Chapter 5 Exchanging identities (East)

The wedding date set by the imperial edict was either at the end of the eastern month or the first auspicious month of early summer. As long as it was in time for the wedding, the Ban family got ready after receiving the edict.

Since returning from the Lantern Festival that month, Ban Xiyu has been staying at home, lazily hiding in the house reading some miscellaneous books, and has not even bothered about the progress of the wedding preparations.

Secondly, Mrs. He, who was in charge of organizing the wedding, was trying to persuade Mr. Ban to ask the emperor to take back his life. Thirdly, Mr. Ban didn’t know anything about the housework and was used to being a shopkeeper in the past, so he couldn’t.

Ask occasionally with concern.

Later, according to the gossip among the guests, Ban Xiyu found out that during that period, her grandparents had quarreled again about the marriage contract. They made a lot of noise, but her grandmother didn't let anyone tell her, so when she heard

By the time that happened, everything in the government had been prepared.

One morning when he was about to leave the court, Ban Xiyu walked in front of the dressing table and looked at herself in the mirror. She was so delicate and beautiful, but she was like a puppet who couldn't control herself.

Qingshuang's legs were smeared on her face, and her fresh face became charming. She put on her costume like a sacrifice, listening to the voice of the nanny instructing her to keep her mouth shut.

Later, another little maid came in to tell the story. After a while, Mrs. He came over and asked to say goodbye.

Ban Xiyu's face showed her usual gentle smile: "Okay, he understands. It's hard for us to live for such a long time, and it's still early. Let's go east to rest first. He walked quietly for a while, waiting for his grandmother to come."

As for whether to get married, the maids in Ban Xiyu's yard had been up and working since they were young. Now they were not only sleepy, but also very hungry. Although they also took turns taking breaks, they couldn't bear it anymore, so they left without stopping.

After the crowd dispersed, the room became quiet. Ban Xiyu suppressed his smile, looked at the unclosed dowry with an expressionless face, and then looked away.

She glanced across the mirror and unexpectedly saw the young maid who stayed in the room.

"Why don't we all have a rest?" Ban Xiyu's tone was a little cold, "You don't need to wait there, let's go out."

"No him."

*

Ban Xiyu's angry expression turned into surprise in an instant: "Why am I here?" She looked at Lou Xiyue in the east, "It's not like that. Did I come here specifically to say goodbye to him?"

Lou Xiyue looked her in the eyes and said, "No, he came to make an exchange with me."

Ban Xiyu's heart skipped a beat because of those words: "What?"

Lou Xiyue approached her. The two people, who were similar in stature and had similar faces, faced each other, and the flickering candlelight clearly reflected their faces.

"He will marry me, he will be Ban Xiyu, and I will be the free Lou Xiyue." Lou Xiyue's firm gaze fell on Ban Xiyu's face, and her tone was rare and gentle: "He knows

, I don’t want to marry him.”

She clearly remembered Ban Xiyu smiling brightly in front of the fireworks on the night of the Lantern Festival. It was a state of complete relaxation without any baggage. And such Ban Xiyu also appeared in the short period of the Lantern Festival.

appeared.

In those months, Lou Xiyue often disguised herself as an ordinary maid and mingled with Ban's family. From various signs she had recently observed, she inferred that Ban Xiyu did not want to be a boudoir girl who had no freedom and abided by rules.

She wants to escape control more than anyone else.

Therefore, the plan to exchange identities has both advantages and disadvantages for the two of them.

Ban Xiyu was speechless for a moment. She was not as relaxed as Lou Xiyue: "Doesn't he want to get married? But I'm used to being free. How can I be locked up in a house without freedom like him?"

She would rather Lou Xiyue and Mingyue come here than return to Ban's family.

"If not, then help him. I don't have to go to that point." Ban Xiyu added:

"He doesn't even want to be in the same room with a man he doesn't know and become an intimate couple, let alone deny me." She understands the principle of not doing to others what you don't want others to do to you.

However, Lou Xiyue said: "He is not doing it for me, but for himself." She said:

"I know that he has an enemy in the capital. That person once left his name in the Xiangming Pavilion. He speculates that his status should be high. If the identity of Princess Xuanping is not there, it will be easier to get things done with half the effort."

