Gave up

  Yu Qing's mouth was agape for a long time, unable to close it. After a while, she suddenly realized, "It turns out that he picked it up! How hateful!" Unfortunately, she was still angry and regretful afterwards.

  Zhi Yi frowned and asked what was going on.

  As if it were a simple matter, he added oil and vinegar to the story of being coerced by Li Xiao in Qingchang Houfu, and finally said with great indignation: "Brother, you say this person is so unreasonable. The pearl he gave was indeed precious, but my bear's paw is even more precious! Brother, I couldn't bear to eat the bear's paw you brought me, but he took it all away by force. And it got me into trouble, my clothes were torn...I reckon that's when the palace flower fell off and was picked up by him."

  "Huh? How did this palace flower end up in your hands, brother?"

  "This afternoon, he suddenly came to the door and said that he had disturbed me unintentionally, so he came to apologize specially. He also brought a whole box of gifts, which I thought was too valuable, so I politely declined. In the end, he only took out the palace flower and gave it to me, saying that it was returning to its rightful owner. I asked him how this palace flower ended up in his hands, but he refused to say, only saying that if he handed it over to you, you would understand the reason."

  "Hmph, you've picked it up, why didn't you return it earlier? Why did you have to make such a big detour?" Who knows what kind of tricks he's playing.

  Understood the meaning but only had the energy to stare blankly at this usually clever but now clumsy younger sister.

  It was really embarrassing that time, so I didn't dare argue back, hung my head and played with the pendant on my chest.

  After a while, Qing suddenly remembered something and asked Zhiyi in a hurry, "Brother, where did this palace flower come from?" She thought of Li Xiu questioning the origin of the palace flower as soon as he saw her back then. Fortunately, she was still nervous about it.

  He stared at her for a long time, also observing her for a long time, suppressing the complex emotions in his heart, and calmly said, "A few years ago, I met a monk at the Dai Wang Fu. The monk said that he had a predestined relationship with me and insisted on giving me this palace flower. He said it was to be given to someone suitable for wearing. Later, I was worried that this matter would seem strange, so I let someone take it away and throw it away. But unexpectedly, during one of the bandit attacks, I saw it again in a clump of grass outside the city wall, and feeling sorry for it, I picked it up and brought it to you."

  "Is this related to Li Xiao?"

  Understand the meaning with a sideways glance.

  "At that time, Li Xiong saw me but didn't recognize me, and only questioned where this palace flower came from. Now, hearing brother say so, could it be that this palace flower has something to do with him?"

  Zhiyi also sank into thought, but after thinking for a long time, he couldn't figure it out. Jing'er asked casually, "Brother said that the palace flower was sent by a monk from the Daiwang Mansion. Do you still remember the monk's Dharma name?" Generally, monks who can enter the homes of the powerful and wealthy should be "high monks" who have attained enlightenment, so they must have a Dharma name.

  "Of course I remember..." Zhiyi's words trailed off halfway as his face suddenly changed color, staring intensely at Ruxin with a look of utter shock.

  Yu Qing saw his expression and was startled, stuttering: "Brother, what's wrong? Did you remember something?"

  Zhī yì mù guāng gǔ guài de dīng zhe rú qíng, qīng jùn kuà hēi de jiǎo liǎn shàng quán shì hài rén de zhèn jīng yǔ bù kě sī yì, rú qíng bèi dīng dé xīn tóu máo máo de, rěn bù zhù yí jiàng duō pì gu, qiáng zì zhèn dìng, shì tàn xìng de qīng jiào zhe: "gē gē, gē gē?"

  Zhī yì huí guò shén lái, dào: "méi shén me, suàn le, yīng gāi zhǐ shì yī shí qiǎo hé ba. Shí hóu bù zǎo le, mèi jiě yě gāi xiē le, zǎo xiē xiē xià ba."

  Translation:

  "Nothing's wrong, forget it, it must have been just a coincidence. It's getting late, sister should also rest, go to bed early."

  It seems like an illusion, but somehow she saw a hint of worry and solemnity on his face, which was always cold and never easily revealed. At the same time, she felt anxious and looked at Zhiyi's expression, as if he had thought of something, but didn't want to tell her. Could it be that this ordinary palace flower actually held some earth-shattering secret?

  ……

  On the second day, Chen Xiang brought hot water to serve Ruo Qing, combing her hair while saying: "Just now when I went to fetch hot water, Fu Gui stopped me and told me according to Master's instructions that Miss should not wear that palace flower again, it would be best to throw it away."

  Ru Jing was gazing at her face in the mirror, paused for a moment and said: "Oh, okay." Then she asked Yuqin to take out the butterfly orchid on her pillow and throw it away.

  ……

  This time's full moon wine was very successful, although there were some unpleasant things, but overall, it was still not bad. At least the dishes personally selected by Qingyu, after being placed on the dinner table, only half remained. Zhiyi is the master of the family, entertaining guests outside, while Qingyu and Yu Shi are in the hall behind the wine building, greeting female guests, chatting and laughing with the wives of officials who were not much different in rank.

  Yu Shi was dressed in a bright red embroidered jacket with auspicious patterns, a white sable fur trim on her forehead adorned with blue gemstones, and a hairpin with hollowed-out chrysanthemum flowers on the side of her bun. She wore golden bangles with embedded gemstones on each wrist, exuding an air of joy and festivity. Due to not having seen sunlight during her postpartum confinement, her skin had become even whiter. Everyone who saw her couldn't help but feel envious and jealous, as her face was a radiant white with a hint of red glow, almost flawless. Typically, women who have just given birth would have dark spots or brown freckles on their faces, or look haggard, but Yu Shi looked like she had been plucked from the water, a true gem, and it was clear that she had been extremely well taken care of during her confinement.

  Some women asked what Yu Shi ate during her confinement period, and how she managed to have such good skin and complexion.

  Yu smiled warmly, "Actually, it's nothing much, just following the old family customs and eating some. In fact, I have to thank my younger sister for taking charge of the official seal on my behalf, otherwise I wouldn't be so carefree."

  Everyone looked at Rú Qíng again, today's Rú Qíng was wearing a rose-purple cheongsam with embroidered peony flowers and cloud-patterned hairpins on her temples, a small rose-shaped hairpin slanted on her hair bun, a butterfly-shaped golden earring on each ear, and a black pearl made of green jade on her ears, tied with gold thread. The whole person looked spirited and elegant, standing behind Yú Shì's back, occasionally smiling in response.

  Now hearing Yú Shì say this, she couldn't help but smile: "Isn't it just because brother dotes on sister-in-law? Can't bear for sister-in-law to be too tired during the month of confinement, so all the household chores were pushed onto me?"

  Everyone envied and admired, saying that the Yu family was very lucky, and also praised Ruxin for being so young and able to manage household chores. Whoever marries her in the future will be extremely fortunate.

  Then someone mentioned Rourou's future husband's family, the Xiang family was not very famous in the capital, and was even unknown, let alone in Datong. But she didn't want to explain too much, just one sentence "It's just a fifth-grade official, I'm afraid it will make you ladies laugh."

  Everyone heard this and felt somewhat regretful, but they said with a smile: "It's good fortune that the young lady is marrying down; at her husband's home she can hold her head high."

  With a faint smile, there was no more conversation after just one sentence of "Thank you for your kind words".

  Many women saw that Ruxiang's words were very tight, and they thought that the future mother-in-law was indeed unbearable to mention. Moreover, Ruxiang would return to Beijing next year to get married, and even if she tried to intervene, it would be useless. They all turned their heads towards Yu Shi.