The carriageman carried Chu Nianhe and Xiaochan all the way to the city. Chu Nianhe was still immersed in what his mother said, but she heard Xiaochan say curiously: “Hey, what’s wrong today? There are so many people outside.”
Chu Nianhe also followed Xiaochan’s gaze and looked out of the carriage. Sure enough, he saw many people walking outside bustling with joy on his face. Some young girls were holding bouquets in their hands. When they heard the screams of men coming from around them, they showed a shy expression, laughing and playing together in groups, looking very lively.
The coachman outside the carriage heard Xiaochan’s words and said with a smile: “This is the fragrance-picking festival that we ordinary people once a quarter, so the ladies of your officials don’t know.”
Xiaochan said curiously, “What kind of festival is the fragrance-picking festival?”
The coachman said in a singular way: “This fragrance-picking festival is a festival passed down from the older generation. Every day, unmarried girls can bring flowers out. If they see a man they like, they can give him the flowers. If this man has never married and understands the girl’s meaning, they will naturally ask the matchmaker to come to propose marriage.”
After hearing this, Xiaochan covered her mouth and smiled, “This is really interesting. Girls don’t have the opportunity to choose the person they like on weekdays. Can’t they decide for their lifelong affairs now?”
Seeing Xiaochan’s face turned red with a red smile, Chu Nianhe also joked at her with a smile. “Seeing that you are so concerned about lifelong affairs, it’s better for you to go down and get a flower. If you see what you like, I will make the decision and agree to this marriage?”
Although Xiaochan is very popular and speaks very well, she is just a teenage girl after all. When Chu Nianhe mentioned this, her face turned red even more. She shouted at Chu Nianhe with shame and shame: “Miss, don’t joke with me. If you want to marry, it’s the reason why it’s my turn first?”
Hearing this, Chu Nianhe couldn’t help but remember what she looked like when she got married. The fiery red lanterns, the bright red wedding dresses, and the cold pearls on her head, those beautiful objects witnessed her next sad life, how beautiful and unfortunate.
Suddenly, a face flashed like lightning in her mind. The face was covered in blood, as if it was still carrot. She had seen this face on her wedding day, and she was so scared that she almost fainted. The owner of that face was also dragged out by Yan Lichen and locked up immediately.
Later, she quietly asked the prince’s mother whom she assigned to her in the mansion. The woman told her that the woman was a concubine in the mansion who was favored by the seventh prince. She accidentally cut her face and in order to remove the scars, she took a medicine from outside. It is said that after applying it, the scars can be removed and a strange fragrance will be emitted throughout her body. The woman said she had also smelled the concubine’s smell, it is indeed very sweet. But for some reason, after a while, the scarred area on the concubine’s face began to ulcerate and could not be cured. Over time, the concubine went crazy.
Chu Nianhe asked what the name of the medicine was because of curiosity, but everyone in the mansion was so secretive that no one was willing to say it. It was when she passed by the washing room and vaguely heard the girl inside mentioning the name, as if it was called Yanhunxiang.
She didn’t remember it clearly. As she was thinking about it, Xiaochan, who was beside her, thought she was angry, and carefully pulled her sleeve and said, “It’s all my fault. Miss, don’t be angry, I will never dare to talk back to the lady again.”