latelenovela Chapter 8 He had never encountered such a scene before.
Chapter 8 He had never encountered such a scene before.
On the fifth day of the twelfth lunar month, before dawn, Lin Shihe suddenly knocked on Lin Shiming's courtyard gate.
“Shiming, we received news this morning that your sister-in-law’s father accidentally fell last night. Your sister-in-law and I have to go visit him. We’ll be leaving soon, so only you will be attending the birthday banquet today.”
"What? How serious is it?"
“It’s not serious. The messenger said a doctor has been called and no bones were broken. But the old lady is getting on in years, so she needs to rest for a while.” Lin Shihe’s tone was a bit quick. “As for the birthday gift, your sister-in-law has already prepared it. You can just take it with you. Just remember to apologize to the old lady for us.”
Lin Shiming nodded. "It's good that Uncle Ji is alright. Brother, don't worry, I can manage on my own." His tone was sincere, and his eyes were firm.
"...Promise me you won't cause trouble." Lin Shihe was always a little scared by the look in his eyes.
"Am I that kind of person?"
Don't you have any self-awareness?
Lin Shihe gritted his teeth, "Yuanye! Go tell Steward Lin Bo to send a fast horse to the Crown Prince's Palace to say that he is invited to a banquet with the Second Young Master today."
"Brother, what do you mean? You don't believe me?"
"Li Yi, Yu Sheng," Lin Shihe ignored his younger brother who was about to jump up in anger, and continued to call Li Yi and Yu Sheng, who had just arrived at the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion with the jade pendant a few days ago, "Today, the two of you will follow the Second Young Master and keep a close eye on him. Make sure he doesn't leave the Crown Prince's side even for a moment."
Lin Shiming jumped up and down, "They're my men!"
Li Yi and Yu Sheng looked at the two brothers with conflicted expressions.
"You've handled this matter well today. I'll arrange for the two of you to return to Tingyun Army for a month of special training."
"Your subordinate obeys and will certainly follow orders!"
"you!"
*
No matter how unwilling he was, at 1:15 AM, Lin Shiming still got into the carriage that Lu Yuxi had come to pick him up.
Today, Lu Yuxi was summoned after meeting with several ministers, so he didn't have time to change his clothes. He went out wearing his Crown Prince's everyday clothes with a bright yellow cloak, looking elegant and noble, and even more dignified than when he was seen before.
Seeing Lin Shiming get into the carriage with a tense face, Lu Yuxi couldn't help but laugh, "What's wrong? You look so angry."
"Don't ask!" I'm embarrassed.
"Alright, I won't ask." Lu Yuxi changed the subject, "We're going to the Marquis of Nanyang's residence today. Do you need me to tell you about their situation beforehand?"
"No need!" Lin Shiming's expression suddenly changed when the question was raised. "I've already looked into it."
"I know that the old lady Wu who is celebrating her birthday today is named Lu Chunyu. She is the only daughter of one of the late emperor's younger brothers. She was granted the title of Princess Heyi. She is of high seniority and highly respected. The current Marquis of Nanyang, Wu Tongyu, is her only son. He is of average talent. Two years ago, she requested that her eldest son be named the heir apparent. However, this heir apparent is even less talented than his father."
"Looks like you've prepared well."
“Hey! Don’t rush to praise me,” Lin Shiming interrupted him. “I haven’t finished yet! I also know that this old lady is power-hungry and extremely controlling. In order to maintain her position, she relied on filial piety and the power of her prince father to marry her son, who is now the Marquis of Nanyang, to a daughter of a prefect with a lower social status, so that she could continue to control the entire Marquis’s mansion.”
"But she didn't expect that her prince father would pass away so suddenly, and the Marquis of Nanyang would not have a powerful wife's family to support him, nor would he have any power himself, so he had no influence in the court. As a result, the Marquis of Nanyang's mansion declined rapidly."
"So, seeing that the Marquis of Nanyang's title is about to be downgraded due to the lack of merit in the current heir, the old lady finally got anxious." As she spoke, Lin Shiming's gaze towards Lu Yuxi became meaningful. "She's planning to marry her own granddaughter, Wu Shuangwan, right? To make her your Crown Princess, so that when you become Empress, she can bestow upon her brother the title of Marquis Cheng'en, and he can rise to great heights."
