Volume 4: Gathering of Sages Chapter 750: Hairpins and messy hair, even though ruthless, still moving
In the bridal chamber, the wedding candles flickered, the bright red was everywhere, and with the beautiful lady in bright red, it was truly a festive and charming atmosphere. However, Zhu Ying, who was alone in the empty room, was so bored that she and Liu Qing sat on the huge bed and played backgammon.
It's not that she was so unbridled on her wedding night, it's really... too boring! At least like the day her sister-in-law got married, someone came to the bridal chamber to watch the excitement, or even to provoke her, then she could at least find something to do, at least to cheer herself up, unlike now when she just wanted to yawn and sleep!
Are all the women who disliked her, Miss Zhu, dead? No, it should be that these people did not receive the invitation. Even if they wanted to vent their anger, they could not enter... Alas, if she had known this, she would have sent out ten or eight invitations to see if anyone would be so angry that they would come to trouble her. At least she would have something to do!
Liu Qing could see Zhu Ying's boredom, but even though she won three games in a row, she didn't see the competitive Zhu Ying fight back. Therefore, she could only put down the dice and backgammon in her hands, coughed and said, "Except for Sanlang, most of Zhang Xueshi's students haven't married yet. Besides, even if they did, how many of them would dare to bother you?"
"Besides, for people like Princess Deyang and Princess Yongping, their two brothers had just died, so it would be inconvenient for them to come to Zhang Garden in person..."
Before Liu Qing could finish her words, Zhu Ying snorted and said, "Forget about Deyang, but Yongping will never come, because if she comes, someone in the palace will urge her to get married, and she is almost hating it now! Besides, I don't care about this so-called face. But no one is ambitious enough to confront me, how boring!"
Liu Qing didn't know what to say at this moment. Other girls wished that there were fewer female relatives coming to watch the fun on their wedding night, so as to avoid teasing and all kinds of nitpicking, but it was the opposite for Zhu Ying. The eldest lady actually despised those who didn't come for lack of ambition... How could this be justified?
She didn't want to continue this topic at all, so she racked her brains to change the subject. Finally, she thought, "By the way, I heard that there are a lot of guests in Zhang Garden today. There are fifty banquet tables set up everywhere. It's so lively!"
Zhu Ying remembered Zhang Shou's mention of the pile of invitations sent out by Ah Liu, and she finally got interested. She stroked her chin thoughtfully, but when she asked Liu Qing who was coming, she went to Wu's place in the backyard at first, so the third young lady of the Lu family, who didn't know much about it, shook her head helplessly, saying that she didn't know.
So Zhu Ying simply called in Mother Chu, the woman her mother had given her as a dowry, and told her to go to the front and ask who the guests were. This was not a very polite move, but when it happened to Zhu Ying, no one, whether Mother Chu or Liu Qing, had any objection.
As long as Zhu Ying didn't insist on sneaking off to watch the wedding banquet, they would be relieved! If that really happened, they would complain bitterly.
Mother Chu left quietly, and Zhu Ying left the backgammon game that she had no interest in playing at the moment, and simply pulled Liu Qing aside to ask about her married life with Lu Sanlang. Although the Lu family had a large population, Mrs. Lu had already arranged for the youngest son to live alone, so when Liu Qing talked about this, she had nothing but good things to say about her mother-in-law.
She no longer had to see her two sisters-in-law all day long, nor did she have to compete with each other. She didn't have to think about how to please her mother-in-law every day. Instead, as long as she sent something to her mother-in-law every now and then, she would receive a lot of praise and gifts from her mother-in-law. Even her parents, who had always been a little worried about her marriage, now thought that she had married very well.
When Liu Qing said this frankly, Zhu Ying smiled and asked again, "Your mother-in-law treats you well. Let's not talk about Lu Wan, the father-in-law, for now. He can't control his daughter-in-law's affairs. What about that little fat guy Lu? If I remember correctly, you thought he was good because he stood up for you in front of the second prince. What about now?"
"Has his true nature come out?"
"What do you mean by revealing your true nature? Sanlang is quite good!" Liu Qing retorted instinctively. Seeing Zhu Ying simply rushed over and put her arms around her neck, and asked with a smile what was good about her, her heart was pounding and she quickly pushed her away. However, the blush on her face betrayed her emotions at the moment.
What's good about it... Is there any need to say more? The fat man who was once despised by countless young ladies in Beijing is really a man who understands the ways of the world and knows how to be considerate. No wonder there is an old saying that goes, you can't judge a person by his appearance!
