Chu Wang Fei

by Ning er

  At this time, Mi mama had quickly come in. Her body wasn’t the least wet. It was clear that she had shaken off the rain from her body before coming in to ensure that she didn’t pass over any moisture to Yun Qian Meng.

  “Mama, don’t blame her. It’s me who was bored and played a few words on her. That yatou became shy and went into hiding.”

  Yun Qian Meng smiled and poured a cup of tea for Mi mama to help her body get rid of the cold.

  Mi mama saw that Yun Qian Meng is relaxed, she also felt at ease. After seeing that she was so considerate towards them, the servants, she was now more loyal towards Yun Qian Meng. She took a deep breath and whispered: “Old nu has let Pan Lan meet with her parents and also promised her that the lives of her parents will be protected! Pan Lan was immediately grateful towards eldest miss. She also informed nubi of Su Qing’s recent actions!”

  Hearing that, Yun Qian Meng’s face flashed a touch of ridicule and questioned: “No wonder Su Qing has been so quiet recently. Didn’t think that she is actually taking action in private! But seeing how father is going in the backyard recently, Su Qing is not far from getting out of favor. Such a struggle is just an arrow at the end of its flight (wasted efforts)!”

  Mi mama listened carefully to Yun Qian Meng’s analysis and nodded in approval. Then she said: “But miss don’t forget, Su Qing’s maiden family is also not bad! That dage of hers is now the minister of justice and her er ge1 is the cayun shi2! The two are both occupying an official position. They can’t be underestimated. If she joins hands with her geges, I fear that they will not be so easy to deal with!”

  Yun Qian Meng heard the worry in Mi mama’s words. She asked with a smile: “Mama, do you have some bad news? Don’t have to talk so much to make it easier for me to accept it. The I of now, what can I still not accept?”

  Seeing that Yun Qian Meng was so keen, Mi mama sighed in her heart. She poured out everything she got from Pan Lan.

  “Su yiniang intended to give Pan Lan tonight to the minister of justice as a yiniang. Presumably, this is a means to draw the minister of justice to their side. If they join hands to deal with miss in secret, it’ll be so hard to guard against them!”

  Yun Qian Meng smiled faintly. Didn’t think that Su Qing is running out of tricks. She personally can’t deal with her (YQM), so now she has actually pulled her maiden family into it! However, there’s not only the empress dowager and Fu Guo Gong Fu behind her now. If she got hurt in any way, she is afraid that Yun Xuan Zhi will be the first one to take away Su Qing’s life! She only hoped that Su Qing will think about it carefully before taking any action, otherwise it’ll really be like having to give away a bride and lose one’s army on top of it (to suffer a double loss after trying to trick the enemy).

  “Mama, tell Pan Lan that I won’t make it difficult for her and will also not let her turn her back towards her old master. I only need her to get Su Yuan’s favor and make it so that the backyard of Su family is without peace and Su Yuan won’t have a mind to pay any attention to Su Qing.”

  After faintly saying that, Yun Qian Meng’s eyes shot out a light, making people unable to guess what she is thinking.

  Mi mama saw that Yun Qian Meng seemed unaffected and looked relaxed, she knows that her miss already has an idea in her heart. She immediately nodded, turned and went out of the inner chamber.

  At this time, Mu Chu, who’d stopped being shy, came in. She bowed towards Yun Qian Meng and respectfully said: “Miss, the shopkeeper of Zhu Le Zing is here. Following your instructions, she brought over a few instruments.”

  Yun Qian Meng nodded, stood up and straightened the tiny fold in her skirt. With the help of Mu Chun, she walked to the side room. A woman of somewhat over thirty was sitting in a seat and drinking tea. After seeing her (YQM) come in, she immediately put down the cup of tea and stood up. She paid her respect towards Yun Qian Meng and smiled: “Minfu3 Zhu shi greets eldest miss!”

  Yun Qian Meng saw that her demeanor was so polite and also noticed her beauty. Free, mature and with a confident temperament. She was different from those ladies who only knew how to gossip. She felt curious about her for some time. She didn’t think that there was such a special woman in Xi Chu. It was really beyond her expectations!

  It’s also the first time that Zhu shi saw the eldest miss of xiangfu. She felt that she (YQM) is different from the rumors on the streets. Some curiosity also rose in her heart. She took advantage of the time Yun Qian Meng took to stare at her to also gaze at Yun Qian Meng.

  This eldest miss of xiangfu looked weak. It’s just that the pair of black eyes shone a light of limitless determination. With one glance, you knew that she is a very strong woman.