Lu Yuxi's hand holding the teacup stiffened; he had never encountered such a scene before.
"Oh, why are you so nervous?" Lin Shiming smiled and took the teacup from Lu Yuxi's hand, placing it on the small table beside him. Then he gently squeezed Lu Yuxi's hand. "Did I say something wrong?"
“You’re right!” Lu Yuxi sat up straight abruptly, grabbing Lin Shiming’s wrist with a serious expression. “But these are all just the old lady’s delusions. I have never responded to them.”
“Oh, but I also know that over the past year, that old lady has been bringing her granddaughter to the palace to pay respects to the Empress from time to time!” Lin Shiming’s smile deepened. “And it’s not just this family that’s eyeing you, is it? I wonder how many of your potential Crown Princess candidates I’ll run into at the banquet today.”
Lu Yuxi was sweating profusely, and she gripped Lin Shiming's hand even tighter. "Shiming, believe me. I've always been respectful. Apart from you, whom Father informed me of in advance and with whom my marriage was already arranged, I haven't paid attention to anyone else."
"Really?"
“If you don’t believe me, let’s go back now and convey my stance to them, so they can give up their hopes. Don’t worry, I won’t see any of them.” As she spoke, Lu Yuxi was already preparing to call the guards who were driving the carriage outside.
"Alright," seeing things were getting out of control, Lin Shiming quickly pulled him back, not daring to tease him any further. "I know you didn't mean anything by it, I was just trying to scare you." Who knew you'd take it so seriously and react so strongly!
Lu Yuxi then gave up the idea of returning home and looked at Lin Shiming seriously. "I have never thought about my marriage before, nor have I ever had any feelings for anyone. Now that my father has issued a decree, I have promised that you will be my only one for life. So in the future, my heart will only be on you, and I will never have any other thoughts."
Lin Shiming's face flushed slightly under Lu Yuxi's intense gaze. He subconsciously looked away from her burning eyes, his words tinged with shyness, "I understand."
After saying that, he added quietly, "Don't worry, I'm the same way."
Lu Yuxi's eyes lit up when she saw Lin Shiming, who was filled with shyness and dared not meet her gaze.
Inside the spacious car, the atmosphere suddenly became quiet and thick.
After a long while, Lu Yuxi, who was very happy and satisfied, finally spoke up considerately to ease Lin Shiming's embarrassment, "Where did you get all this information?"
“Didn’t I say last time that I would face these things? In the past ten days or so, my brother, sister-in-law and I have inquired about the situation of the imperial court and the harem, so I have a rough understanding.” Lin Shiming finally emerged from his embarrassment and picked up the tea on the table. “As for what I just mentioned, it was what I asked a few governesses about the selection of concubines for you over the past year or so. They told me about it.”
Lu Yuxi was speechless for a long time before replying weakly, "You're quite good at finding people." Suddenly, she understood why Lin Shihe had asked her to accompany Lin Shiming on this trip.
Lin Shiming took a sip of tea and gave a fawning smile.
*
At 9:00 AM, the imperial carriage finally arrived at the Marquis of Nanyang's residence.
On some official occasions when the Crown Prince traveled, eunuchs would arrive in advance to inform him of his arrival so that the host family could make arrangements to receive him. Therefore, when the carriage came to a stop, the old and young of the Marquis of Nanyang's mansion, along with the guests, would already be waiting at the gate.
"Your Highness, we have arrived." The eunuchs arranged the steps and lifted the curtain. Lu Yuxi, wearing a bright yellow cloak, finally stepped down from the carriage after the eunuchs finished speaking.
The crowd at the entrance immediately knelt down in unison and bowed, saying, "Your subject pays respects to Your Highness the Crown Prince."
The area in front of the Marquis of Nanyang's residence fell silent instantly. Suddenly, everyone heard the sound of someone getting out of a carriage from above, but without the Crown Prince's orders, they dared not move and could only suppress their curiosity and kneel in place.
After helping Lin Shiming down from his horse and making sure he was steady, Lu Yuxi turned around to look at the crowd kneeling on the ground.
"Everyone, get up."
"Thank you, Your Highness."
The crowd slowly rose, and when they looked up, they saw a handsome young man dressed in fine clothes but thin, standing side by side with Lu Yuxi.
