Chapter 9 Jealousy

On the day of Pei Mansion's birthday banquet, the Duke and his family arrived early.

Apart from the first time when she congratulated Old Madam Pei on her birthday in the main hall and met Pei Zhao from afar, Song Lingyi never saw him again after he was surrounded by a group of talented scholars and went somewhere else.

The noble ladies in the side hall were chatting animatedly. Song Lingyi, holding her snow-white cheek, sat blankly in her seat, sighing secretly.

After a while, Lu Yu hurried into the side hall, leaned over to her cousin and whispered, "It's all done, cousin, go quickly."

Song Lingyi hesitated: "Ayu, I still feel that this is not a good idea."

"What's wrong with that?"

"What if Brother Jianzhi doesn't care about me meeting Yang Erlang alone?"

Marriage isn't a matter of bidding. If one partner doesn't buy it, the other partner will. How will it end then?

"But I have asked Brother Yizhou to find Yang Erlang. If my cousin doesn't go, what if he thinks we are playing a joke?" Lu Yu pouted her red lips, her almond eyes showing a hint of grievance. She gently shook her cousin's arm with both hands, silently acting coquettishly.

Song Lingyi pursed her lips.

While he was pondering, he suddenly heard the excited voices of the ladies coming from the corridor, and vaguely heard words like "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is here".

Seeing that her cousin still didn't express her opinion, Lu Yu had no choice but to compromise, her shoulders slumped. "Okay, then I'll go see Yang Erlang and say it was a misunderstanding."

After saying that, she slowly stood up and moved towards the door as if her feet weighed a thousand pounds.

Seeing her like this, Song Lingyi knew that her cousin was playing the tactic of "retreat to advance". She wanted to be hard-hearted and not fight back, but when she thought about it carefully, she realized that her cousin's starting point was also for her.

"Okay, I'll go."

Go meet Yang Erlang and make things clear so that the elders of both families don't have to worry about the marriage.

Lu Yu's eyes suddenly lit up, and she threw herself on Song Lingyi and rubbed against her, "Cousin is the best."

…

There were many recreational activities in the spacious courtyard. A group of young men were playing the game of pitching pots with great enthusiasm. Lu Qian won by hitting both ears, and the next group just happened to bring Yang Erlang and Pei Zhao together.

These two were both renowned in Kyoto as "Er Lang," one a man of both talent and beauty, the other a stern judge. The atmosphere heated up instantly, with everyone betting on which "Er Lang" would win.

When Chu Yizhou squeezed in, he just heard the young man next to him shouting "Yang Erlang won three prizes in a row".

He remembered Lu Yu's instructions in his heart, touched his chin, and moved between Yang Erlang and Pei Erlang. He cleared his throat and shouted loudly: "Erlang! Erlang!"

The two of them turned around and stared at him, and Lu Qian on the side was also looking at Chu Yizhou as if he were a fool.

Chu Yizhou smiled at Pei Zhao and said deliberately, "Sorry, I was calling Yang Erlang."

Pei Zhao didn't react much to his mischievous behavior. He turned away calmly and took two arrows from the pot. Yang Erlang had hit three arrows in a row, so he had to hit both ears to have a chance of winning.

"Brother Chu, what's wrong?" Yang Erlang was confused.

Chu Yizhou glanced at Pei Zhao and saw that he was holding an arrow in each hand, aiming at the golden pot about ten feet away.

"It's okay, Miss Lu came to see me just now..."

Before he finished speaking, cheers rang out from all around: "Pei Erlang has been hit in both ears!"

The cheers were so loud that they interrupted Yang Erlang's thoughts. He subconsciously looked at Pei Zhao, but Chu Yizhou forcibly turned his face towards him.

“……?”

"Miss Lu said that Miss Song is waiting for you at Begonia Pavilion and has something to tell you."

Afraid that someone couldn't hear him, he shouted so loudly that he almost drowned out the cheers.

Right after he finished yelling, Chu Yizhou looked at Pei Zhao's reaction as if he was watching a play, but he saw him move slightly and shoot out both arrows in his hands.

"Pei Erlang's consecutive hits pierce his ears!"

Normally, hitting three in a row was considered good, but Pei Zhao had managed to hit them straight! All the young masters present applauded, their cheers rising one after another.

"Wait for me?" Yang Erlang wondered as he reached out to grab the arrow. "Wait for me for what?"

"Oh!" Chu Yizhou snatched the arrow from his hand and pushed him to the outside, urging him, "Why do you care so much? The girl is looking for you, so just go!"

Seeing Yang Erlang heading towards Haitang Pavilion, Chu Yizhou snapped his fingers and was about to go back to continue playing tossing pots when someone grabbed him by the back of his collar and dragged him aside.

"Hey hey hey...who is it...let go quickly..."

When they were alone, Lu Qian let go, narrowed his eyes slightly, and raised his chin towards him, "What the hell is this girl looking for Yang Xiao for?"

Facing those dark and cold phoenix eyes, Chu Yizhou was startled and said truthfully: "How would I know? It was your sister who asked me to help her make an appointment."

Lu Qian had a blank expression on his face. He sneered slowly, "She asked you to help, so you helped?"

