Fortunate Life of the Rural Beauty
Chapter 331 - 330: Looking for a Venue

Chapter 331: Chapter 330: Looking for a Venue

Chen Afu arrived at Anrong Hall, where Mrs. Chu’s eyes were red from crying, and Mr. Chu was still trying to comfort her.

The Lord was sitting on the main seat, pointed to the side of Mrs. Chu, and said, "Please have a seat, my dear granddaughter-in-law."

It turned out that Prince Rui went to the Lord and Mr. Chu, hoping that Chen Afu could take Li Xuan out of town. The emperor also hinted to Mr. Chu that if Chen Afu indeed had a way to cure Li Xuan, they should allow him to take Li Xuan with him.

If Prince Rui was the only one who requested this, both father and son would not agree. After all, the responsibility was enormous and they were worried that if anything happened to Li Xuan, The Chus’ Mansion would not be able to take it, but with the emperor’s decree, they had no choice but to do it.

Just now, they had told her about the Ninth Prince’s leg that was almost healed, and the Eleventh Prince, the boy Mrs. Chu had met in Fu Garden.

They felt that it was time to tell her about this. They needed her to keep an eye on Rong Zhao, freeing up more time for Marquis Chu to handle other matters. They also had to watch out for the movements of the imperial wives like the Empress and the Second Prince’s wife. Ideally, they could instigate conflicts between the Empress and Consort Sun to intensify the strife. But due to the great importance of the matter, this information must never be discussed with anyone, including the Empress Dowager.

Although Mrs. Chu was happy for the Ninth Prince and the Eleventh Prince, she was also saddened by the many years of endurance and humiliation suffered by The Chus, and she cried for a while.

Having heard the Lord’s words, Chen Afu hesitated, "Taking Li Xuan to Tang Garden, wouldn’t it draw the attention of the Second Prince’s party?"

Mr. Chu said, "No, it won’t. Li Xuan is just a child, and the Second Prince wouldn’t have much time to pay attention to him. What the Second Prince would never think about is the fact that the Ninth Prince has obtained the divine medicine and his leg will soon be healed. All his attention is on the Third Prince’s party. From the emperor’s point of view, he is planning to send Prince Rui to the Ministry of War for training. This would make both the Second Prince’s party and the Third Prince’s party wary of Prince Rui while trying to win him over. Let’s also send Changhua into the palace to stir up some trouble, muddle the waters..."

Chen Afu secretly rejoiced; Capital City was going to be even livelier in the future. It was a good thing that she was leaving soon.

When she returned to the Bamboo Pavilion, it was already late at night. Looking up at the sparkling stars, she thought about Jin Yanzi, which would be out by midnight. She was very excited thinking about that moment. It was just a pity that Chu Lingxuan was at home, and she could not enter the space to welcome it.

After she bathed and went to bed, even though she tried to be as quiet as possible, she still managed to wake Chu Lingxuan.

He pressed Chen Afu onto the bed, lightly laughed and said, "Why are you only back now..."

This time, Chu Lingxuan took particularly long, and even blamed Afu for being distracted.

Chen Afu thought to herself, ’how could I be focused!’ It was almost midnight and the little creature would be out soon. She was embarrassed enough to be overheard, and to be seen would be even more mortifying.

As she was thinking, she felt a little itch in her left palm. It was Jin Yanzi signaling her that it wanted to come out. She complained internally, ’Couldn’t it wait a little longer?’

She pulled her left hand from Chu Lingxuan’s grip, reached out from under the net tent, and felt Jin Yanzi jump out and fly out from the halfway open window.

Chu Lingxuan heard a slight noise and quickly asked, "Who’s there?"

Chen Afu irritably said, "There’s nobody there. You’re the one not focused, and yet you blame me..."

The next day, the couple got up early. Chu Lingxuan went straight to the outer court, even having breakfast there, while Chen Afu packed with the help of the servants.

Master Chu, Chu Lingwei, and Chu Lingzhi came to say goodbye to Chen Afu. They had brought gifts of food and books for Ms. Chu, Dabao, and Alu.

Chen Afu expressed her gratitude and invited them to the house for some refreshments.

Afterwards, Granny Chu Song sent someone covertly to deliver a pack of Weidao sea cucumber, saying she was not well and could not personally deliver it.

Chen Afu appreciated her sentiment. Considering her current relationship with Mrs. Li, as a concubine’s daughter-in-law, Mrs. Song surely wouldn’t dare to be openly friendly to her mother-in-law’s enemy.

The other two daughters from the second mistress’s side didn’t dare to come, but Chu Zhen came. It was probably Mrs. Qian who forced her to come, and from the looks of it, she was not quite convinced.

She presented Ms. Chu with two small handkerchiefs that she had embroidered herself. Chen Afu expressed her gratitude as usual and served her tea.

Then Chu Hua, along with Heng and Mrs. Chu, came one after the other, each giving a gift worth 100 taels of silver.

By the end of late morning, both Prince Rui and Princess Rui arrived. They brought along Li Xuan, his wet nurse Mrs. Wei, four maidens, four guards, and several carriages of gifts.

Princess Rui’s eyes were red from crying. She hugged and kissed Li Xuan, before handing him over to his wet nurse to greet Chen Afu. Unaware of his impending long separation from his parents, Li Xuan simply giggled at Chen Afu.

At midday, everyone was invited to eat in the Hua Hall of Anrong Hall, including Prince Rui and his wife. Chen Afu sent an invitation to her uncle’s family, but Wang Cheng declined, saying they would prefer to eat in their own courtyard.

Mrs. Li excused herself due to illness, but the rest of the second family all attended, including Master Chu and Mr. Chu, who usually would be at the government offices.

While they were dining, a servant came to whisper something to Mrs. Chu. On hearing the news, Mrs. Chu burst out laughing, to the extent that she was shedding tears.

Chu Hua asked with amusement, "Third Aunt, if there’s something funny, you should share it. Let us all join in the fun."

Just as she finished speaking, sounds of male astonishment came from behind the shield.

Mrs. Chu glanced at the shield, then lowered her voice to reveal, "This morning, a strange event occurred. While Rong Zhao and her mother were on their way to visit Lady in the palace, a flock of birds suddenly appeared from all directions, it was said to be as many as a thousand. In their surprise, they all looked up just as the birds started to defecate, making a racket and then quickly dispersing. They were all covered...haha... I heard some people were even watching with their mouths open and ended up tasting it...haha..."

She couldn’t finish her sentence and was already in fits of uncontrollable laughter.

At first, Princess Rui and Chu Hua were taken aback, but then they too began to laugh uncontrollably, covering their mouths with their handkerchiefs unlike Mrs. Chu who laughed heartily.

No one in the room sympathized with Rong Zhao even though they were relatives. While Chu Zhen had curried favor with Rong Zhao’s clan on the surface, she was resentful because they looked down on her. Hearing this news, she too couldn’t help laughing.

The men also received this news but given that Rong Zhao was a princess and their daughter-in-law, they didn’t feel comfortable laughing. They held in their laughter, causing them to cough uncontrollably.

The contrast between the uninterrupted laughter on one side and the persistent coughing on the other was quite comical, it even managed to lighten the sorrowful mood of parting.

Chen Afu knew that it must have been the work of Jin Yanzi, who was looking out for her. ’What a good kid,’ she thought, ’I will kiss her when I get back.’

After the meal, everyone escorted the elder Marquis and Chu Lingxuan’s family to the Outer Court, where Wang Cheng’s family had been waiting.

They all bid farewell amidst a flow of tears.

By the evening, a large group arrived at Tong County Post Station.