On the Qingming Festival, peaches and plums are waiting, and the shore is covered with grass.
BMWs come and go, cars drive by, and there are singing and singing.
Outing in search of spring, men and women in the city all dress up and go out, with fragrant clothes and beautiful hair, which is the most beautiful year.
Compared with the noble ladies of the royal capital, who were dressed in silk and satin, their whole body was jeweled, but still covered with light gauze, which made them look even more noble, elegant and subtle. On the other side of the lake, a group of women in thin clothes looked around without hesitation, laughed wildly, and attracted a lot of attention. Tourists competed to look around.
"You bitch in the brothel." A woman felt unlucky, so she dragged her daughter away and muttered, "Shameless."
Some men looked at them a few times, and the women on the other side even looked at them flirtatiously. They were quite bold and unrestrained, so they could avoid being looked down upon. However, they didn't take it to heart at all, and continued to drink and make fun of themselves. Their laughter seemed to be seductive, causing the willow branches to stir up the lake water. There are rippling ripples.
It's just that on such a day when the whole family is traveling, even if some people usually hang around looking for flowers and flowers, or even are regular customers of a certain woman on the other side, at this moment, they don't dare to stay longer and just pretend that they don't know her.
There is only one exception.
"Master Liu is here."
"The servants have been waiting for half an hour. Mr. Liu is late. You should punish yourself by drinking three cups."
"Mr. Liu, please comment first, Nujia or Yuetong, who's lipstick looks better today."
Everyone watched as a group of women gathered around and chatted with each other, all with different styles and charms. Liu Changhe hugged her from left to right, and even kissed the woman who asked about lipstick, and said with a smooth smile: "Does she look good? , I’ll tell you after I taste it.”
There was another burst of laughter, with a slightly ambiguous tone.
Passersby heard the news and avoided it, thinking in their hearts that Liu Changhe was really outrageous, but no one dared to say it to his face.
Lu Anran passed by and happened to see this scene, and turned away without changing his expression.
Chunmiao turned around half a circle to block her lady's sight. Her little face turned slightly red in shock, "Miss, don't look at it, it's going to be a needle eye."
Lu Anran was amused by her appearance, "It's not so exaggerated."
"My servant is just weird. None of us in Mengdu have behaved out of line like this. Didn't the Liu family say that the scholarly reputation is passed down from generation to generation? Why don't they put more control over it and are not afraid of ruining the family tradition?"
Chun Miao didn't know, but Lu Anran knew.
The Liu family's hairpin family has stricter rules than other families, and no concubine in the family is allowed to be named after the "generation".
However, Liu Changhe is an exception.
The current head of the Liu family is named Liu Tingjing. He was the left minister of household affairs in the previous dynasty. The left minister at that time was Liu Tingjing's father, who is also the grandfather of today's prime minister Liu Xiangzhi.
The Liu family was a family of civil servants and had inherited several dynasties. It was able to survive because it did not participate in the infighting of imperial power.
Unexpectedly, seventeen years ago, Zisang Jiuxiu launched a coup to replace him, and Liu Xiangzhi came to power. Liu Tingjing and his son were dissatisfied with what he did behind the family's back, and refused to serve as officials in the hands of the new emperor. They also said that Liu Xiangzhi would have his own way. Expelled from the Liu family.
From the current point of view, the Liu family not only did not remove Liu Xiangzhi, but even relied on the reputation of the prime minister to retain the Liu family's power in the royal capital.
As for Liu Changhe, he was Liu Zhang's concubine, and Liu Zhang was Liu Tingjing's only legitimate son, and the most beloved son he had cultivated with all his efforts.
Unfortunately, Liu Zhang died young and his legitimate son also died, leaving only Liu Chang and a posthumous son.
Therefore, Liu Tingjing, who valued family rules the most, finally gave up on the family rules engraved in his bones when facing the youngest son left by his legitimate son. Not only did he let Liu Changhe follow his legitimate son into the "generation", but he also indulged everything and developed his current temperament.
But everyone is very curious, in this case, why not just bring Liu Changhe into the lap of Liu Zhang's first wife, and at least be known as the legitimate son.
There are two opinions -
First, the original wife refused to live or die. Even if the child she gave birth to died, she did not want to be taken over by the one born by the concubine.
Second, it is said that Liu Tingjing was dissatisfied with his son Liu Xiangzhi and deliberately used this to irritate him.
After turning around in their minds, Lu Anran and Chunmiao walked far away without realizing it and came to a bridge.
There were several boats parked in the lake, and music played by silk and bamboo could be heard from time to time.
Chunmiao looked from afar, "The young lady invited by the second young lady came here, but why haven't she seen anyone yet?"
Lu Anran is here today all because Lu Jianyu sent Xibi to invite Lu Anran for an outing to the garden yesterday evening.
The two sisters had never traveled together so closely together in Mengdu, but when they arrived in the royal capital, Lu Jianyu became uncharacteristically warm to each other. Lu Anran didn't think so, Lu Jianyu must have something to say.
"There is no one in the Lake Pavilion. Miss, go sit there and rest."
Before the two of them made any move, a painting boat sailed along the water and stopped just under the bridge.
Lu Anran lowered his head, and the woman on the boat raised her head, and they happened to meet each other.
A purple silk woman, with delicate make-up and emerald green hair on her temples. Her eyebrows look a bit sad but not sad, her lips are slightly raised in a sarcastic way, her long eyelashes are slightly drooped, and her side face is a bit melancholy.
Lu Anran was stunned.
She happened to know this woman.
"Miss Lu." The woman's eyes slowly opened wide, her eyes flashing with joy.
