Chapter Forty-Seven: Perfect and Flawless

  Yuan Dai thought for a moment, then smiled at her and said: "Tell Wen Lu that I know, let Liu Ye be at ease!"

  Hui'er responded with a sound, but then seemed to remember something and said: "Sixth Master is too strange, actually this matter only needs Wen Lü sister to come to Chunhui Garden and tell Miss once, but instead made Wen Lü sister go all the way to the West Wing to find me! By the way, does Miss know that Sixth Master specially rewarded me with two small golden hairpins as a token of appreciation for this matter?"

  Yuan Dai couldn't help but laugh at this, and raised her hand to tap gently on Hui'er's forehead, saying: "What's so strange about that? Nowadays, besides me, there are also Tenth Miss and Xiao Miss living in the Qinfang Pavilion. Sixth Master is just afraid they'll find out, that's all!" Wen Lu was Ling Yuanqing's senior maid, if she came over to talk to Yuan Dai in person, it would indeed be easy to arouse suspicion.

  Hui'er nodded as if she understood but didn't ask any more questions.

  Yuan Dai thought for a moment, then instructed her: "When you go to the Wutong Temple to report back, if you see Sixth Master, ask him on my behalf... just ask him, how is the marriage predestined relationship between Guanyin Mountain? Is it perfect?"

  Huier listened and became more and more confused, but seeing Yuandai seemed to have no intention of explaining, she also knew the situation and didn't ask much, only responded with a sound. After asking a few more questions about the West Wing, Yuandai waved her hand to indicate that Huier should leave. Huier left the inner room and went outside to talk to Wenshuang and others for a while before leaving Xiangfangzhai and heading towards Lugongyang's residence in Tongtongyuan.

  After entering winter, the leaves of the big phoenix tree in the Wutong courtyard have fallen, and now looking at it, although not as dense and green as in summer, but the sun is shining brightly, making people feel refreshed. Hui'er walked into the Wutong courtyard, and Wenlv was already waiting for her, seeing her coming over, she smiled and welcomed her: "Sister Hui'er has arrived! Please come inside!"

  Hui'er hastily returned a courtesy and said: "Sister is too polite!" Tongwen Lu entered the house, then asked again: "Is Sixth Master at home?"

  Weng Lao smiled and said, "Sister, you've come at a bad time! Just now someone came to report that Xiao Daren has arrived, and Liu Ye heard about it and went out to welcome him. I think he'll be back soon!" As she spoke, she poured tea for Hui'er with the teapot.

  Hui'er thanked the tea and said: "The letter you asked me to send, I have already given it to our young lady! The young lady smiled after reading it and said she already knew about it. She also asked me to bring a message back, saying that Sixth Master can rest assured!"

  Wen Lu smiled slightly and asked suddenly: "Sister, when you passed by just now, did you see Miss Xiao?"

  Hui'er didn't mind and replied truthfully: "When I passed by, our young lady was seeing Xiao off!"

  Wen Lü's face lit up with a smile and he said, "This is indeed a wonderful coincidence!"

  Hui'er listened to her words and felt puzzled, so she took a glance at Wen Lu. Wen Lu didn't seem to want to continue the conversation, but just smiled and said: "Sister, have some tea! This is authentic pre-rain Longjing tea, although it may not be as good as yours, it's still very good!"

  Hui'er felt that her words didn't quite taste right, so she smiled and took a sip of tea before saying: "Sister doesn't know, actually I don't really understand tea. Those good teas, when drunk by me, are actually not as sweet as honey water!"

  Wen Lu was taken aback for a moment, then burst out laughing: "I'd forgotten, come to think of it, you and Ninth Miss haven't known each other for many years yet!"

  Hui'er suddenly heard this and felt a slight discomfort in her heart, forcing a smile before putting down the tea cup in her hand and turning to Wen Lu: "Why hasn't Sixth Master returned yet? Our young mistress asked me to ask Sixth Master something."

  Wen Lu heard the words and immediately got up to walk to the window, pushed it open and took a look. Then she laughed and said: "Isn't that a coincidence? Sixth Master is just entering the courtyard!" As she spoke, she didn't ask Hui'er anything, but hastily walked out to go and welcome Ling Yuanqing.

  Hui'er heard the sound and also quickly stood up, following behind Wen Lu, going out to greet them.

  At the gate of the courtyard, Ling Yuan Qing Zheng and Xiao Cheng Ye walked in shoulder to shoulder. Wen Lu hurriedly went up to greet them, smiling and bowing to the two: "Master Xiao has arrived!" Her smile was sweet and charming, endearing and lovely.

  Xiao Chengye couldn't help but smile when he saw Wen Lu: "Wen Lu is even more lovely! Far Qing is really blessed!"

  Ling Yuancheng burst out laughing: "Alright, alright, don't praise her too much! This girl is getting more and more pretentious!"

  Hui'er was listening to this conversation, thinking about Wen Lü's words just now, but couldn't help curling her lip. She followed beside him without speaking, but Ling Yuanqing's clear eyes moved and had already seen her, so he smiled and said: "When did Hui'er arrive?"