"If I don't help her, she'll turn around and falsely accuse me, and I'll definitely get a beating when I get home."

Lu Qian was too lazy to say more to him, so he walked around him and went to the right side of the corridor.

…

Begonia Pavilion is close to the main hall in the front yard. Many flowers and trees are planted around the pavilion, such as jasmine, gardenia, rose, as well as large areas of weeping willows and banana trees. Various flowers and trees are scattered around.

Song Lingyi stood by the railing of the pavilion, feeling cool and comfortable in the breeze.

After waiting for about half a cup of tea, she heard footsteps behind her. She turned around and saw that the person was wearing a smoky black brocade robe, was tall and had a handsome appearance.

At the same time, Yang Erlang was also looking at the girl by the railing. At first, he felt that she looked familiar. But when he thought about it carefully, he realized that she was the girl who had saved His Majesty's life against all odds on the night of His Majesty's birthday banquet.

Thinking of this, he remembered another thing. His mother seemed to have mentioned to him about the matchmaking last night. The girl's surname seemed to be Song, and she was a cousin of the Duke's Mansion.

Song Lingyi knelt and saluted, then asked, "Are you Yang Erlang?"

Yang Erlang came back to his senses and bowed like a scholar. "My name is Yang Xiao. I wonder what Miss Song wants to see me about?"

"Yes, there is one thing." Song Lingyi smiled faintly and told Yang Erlang that Madam Wang had come to the Duke's Mansion to propose marriage a few days ago, and explained her thoughts to him clearly.

"Grandmother has been ill recently. I've only been in Kyoto for a short time, and I'd like to honor her for a while longer on behalf of my mother."

Yang Erlang heard the refusal, but he was not annoyed. He said calmly: "In fact, my thoughts coincide with yours. I have just entered the officialdom and my official duties are complicated. I have no intention of getting engaged yet, but my mother is always anxious..."

…

Large banana trees partially blocked the sunlight from the garden corridor. A group of people were walking towards this direction. The person leading the group was elegant and dressed in a crimson jacquard brocade robe. It was Crown Prince Xiao Mingyi.

He glanced at the pavilion inadvertently and saw Song Lingyi and Yang Erlang standing face to face. He didn't know what the latter said, but it made Song Lingyi's eyebrows curved. In the bright sunlight, her bright black eyes were as bright as stars.

"...Your Highness the Crown Prince?"

The talking beside him stopped abruptly, and several young ministers followed Xiao Mingyi's gaze and looked towards the pavilion.

"Isn't that Master Xiao Yang?"

"The guy opposite looks familiar."

"It seems to be the cousin of the Duke of Jin, the one to whom His Majesty bestowed the token..."

Several people were talking at once, and Xiao Mingyi had already withdrawn his gaze from the pavilion. As he passed the corridor, he found a young man in brocade robes secretly peeping at him from behind a willow tree.

"Yang Erlang is a young talent, and this cousin from the Duke's Mansion is beautiful. They are a perfect match, a perfect match."

A minister expressed his feelings, and Xiao Mingyi sneered when he heard it.

I underestimated this girl in the past. A few days ago, she was in close contact with the Erlang of the Pei family, and today she was having a secret meeting with the Erlang of the Yang family in the pavilion.

"Let's go, don't disturb their fun."

The group left along the garden corridor. The young man and the girl in the pavilion had just finished their conversation, and Yang Erlang left first.

The surroundings were quiet. Song Lingyi sat alone in the Begonia Pavilion for a while. She caught a glimpse of a cherry tree in the yard. Its branches extended beyond the railings, and a few red fruits could be vaguely seen among the dense green leaves.

Song Lingyi's mind flashed, and she immediately walked to the railing, leaning halfway out to pick the fruit. Perhaps she was so busy picking that she didn't even notice the footsteps behind her.

After great effort, she finally picked a few. She took a bite and almost lost her teeth from the sourness. Her delicate features were twisted into a knot.

"What are you doing?"

A male voice suddenly sounded behind her. Song Lingyi's shoulders trembled and she turned around. It was Pei Zhao.

He remained motionless, staring at her quietly.

"Well……"

Embarrassed to say that she was 'stealing' his cherries, Song Lingyi smiled awkwardly and spread out her hands, "Do you want to eat cherries?" She had the intention of teasing him, and her smile became cunning.

Seeing Pei Zhao's expression calm and unmoved, she continued to test him, picking up a cherry and bringing it to his lips. His clear, dark eyes were like spring rain falling on a lake, creating ripples and alluring her invisibly.

Pei Zhao lowered his eyes and looked at her silently, his lips slightly parted, allowing her to stuff the sour cherry into his mouth.

The sour juice burst in his mouth, but his expression did not relax at all, not even a frown.

“……?”

Song Lingyi's face was full of question marks.

Why is there no reaction at all? Wasn’t the pill he ate sour?

With this thought in mind, Song Lingyi stuffed the remaining cherry into her mouth.

"Ugh..." It's so sour.

She had just been in a good mood and wanted to play a trick on Pei Zhao, wanting to see a different expression on his usually calm face, but she never expected that she would almost vomit.

Pei Zhao, on the other hand, still had a calm expression, but his eyes looked strange. Unlike his usual calmness, there was a feeling that a storm was about to come.