♂?，，

  No refusal was allowed, and the girl hastily handed a purple-red letter to the carman's hand, then quickly turned back to the opposite Han Mansion. The carman just wanted to say something, but only heard the heavy gate of Han Mansion slam shut with a loud bang.

  Ming Xuan and Pei Jingchen exchanged a glance, both feeling surprised and somewhat helpless. She let out a soft sigh and said to the coachman outside the curtain, "Bring it in."

  She took over the letter and opened it, inside there was only a golden name card with auspicious peony and spring flowers on the front, but on the back, there was a line of elegant and unique cursive script, signed off as Hui An. In just a few lines, it turned out that Madame Han wanted to invite Ming Xuan over for a visit the next day, the wording was strict and every sentence was polite and proper, yet somehow made it impossible to refuse, it was clear that a lot of thought had been put into crafting this invitation.

  Han Xiu's wife is the emperor's first cousin, a lady of the Lu family from Cheng'en County, who was granted the title of Princess Hui'an. It must be said that Han Xiu's ability to gain the emperor's deep trust and rise to such heights at a young age has something to do with his marriage to this princess, who is highly favored by the emperor. Unfortunately, Madame Han has been plagued by illness since birth, and her health has never been good. If not for her noble status and access to rare medicines, she would have likely passed away long ago.

  Ming Xuan's eyebrows furrowed suddenly, "Madam Han wants to see me, should I go or not?"

  Pei Jingchen's face slightly solidified, and after a moment of silence, he said, "If Madam Han wants to see us, it probably won't be anything good. I've heard that she's in poor health, yet extremely favored by the Emperor. Now that the Lu family is powerful and influential, they seem to be surpassing the Pei family. If something happens to Madam Han tomorrow, I'm afraid... Ah Xuan, let's think of a way to decline politely."

  Lu's family moved to the capital after the emperor ascended to the throne. This Countess of Huian, due to her frail health, had never attended any banquets in the noble families of Shengjing City. Not to mention that he had never seen her before, probably the entire city of Shengjing who had seen her could be counted on one hand. He was not clear what kind of woman she was.

  However, Han Xi has been showing a determined attitude towards Ming Xuan since last year. Although his actions in the Qingliang Temple were somewhat secretive, many people are aware of his threat and revenge against Yan Qingyan. Moreover, he intentionally damaged the Pei family's carriage on the bustling streets, confined Ming Xuan to the East Garden Villa, and so on. Although no one openly gossips about it, well-informed individuals can't help but speculate and mock in private.

  Pei Jingchen frankly admitted that even as a man, he had never been narrow-minded, and he and Ming Xuan trusted each other, but whenever he faced Han Xi or thought of this powerful opponent, he couldn't help feeling a little uncomfortable. So, if the situation were reversed, how could Han Xi's wife like Ming Xuan?

  The jealousy of the women in the mansion, he had seen too many of them in the Zhennan Gongfu, a place full of intrigue and scheming. His third aunt, Madame Bian, had once beaten to death a pregnant maid. And as for Madame Lu, the wife of Han Xiu, although they were known throughout the land as a loving couple, she was frail and could only endure so much love, and their knees remained childless. Now that she knew her husband deeply loved another woman, he didn't believe she had no jealousy or malice in her heart.

  Han Xiuying is not in Shengjing now, and Lu Shi is a woman. This time she invited Ming Xuan, Pei Jingchen has no reason to follow her together, and the first-class Ping Zhang Zhengshi government is not a place where anyone can rush in.

  If Lu wanted to harm Ming Xuan, she could easily get away with it. After all, she was a dying person, and even if she really killed Ming Xuan, what could be done to her?

  Thinking of this, his expression became increasingly solemn and he said firmly to Ming Xuan, "A Xuan can't go!"

  Ming Xuan shook her head and said, "The invitation from Mrs. Han has the seal of the princess's title. She is inviting me as the Princess of Hui'an County. If I don't go tomorrow, it would be like I'm looking down on the royal family. It would be said that I am arrogant and rude, and don't understand etiquette. And if she gets a headache or fever because of this, I would be to blame."

  She slightly raised her eyebrows, "If I really go to the appointment, this trick would be useless. Firstly, she invited me, and I didn't take the initiative to visit her. Secondly, her body is not good, and I obediently followed her summons. If she still doesn't feel comfortable, it's not my fault."

  Bai Jingchen remained silent, but his eyebrows and eyes still showed disapproval.

  Ming Xuan gently smoothed out his furrowed brow and said softly, "There is no emotional connection between me and Han Xiuxiu. You know this and believe me, but Madam Han probably doesn't know, and not knowing can lead to misunderstandings. I dislike anything that's ambiguous or dragging on. I like things to be clear-cut. Even if Han Xiu and I were once engaged, the engagement is already broken, so there's no relationship between us anymore. He has harmed me multiple times, but also helped me greatly in the past, however, one thing at a time, these matters have nothing to do with emotions. So tomorrow when I go see her, I can take the opportunity to clear things up."

  She said word by word, "I'm grateful for Mr. Han's righteousness, and I will definitely repay it in the future, but apart from that, I hope to return to Hanfu Bridge and take the road back home."

  A night of silence.

