Although the one - thousand - strong troop was not large, it still attracted the on - lookers of the common people when leaving the city.
By now, everyone in the capital knew about the bandit troubles in Taiyue Mountain. For a while, people were extremely nervous. The common people generally didn't go out unless necessary and mostly stayed within the capital.
Chen Xuan was organizing the troops below, while Lady Bai and Fu Zhen were watching from the city wall.
Lady Bai recited a few Buddhist incantations and looked at them with some anxiety.
There were few male members in the Marquis's Mansion. Only Chen Xuan and his son Chen Tingfeng were left. Yet, the imperial edict had ordered both father and son to go to battle. It was hard not to notice that this was a deliberate move against the Marquis's Mansion.
However, since the imperial edict had been issued, no matter how reluctant they were, they could only watch them leave with open eyes.
Below the city tower, Chen Xuan seemed to sense something and looked up at them.
He waved to Lady Bai, signaling her to go back to the mansion. But Lady Bai shook her head. A look of helplessness flashed across Chen Xuan's eyes, but he didn't wave again. Instead, he withdrew his gaze and looked at the soldiers who were getting ready, then resumed his usual resolute look.
Fu Zhen looked over and suddenly met Xie Yan's smiling eyes.
He also waved to her, but not in the same way as Chen Xuan to tell her to go back early. Instead, it was more like a greeting.
She raised a smile and looked at him. Unexpectedly, out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of Chen Tingfeng's cold look, as if he was also looking at her.
She almost couldn't maintain the smile on her face. So she simply averted her gaze and didn't look at them anymore.
Chen Tingfeng was holding back his anger, but he didn't know what he was angry about. Clearly, Fu Zhen and Xie Yan hadn't done anything out of line, but just the eye contact was enough to make him feel frustrated.
He took a deep breath and patted the horse beside him.
The horse snorted and nuzzled him.
"Set off!" Chen Xuan gave the order. The troops immediately got in line. They saw the three of them mount their horses. The city gate slowly opened, and they rode out of the city against the morning sun. In a short while, they disappeared from sight.
"Alright, let's go back too." Lady Bai sighed, suppressing the uneasiness welling up in her heart. She patted Fu Zhen's hand and said.
Fu Zhen knew she was worried, so she smiled and said, "It's cloud - free today. When I went out this morning, the swallows were still flying under the eaves. It must be a good omen. If you feel bored and have no one to talk to, why don't you go with me to the jewelry shop to relax? Maybe I can also save some money with your company."
Lady Bai tapped her on the forehead and said with a smile, "You little girl, you're really good at calculating. I'm sure the maids in the Marquis's Mansion can hear it. Is your monthly allowance not enough? How about I add another fifty taels to it every month?"
Since Fu Zhen came to the Marquis's Mansion, her monthly allowance had been one hundred taels, which was all for her personal use, not including food, clothing, housing, and jewelry and rouge. Even if she went out to buy things occasionally, she couldn't spend it all.
Not to mention that now Sister Zhang Lan provided all her rouge, and the jewelry and hairpins were sponsored by the Second Prince and Chen Tingfeng. How could she be short of money?
She just said it to amuse Lady Bai.
Fu Zhen shook her arm in a coquettish way: "I'm not short of money, but what you buy for me is always different."
Lady Bai was softened by her. She only had one son, who was precocious and cold. She had never experienced such family happiness. For a moment, she couldn't stop smiling and quickly said, "Okay, okay, okay. If you like it, you can even buy the shop."
The two of them talked all the way and took a carriage to Luhua Pavilion.
As soon as they entered, a familiar woman greeted them. When she saw Lady Bai beside Fu Zhen, she knew she was Fu Zhen's elder. Her smile became more polite. She quickly said, "Madam and Miss, please go upstairs."
Lady Bai was busy managing the mansion and rarely came to Luhua Pavilion. Seeing the woman's familiar attitude, she slightly raised her eyebrows, but didn't say anything. She followed the woman upstairs.
It was the same room as before, but the flowers by the window had been changed to a different variety.
Fu Zhen pulled Lady Bai to sit down and said to the woman, "Go and get some fashionable hairpins, jewelry, and rouge."
"Okay!" The woman responded neatly, half - closed the door, and went downstairs.
Lady Bai looked around and praised, "It's really elegant."
Fu Zhen smiled and poured her a cup of tea: "Exactly. These little details are really eye - catching. No wonder there are so many people coming and going in Luhua Pavilion every day. I can almost hear the sound of silver coins falling into the money bag."
Lady Bai laughed and teased, "When did our Zhen Zhen become so money - minded? I think you're about to fall into the money hole!"
She picked up the tea and took a sip: "I heard from your uncle that the bandits in Taiyue Mountain once robbed things from Luhua Pavilion."
Fu Zhen was stunned. The image of a woman wearing a veil hat immediately came to her mind. She quickly asked, "Did anyone in the caravan lose their lives?"
"No, they didn't," Lady Bai shook her head. Although she was a bit curious about Fu Zhen's nervous attitude, she still told the truth. "Those bandits only robbed money and didn't hurt people. The only ones who shed blood were General Li's troops sent to suppress the bandits a few days ago."
Fu Zhen let out a sigh of relief.
It was not easy for a woman to do business, especially since the Zhang family was a family of scholars. Zhang Lan's grandfather was even the dean of the academy, highly respected and upright.
Fu Zhen vaguely knew before that scholars always looked down on merchants who were full of the smell of money.
Zhang Lan was able to come out of such a family to do business and manage it well, which was enough to show her ability.
If she not only lost the goods but also the lives of the people in the caravan at this time, it was hard to guarantee that her family wouldn't blame her.
Thinking like this, she couldn't sit still and really wanted to go outside to see if Zhang Lan was in the shop today.
Lady Bai saw her restless look and remembered her familiar attitude towards the woman just now. She guessed something and couldn't help laughing. She said, "Alright, you're young and can't sit still. You don't have to sit here stupidly with me. Go out and have some fun."
Fu Zhen smiled shyly. Since she really wanted to find Zhang Lan, she agreed: "Then I'll just stroll around the building. If you want to leave, just ask that woman to find me."
Only after Lady Bai nodded did Fu Zhen get up and leave.
Luhua Pavilion had three floors, but only two were open to the public.
Fu Zhen looked up at the third floor and hesitated for a moment.
If Zhang Lan was really in the building, she should be on the third floor. But she was afraid of offending taboos if she went up suddenly.
Although Zhang Lan was on good terms with her, friends also needed some private space. It wasn't good for her to go directly to the third floor without the other person's permission.
Just as she was thinking about what to do, a head popped out from upstairs. The person smiled at her and said, "What are you looking around for? Come up."
It was Zhang Lan.
Fu Zhen's eyes lit up. She waved to her and quickly ran upstairs with her skirt in hand.
Zhang Lan wasn't wearing the veil hat today. Her beautiful face was revealed, gentle, generous, and full of scholarly air. One could tell at a glance that she came from a good family.
"How did you know I was here?" Fu Zhen gasped and stood in front of her.
Zhang Lan just smiled but didn't answer.