If the current Empress had even a third of Lu Chonghua’s shrewdness and decisiveness, the Crown Prince and Prince Gong wouldn’t have reached their current state, and Empress Dowager Lu herself wouldn’t have suffered such a precipitous fall in status before Emperor Jianzhang, reducing herself to this present condition where her husband showed no affection and her sons were unfilial.
Song Chuyi knew Lu Chonghua had made up her mind and must go, so she stopped trying to persuade her. In any case, she owed Lu Chonghua a debt of gratitude.
After the Yangquan incident, a series of events had successively occurred in the capital—the monks of Huangjue Temple were all executed for plotting rebellion, Elder Chen fell from power, the Crown Prince and Grand Heir were ambushed one after another, the feudal princes entered the palace, Prince Gong fell from favor—one matter after another like summer rain, coming fast and fierce, striking people before they could recover. The capital and even various localities had long been shocked breathless by this string of events. Everyone lived on tenterhooks, not daring to relax for a moment, fearful that at any time the Imperial Guard might come knocking at their door.
Fortunately today’s grand Mid-Autumn Festival banquet finally gave people a chance to catch their breath. Even Commander Lai’s wife couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief—recently their household had been incredibly busy, with countless people openly and covertly inquiring for news. But she herself also kept her heart in her throat, not daring to let it down. Others were unreliable, but she knew—even though her husband held the position of Commander of the Imperial Guard, his days recently had been filled with fear and trepidation.
She dared not ask too many questions, but seeing her husband busy day and night, always wearing a worried expression, she was always afraid. Now that the Central Palace was hosting a banquet, it was enough to set people’s minds at ease.
The capital in the evening was exceptionally lively. Every household hung large red lanterns, and on Vermillion Bird Avenue even the trees were full of colorful lanterns. Both sides of the road were filled with all manner of stalls, the brilliant lights so dazzling people could barely open their eyes.
Xiang Mingzi’s eyes were practically glued to the flower lanterns. She pulled Song Chuyi’s hand, not knowing where to look: “This is so much more interesting than viewing lanterns at home.”
Lu Chonghua’s face also wore a smile. She looked out through the open window, her eyes reflecting the scattered points of colorful lights outside: “What a pity we can only watch from up here. Actually, if one truly wanted to find entertainment, one should go down there.”
Nanny Lu looked distressed. Hearing these words, she could barely keep the smile on her face. With a bitter expression, she advised: “Oh dear, oh dear! Miss, please don’t say such things. Even if you don’t fear making your grandmother angry, please consider Sixth Miss Song and Miss Mingzi. The Earl’s manor has strict rules.”
Moreover, Song Chuyi was the future Grand Heir’s consort. With things so unstable recently, if anything happened, who would bear the responsibility? Nanny Lu felt that since coming to the capital, her young lady had become vastly different from before. Her temperament had somehow changed, becoming like a wild country girl, wanting to try everything. She even had the wild fantasy of going to Zhangzhou. Just thinking of this matter, Nanny Lu’s face paled and her heart grew bitter. A young lady, without any elder or brothers accompanying her, actually dared to go to such a distant place—it was truly terrifying. Yet perversely, Old Master Lu had actually agreed.
She had just finished using the Earl’s strict rules to persuade Lu Chonghua when Qing Luo hurriedly knocked and entered, whispering something in Song Chuyi’s ear. Song Chuyi raised her eyebrows, then stood up and told Lu Chonghua and Xiang Mingzi to continue enjoying themselves while she led Qing Tao and Qing Luo out the door.
Someone about to become the Grand Heir’s consort, yet she still left whenever she pleased? Coming out to watch fireworks was already improper, and now she was actually going out. Nanny Lu truly found it somewhat inconceivable.
Downstairs the voices were deafening, very lively. Lu Chonghua rested her chin on both hands and looked out again, smiling as she turned back to Xiang Mingzi: “Previously I only heard it described as lively, not knowing exactly how lively. Now I finally understand—people are shoulder to shoulder, rubbing elbows. I’ve never seen so many people before.”
Nanny Lu had been harboring considerable resentment toward her young lady lately. She was an old nanny given to Lu Chonghua by Old Madam Lu and had always held an extremely high position. Hearing this, she couldn’t help but laugh mockingly: “Young ladies have precious golden bodies—how can they come to such places? I’m not just saying this…”
Lu Chonghua usually heard such words so often her ears had grown callused. With great difficulty she had come out to enjoy herself once, yet Nanny Lu still chattered on incessantly. She endured and endured, but seeing she still wouldn’t stop, she couldn’t help but heavily set down her teacup on the table, stood up frowning, and instructed her maid Manyue: “Come with me to change clothes!”
Nanny Lu’s latter half of her sentence was now neither sayable nor unsayable, embarrassing her until her face flushed red.
Xiang Mingzi, having spent much time with Song Chuyi, was skilled at smoothing things over. She glanced at Nanny Lu and smiled pleasantly: “Go quickly. You just came in from outside and got covered in who knows what smell. In a bit I’ll also need to change.”
They had reserved two adjacent rooms—one for moon viewing and watching fireworks, the other for convenient changing and washing. Manyue went out with her and couldn’t help but softly advise: “Why should Miss stoop to her level? After a while when we go to Zhangzhou, she won’t be following anyway. Just endure for the moment.”
As she spoke they had already pushed open the next door, but this push startled Manyue into crying out softly. She involuntarily stepped back. Lu Chonghua frowned, and looking up saw a handsome young man with delicate features wearing a dark blue-green robe also looking at them in surprise, himself also startled.
No matter how mature and steady she was, yearning for Madam Qin, she was ultimately still a young lady. And when young ladies encountered strange men, few were not shy. After a moment of shock her face reddened and she was about to retreat outside when she raised her eyes and happened to see Song Chuyi emerging from behind the screen. She couldn’t help but freeze in place again—this young man was certainly not her Grand Heir cousin. What was Song Chuyi doing?
Clearly she was thinking too much. Song Chuyi openly and frankly broke into a smile, extending her hand to beckon her: “What’s this? Have you finally become truly impatient with that nanny of yours scolding you?”
A trace of helplessness immediately appeared in Lu Chonghua’s beautiful eyes. Seeing that the young man had already discreetly withdrawn behind the screen, she stepped forward and took Song Chuyi’s hand, nodding: “She’s always been like this. The problem is she was given to me by my grandmother, and my father is quite satisfied with her. I can’t overly contradict her, yet I really have no patience to hear her preach those principles, so I could only avoid her. What are you doing over here?”
Song Chuyi knew she was different from ordinary young ladies—someone about to travel alone all the way to Zhangzhou, no one would believe calling her an ordinary woman. Since she was unlike ordinary women, she neither dodged nor evaded, telling her frankly: “Second Young Master Ye is leaving for Taizhou tomorrow. My brothers and I are giving him a farewell gathering today.”