  In front of Xiao Xianyang, Hui'er naturally wouldn't speak unnecessarily, so she smiled and bowed to Ling Yuancheng, saying: "To answer Sixth Master's words, our young lady specially sent me over to ask Sixth Master a question on her behalf!"

  Ling Yuancheng was taken aback for a moment, then smiled and said: "There is no outsider here, you can just say whatever you want to say!"

  Hui'er thought that Yu Dai's words shouldn't have anything that couldn't be told to others, so she calmly said: "Our young lady asked me to ask Sixth Master a question on her behalf. How is the marriage predestined by Guanyin Mountain? Is it perfect in every way?"

  Ling Yuan Qing heard the words and was slightly stunned. After a moment, he shook his head with a faint smile and said: "Go back and tell your young lady to set her mind at ease!"

  Hui'er smiled and responded, then bowed again and said: "It's a coincidence! Sixth Master makes our young lady feel at ease, and our young lady also asked me to tell Sixth Master to just put his mind at rest!"

  Ling Yuancheng burst out laughing and then instructed Wen Lu: "Last year, the palace rewarded ten 'Fushan Shouhai' dragon and phoenix auspicious gold coins. I remember that there were a few left. Go get two of them and give them to this girl!"

  Weng Lü answered and hurried into the house. Before long, she brought out the two pieces of gold and handed them over to Hui'er, smiling: "These two pieces of gold were given by the Empress herself during last year's New Year's festival. The Sixth Master gave a few of us one piece each!"

  Although she smiled brightly, her words still carried a hint of bitterness.

  Xiao Cheng Ye couldn't help but burst out laughing and clapped his hands, saying: "Far Qing, look at your little girl!"

  Ling Yuancheng didn't mind, smiled and shook his head: "Forget it, if you really like them, I'll give you the rest!"

  Wen Lu's expression changed from anger to joy, and she smiled as she thanked Ling Yuancheng. Hui'er also hurriedly paid her respects and thanked him.

  Only after she had finished speaking did she lower her head to carefully examine the two heavy dragon and phoenix gold coins in her hand. In the Dazhou Palace, every year during festivals, a batch of gold coins would be cast for use as New Year's gifts. These coins were made of red gold, weighing about half a tael, circular in shape with no holes, and had various auspicious patterns such as dragons, phoenixes, and longevity cast on them. Due to their limited quantity and exquisite craftsmanship, their market value was even higher than their face value.

  Hui'er looked at it carefully and also liked it very much, so she carefully put it away.

  In the Wutong courtyard, Ling Yuancheng smiled and made a gesture to Xiao Chengye: "Today's weather is quite good, let's just sit in the courtyard!"

  Xiao Chengye smiled and responded, then sat down with him beside a large stone table under the wutong tree. Because of the cold winter day, the stone stools at the edge of the stone table had already been padded with wolf skin cushions, which were soft and warm to sit on.

  Wen Lu saw that the two were seated at the stone table and hurriedly brought wine over. Ling Yuanqing then picked up the wine jug and poured a full cup for each of them.

  "Guanyin Mountain matchmaker? Perfect and flawless?" Xiao Chengye raised his cup with a hint of a smile, looking at Ling Yuancheng: "No wonder you dragged me to the Wenxuan Pavilion to meet Lu Weijie a few days ago!" He was always sharp-witted and could infer three things from one, how could he not understand the meaning behind these words?

  Ling Yuancheng smiled and said, "Now that you know, just don't mention it! I won't hide it from you either. This was actually my third aunt's idea. She wanted to see Vijay in person, so she asked my mother. My mother thought it was a good thing and there was no harm in meeting, but she was afraid that when the two of them met, they would stir up unnecessary emotions between son and daughter, which would affect Vijay's imperial examination next spring. So she came up with this plan!"

  Xiao Chengye nodded and said, "In theory, Aunt's concerns are not unreasonable!" He spoke, and couldn't help but take another look at Ling Yuancheng, asking seriously: "Yuancheng, you really don't plan on participating in next year's imperial examination?"

  Ling Yuancheng waved his hand and said, "A man should know himself! How much goods I have in my belly, I myself don't know! Even if I join now, it's hopeless. It's better to wait for three more years, maybe I can make a comeback!" As he spoke, he raised his cup slightly to hint...

  Although both of them were born into a marquis's family, Xiao Chengye was the eldest son of the marquis and would naturally inherit the title.

  Although Ling Yuqing is the eldest son of the Ling family, he is not the eldest son. In the future, there are only two paths to take: one is to donate a idle job and rely on his ancestors' prestige to live a stable life; the other is to follow in the footsteps of his third uncle, Ling Yun, and make a career through imperial examinations and official promotions.

  Xiao Chengye raised his head and drank the wine in his cup, and finally sighed: "In that case, by next year, you will have to focus on reading books?"

  Ling Yuqing also raised his cup and drank it in one gulp, then smiled and said, "That's natural!" The Ling family had always followed the tradition of establishing a family before starting a career, just like Ling Yun, who only participated in the spring examination after marrying Madame Luo and was ranked first place.