So, the two close friends were one pressing the question and the other evading the question. When the noise was getting intense, a cough suddenly came from outside. Knowing that it was the person guarding outside who reminded them that a guest had arrived, Zhu Ying and Liu Qing hurriedly separated. But when they looked at each other again, they saw that the two of them were leaning against the pillow with their hairpins messy, and they both laughed.
After the laughter, they realized that a female guest from an unknown family was outside the new house. They could only help each other clean up. Zhu Ying even forgot that she was still complaining that others were not brave enough to cause trouble. She muttered unhappily: "Who is this? Why didn't she come earlier or later but at this time..."
As soon as she finished speaking, she heard the voice of her eldest maid Zhan Jin coming from outside the door: "Miss Ye, Miss Cao, please come this way."
It turned out to be Ye! This time, Zhu Ying was immediately surprised and happy. Although she had fought with Ye several times, and had invited people again and again for the women's school, she had also specifically told Zhang Shou to send an invitation to Ye, but she really didn't expect that Ye would really come! Because in her impression, Ye was not the kind of person who liked to socialize.
At this moment, she hurriedly wanted to jump out of bed to greet him, but Liu Qing held her back: "You are a bride, can you be a little reserved? How can a bride get out of bed casually!"
Zhu Ying was about to refute Zhang Shou and said that he didn't care about so many broken rules, but at this time, Ye had already brought Cao Qingqing in. As soon as she saw the two people in front of her, this beautiful woman with a cold appearance and a cold personality was slightly stunned, and then her eyes swept across Liu Qing and Zhu Ying's faces strangely. Before Zhu Ying realized what was going on, Liu Qing hurriedly explained.
"It's Miss Ye. Yingying just said that no one came to the new house and she was so bored that she threw away the backgammon to tease me. We were just joking!"
Cao Qingqing, who had a big braid tied with a big red hairband, also noticed the strangeness between Zhu Ying and Liu Qing. Because they were more beautiful than flowers, the rosy cheeks made them look even more gorgeous. So she was envious and didn't take the explanation seriously at all. She just smiled and said, "No wonder, they even lost their earrings!"
Liu Qing hurriedly touched her ears, and then she realized that the one who was missing the earring was not her... but Zhu Ying!
Seeing Zhu Ying finally waking up from her dream, she immediately searched around on the bed. She was really angry and amused, so she got up from the bed. At this time, Zhu Ying's two older maids, Zhan Jin and Liu Yin, came to serve tea to Ye. She said to Zhu Ying angrily, "This girl just got married today, but she thinks there's no one to make trouble in the bridal chamber, so she comes to make trouble with me."
"She is so ungrateful that she has a good life. She has no idea that the brides are being criticized on their wedding night. They are so fake that their cheeks hurt! Miss Ye, since you are here, you should criticize her carefully, so that this girl won't take advantage of you and act cute!"
Ye received the invitation from Zhang Garden and hesitated for a long time before deciding to attend the banquet. As a result, she entered the city too late. When she arrived at Zhang Garden, the wedding banquet had already started. She was a female guest. When she came in, she saw only laughter and joy in the front, and the guests were full, while the backyard was obviously a bit deserted. There were only a few female guests such as Mrs. Lu, and there were only four tables in total.
Because she was not familiar with the others, even though Wu invited her so earnestly, she eventually left quietly under the pretext of visiting Zhu Ying in the bridal chamber. At that time, she noticed that many of the four female guests looked at her with strange eyes.
And now, she finally understood why these people were so strange. Because Zhu Ying was well-known in the capital, no one planned to come to the new house to provoke this young lady, so Zhu Ying actually despised it and was bored! Thinking of this, Ye couldn't help but curl up her lips and laughed from the bottom of her heart.
This smile, no matter how heartless it was, was moving. Not only was it the first time for Zhu Ying and Liu Qing to see it, but even Cao Qingqing, who had been following her for a while, saw it for the first time.
After Cao Qingqing arrived at the Ye family, she found that there were not so many rules in the escort agency, so she gradually regained her innocent nature. At this time, she couldn't help but shouted: "Miss, you smile so beautifully, you should smile more in the future!"
Ye was suddenly shocked by her unintentional words. When she found that Zhu Ying and Liu Qing were staring at her, she felt uncomfortable. But before she could explain anything, Zhu Ying coughed and said, "Qingqing is right. Miss Ye, you are too cold. When facing those boring or even shameless people, you should keep them at a distance. But..."
