Exclusively for the Marchioness – CH 039

Chapter 39

After Lu Shenru left, Qiu-Lin and Ai-Ye brought cold water to cool Du Lingjing down.

At first, they thought that giving her some cold medicine might help in the afternoon. When Chong-An noticed something was wrong and asked, Du Lingjing told him she was fine. By dusk, her fever had spiked, her head throbbed, and she lacked even the strength to speak. Chang-Pu rushed to fetch a physician.

This could not be hidden from Chong-An.

Seeing his Madam’s pale face, Chong-An’s heart pounded. “Madam, could it be that you’ve had a fever since this morning? Why did you not tell the Marquis?”

If the Marquis knew that his wife had been ill before he left and had kept it from him…

Du Lingjing shook her head. “The Marquis has other matters to attend to, and his journey is arduous. Do not report it to him yet. If the fever persists tomorrow, then report it.”

As she finished speaking, her throat tightened, and she could barely speak.

Chong-An’s face fell, but seeing his Madam’s difficulty speaking, he quickly mumbled an agreement. But report it tomorrow? He had noticed something strange that afternoon and should have inquired further before reporting to the Marquis. This had already delayed things by more than half a day. If he waited until his Madam’s fever persisted until tomorrow before reporting it, Chong-An felt he should not stay in the Marquis’s Mansion.

Seeing that his Madam was too preoccupied with him, he immediately sent someone to follow the Marquis and report the matter.

Lu Shenru took a detour to the Zijing Pass Garrison, located under the city’s defenses.

Even with strict military discipline and severe punishments, there were always opportunists every year who dared to embezzle soldiers’ rations and clothing. He had already given his orders. If he caught any general under his jurisdiction daring to knowingly violate the rules, it would be a waste not to make an example of them.

However, after circling the Zijing Pass Garrison, he was surprised to find that just yesterday, the garrison commander had paid the outstanding debts owed to the soldiers.

Upon hearing that the debts had been paid yesterday, Lu Shenru gave a regretful “Oh.” The guards around him secretly breathed a sigh of relief for the commander of the Zijing Pass Garrison. They feared he was unaware that he had escaped a calamity; otherwise, it was uncertain where he would be spending the New Year.

Since they had not been able to catch a culprit, Marquis Lu did not linger. Without even informing the commander of the garrison, he left quietly. He traveled northeast from Zijing Pass, the capital city looming in the distance.

Lu Shenru’s journey was smooth, and he soon arrived in the capital.

He first inquired about the Earl of Rongchang’s residence. The remaining advisors in the capital were under his instructions to assist the Earl of Rongchang’s residence in overseeing the matter. They reported that the Earl’s wife had followed the Lord’s orders and that the two young masters had been personally sent to the Court of Judicial Review’s prison by the Earl’s wife.

“His Majesty has ordered the Court of Judicial Review to investigate, but the punishment has not been announced yet.”

A lenient approach would only result in the two murderers paying with their lives; a severe approach, while not resulting in the execution of the entire Earl’s household, would certainly involve charges, and the Earl of Rongchang himself would be accused of failing to properly manage his family.

Lu Shenru had not been in the capital for the past two days. His advisor said, “Grand Secretary Dou and the Shao family, knowing that Shao Boju’s affair has been exposed, are also making a fuss in court about the Earl’s household’s situation, urging His Majesty to be strict. However, the war in Liaodong requires the Earl to lead troops to contain the conflict, and some say this matter can be dealt with after the war is over. In my opinion, this is His Majesty’s intention.”

Lu Shenru nodded. He had already sent a letter to the Earl of Rongchang. His eldest son had died in battle, and his two younger sons had both committed serious crimes. Fortunately, he had a son born of a concubine, who was quite brave and skilled in battle. He would later give this second son an important position. As long as the Earl’s household could be preserved, he would strongly support this second son in inheriting the title; there was still a chance. However, the Earl of Rongchang was getting on in years, and after some deliberation these past two days, he decided, “After this matter, I will transfer the Earl back to Xi’an to oversee things, while his illegitimate son continues his training in Ningxia.”

