Chapter 843 - 845 Fell into the Land of Tenderness_1
"Have you seen this woman?" Sun Zhong asked in disbelief.
Jianqi’s expression remained cold and indifferent, "No, take another look. What else needs to be adjusted?"
"Oh." Sun Zhong came back to his senses, took a careful look, and then said thoughtfully, "Make the mouth a little bit smaller, there’s nothing else, it’s so similar!"
Jianqi ignored him, picked up the paper, and started drawing again. Very soon, a new portrait was finished with a slightly smaller mouth. After blowing the ink dry, he handed it to Bai Ruozhu, "My lord, it’s done."
Bai Ruozhu nodded, looked at the painting, then rolled it up and handed it to Muyu, instructing him to deliver it quickly to Jiang Yichun.
"It’s done, we should be able to find the person very soon. You all rest for a while, I will go and coax the child to sleep," Bai Ruozhu said and then left.
The people in the room were all a bit dumbfounded. Her saying "coax the child to sleep" reminded everyone that she was just an ordinary woman. But how could she be so meticulous in her thinking, with such capable and extraordinary subordinates at her command?
The Study Palace head saw that it was still early and asked everyone to sit down again and resumed the scholarly discussion.
After Bai Ruozhu managed to coax the child to sleep and aimlessly read for a while, she also took some silt from the Spatial Pond to apply to her face, indulging in a good beauty regimen. Eventually, Muyu returned from outside.
"Madam, the master sent me to report to you first, saying that thanks to your portrait, the person has been found," Muyu said.
"The credit goes to Jianqi," Bai Ruozhu said with a smile.
Jianqi stood very straight by the side and didn’t offer any modest disclaimers.
Bai Ruozhu saw Muyu’s eyes spinning, seemingly eager to share an entertaining story. She tapped gently on the table with her hand and asked, "The process must have been a bit complicated, right? Tell me about it."
Muyu was evidently eager to share, and upon hearing Bai Ruozhu’s inquiry, his eyes lit up with excitement. Chen Feng silently wiped away a cold sweat and decided he would deny knowing this guy if asked outside—too embarrassing.
"The master found the young miss very quickly with the portrait. And you know what, she really is a beauty!" Muyu started narrating enthusiastically.
Bai Ruozhu nodded. The portraits had already revealed that the woman was a tender and alluring beauty.
"The woman’s surname is Duan, but she was already married. Her husband’s surname was Li, and he died of illness a few years ago, leaving her a small shop. She is quite capable and managed the shop even better. However, as time passed, she began to consider remarrying, and somehow she set her sights on Du Xueru. I hear that Du Xueru doesn’t like to talk at the Study Palace, and he doesn’t have many friends either. It’s really puzzling," Muyu rambled on.
"We’re not sure if it was her charm that took Du Xueru’s soul or if it was one of her shop’s helpers who did something surprising, but the man just got captured like that. By the time we arrived, they were already in the bridal chamber," Muyu continued, snickering mischievously.
Chen Feng threw him a glare and said sternly, "Watch your language in front of the lady!"
Bai Ruozhu actually wanted to ask if the bridal chamber was exactly as she imagined and if everyone had witnessed something... but with Chen Feng’s admonishment, she didn’t feel it was appropriate to voice the question. Anyway, she could always quietly ask Achun later.
Muyu laughed awkwardly and scratching his head, said, "That Duan Shi claimed Du Xueru was captured by her, saying that if there were any consequences, she would face them alone, but she was determined to remarry Du Xueru."
"What did Du Xueru say?" Bai Ruozhu asked urgently.
"He said he would take responsibility for Duan Shi, and then the master brought him back. He’s gone to see the Dean now. The master said we will set sail immediately," Muyu added.
Bai Ruozhu nodded, "That’s good. It won’t delay our journey."
As they talked, Jiang Yichun returned, and Jianqi, along with Chenfeng and Muyu, stepped out.
"So, what did Du Xueru say?" Bai Ruozhu asked curiously.
Jiang Yichun looked extremely grim and said discontentedly, "He has already disembarked. If I had known it would be like this, I wouldn’t have wasted time looking for him."
Because he was so angry, his voice was louder than usual, and the sleeping Little Dengdeng stirred, clearly disturbed by the noise.
"What?" Bai Ruozhu gasped, but she quickly understood.
"How can Du Xueru be so muddleheaded? If he likes Duan Shi, can’t he just marry her after the Jiangnan Competition is over? What’s the point of leaving halfway through?" Bai Ruozhu felt that Du Xueru might be infatuated, but also irresponsible toward the Study Palace. The Palace had nurtured him, and his masters had taught him. He just left without a word, isn’t that too indifferent to the principles of kindness and righteousness?
"He says he’s not good with words, and wouldn’t be much help in the competition anyway. The officers went to Duan Shi’s place tonight, and it’s already caused a stir in the neighborhood. If he doesn’t stay to marry her, Duan Shi will probably have a hard time holding her head up in society. I think he’s fallen into a tender trap and can’t step out of it," Jiang Yichun’s voice was much lower this time.
Hearing this, Bai Ruozhu then felt that at least Du Xueru was responsible toward Duan Shi.
"What about his family? Isn’t he afraid of not being able to explain himself?" Bai Ruozhu asked again.
"He’s an orphan, he doesn’t need to report to anyone. But he has disappointed the Dean," Jiang Yichun said as he wiped his face and took off his clothes to get into bed.
By then, the boat had already set off. The team originally had twenty members, but now there was one less, only nineteen remained. The whole incident left people feeling rather melancholic. From a woman’s perspective, Du Xueru might seem like a good man. However, from a broader perspective, he was irresponsible.
If he had made up his mind to leave with Duan Shi, or to stay, he should have sent word to the boat early on. Instead, he indulged in his tender distractions while causing many to worry and run around for him—wasn’t that a bit too selfish?
In any case, the matter was, for the time being, concluded.
In the following days, those from the Study Palace talked about Du Xueru with indignation. Some thought Du Xueru was irresponsible, having caused everyone an unnecessary concern, while others believed that Du Xueru, that blockheaded man, actually managed to find a young, beautiful, wealthy widow on his outing and wouldn’t have to worry about travel expenses for his future examinations.
However, as time passed, people gradually put the incident out of their minds, as they were attracted to new sights—the more they neared their destination each night, the more they encountered brightly lit boats filled with incessant singing and dancing. The students from the Study Palace were one thing, but the soldiers couldn’t take their eyes off them, often craning their necks to look at the beauties on those boats.
Jiang Yichun reprimanded the soldiers for this, telling them to mind their duties and not to break the rules. Yet the guards on the deck still sneak peeks whenever they could.
Bai Ruozhu giggled to herself watching this. Not just the soldiers—even she wanted to take a longer look, for such sights were rare in the Northwest. Besides, a beautiful sight was pleasing to the heart, who wouldn’t want to look?
And so, the water journey finally came to its endpoint—Jiuzi City. Everyone would continue overland from here, heading to Xuanlang City in Jiangnan to participate in the Competition.