Light Dance Jiajing

In fact, Concubine Du had a candidate in mind, that was her sister's only son Wang Wei. But her sister only had this one son. If he married the princess, she would not be able to take concubines or become an official. If the princess could not give birth to a son, she would have to acknowledge him. The title of son-in-law sounds nice, but it is very impractical. So when she met Lady Wang, she did not dare to mention this matter. She also asked Lady Wang to find out which family has a boy of the right age to match with Mei'er.

Mrs. Wang did not dare to recommend this matter casually. After thinking for a few days, she gave Concubine Du an idea. It would be better to organize a poetry meeting in the suburbs of Beijing. Of course, Concubine Du could not be the organizer, but as long as everyone understood the theme of the poetry meeting, it would be fine. At that time, all the children of the officials in Beijing who were of appropriate age would be invited to attend, which would also be convenient for Concubine Du to review it personally. When Concubine Du heard the suggestion, she thought that she would bring her daughter along and let her choose for herself. Her daughter had suffered a lot with her. If she could choose a husband she liked and live a happy life in the future, she, as a mother, would have no regrets.

Mrs. Wang was extremely efficient. She took along several other wives of prominent officials and sent invitations to the poetry meeting to all the mansions within half a month. It was obvious that this was a large-scale blind date event. Everyone who received the invitations was excited. Every family had unmarried children of marriageable age, and the children were all eager to try. Especially when they heard that Princess Mian would also attend the meeting, even the masters of each family started to make plans and called their youngest sons over to give them some instructions.

This is a garden of the family of Duke Chengguo. This garden covers a vast area. When Duke Chengguo bought this garden, he also bought several pieces of land nearby and connected them into one piece. It took three years to build this garden. Hu Bo was dug out in the garden, and the soil was piled into mountains to plant various trees. The trees planted that year have long been lush and green. In the midsummer, there are clusters of flowers everywhere. Young men and women from various mansions have arrived one after another. Mrs. Wang and several officials and their wives who initiated the event were busy dispatching people to various places to entertain the guests. When almost everyone had arrived, a convoy with royal emblems slowly came. Needless to say, it was Concubine Du and Princess Mian who came. Everyone quickly lined up and waited.

Concubine Du wore casual clothes today and her hair accessories were very simple. I think she didn't want to be too ostentatious. She was only in her thirties and her facial features were still delicate, but her face looked a little old. Meng'er also showed her coquettishness at this time. She wore a light blue thick shirt today and a golden hairpin on her head. This outfit was no different from the official lady who came today, but more plain. Zhu Fuyuan, who followed beside her, wore a pink gauze dress and her hair accessories were also simple. She looked very cute and lovely. It was not that she disliked luxury, but Meng'er was wearing simple clothes today, so she could not be more dazzling than her.

Mei'er and Zhu Fuyuan followed Concubine Du in. Everyone was busy paying respects to the Concubine, but more eyes were cast on Mei'er beside her. Mei'er was very popular now, but not many people had seen her. Who wouldn't be curious about what kind of person could make the emperor so fond of her? Concubine Du asked everyone to excuse themselves, and then followed Madam Wang and others in. Mei'er waved to Wang Qiang in the crowd, and Wang Qiang came over. Mei'er held her hand and said as they walked, "Sister, you are so beautiful today."

Wang Qiang smiled faintly: "Sister praised me."

It was such an honor for Meng'er to lead Wang Qiang in front of so many people. Wang Qiang received all kinds of surprised and envious looks from everyone along the way. She was only twelve years old and had not yet made her mark in the boudoir circle in the capital. She was already extremely beautiful, and now she had Meng'er's favor. It was not difficult to imagine that when she grew up, she would be a hot figure in this circle. Zhu Fuyuan was even more jealous of Wang Qiang. She tried every way to please Meng'er every day, but she did not have as much position in Meng'er's heart as her cousin Wang Qiang. The position next to Meng'er should have been hers, but now it was taken by Wang Qiang, and she could only follow behind. Zhu Fuyuan was annoyed, but she had to smile warmly like everyone else and maintain her good image as a princess.

After entering, Meng'er felt that the view in front of her was suddenly wide. In the distance, the lake was sparkling, and it was reflected by the hills on one side. From a distance, she could see groups of people gathered together. These people arrived early, so they didn't greet Meng'er and her friends at the door. Meng'er rarely came out to play, and she liked the scenery here very much, so she pulled Wang Qiang and said to Concubine Du: "Mom, I want to go over there to take a look."

Seeing that Meng'er was in high spirits, Concubine Du smiled and said, "Go and play."

Meng'er then pulled Wang Qiang to run towards the lake. Concubine Du shook her head behind them, her eyes full of love: "This child is really something, run slower, ah."

Madam Wang smiled and said, "It's rare for the princess to come out. There's nothing to restrict her here, so let her have a good time for a day."

Zhu Fuyuan curled her lips and quickly chased after him. She couldn't let so many people see her alone, she had to follow Meng'er closely, and besides, how could she, an undercover agent, collect intelligence without Meng'er.

There were already several people gathered in the pavilion by the lake. Meng'er saw a man in a blue shirt who seemed to be reciting poetry. She couldn't hear clearly because they were a little far away, but seeing him shaking his head, she had lost interest. So she stopped and turned to continue walking along the lake. There was another fork in the road leading up the mountain in front of them, so they climbed up the stairs. There were many trees planted on the hillside, and it felt cool as they walked in. The further they walked in, the more comfortable they felt. No wonder people gathered on the mountain, as talented men and beautiful women could be seen talking and chatting everywhere. Seeing that these people were about her age, Meng'er was in a good mood.

None of these people knew Meng'er, and the three of them were dressed in plain clothes, lacking the splendor of noble ladies, and without maids following them, so they were not conspicuous in this group of people. Therefore, no one paid much attention to Meng'er and the other two wherever they went. There was a very spacious pavilion halfway up the mountain. Meng'er saw that many people had gathered inside, so she walked in and found a corner to sit down. A young girl sat next to her, and a maid stood behind the girl, talking to the girl and fanning her with a fan. When the girl saw Meng'er sitting next to her, she nodded to Meng'er and asked her after a while, "Which mansion are you from?" Meng'er hesitated for a moment, and Wang Qiang quickly replied, "We are from the Wang family of Beichang Street."

The two chatted for a while. The woman's name was Shu Yu'er, the youngest daughter of Shu Fen, a compiler in the Hanlin Academy. The name Shu Fen sounded familiar to Meng'er. Then a very fair-skinned man came over and said to Shu Yu'er, "You're here. I've been looking for you for a long time."