"There is a limit to the ends of the world, only yearning is endless …"
Du Jiu finished reciting the poem in his heart, then looked at Rong Xia with a subtle expression. This poem … is very interesting.
Rong Xia's house had an authentic painting by Zhao Bicong, so when he opened the painting, he could confirm that it was indeed Zhao Bicong's work. Moreover, it was rumored to be Zhao Bicong's last work before his death.
The autumn moon buries the soul of the flower, loneliness and yearning are nowhere to be found. This painting carried a sense of loneliness, but also a bit of expectation, anticipation for death, anticipation for meeting his deceased wife. For the old and frail Zhao Bicong, who had retired to his hometown, death was his best destination.
She just didn't know if he was still thinking about his late wife or his youthful vigor.
"Master," Du Jiu saw Rong Xia staring at the painting, and reminded him in a low voice, "This painting was not given by Ban Shizi, could it be … from Junzhu?"
The man was unmarried, and the woman was unmarried, but she casually gave such a precious painting, and the poem on the painting was so ambiguous. Could it be that Princess Ban had feelings for Master? Otherwise, who would be willing to give such a big gift?
He was beginning to believe that Princess Ban had a very high status in the Ban Family. Otherwise, which girl would dare to give such a rare gift to a man who was not related to her?
"It doesn't matter who gave it," Rong Xia put the painting back into the painting tube, "You did a good job before."
"Master, subordinate remembered something," Du Jiu suddenly said, "A few days ago, a woman with a child stopped Marquis Jingting's carriage. She claimed that she came from the same county in Xue Zhou, and her husband was unjustly convicted."
"Stopped Marquis Jingting's carriage?" Rong Xia put the painting tube in a position near the top of the treasure pavilion, and said with a faint smile, "She didn't go to the Supreme Court or the Ministry of Justice, why did she stop a Marquis's carriage?"
Du Jiu shook his head. "I don't know. It's just that Marquis Jingting didn't pay attention to this person and said that he had no real power in the court and couldn't help her."
To be honest, when he heard Marquis Jingting say this, Du Jiu felt that the Ban Family's way of thinking was a bit different from normal people.
The father said without hesitation that he had no real power, the son liked to bury gold, silver, and jewelry in the mountains when he had nothing to do, and the daughter gave gifts to men, which were treasures that could not be bought with money. This family used practical actions to explain what it meant to be an abnormal prodigal son.
Other prodigals loved beauty, gambling, and bullying others. Although this family was particular about food and clothing, the dignified Marquis was under the control of the Marquis's wife, and he didn't have a single concubine by his side. Although the heir was also idle, he had never been seen flirting with women or showing up at the gambling house. Every day, he swaggered through the streets with a few guards, but what he did was fight crickets and cockfights. When he saw someone flirting with women, he would uphold justice. The only person he bullied was the second son of the Xie family. However, these two families had old grievances, so it couldn't be considered bullying or being bullied.
On the surface, this family didn't seem to be proper and didn't seem to be very likable. However, thinking about it carefully, this family squandered the wealth that their ancestors had accumulated. Although they didn't do proper things, they had never done anything bad. Compared to a certain family that appeared to be a gentleman on the surface but had blood on their hands, this family's character was the best.
But why was it that when everyone thought of the Ban Family, their minds were basically filled with their lazy and extravagant image?
No, this family did seem to be quite lazy and extravagant.
If it wasn't for the fact that Bo Ye had dealings with the Ban Family, he probably wouldn't have cared about the Ban Family, because this family really didn't have anything to care about. However, because of various coincidences, he started to pay attention to the Ban Family, and found that this family wasn't actually that likable. In fact, there were some things that were likable about them.
This was probably the reason why Bo Ye was willing to have dealings with the Ban Family.
"Shizi's gift is really too valuable," Rong Xia looked at the sunlight outside the window, and said in a good mood, "I should send some gifts in return."
When the steward of the Bo Fu heard that Bo Ye wanted to open the storehouse, he hurriedly rushed over with a few other stewards, each taking out a key to open the storehouse.
The Rong family had several generations of prominent ancestors. When it came to Rong Xia's grandfather's generation, the Rong family's reputation had reached its peak. When the current Emperor was young, Rong Xia's grandfather was the Imperial Tutor of the Crown Prince. Although not long after the Emperor ascended the throne, his grandfather died of illness, but the Emperor still honored him as the Imperial Tutor.
In the Rong family's storehouse, there were piles of property left behind by generations of Rong family members. Rong Xia took an ebony box from the shelf, wiped the dust on it, and opened the box.
Inside the box was a set of jewelry made of blood jade. There were hairpins, earrings, bracelets, bracelets, forehead pendants, and jade pendants. Each piece was as red as blood, but had an indescribable beauty.
One of the ancestors of the Rong family had been a high-ranking official of the previous dynasty, and had married a princess of the previous dynasty. Therefore, Rong Xia's bloodline, if one looked closely, had the bloodline of the previous dynasty. However, when the ancestor married the princess, the previous dynasty was at its peak. When the previous dynasty was destroyed, no one in the Rong family was an official in the court. Therefore, even though a new dynasty was established, and the Rong family re-entered the court, no one doubted the loyalty of the Rong family. Instead, they felt that the Rong family's bloodline was noble.
This set of blood jade jewelry was said to be one of the dowries of the princess. The Rong family liked poetry and books, but they didn't enjoy themselves. Therefore, these luxurious things were sealed in the storehouse.
