringing it was just to let the Fourth... Eldest Madam see it first."

After Qingcao finished speaking,

Anmei walked two steps toward the little horse in joy, scaring the little horse into retreating.

Qingcao hurriedly soothed it again.

At this moment, a Huyan family maid walked over:

"Eldest Madam, the Madam says the banquet is about to start, so please go to the main room quickly."

"Going immediately. Qingcao, follow her back!"

"Yes, Fourth Da Niangzi."

Anmei smiled and led the young ladies toward the main room,

With the maids following behind.

Ningxiang, the maid beside Rong Feiyan, waited for the young ladies to leave first, looked at Qingcao on the side, and smiled: "Sister Qingcao, did our Young Master come with the Fifth Young Master?"

Qingcao nodded in agreement.

Duke of Anguo's mansion back courtyard,

Fourth branch courtyard,

Study,

Sitting before the desk, listening to the sound of firecrackers outside, the Fourth branch's step-Eldest Madam Qin looked at her daughter in her arms.

"Mother, why are they setting off firecrackers outside?"

Eldest Madam Qin smiled slightly: "It is the banquet at the Huyan family not far away starting."

"Oh... Mother, there are still many characters in that book Mother Xiang found that I don't recognize..."

"Don't rush, take it slowly; one must have patience in doing anything!"

"Hmm!"

The little girl nodded heavily.

"Mother Xiang is back."

The sound of a maid came from outside the study.

Mother Xiang entered the study,

Eldest Madam Qin placed her daughter on the ground: "Go play with the maid!"

Once only the mistress and servant were left in the study,

"How did the matter go?"

"Da Niangzi, the Yin family accepted the items, using the name of an old acquaintance of the Yin family from outside the capital."

Eldest Madam Qin said "Hmm" in relief, then looked at Mother Xiang's appearance: "Is there anything else?"

"There is also the Marquis's mansion on Jingming Street asking you to speak with the Master, saying that since Bai Gao could be recovered by our Great Zhou in less than a year, our Great Zhou has no need to fear Northern Liao now!"

"In case there is any debate in the court, please ask the Master to stand on the side supporting the war!"

Hearing this,

A flash of disdain crossed Eldest Madam Qin's eyes: "Hmph! A good plan!"

"Da Niangzi! If the Marquis's mansion can get better and have a good maiden family, it won't be bad for you either." Mother Xiang advised.

(End of chapter)