Chapter 45: No Regrets from Now on

After a brief silence, Jiang Lan asked again, "Is it...?" She paused, and Qi Wuhan took the initiative to tell her, "It's my father."

He turned his head to look at the bright sky and suddenly smiled, "Do you think the daughter-in-law I chose for our family is beautiful?" Jiang Lan blushed, and he bowed deeply to the sky, "Mother-in-law, please accept my greetings."

Hearing his respectful and pious voice, Jiang Lan's heart suddenly moved, and she looked at him in a daze. When he raised his head, the expression on his face was still serious and pious, without a trace of falsehood.

"We have our parents' orders, so don't go back on your word." Qi Wuhan smiled and raised his hand to gently tap her forehead. Jiang Lan finally came back to her senses. The sunlight just happened to illuminate the warm smile on his face, just like the peach blossoms in March blooming overnight...

When she returned to the mansion, Jiang Lan was still a little confused. She kept thinking about whether she nodded in agreement or shook her head to refuse. It seemed that she had said "hmm" or remained silent. She thought about it countless times and was almost hallucinating. Her memory would sometimes show her nodding in agreement, sometimes turning around and running, and sometimes saying "hmm" and shaking her head again. In the end, she simply gave up and said, "Whatever happens, she will just say she doesn't remember it." The next moment, his devilish whisper appeared in her ears again:

"I don't remember. Do you want me to help you recall it?"

After thinking about it for a while, her face turned red as if it was cooked, and she quickly slapped her face hard to get rid of the picture in her mind.

"Miss, what's wrong with you?" Qing'er and Gui'er were startled when they saw her suddenly slap her face hard.

"It's okay. It's too hot in this room. I'll go out for a walk." Jiang Lan stood up and walked towards the door as if nothing had happened. When she reached the door, she tripped over the threshold. Qing'er and Gui'er hurried over to help her. She waved her hand to indicate that she was fine and continued to walk forward as if nothing had happened. After strolling around the yard five or six times, she went back to the house to sit and rest.

A few days later, the Zhang family sent an invitation to a banquet.

After the mansion was renovated, Mrs. Du sent invitations to the homes of high-ranking officials in the capital, hoping to help Mr. Zhang expand his network and gain a foothold in the capital.

Jiang Lan didn't want to join in the fun. Firstly, Pei Qian and Jiang Yao would probably go too. Secondly, Mrs. Du didn't like her anyway. Wouldn't it be nice for her to stay in the mansion and spend the day in peace and quiet?

When Zhang asked Tan Xiang to come and talk to her about this matter, Jiang Lan made an excuse that she was not feeling well for the past two days. After Tan Xiang told this to Zhang, Zhang whispered in Jiang Cheng's ear, saying that if her niece Jiang Lan did not go, people would definitely gossip about her and say that she did not respect her elders and had no respect for them, and it would be even more difficult for her to find a good family in the future.

The next day, Jiang Cheng asked the housekeeper to call Jiang Lan over and asked her to go with him so that outsiders would not have the opportunity to gossip about him.

So on the day of the banquet, Jiang Lan went to the banquet with everyone.

After the Shangshu Mansion's carriage arrived, the Duke's Mansion's carriage also arrived.

Only Pei Qian and Jiang Yao came to the banquet. After they got off the carriage, Pei Qian strode forward, not caring whether Jiang Yao could keep up. When they were almost at the gate, he slowed down and waited for a while, and then the two entered the mansion together.

Then the carriage from the Marquis of Changxing's Mansion arrived, and the Crown Prince Gu Jincheng also came to the banquet.

Master Zhang hurried out to greet him in person.

Accompanied by the light and ethereal sound of copper bells, Marquis Jin'an's carriage arrived.

Master Zhang was flattered. He left the prince Gu Jincheng and hurried over to welcome this popular figure in front of the emperor.

A bone fan lifted the curtain, and Qi Wuhan stepped down from the carriage gracefully and calmly.

Just as Master Zhang exchanged pleasantries, Gu Jincheng came over and joked, "It seems that in Master Zhang's heart, the Marquis is more important."

Master Zhang smiled awkwardly to smooth things over and invited the two to enter his mansion first.

Before the banquet started, the young men and women gathered together to play pitch pots, and Jiang Lan, Qing'er and Gui'er were watching from the side.

Jiang Rui had just lost a game to Master Li of Lord Li's family and was feeling unhappy. He turned around and saw his brother-in-law Pei Qian coming over. He quickly ran over and pulled him over to win the game for him.

Pei Qian glanced in Jiang Lan's direction, intending to show off his skills in front of her, and then went on stage to continue the competition with Master Li on behalf of Jiang Rui.

Jiang Lan was about to leave with Qing'er and Gui'er, but as soon as she turned around, she was blocked by Jiang Yao.

"Where are you going, Second Sister?" Jiang Yao glanced in Pei Qian's direction again. "If you want to see something, just look openly. Are you afraid I'll stop you?"

Jiang Lan didn't want to argue with her any more, so she prepared to leave with Qing'er and Gui'er. When she turned around and saw Qi Wuhan, she stopped in her tracks. He also saw her, and another young man, walking towards her.

The other young man was Gu Jincheng.

The crowd cheered as Pei Qian defeated Master Li.

He immediately looked in the direction of Jiang Lan, but found that she was looking in the direction of another person, and this person was Qi Wuhan. He was so angry that his teeth were itching.

"Miss, would you like to compete with me?" Qi Wuhan walked up to Jiang Lan and said.

The people present immediately started talking about it, speculating about the relationship between the two and how far it had developed.

After all, Marquis Jin'an is a famous playboy in the capital who has been involved with many women. If he ranks second, no one dares to rank first.

So most people speculated that Jiang Lan was just another ignorant girl who was deceived.

"If you want to compete, why not compete with me?" Pei Qian came over and said.

Seeing Pei Qian rescue Jiang Lan, everyone started talking again, speculating about the relationship between the three. When those who knew the inside story whispered about the complicated triangle relationship between Jiang Lan, Pei Qian and Jiang Yao, the discussion became even more lively.

Jiang Yao was so ashamed and angry that she left angrily with Huaer and two maids.

Qi Wuhan accepted Pei Qian's provocation, and when he walked over, the crowd automatically made way for him.

He picked up an arrow and threw it casually, hitting the target right in the heart, winning cheers.

Gu Jincheng knew Pei Qian's level of skill at throwing pots, and judging by the situation, he was definitely no match for him. He came over to interrupt, saying he'd give it a try, picked up two arrows, and prepared to throw them at Shuang'er. He threw them with both hands, hit one, and conceded defeat. He then joked with Pei Qian, "You might as well admit defeat. The Marquis shoots at living targets on the battlefield, taking heads from a hundred paces away. We can't compete with him."

Pei Qian didn't want to admit defeat, but he knew that he really had little chance of winning, and losing would be even more embarrassing. However, he couldn't swallow the humiliation of admitting defeat like this.

At this time, Master Zhang came over and said that the banquet was about to begin and invited everyone to take a seat.

Gu Jincheng dragged Pei Qian over first, advising him not to run into trouble with Qi Wuhan. He then jokingly said, "I really don't understand you. You clearly disliked her before, so why are you obsessed with her now?" He then added, "But after seeing her today, she's indeed a beauty, not as plain as you said before. Do you regret it now?"

Pei Qian's face darkened and he said nothing.