After Fu Lemei finished talking to her friend, she came over and saw Mingyu still standing there. She breathed a sigh of relief and said with a smile, "I thought you had left. Sorry, she hasn't been back to the capital for a long time. She talked to me for a few more words. I'm sorry to have kept you waiting for a long time."
Mingyu waved her hand and smiled, “Not long.”
As they were talking, the fireworks that had been blooming in the sky gradually became sparse, and the sound of firecrackers also disappeared. It was estimated that the banquet was about to begin, so the two of them walked towards the banquet venue. When passing by the female guests, Mingyu saw Deng Zhenzhu, who was like a star surrounded by the moon in the crowd. Under the bright palace lanterns, Deng Zhenzhu's slightly childish cheeks still had a few blushes, and her reserved smile revealed a sense of arrogance, as if she was a little impatient with people around her talking to her.
When Mingyu was looking at Deng Zhenzhu, Deng Zhenzhu's eyes accidentally glanced over and met Mingyu's. When she realized that Mingyu was looking at her, Deng Zhenzhu frowned and her eyes showed a hint of warning. She was a proud daughter of heaven and had seen too many fawning looks. Mingyu's "observation" without any respect really made her unhappy. However, she didn't know who Mingyu was. There were many wives of princes from all over the country coming to Beijing tonight. She was afraid that Mingyu had some background, so she didn't dare to lose her temper and could only give a slight warning.
Mingyu was startled when she received Deng Zhenzhu's unhappy and contemptuous look. She realized that she was staring at others, which was really rude. She quickly turned her head away, took a few steps away from Fu Lemei, and returned to her seats one after another.
The sounds of fireworks and firecrackers were still coming one after another, but the emperor and empress, who were the protagonists of the banquet, had not yet arrived. Most of the girls around were entering the palace for the first time, and even though they tried their best to act reserved and steady, they could not hide their excitement. There was a lot of noise and laughter.
Mingyu sat quietly with her head down, spreading out her right palm and looking at the line in the middle of her palm. In her previous life, she heard from a fortune teller that the line in the middle of a woman's right hand represented her marriage.
Fortune tellers are all full of nonsense. They are so inaccurate! Mingyu grinned with difficulty. The lines on her palms were clearly straight!
"What's wrong with you?" Fu Lemei pulled Mingyu who was distracted. Why was she smiling foolishly at her hand in the middle of the night
Mingyu came back to her senses, looked around at the lively and luxurious banquet hall, and whispered to Fu Lemei: "I feel a little uncomfortable, it's okay."
Fu Lemei looked at Mingyu's pale face and asked worriedly, "Can you hold on? I'll go back with you."
Mingyu shook her head. "Forget it. The Emperor and Empress will be here soon. It's not a good time to leave."
"What's the big deal?" Fu Lemei laughed. "With so many people here, how can the emperor remember who came and who didn't? If you are not feeling well and make a mistake in front of the palace, it will be a big deal. Wait for me, I will go and tell my sister-in-law."
"Hey!" Mingyu quickly grabbed Fu Lemei who was about to leave. She didn't know whether to laugh or cry. This girl was impetuous and would do whatever she said. "I can go back by myself. You should stay here. It will save your brother and sister-in-law from worrying."
Fu Lemei didn't want to leave. Usually only her mother and sister-in-law had the opportunity to enter the palace. She had never seen what the emperor looked like, so she was naturally curious. After hearing what Mingyu said, she said nothing more and accompanied Mingyu to the entrance of the banquet hall. She called over a young eunuch guarding the door and asked him to escort Mingyu out of the palace.
Mingyu didn't expect that she would be in a difficult situation after pretending to be sick, and Dongyuan was waiting at the palace gate to take her home.
The young eunuch recognized the eldest daughter of the Fu family and nodded quickly in greeting.
After Fu Lemei left, Mingyu remembered something and smiled at the eunuch, "I am the sister of Master Xu Mingye. Please go in and find Master Xu and tell him that I am feeling a little unwell and will be leaving first. Tell him not to worry."
The young eunuch responded quickly, bowed his back and walked into the banquet hall.
Mingyu stood by the lantern and waited. All the guests had arrived. The road leading to the banquet hall was quiet, with only the sound of wind blowing through the branches. The delicate hexagonal lanterns with tassels swayed slightly in the wind, and the faint shadows cast on the ground also swayed. The maids and eunuchs guarding the entrance glanced at Mingyu and lowered their heads to do their own things.
The night gradually deepened, and looking up, you could still see the fireworks blooming in the sky. Mingyu clenched her hands and thought about the visit of the second wife of the Zhou family a few days ago. She never dreamed that she would become a stumbling block for Xu Mingye. Although she joked with Fu Lemei several times and asked Fu Lemei to be her sister-in-law, Mingyu knew in her heart that it was just a joke between girls. Zhou Qi's father Zhou Peng was only a fourth-rank official, and she was only the second daughter in the family. It was just because she had a second uncle who was a high-ranking official that she could stand on a high position and look down on Xu Mingye. Fu Lemei was the only girl in the Fu family. The Zhou family looked down on the Xu family, let alone the Fu family.
