In the west of Nanjing City, north of Confucius Temple, a woman’s delicate and lodious, gentle and sweet song echoed from a theater adjacent to the Yangtze River.
"—Could it be the tremble of her jeweled hairpin as she walks, or the jingle of her sash as her skirt drags, or the wind rattling the iron horse under the eaves, or the bells of the Fanwang Temple ringing at night."
Madam Xue sat at the corner of the square table, listening attentively, her eyes occasionally filled with admiration, deeply enamored with the delicate, gentle, and lingering singing of the female role on the stage.
Next to her was Jiang Hanyun’s mother, Lady Jiang: "Why are you so engrossed? Aren’t there people performing operas in Beijing?"
"Yes, of course, but they mostly use the huqin and percussion instrunts, and most of their singing is falsetto-based. At tis, it’s too intense; I’m not used to it."
Madam Xue shook her head: "Our hotown opera is much better; it is graceful and elegant, imbuing the charm of the Jiangnan region, which suits my taste."
"You should have told earlier." Lady Jiang chuckled: "Next ti, I’ll take you to the Tanyue Building. The opera troupes there are the top-notch ones in Nanjing City."
Just at that mont, the two of them heard a buzzing discussion among the wives of the nearby officials. The noise quickly spread and soon engulfed the entire theater within a short span of ti.
Madam Xue couldn’t help but frown at the disturbance. But then she caught the na ’Li Xuan’ and imdiately perked up her ears.
By now, Lady Jiang was already listening intently.
"—What happened? The second son of Earl Chengyi, Li Xuan, isn’t he a Youjiao in the Liudao Division? How did he suddenly defeat the rebel army in Zhenjiang?"
"It’s unclear, I heard that he was entrusted with the secret order of the second prince to quell the rebellion, but I am unsure of this."
"The case that took the Inspectorate several months to investigate in Zhenjiang was solved by him in less than two days. Lin Ziyang had no choice but to rebel. But Li Xuan is indeed amazing. He only mobilized three thousand soldiers and defeated Lin Ziyang’s thirty thousand-strong army. I heard that the entire Dudu’s mansion was scared by him."
"Thirty thousand? Even if you line them up to kill, it would take so effort. How did he do it?"
"I’m not sure, sothing about using flour to cause an explosion?"
"Flour? Haha, I knead dough to make dumplings every day, is this news fake?"
"Not at all! My husband went out early this morning to the Dudu’s mansion with an ashen face, but he ca back within a few hours. He kept saying that Earl Chengyi has sired two tiger sons, his family will surely continue to flourish. He also ntioned that a son should be like Li Qianzhi."
Madam Xue and Lady Jiang exchanged glances, their eyes revealing surprise and puzzlent.
Although both of their families are renowned in Nanjing City, none of them held a position at the Court, and thus they were unable to verify this news instantly.
"I recall—" Lady Jiang regarded the middle-aged noblewoman who was speaking: "Isn’t that the wife of Earl Zhenhai? Her husband currently serves as the Left Army’s Dudu Tongzhi."
This ant that the words of the middle-aged noblewoman were quite credible.
"Regardless of whether he used flour or not, it’s certain that Li Xuan made an outstanding contribution. Zhenjiang is just next to Nanjing. Defeating thirty thousand soldiers, isn’t this a trendous achievent?"
"Absolutely, Lin Ziyang was a seasoned general for many years. I rember my father once praised Lin Ziyang for his military acun."
"It’s a pity that he serves in the Liudao Division, otherwise with the Court’s rewards, he might even end up being knighted?"
"Knighthood is less likely, but heavy rewards are definite. Furthermore, I heard from my husband that Earl Chengyi is sure to make a coback, and he will only be more relied upon by the Court in the future. The Yangtze River is still the territory of Earl Chengyi’s family."
"By the way, I heard that Li Xuan hasn’t got engaged yet? It seed that he used to be too unruly and notorious, and the Li family also suffered setbacks. Thus, Lady Li visited every household in Nanjing City, but only a few were willing."
"Ha! This is interesting. With today’s news out, I wonder how many people will regret?"
"Naturally, people would regret. Li Xuan is clearly a young talent, a noble character. The Earl Chengyi’s mansion is one of the top noble families in Nanjing City! Isn’t this an excellent opportunity for matrimony? Alas, if only I had a suitable daughter in my family."
"I must have overlooked, once that prodigal son nds his ways, he is able to soar high like a majestic bird. He appeared to be unlearned and incompetent, but he turns out to be such a hidden gem."
"Ladies, any of you here who know Lady Chengyi? Could you introduce ?"
Upon hearing these words, Madam Xue and Lady Jiang exchanged another look. The latter pretended to play with her tea casually, then seemingly recalled sothing and laughed: "Sister, you just sit here for a while. I have sothing to do at ho and need to go back early."
Too engrossed with the opera, Madam Xue nodded absent-mindedly: "Sister, if you have sothing to do, go ahead, I don’t need anyone to accompany here."
Soon after Lady Jiang left the theater with her maid, Madam Xue abruptly stood up. She casually dropped a silver yuan as a tip and did not wait for the waiter’s change before hurrying towards the exit, an anxious look on her face.
"Where is Yunrou? Tell her to co see imdiately! Not good enough, I’ll send her a flying ssage directly. That girl, she always works aggressively and acts decisively. Why is she so slow this ti?"
She thought that Li Xuan, such a young talent, upright and virtuous, was the only one in the entire Beijing, no, the whole Jin Dynasty!
