CH 6.2

When passing by Ming Huazhang, Ming Huashang slightly raised her small face and revealed a sweet smile, “Second elder brother, Brother Xie, I happen to live in the same courtyard as Miss Ren; I will go with her, so you don’t have to see me off.”

Ren Yao challenged Ming Huazhang just now, but now she was being pulled before the opponent, even her expression was frozen. Ming Huazhang gave Ren Yao a glance, then lowered his eyes to look at Ming Huashang. His eyes were filled with worry. Xie Jichuan pressed Ming Huazhang’s shoulder calmly and said with a smile, “Then I will have to trouble Miss Ren. Second younger sister is weak, so Miss Ren, please take care of her for the next three days.”

Xie Jichuan delivered the polite speech with familiarity; he spoke naturally as if Ming Huashang was really his younger sister. After Ming Huashang and Ren Yao left, Ming Huazhang pushed away Xie Jichuan’s hand and looked at him with a frown, “What are you doing? She seldom goes out, and she’s so foolish. How could you let her go alone?”

Xie Jichuan said, “Don’t worry about it. I think second younger sister is smarter than you think, she can handle it herself. I heard that Linzi Wang and Baling Wang have arrived, aren’t you going to greet them?”

Ming Huazhang was indifferent when he heard these two names; his eyes were still as calm as a clear lake. Jiang Ling finally noticed that there were other people. Ming Huazhang had stopped the tomboy just now and even stood up for Baobao, as a result, Jiang Ling felt that he was one of his own.

He strode over and said, “Second young master Ming, thank you for saving my Baobao just now. In the past, my father always praised you, and I thought you were as hypocritical as the others from aristocratic families. I didn’t expect you to be an open-minded person. Ai, this is…”

Xie Jichuan looked at Jiang Ling with a smile, and said, “Eldest son of the Xie family, Xie Jichuan.”

Ah, his surname is Xie… Jiang Ling choked for a second, realizing that he had just scolded the sons of aristocratic families. Then he brushed it off and laughed heartily, “Since you two helped me today, you are my, Jiang Ling’s, friends. If you encounter any problems in the future, just look for me. I, Jiang Ling, will not hesitate!”

Ming Huazhang still looked cold and disaffected and Xie Jichuan smiled at Jiang Ling; the smile seemed warm, but there was no warmth in his eyes.

Although they have heard of each other’s family names, Ming Huazhang and Xie Jichuan, and hedonistic sons like Jiang Ling really had little contact with each other, so they only officially met today.

Jiang Ling was still angry when he thought about what happened just now, but the other party was a woman, so he couldn’t settle accounts with her. He could only keep Ming Huazhang and Xie Jichuan with him to release his bitterness.

Ming Huazhang’s eyes were indifferent, and he didn’t bother responding to him at all. Only Xie Jichuan kept smiling, answering with a sentence from time to time.

Jiang Ling recalled how Ming Huazhang threw the hairpin just now, and said with admiration, “I always heard people call you a master of the pen and sword. I thought my father was exaggerating. I didn’t expect you to be really good at it. How did you throw it so accurately just now? I couldn’t even see clearly when you shot that tomboy’s spear away!”

Ming Huazhang was silent the entire time, and only now did he answer indifferently, “That was the Miss of Pingnan Marquis’ manor, you should not act discourteously.”

The expression on Jiang Ling’s face froze. Obviously, he didn’t expect that after that woman pointed a spear at Ming Huazhang in provocation, not only was Ming Huazhang not angry, but he even criticized him. Xie Jichuan smiled and mediated, “Jing Zhan is just a magnanimous person, how could he care about such trivial matters? I only wonder how many girls will lose their hearts to Jing Zhan after today.”

Ming Huazhang glanced at Xie Jichuan, his clear and cold eyes were unambiguous, neither proud nor disgusted, “Save it. Matters concerning women’s reputation, do not speak nonsense.”

At the same time, not far away, Ren Yao was also scolding Jiang Ling in front of Ming Huashang, “That hedonistic son, only fit for guzzling and boozing, is a complete waste! He can’t even pass a single move under my hands, yet he flaunts himself around the city and without doing anything he becomes a Shizi. Really, the heavens are blind!”

