Chapter 41 - 40: Outlining (Second Update)
"The seventh of next month?" Old Mrs. Xia clapped her hands and laughed, "To tell you the truth, that day, we had someone go to Xia Mansion to set a date for Yun Lang’s wife to enter the family. It coincidentally matches up, so it must be a good day. If that’s the case, let’s just combine the two events into one day, double joy, it’s auspicious! The wedding date will follow the Marquis Mansion’s intention and wait until Yunluo’s coming of age. I can’t bear for her to marry too early."
Mrs. Shi, hearing this, naturally added some flattering words.
When the news reached Anhua Courtyard, Du Yunluo was standing at the desk practicing calligraphy.
She held the brush, paused for a long time, and didn’t notice the ink spreading on the paper.
In the past, because of her initial commotion at Lianfu Garden, the marriage was left unsettled.
After she fell into the water at Fa Yin Temple, the Dingyuan Marquis Mansion requested an imperial decree for the marriage, but by the time betrothal gifts were exchanged, it was already late autumn.
The Dingyuan Marquis Mansion invited a lady from Mrs. Zhou’s family. Du Yunluo previously refused the marriage, and Madam Wu and Mrs. Zhou were displeased with her, so this Mrs. Quanfu did not treat her kindly, with a stiff smile that did not hide her feelings at all.
In her words, that woman was not satisfied with Du Yunluo and admonished her about the rules in a rigid tone upon giving her the hairpin.
If the two families hadn’t been making a marriage alliance instead of a feud, those words might have been even harsher.
As soon as that woman left, Du Yunluo cried and took the hairpin off, throwing it on the bed, ignoring even Mrs. Zhen’s words of comfort.
After the small betrothal, the wedding date was also left undecided for a long time. Du Yunluo didn’t want to marry, so she didn’t care at all. Even after her coming of age, the Dingyuan Marquis Mansion hadn’t mentioned a single word about it, which made Mrs. Zhen anxious. But no matter how anxious she was, she couldn’t bring herself to inquire about it from the groom’s family.
Mrs. Zhen was not anxious for long.
Du Yunluo was only two months past her coming of age; the first month of the 20th year of Yong’an had not yet passed when there was another disturbance at the border.
As the imperial decree to go on campaign was about to be issued, Madam Wu went to the palace to see the Empress Dowager, hoping to preserve some bloodline for the Mu Family’s eldest branch.
Mu Lianxiao’s second brother, Mu Liancheng, went to the border first. The Dingyuan Marquis Mansion married Du Yunluo by imperial decree in March, but the palace gave the couple less than three months together.
Du Yunluo had cried, complained, blamed, and resented, but what could she do?
Ultimately, it led to the outcome of retreating to a life of green lamp and old Buddha.
But this time...
Aside from the matter of Princess An Ran, this time the proposal went smoothly. Between the lines, Mrs. Shi indicated that Madam Wu and Mrs. Zhou were quite satisfied, and no matter which lady from the family came to give her a hairpin during the small betrothal, she would surely have a smiling face.
As for the wedding date, the Dingyuan Marquis Mansion said they would wait until her coming of age, likely the same as in her previous life, being pressured by the situation at the border, and getting married in the spring of the 20th year of Yong’an.
But this time, Du Yunluo’s heart would not have those feelings of rejection.
Even if it’s only three months, so what?
For someone who regretted half a lifetime of waiting, even just three hours would be stolen time, sweet and satisfying.
Besides, in this life, she is determined not to repeat the same mistake. If she can steal three months, she can steal three years, thirty years.
She will ensure that Mu Lianxiao stays by her side for the long haul.
Du Yunluo breathed a sigh of relief. With that thought, she wished these two years would pass in the blink of an eye, eager to reach her coming of age sooner.
June 7th, when counted, isn’t that far away.
Du Yunluo couldn’t help but feel elated. Seeing the spot of ink on the paper, she instinctively added a couple of strokes, forming a water radical, yet the "Xiao" character on the right, she dared not write, fearing the maids might see while tidying up, leaving her only to outline it silently in her heart.
She wrote his name in her heart, as well as sketched his face in her mind.
Even after fifty years of not seeing each other, she could still vividly remember his dashing and heroic demeanor.
Truly, truly, she missed him terribly.
Du Yunluo’s eyes curved with a smile, her chest filled with longing.