The advisor, Yu, said, “My Lord, that Second Master Yang is still relatively inexperienced; I am afraid he cannot handle things alone.”

“I understand,” Lu Shenru nodded. “Transfer the heir of the Earl of Zhongqing from the Shaanxi Provincial Military Command to Ningxia; Wei Cong can manage independently.”

Seeing that although he had only been to the capital, he had made careful arrangements in every aspect, the advisor, Master Yu, breathed a slight sigh of relief.

“My Lord’s arrangements are appropriate; otherwise, if the border war goes poorly, those people in the court will have something to say.”

The man chuckled indifferently, “It’s nothing unusual; I still have to go to court early tomorrow morning.”

But after he finished speaking, the advisor, Master Yu, suddenly remembered something.

“Lord Marquis, you’ve just returned and do not know yet? This morning, His Majesty saw that many in court were ill; even Grand Secretary Dou could not attend court. He said his cold has become quite severe, so he’s decided to suspend court for five days.”

The Emperor’s health had always been poor, and he was most afraid of catching a disease. Whenever this happened, he always suspended court for several days.

However, Lu Shenru did not expect, “Even Grand Secretary Dou is ill?”

An advisor beside him said, “Grand Secretary Dou is always on edge, walking on thin ice. He should rest.”

Over the years, this Grand Secretary had given the Marquis no shortage of problems.

The advisor’s words drew laughter from everyone in the hall.

In his later years, the late Emperor wanted to promote Grand Secretaries. At that time, Grand Secretary Dou was over fifty, the ideal age for entering the Grand Secretariat. Unexpectedly, the late Emperor personally promoted the thirty-six-year-old Du Zhili.

In the fifteenth year of the Hongqi reign, Grand Secretary Du entered the cabinet at the age of thirty-six. It was not until the third year of the Yinyou reign that Grand Secretary Dou entered the cabinet at fifty-six, and now he was over sixty.

This man strongly supported Prince Yong as heir apparent and was locked in a fierce struggle with the Lu family and their faction that supported Prince Hui, making him extremely difficult to deal with. The Marquis had also been tempered by him, becoming increasingly shrewd and profound at a young age.

On the other side, his advisor, Master Sun, was quite old. Although he had not been in court for many years, he had witnessed the comings and goings of people within its walls.

He sighed, “It’s a pity the Grand Secretary is Dou. If only it were Grand Secretary Du back then.”

These words made everyone think of the past.

After the Marquis’s marriage, Grand Secretary Du—his wife’s father and the Marquis’s father-in-law—became related. If Grand Secretary Du were still alive, how much better things would be now.

The man was lost in thought for a few moments, then said softly, “The past cannot be retrieved.”

He asked a few more questions, and the advisors dispersed.

These past few days, he did not have to attend court, and he could not help but think of his wife still in Baoding, pondering how severe the typhoid fever in the north had become recently.

He had tea brought, and after drinking a cup, he called Chong-Ping.

“Return to Baoding.”

However, no sooner had the Marquis left than a messenger sent by Chong-An arrived. But seeing the Marquis’s Mansion empty, and noticing that the Marquis had seemingly foreseen this and left early, he wondered if the Marquis and his wife were of one mind.

The return journey was much more leisurely.

While resting at a roadside teahouse, Lu Shenru saw an old woman carrying a box of hairpins for sale. Unfortunately, most of the passersby were men, except for two nuns whose black hair had long since been cut short, making it impossible for them to wear these flowers.

The old woman, perhaps due to poverty, was selling hairpins. Seeing that she had not sold a single flower, she could not help but feel disappointed and sighed softly, “Esteemed customers, this old woman is getting old and cannot travel far, but every single flower is of good quality. Even if you do not wear them yourselves, you can buy them for your wives to please them.”