  On the second day, Ming Xuan put on a half-new crimson satin padded jacket with a light brown hundred-pleat skirt. The color was still festive, but the pattern was very simple and plain, with only a circle of clouds embroidered at the hem of the skirt. Considering Madame Han's poor health, she didn't wear any makeup on her face, only lightly applying a layer of cherry-red lip balm to her lips.

  She put on her cloak and smiled reassuringly at Pei Jingzhen, "Don't worry, the Han Mansion and the Yongning Marquis's Mansion are just across from each other. When I arrive, I'll have a little maid go to the marquis's mansion to report my presence. My brother is taking a rest day at home today, so if I stay too long at the Han Mansion, he will send someone to look for me. Be at ease, nothing will happen to me."

  Pei Jingchen nodded, "Let Changgeng drive the carriage, and have Danhong follow closely behind, not leaving his side for a single step. Oh, and please ask Huang Yi to go along as well, with her there, Lu Shi won't be able to do anything."

  Ming Xuan chuckled, "A Zhen, you're too tense. If I were to wear yellow clothes, that would be a real disaster, and no matter how many mouths I had, I wouldn't be able to explain it clearly. Actually, I think Mrs. Han is not the kind of person we imagined her to be. If she really resented me, she should have taken action against me before my marriage, when Han Xiu was so tightly pressuring me and I wasn't even engaged yet. At that time, getting rid of me would have been a way to eliminate future troubles. Now that I've become the young mistress of the Pei family, I pose no threat to her at all. She'd be foolish to harm me."

  She paused slightly, "Although I don't know why she wants to see me, but I believe nothing will happen."

  Pei Jingchen had no choice but to send her away, and as soon as the soft sedan disappeared at the gate of Qingyi Courtyard, he called Chang Hai over with a heavy expression. "Find a few brothers who are handy, follow Young Mistress along the way, don't lose her, but also don't let her discover it, and don't alarm anyone from the Han Mansion."

  It wasn't until Zhang Hai took the order and left that he slightly relaxed, but this feeling was not pleasant at all. It turned out that the word "love" could be so tormenting, loving someone deeply would make one feel anxious and uneasy about the difficulties they faced.

  As soon as they entered the gate of Han's mansion, Ming Xuan felt a sense of familiarity through the occasionally lifted car curtain amidst the bumpy ride. The white jade stone shadow wall stood tall, with carvings of green pines and white cranes on it. Water flowed from underground to the top of the stone wall, where water droplets hung down continuously, like a small waterfall or a beaded curtain made of water, identical to the main gate of Zhen Guo Gong Fu.

  She felt a little strange in her heart, although the streets and mansions inside Shengjing City were mostly square and regular, and the layout of each mansion was similar. Generally speaking, it was just like this, but to show off their own taste and characteristics, every family loved to set up some gimmicks at the entrance, with small bridges and flowing water, welcoming pine trees, stone carvings and fountains, as well as flowers and brocade. In these years, although she rarely went out, she had also been to several mansions of princes and nobles, each with its own unique charm, none of which were the same.

  Upon arriving at the second gate, they changed to a soft sedan chair. The leading matron said, "My mistress is not feeling well due to the cold weather, so she won't move to the warm pavilion for receiving guests. Please forgive her, Madam Pei. We are heading to the mistress's residence in the Mingyu Pavilion."

  "You're welcome."

  After about a quarter of an hour, the soft sedan stopped and the maid led Ming Xuan down, saying "Madam Pei is inviting you." Then she took the lead in front, while Ming Xuan followed behind with Dan Hong. This was already inside the Han residence, where Chang Geng could not enter, so he had to wait at the second gate.

  The courtyards of Shengjing City do not have the small bridges and winding waters of Jiangnan's water towns, they are all very straightforward. This Mingyu Pavilion is no exception, after passing through the corridor with a garden, it is the main hall. The main house has four rooms, with side houses on both sides, flying eaves and carved railings, which look quite interesting. However, the more Mingxuan and Danhong went inside, the more unpleasant their expressions became.

  This Wu Yu Ge, is exactly the same as Yong Ning Hou Fu's Xiao Yu Ge, not only are the buildings identical, but also in the courtyard, almost the same location has a red plum tree. Now thinking carefully, my ancestors had a poem saying "Mountain stream howling, flying spring washing jade", this Han Xiu...

  Ming Xuan couldn't help but feel a surge of anger in her heart. This Han Xiuyi was really too detestable. If he truly had deep feelings for the former Ming Xuan, why did he have to do something that would make people want to hit their heads against a pillar? Even if the Emperor needed an excuse to remove Gu's daughter from the Empress's throne at the time, there were other ways to do it, no need to resort to such unjust acts. In the end, it was all because marrying Lu's daughter could bring him closer to the center of power more quickly and make it easier for the Emperor to trust him, that's all.

  He married a woman of the Lu family, from head to toe, just using her. But since he had already made a choice between power and love, why did he want to go back on his word? To give his lawfully wedded wife a house that was exactly the same as the one where his abandoned fiancée lived, what does this count as? How innocent is the Lu family's daughter, becoming a stepping stone for his success, and still having to live in his past love, letting him reminisce? He indeed wronged Mingyuan before, but did he not also wrong the Lu family's daughter?

  She was just indignantly, suddenly heard a suppressed low cough in the house, a gentle and weak voice asked softly, "Nian Nian, is Madame Pei from the Pei family here?"

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