  Right now, Yun Qian Meng was sitting on the top seat. Her whole body was faintly exuding an aura of elegance and peace. Even if she didn’t open her mouth to speak at this time, people still can’t ignore her. Truly a lady of a good family, making Zhu shi’s eyes, who had seen many people, become bright. She went as far as to compare this eldest miss of xiangfu with Hai wangfu’s Tian junzhu in her heart.

  “Today, I let shopkeeper Zhu came to xiangfu is because I want to select a few musical instruments. Don’t know if shopkeeper Zhu has any recommendations.”

  Retrieving her gaze, Yun Qian Meng smiled faintly and opened her mouth. Her eyes were full of smiles. The arrogance of misses from good families could not be seen.

  Zhu shi couldn’t help but be attracted by that smile of Yun Qian Meng. Only after half an incense stick did she recover her gaze. Half-bowing, she respectfully answered: “Don’t know which instrument eldest miss is good at. Only then can minfu select for miss.”

  Hearing that, Mu Chun looked at Yun Qian Meng with worry. She didn’t know why her miss suddenly wanted to purchase a musical instrument. After all, according to her knowledge, her miss had never learned to play any musical instrument. That Su yiniang, in order to let second miss surpass eldest miss, never gave miss any musical teacher.

  Yun Qian Meng stood up from her seat, leisurely walked down and stopped in front of the few musical instruments. She then slowly stroked the string of the guqin and then turned to pinch the string of the pipa. The melody resounded in the room.

  It appeared as though the strings were just brushed, but an expert noticed Yun Qian Meng’s gestures. Her smile turned deeper. She walked forwards and attentively introduced the instruments: “Eldest miss has good taste. This guqin is called Lu Qi. You see, this qin has plum flowers painted on it. The sound is penetrating. The appearance is good. It’s a rare, good qin! And the pipa is completely made of sandalwood. On the opening to the six phase, the phoenix pillow is like a shell. Just listen to the sound, you can hear that it’s strong and full of timbre. It’s enough to be compared to the qin!”

  Yun Qian Meng saw that shopkeeper Zhu introduced the items for a long time, so she gave her face, took the pipa and sat down. She randomly played the five tones: ‘jian’, ‘tang’, ‘song’, ‘cui’ and ‘bao’.

  It was like what shopkeeper Zhu had said. The tones of this pipa was really good. It didn’t let shopkeeper Zhu down for recommending it.

  But today Yun Qian Meng invited the shopkeeper of the largest musical shop of Jingdu for a reason, buying musical instruments was just one thing. She handed the pipa over to Mu Chun to let her put it away. Yun Qian Meng smiled: “The instruments from Zhu Le Xing are made from famous people. Naturally they are good. Today, Qian Meng wanted to learn to play some musical instruments. Asking shopkeeper Zhu to please introduce some instruments which are popular with the ladies in Jingdu so that Qian Meng has something in common with them.”

  Shopkeeper Zhu was someone intelligent. The moment Yun Qian Meng’s words left her mouth, she understood Yun Qian Meng’s meaning. Plus the fact that Yun Qian Meng had lowered herself to talk with a merchant, she really was different from those other misses. So she was also willing to talk about what other misses use: “The most talented woman of our Jingdu is Hai wangfu’s Hai Tian junzhu. That gu
qin of hers can be described as superb. Even the emperor is full of praises! Then there’s Han Lin’s academy’s miss Guan. She is well versed in qin, chess, painting and poetry. She can also play a good guzheng4! The misses from other family also like guqin and guzheng. So these two instruments are sold the most at Zhu Le Xing. This Lu Qi has just arrived today. Eldest miss has such coincidence!”

  Yun Qian Meng listened quietly to her. Her eyes have a polite smile. When shopkeeper Zhu strongly recommended that guqin again, she nodded. She said to shopkeeper Zhu: “Today has tired shopkeeper Zhu. Leave this Lu Qi and pipa. Mu Chun, give the paper money to shopkeeper Zhu!”

  Shopkeeper Zhu saw that Yun Qian Meng bought two top music instruments at once, the smile on her face turned deeper. She acted like she was unintentionally warning: “Hai Tian junzhu’s best song is ‘The house of flying daggers’.”

  Yun Qian Meng smiled and nodded. She let Mu Chun hand the already prepared paper money to shopkeeper Zhu. But shopkeeper didn’t understand and said: “Just now, xiangye ordered minfu to let miss carefully select the musical instruments and then go to the accounting room to get paid!”

