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  Chapter 7

  Ming Xuan didnt dare to be slow and changed into the clothes for receiving guests with Lin Yue, after dressing up properly they headed towards An Tai Yuan.

  Yans mother personally came out to greet her, leading the two of them in while quietly reminding them, "The auxiliary country dukes carriage is still in the front courtyard, they should be changing to a sedan chair at the second gate, the two young ladies should hurry in and wait first, Old Madame will surely be delighted."

  She paused for a moment and then lowered her voice, saying, "The other young ladies have not arrived yet."

  Ming Xuan smiled and thanked her before following Yan Niangniang into the inner room.

  Madam Zhu saw that she and Lin Yue had arrived early, and indeed a look of joy and relief appeared on her face.

  She held one in each hand, looking left and right, seeing that the two girls she loved most were both beautiful, and was delighted from the heart. She smiled at Nanny Wang and said, "Thinking of us having such a good time like flowers and beans, it feels like it just passed not long ago, but in a flash, our granddaughters have grown up so well."

  Yans mother-in-law also smiled along with her, "The old lady has a full house of children and grandchildren, each one is capable in their own way. The few young ladies under your knee are not only beautiful but also filial. This is a good fortune that others cant even hope for!"

  As soon as the words fell, an old womans laughter was heard from outside the house, "Old sisters good fortune is enviable, and my younger sister-in-law has always been envious!"

  The beaded curtain rustled, and a faint sound of footsteps was heard; it was the arrival of Madame Yu, the wife of the Auxiliary King.

  Madam Zhu came from the Auxiliary National Dukes Mansion, and the current Auxiliary National Duke Zhu Rui is her younger brother by the same mother. The Auxiliary National Dukes Mansion was originally not prosperous in terms of descendants, and in recent years, many close relatives of the same generation had passed away, leaving only the siblings and the Eastern Peace Imperial Consort. Madam Zhu valued her natal family brothers, so she naturally treated visitors from the Auxiliary National Dukes Mansion with extra warmth.

  Madam Hou personally led the Duchess of Auxiliary State and a group of nannies and young ladies into the house. The smile on Old Lady Zhus face deepened, and after they had all exchanged greetings and paid their respects, she hastily pulled the Duchess onto the heated kang. "I heard from Qian Mama that your heart palpitations have recurred these past few days. How are you today? Is it still painful? On a cold day like this, Im not even celebrating my birthday in full, so why didnt you listen and stay home to rest?"

  This sincere concern, Madame Fang heard and her nose was slightly sour. She grasped Old Lady Zhus hand and said, "Look at what sister is saying, Im not in so much pain that I cant move around, otherwise how could I miss your good day? Dont worry, youre not unaware of my illness, once the pain passes itll be fine. This morning when I got up I felt comfortable, thats why I came."

  She turned her head and saw Mingxuan and Linyue waiting on the side, then smiled and said, "Xuan Jie and Yue Jie, why dont you come over to Aunts side?"

  Ming Xuan and Yue Jieer went over respectfully, "Please take care of your aunt."

  The lady of the auxiliary country smiled and measured Ming Huan, nodding secretly in her heart.

  Ming Xuan wore a crimson soft velvet jacket with a golden edge embroidered on the hem, and a mixture of willow yellow, green bamboo, orange, apricot red and other colors were used to embroider the shape of the xuan grass on the top. The lower body was tied with a lotus-colored cotton skirt, and when taking light steps, the inner cinnabar-red lining could be revealed. This shallow outside and deep inside color scheme is a new trend in Shengjing. There were no too many pearls or hairpins on her head, only a high-quality ruby-encrusted eight-treasure auspicious insect grass pin, which was both festive and elegant.

  Indeed born with a good appearance, the willful temperament of the past has been tempered over the years, and it seems to be both gentle and dignified.

  She thought for a moment, then beckoned to her several granddaughters, "Yuan Jie, Ru Jie, and also you, Xiaojie, its been a long time since we sisters met. Why dont you let Xiang Jie lead the way to the next room to have a quiet chat?"