After blurting out the words, as if she realized what the scene was like, a flash of embarrassment flashed across the woman's face, her smile turned slightly bitter, and she turned away to avoid it.
Lu Anran has a clear mind and knows that the woman does not want to talk to her in public to prevent her from being criticized by others. However, Lu Anran is not afraid of gossip, and she has grown up under various perspectives.
"Honggu, farewell to Mengdu. Long time no see."
Shan Honggu, her husband died on their wedding night. She was sentenced to be burned, but she was saved by Lu Anran at the execution ground.
Because of this, Lu Anran was able to successfully enter the royal capital and enter Jixia Palace.
Neither of them ever thought that they would meet again in the royal capital after a few months.
Lu Anran is still the legitimate daughter of the Lu family, Miss Mengdu Lu.
Shan Honggu became Fei Yan.
—
The painting boat docked, with silk and bamboo threads on the boat. Occasionally, various colored clothes flashed through the hollow window lattice, and there were the graceful and graceful figures of Pingting.
Lu Anran and Shan Honggu, who had been renamed Feiyan, were walking along the lake, and they were both a little happy when they suddenly reunited.
"I couldn't stay in Mengdu any longer, so I sold my things and went south to the capital to seek refuge with my relatives." Feiyan said of her own experience, "My mother is from the south. Before she died, she told me that one day her family would not tolerate me. Go to the royal capital to find her cousin."
After something like that happened, even if Feiyan was cleared of the charges, it would be difficult for Feiyan to continue living in her husband's family. The word "Ke Fu" would be enough for her to bear with her for the rest of her life.
Feiyan's parents were gone, and her stepmother and half-brother were in charge of the family. Rather than go back and live a life of being looked down upon by others, she simply came to the royal capital without mercy.
"I never imagined that the cousin my mother mentioned moved to another place a few years ago."
She had no relatives and no reason to go back to Mengdu. Besides, she had never thought about going back after leaving Mengzhou.
Feiyan lowered her head, and the willow branches brushed by, casting a dark shadow on the side of her face. She skipped the middle twist and said, "I am now staying in Qiongxian Tower."
She did not complain about injustice, nor did she cry out her grievances. After she explained in a few words how she fell from a good family woman to a prostitute, she only laughed at herself, without any regrets.
Lu Anran looked at the woman's slender figure under her belt and asked, "How is your health lately?"
Feiyan raised her head, shook her head with a smile and said, "Miss Lu's medical skills are very good."
Lu Anran stretched out his hand, and under Feiyan's surprised gaze, he calmly took one of her hands and put three fingers on her wrist.
After a while, he let go again, nodded and said: "The losses caused before can't be made up, but if you pay attention to rest in the future, it will be no different from ordinary people."
Feiyan pursed her lips and stared at her wrist, her eyes slowly getting hot.
She could never forget the scarlet color under the falling snow at the execution ground, just as he held her hand and touched it without hesitation.
Women in brothels are considered by countless people to be filthy and bring bad luck when they encounter them, as if just touching them can contract the most unspeakable diseases.
But now, in Feiyan's eyes, the noble lady picked up her hand so naturally, as if it was no different from anyone else's.
And it is this kind of generality that is the most valuable.
Because in her eyes there was no meanness, no contempt, no identity, she just simply thought and did it.
When Feiyan's mind was wandering and she couldn't control herself, Lu Anran said from the side: "It may be a little late to say now, but the reason why you had that encounter was actually because of me."
Feiyan sniffed, suppressed all kinds of emotions, raised her head again and said, "If you think about it this way, it's my turn to give Miss Lu her life first."
Lu Anran recognized from Feiyan's face that she really thought so, so she stopped talking and asked instead, "Do you want to stay in Qiongxian Tower voluntarily?"
Feiyan reacted very quickly, and almost immediately understood the meaning of Lu Anran's words from this sentence. Whenever she answered no, Lu Anran would help her.
In fact, Lu Anran did think so. It was not difficult to redeem himself from a brothel. At most, it would only cost a little money.
"Yes, I volunteer." Feiyan replied almost without thinking.
Lu Anran always had a little regret for Shan Honggu in her heart, but if she refused, Lu Anran would not force it, let alone make her feel guilty.
In comparison, Feiyan lamented even more how many brothel girls could not hope to redeem themselves, but in the eyes of a noble lady from aristocratic families like Lu Anran, it was just a word.
Now that such an opportunity is in front of her, it's not that she doesn't want it, it's that she doesn't want it.
Feiyan didn't think she could accept Lu Anran's kindness without scruples, because she couldn't offer an equivalent exchange.
On the other hand, she entered the brothel because she was helpless and her life was unsustainable. After leaving the brothel, she did not have any plans for the future.
Lu Anran thought for a moment and said in a different way: "I'll ask someone to give you a recipe later. One recipe a day, divided into two times in the morning and evening, and boiled in five bowls of water."
There were already people on the boat, but the willow trees on the lakeside blocked the view of the people on the other side.
Feiyan knelt down and saluted, and said sincerely: "The past is over, there is no Shan Honggu in the world, and I hope that Miss Shan Honggu will be cherished by my family Feiyan in the future."
Lu Anran looked into Feiyan's eyes and nodded slowly.
Shan Honggu does not exist, and Lu Anran's regrets and guilt also cease to exist.
As for herself, no matter Shan Honggu or Feiyan, her life-saving grace was important in her heart, and she would not dare to forget it in this life.
Watching Feiyan board the boat again, the anchor was retracted, swaying and drifting to the next place with the current, just like the fate of the women on the boat, floating uncertainly.
