Before long, the palace maid brought back the "Female Knight".
The Female Knight nodded at her and said politely, "Madam is too kind. May I ask why Madam has summoned me?"
Jiang Yuqing invited her to sit down and looked her up and down. Seeing that this girl had a goose egg face, fair skin, delicate features, and a bright and imposing appearance, she was very satisfied in her heart and thought to herself that her brother had good taste.
"Just now by the lake, I admired your heroic spirit when you saved that person. Then I saw you again when I came to Baoyue Tower, it must be fate. So I took the liberty to invite you for a chat. Please forgive me if I was too forward, miss."
The Female Knight said, "It's nothing. I've just returned to the capital and don't have many friends here. It is my honor that Madam has invited me."
Jiang Yuqing used this topic to continue the conversation, "I can tell I haven't seen you before, so you must have just returned to the capital. Judging from miss's bearing and skills, you must not be from an ordinary family. Please forgive my forwardness, but may I ask which household are you from?"
The Female Knight said, "My surname is Zhao. I'm from Yongning Earl's residence. The current Yongning Earl is my uncle. I used to follow my father to guard the southwest border and seldom returned to the capital."
"Guarding the southwest border? Do you happen to know General Zhao Qinglan, the famous Jade-Faced General from the southwest army?"
The Female Knight laughed and said, "He is my father."
Jiang Yuqing suddenly understood, "So you are from a military family. No wonder your skills are so formidable. Please forgive my rudeness."
"From Madam's words, it seems you know my father?"
Jiang Yuqing nodded, "During the western expedition against Tubo, I have met your father a few times. We were comrades-in-arms. Later when I got married, your father travelled a thousand miles to return to the capital from the southwest border to carry the bridal sedan for me personally. I've always remembered this kindness!"
"Western Expedition? Comrades-in-arms! Carried the bridal sedan?" Zhao Yan seemed to have realized something. Her face suddenly turned pale with shock. She quickly knelt down to apologize, "So you are Her Majesty the Queen! This foolish girl has eyes but failed to recognize Mount Tai. Please forgive me, Your Majesty!"
Jiang Yuqing bent down slightly to help her up, "No need to be overly courteous. I'm not a stickler for formalities either. You and I are similar in age. Just chatting with me will suffice."
Knowing Jiang Yuqing's identity, Zhao Yan was a bit reserved at first. But seeing the queen's amiable manner without any pretense, she soon relaxed and opened up. Before long, she was chattering away.
She was a very cheerful and optimistic girl, one year older than Jiang Yuqing at eighteen years old.
Throughout their conversation, Jiang Yuchuan sat quietly to one side listening attentively. He only occasionally poured some tea for them, without interrupting even once. Yet the slight upward curl at the corners of his mouth showed he was in very good spirits.
After a while, the auction began.
Having lived two lifetimes, Jiang Yuqing had seen all kinds of treasures and curiosities, so she didn't have much interest in these so-called Western treasures.
Wei Lingyun wasn't very enthusiastic either. But Zhao Yan liked a jewel-encrusted delicate dagger and bid on it a couple times. However, she had to give up because it was too expensive.
Yet this item was eventually won by Jiang Yuchuan. The moment the gavel hit, Jiang Yuqing glanced at her brother and saw his hands tightly clenched within his sleeves. She immediately understood.
Oh my, not bad at all, young man.
The weather is in your favor.
The auction ended. Just as everyone was about leave, it started pouring heavily outside.
Zhao Yan had ridden here alone on horseback without a carriage. Jiang Yuchuan made the excuse of returning home with his sister and volunteered to let Zhao Yan use his carriage, telling the coachman to send her home.
Zhao Yan hesitated for a moment before accepting.
After Zhao Yan left, Wei Lingyun and her mother also bid farewell. Palace maids held umbrellas escorting Jiang Yuqing onto the carriage. Jiang Yuchuan carefully helped his sister aboard, then followed after.
Inside the carriage, Jiang Yuqing asked Jiang Yuchuan, "Brother, what do you think of the Zhao family's young lady?"
Jiang Yuchuan pressed a hand over his fiercely thumping chest and coughed awkwardly, "She's pretty good."
Jiang Yuqing chuckled, "I think she's quite good too. She wouldn't be bad as my sister-in-law, don't you think?" Jiang Yuchuan's handsome face visibly reddened. He stammered, "Little sister, don't spout nonsense. Don't ruin her reputation."
"Oh stop it. I saw everything, no need to pretend. You left that little box you bid on earlier in the carriage, didn't you? A gentle beauty, a gentleman's delight. If you like her, then pursue her. No need to be shy about it."
Jiang Yuchuan's face grew even redder. He nodded slightly and said in a small voice, "I understand!"
Meanwhile, after boarding the carriage, Zhao Yan discovered a small box inside. This box looked very familiar. It was the one she had wanted but couldn't afford, that was later won by the Duke Jiang's Heir.
She had only wanted to move the box elsewhere, but unexpectedly found a small slip of paper underneath it. On it was written in one line of bold and vigorous characters, "There is wood on the mountain, and branches on the wood."
Zhao Yan understood the meaning and blushed to her ears. The hand holding the note felt as hot as if it was on fire, giving her a fright. She hurriedly tossed the paper aside.
But soon she picked it up again and put it to the side after some hesitation.
She deliberated some more before finally opening the box. Inside was the dagger she had fancied! After carefully caressing it twice, she put the item back into the box together with the slip of paper and hugged it tightly to her chest, as if it were some rare treasure.
