Da Li Temple - Chapter 21.1

Chapter 21.1
Lake Tour

The next day, Lin Wanqing got up early. After being an official in Sheng City for almost half a year, the Emperor invited her, so she didn’t dare to be slow.

Taiyi Pond, located in the center of Sheng City, is the most important pond of the Nan Dynasty Royal Family, with the Daming Palace along the lake and the imperial garden on its side.

It was the beginning of summer in May, and verdant waters filled the lake. The lakeside was full of vivid hollyhocks and crepe myrtle, with the hibiscus buds in the middle. The scenery was breathtaking.
??
Lin Wanqing followed her colleagues, led by a line of maidservants, walking towards the lake. However, Lin Wanqing realized that the maidservants led her colleagues to a boat parked by the lake, and she was brought to a pavilion near the waterside instead. Two people sat at the round table under that vermilion-colored and blue-tiled roof pavilion.
??
A young woman was peeling lychees with her head down. She wore a light scarlet palace dress with two carnelian struts adorning her black sideburns. Her jade hands were delicate and soft, and her eyes were full of smiles as she looked at her. The other old lady wearing a dark blue floor-length dress and a green crystal hairpin should be the Empress Dowager of the current dynasty.
??
Lin Wanqing was apprehensive in her heart, but she managed to stabilize herself and walked up to the two of them to make a decent and generous salute.
?
“Imperial grandmother,” Wei Shu smiled coquettishly and placed the lychee on the small plate before the Empress Dowager, “This is the Lin Recorder Shu’er told you about.”
??
The Empress Dowager smiled brightly twice at her words and asked her maid to bring a stool for Lin Wanqing.
??
“I heard from Shu’er that you persuaded Jingche to accept the lychee soup that day?”
??
Lin Wanqing froze. Her heart turned a hundred times, and an embarrassed smile appeared on her face.
??
The Empress Dowager took her for being too nervous and only smiled as she let someone offer her tea.

“Lin Recorder doesn’t know the temperament of my grandson. He’s both stubborn and eccentric. Many times and many things that I have tried softly and hardly, but it doesn’t work.” The Empress Dowager sighed, looked at Lin Wanqing with approval, and said, “You are the first person who could persuade him.”
?
Lin Wanqing, reaching out to receive the teacup, shook her hand and almost got scalded.
??
She knew Su Moyi was stubborn and eccentric, but what’s with the Empress Dowager’s eyes full of expectation? Could it be that she wanted to make her into her confidant, sneaking around and making petty reports about her superior?
??
Lin Wanqing’s heart flinched, and she was suddenly saddened. She couldn’t afford to offend Su Moyi, but she couldn’t afford to offend the Empress Dowager even more.
??
When the Empress Dowager saw Lin Wanqing sipping tea without answering, she thought she didn’t understand the meaning of her words, so she leaned forward again and said to her warmly: “Jingche’s matter ……”
??
“Imperial grandmother!” A slightly anxious sound came from outside the pavilion.
??
The Empress Dowager immediately turned her words and spoke with a straight face, “It’s better to let him make his own decisions.”
??
Lin Wanqing: “……”
??
Between the verbal slander within her heart, a flash of azure-colored robe had already swung across the front of her eyes.
??
Su Moyi walked straight into the pavilion and marched to Lin Wanqing’s side with the imposing Si Yu behind him. The dog fawned at him and wagged his tail, wanting to rub against her hand but being dragged back by Su Moyi.
??
Perhaps it was because of the color of his robes that made Lin Wanqing feel today’s Su Moyi seemed to be exceptionally haggard. His handsome face was still gloomy as always, but a layer of fog covered his dark eyes, making them lose their splendor. The worst thing was that the two masses of green and black underneath Lord Su’s eyes were about to fall to his chin.
??
Wei Shu’s heart rejoiced at seeing Su Moyi and wanted to pull him to sit down. However, before her hand touched Su Moyi’s sleeve, he dodged it.
??
“Princess, forgive me,” Icy cold voice, polite and detached, “I have a cleanliness fetish.”
??
Si Yu also bared its teeth at Wei Shu. The atmosphere was momentarily awkward again, and Lin Wanqing had no choice but to come out to clear the air. Looking at the lychees on the plate, she twisted one and said, “All the people in the prison have some unusual quirks. It’s the duty’s demands. Princess, don’t take it to heart.” After saying this, she handed lychee to Su Moyi with both hands and laughed: “Lord, eat one. This lychee is the neatest one inside.”
??
“Pfft–” The Empress Dowager couldn’t hold it in and laughed. Has anyone ever advised someone to eat lychee, not to say it’s the sweetest and freshest, but the neatest? It’s no wonder the little bastard likes this funny Lin Recorder.
??
As for the black-faced Lord Su, although he didn’t pick up the lychee in her hand, he still withdrew that cold air.
??
Lin Wanqing already knew that he would not pick up. Seeing that she had reached her purpose, she ate the lychee. Anyway, she was indeed craving it. But, in front of the Empress Dowager and the Princess, she was too embarrassed to take it.
??
“I heard that Lin Recorder Lin once served in the Capital Government Office?” The Empress Dowager asked.
??
Lin Wanqing nodded and said, “I stayed in the Capital Government Office for half a year.”
??
The Empress Dowager pondered and asked again, “Then how did you enter the Da Li Temple?”
??
“Thanks to Lord Su’s kindness, he was willing to let this humble servant serve at his side.”
??
The Empress Dowager was stunned and gave Su Moyi a strange look, “I never knew that there are still people who can get into Lord Su’s eyes?”
??
Su Moyi coldly sipped his tea, not answering.
??
Lin Wanqing liked sweets, and lychee was her favorite fruit. Moreover, lychee was from Lingnan, and it was hard to keep them fresh. As an ordinary person, she couldn’t eat them anytime she wanted. Now that she had this opportunity, she ate a few more.
??
The three of them were talking to each other, and Su Moyi held a dog and sat on the side as a background.
??
Seeing Lin Wanqing having eaten enough, the Empress Dowager suddenly proposed to Su Moyi: “Now it is midsummer, and the water hibiscus in the Taiyi Pond is blooming. Jingche is having a rare break. Do you want to go on a boat to tour the lake and enjoy the flowers?”
??
Su Moyi looked down at the tea cup and lightly said, “No.”
??
The Empress Dowager knew his temperament. Being directly rejected, she was unannoyed. She turned to Lin Wanqing and said: “Is Lin Recorder interested in accompanying me?”