Lu Yuxi looked at the old lady who was being helped up by the maids and said with a smile, "I am here today to celebrate the old lady's birthday. Such a grand gift is too much trouble for you."
Lin Shiming, standing beside him, smiled gently. "You were the one who specially arranged for someone to come and give me a heads-up, just to put my mind at ease, and now you're acting all friendly!"
"Your Highness is too kind. It is only right for me to pay my respects to Your Highness. How could I dare to refuse?" Princess Heyi replied respectfully, not daring to overstep her bounds.
Lu Yuxi nodded in satisfaction and reached out to tug at Lin Shiming, who was dressed as a puppet next to her. "This is the second young master of the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion, my future Crown Princess. Shiming rarely attends these banquets, and I was afraid he wouldn't be familiar with them, so I came with him. So today, everyone doesn't need to pay attention to me; just focus on him. Don't be reserved because of me." In other words, I'm here to support him.
Upon hearing this, everyone was shocked and surprised, each with their own thoughts, but they all quickly bowed and said, "Yes. Greetings, Second Young Master Lin."
Lu Yuxi gave Lin Shiming a look, and Lin Shiming, who had been quiet for a long time, finally waved his hand, "Yusheng, bring the birthday gift prepared for the old lady."
Yu Sheng obeyed the order and quickly directed the guards to bring out the prepared birthday gifts. The servants at the entrance of the Nanyang Marquis's residence hurriedly stepped forward to receive them.
"Let's go inside and talk," Lin Shiming said, a smile playing on his lips, addressing Marquis Wu Tongyu of Nanyang.
After a long moment of stunned silence, the Marquis of Nanyang finally reacted and quickly put on a smiling face, "Your Highness, Second Young Master, please!"
Lu Yuxi and Lin Shiming entered the gate side by side, followed by the Marquis of Nanyang's family and guests.
"Grandma, we received news this morning that my sister-in-law's father accidentally fell last night. My brother and sister-in-law are in a hurry to visit him, so they can't come. They asked me to apologize to you."
Grandma Wu forced a smile. "It's alright, it's alright. Is Mr. Ji alright?"
"Don't worry, you'll be fine after a period of rest."
"That's good."
Before the banquet began, the women went to the side hall, the other male guests went to the main hall, and Lin Shiming and Lu Yuxi followed the Marquis of Nanyang's family to the inner room, where they had to offer their birthday greetings first.
Once inside, Lu Yuxi led Lin Shiming to the seat at the bottom.
Old Mrs. Wu hurriedly stepped forward to stop him, "Please, Your Highness, take a seat!"
Lu Yuxi waved her hand casually and sat down with Lin Shiming. "No need. The old lady is the main character today. I'll just sit here."
Seeing Lu Yuxi's firm refusal, Old Madam Wu had no choice but to apologize and take her seat of honor.
Once the highest-ranking guests were seated, the other guests took their seats one by one. Maids and servants took turns serving tea and snacks to the guests.
Seeing that Lu Yuxi was only drinking tea, Old Mrs. Wu realized that he was probably determined not to take the lead today, so she had no choice but to change the subject to Lin Shiming who was standing to the side.
"This must be Young Master Lin the Second! He's truly a handsome and talented man!"
Lin Shiming smiled faintly, "Grandma, you flatter me. I haven't yet wished you boundless happiness and longevity."
"Thank you very much, Second Young Master."
After exchanging a few compliments and making the necessary arrangements, Lu Yuxi and Lin Shiming got up and followed Marquis Nanyang to the main hall where the male guests were.
After another round of greetings and salutations, Lu Yuxi did not refuse this time and led Lin Shiming to the seat of honor.
Although everyone present was a person of name and reputation in the court, they were only attending the banquet today because of the fact that Old Madam Wu, Princess Lu Chunyu, was the Princess of Heyi. They never expected to be so lucky as to run into His Highness the Crown Prince and his Crown Princess whom they had never met before.
Soon enough, they began showering Lu Yuxi and Lin Shiming with compliments. With the intention of introducing someone to Lin Shiming, Lu Yuxi went along with it and started chatting with them about court politics.
Meanwhile, the atmosphere inside, particularly with Old Mrs. Wu, was not good.