Chapter 82: Chapter 81: Folding Fan
After Miao Family left, the room suddenly fell silent.
Ninth Madam Miao was a bit uncomfortable. Although she was usually glib and eloquent, at this moment, she couldn’t think of anything amusing to say.
Especially as Old Mrs. Xia sat there holding her teacup, appearing calm and composed, and Du Yunluo, who was lost in thought, showed the same steadiness on her face as well.
It made Ninth Madam Miao feel even more uneasy.
No wonder the Miao Family would slam the table and say she was not welcomed on either side.
With nothing resolved, Ninth Madam Miao couldn’t even find a reason to leave and could only sit and endure it.
She sat there for a full quarter-hour.
The bamboo curtain lifted, and Lanzhi entered with a bright smile, breaking the balance in the room.
Ninth Madam Miao secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Lanzhi greeted everyone and said, "The eldest young lady is here."
When Du Yunru entered, she had a long box in her hand. Knowing there were guests in Lianfu Garden, she respectfully greeted, "Ninth Aunt Miao."
"This is the eldest young lady who will be getting married in a couple of days." Ninth Madam Miao found someone to talk to, complimented her a bit, and even gave her a meeting gift, finally easing the atmosphere.
Du Yunru handed the box to Du Yunluo: "It’s from the Marquis Mansion, I brought it for you."
Du Yunluo’s eyes lit up.
Items from Dingyuan Marquis Mansion?
The elders of different households wouldn’t send her anything, which meant, it could only, only be from Mu Lianxiao.
Thinking of this, Du Yunluo’s ears turned red, and she turned around, coyly calling out, "Grandmother."
Her eyes, as clear as water, were full of anticipation and curiosity. Old Mrs. Xia noticed and laughingly teased, "Go, go, go, you two go inside to talk, don’t chirp around me."
Du Yunluo pulled Du Yunru into the green gauze cabinet.
Seeing this, Ninth Madam Miao took a deep breath in her heart.
At Fa Yin Temple, Du Yunluo and Mu Lianxiao had met before. Now, with items being sent from the Marquis Mansion, Du Yunluo seemed very pleased, indicating mutual satisfaction between them.
The Du Family relies on Dingyuan Marquis Mansion, and Du Gongfu is favored by the Eastern Palace. In the future, the Du Family is on a smooth upward path. Ninth Madam Miao couldn’t understand why her sister-in-law wanted to fall out with the Miao Family.
The Miao Family already had a gap with the Du Family. In the future, asking the Miao Family for help would be impossible.
Du Yunluo closed the door of the green gauze cabinet and reached out to Du Yunru for the box.
Du Yunru smiled with her lips pressed together: "Guess what’s inside?"
"Did you open it, big sister?" Du Yunluo was stunned.
"You heartless one," Du Yunru pretended to be angry, placed the box on the table, and said, "I kindly brought it to you, and you suspect I’m someone who would do such a shameless thing. Tell me, what should be done?"
Du Yunluo quickly went up to hold Du Yunru’s arm, said a few nice words, and then went to look at the box.
It was long and narrow, giving no clues from the outside.
Du Yunru rested her chin on her hand and said, "The person who brought it mentioned that the Princely Heir was concerned about your foot injury and asked if you have recovered."
Du Yunluo pressed her lips together and smiled. Raising her eyes, she saw Du Yunru secretly laughing and quickly turned her face away, pouting, "I’ve been lying down for nearly twenty days, and I can already walk on the ground; now he asks, when he clearly didn’t care."
Du Yunru couldn’t hold back her laughter, worried Ninth Madam Miao outside would hear, and she lay on the table with shaking shoulders, watching as Du Yunluo opened the box, revealing a folding fan.
A fan?
It was rare for Du Yunru to have the opportunity to tease Du Yunluo, so she didn’t let it go, leaning over to say, "I heard the Princely Heir excels in studies. Could there be paintings or calligraphy on this fan? Is it ’The calling of the pheasant, in the river’s estuary,’ or ’Your robes are blue, my heart heaves like the blue robe’?"
Du Yunru’s voice was soft and melodic, like the chirping of an oriole, adding some intimate warmth to the ear.
Recalling that handsome smiling face, Du Yunluo’s heart raced.
The Princely Heir he...
Realizing she was being teased by Du Yunru again, Du Yunluo’s eyes turned, and she counterattacked: "Fourth Brother says that Second Brother Shao does excellent in studies too, perhaps all they do is read poetry? Has he ever written anything for sister? When Fourth Brother returns to the academy this time, didn’t you ask him to send something to Second Brother Shao?"
When it comes to being thick-skinned, no matter how experienced, Du Yunru cannot compare to Du Yunluo.
She yelped and lunged to tickle Du Yunluo: "You, you, you’re capturing all the scholars in one sweep."
Speaking of scholars, their father Du Huarang was a typical scholar, able to write and paint, gentle yet sincere.
Thinking of Du Huarang and Mrs. Zhen, Du Yunluo grinned ear to ear.
Hearing her father’s and mother’s names called in a mess, Du Yunru also understood, and the sisters laughed and playfully fought with each other.
After laughing enough, Du Yunluo carefully opened the fan.
Du Yunru leaned in to look. On the front was an ancient pine on a high mountain, and on the back was a lotus-colored pond. She uttered a ’oh’ in surprise and looked at the signature, a red seal from Shengxiang Pavilion.
"Isn’t Shengxiang Pavilion the most famous fan shop in Xuancheng, the capital of Lindong?" Du Yunru asked in confusion.
The eldest son of the Du Family, Du Huairang, was stationed in Lindong as the magistrate for several years and brought back numerous famous items from Lindong, including fans from Shengxiang Pavilion.
The artwork was meticulous, the materials exquisite, and the breeze from its simple folding fans was noticeably cooler than similar ones from other places.
Previously, Du Yunlan was curious and asked Du Huairang to bring back a few more for comparison but found nothing different, which amazed her.
Therefore, the Du sisters were quite familiar with the red seal of this shop.
Compared to Du Yunru’s surprise, Du Yunluo held the fan, her lips curved in a smile, and she couldn’t help but laugh again.
She knew it; Mu Lianxiao wasn’t someone who would paint fans or write calligraphy.
If it weren’t for her name being Yunluo, Mu Lianxiao wouldn’t have given her the Yunluo Flower in the past either.
The Princely Heir is a very straightforward person. By sending a fan from Shengxiang Pavilion, he was just telling Du Yunluo that he had visited Lindong in recent days.
After all, they were already engaged, and Du Yunluo was injured in front of Mu Lianxiao. Logically, during the days of recovery, Mu Lianxiao should have sent some signals.
But up until today, there had been no news.
Turns out he went to Lindong...
Du Yunluo couldn’t help but recall the past.
At this time in her previous life, it seemed Mu Lianxiao had also gone to Lindong, except she had been confined in Chunhua Courtyard and deliberately ignored news from Dingyuan Marquis Mansion, so she wasn’t sure.
Noticing Du Yunluo’s gaze fixed on the fan, Du Yunru softly called her name and said, "Oh, the person who brought it also said that the Princely Heir will be going to Qingliu Ferry the day after tomorrow, which will take him half a month there and back."
Qingliu Ferry is the largest ferry in the Capital region, where ships traveling north and south will pass.
Du Yunluo vaguely felt she had overlooked something, furrowing her brows in thought for a long time before finally realizing it.
Mu Lianhui, who left the Capital three years ago, was returning to the city.
The one who always had a hidden agenda behind smiling eyes, a sweet mouth with hidden daggers, who helped the Lian Family with countless malicious schemes, Mu Lianhui, was coming back.