"But, when facing your own people, why not smile more? Ah Shou often said that at home, you rely on your parents, and when you go out, you rely on your friends. He has achieved what he has now by turning his enemies into friends."
At this point, Zhu Ying smiled at Ye. She was already a great beauty praised by countless people, and seeing her smile, Ye couldn't help but feel that she was captivated. Cao Qingqing was even more stupid, staring at Zhu Ying's beautiful face again and again, and found that Zhu Ying noticed her gaze and raised her eyebrows at her again, so she couldn't help but blush.
In order to make up for her own gaffe, Cao Qingqing quickly covered up and said, "I have also heard about Master Zhang's affairs. It is said that many of his current students went to his house to pick a fight with him back then."
"In fact, they didn't go looking for trouble with him. At that time, I secretly sent people to spread the word that there was a hermit with high moral character and prestige in Rongshui Village. It just so happened that Ah Shou wanted to find a way to help the villagers reduce their burden of life, so he had no choice but to cooperate with me. However, if Lu Sanlang hadn't taken the bait, the play would not have continued."
Zhu Ying recalled the past, or more precisely, the past that happened more than a year ago. She still felt sad: "If Grandpa Ge hadn't arrived in time, those two guys who were ordered by a certain old man in the court to cause trouble for him would have succeeded."
At this point, she suddenly remembered something, but she didn't notice that Cao Qingqing was looking forward to her continuing. Instead, she frowned and said, "I almost forgot that the two guys who came to see Ah Shou, Xie Wanquan and Tang Ming, had both been to the public school. They also went to the Xinglong Tea House when it held the Imperial Chef Selection Competition and met the emperor."
"But I haven't seen them in the public school these days! The senior class of the public school has several students who are going to take the imperial examinations. Their teacher seems to be a scholar that Mr. Liu is familiar with, but it's definitely not Tang Ming!"
"Could it be that these two guys couldn't stand the hardship and so they quit? Didn't they come to Zhang Garden tonight?"
When she talked about this, it was not an area Liu Qing was familiar with - even though the public school was the land of her father-in-law Lu Wan's second venture, and her husband Lu Sanlang was the first head of the second grade of Jiuzhang Hall, she had never asked about that matter after all, and had no intention of getting involved in the affairs of the girls' school. Cao Qingqing was also confused, but Ye Shi let out a light sigh as if she was thinking about something.
"Is it Xie Wanquan, who used to be the head of the Ruxing Hall of the Imperial College, and later severed his friendship with Yang Yiming, the doctor of the Imperial College who was in charge of Ruxing Hall? After he married the youngest daughter of the Earl of Xiangyang, Lu Jijiu asked him to open a public school in Tongzhou. Although many scholars said it was a show, it was solid. As for Tang Jieyuan, it is said that he was ridiculed when he visited a friend, and he was fighting with his pen."
Although she was just complaining about Xie Wanquan and Tang Ming's disappearance, Zhu Ying immediately became furious when she heard Ye talk about their current situation and heard that Tang Ming was ridiculed. However, before she could continue to ask, Liu Qing had to cough heavily and said, "I said Yingying... today is your wedding night."
Who would talk about such depressing topics on the wedding night?
Seeing Zhu Ying was speechless, Ye couldn't help but feel a little apologetic. But at this moment, Zhan Jin, who had just quietly left after watching the tea on the table, came back on tiptoe: "Miss, Madam Chu is back. She heard that there were guests coming, so she asked me to tell her that most of the guests at the fifty tables today are celebrities and wise men, so please rest assured."
Zhu Ying was a little surprised. She didn't care that Ye was still there, and hurriedly shouted, "Let Madam Chu come in quickly, don't say half-heartedly, what do you mean they are all famous scholars and wise men? How can Ah Shou have so many friends who can call themselves famous scholars and wise men? Miss Ye is not an outsider, there is no need to avoid her!"
Ye, who was about to get up and leave, had no choice but to sit back. From childhood to adulthood, she had met many girls of the same age or generation, most of whom thought she was self-admiring and cold, so they kept their distance from her; a small number of them gave up after being frustrated again and again in their enthusiastic attempts to make friends; and the very few who were willing to interact with her... were often delicate and innocent, so they were not easily frustrated.
But she was interested in martial arts, horse riding and archery, and there were few people who shared the same interests with her. Even if someone really claimed to be good at it, after enthusiastically fighting with her, they would often get angry because of her seriousness and ruthlessness, and then they would stop communicating with her. That was Zhu Ying, who came to her house again and again, and fought with her again and again, but at that time, she really didn't show any airs of a spoiled girl!