When Du Yunru came, she didn’t have the maids announce her arrival. As she stepped into the main room, she peered through the bead curtain into the west attic and saw Du Yunluo’s tender expression, corners of her lips curled with a smile. Du Yunru paused, gently lifted the curtain, and stepped inside, glancing at the desk, "What are you thinking about?"
Only then did Du Yunluo come back to her senses, setting the brush down and stepping around the desk to take Du Yunru’s hand, "Sister, why did you come without a sound?"
"If I made a sound, how would I have seen what you were writing?" Du Yunru covered her mouth with a laugh, pointing at the water radical, "Truly, your heart is all poured into it."
Even though Du Yunluo had thick skin, she couldn’t help but feel her ears burn at Du Yunru’s teasing. She chided, "What are you talking about!"
"Why pretend with me? Weren’t you thinking of the Princely Heir? Or were you writing our third brother’s ’Lan’ character?" Du Yunru whispered in her ear, "Why didn’t you finish? Afraid of being seen? Write it, then tear it up and burn it. I promise not to tell anyone."
Du Yunluo looked up, seeing the amusement in Du Yunru’s eyes, and opened her mouth to say, "Could it be that sister has done the same? Written Shao Family’s second brother’s name and then torn and burned it afterward?"
The Shao Family’s second brother referred to Du Yunru’s fiancé, Shao Yuanzhou.
The Shao Family was one that passed down scholarly traditions, and its sons pursued official careers. Though not high-ranking nobles, they had a good and upright family style. Shao Yuanzhou also studied at Lishan Academy. Du Gongfu had read his essays and liked them a lot. After inquiring with Du Yundi about Shao Yuanzhou’s conduct, he had Han Shanzhang from the academy act as a matchmaker to set up this marriage.
Du Yunluo knew that Du Yunru had seen Shao Yuanzhou from a distance, enough to develop a good impression of that young, refined gentleman. Even after more than ten years of marriage, Du Yunluo’s impression was that her elder sister and brother-in-law had a very good relationship.
Hearing such teasing words, Du Yunru’s cheeks turned rosy, "You, you, you! Oh, Du Yunluo! In the future, you’re not allowed to go into my storeroom asking for things. Not a single stone or flower will come your way!"
Du Yunluo burst into laughter, barely able to stay upright.
The sisters played around for a while, laughing and bantering until they were called to dine in Qinghui Garden.
To prepare for the small betrothal, Mrs. Zhen had people work overnight to make a set of ceremonial robes, and Jin Ling stayed up for two nights to rush out the embroidery work.
Mrs. Shi sent a message that the one coming to give the hairpin at the Dingyuan Marquis Mansion was Madam Wu’s niece, married to a man with the surname Tian, from Quanfu.
After hearing this, Old Mrs. Xia turned to ask Nanny Xu, "Her husband’s surname is Tian, and her family name is Wu. Is she from Mr. Tian’s mansion at the Imperial Supervision Office?"
Nanny Xu furrowed her brow, thinking carefully, "I remember that Mr. Tian’s wife is indeed surnamed Wu. Madam, she is a Second Rank imperial decree lady. Madam Wu inviting her shows she favors our Fifth Miss."
Old Mrs. Xia beamed with joy, nodding repeatedly, "Favoring her is good, favoring her is good."
When Du Yunluo heard Mrs. Zhen mention it, she was left in a bit of a daze.
Madam Wu’s family was a hundred-year-old prestigious family from Jiangnan, with several members married into the capital, all in extraordinary families.
Since Du Yunluo was not favored by Madam Wu before and didn’t like interacting with the Wu family, she only had a faint impression of those people.
Yet she still remembered Mrs. Wu.
Mrs. Wu, round-faced and slightly plump, looked quite blessed and occasionally visited the Dingyuan Marquis Mansion. Seeing that Du Yunluo was stubborn, she initially tried to offer some advice.
Things like peace of mind, magnanimity, humility, and self-restraint, when spoken by Mrs. Wu, who was affluent and leisurely, seemed somewhat unconcerned in Du Yunluo’s ears.
Du Yunluo didn’t care for her, and after a few times, Mrs. Wu no longer advised her.
To this day, looking back, Mrs. Wu hadn’t done anything wrong. It was Du Yunluo who had cornered herself and then blamed others.