Chapter 124 Don’t Go

Guan Suyi stayed at home for half a month and was finally ready to leave for Jiaozhou today. She got up early, didn’t wash or dress, just sat in front of the mirror in a daze. At the beginning of her rebirth, she wanted to turn around and return to Jiaozhou, never entering the capital. But now that her wish had finally come true, her heart was full with inexplicable melancholy.

Jinzi and Minglan had already packed their belongings in large and small bags, and even took down the curtains on the windows and planned to take them.

Suddenly, the Mynah bird came in through the crack of an open window, flew down onto the bronze mirror, tilted its head and looked at her, “Madam don’t go, Madam marry Zhen!” It jumped left, jumped right, and kept repeating these two sentence.

Minglan took a deep breath, hurriedly closed the window, and ran outside to check. Seeing that there were no other people around, she slapped her chest and slumped against the door frame. This little thing ran out suddenly and said these things that could not be heard by outsiders. If this thing kept making troubles, afraid that she would lose her soul. Sure enough, they had to leave Yanjing as soon as possible.

“You shout ‘Zhen’ again and again, aren’t you afraid that others will take you as ‘rough traitors’ and cook you?” Guan Suyi’s dull mood was slightly cheered, she pinched the Mynah’s sharp beak to make fun of it. The Mynah flapped his wings and wanted to scratch with his claws, but hesitantly put it down. Obviously, he had received strict training and would not hurt her in the slightest.

“Forget it, no one will listen to these words in the future. Let your master entertain himself.” Guan Suyi took out a few grains of rice from her purse and summoned, “Come and eat. I’ll teach you the last sentence. Take care, take care…”

The Mynah was very smart, and he could repeat it after listening to it a few times. Then Guan Suyi held it out of the window and let it fly, watching it disappear in the direction of the imperial city with sluggish eyes. When she was about to leave, she realized that the time she stayed in the capital were not all depression and pain, but also sunshine and spring breeze; even more there were freedom and willfulness, wandering uninhibitedly, and such memories were all related to Hunnar.

So if you feel reluctant to part, it’s human nature, right?

Guan Suyi didn’t dare to think deeply, she quickly get ready, and went to the front hall to say goodbye to her family. After breakfast, the gate of the mansion was opened, and dozens of guards escorted seven carriages, ready to go to Jiaozhou. The passers-by pointed and talked about it, saying that the noble women of the high gate family was really full of style, and she had so much luggage when she went out, the valuable things inside probably was not a few.

However, who knows, there were only a few bags of valuable things in the carriage, the rest were loaded with books. To ordinary people, they were worthless, but in the eyes of Guan family, they were comparable to precious treasure.

Old Master Guan clutched his chest and muttered, “Yiyi, your maternal grandfather’s family has a huge collection of books, why do you still want to take our family’s books away? How troublesome is this going back and forth?”

“No trouble, I only loaded seven carriages when I go, and maybe there will be fourteen when I come back. This is called reluctant to let the child catch the wolf*it’s a metaphor to achieve a certain purpose and must pay a corresponding price. Grandfather, please be more generous.” Guan Suyi swept the corner of her eyes to the side of the street, then paused. Sure enough, Hunnar came, his face covered with a layer of human skin mask, and the Mynah stood on his shoulder, talking in his ear.

He noticed her gaze, and silently mouthed, “Don’t go.”

So what if I don’t go? Do I really have to marry into the palace? The last time her father asked her how a nobleman should be regent, this was a hint to her that even if the emperor was deeply affectionate and righteous, once the two were united, it would become a purely political relationship. And politics was precisely the most dangerous and most difficult to grasp. It would be a second marriage for her, her name was not justified, her status destined to be a head lower than other concubines, how could she dominate the six palaces?

Moreover, just managing the Zhao’s house she already felt tired, and she would not jump into the sea of swords and fire without thinking.

After thinking about it, she retracted her gaze and boarded the carriage, but she heard someone outside the carriage shouted urgently, “Old master, there is a letter from Jiaozhou, you should take a look, see if there’s a change over there.”

Old Master Guan opened the envelope and read it quickly, his reluctant expression was immediately replaced with joy, “Quickly unload the carriage!” He waved his hand at the guards, “Don’t go, the in-laws are already on their way to the capital. Yiyi, come down and go home with me.”

“What’s the matter?” Guan Suyi asked as she lifted the curtain.

“The emperor wants to cast a history for the Wei Kingdom and create a biography for himself, and specially invited your maternal grandmother to come to the capital to write a book. How can a history book be easily written, I’m afraid they won’t be able to leave when they come back this time! Our family can finally be reunited, okay, it’s really great!” The old man rejoiced, but Guan Father frowned and looked worried.

Guan Suyi immediately jumped out of the carriage and kept asking, “Is it true? Let me see.” Only then she realized that she didn’t want to leave Yanjing at all. Leaving this place that gave her pain but also gave her joy.

Outside the crowd, Emperor Sheng Yuan looked at Madam with a smile. Her joyous appearance was so obvious, it seemed that she was reluctant to part with him. Take care? He doesn’t need to take care, he just wants to grasp the heaven and earth forever. Without his permission, Madam could not go anywhere, even the two Mount Tai could not arrange her to leave or stay. He could give her the freedom to choose, but he won’t give her the right to refuse, whether she agree now or in the future, it’s just a matter of time.