She tried her best to sell them, but the men all laughed. Some said they had not found wives yet, some said the distance was too far to carry them, and others said the hairpins were too fresh, and their wives were also getting old.

Lu Shenru glanced at the old woman’s box of hairpins.

Perhaps the brightly colored flowers had not been picked, leaving only delicate pink and white blossoms, resembling peach, apricot, and pear blossoms—not boldly colored, but brimming with the vitality of spring.

Lu Shenru inexplicably thought of the day she apologized to him, the day she served him with a touch of elegance; she wore a pale pink pleated skirt and a white jacket with silver thread, looking just like overlapping peach and pear blossoms.

He said, “I will take this whole box.”

The old woman exclaimed, then looked up to see a young nobleman, with handsome eyes and sharp eyebrows, exuding an air of nobility; she guessed his wife was also of age to wear flowers.

Chong-Ping paid with a silver ingot, not asking for change, which delighted the old woman even more.

“Your wife, if she knew you thought of her constantly, would be overjoyed.”

Was that so? The man was not sure, but who did not like to hear pleasant words? Turning his head, he had Chong-Ping hand her another silver ingot.

Everyone in the teahouse was stunned.

Lu Shenru looked at the box full of hairpins of various colors. As long as she stopped holding grudges and calculating every penny, behaving with a politeness unlike that of a husband and wife in this world, he would be content.

He turned and instructed his servants, “Go back and tell the sewing room to prepare several sets of clothes for Madam in various colors, matching these flowers.”

Even in winter, she could still wear spring flowers.

Marrying him meant she could no longer wear those heavy or plain clothes she used to wear.

*

Du Lingjing’s fever lasted for two days before finally subsiding.

She asked Chong-An, “You did not send a message to the Marquis, did you? I am almost better.”

Before Chong-An could answer, Hu Tingjun, the Second Lady Hu, came to visit Du Lingjing.

Du Lingjing had heard that Master Hong and Master Liao were also ill and wanted to visit them, but she was quite ill herself and had only just recovered. Tingjun told her not to go. “Why not rest for a couple more days?”

So she went in Du Lingjing’s place, delivering medicine to the faction members and chatting with them for a while.

Now that she had returned, Du Lingjing did not pay attention to Chong-An, gesturing for him to go first, and spoke to Tingjun.

“How are the faction members?”

Hu Tingjun said that Master Liao’s illness had worsened, but Master Hong was almost better. Fortunately, the two were staying together. When Hu Tingjun arrived, they, along with several other visitors, were having tea in the room.

“It seems the faction members had a pleasant conversation.”

Hu Tingjun replied that it was natural; the situation regarding Shao Boju was largely resolved, and everyone was out of danger—a time for peace and tranquility. “However, I overheard the faction members mentioning an old friend who had been missing for many years.”

She glanced at Du Lingjing. “It’s Master Chu Mu.”

Master Chu Mu was her father’s former advisor. Later, when her father returned to his hometown to observe mourning, his few remaining advisors all dispersed, except for Chu Mu, who remained by his side.

Later, when her father returned to the capital to resume his post, a sudden flash flood occurred. All those he had with him, including Wen Bo’s son, Ruan Gong’s father, and, of course, Master Chu Mu, perished in the flood. She rushed there upon hearing the news, only to find her father’s body being pulled from the water…

However, Chu Mu’s body was never found. He had no family, and Du Lingjing searched for him in the vicinity for a long time without success.

She was surprised. “Why did the faction members mention Master Chu?”

Master Chu had vanished without a trace, neither alive nor dead. Initially, everyone hoped he might have survived and wanted to find him to inquire about the flash flood, but after years of silence, they had given up hope.

Hu Tingjun said, “The faction members mentioned him because someone in Beizhili saw someone who resembled Master Chu.”

“Ah…” Du Lingjing exclaimed in surprise, “Was it him?”

Hu Tingjun shook her head. “I do not know. Master Liao only heard from two friends that he looked very much like him. He went to look for him after hearing that, but still could not find him.”