  Hearing that, Yun Qian Meng let Mu Chun return back to her side and let Bai Mei send Zhu shi off. Then she ordered the maids to move the two instruments to the inner room.

  Mu Chun saw that Yun Qian MEng spent so much money to buy two instruments that she didn’t know how to use, her heart felt puzzled. She hesitantly said: “Miss, in a few days, it’s the day of Hai wangfu’s invitation. Are you planning on practicing qin?”

  It’s good if miss has such intentions, but how can you be trained in a few days and turn into someone playing superb qin? This made Mu Chun feel endlessly worried.

  Yun Qian Meng only smiled. Self-confidence flashed in her eyes. Although compared to the misses of this era, she’s not as well versed in the four arts, but in her childhood when her parents were still alive, she was also forced by her mother to learn to play a few musical instruments. Although she’s not proficient at them, but as long as she practiced a few days, she will not be disgraced in front of Hai Tian. And just now, she got lots of information from Zhu shi. Since Hai Tian is good at guqin, then her choice will be pipa. This will help stop them from crashing into each other and also give less ammunition for others to compare them against.

  Have to say that this time, all is thanks to the word ‘coincidence’. Otherwise, with a timeframe of only a few days, she would not be able to create something on par with Hai Tian, the talented woman of Jingdu. With some emotions, her hands floated above the pipa’s strings. In her eyes, they couldn’t help but flash the intimate scene of four people. But people will change. Her parents were slaughtered by the drug lord. She and her sister only had each other. She had vowed to find the murderer, but she was unexpectedly killed and came to this era that was full of conspiracies. Really, nature messes with people!

  Her hands drew many strings at a fast pace. These skillful movements made Mu Chun stunned. She didn’t know when her miss had learned such skillful movements.

  Five days later, Hai wangfu’s banquet.

  Knowing that Yun Qian Meng was about to leave, but old madam was in a fit of anger this past few days, so she only send Rui mama to warn her with some words. As for the other yiniangs and misses, only Lui Han Yu and Yun Yan came early to greet Yun Qian Meng. They checked that all the things were ready and sent Yun Qian Meng to the garden but they didn’t walk Yun Qian Meng out.

  “Meng er, you need to be really careful and cautious at Hai wangfu. You must not try hard to stand out! But you also can’t let other people press you. Don’t forget that you are xiangfu’s eldest miss!”

  This time, Yun Xuan Zhi was waiting in the living room. After seeing Yun Qian Meng come out, he immediately went to her and earnestly analyzed all the relations for her.

  Yun Qian Meng only made a student appearance. From time to time, she nodded while listening to Yun Xuan Zhi.

  “Mi mama, did you prepare another set of clothes for miss to change into?!”

  This matter, Yun Xuan Zhi had already ordered a few days ago. If someone didn’t know any better, they would think that xiangfu are the ones having a feast!

  It’s only because of precaution that Yun Qian Meng let Mi mama bring an extra set of clothes and jewelry to avoid if anything happen and she’ll be embarrassed in front of everyone.

  “Xiangye, be assured. Old nu did as you commanded and will certainly take good care of miss!”

  Mi mama immediately went forward and answered.

  Only after that did Yun Xuan Zhi nod at ease. But after recalling about Hai Tian’s attitude towards Yun Qian Meng at the birthday banquet, his eyebrows showed worry. After all, Hai Tian was so arrogant even inside Fu Guo Gong Fu that day. Today, Meng er will enter her territory. Really don’t know what kind of things will happen.

  Thinking like that, Yun Xuan Zhi immediately commanded guard Liu: “Be sure to protect eldest miss!”

  Guard Liu had already admired Yun Qian Meng because of what happened last time. Today, xiangye has given him the task to escort miss so he will naturally use his best effort. He knelt on one knee and answered with a serious voice: “Yes!”

  Yun Xuan Zhi still wanted to warn Yun Qian Meng about some more things, but at this time, they already arrived at xiangfu’s door. And waiting beside xiangfu’s sapphire-roofed carriage were three more carriages! One with a dark red roof that had a ‘Rong’ word printed on the carriage. One with an orange roof that had a ‘Chu’ word printed on it. And in front of the last carriage, Qu Zhang Qing was sitting on a white horse, waiting outside of xiangfu’s entrance.

  A small white hand lifted the curtain. A face that looked like lotus appeared in front of everyone. Only a clear crisp voice shouted at Yun Qian Meng in delight: “Meng er!”