And Sima Hong... Mingyu let out a long sigh, thinking that she was really petty. Others had let it go and found younger girls with better family backgrounds to be their lovely wives, but she was still here like a nagging woman, being jealous and sad about the passing of time. It was really not like her style.
However, thinking of how he had been trying to please her, from the time he was in Tianshui all the way to the capital, she had been moved by the sincere feelings of the silly boy, but in the blink of an eye, he had grown up and matured, and knew what kind of woman he needed, while she had jumped into the cesspool that Sima Hong had dug specifically for her, and had not yet climbed out.
In fact, any girl would feel uncomfortable if she saw the man who was courteous to her yesterday had a new object of pursuit today, and they were in love with each other, Mingyu thought. However, she thought again that Sima Hong's attitude towards her might just be an obsession of "not being able to get her", regardless of love or not. If she was sad about Sima Hong marrying a new wife, Sima Hong might be very happy secretly.
Thinking of this, Mingyu felt much more relieved, but she felt disappointed, as if she had suddenly jumped out of a dizzying vortex of right and wrong. Although it was quiet outside, she was shivering with cold and her heart was chilled.
Just as Mingyu lowered her head and thought about something, a shadow enveloped her. A corner of a moon-white robe appeared in her sight. Under the thin robe, black shoes could be vaguely seen.
Mingyu looked up in surprise and saw Lu Hao's gentle smile.
As if they were old acquaintances, Lu Hao asked in a very familiar tone: "Why don't you go in?"
Ever since the somewhat awkward conversation last time, Mingyu avoided Lu Hao whenever he came to the Xu family. Lu Hao was a sensitive person to begin with, and this happened once or twice, so how could he not notice Mingyu's intention? He never visited the Xu family again. Now that she met Lu Hao here, Mingyu couldn't help feeling a little embarrassed.
"I... feel a little uncomfortable." Mingyu whispered, stuttering nervously, "Wait... for a eunuch to take me home."
Hearing Mingyu say that she was not feeling well, Lu Hao immediately looked Mingyu up and down, and seeing that Mingyu did not look well, he said, "I'll go get a doctor to come over and take a look at you."
Mingyu quickly said, "No need." Seeing the undisguised concern in Lu Hao's eyes, Mingyu changed the words she was about to say, "I'm not sick, I'm just... tired, and want to go home and rest." To someone like Lu Hao, lying seemed like a sin.
Lu Hao smiled, took a step closer, lowered his head and asked, "Are you really okay? What if Miss Xu gets sick, and Mingye holds a grudge against me and refuses to play chess with a lousy chess player like me?"
Mingyu was amused by Lu Hao's self-deprecation. She shook her head and said with a smile, "How can you be considered a bad chess player? According to your standards, my brother is also one!"
Seeing Mingyu finally smile, Lu Hao felt relieved. When he saw Mingyu just now, he saw the little girl standing under the lamp with a gloomy face and a sad expression, which made him feel tight in his heart. Since Mingyu clearly rejected him last time, Lu Hao felt indescribably hurt and angry. Mingyu seemed to be a thorn in his heart, which made him embarrassed when he thought of it.
However, tonight, when he saw her standing there alone, looking sad, he felt uneasy again. Before he could react, he had already arrived in front of her.
Seeing that Lu Hao just looked at her without saying anything for a long time, and the eunuch who was going to take her out of the palace had not returned yet, Mingyu had to take the initiative to speak, "Master Lu, why did you come so late?"
Under the dim light of the palace lanterns, Mingyu's clean smile was delicate and vivid. He still liked Mingyu now. The depressed and decadent Mingyu just now made people feel distressed. Lu Hao smiled and said, "I have something else to do and I'm late. Just now... you were standing here alone, looking unhappy. Who bullied you?"
Mingyu was startled and subconsciously touched her face. Was her reaction so obvious? Facing Lu Hao's inquiring gaze, Mingyu had to bite the bullet and said, "I didn't manage the two shops at home well. Before I left, my mother scolded me, saying that she was afraid that I would be so poor that I could only eat northwest wind in the future!"
Seeing Mingyu's wrinkled face, looking cute and distressed, Lu Hao laughed. What was the little girl worrying about all day long? Even if Xu Mingye didn't care about her, he was still there.
"What's that?" Lu Hao said with a smile. "After I passed the examination for a scholar, I failed the examination for a juren the first year. My mother was worried all day long, fearing that I, a lazy and ignorant person, would only be a poor scholar in my old age and unable to support my family. Later, a local rich man took a fancy to me and wanted to recruit me as his son-in-law. My mother went over to take a look happily, but the local rich man's daughter was so fat that she had to lean sideways to squeeze out!"
Mingyu couldn't help but double over with laughter. She really couldn't imagine that Lu Hao, a refined and elegant man with a bright future and a promising senior official, could actually be so poor that he had to rely on marrying a fat landlord's wife to make a living! RS