Legitimate Daughter of the Noble Family - C126
The honey wine was tasteless, yet the wine that Li Yingluo had personally poured emitted a faint aroma, even though Jin Lan could not recognize what kind of wine it was, he knew that with Li Yingluo’s character, he would definitely not be let off lightly, and even brought out the matters of the palace.
Therefore, it was best not to touch the wine.
But County Princess had personally toasted her, if she did not drink, then it would be ungrateful in the eyes of the bystanders, and had already relaxed his hold on the punishment wine, including Ye Jinyu had also drunk a cup, now it was her turn, so it was impolite to refuse.
It seemed that Li Yingluo had calculated that she would not reject him, which was why she was giving her trouble so openly.
After hesitating for a short moment, Jin Lan had already noticed that there were many more probing gazes on her body. Looking at Li Yingluo’s smiling yet not smiling face, she secretly took a deep breath and revealed a hint of light smile.
She was about to close her eyes and finish the wine in one gulp when a soft white hand reached out and took the cup from her hand.
“Sister Jinlan, I heard that your health isn’t good, and you were sick on the bed a few days ago. It took a lot of effort for you to recover now, so it’s best for you to drink less of this wine.”
The one who snatched away the wine cup was actually Chen Ying, her beautiful face was extremely gentle, her every frown and smile was like a spring breeze, her heart was relaxed and happy. Her eyes moved about, smiling at Li Yingluo beside her, she raised the white jade wine cup in her hand and spoke gently: “I’ll drink this forfeit wine on behalf of the Sister Jinlan, I don’t think cousin will mind, right?”
Chen Ying’s action not only stunned Jin Lan, but all the girls in the audience revealed looks of astonishment. They never thought that County Princess Wu Yang would actually help a girl from the side, could it be that the matter regarding Fourth Prince’s heart was not baseless?
Jin Lan was not clear about what the crowd was thinking, but she looked at Chen Ying with suspicion. Although Chen Ying had shown great kindness to her from the moment they met, and even secretly delivered an extremely important letter to her, she had never thought that Chen Ying would actually help her out at this moment in time.
After all, doing so would be equivalent to rejecting Li Yingluo’s honor.
Although Chen Ying was of the orthodox royal bloodline, Li Yingluo’s mother was Princess Ming Xin, the daughter that the empress dowager doted on the most, the direct sister of His Majesty. To Chen Ying, Li Yingluo was just a blood relative, and she was merely an outsider who couldn’t even hit a target.
Jin Lan was puzzled. What was on his body that was worth Chen Ying treating like this?
“How can I not give face to my cousin? “Since my cousin is willing to do so, I will do as you say.” Surprisingly, Li Yingluo chose to back off. She glanced at Jin Lan, then raised her eyes to Chen Ying, and started to ponder about the relationship between the two of them.
“In that case, thank you, Cousin.” Chen Ying covered her face with her sleeve, slightly lifted her chin, and finished the wine in one gulp. After putting down the wine cup, she immediately covered her mouth with the handkerchief.
When the burning sensation in her throat lessened slightly, she smiled and said, “As expected of the Peach Blazing Dew that my cousin loves to drink the most. This small cup actually makes me feel a little intoxicated.”
Li Yingluo raised hshe hand and poured a cup of Chen Ying’s Peach Blossom Dew, she then took a sip and closed her eyes, as though she was enjoying the taste of it, and then lazily said: “Then Cousin sister, please drink less.” As she finished speaking, he raised her head and finished all of the remaining Peach Blaze Dew in the white jade wine cup. Her clear and cold gaze swept across Jin Lan’s face as she coldly asked, “Who’s next?”
Therefore, other than Chen Ying, the rest of the girls stood up one after another to toast to him. It was time for the banquet to begin. The orderly maidservants carried steaming hot and fragrant meals in a line.
The table gradually regained its liveliness. Although they did not eat or sleep, it was a birthday feast. Furthermore, they were allowed to sit alone at the table. They did not sit together with the other wives because they wanted to make the girls feel more at ease. Thus, the occasional soft sentence or two did not seem out of place.
Chen Ying was different from Li Yingluo, she had always drank very little, so she gave Jin Lan a toast, maybe because she was drunk, she rarely spoke, and just continued to quietly eat. It was only when a plate of pine nut rolls was placed on the table that her intoxicated eyes suddenly cleared. Her silver tusk picked up a piece of the pine nut roll and she softly said to Jin Lan, “Sister Jinlan, this pine nut roll tastes pretty good. Try it.”
Song Ren, give it away, this was what the North Prince Jing’s Consort had promised her beforehand.
As she said this, she was about to place the Pine Core Scroll into Jin Lan’s bowl. Unexpectedly, with a shake of her hand in midair, the Pine Core roll caught between her chopsticks instantly slid off the bowl and onto Jin Lan’s body.
Ah!” He hurriedly got up and walked over to Jin Lan’s side. “I’m sorry, little sister Jin Lan. It was my fault. I couldn’t hold my ground.
On the corner of Li Yingluo’s lips, an arc suddenly appeared and disappeared, and she quickly retracted her hand next to Chen Ying.
That pine nut roll [1] was swept away by Jin Lan immediately, but its skirt was still stained with a little bit of oil stars, and after being wiped by Chen Ying’s handkerchief, it became even more powerful. She quickly held down Chen Ying’s hand and shook her head.
“How can this be?” Chen Ying’s face was filled with guilt, “I’m afraid I can’t wear this Eight Blessed Dress anymore.” She raised her hand to summon a maidservant. “Quickly bring Lady Jin Lan to change her clothes.”