  Yun Qian Meng moved past Rong fu and Chu wangfu’s carriages and walked to Fu Guo Gong Fu’s carriage. She bowed slightly towards Qu Zhang Qing: “Greetings to biaoge!”

  Like always, Qu Zhang Qing didn’t have any expression. It’s just that when he saw Yun Qian Meng, something simmered in his eyes and his eyes softened. He nodded.

  After that, Yun Qian Meng looked at Qu Fei Qing who was waving at her. Then she turned and looked at Yun Xuan Zhi. Yun Xuan Zhi nodded and ordered Mi mama to put Yun Qian Meng’s things into Fu Guo Gong Fu’s carriage. Then he ordered guard Liu to follow behind and protect Yun Qian Meng. After that, he looked at Qu Zhang Qing and smiled: “This time, need to trouble Zhang Qing to guard Meng er.”

  Qu Zhang Qing didn’t have any good feelings towards Yun Xuan Zhi, but because of Yun Qian Meng, he slightly nodded. After seeing Yun Qian Meng enter the carriage, he gave a signal to start the journey.

  No one came out from Rong fu and Chu wangfu’s carriages. After Fu Guo Gong Fu’s carriage started moving, the two subsequently followed. The scene looked a bit strange.

  “What’s the matter with those two families?”

  Qu Fei Qing had long noticed Rong fu and Chu wangfu’s carriages. These past few days, she had also heard many rumors. With some curiosity, she asked.

  Yun Qian Meng only shrugged her shoulder and said with some helplessness: “Biaojie must already know. Why do you still ask me?”

  Qu Fei Qing saw that Yun Qian Meng didn’t tell her honestly, she pouted. She looked sad and said: “Even hiding from me. So boring.”

  Yun Qian Meng saw her acting like a child, she couldn’t hold back any longer and laughed. She grimaced, shook her head and replied: “The two fu just sent some gifts because I was injured. Did biaojie think too much? I would also like to ask, why did Hai wangfei go to houfu a few days ago? Can it be that she has set her eyes on biaojie?”

  It was originally a joke, but suddenly Qu Fei Qing quieted down. With a sad expression and suddenly grabbing Yun Qian Meng’s hand, she said unhappily: “Meng er, to tell you the truth, that Hai wangfei did indeed come because of her youngest child’s marriage. It’s just, you also know how powerful Hai Tian junzhu
is. If I married over, how can I still have a good life?”

  While talking, Qu Fei Qing turned from the cheerful young girl to the sorrowful young girl. The eyebrows meticulously wrinkled.

  Yun Qian Meng knows that in Qu Fei Qing’s heart, she is ten thousand times unwilling, otherwise why else would that pair of hands which are holding her own hand slightly tremble?

  Not to mention, the year when Hai wangfu was to be constructed, in order to show his distinctness, Hai wang actually chose the famous mountain of Jingdu Ming Yang Mountain for it to be constructed. Ming Yang Mountain is one thousand meters above sea level. Hai wangfu was built at the hillside. It spent a lot of manpower and resources!

  This was still nothing. The important thing was that if Qu Fei Qing really married into Hai wangfu, then in the future, if she suffered and wanted to go back to her maiden home, she wouldn’t be able to find the road.

  Thinking like that, Yun Qian Meng felt that this time, Hai wangfu’s proposed marriage must have ulterior motives. Jingdu is not lacking ladies with a higher family than Qu Fei Qing, so why did they set their eyes on biaojie?

  “Don’t know how Lao Tai Jun and jiujiu answered.”

  Yun Qian Meng turned her hand and held Qu Fei Qing’s hand. She attentively comforted her.

  Speaking till here, Qu Fei Qing let out a sigh. Her expression slightly improved.

  “Lao Tai Jun didn’t answer Hai wangfei on spot. She said that she needed to think it through. That Hai wangfei also didn’t make it difficult and gave time for Fu Guo Gong Fu to think. But since this happened, which gongzi will still marry me? Would it not be like as if they’ll be declaring to be Hai wangfu’s enemy? Even the emperor, in order to keep the monarchy in harmony and the court calm, he will not come forward to help me in this kind of thing. This time, Hai wang’s shizi is blessed with a child, Hai wang deliberately sent his subordinate to personally deliver the invitation to Fu Guo Gong Fu. Lao Tai Jun and Daddy weren’t at ease. They were afraid that something will happen on the road, so they let dage come along to protect me.”