Chapter 41 Persuading Second Brother to Go on a Blind Date

She rode her horse slowly to He Jianren, whose face was ashen, and extended her hand.

He Jianren was so angry that he trembled all over, but under the watchful eyes of everyone, he could only grit his teeth, pull out the hairpin from his head, and smash it hard into Song Yiqiu's hand.

Song Yiqiu didn't even glance at her face. She turned her horse around, came to the edge of the field, bent down, and personally placed the valuable hairpin into Qingzhu's hair.

"You look better in it."

Qingzhu was both surprised and delighted. Touching the hairpin, her eyes welled up with tears.

Seeing this, the noble ladies felt extremely embarrassed, snorted coldly, and quickly dispersed, looking ashamed.

At this moment, a slightly overweight middle-aged man walked over, clapping his hands. It was Wu Dayong.

His lecherous eyes scoured Song Yiqiu, and he clicked his tongue in admiration.

"Miss Song, you're truly skilled! Your polo skills are impressive; you're a woman who can rival any man!"

As he spoke, the lecherous hand tried to take the opportunity to pat Song Yiqiu's shoulder.

Song Yiqiu reacted extremely quickly, snapping and twisting with her backhand.

A sharp cracking sound followed, accompanied by Wu Dayong's pig-like scream:

"Ahhh! My hand!"

Song Yiqiu released his hand and deliberately bowed respectfully:

“Lord Wu, if you don’t want your hand anymore, you can just say so.”

Wu Dayong clutched his wrist, wincing in pain, and a sudden surge of anger rose within him:

"You! You dare..."

Song Yiqiu took a step closer:

"Lord Wu, I heard you haven't been having a good time lately? It seems the Censorate is investigating whether you've been secretly using your deceased wife's dowry to support three mistresses outside the city?"

"Tell me, if someone submits another memorial impeaching you for corruption, bribery, and forming cliques at tomorrow's court session, will you still be able to keep your official position?"

Wu Dayong's face turned deathly pale instantly, cold sweat poured down his back, and his eyes were filled with terror as he looked at Song Yiqiu.

How could she know these things? And know them in such detail?

Ignoring the excruciating pain in his wrist, he quickly begged for mercy in a low, humble voice:

"Miss Song... Miss Song! No, General Song! I was blind and offended you. Please, have mercy on me this time! Whatever your orders, I will do them! I will do it even if it means my death!"

Song Yiqiu's expression softened slightly, and she said calmly:

"It's not really an order. It's just that my elder brother will soon be working under you. He's young and playful, and doesn't understand the rules of officialdom. I hope that Lord Wu will take good care of him in the future."

"Take him out to see the world, let him eat, drink, and have fun, make sure he's so happy he doesn't want to leave. As for official duties... don't let him worry about them too much, lest it interfere with his enjoyment, don't you think?"

Wu Dayong was stunned for a moment, thinking that Song Yiqiu was afraid that her brother would suffer. This was too easy.

He nodded and bowed repeatedly:

"Yes, yes, yes! I understand. I will definitely handle it properly and make sure Young Master Song has a great time. I will not dare to let him have the slightest worry!"

"very good."

Song Yiqiu nodded in satisfaction.

“Remember what you said. If my elder brother is not doing well... Lord Wu, your life will probably be even more unpleasant.”

After saying that, she stopped looking at the bowing and scraping Wu Dayong, and left the polo field with Bai Mei and Qing Zhu.

The carriage swayed and rattled along the road back to the mansion.

Bai Mei was still exaggeratingly describing Song Yiqiu's heroic performance on the polo field:

"...In the blink of an eye, our young lady executed a beautiful spin, her polo mallet flashing like lightning. He Jianren still wanted to play dirty? No way!"

"Our young lady easily dodged it and even pocketed it in one shot! She utterly humiliated those gossipy women, leaving them crying and screaming! Young lady, you were like a goddess descending to earth! So cool!"

Qingzhu's eyes lit up as she listened, and she nodded repeatedly with immense admiration:

"Yes, yes, yes! Sister Bai Mei is absolutely right. Miss, you are truly amazing! It's a pity the storyteller at the teahouse outside the city didn't hear this, otherwise, if he had turned it into a story, it would definitely have become a sensation throughout the capital!"

Song Yiqiu was both amused and exasperated by their banter, and helplessly rubbed her forehead.

"..."

These two drama queens can shut up now.

Just then, Bai Mei, who was lifting the carriage curtain to look at the street scene, suddenly exclaimed "Eh!" and poked Song Yiqiu hard:

"Miss! Miss! Look! That sneaky fellow over there... doesn't he look just like the Second Young Master?"

Song Yiqiu looked in the direction she was pointing.

A man dressed in unusually shabby clothes was shuffling around the entrance of a brothel with suggestive decor.

Although the man half-covered his face with his sleeve, his obese figure and sleazy demeanor made him none other than her second brother, Song Wenbin.