  Madam Zhu was slightly stunned, but when she saw the wife of Auxiliary Kings household wink at her, she knew that she had sent away a few children to talk about something. She smiled and said to Madame Hou, "I want to have some private conversation with my aunt, so Ill take my younger siblings to rest in the east wing. Let people call over the second and fourth households of the old family to keep the guests company. Also, lets call over He sister, Shao sister, and Wu sister."

  Madam Hou went at the sound.

  Ming Xuan also smiled and said to the girls in the house, "Sisters all follow me to the west wing, grandma has just built a new kang there, its warm."

  Although she was smiling on her face, she felt a little uneasy in her heart. She knew that the two families were close, and they used to visit each other frequently, but for now, she didnt know how to get along with these Miss Zhūs. If she got too familiar, it would be somewhat presumptuous; if she was too polite, it would seem distant.

  Ming Xuan was thinking of a way to deal with the situation while leading the way with Lin Xue in front, guiding the three sisters of the Zhu family into the west wing.

  As soon as she entered the house, Yuansister rushed over with red eyes, "You heartless person, we used to have such a good relationship in the past. I just went to Ningzhou for two years and didnt accompany you during the most difficult times. Now that Im back, youve forgotten all about our usual interactions."

  She said to Lin Xuan, "Knowing she cant go out in the village, I specially came to see her. As a result, she either went to Baiyun Temple or was seriously ill and couldnt see people for fear of passing on the disease. I wrote to her, even if she just replied with one letter, I could put my mind at ease, but she actually ignored me as if she hadnt seen it."

  Ming Xuans heart was slightly surprised, and she immediately thought of the private letters stored in the Yu Ge Pavilion, all of which were sent from Ningzhou Prefecture. She had also opened a few of them before, and they were all words of comfort. But she was not the original Gu Mingxuan, so she didnt need those comforting words, and therefore hadnt looked at them again afterwards.

  The signature on the letter is called Banana Girl, who would have thought that this was actually the nickname of Sister Yan?

  As for several times calling in sick and not showing up, it was actually because she was afraid of making a mistake and being found out, so she intentionally made excuses to get out of it.

  She was at a loss for how to answer, but Lin Xue had already put her arm around Zhu Yuwens shoulder. "Theres something that wasnt meant to be known, but since Sister Wen asked today and were all close sisters in this house, I wont keep it from you either."

  Ling Yue felt a pang of sympathy and glanced at Ming Xuan, lowering her voice to say, "Sister Xuan had suffered a severe head injury in the past and many things she doesnt remember. She definitely wouldnt intentionally ignore your letter. As for avoiding you, thats even more Sister Huan thinking too much. What kind of person is our great aunt? If Sister Xuan were pretending to be ill, could she fool her? If it werent for something being seriously wrong, and fearing the illness would spread to others, why wouldnt Great Aunt let someone go call Sister Xuan out to see guests?"

  The Zhu sisters all let out a cry of surprise and looked at Ming Xuan with a few more points of sympathy in their eyes.

  Yan Jie asked with tears in her eyes, "Is what Lin Xue said true?"

  She saw Ming Xuan nodding slowly, and she stomped her foot in hatred, "What kind of friendship is this? Something like this happened and you didnt even want to tell me. If you had just honestly said that you didnt remember me, I would have told you everything from start to finish. But its infuriating that you clearly had a reason for it, yet still let me be heartbroken for so long!"

  Ming Xuan looked at Lin Yue with a mixture of emotions, then turned to Yuanyang and said with a bitter smile, "To be honest, this matter is not glorious, and if it gets out, it will bring shame to the manor. Thats why Ive been keeping it hidden. I ask that you sisters keep this in your hearts after hearing it today, and Ill be eternally grateful. However, if Yuanyang feels uncomfortable about this, its my fault. Now that weve opened up about this, please take care of me from now on."

