The First Volume: The Abandoned Wife's Self-Strengthening Chapter 33: Morning Exercise (Long Review Added)
Nor did she know what kind of sportswear Xue Lengyu had in mind, but since the princess had spoken, Lan'er obediently found a few clothes according to her requirements and followed Xue Lengyu to Fengyuan with them.
On the road, Lan'er smiled at Xue Lengyu and said: "Lengyu, I really didn't expect it. You've only been in the mansion for two days, but you're already a big favorite of the madam."
This is a sour talk. Xue Lengyu turned his head to look at Lan'er: "Of course, this matter can be handled well, and I can also get some benefits. However, Lan'er, if the princess is well, won't you all follow suit? Although my days in the palace are not long, I know that following a favored master, life will be better, and people will pay more attention to us. This is a good thing for everyone, you can't have any unhappy thoughts. Otherwise, it would be meaningless."
Lan'er was originally not very pleased in her heart. She was the king's concubine's maid, and had followed the king's concubine since childhood all the way to the Marquis of Xu's residence. Watching the king's concubine gain favor, watching the king's concubine lose favor, she had always been loyal and devoted. But Xue Lengyu, on the other hand, had only entered the residence for two days when the king's concubine instructed her to do things in her place.
But Xue Lengyu said it so directly, Lan'er felt a bit embarrassed instead. Yes, she was the king's concubine's maid, and if the king favored the concubine, wasn't that also a good thing for herself? If she had thought of Xue Lengyu's method, why would she have to resort to being unwilling to stay in the mansion with humiliation? It seemed that it was because of their affairs that they had dragged Xue Lengyu down.
It turned out that the incident of deceiving Xue Lengyu to go to the hot spring, Xue Lengyu must have had a plan in mind, but didn't say it out loud, so as not to embarrass everyone.
Thinking so, Lan'er also smiled, this time, smiling with a true heart: "Leng Yu, what you said is also right. Although we are following the princess, but now that the princess is not favored by the prince, our days in the mansion are not easy either. And if you can make the prince return to the princess's side, then everyone in Cuichun Garden will thank you."
Xue Lengyu also smiled: "Lan'er, it's good that you think so. You should know, my purpose is not to use this matter to gain the favor of the princess, but to achieve success and then retire. So between us, there shouldn't be any conflict."
Xue Lengyu didn't know what Die Fei and the two women who had just entered the mansion would do. But at least, she was now standing on the side of the Wang Fei, in her own courtyard, she couldn't afford to lose first, after all, a thousand precautions are not as good as one, it's hard to guard against internal thieves. To defend against external enemies, one must first stabilize internally.
Lan'er's heart was no longer entangled, and she chatted and laughed with Xue Lengyu until they arrived at Fengyuan. Knowing that Li Mu wouldn't be there tonight, Xue Lengyu felt an indescribable sense of relief in her heart. Shu Li, being Li Mu's personal bodyguard, naturally wouldn't be there either.
They entered Xue Lengyu's room, and the two of them cleared out a table. Lan'er shook out a garment and said, "How should I alter it?"
"How simple is how to change." Xue Lengyu drew while saying: "Sleeves, collar, placket, remove all decorative parts. Shorten the sleeves and loosen the waist..."
Xue Lengyu said succinctly beside her, Lan'er revised and revised, her mouth growing longer and bigger. Gradually, a basic prototype of a short-sleeved loose-fitting T-shirt came out.
"This... " Lan Er said: "Can this be worn? This dress is so revealing, if the princess wears it, won't she lose all dignity?"
"How did this dress get so revealing?" Xue Lengyu retorted without thinking. She rolled her eyes, thinking that after all, the times were different, and then softened her tone: "This dress is indeed a bit more revealing, but it's not like you're going to wear it out, it's for exercising in the morning, and there are only young maids in the garden, no men. Just close the door, and no one will see it."
"But..." Lan Er heard Xue Leng Yu's words as a matter of course, but still felt that it was not quite right.
Xue Lengyu smiled and said, "Don't think so much. Hurry up and change. Look, it's already June, even in the morning, it's very hot. Wearing long sleeves and a long skirt, not to mention jumping around, you'll be hot to death. Believe me, if I wear another outfit like this, I'll be able to accompany the princess."
Lan'er had always thought that Xue Lengyu's actions were strange, but they all made sense. Moreover, since it was the princess who told her to follow him, she also followed Xue Lengyu's intentions and changed the clothes. She had always been skilled with her hands, and her needlework was excellent. It was easy to change from simple to complex, and from complex to simple, so it didn't take long for her to finish altering two sets of clothes.
Xue Lengyu looked at it and felt quite satisfied, and she was so sleepy that she urged herself to sleep. Although there was no physical labor this day, her heart had suffered severe damage, and she was mentally exhausted, so she fell asleep as soon as she lay down. Before falling asleep, she also reminded Lan'er to remember to wake her up early tomorrow morning, as it's better to exercise earlier rather than later.
Lan'er agreed, getting up early wasn't a big deal for her.