Bai Mei muttered to herself:

"The second young master is leaving the manor... dressed like this? What is he going to do? Experience the hardships of ordinary people?"

Looking at the spot where he was lingering, Song Yiqiu instantly understood. It seemed that the 'Record of Appreciation of Elegant Scholars' that she had given him last time had indeed worked.

"parking."

Song Yiqiu gave the instructions.

The carriage slowly came to a stop.

Song Yiqiu got out of the car with Bai Mei and Qing Zhu and quietly walked behind Song Wenbin.

Song Wenbin was deeply conflicted, torn between wanting to go in and fearing being discovered. He turned around and suddenly saw Song Yiqiu, and was so terrified he collapsed to the ground.

"You? Song Yiqiu! You... how did you get here?"

Song Yiqiu wore a harmless smile:

"I came out to buy some things. What's wrong, Second Brother? Now that you're at the door, why don't you go in?"

She glanced meaningfully at the signboard.

Song Wenbin's face flushed instantly, and he lowered his voice in embarrassment:

"My dear sister! Speaking of this, your second brother really has to thank you! That 'Appreciation Record' you gave me... hehe, I really like it! It's full of talented people, each with their own unique charm!"

But then his face fell, and he sighed:

"But...you know my second brother's identity. If someone finds out I'm going to and from places like this, Mother will definitely break my legs! And the expenses...are not small either, it's hard to hide them from the accounts."

Qingzhu, who was following behind Song Yiqiu, subconsciously shrank back.

Song Wenbin glanced at her, somewhat surprised:

"Oh? This crazy girl is actually doing well? She's got a good life."

He said in a flippant tone, "Thanks to me, if it hadn't ended up in my yard, it probably would have been sold long ago..."

Song Yiqiu's smile remained unchanged as she interrupted his foul language, took out a heavy embroidered pouch from her bosom, and stuffed it into Song Wenbin's hand. The pouch was full of glittering gold melon seeds.

"In the end, Yiqiu hasn't properly thanked Second Brother for taking care of Qingzhu in the past. Second Brother, you can take these gold melon seeds and play with them for now. I also have some inconspicuous jade ornaments that I'll have someone send to Second Brother later."

“Using these things to ‘appreciate and play with’ is both elegant and won’t leave any evidence of financial transactions, so Mother will definitely not be able to find out.”

Song Wenbin took the embroidered pouch, weighed it in his hand, and immediately beamed with joy. His chubby face bulged together, and he looked at Song Yiqiu as if she were a god of wealth.

"Oh my! I didn't expect you, Fifth Sister... to be so perceptive! So sensible! So incredibly sensible!"

Song Yiqiu felt contempt in her heart, but on the surface she pretended to be considerate and continued to set the trap:

"Second Brother, you flatter me. If you find it inconvenient to come and go, I, Yiqiu, know some connections and can arrange for some 'refined scholars' to come directly to your Huanyun Garden under the guise of exchanging literary and artistic ideas and appreciating calligraphy and paintings. At that time, the gate will be guarded by your own people, so there's no need to worry about being exposed."

Song Wenbin was overjoyed, his eyes shining, and he nodded repeatedly:

"Great idea! Great idea! Yiqiu, what you said really hit the nail on the head!"

But soon he looked worried again.

"But... there has to be a reason, right? I can't invite people to the manor every day to 'exchange literary and artistic ideas,' can I? It's also hard to explain to my mother... and I don't have a reason to go out so often..."

Song Yiqiu smiled and pointed to the extremely conspicuous hairpin in Qingzhu's hair:

"Second brother, do you still remember this?"

Upon closer inspection, Song Wenbin immediately remembered:

"Isn't this... the one that He Jianren, the Minister of War's son, often wears? Why bring her up?"

He said with a hint of disdain, "My mother seems quite interested in her, humph."

Song Yiqiu patiently guided:

"Mother intends to matchmake my second brother with Miss He. Why doesn't my second brother go along with it and do her a favor?"

Song Wenbin was furious when he heard this:

"Song Yiqiu! What nonsense are you spouting! I have no interest in that kind of pretentious woman!"

Inwardly cursing this fool for only knowing the immediate matter, Song Yiqiu patiently explained:

"Second brother, you've misunderstood. Who told you to be genuinely interested in her? You just need to pretend to agree, and use the excuse of going on outings with her, drinking tea and appreciating flowers, and you can easily leave the manor frequently, right?"

"And... you could even use this as an excuse to ask your mother for more 'socializing' allowance. Wouldn't that be killing two birds with one stone?"

Song Wenbin stood there stunned, pondered for a moment, and then suddenly slapped his thigh:

"Brilliant! Sister, you're a reincarnation of Zhuge Liang! That's brilliant! Let's do it this way! I'll go back and tell Mother right away!"

Song Yiqiu curled the corners of her lips:

Another fish has taken the bait.