She said, “It seems there are always people in this world who look alike, and not everyone is as fortunate as we were to survive.”

Du Lingjing was silent for a while.

If Chu Mu were alive, she really wanted to ask why her father had changed course and gone into those mountains and how he had happened to encounter the flash flood…

The sun rose high, hanging far on the horizon, its warmth making people feel a little warmer. After lying in bed for two or three days, Du Lingjing was finally able to walk again, so she called Tingjun to take a few steps towards the door.

But just as they reached the door, they saw someone riding towards them on horseback in the distance. The thud of hooves resonated in her heart, and a strange sense of familiarity made Du Lingjing look up.

On horseback, the man also spotted her at the door. His gaze fixed on her, and he spurred his horse forward. He saw that she was wearing a lotus-root-colored horse-face skirt, handmade by the maids of the Marquis’s Mansion, over which was a pale lilac-colored jacket, and over that, a white rabbit fur cloak embroidered with purple floral patterns.

And, coincidentally, among the box of hairpins were two delicate lilac blossoms.

The man dismounted. She had not expected him to come either. His watery eyes, whether illuminated by the sunlight or something else, seemed to sparkle.

“My Lord?”

Du Lingjing’s eyes widened, a flicker of light in them. She felt her heart skip a beat.

Lu Shenru only looked at his wife. Was her expression more joy than surprise?

When had she ever shown him such an expression?

The man immediately dismounted and strode towards her. However, he noticed another person standing beside her.

The man had to ignore his wife and greet the person beside her. “Lady Hu is here too. Greetings.”

Tingjun never expected that this Lord would come back, first fixing his gaze on someone, then politely greeting her. She knew of Marquis Lu’s formidable reputation; if it were not for someone else, would this Marquis have greeted her?

She quickly returned the greeting, saying she had nothing to do today, “I came to keep Jing-niang company.”

The man said he had heard that Hu Tingjun’s husband, Guo Ting, intended to seek an official position in the capital. “If the Second Lady comes to the capital, please come to the mansion often to keep my wife company.”

Wife.

Hu Tingjun replied, but also secretly glanced at her friend.

Du Lingjing was hearing this term for the first time. She looked up at the man, remembering how he had previously referred to himself as “husband” and now her as “wife.”

His relationship with her seemed different from his relationship with others.

She had a strange feeling about him and looked at him again.

Why was he back?

The man noticed her gaze, looked down, but with just one glance, he frowned.

“What’s wrong?”

This abrupt question caught Du Lingjing off guard. Just moments before, he had been all smiles as he spoke to Tingjun, but now he frowned.

She did not quite understand. What was wrong?

The man, however, directly asked the person behind her, “Qiu-Lin, is Madam ill?”

Qiu-Lin, now completely devoid of any disrespect, quickly replied.

“Reporting to Your Highness, Madam has indeed caught a cold and has been suffering from the flu for the past few days.”

“For how many days?” The man frowned even more, looking at his wife, but did not ask her directly. He only called to Chong-An, “Madam is ill; why did you not report it?”

This question left Chong-An completely bewildered. He had clearly reported it; had not the Marquis returned after hearing his report? Chong-An could not figure out if nothing was wrong. Seeing the Marquis looking at him, and his brother looking at him too, he panicked and could not speak.

Unexpectedly, his Madam answered for him.

“I told him not to report it. It’s just a minor illness.”

But Chong-An felt the Marquis look at him.

“Is that so? Is it just a minor illness for Madam? You think a minor illness does not need to be reported?”

The Marquis’s voice was low and sharp, and Chong-An gasped.

He immediately knelt on the ground. “This subordinate dared not fail to report it; this subordinate actually delivered the message!”

This made his Madam look at him in surprise. He felt bitter inside and told the truth directly.

“Actually, Madam fell ill when the Marquis left. She had a high fever for two days and had been bedridden…”

Du Lingjing sighed inwardly when she heard him say it.