But getting up early is actually a very painful thing for Xue Lengyu. When he was in school, the earliest time to get up was at 7 o'clock, and classes started at 7:20. After the alarm clock rang, he would rush out of bed, wash his face, brush his teeth, and finish everything within ten minutes before leaving.
But in this era, waking up early is really too early.
Xue Lengyu didn't know what time it was when he heard the rooster crowing, but now he roughly understood. When Lan shook awake Xue Lengyu, who was sleeping soundly, the sky outside the door had just begun to brighten up faintly. Xue Lengyu yawned widely: "So early?"
"It's late." Lan'er had already gotten out of bed and was fully dressed: "At this time, the maids in the courtyard have all woken up. It's going to be hot today, if we're any later it will be too hot."
Xue Lengyu got out of bed with half-closed eyes and said, "So early, can the princess get up?"
"We've passed by, and the princess should be getting up too." Lan'er said: "In the Wang Fu, everyone usually gets up early. Even the prince, at this time, should also be getting up."
"Alright then." Since getting up early was the norm, Xue Lengyu couldn't say anything, so she washed her face with cold water to wake herself up a bit, then quickly got dressed in the clothes she had prepared the night before and hurriedly headed to the Spring Seeking Garden.
As Lan'er said, when they arrived at the Spring Seeking Garden, the princess was already up and getting dressed. Mei'er was helping the princess style her hair into a elegant bun, and on the dressing table, as usual, lay a heap of various hairpins and ornaments.
"Ling Yu, you've arrived?" The queen smiled. It seems she has thoroughly thought it through and is in a good mood.
"Your Highness." Xue Lengyu hastily said: "Your Highness, if you want to exercise with me, there's no need to style your hair so intricately now."
Mei'er's movements paused, and the queen said: "What's wrong, isn't it convenient?"
"Yes." Xue Lengyu said: "The hair only needs to be tied up, it's best not to wear anything, first, it will increase the weight and easily get tired, second, it's also easy to lose. I brought some clothes here too, Your Highness, would you like to take a look? These clothes may be different from the styles that are commonly used now, I don't know if you'd be willing to wear them."
Xue Lengyu shook open the results of Lan'er's labor from last night and, as expected, heard a chorus of gasps. She couldn't help but explain again. Fortunately, for Wang Fei, what was most important now was gaining the favor of the king, so she listened to Xue Lengyu's advice, closed the door, changed her clothes, looked left and right, turned around a few times, took a few steps, and burst out laughing: "Lengyu, this outfit is indeed strange and revealing, but wearing it on my body actually makes me look quite elegant."
Xue Lengyu also smiled and said: "Your Highness is right. If you wear that trailing long skirt, how can you run?"
The princess looked at this strange clothing and trusted Xue Leng Yu even more. She then ordered the maid to carefully close the courtyard door and walked out of the house together. Although they were experienced in many things, what Xue Leng Yu said was something they had never heard before.
Xue Lengyu also understood in her heart, so she started with warm-ups, jogging, gymnastics, and taught them one by one. She also asked everyone to carefully follow along, because after all, she was now a person of Fengyuan, and it wasn't certain that she could come every day.
At first, everyone stood watching Xue Lengyu. With great difficulty, the princess finally summoned up her courage and followed behind, stretching out her arms and legs one by one. The maidservants behind also let loose. Although it was novel and a physically demanding task for them, they thought of what Xue Lengyu had said - that this could shape their perfect figure - so they gritted their teeth and followed suit.
Mei, Lan, Zhu and Ju, the four senior maids who followed the princess to her new home, were not so restrained. Once they let loose, everyone burst out laughing. Xue Lengyu finally couldn't help but believe what Wang, the housekeeper, had said earlier - that the princess was the most amiable person in the estate.
If it weren't for that, I wouldn't naively want to gain the prince's exclusive love, thinking that we could spend our lives together like an ordinary couple.
Outside Yuanyuan Garden, Li Mu was returning from Xiangxue Temple, walking along the wall.
Inside the wall came a crisp and clear laughter. Li Mu was stunned for a moment, furrowed his brow: "Is this Xue Lengyu's voice?"
Shu Li also stopped: "This... seems to be."
"So early? How could she be in the princess's courtyard?" Li Mu asked in puzzlement. In fact, what he was puzzled about wasn't why Xue Lengyu was in the princess's courtyard, but rather why Xue Lengyu was smiling so freely in the princess's courtyard. Based on her behavior yesterday, the princess should have been furious with her for losing face.
Li Mu Zheng was at a loss, and from the other side of the wall came the sound of Wang Fei's laughter. It had been a long time since he last heard it, just like in their sweet times, that silvery clear laughter.
Shu Li Dao: "Your Highness, do you want...?"
Li Mu waved his hand, looked around and saw no one, lifted the hem of his robe, and lightly jumped onto the wall, hiding behind a dense tree.
He couldn't help but smile wryly to himself, sneaking a peek at his own queen in the palace. What was going on here? But this Xue Lengyu, after just one short night, had already recovered her energy, and he had truly underestimated her.
Those two hundred taels of silver notes were still in Shu Li's collar, and no one knew that last night, he stared at the two pieces of paper for half a day, as if he could always see the small face crying with grievances, staring wide-eyed in front of him.