Chapter 87 Part 4: Mid-Autumn Festival
“Perhaps she was too young at that time. WIth her age being too young, it’s very likely for her to be frightened by people.” Ye Shijie couldn’t help saying.
Ye Ming Xuan didn’t reply, merely looking at Ye Shijie while beaming. Ye Shijie that was being looked at felt ill at ease and asked: “What, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” Ye Ming Xuan said: “Correct, children can indeed be easily led astray. Therefore, if it’s really like this, we also cannot blame her. Instead, we have to blame ourselves because we didn’t discover this matter before. But now, the current her is no longer a child. Based on what you said, she is someone with her own thoughts, a young lady with quite a huge courage. This time, she can say what she truly thinks and can also choose whether she wants to believe us or not.”
“Wait for us to meet and everything will be revealed.” He said.
……
Duke Su’s official residence.
It was a harsh day in autumn, but the flowers in the garden of Duke Su residence were still splendid.
Duke Su residence didn’t seem to have the desolate scene of autumn and winter days. Duke Su would raise different flowers that would naturally bloom during four different seasons. The peach blossoms would not bloom in autumn, but there’s chrysanthemum in autumn. Lotus flowers wouldn’t bloom in winter, but there’s plum blossoms in winter.
Of course, common peach, plum, or chrysanthemum couldn’t enter Duke Su’s eyes. The flowers that the Duke Su residence raised were more delicate than most people. They couldn’t stand too cold or too hot weather. Too much water also wouldn’t do, buried too shallow in the soil also wouldn’t do. Also still needed to be constantly pruned, catch the insects, and look for a comfortable place for it. Must not be too cramped or too s.p.a.cious, must not be able to be grabbed by cats or pecked by birds.
People in the ducal residence, from the housekeeper and the imperial guards above to the person pouring the night incense below, each and everyone was an expert in growing flowers. If an ordinary person did not raise a flower well and went to squat in Duke Su residence’s gate, waiting in the morning for a servant boy to leave the gate and conveniently ask him a question or two, the answer would definitely be clear and logical.
Thus, when others asked which landscape within the walls of Yanjing had the best scenery? It wasn’t the White Cloud Mountain, wasn’t the Qing Daoist temple, wasn’t the inside of the palace, nor was it the decorated pleasure boats. Rather, it was the ducal residence. That was where all the best colors in the human world gathered in one place. Gorgeous, incompatible with the outside world. Someone said, if it wasn’t due to Duke Su’s moody temperament which no one dared to stir up, afraid the people who wanted to peek at the garden everyday would have trampled the gate.
It’s truly too beautiful.
Moreover, it’s unknown whether the place was so beautiful that the people raising were also beautiful. In the entire ducal residence, from the man servants to the bodyguards, each one looked as good as a flower. Though they weren’t as gorgeous as Duke Su, when they went outside, more often, they would fascinate people.
It was honestly puzzling.
At this moment, inside the study room of the ducal residence, a person was talking.
Kong Liu’s fist banged the table and in a coa.r.s.e voice he said: “Tomorrow’s mid-autumn festival, are you going or not?”
“Not going.” Ji Heng replied directly.
“Why?” asked Kong Liu: “Don’t you want to see what Cheng w.a.n.g is up to?”
“It’s not time for him to act yet, it’s useless to go.” Ji Heng said absent-mindedly: “Every year is the same, boring.”
“There’s Jin Man Tang this year.” Lu Ji, who was sitting at the side, gently opened his mouth, not forgetting to stroke his goatee: “Doesn’t master like to watch the play?”
“Right right right,” Kong Liu followed up: “Jin Man Tang, heard that it’s much better than that annoying Hong Bian Tian from Xiangsi team.”
Ji Heng glanced at him. As information, the previously famous Xiangsi team in Yanjing was popular because of Liu Sheng. Just that little Liu, who always sang female roles in the plays, gave birth to thoughts he shouldn’t have. He actually took advantage during the old general’s birthday to attempt crawling into Ji Heng’s bed. It made Ji Heng extremely disgusted so he broke Liu Sheng’s legs and threw him out. The related Xiangsi team also fled Yanjing on the very same night.
Offending Duke Su, losing a life was considered light.
From this point on, the Xiangsi team vanished from Yanjing and no other theatrical group had risen up. Not long ago, a Jin Man Tang came out and was deemed as not too bad.
Seeing Ji Heng not replying, Kong Liu shouted: “If you don’t go out, both small beard Liu and I have to stay in the ducal residence to handle work related matters the whole evening. Tomorrow is the mid-autumn, Mid-Autumn festival! Ji Heng, duke, master! Can you be a bit more human? Even beggars get to celebrate the festivals!”
Liu Ji didn’t speak, looked beamingly, yet very much agreed to Kong Liu’s speech. Ji heng lifted his eyes and glanced at the two of them. After a long time, he said: “No.”
Kong Liu was discouraged all at once. As he was about to retort, the doors suddenly opened. Ji Heng’s grandfather, the old general, walked in.
It’s late September, but the old general was still bare to his waist, ought to have just come back from practicing his swords in the garden; beads of sweat still glistening on his forehead. But his sword aura, as how it was always, should have wrecked quite a lot of the flowers that Ji Heng was raising. A few flower petals remnants could be seen floating above the old general’s head. Liu Ji’s eyelids couldn’t help jumping. He could recognize those petals, which seemingly looked like the flower “Xiang Xue Hai” Ji Heng bought from a foreign businessman for a thousand silver taels. These few petals should also be worth a hundred taels.
No wonder the servants always said that the most extravagant person in the ducal residence wasn’t Ji Heng, but the old general. Such a grandfather with no tender feelings, really no idea how he got along with Ji Heng.
“You are all going to the Mid-autumn carnival tomorrow?” The old general was very energetic, his voice loud and clear. Looking at Ji Heng, some regrets could be seen in his eyes, “at first I was thinking of letting you stay in the residence to accompany me in practice. But I just heard you from outside, saying what festival, what a pity.”
As Kong Liu was about to say “not a pity, Ji Heng is not going”, he heard Ji Heng’s regretful voice sounded: “Indeed a pity.”
Kong Liu looked at Ji Heng with amazement. Ji Heng smiled and calmly said: “Grandfather, stay in the residence to practice by yourself, it’s better to do it in an open s.p.a.ce. It will be very late when we return to the residence.”