Li Ying didn't find it convenient to stay longer and returned to the mansion. Before long, a young servant beside Lu Xunguang came to report that the master of the family was free today and invited Miss Li to have dinner with him.
The Lu family was now in charge of the water transport. On the occasion of the Empress Dowager's birthday, all the birthday gifts presented by local officials from all over the place had to pass through Lu Xunguang's hands.
As this matter was of great importance, he was so busy every day that his feet hardly touched the ground, which also made it extremely difficult for the two of them to meet each other.
Now that he finally had some free time, Li Ying was naturally overjoyed.
She calculated the time and personally went to the kitchen to prepare a few of Lu Xunguang's favorite dishes for him. She also bought a pot of chilled wine.
When the twilight was at its thickest, Lu Xunguang finally rushed back, traveling through the stars and moon, looking exhausted from his journey.
Although his face was full of weariness, he still gave Li Ying a tender and lingering smile.
"Ah Ying, you've waited for a long time."
Li Ying took the outer robe he had taken off and led him to sit down beside the candle. The two of them looked into each other's eyes. Without saying much, there was a world of tenderness between them.
Lu Xunguang swallowed a mouthful of the dish Li Ying had served him. Then, as if chatting idly with her, he casually talked about the matter of supervising the transportation of the birthday gifts from local officials in the past few days.
They were nothing but famous calligraphy and paintings, rare stones, gold, and jade, which were not really rare. Occasionally, there were some pictures of a hundred "shou" characters, but they were not very novel either.
Just as the two of them were chatting, suddenly they heard a young servant outside the door come to report. Stammering, he said that the Director of the Textile Bureau, Cao, invited Lu Xunguang to go drinking.
Lu Xunguang was just holding a bowl of fish soup. Hearing this, he didn't even raise his eyes. He coldly refused at once, saying, "I won't talk about official business tonight. I'll just accompany my wife. Thank Director Cao for his kind invitation."
The young servant looked embarrassed and stammered in a low voice, "Master... Director Cao sent someone to say that he has been very polite to you. If you still remain stubborn, don't blame him for not caring about the friendship among colleagues. If you don't drink the toasting wine, you'll have to drink the forfeit wine..."
Lu Xunguang raised his eyebrows, and two sharp glints suddenly shot out from his starry eyes.
"Then I'll be waiting for his tricks!"
Seeing that there was already a hint of anger on his face, the young servant didn't dare to say more. He bowed carefully and backed out.
For a moment, only Li Ying and Lu Xunguang were left in the room.
The candlelight made Li Ying's pretty face blush. Lu Xunguang stared at her intently, suppressing the haze in his expression. Then he said softly, "Ah Ying, don't worry."
"Director Cao has indeed been showing his kindness to me frequently in the past few days."
Since he knew that the Emperor intended to marry Lu Xunguang to a princess, he had been trying to persuade Lu Xunguang every day, appealing to his emotions and reasoning with him.
On the one hand, he said that he knew that Lu Xunguang and Li Ying were deeply in love and would never leave each other in this lifetime. But if Lu Xunguang married the princess, he naturally couldn't take a concubine, and the two lovers would eventually have to part ways.
On the other hand, he said that his daughter was magnanimous and able to tolerate others. If the Lu family and the Textile Bureau formed a good marriage alliance, first of all, the brocade - weaving business of the two families would be combined into one, booming and reaching a higher level. Secondly, he could also take Li Ying as a concubine later, so that Lu Xunguang could enjoy the happiness of having both a beautiful wife and a charming concubine.
Lu Xunguang naturally refused. He told Li Ying all the details without any concealment.
The two of them were in tune with each other's hearts, so they naturally wouldn't be instigated by a few words from outsiders and have a rift. After hearing this, Li Ying's expression remained calm, not caring at all.
However, she frowned slightly. Thinking of the warning from the young servant who had delivered the message just now and recalling the "Peacock Feather Brocade Robe" that she had heard the ladies chatting about today, she suddenly had a faint sense of uneasiness in her heart.
"Lu Lang, for the Empress Dowager's birthday this time, does the Lu family have any gifts from the Textile Bureau in hand?"