If Yunrou Xue needs a Daoist consort in the future, perhaps there is no one more reassuring than the child of the Earl Chengyi’s family. After all, the two have already shared life-threatening experiences. With Li Xuan’s character, if her daughter marries into his family, she needn’t worry about her future suffering.
At this ti, Lady Jiang rushed back ho and imdiately found her housekeeper: "Did the master co ho? Did he bring back Golden Abalone?"
"He just ca back briefly and brought two large Golden Abalones! They’re bigger than before, they should be more than three hundred years old. They’ve been put in the ice cellar."
The housekeeper, a sixty-year-old old man, replied gleefully: "But after he ca back, the master rushed out again."
Lady Jiang thought it would be easy to handle with the Golden Abalone: "Then where is he? Where did he go again?"
"The master has gone to the dical hall." The old housekeeper paused, "It was said that the son and daughter-in-law of Earl Chengyi, that is, Master Li’s elder brother and sister-in-law, were seriously injured and he had to go and see them. I guess he must have been called back by Miss, do you need to bring him back, ma’am?"
"No need!" Lady Jiang’s spirit was instantly uplifted and her face suddenly glowed.
"Go and get the Golden Abalones, I need to pay a visit to Earl Chengyi’s mansion!"
※※※※
Just a mont later, Mrs. Jiang’s carriage arrived at the gate of Earl Chengyi’s mansion.
When she arrived here, she was startled because she saw that the street where the Earl’s mansion was located was filled with various carriages. In total, there were about eighty or ninety of them.
The entrance was also exceptionally bustling with hundreds of people, all with their stools, waiting outside.
Lady Jiang originally thought that all these people were here to visit Earl Chengyi. But when she got out of the carriage, she noticed the figures of twenty or so matchmakers among them— because she was familiar with them all. For Jiang Hanyun’s sake, Lady Jiang has had plenty of interactions with them.
This made Lady Jiang’s face slightly cold, thinking how had Xuan’s stock risen to this level?
What comforted Lady Jiang a bit was that when her servant handed over her card, the housekeeper of Earl Chengyi’s mansion hurriedly greeted her and respectfully invited her into the mansion.
While the housekeeper was leading the way, he apologized: "Lady Jiang, I apologize, none of the masters of the house are at ho. Only our lady is in the mansion and her health is a little inconvenient, so she can only wait at the entrance of the inner courtyard. Please forgive us for any neglect."
Lady Jiang was just about to ask how Mrs. Liu was doing, when she heard the housekeeper say: "Coincidentally, your niece, Miss Xue, is also here in the mansion, she arrived an hour ago and has been talking to the lady for quite a while."
With that, Lady Jiang’s heart shivered with cold. How was it that her niece managed to move so fast?
As they were talking, the door to the inner courtyard was already in sight.
Before she could get close, Lady Jiang heard Yunrou Xue’s voice: "Aunt, you wouldn’t know. The sight of Elder Brother Li and Er Lang joining hands to fight the enemy was extrely heroic. Their spirits, which seed to brave all odds, truly made one feel awe-inspired."
Lady Jiang imdiately frowned, thinking to herself that this should be Yunrou Xue’s first eting with Mrs. Liu? They were already using such intimate tones after just one hour?
Lady Li then sighed: "My children are good, they both have top-tier temperants, but I regret letting them seek titles. It’s their father’s fault, he doesn’t care for his own life, let alone the children’s lives. Just look at these past few days, my younger son has been lying in bed for seven days, and now my eldest son and his wife are seriously injured."
Then she asked: "What happened later, Rou? How did they break through Lin Ziyang’s army of thirty thousand? I heard they used flour, is that correct?"
Lady Jiang felt her heart turn cold, like a block of ice.
Rou? Is that Lady Li’s nickna for Yunrou Xue?
"Aunt, you really don’t need to worry about Elder Brother Li and his wife’s injuries, their vital signs were steady when I ca."
Yunrou Xue comforted Lady Li for a mont, and then talked about the matter of ’defeating the enemy with flour’: "That was Xuan’s idea, at that ti everyone thought we had definitely lost—"
Her voice abruptly stopped because Mrs. Jiang, under the guidance of the housekeeper, had already arrived at the door of the inner courtyard. She hurriedly curtsied: "Yunrou greets Aunt."
Mrs. Liu, on the other hand, very enthusiastically stepped forward and took Mrs. Jiang’s hand: "Lady Jiang, how can I ever repay you? Your beloved daughter has always taken care of my Xuan and this ti your husband has saved the life of my Yan and his wife, I should be the one going to your mansion to express my gratitude. Also, about those two Golden Abalones, coming in person is one thing, but why bring such precious gifts?"
Lady Jiang glanced at Yunrou Xue, and forced a smile: "How is that precious? My husband has a hobby of catching the Abalones, we have them at ho all the ti. Fortunately, we heard about your eldest son and his wife, and the Abalones can help them recover their Qi. This is also an apology, because my husband’s last incident put Li Xuan in danger, and we have always felt guilty about it. By the way, how is your health, Lady Li?"
Lady Jiang had already slled a strong scent of musk on Mrs. Liu, as if she was using the fragrance to suppress so other sll.
She thought that Mrs. Liu was probably really unwell when she had ntioned that her health was not good.
"I’m feeling alright!" At this point, Mrs. Liu, with a beaming smile swept a glance at Yunrou Xue: "I was a little unwell this morning, but thanks to our Rou, I was able to find a solution and can now see people. This child is not only intelligent and beautiful but also kind-hearted. I really like her."
But Lady Jiang felt as if a sharp sword had been thrust into her chest—I was almost coughing up blood.
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