"And that Second Young Master Wei, I didn't know my cousin would invite him. Fine, he invited him, but he himself didn't show up," she complained.
"Fortunately, nothing went wrong. You've met Young Master He, how was it?"
Yu Qinglan pursed her lips, smiled, but remained silent.
Yes, the reason she hosted the Grain Rain banquet today wasn't entirely to matchmake her cousin and the princess, nor was it for a spring outing or a lake trip. Her main purpose was to assess Young Master He's character and appearance. Young Master He was one of the husbands her aunt had chosen for her.
She looked away and saw a young man standing gracefully under a willow tree in the distance.
The young master also saw her and bowed respectfully to her from afar.
Miss Yu blushed and then curtsied in return.
...
After disembarking from the painted boat, Song Jiangmei took Zhu Jiayu's hand and sighed, "Yu Wenchao really didn't come. I should have known better than to go to the Grain Rain Banquet today. We feel uncomfortable, and so does Miss Yu."
Zhu Jiayu tilted her head: "Even if Yu Wenchao comes, do you really think you can help A-Shu get revenge by pushing her into the water?"
"That's certainly not possible, but we can make up a story when we see her later, so that she won't keep thinking about it and disturb our peace."
It turned out that they weren't really interested in Yu Qinglan's Grain Rain Banquet; they only went because of Yu Wenchao and Gu Jinshu's affair.
As the two were talking, Song Jiangmei remembered Wei Qingwu sitting in the painted boat, drinking tea non-stop. She chuckled and asked Zhu Jiayu, "Did you see the distressed expression on that second young master's face? It looked like he was being forced to do it with a knife to his throat."
Zhu Jiayu nodded: "He was indeed forced to come."
Wei Qinglou had already told Zhu Jiayu about her second brother, so Zhu Jiayu really knew why the second young master had come today. Seeing Song Jiangmei's curiosity, she thought for a moment and then told her friend about it. Finally, she added, "It's fine if we know about this, but we must not let A-Shu know. If she knows, the whole of Yujing will know."
Song Jiangmei nodded, suppressing a laugh.
The two traveled together until they finally parted ways at the bridge where spring willows brushed their faces, and each boarded a carriage to return home.
Then, not long after Song Jiangmei got into the carriage, she saw a very familiar figure in the distance. She thought for a moment and instructed the driver, "Follow the young lady in the light green dress in front."
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The Song Wei side story and the previous Gu Yu side story run in parallel timelines, but you can treat them as independent short stories without much difference.
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