  She didnt say it very clearly, but Zhu Yuwan was the lady of the Guo Gong Fu and had followed her father on an external assignment for two years, so she had more experience than others. The meaning of this sentence can be understood at once. What a difficult situation Ming Xuan was in back then, having to consider the reputation of the Hou Fu, how could they spread the news that she tried to kill herself by hitting her head against the wall but ended up injuring her brain?

  It turns out that I have never put myself in Xiangs shoes and thought about it, which is unreasonable.

  Sister Huan thought so, and her eyes added a few more points of guilt, "Then dont dare to avoid me again in the future!"

  Lin Xue heard this and smiled, placing Yu Xuans hand on top of Ming Huans hand. "Alright, since weve both spoken our minds, lets just make up and go warm ourselves by the stove. Its quite chilly here on the ground. Later when more people arrive, itll be too late for us to get a seat."

  She jumped up first, "Come on up!"

  Inside the western wing, laughter and chatter filled the air. In the main house, Old Lady Zhus face couldnt help but reveal her delight. "Speaking of which, that child we took a liking to at the Eastern Peace Kings estate gathering last time, is he really as upright and honest as we thought? Is it true? Let Zi Cun send someone to investigate?"

  Zhu Zicheng was said to be the eldest son of the auxiliary kings heir, and had some prestige among his peers.

  For the past two years, every time there was a banquet or gathering, Old Lady Zhu would secretly pay attention to whether there were any young men with good looks and behavior who could be suitable for Xiangs sister. She thought that since Xiangs sister had been rejected before, and the matter of her third brother had not been settled even by the Emperor, it was likely that families of similar social status would not want to accept Xiangs sister. However, if the eldest miss of Yongning Hou Mansion were willing to lower her standards, there would still be people who would come to ask for her hand in marriage.

  In the past two months, the old lady of Dongping had a gathering of outstanding young men to choose a son-in-law for her granddaughter. Madame Zhu took this opportunity to beg her elder sister to make the guest list more extensive, and all the officials sons who were above the fifth rank in Shengjing City were invited by the King of Dongping to attend the banquet.

  She secretly accompanied the Princess of Dongping with the auxiliary countrys wife and actually took a liking to one.

  The lady of the auxiliary country smiled and replied, "That child is surnamed Yan, eighteen years old this year. He was the top scholar in the autumn examination, and if theres no mistake next spring, he should have a bright future ahead of him. Zi Cun said that his character is upright and he has a bit of loyalty, quite a good kid. Also heard that his father works in the Ministry of Works, although its just as a fifth-rank official in the Department of Construction, but his reputation is very good. Its just that his family background is a bit poor, his grandfather used to sell straw sandals."

  "Madam Zhu hastily said, A humble origin is nothing to be afraid of. As long as the child turns out well and has our several families to rely on in the future, we wont live too poorly. Its just that..."

  Thinking of the situation in the palace, she hesitated again. "Our familys affairs must have been mentioned by my brother, and if I were to take charge and arrange a marriage for Xianger now, my eldest sister-in-law would probably resent me to death. And its also known that Eldest Brother still wants to continue being the son-in-law of the Duke of Jianan. There arent many eligible girls in our family, and Caier doesnt understand things, but my eldest sister-in-law has always been eyeing Xianger!"

  The lady of the auxiliary country frowned, "Sister, what do you mean now? If you really want to let Xianger marry this person, Ill let Zi Cun go and ask that child about it. If youre worried about the eldest family, even if they push Xianger into a fire pit, dont bother with them anymore, then I wont let Zi Cun open his mouth."

  "Zhu Laos wife thought for a moment, gritted her teeth and said, Guan, why dont you take care of it! This matter I wont be able to show my face, but if the Yan family themselves asked for it and found someone with weight to act as matchmaker, Eldest Brother wouldnt completely ignore my opinion and decide on his own behalf for Xiangs sister, would he?!"

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