Little Cardamom

Chapter 3 – Night of Lights.

The hall was so quiet for a moment that a pin drop could be heard.

Ming Tan was in a trance and thought she had heard something wrong, although his highness the Dong Bei King is very much loved by His Majesty and holds a lot of power, but Gu Jiu Rou is at least the first daughter of the Cheng’en Marquis, this kind of words are too wild and rude.

After a long time, the only two people in the hall who were qualified to refute did not say a word.

Empress Zhang was excused for not speaking up, after all, Gu Jiu Rou’s first sister, Yu Guifei, has been giving her a hard time in the harem.

But the Emperor Cheng Kang, who has always treated Yu Guifei favorably, is also not making even a perfunctory remark, only drinking wine, as if the matter at hand has nothing to do with him.

There was silence in the hall until the black brocade clothes departed, and the servants only bowed to see each other off, no one dared to stop him.

Before going to the banquet, probably no one thought that the palace banquet would end in such a sloppy manner.

When they left the palace, it was not yet the end of the day, the sky was just getting dark, and the royal street was being lit up.

Ming Tan stepped on the sedan chair and was about to get in the car when she suddenly heard someone behind her shout, “A’Tan!”

She turned around, and when she saw the person coming, she couldn’t help but smile.

After Bai Minmin yelled out, she wanted to go forward immediately, but she bumped into Ming Tan’s unexpected smile, and the glowing lights behind her seemed to lose their color in a flash.

White teeth and clear eyes just like autumn water, light eyebrows and curved lips like the starry moon. There is beauty, nothing else than that.

Bai Minmin saw and froze in place for a moment. It was only after a personal servant girl reminded her that she came back to her senses.

Bai Minmin is the first daughter of Duke Chang, and Ming Tan’s first cousin. Because of their similar age, they have been close since childhood, and the two have been playing with each other since they were babies.

Previously in the Chang Ming Hall, Duke Chang’s and Marquis of Jing’an’s seats are on the same left column, and the two did not get to meet. This time out of the palace, Bai Minmin can not wait to come over.

She went forward and pulled Ming Tan, and bowed eloquently to Mrs. Pei: “Minmin pays respects to aunt.”

She is a straightforward person and does not like to beat around the bush, so she expressed her intention straight after the greeting: “Auntie, this year, I asked my brother to book an elegant seat at the Tingyu Tower, and I would like to invite A’Tan to go with me to enjoy the lanterns, would you let me borrow A’Tan for a few hours?”

The actual aunt of Bai Minmin is Ming Tan’s deceased biological mother Bai. According to her identity and temperament, being willing to take the initiative and call Mrs. Pei an “aunt” is undoubtedly the best affirmation of her “virtuous and kind” reputation.

Not to mention how comfortable Mrs. Pei was, there was nothing she could not agree to. She smiled as she spoke with dignity, and sent her entourage to accompany them. She also gave a detailed explanation to Lu’e, telling her to take good care of her little miss.

One must admit that Pei is a smart person. Bai Minmin didn’t mention Shen Hua at all, so she also didn’t forgot to be thoughtful as the principal wife of the Marquis, and didn’t say anything about letting Shen Hua go along with them.

When Bai Minmin left with Ming Tan, Mrs. Pei didn’t feel embarrassed, she just acted as if nothing had happened, smiling and talking with Shen Hua about the different kinds of dishes prepared in the palace today.

Shen Hua felt deliberately ignored by the three, and was insulted for no reason. When responding to Mrs. Pei, she showed a slightly forced smile, and her hands were clenched at the bottom of her sleeves till they turned white.

This matter was on Shen Hua’s mind all night, but Bai Minmin forgot about it immediately. On the way to Tingyu Tower, she praised how Mrs. Pei was a good person, and complained about how many complicated rules had been set after her new sister-in-law took charge of the household, and how difficult her life had been.

Ming Tan wanted to ask Bai Minmin about serious matters, but it was not convenient to talk during the festival, when the road was so busy with cars and horses. She had to be patient and wait until she arrived at the Tingyu Tower before asking for more details.

Tingyu Tower is the most famous teahouse in the capital. The tea is good, and the view of the riverside is even better.

In early spring and late autumn, when the rain falls, the river is flooded with mist. The fog is so vast that the scenery from the fence of Tingyu is interesting and popular among the scholarly and elegant people in the capital.

Besides, every year in the first month of the year, the official boats will set off fireworks on the Xianjiang River, and there is also a “night of fish and dragon dance” on both sides of the Xianjiang River.

Tingyu Tower is in an excellent location and is the best place to watch the fireworks. No matter how high-ranking he is, it takes several months in advance to book this elegant seat on the riverside for the first night of the New Year.

Bai Minmin set the elegant seat on the third floor, the space is not large, but the arrangement is very exquisite, the viewing spot is also considered excellent. But if you want to talk about the best, it’s the warm pavilion in the center next to theirs.

When a boy led Bai Minmin and Ming Tan upstairs, there were four people sitting around a table in the warm pavilion in the middle, chatting and drinking.

The man sitting near the door is dressed in luxurious clothes, and his entire clothing is of extraordinary quality. Of course, the most impressive thing is the sheepskin white jade with the word “Zhang” engraved on his waist.

“Zhang” is the surname of the Queen’s maternal family, and those who know a little about the capital’s families know that the person who has this jade can only be the brother of the current Queen, Zhang Huaiyu.

At this moment, Zhang Huaiyu sat casually at the table, playing with a wine glass in his hand, while bantering with the man in black on his side and chortling: “Your Highness, there is a lot of drama at the Palace Banquet in Chang Ming Hall this time. I heard that Miss Qianjin’s love was unjustly paid, and she cried and cried all the way out of the palace.”