When he was very young, when Rong Xia followed his mother into the storehouse, he felt that this set of jewelry was extremely beautiful, but he had never seen any of the women in the family wear it. At that time, he had secretly lost it, but he was afraid that his father would punish him, so he didn't dare to say it out loud.
After closing the ebony box, Rong Xia took an inkstone from the other shelf and carried the box out of the inner storehouse.
Jingting Marquessate, Ban Huai met Yan Ming.
Yan Ming thought that the Ban Family would be like the Princess Royal, and would not see him no matter what. But what he didn't expect was that not only did the Ban Family quickly see him, but they also served him hot tea. In the past, this was only the most basic courtesy, but at this moment, Yan Ming was extremely moved.
"Little Lord Yan," Ban Huai sat at the head of the table with a very serious expression, "May I ask why you are here today?"
"This junior is here to apologize to your residence. My younger brother and my mother were reckless and brought trouble to your residence and the princess. The Yan family is very guilty, but my father is seriously ill and unable to get up, so this junior is here to apologize to your residence on behalf of my family." Yan Ming put down his teacup and walked to the center of the room. He lifted his robes and knelt down on one knee, "A girl's reputation is extremely precious. My Yan Family has acted improperly and should apologize to the princess."
There was gold under a man's knees. He knelt to the heavens, the earth, and his parents. If he knelt to someone else, it would be a great humiliation. As the eldest son of the Yan Family and the future successor of the Yan Family, Yan Ming knelt down in front of Ban Huai. His posture could be said to be as low as dust.
Ban Huai looked at Yan Ming, who was kneeling in front of him, and turned to look at Ban Heng, who was pretending to be drinking tea seriously.
Ban Heng turned his body to the side and did not say anything. Ban Huai glared at him. He put down his teacup and walked to Yan Ming's side.
"Lord Yan, there's no need to be so courteous." Ban Heng had been training his body with Ban Han recently. Although his body was not much stronger, his strength had increased a little. Yan Ming, this weak scholar, was not able to twist him and was pulled up from the ground by him, "If you have something to say, sit down and talk."
Yan Ming had not rested well for the past few days. He looked as if he had aged several years and no longer had his former elegant demeanor.
"Marquis, please let this junior see the princess and let this junior personally apologize to the princess."
Ban Huai said indifferently, "I'm afraid … There's no need for that."
"This junior knows that no matter how many words of apology I say now, it will not be able to make up for the grievances that the princess has suffered. This lowly one does not dare to ask the princess to truly forgive us." Yan Ming smiled bitterly, "I only wish to see the princess and tell her our apologies. This junior is enough."
Ban Han stood outside the door, listening to Yan Ming's tired voice coming from inside the house, and walked in with the servant girl.
"Lord Yan, what business do you have with this little girl?"
Yan Ming turned his head, his entire body in a daze. He saw a peerless beauty wearing a blood-red dress embroidered with red plum blossoms and a red jade bead on her forehead walk in from the outside. Her appearance made all the people and delicacies outside the door pale in comparison.
She was followed by several beautiful servants, like stars surrounding the moon as she entered the room. He seemed to be able to smell the faint fragrance on her body.
This was Mo Tuo Incense, a spice that was offered as a tribute by the subordinate countries. Because the quantity was very small, very few women were able to receive the rewards from His Majesty.
"Greetings, Princess Fule." Yan Ming bowed to Ban Han in a well-behaved manner. This bow was extremely standard, and there was no sign of reluctance or perfunctory attitude.
"Lord Yan, there's no need to be so courteous." Ban Han lowered his eyes and took the teacup that the servant girl had brought over. He held the teacup with his hand that was dyed with Dankou, and only slightly touched his lips before putting it down. Yan Ming saw that she was holding a brocade handkerchief in her hand, and then used it to wipe her red and moist lips.
He retracted his gaze and lowered his head even more. "I have come today to apologize to the princess."
"Apologize?" Ban Han tilted his head, as if he was looking at Yan Ming with his eyes, "I've already said it before, your Yan Family and I are irreconcilable. You don't have to apologize to me, and I don't care about this."
Yan Ming's heart sank, and he bowed deeply to Ban Han, "I know that this matter was completely wrong, and I do not dare to ask for forgiveness from the princess. I hope that the princess will be healthy and youthful forever. She will be as beautiful as the bright moon in the sky, and will be happy and carefree for the rest of her life. "
Ban Han chuckled when he heard this. He rested his chin on one hand and looked at Yan Ming, "Little Lord Yan is actually so good at talking. It's a pity that I'm a bit strange.
This Yan Family was really interesting. The things they did were contradictory. He really didn't know if they were smart or stupid. This Yan Ming was so good at talking, but he didn't know how to coax his wife, Madam Chen. Madam Chen had been miscarried by her mother-in-law, so she was probably extremely sad. That was why she had made up her mind to divorce this man.
After sharing the same bed for so many years, the child that she had finally conceived with great difficulty had been lost. For Madam Chen, it was unknown how much pain it was.
Ban Han was very glad that he was a princess and didn't have to marry into the Yan Family under the coercion of the Yan Family. Even a gentle woman like Madam Chen couldn't live a good life in the Yan Family, let alone her?
A beautiful woman, no matter what she did, was charming. Even if her expression was sarcastic, even if her tone was not gentle, there were not many men in the world who could truly get angry in front of such a beauty.
Of course, people like the Second Prince who had a brain disease were an exception.
Yan Ming was about to speak when the butler of the Ban Family walked in.
"Marquis, Cheng Anbo's guards request an audience."
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