Chapter 19: The girl in white (1/2)

Xu Dan Tea house.

The Waiter had just delivered their order when he saw a carriage with Minister Zhu's Nameplate stop at the entrance and two young women came down. The two ladies weren't that tall, the tallest of the two ladies was dressed in a pale pink gown of exquisite design while the other lady was dressed in a maid's livery.

Minister Zhu had three older daughters, his second daughter was married into the royal family so she couldn't be the lady in pink and since Zhu Fenfang was seated across from him that left only one daughter. His future sister-in-law Zhu Fengyin.

Zhu Fengyin and her maid stood by the entrance and watched the carriage leave. Once the carriage was out of sight, she grabbed the maid's hand and ran towards the market.

That was unexpected, it was completely out of character for a young lady known as the perfect young lady. Though he had gone from battle to battle these last few years, Lu Yaozhu had paid attention to events in the capital.

Zhu Fengyin's strange behaviour was amusing, he found himself smiling. Zhu Fenfang said a few things but he did not pay her any mind. Lu Yaozhu brought the cup of tea to his mouth and took a sip of his tea, his lips tugged up a little.

There was a lot to the perfect Miss Zhu that meets the eye. Having gotten bored of all of Zhu Fenfang's proper conversations, he skillfully diverted the conversation to the new person of interest, Zhu Fengyin.

Zhu Fenfang was a little surprised when the topic of the conversation changed to her eldest sister. It was even stranger because General Lu seemed to be looking for information on her sister.

This wasn't what she had expected when she invited him to the tea house. While Madam Lu had invited her to the Duke's manor's under the pretence of caring for her niece, Zhu Fenfang had already figured out the real reason behind her invite.

While the Emperor and Lu family got along on the surface, Zhu Fenfang knew the reality of their relationship. The Emperor was wary of Duke Wu's military family and wanted to suppress them.

That was the real reason behind Zhu Fengyin's sudden marriage arrangements. Madam Lu wished to use her as a shield for General Lu. While she didn't like the arrangements, she couldn't easily reject Madam Lu's help.

She could only actively avoid any connections with a declining family like the Lu family. Even though in decline, a connection to the Lu family was still useful. She had never liked that eldest sister of hers, so Zhu Fenfang made sure to stress on Zhu Fengyin bad properties.

”I know that there are a lot of rumours going around about Elder sister Fengyin, but please don't take those seriously. Fengyin-jei is nothing like that, she is just misunderstood. It's just that she was raised by Noble consort Shi hence she is a little stricter,”she said.

Lu Yaozhu found her words a little strange but he pretended otherwise. ”Look at how well you praise her, you must get along with your elder sister”.

”Yes I do”, she replies blushing.

Lu Yaozhu smiled and continued to drink his tea. He had a previous engagement, a short while later he took his leave. Lu Yaozhu went straight to the crown prince manor to play a game of chess. Before meeting the crown prince he instructed his servant Yu Tao to investigate Zhu Fengyin.