Exclusively for the Marchioness – CH 011

Chapter 11

After the imperial decree was issued, the Du Mansion, whether in the front courtyard, main courtyard, or west wing, was as silent as a dark, pre-dawn night.

A chill of late autumn carried on the wind, blowing in from outside, disturbing the lingering scent of ink in the room, and turning the pages of Du Lingjing’s old family register, compiled by her father in previous years.

The densely packed small characters made her eyes sting. Interrupted by the wind, Du Lingjing closed her eyes briefly.

The imperial decree bestowing the marriage that day was like a thunderbolt from a clear sky.

Not only was she completely caught off guard, but the entire capital was also taken aback.

This marriage seemed to have come without warning. No one could have imagined that the Du family, originally slated for a marriage alliance with the Shao family, would suddenly become related to the Marquis’s family by marriage.

But within this “lack of warning,” there seemed to be some inexplicable premonition.

At that time in Zhenyue Tower, the tea drinkers were all surprised that Marquis Lu and Shao Boju appeared at the same time. No one knew who he was going to see, but she had unexpectedly run into the Marquis in a secluded stairwell.

The hand on her waist and the inexplicably intimate words…

Du Lingjing knew nothing about Marquis Lu, but could it be that the Marquis actually knew her?

Thinking of this, her heart skipped a beat.

If so, then this strange imperial decree marriage might have an explanation.

Shao Boju wanted to marry her, and the whole city was abuzz even before the marriage was finalized. Lu Shenru knew all this; he wanted to compete with the Shao family and also take the opportunity to use her and the Du family’s reputation to win over court officials for Prince Hui.

The official records at hand exuded a musty smell, concealing countless bloody conflicts within the tiny, fine characters.

Since the founding of the dynasty, the mutual antagonism between civil and military officials had caused numerous disputes. Civil officials believed that military generals wielded excessive power, threatening the imperial authority, while military generals accused civil officials of stirring up trouble and persecuting meritorious officials and generals.

This conflict between civil and military officials, persisting for generations, not only failed to subside but instead led to numerous upheavals.

When she was eleven years old, her father was not yet a cabinet minister, and the late Emperor was still alive. The Lu family of the Marquis of Yongding nearly faced extermination due to the stalemate between civil and military officials.

That year, the Yongding Army, led by the Lu family, was fighting against 30,000 Tatar troops in Ningxia when they suddenly encountered a perilous situation, with more than half of their army trapped in Tatar territory. The Lu family requested immediate military support from the court, but the court received a request for peace talks from the Tatars.

Almost all the civil officials in the court advocated for peace talks, believing that although it would result in temporary losses, it could ensure peace for ten years or even several decades. However, the military generals vehemently opposed the move. The Yongding army, led by Lu Shi, was trapped outside, its fate unknown. Abandoning their aid and negotiating with the Tatars would not only mean Lu Shi’s death but also leave no one capable of repelling the Tatars beyond the Great Wall after the Yongding army’s losses.

Civil and military officials alike began attacking each other over whether to fight or negotiate, leaving the late Emperor hesitant.

Du Lingjing remembered her father repeatedly petitioning the late Emperor for a swift decision. Although a civil official, her father, like the meritorious military generals, advocated for war, arguing that troops should be sent to rescue the Yongding army first, and peace talks could be discussed later.

The matter remained deadlocked for over a month. Finally, the late Emperor, resisting the pressure to negotiate peace, dispatched elite troops to rescue the army.

However, before the reinforcements arrived, the Yongding army fought its way back.

The bloody path was fraught with peril, and the reinforcements arrived too late. The Lu family of the Marquis of Yongding’s mansion, aside from the old Marquis himself, suffered almost complete annihilation of its young and strong sons. At that time, Lu Shenru’s father, the heir apparent of the Marquis of Yongding, was struck by twenty-six arrows and perished in the blood-stained desert.

Although the old Marquis survived, his severe injuries prevented him from returning to the battlefield. He could only support his eldest grandson, Lu Shenru, who, at the young age of thirteen, shouldered the heavy responsibility of the Yongding army. However, before Lu Shenru could reach adulthood, the old Marquis succumbed to his injuries and passed away.

Fortunately, this young Marquis fulfilled the mission entrusted to him by the imperial edict, shouldering the responsibilities of the entire Marquis of Yongding’s mansion, the entire Yongding army in the Northwest, and the entire border that defended the dynasty against the Tatars.

However, after such a bloody purge, the Lu family of the Marquis of Yongding’s mansion could no longer share drinks and laughter with the court officials, especially those who had once championed peace.

With the two factions fighting to this extent, how could the Emperor not be worried? Du Lingjing thought that rather than suspecting that Marquis Lu already knew her or had ulterior motives, it was more likely that this strange situation stemmed from the palace’s intention to persuade the civil and military officials to make peace.