Lu Xunguang didn't know why she asked this, but he still nodded and said, "Yes, Ah Ying. How do you know?"
He was already quite puzzled - the Jiangnan Textile Bureau had a well - established route for presenting various kinds of brocades to the Emperor. There was no need to ask others to transport the birthday gifts for the Empress Dowager.
But this Director Cao had been pestering him and making all kinds of excuses, insisting that the Lu family transport the birthday gifts on his behalf. It was really strange.
Since he was already ordered to supervise the transportation of the birthday gifts, although he felt that Director Cao's behavior was abnormal, he couldn't decline. He had to accept this task. He originally thought that he would just add more people along the way and be careful to prevent any accidents.
Li Ying secretly cried out that something was wrong in her heart.
"Lu Lang, I accidentally heard today that what Director Cao is presenting is an extremely luxurious Peacock Feather Brocade Robe. If I'm not wrong, I'm afraid he has already tampered with it!"
The two of them looked at each other and immediately understood each other.
"Lu Lang, do you know where the Peacock Feather Brocade Robe is now?"
Lu Xunguang's face was as gloomy as water. Without bothering to explain to Li Ying, he walked out of the house directly and whistled.
In the night, several secret guards of the Lu family stood neatly in front of Lu Xunguang with their heads down, waiting for orders.
"You four, travel day and night. You must catch up with the official ship for the water transport and secretly retrieve Director Cao's birthday gift box in advance!"
The several secret guards took the order and left. Li Ying and Lu Xunguang both lost the mood to continue having dinner. They frowned deeply and just waited for the guards to come back and report.
The secret guards of the Lu family were agile and extremely fast. At noon the next day, under the scorching sun, they placed a huge rosewood box in front of Lu Xunguang.
The box was carved with a pattern of hundreds of birds paying homage to the phoenix and was polished smooth and mellow. The oily luster of the rosewood emitted a faint glow in the sunlight.
Although it was not decorated with any gold or jade, just the boldness of using a whole piece of rosewood for carving gave off a simple yet grand and luxurious feeling.
Lu Xunguang frowned, stepped forward, and without hesitation, broke the big lock hanging on the box.
Li Ying leaned over to take a look and saw that in the box, there was a peacock feather cloak neatly folded.
On the brocade, green and blue silk threads were used to embroider the colorful patterns of peacock feathers.
Then, gold threads were used for the edging. Finally, the peacock feathers were nailed onto the embroidered brocade. The lining of the cloak was made of extremely delicate silver fox fur, which was soft and fluffy and very warm in winter.
When the cloak was gently shaken, the peacock feathers fluttered slightly with the wind, and each tiny feather seemed to come alive. It was like a fairy's robe.
The peacock feathers reflected greenish - blue or dark - blue light in the sunlight, looking vivid and lifelike. The vivid and colorful luster even made Lu Xunguang, who was used to seeing luxurious brocades, lose his mind for a moment. He stood there like a wooden chicken.
After a long time, he said in a deep voice, "What a wonderful Peacock Feather Brocade Robe! What a favored official of the late Emperor!"
Peacock feathers were rare. Even in the imperial garden, there were only a dozen or so peacocks for the Emperor and the concubines to enjoy.
But for this "Peacock Feather Brocade Robe" in front of them, at a glance, there were hundreds or thousands of peacock feathers on it!
It was really extravagant that Director Cao could find such a rare thing!
Li Ying stared at the "Peacock Feather Brocade Robe" in front of her. The initial look of amazement in her eyes flashed by, and then it was replaced by a thoughtful look.
The "Peacock Feather Brocade Robe" was beautiful, but...
Just as she was still pondering, she saw Lu Xunguang frown even more tightly. His face was as gloomy as the sky before a sudden storm, as if it could drip water.
"Ah Ying, look."
Li Ying looked in the direction he was pointing and saw that there was a palm - sized black hole burned through the back of the "Peacock Feather Brocade Robe".
The background color of the fabric was dark. If you didn't look carefully, you really couldn't notice anything strange. But if it was sent into the palace and the Empress Dowager wore it, the truth would be revealed immediately.
Lu Xunguang sneered.
"Humph, so this is the forfeit wine Director Cao has prepared for me?"