—-

The trip was canceled, and the only person who was unhappy in the Guan family was Guan Father, but he couldn’t say anything, so he had to find another way. Fortunately, the imperial examination was imminent, and students from all over the country flocked to Yanjing, now it was time to choose a few suitable son-in-law’s candidate. Zhong shi also wouldn’t let her daughter stay alone for the rest of her life, and it was only right to find a good family while she was not yet turned twenty.

At the beginning of spring, Master Xuan Guang always held a literary gathering in Jueyin Temple. Many literary giants, scholars, students, and honorable people gathered together to communicate with each other, which could be regarded as a major event in Yanjing. And this year coincided with the imperial examination, and this literary gathering naturally would become an opportunity for the students to become famous, and it’s unknown how many people come with the idea of clinging to the powerful, trying to take a shortcut quietly. If one lucky enough to be favored by any literary giants or honorable people, soon they would be able to step into the sky.

Didn’t the Emperor Teacher and Chief of Ceremonies were chosen by His Majesty at the literary gathering in Bodhi Garden? Who said that other people would not have that luck. What if His Majesty also came incognito to examine the character and intelligence of the current students? Thinking it this way, there was an endless stream of people who came to participate in the literary gathering, and even the noble ladies in the capital went up to the mountain in droves.

Early in the morning Guan Suyi was picked up by Zhong shi to dress up. She let her changed several sets of clothes, and finally settled on a goose-yellow chest-length dress, with a white muslin shawl on the outside, and the skirt was embroidered with willow leaves made from gold and silver thread, which was not conspicuous at first glance, but it shines brightly under the sun.

After that, she actually took out a ribbon of the same color, tied it tightly under her daughter’s chest, and once again tied a bow on the chest to make her daughter’s already plump chest even higher, creating a deep gully that even Guan Suyi felt herself blushing when she saw it.

“Mother, why do you make me wear this kind of clothes? It’s too embarrassing!” She complained while covering her chest.

“What do you know? This is a style passed on by the Jiuli people. The eldest princess wears this kind of dress every day to show off. When the weather is hot, she even forego the muslin shawl and goes out with her bare arms. I always look at it and become used to it, and when thinking about it I think it’s pretty, at least prettier than the dress with sleeves.” Zhong shi bent over to put on anklets for her daughter, and taught earnestly, “The Zhao family neither entered the noble families’ eyes, nor it’s comparable to the upstarts in the court, and later even the title of nobility was reduced to a commoner. Even if you hold the title of first-rank madam, there are no nobles in the capital who look up to you, afraid you have very little communication on weekdays. After coming to Yanjing for a year, how many times have you been out? How many times have you been to a Banquet? Do you know the madam of each family? Do you know what the most fashionable clothes, jewelry, and head ornaments in Yanjing City? Just know how to read books all day, really living in vain.”

After putting on the anklets, she took out many exquisite wooden boxes, selected head ornaments for her daughter, and said in a serious voice, “You are a reconcile woman. Although you are talented, your personality is too rigid. Mother will tell the truth that you won’t like, which mother-in-law would dare to have a daughter-in-law like you? Wouldn’t they be afraid of marrying a Buddha that they cannot suppress. Your biggest advantage now is this face. If mother doesn’t dress you up more beautifully, and let those family’s sons take the initiative to ask for marriage, I’m afraid no matchmaker will come to the door.”

She put on a set of emerald head ornaments on her daughter’s temples, pinched her chin and turned left and right, sighing, “My daughter is so stunning, even the praise causing a downfall of the country is not too much, and when you show your talent in this literary gathering, there’s not need to worry about your marriage.”

Guan Suyi kept covering her cold chest with her palms, and said with a smile, “Mother, daughter has just reconciled, so I’m not in a hurry to get married now.”

“You’re not in a hurry, but I’m in a hurry. Shut up and put some lip rouge.” Zhong shi took out a lot of bottles and jars and began to apply it to her daughter’s face. Zhong shi was from a family of agronomists, extremely good at growing plants, and even better at extracting and utilizing them. The rouge and gouache used by the women of the clan were all prepared by themselves, and the effect was better than the palace’s tribute. And Zhong shi was the best among them. If she was serious, she could even carve a few flowers from a dead wood, not to mention Guan Suyi was not dead wood, but a beautiful jade.

After a quarter of an hour, Jinzi and Minglan who walked into the room to pack things simply couldn’t even recognize her, and stammered, “Mi… miss, why are you dressed like this?”

The beautiful woman stood leaning against the window, dressed in brocade. The originally plain face was painted with bright lip rouge, and a small dot-shaped gold leaf was pasted on both sides of the eyebrows, the outer corner of the beautiful eyes were traces with ink brush, slowly lengthened, gradually rising, and finally quietly ending. The slight glance of the eyes gave a charming and amorous feeling. It was like a hook, which tightly hooked the tip of your heart, and it was like a dull knife, that slowly stabbed you in the chest, so that you could only stare at her without blinking to relieve the heart-stopping pain.

As if this soul-snatching face was not enough, she still wore the most fashionable chest-length dress, her enviable twin peaks were half exposed, round and upturned; her lustrous white skin was half covered, smooth and delicate. When walking, the breeze blows the clothes, which outlined the small waist that one could not bear to grasped; the skirt then bloomed, and even the brilliant gold and silver threads could not match the dazzling carnelian jade hanging loosely on her small and delicate feet and ankles.

Blood red, translucent white, step by step, she did not step on the ground, but on the heartstrings of other people. Where is this going to participate in the literary gathering, this is clearly to kill people! After today, it’s unknown how many handsome young men’s hearts would be crushed to death in her hands. Thinking like this, Jinzi and Minglan let out a breath, and finally they could breathe.

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