If so, then her only possible way out was to persuade Marquis Lu. If he were also unwilling to accept this situation, they could discuss a way to extricate themselves together.

However, she first needed to confirm that he truly did not know her and that the imperial decree was not his intention.

Du Lingjing’s eyes grew increasingly sore. She could not help but get up and open the door and window to look outside.

As soon as the window opened, the autumn wind suddenly swept in a leaf, as if it had fallen from the sky, and it drifted onto her sleeve.

It was a bamboo leaf.

The wind outside was so strong, yet this bamboo leaf had drifted so gently and softly onto her sleeve.

“Quan Quan, if you ever think of me, I will be waiting for you in the bamboo grove.”

Tears welled up unnoticed, falling softly onto a bamboo leaf.

She picked up the leaf, clutched it in her hand, and stepped outside. In the corner of the backyard wall stood a clump of green bamboo transplanted from her hometown in Qingzhou.

Qiu-Lin hurried over.

“Miss, are you going to the front courtyard?”

“The front courtyard?”

Du Lingjing was going to the back courtyard, but Qiu-Lin said otherwise.

“It’s the Marquis. The Marquis has come to deliver the betrothal gifts; he’s in the front courtyard.”

Du Lingjing paused.

*

At the front courtyard of the Du Mansion.

Du Zhiqi looked at the courtyard overflowing with betrothal gifts, somewhat dazed.

Since the imperial decree arrived, he felt things had gone wrong.

How could Marquis Lu not know that the Du family originally wanted a marriage alliance with the Shao family, but now the imperial decree had designated the Lu and Du families?

But looking at this Marquis now, the man wore a sandalwood-red brocade robe embroidered with lotus flowers and a coral-inlaid jade crown, sitting in a chair drinking tea, showing no displeasure.

Unsure of his meaning, Du Zhiqi cautiously and awkwardly asked, “Why has Your Lordship come in person?”

The man glanced at him. “Of course.”

This casual remark only made Du Zhiqi more uncertain.

Unexpectedly, the Marquis spoke suddenly.

“How has the young lady been lately?”

Du Zhiqi was taken aback. The Marquis was surely not asking about his daughter but rather his troublesome niece.

“She… is well.”

Du Zhiqi said she was well, but his heart was in turmoil.

Not only was the Du family originally supposed to form a marriage alliance with the Shao family, but his niece had also been engaged to the Jiang family and had remained faithful to Jiang Zhuxiu for many years.

How could the Marquis not know this?

A bitter taste filled his mouth. Suddenly, a servant announced, “Master, the eldest young lady has arrived.”

Du Zhiqi was startled and instinctively retorted, “The Marquis is speaking with me here; what is she doing here? Tell her to go back quietly…”

Before he could finish speaking, he suddenly felt a cold gaze fall on his face.

Du Zhiqi froze for a moment, then heard the man say, “It’s cold and windy; Lord Du should invite the young lady in for tea.”

The servant was startled and rushed out. Then the curtain was lifted, and someone slowly approached the door.

Lu Shenru could not help but look over.

She wore a bamboo-green dress, with a green ribbon tied in her hair. Standing in the wind at the door, her dress fluttered, as if she had just emerged from the depths of the clouds.

He looked over, and she just lifted her eyelids to look at him, her eyelashes fluttering slightly.

She stepped forward and bowed to him, “My Lord.”

The man immediately took her hand. Her fingertips were cold, and in his burning palm, they felt like a piece of jade just retrieved from deep water.

But before he could warm the jade even slightly, she abruptly withdrew her hand, taking a half-step back to create distance between them.

Only then did he notice a thin red string tied around her wrist, threaded with what appeared to be a freshly fallen bamboo leaf.

A bamboo leaf…

The man was silent for a moment.

Looking at her more closely, in just a few days, her clothes had become loose and baggy.

Her already thin lips were pale, her eyes had a dark bluish tinge, and her watery eyes were as deep and still as frozen spring water.

The man’s heart skipped a beat.

Just because of the imperial decree ordering her to marry him? Was she in such a predicament?

A strange, indescribable ache and numbness welled up inside him.

She had appeared before him in the same way all those years ago, and he could not help but soften his heart, forced to let go.

But now, the man took a deep breath, pretending not to notice, and smiled at her again.

“Do not be so polite.”

Du Lingjing glanced at him furtively from the corner of her eye.

Strangely, she felt an inexplicable “intimacy” in his tone of voice.

Could he really have known her before?

However, before her thoughts could even process this, she heard the man say with slight surprise.

“So, the person I met at Zhenyue Tower that day was you, Young Lady. I did not expect our first encounter to be like that; I apologize for my rudeness.”

First encounter?

Du Lingjing paused, lowering her eyes.

He did not know her?