Lu Shenru understood. He was looking at his wife, so when she asked him to leave that day, saying she wanted to stay and catch up with friends, it was all an excuse.

He could not help but ask her, “Is my wife afraid of delaying my business?”

Du Lingjing replied frankly, “I see that Your Lordship is very busy. My minor illness is not worth Your Lordship delaying because of me.”

“Oh,” the man responded, “is it because I helped you so much that you feel even more embarrassed to trouble me again?”

He pressed on.

Du Lingjing did not know why he asked this, but she spoke the truth.

Lu Shenru looked into her eyes, and he heard that she was speaking from the heart.

“Indeed, I owe Your Lordship too much. If I were to bother you again with such a small matter, I would feel truly guilty.”

Bother…

She was adept at using words.

Before their marriage, Jiang Zhuxiu was her “husband,” but even after she had been married to him for a long time, he was still only “Your Lordship.”

Third Young Master Jiang left her so many Song Dynasty books, worth almost half of Mian Tower, which she accepted; he only did a small thing for her, but she always remembered it and wanted to settle things with him. Lu Shenru suddenly asked her.

“My Lady has ‘bothered’ me so much. As you said in your letter, would repaying her with just the two sections of Chengqing District, east and west, not be too little?”

His question startled Du Lingjing.

Hu Tingjun, who was standing nearby, was also taken aback.

Jing-niang had previously told her that Marquis Lu had reclaimed the Du family mansion in Chengqing District for her and also expanded the eastern section of the estate.

She had said that Guilin Tower was one thing, as it was Marquis Lu’s property, but the expansion of Chengqing District was far too valuable. She had come in a hurry and could only give him the entire mansion as a small repayment for his kindness.

She had felt that Jing-niang’s “kindness” was a bit strange then, and now, hearing this Marquis bring it up again, she was surprised.

Jing-niang, however, did not understand and looked completely bewildered.

“What does the Marquis want?”

He asked her, “Mian Tower, are you willing to part with it?”

She paused, then said, “The Marquis can take it.”

Hu Tingjun closed his eyes.

Lu Shenru chuckled softly.

She could even give him Mian Tower; did she think she owed him so much?

He was not her husband; he was a creditor she had to treat with utmost care.

Du Lingjing did not know what he was laughing at again. She felt a slight, indescribable discomfort.

At this moment, she saw him looking at her but speaking to Tingjun.

“Second Lady, look, Jing-niang is so polite; she’s calculated everything so clearly with me.”

Just now, on horseback, he thought she was delighted to see him. But now it seemed he had been mistaken; his wishful thinking had been unfounded.

The man’s gaze lingered on his wife’s lilac-colored dress for a final moment. He said he was going to change and turned away.

“Excuse me.”

At the door, someone’s gaze followed his retreating figure inside, but seeing that he would not turn back, they could only look away.

Tingjun watched from the side, noticing her friend’s downcast eyes and silence. After a long while, she spoke to her in a hoarse voice: “It seems he’s angry again.”

“Then, Jing-niang, why do you think the Marquis is angry?”

If only Du Lingjing understood. “Is it because I did not tell him about my illness? But I did not want to hold him back.”

Seeing that she truly did not understand and looked forlorn, Tingjun almost laughed.

She suddenly thought of that Jiang Jieyuan.

She and Jiang Jieyuan had known each other since childhood, growing up together as childhood sweethearts. Their feelings for each other were mutual, and they understood each other perfectly. Moreover, given Jiang Jieyuan’s gentle and modest nature, he would consider everything for her, leaving her no need to worry.

But the Marquis was different.

He was similar to Jiang Jieyuan in some ways, even surpassing him, but there were also differences.

Hu Tingjun gently called to her friend.

“Actually, this matter is very simple; it just depends on whether Jing-niang cares or not.”

If she did not care about the Marquis, she figured he could not do anything to her.

Tingjun looked at her lowered eyes; she did not seem indifferent.

“If you do care, Jing-niang should think carefully about why he’s angry.”