She was already eighteen years old. Girls from other families would mostly be married with children by her age.
But her mother passed away early, and her straightforward father didn't think of these things. With only a concubine by his side, naturally no one could make decisions on her behalf.
Not wanting an blind arranged marriage, she had been refusing her grandmother and uncle's frequent letters urging her to return to the capital to get engaged. She had been putting it off for several years on various excuses.
But she couldn't drag it out any longer this year, so she finally returned.
The day after she returned, her grandmother immediately brought up a match to her, saying it was the legitimate second son of Earl Anping, called Wei Caile, who was doted on at home.
Before she even had a chance to check the guy out, her uncle Yongning Earl learned about it and immediately vetoed the matter, saying the man was no good and she must not marry him.
It turned out this scoundrel had previously made indecent advances toward Her Majesty the Queen using very nasty means. When Duke Jiang's residence and the then Crown Prince caught wind of this, he was secretly taught a painful lesson that nearly cost him his life.
Who would dare marry their daughter to someone who had offended His Majesty? The Wei family was just trying to take advantage of Zhao Yan's grandmother not going out much and Zhao Yan herself being unfamiliar with the inner workings of the capital after being stationed at the border for so long. Only then did they dare attempt this deception.
Her uncle even lamented that it would have been great if it was Duke Jiang's Heir instead.
In the capital, Jiang Yuchuan's reputation needed no elaboration. Sixteen years old, topped the imperial exam. Overflowing talent, handsome appearance, integrity. On top of that, he was the heir of Duke Jiang's hereditary noble residence and the only successor. Each of his titles alone was enough to arouse envy, let alone all of them combined into one person. It was only natural that others would be jealous.
As a result, he had justifiably become the number one most eligible young master among the noble heirs in the capital. The dream lover of daughters from prestigious families, the dream son-in-law of the matriarchs of powerful households.
Even stationed at the remote southwest border, she had heard of him.
It was said that over these years, the number of people who went to Duke Jiang's residence to propose marriage was enough to wear down their doorstep. Yet she never heard of him favoring any girl.
She didn't expect that he would pass her a note today after only one brief encounter. This made her feel surprised and secretly sweet, rendering her momentarily at a loss for what to do.
Upon returning to Duke Jiang's residence, the first thing Jiang Yuqing did was report this matter to the senior women of the family. They were utterly delighted, especially Lu.
Her own daughter was already married and pregnant. Yet her son was twenty-three already without a wife, which worried Lu as his mother.
Now that she finally heard her stalwart son was going to blossom, she was extremely thrilled in her heart.
She only regretted being unable to immediately rush to that girl's home to see with her own eyes.
But marrying off one's son was a major event not to be handled recklessly. Lu could only suppress the anxiety in her heart and quietly await good news.
It just so happened that the fruits were ripe at Tai'an Farm manor. So Jiang Yuqing personally wrote an invitation for Zhao Yan to go fruit picking there.
Hearing it was a personal invitation from the Queen, Madam of Yongning Earl was greatly astonished.
It is well known that every year during the flower appreciation and fruit harvesting seasons at Tai Nong Manor, tourists from the capital would flock there eagerly.
The only exception was the first year when Her Majesty the Queen, who was still a princess back then, had sent out invitations once. After that, large-scale invitations were never sent out again.
Occasionally, one or two times, she would only invite close friends. Irrelevant people simply could not receive invitations from Her Majesty. Therefore, it was unusual that she specially sent out invitations to her niece this time, which inevitably made people think more.
She was a smart person and immediately asked Zhao Yan whether she had interactions with the Queen.
Zhao Yan did not hide it either. She only said that a few days ago at Baoyue Building, she had the fortune to be invited by Her Majesty and watched an auction together in a private room.
Madam of Yongning Earl also asked whether there were other people besides the Queen in that private room back then.
Zhao Yan said there were also Weilingyun, the daughter of Commander-in-Chief Wei's main wife, as well as the heir of Duke Jiang's Residence, Jiang Yuchuan.
Madam of Yongning Earl immediately smiled. She roughly guessed what was going on in her heart. Then she patted Zhao Yan’s hand and said, "I will send someone to make some fashionable new clothes for you later as gifts and ask you to dress up nicely. Our eldest young lady from the main wife of the Earl Residence can't dress poorly when going out!"
Madam of Yongning Earl did not have her own daughter. She only had three daughters from concubines. Among them, two were already married, and the other one was also of age. However, they were not her own daughters after all, so she still felt dissatisfied in her heart. She was closer to her niece from a separate courtyard. Moreover, this niece had lost her own mother. Therefore, she treated her even more intimately.
As expected, on the day the manor opened, all the Jiang's women went out. They looked forward to seeing the future daughter-in-law (or niece-in-law).
Jiang Yuchuan was even forced by his mother to wear a lilac and white stand-collar robe, with a jade crown on his head, a jade belt around his waist, dressed appropriately.
Along with that handsome face, he appeared polite and refined, as if carved and polished.
Even Jiang Yuqing, who was used to seeing the beautiful faces of her husband and elders, couldn't help losing herself for a moment.
They came early. When they arrived, Zhao Yan was not there yet. Hearing that today's trip was to find a daughter-in-law for Jiang Yuchuan, several elders were immediately spirited. They did not sit down and gathered in the pavilion, waiting for the protagonist to arrive so that they could join in the fun.