Jin Lan originally wanted to say no, but when he saw Chen Ying’s meaningful gaze, he suddenly realized and stood up, bowing to the girls who were looking at him, “Sisters, please enjoy your time, I’ll be right back.”
Everyone nodded their heads in agreement. She glanced at Chen Ying, then followed the servant out of the Jade Tong Flower Hall.
A cold breeze brushed against his face, and Jin Lan’s anxious heart immediately calmed down a little. She looked at the maid who was leading the way. She looked pretty and delicate, but her eyes looked tight.
For today’s birthday banquet, other than the masters, the servants, Attendant, and the steward of the Mama would also be given second-class seats. As a result, the servants at the Jade Tong Flower Hall were specially selected by the Madame Fu, so it was normal that she had never seen them before. However, the clothes of this maid …
The burgundy jacket, the Yulan cotton dress, and the butterfly hairpin stuck in her bun had all been dyed a deep purple. Even Lixia, who was standing beside the Old Ancestor, had never been dressed like this.
This servant girl, was most likely not someone from the Ye Mansion!
Glimmers danced in Jin Lan’s eyes as he surveyed the surroundings. This road seemed to lead to the outer courtyard. Her heart skipped a beat. Could it be that Yan Ye had really snuck into the Ye Mansion?
Before she could finish her thought, the guide girl changed the direction of her footsteps and walked towards the garden.
Jin Lan looked, but stopped.
She looked left and right, then trotted back, bowed to Jin Lan, and said cautiously: “Miss, do not be afraid, I was ordered by North Prince Jing’s Consort to bring you to meet an old friend.”
“Old friends?” Jin Lan raised his eyebrows. “I just want to change my clothes. Where’s the old friend to see me?” Furthermore, from what I see, you don’t look like a servant girl.
A mature servant girl walked the path of a few people. If something were to happen, it would be hard for anyone to notice her even if she was in the mansion. It wasn’t wrong to be careful.
“This servant’s name is Zhu’er, she is a servant girl by the side of the North Prince Jing’s Consort. It is my honor to have come to Marquis Runan’ Mansion with Princess Consort several times, so I do know her path.” Zhu’er seemed to have guessed Jin Lan’s thoughts. She rummaged through her purse at her waist and took out something to hand to Jin Lan. “Miss, look at this hairpin and you will understand if this servant’s words are true or false.”
When she took a look, she couldn’t help but be stunned. This hairpin, was actually the lamb fat jade Jasmine hairpin that had been lost in the Lingji Temple!
So it really was him who took it. Jin Lan looked through it carefully, and once again confirmed that the Jasmine hairpin was the one that he had lost, and the suspicion in her heart immediately went away. Holding the hairpin in her hand, she looked at Zhu’er and asked, “Where is he?”
“If we continue walking forward, there will be a pavilion.” Zhu’er pointed forward.
Jin Lan nodded, and followed Zhu’er without saying anything further.
Although the lanterns in the garden were not as many as the lanterns in front of them, they were still only a dozen or so steps away. Although it was not very bright, it was not dark either.
After walking forward for a short distance, a pavilion suddenly appeared before them. The figure within the pavilion swayed, as if it was taking a few steps back and forth.
Jin Lan squinted his eyes, that figure, was obviously not Yan Ye.
When Zhu’er and Jin Lan walked closer, Hou Zai’s men immediately came out of the pavilion to welcome them.
That person was precisely the Mama Zhu who entered the Palace along with the North Prince Jing’s Consort, the one who offered birthday gifts for the Yangzhou! Her face was full of excitement, but her heart was full of apprehension. Afraid that she would alert the others, she opened her mouth. However, in a quivering voice, she lowered her voice and called out, “Miss.”
Jin Lan was startled, she did not recognize this Mama, but it looked somewhat familiar. After hesitating for a moment, she asked hesitantly: “You are …”
“This lady doesn’t recognize this servant, but this servant does!” When we were children, the girl and her wife were just like a child’s print. ” Mama Zhu’s eyes were brimming with tears, he looked at Jin Lan darkly, “This servant is Madam’s wet nurse, Lady Zhu.”
Mother’s wet nurse? As if Jin Lan had misheard, he widened his eyes in disbelief. “How is this possible?”
If she remembered correctly, her mother’s wet nurse had already left the Ye Family, so why would she appear in the capital? and even appeared in the Marquis Runan’ Mansion together with the North Prince Jing’s Consort?
Mama Zhu wiped the tears from the corner of his eyes and said with a stern voice: “This servant is indeed this lady’s wet nurse. It’s just that when we left the palace, this lady wasn’t born yet, so this servant didn’t recognize you.”
Seeing that the two of them had lost control of their emotions, and afraid that they would accidentally alert the servants who passed by, Zhu’er advised them softly, “Miss Jin Lan, Mama Zhu, the situation is urgent. I am afraid we cannot delay them any longer.
Only then did Mama Zhu come to her senses. She nodded and quickly took out a letter from her sleeve and passed it to Jin Lan, “If this lady does not believe me, this lady should be able to recognize this lady’s handwriting.”
Jin Lan quickly opened the letter and read the lantern hanging under the pavilion.
That’s right, the letter was written by her mother. She had seen the scriptures her mother had copied, so she was naturally familiar with the handwriting.
This letter was obviously not written recently, it only remembered that after Jin Lan left, Madame SHen was worried about her daughter.
It was just a few sentences, but it caused Jin Lan’s eyes to become watery.
She covered the letter with her hand and looked at Mama Zhu, asking Mama Zhu: “How is Mother?”
“Madam …” Mama Zhu’s face suddenly revealed sorrow, “Madam, I’m afraid you can’t do it anymore!”