  Xiao Chengye thought of Xiao Chengyan, then looked at Ling Yuqing, and after a long time, he couldn't help but sigh, complaining: "That girl Chengyan, sometimes I really can't understand what's going on in that little brain of hers!" As he spoke, he poured himself another full cup of wine.

  Ling Yuancheng smiled wryly and said, "Maybe Cheng Ye doesn't know yet? When I first found out about this matter that day, I wasn't feeling too great either!" He then went on to tell the story of how he had asked Wen Lü to invite Yuan Cai over for a chat that day.

  Xiao Chengye held his cup in hand, listening quietly, but didn't speak. It wasn't until he heard the last sentence that Yuan Zhi said, "I see the green mountain is enchanting, I suppose the green mountain sees me as enchanting too" that he couldn't help but shake his head and sigh. After finishing his drink, he slowly said: "Now that I think about it, in the past, I actually underestimated her!"

  Ling Yuanqing burst out laughing and also took a sip, saying: "Speaking of which, I have many sisters in my family, but only this sister makes me feel extraordinary. In the capital, the sons of officials say a lot, not too much or too little, and it's unknown who will benefit from it in the future!" As he spoke, he seemed to smile and glance at Xiao Chengye with encouragement in his eyes.

  Xiao Chengye sensed the implication behind his words and couldn't help but glare at him, speaking seriously: "Yuan Qing, regarding your Ninth Sister, I admit that I underestimated her, but that's all there is to it. There's no other meaning behind it. Don't meddle in this and stir up trouble!"

  Ling Yuancheng heard this and couldn't help but feel a little disappointed, casting a sideways glance at Xiao Chengye, saying: "I only hope you won't regret it in the future!"

  Xiao Chengye said proudly: "Regret? To tell the truth, I don't know what regret is in this life. I'm just thinking of experiencing it!"

  Ling Yuanchen let out a soft snort, and as for this matter, he had originally just casually mentioned it, not intentionally trying to matchmake the two. So after hearing these words, although he strongly disagreed, he didn't continue speaking, only asking: "Speaking of which, I almost forgot, what brought you over here today?"

  Xiao Chengye picked up the wine jug, poured himself a cup and said: "I came today to ask when my sister plans to return! However, Chunhui Garden is after all an inner courtyard, it's not suitable for me to go alone, so I'll find you first!"

  Ling Yuancheng faintly smiled and said: "Is Xian'er planning to leave? I didn't know!"

  Xiao Chengye smiled and said, "Auntie's side probably doesn't know yet! Before she came to your house, she said that she would only stay for a few days. She also said that when the plum blossoms on Lü Yuè Ridge bloom, she wants to go over there to stay for a few days, so the other courtyard is paying attention at all times, and they must not miss the blooming period!"

  Ling Yuancheng heard this and was quite perplexed, so he asked in doubt: "From what you said, she has become a busy person. On the one hand, she wants to come to my house for a short stay, on the other hand, she is planning to go to the Green Lotus Ridge villa, but she doesn't feel tired!"

  Xiao Chengye shrugged slightly and said somewhat meaninglessly, "Are you confused again? She came over to stay for a few days with the intention of throwing bricks to attract jade. When she leaves, she plans to ask Ninth Sister to come over to our house's side courtyard to keep her company."

  Ling Yuan's eyebrows furrowed as he listened, and after a moment, he sighed and said, "If Ninth Sister really wants to go, I'm afraid I'll have to go with her too!" Although he had long since stopped caring about Xiao Chengyan's clear rejection, he couldn't help but feel a twinge of emotion. Moreover, the impossible matter between him and Xiao Chengyan was still unknown to Mrs. Lu, so it would be better if they met less often. However, it seemed that his wish would soon be dashed.

  Xiao Chengye smiled and said, "If Xianer is going, I will also go! It's good that you're going too, we can keep each other company! Ah yes, speaking of which, I almost forgot to tell you that Baili is also coming with us!"

  Ling Yuanqing was taken aback once again, and after a sigh, he said: "When Rui Qing Wang was the crown prince, it could be said that everyone's heart belonged to him, and none of the other princes dared to make any rash moves. Now that he has lost the use of his legs, the originally clear situation has suddenly become difficult to gauge, and the court is secretly surging with undercurrents. The princes are even more so engaged in intrigue and struggle, making one feel at a loss as to what to do!"

  Xiao Chengye was silent for a long time before sighing, "How others view it, I do not know! All I know is that the Empress and Baili have never had any ambitions for the throne. It was so in the past and will be so in the future!"

  Ling Yuqing patted Xiao Chengye's shoulder lightly and said in a gentle voice, "A man may not have the heart to harm a tiger, but he fears that the tiger has the intention to harm him! In today's situation, it's likely that we can't avoid a fight even if we don't want one!"

  Xiao Chengye carefully savored the meaning of Ling Yuanqing's words, but remained silent for a long time.

  …………

  4000-word chapter