The man in black didn’t even raise his eyelids, but it was Lu Ting who sat opposite him who asked in a deep voice: “Is it Gu Jinzhong’s daughter?”

Gu Jinzhong is the name of the Marquis of Cheng’en.

Zhang Huaiyu raised his eyebrows and nodded.

A stern look flashed in Lu Ting’s eyes, “There’s still time for her to cry and cry.” Then he picked up his glass of wine and drank it all in one gulp.

Compared with Zhang Huaiyu’s showy appearance and Lu Ting’s fierceness, Shu Jingran, who is dressed in a brocade suit with moon-white clouds, obviously has a more elegant and gentle temperament of a charming young man.

Shu Jingran turned his jade pendant, smiled as he shook his head and said: “In fact, losing face is a small matter, but after this act, the rumor that His Highness King Dongbei is arrogant and domineering and has no one in his eyes will be known to everyone in the streets by tomorrow. By then, if you want to find a good marriage, the capital’s young ladies might be ……”

The words did not end, and a slight “creaking” sound came from outside, and the vague voice of the boy also echoed: “Two ladies, please come inside.”

It seems that someone came to the elegant room next to them.

Shu Jingran stopped talking, and the other people also tacitly stopped making any noise.

“A Tan, sit down quickly. I asked them to prepare some refreshments, which are all your favorites. Oh, by the way, where were we?

Bai Minmin was an excellent speaker, she never stopped talking all the way, from her own troubles to the palace banquet in Yong Garden.

“Palace banquet, yes it is the palace banquet. Your girl is really able to talk, how can Shen Hua climb up to the King of Dongbei, her brother Shen Yu is appreciated by the King of Dongbei, but there is no reason to marry back the subordinate’s sister to be the king’s concubine, right? What’s more, Gu Jiu Rou was humiliated on the spot. Speaking of which, Gu Jiu Rou is really daring, His Imperial Majesty and Her Majesty are there, not to mention the straightforward admiration, but to offer a song in public, what do you think.”

“Gu Jiu Rou acted quite boldly, but His Highness the King of Dongbei is also too rude and arrogant.” With Bai Minmin, Ming Tan has always been relaxed, plus there is Lu’e outside to guard. She held her chin and said without much concern, “A wild and crude martial artist , I don’t think he is a good person.”

Zhang Huaiyu: “……”

Lu Ting: “……”

Shu Jingran: “……”

The ” crass

Ming Tan did not realize, and elegantly sipped tea. She finally remembered the real business: “By the way, can you find out what uncle’s plans are in these two days?”

Bai Minmin has always felt that she had forgotten something important, now Ming Tan took the initiative to ask her to react: “Oh, no. You saw what my father looked like that day, he wished to go to the Duke’s residence with a kitchen knife and chop people up, but he was persuaded by Mr. Zhou to stay calm these days, and I think he wants to wait until your father returns to the capital.”

Ming Tan listened to the words, her eyebrows slightly frowned.

The reason she knew about her fiancé’s dirty business was because some days ago she went to the Duke Chang’s house to pay her respects to the old ancestors, and was dragged by Bai Minmin to the study to steal books.

She had already found the book, but before she sneaked out, her uncle Bai Jing Yuan entered the study together with the guest of honor, Mr. Zhou, and as soon as they entered, he became furious and smashed a high-quality ink stone, and also brought all 18 generations of the ancestors of the Duke of Ling to curse, not giving them the opportunity to refuse to be heard.

“The first wife is not even married into the family, but he has an illegitimate child with his cousin, such a shitty thing can only be allowed by the Liang family! The little bastard has really considered himself a royal relative. Had the marriage not been fixed early, their Liang family’s stinky crap can’t even stand up to a new wall and will never reach A’Tan in the next eight lifetimes! Does he think that the Marquis of Jing’an or the Duke of Chang’s House was destroyed? This is outrageous!”

Both Ming Tan and Bai Minmin were stunned and hid in the same place for a long time.

When they recovered, Bai Jing Yuan and Mr. Zhou left the study like a gust of wind.

In fact, when she reacted, Bai Minmin was so angry that she wanted to go to her father, Bai Jing Yuan, and ask him to immediately go to the Duke’s Mansion to get justice for Ming Tan.

However, as Mr. Zhou advised, this matter is not very honorable, and it is not beneficial to make more trouble for both sides. And Ming Tan’s father is already on his way back to the capital to report on his duties, so his uncle’s family is afraid of overstepping their authority.

Earlier she forgot about it for a while and did not think, but now that she remembered, Bai Minmin is still angry.

She ate three pieces of snacks in one breath, and like her father, scolded the Duke of Ling. She patted the table and said: “This matter is all his Liang family’s fault, such a bad character can not be a good match for you! A’Tan you do not need to worry, with my father in, this marriage can certainly be dissolved!”

“I naturally know that this person is not a good match, but to break the marriage ……”

Ming Tan did not continue, but Bai Minmin and the people next door understand that the world is particularly harsh on women, no matter what the reason, the termination of a marriage is bound to be detrimental to the reputation of the woman.

Ming Tan thought of something and suddenly came closer with her chin and asked: “Minmin, you say that if the marriage is broken at that time……how should I behave in order to look innocent and virtuous?”

“……?”

“Innocent and virtuous?”

Bai Minmin put down the snacks in her hand, and recalled very carefully: “I remember when the fifth Miss of the Li family was withdrawn from the marriage, she personally went to her husband’s house to break the will. And the Fang family’s third Miss in the east of the city. Her fiancée redeemed himself before the wedding for a woman from brothel, and brought her in as a good concubine because she was pregnant. The third Miss Fang learned of this, and hanged herself with a white silk from the beam.”

“……?”

“But it does not have to be so intense.”