Flower-Viewing Banquet 3
"A sword's edge came from grinding, and the plum blossom's fragrance came from bitter cold."
After several rounds, Gu Shuang had already drunk five or six cups of wine. Yan Wanning smiled and said, "When the eighth day of the ninth autumn month arrives, once my flowers bloom, all others perish."
"Wait... wait, let me... think." After several cups of wine, Gu Shuang was already somewhat dizzy and muddleheaded. She fell silent for a long while, then finally drank another cup, seemingly out of pique. "Don't get smug."
"Miss Gu is drunk. Quickly, take her to a guest room to rest." Sun Yueling seized the opportunity and hurriedly had Gu Shuang taken away.
Just then, a beautiful woman in blue, her hair arranged in a married woman's bun, slowly approached and curtsied to Yan Wanning.
"This official's wife greets the princess consort." After Yan Wanning nodded, the woman in blue glanced at Sun Yueling and said, "There's no need to trouble yourself with my husband's younger sister, Miss Sun."
"In that case, I'll leave her to you, Young Madam Gu," Sun Yueling said with a slight curtsy.
Yan Wanning was wondering who the woman was when Xiao He spoke in a voice only the two of them could hear. "That woman is Young General Gu's wife, An Yingying."
Xiao He had spent the three days thoroughly preparing. She had committed the circumstances of each family and the identities of their important members firmly to memory, all so Yan Wanning could recognize them more easily.
An Yingying had Gu Shuang taken away and said apologetically, "Gu Shuang offended you, princess consort. I apologize to you on her behalf."
Yan Wanning shook her head. "This has nothing to do with you, Young Madam Gu. There's no need to apologize to me on her behalf."
Hearing this, An Yingying did not insist on taking the blame upon herself. She took a discreet look at the delicate, graceful Yan Wanning.
She truly was a peerless beauty. No wonder that group of people had been so shocked.
After sitting for so long, Yan Wanning felt tired and invited An Yingying to stroll slowly by the lotus pond. An Yingying was not at all shy and accompanied her with easy grace.
"Princess consort, have you had any trouble adjusting since you first came to the Northern Borderlands?"
"The climate in the Northern Borderlands is dry and cold. Apart from not being used to the cold, everything else is fine." After all, she wanted for nothing in the Prince of Anbei's residence.
Besides, even though it was cold, charcoal fires burned in her room all day, keeping it nice and warm.
"When I first came here, I wasn't used to the climate either, but after a while, it got much better."
An Yingying came from the An family of Jiangnan, a scholarly family worthy of the name, with a fairly deep foundation. Years ago, the old master of the An family had met with danger while passing through the Northern Borderlands and had been saved by Old General Gu, who had been out on business at the time. Later, when the fighting in the Northern Borderlands grew desperate and supplies of grain and fodder ran short, Old Master An, mindful of the debt he owed for having his life saved, promptly had grain and fodder transported there as aid.
Later still, no one knew quite how, the two families arranged a childhood betrothal between the young An Yingying and Gu Qingshi. The two families formally joined in marriage once An Yingying came of age.
Now, it had been just over two years since An Yingying had married into the Northern Borderlands. Yan Wanning sighed inwardly. Both of them had married far from home without any choice in the matter. She wondered how General Gu treated her, but since he was someone who called the prince his brother, his character probably wouldn't be bad, would it?
The two seemed to find each other congenial and chatted about the pleasures of their days as unmarried girls. Before they knew it, they had grown much closer, and Yan Wanning said, "Why don't we call each other by name? I'll call you Yingying, and you can call me Wanning."
"All right, Wanning." An Yingying nodded and called her by name. Just then, the smile on her face abruptly turned to horror, and her hands instinctively shoved Yan Wanning aside.
Yan Wanning was completely unprepared to be shoved so hard. She stepped on loose stones on the ground, her foot turned, and she fell backward. As Xiao He cried out in alarm, a dark figure flew over just in time and caught Yan Wanning securely. The figure was Yun Yin, who had been hiding in the shadows.
But the instant Yan Wanning was pushed aside, a pink bundle fell into the lotus pond behind her with a splash. Then someone shouted, "Quick, save her! Someone's fallen into the water!"
"Princess consort, are you all right?" Xiao He carefully examined Yan Wanning from head to toe. Only when she saw that nothing serious had happened did she relax.
"Princess consort, forgive my offense," Yun Yin said.
"It's all right. Guard Yun was only trying to protect me."
"Wanning, I'm sorry, I..." An Yingying approached apologetically, but Yan Wanning shook her head. "I should be thanking you, Sister Ying. Otherwise, I would have been the one to fall into the pond."
When they looked over, the person who had fallen into the pond had already been pulled out. After asking around, they learned that the woman was the Lin family's legitimate daughter.
It had started when she and the Wang family's legitimate daughter quarreled over something. The Wang daughter had reacted too forcefully and shoved her into the pond, nearly knocking Yan Wanning in by accident as well.
The madams of the Lin and Wang families had heard the news and hurried over to apologize to Yan Wanning. Before they could, however, Yun Yin said, "Princess consort, the prince is waiting for you outside the residence."
"My husband?" She looked at Yun Yin with some puzzlement. "Why has my husband come?"
"This subordinate doesn't know."
Yan Wanning said goodbye to An Yingying and left with Xiao He supporting her. Madam Sun was terribly anxious, afraid that the Prince of Anbei would blame the Sun Residence for its inadequate hospitality. She intended to offer an apology, but Yan Wanning raised a hand to stop her.