Ban Xiyu blushed: "Then what can he do to help?"

Hearing this, Lou Xiyue smiled and said: "By agreeing to exchange identities, I will not be able to give him the greatest help. And after Mingyue, I will do whatever I want to do."

"He..." Ban Xiyu blinked, and the blush at the corners of her eyes deepened. She did not expect that Lou Xiyue would actually offer to exchange identities.

It was really a big surprise for her.

At this moment, she felt that Lou Xiyue was the Bodhisattva sent by heaven to save her.

Ban Xiyu pressed her wet eyes and said, "Sorry, Miss Ban belongs to my position, but now she is asking me to marry him to complete what he should have done."

Lou Xiyue shook her head and said: "There is no need to say more. I don't need to feel guilty. Is he doing that out of selfish motives?" She glanced at the sky outside the window and urged:

"It's getting late, they need to change their clothes."

*

A light cyan gauze screen reflects two figures inside and outside.

Ban Xiyu untied her clothes and took off her fiery red wedding dress; Lou Xiyue took the sword bag and put the replacement clothes on the screen.

Two people were reflected in the smooth mirror. Ban Xiyu stood behind Lou Xiyue. She held on to the wooden comb, untied Lou Xiyue's three thousand black hair and redressed her makeup.

Lou Xiyue took off the rouge on Ban Xiyu's face and told him plainly about his life in Xianyangmen in the past seventeen years. Did Ban Xiyu also tell him all the trivial matters of life in those years?

When the sky turned red, Lou Xiyue changed into the complicated wedding clothes. The phoenix crown was like the sunset, the splendid flowers bloomed all the way, and the silver-threaded golden phoenix soared in the clouds.

Ban Xiyu wore the narrow-sleeved long skirt that Lou Xiyue brought. Wearing that light blue dress, she looked even more beautiful, dignified and generous. Compared with Lou Xiyue's sassiness, she looked a little more elegant.

gentle.

The time was approaching and they didn't have much time to waste.

Ban Xiyu held Lou Xiyue's leg and warned: "I go to the capital, and I must be careful. The relationship between the power of the court and the royal family is very complicated. When the time comes..."

Lou Xiyue nodded slightly: "He Minghong. He has some understanding of the grudges between King Xuanping and the emperor. He will pay attention to it."

Later, they exchanged the jade pendants they carried with them.

"Very much." Ban Xiyu lowered his head, his eyes a little uncomfortable: "He knows that I have no intention of marrying King Xuanping, so it is not a helpless move to marry him. But if he wants to perform the courtesy of Zhou Gong with me, I will definitely do it."

Find a way to avoid it and don't let him take advantage."

Hearing this, Lou Xiyue smiled and accepted her concern: "I don't worry, he will naturally have a way to deal with mistakes when the time comes. The world is dangerous, and I need to be more careful when I go out. If I encounter any problems, you can

Go find that person—"

She handed a scroll to Ban Xiyu: "Wen Jisheng is a friend he met when he was traveling in the world. He is a very honest man and trustworthy. This is his portrait."

"His appearance is easy to recognize. I saw a light red birthmark shaped like a butterfly in the corner of his eye, and that confirmed it." Lou Xiyue said: "Wen Jisheng did not have any rules in what he did. He acted boldly and without any sense of proportion. He

If he offends me in any way, I will teach him a lesson."

Ban Xiyu solemnly said: "Okay, he has remembered something."

Although Ban Xiyu looked exactly like her, Wen Jisheng was not a fool, so he hoped that he could see through the scam of twin sisters swapping identities at a glance.

Lou Xiyue knew that she couldn't hide it for too long, but based on her understanding, even if Wen Jisheng figured it out, she wouldn't embarrass Ban Xiyu. Then, she handed a gray whistle to Ban Xiyu.

Lou Xiyue said: "Please blow that one, and I can contact him. If he gets the message, he will definitely come to find me."

Ban Xiyu nodded: "He is bright red."

After saying this, the two of them fell into silence at the same time. They raised their eyes and looked at each other with a look of farewell in their eyes.

"I……"

"he……"

At that time, there was a sudden knock on the door of the wing. Mrs. He's voice came in from outside the door: "Ayan, am I ready?"
Chapter completed!