Ming Huashang thought of Ren Yao’s desire to inherit the Marquis title but was unable to succeed due to her identity as a woman, so she understood her resentment towards Jiang Ling. It wasn’t convenient for Ming Huashang to comment on the matters related to the Pingnan Marquis manor, so she smiled and pointed in front of them joyfully, “Miss Ren, look, we’ve arrived at the Wuyin courtyard.”

This was the courtyard that Taiping Gongzhu prepared for them. There were a lot of people participating in this banquet, so male guests and female guests naturally stayed separately. Except for those wangyes and junwangs who had separate courtyards, everyone else stayed in the courtyards in pairs.

Even so, with so many guests today, plus the servants they brought, she was afraid that thousands of rooms had to be arranged.

Ming Huashang thought that with so many people and being on the mountain, the living environment would not be good. Unexpectedly, after opening the gates they saw richly ornamented buildings, neat stone roads, two spacious and bright main rooms on the north side, and a row of side rooms on the east and west ends for servants and luggage. There were also flowers and trees planted in the courtyard. Although the two would live together, the conditions were no worse than those in Luoyang.

Ming Huashang exclaimed, “Even the guest rooms are so tidy. Taiping Gongzhu’s financial power is too impressive!”

As the only daughter of the Empress, one of the few members of the Li Tang imperial family who could enjoy glory and wealth, also the daughter-in-law of the Wu family, how could Taiping Gongzhu’s reputation as incomparably rich be just for show? 

The servants of Zhen Duke manor and Pingnan Marquis manor moved their luggage to the courtyard. They hesitated when they saw the two main rooms side by side in the north.

Currently, the left side was the most respected, so the room on the left was more noble than the room on the right. Which of the two misses will stay in the left room and who in the right?

In terms of title, the Duke was of course more noble than the Marquis, so Ming Huashang should be on the left. But with Ren Yao’s thorny personality, could she bear to be inferior to others?

Ming Huashang was very sensitive to the atmosphere. She quickly realized what the servants were struggling with, and said, “I felt close to Miss Ren as soon as I saw her. Miss is one year older than me, can I call you elder sister?”

Ren Yao had never been so intimate with a woman of the same age. She was a little at a loss and nodded tensely, “Okay.”

Ming Huashang’s eyes smiled into crescents, and they were warm and bright, “That’s fantastic. I feel an attachment to the right side. Sister1 Ren, can you let me pick first?”

Ren Yao had treated herself like a man all these years, always reminding herself not to be inferior to men. She spent too much time practicing martial arts causing her to lack social abilities, so she couldn’t get along with the girls in Luoyang at all – naturally, she didn’t want to associate with those ladies either.

But even with Ren Yao’s slow mind, she realized that Ming Huashang was giving her way out of this awkward situation, using a very comfortable way to let everyone have face.

Ren Yao became more and more at a loss. This was the first time she felt kindness from someone close to her age. Her male cousins and similar aged young men were her competitors. The young ladies laughed at her for being rough and like a man. In the past seventeen years, only her grandmother treated her well.

But her grandmother was getting old, so her tough, wise, and omnipotent grandmother also started to say things like ‘get married quickly’ and ‘find a good family for protection’. Ren Yao had always been lonely and tense. She thought that women in this world were either like dodder flowers and only knew how to rely on others; or like the Empress and her grandmother, possessing an unyielding stratagem, swift and decisive, like a violent flame, burning everyone around them, including their own family members.

It was the first time she met a woman like Ming Huashang, who was as beautiful and lovely as those ladies who she regarded as dodder flowers, yet she was as gentle and transparent as water, soothing everything silently.

Ren Yao delayed a few beats before nodding. Ming Huashang thanked Ren Yao with a smile, and then entered the room on the right with Zhaocai and Ruyi.

Ren Yao was stunned for a while, and the servant girl of Pingnan Marquis manor stepped forward and asked cautiously, “Miss, is there anything you are dissatisfied with?”

Ren Yao returned to her senses and shook her head with a low voice, “No.”

After she finished speaking, she realized that she was hesitating. She pinched her arm hard to harden herself again, and said, “Put away the things quickly. Taiping Gongzhu will hold a reception banquet tonight. Such a good opportunity must not be missed.”

The maid crossed her hands in salute and cautiously agreed, “Yes.”