The girl in white

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.

*******

Zhu Fenfang stayed back for a few minutes before leaving the tea house. She had her maid Xiao Chu call her carriage around, the carriage, clothes and jewellery even though they weren't as expensive as Zhu Fengyin's and Zhu Fei Fei's, were some of the benefits she got from her father. 

While she wasn't one of the favoured daughters in the family, she still received the standard benefits of any daughter of a noble family. She didn't receive much attention and care from her noble father because of her mother's origin. 

Unlike her sisters and brothers, she didn't have any powerful relatives that Minister Zhu could make use of. Her mother was the concubine daughter of the He family. The He family was once a powerful military family but were now in decline.

Minister Zhu married her mother back then as a favor to Madam Lu, back when her father and the previous Duke Wu were still close. That was before her father became power-hungry and ruthless.

Maybe if she had powerful relatives, her father would see her in a different light. She was more beautiful and intelligent than any of her sisters yet her father didn't give her any attention. He didn't involve her in any decisions and plans he made. 

It was always only Fengyin or Feifei, he never even introduced her to any one of his followers. Which was annoying, no matter how hard she tried, she could never be compared to his precious Zhu Fengyin.

Every plan he made was always in Zhu Fengyin's favour. As soon as Zhu Fengyin was born he got her betrothed to the Sixth Prince, she would have been a princess consort if it wasn't for Madam Zhu and Zhu Feifei's involvement.

Zhu Fenfang had been overjoyed when that happened, she had thought that finally, Zhu Fengyin would know how it felt to lose face. However, her joy was short-lived because minister Zhu found her another match. Even though the Lu family was in decline, they were still members of the royal family.

The Empress was Duke Wu's aunt, they still held a majority of the military power and were still the second richest family after the royal family. The Lu family was a very old line with roots that were dated to the founding fathers of the empire. They had been producing Empresses and defending the borders for generations.

Zhu Fengyin still had a good match, at least she would become a duchess and get to run a household. Zhu Fenfang had been suppressed since birth by Zhu Fengyin, she wasn't going to let that happen again.

No she would never let that happen, she would never marry Lu Yaozhu. He was just a second son with no power of his own. If she married him, she would have to bow to Zhu Fengyin for the rest of her life. Which wasn't any different from her life in the Zhu Family.

Zhu Fenfang aimed higher; unlike Madam Zhu and Zhu Feifei, she wasn't going to aim for a favored prince without any power.  She had her eyes on the crown prince, the Emperor may favor the sixth prince but with his reputation right now, the Sixth Prince would never inherit the throne, the Crown Prince's position was very stable.

Zhu Fenfang was seated in the carriage with Xiao Chu, on their way back to the minister's residence when there was a loud commotion outside. Zhu Fenfang pulled the curtains on the window to the side and looked out the window.

A rider lost control of their carriage and was headed straight to where a child stood. The child chased after his toy. The carriage was going too fast, someone needed to get the child out of the way.

Zhu Fenfang stopped the carriage and rushed out. She ran out of the carriage and pulled the child into her hands, the force was a little high, she fell with the child in her hands.