Before long, the Third Young Master tied his hair up and put on a crown. Then, amidst the desolate and chilling sound of the pipa, he drew his sword and began his performance for the day.
Zhu Jiayu watched intently, and Wei Qinglou, helpless and unable to disturb her, could only find opportunities to offer her pastries and tea.
With plenty to eat, drink, and watch, Zhu Jiayu was so busy that she didn't even notice when Yan Feng squeezed in next to her.
In fact, Yan Feng had been waiting for a long time. Now that he had finally found an opportunity, he watched Zhu Jiayu’s sword dance for a while and then said sarcastically, “It’s just a fancy display. If Miss Zhu likes it, I can perform a sword dance for you another day.”
His close friend, who already knew his thoughts, praised Zhu Jiayu, saying, "Miss Zhu, you may not know this, but Yan Feng once performed a sword dance at a palace banquet and even received praise from the Emperor! The top scholar that year even wrote a poem praising his sword dance, among which the lines 'Coming like thunder, gathering fury; ending like the clear light of the sea' are especially well-known and widely recited!"
Wei Qinglou sneered: "Yes, wasn't it Young Master Yan who tried to knock the shuttlecock off the beam for the Ninth Princess with his sword last time, but ended up poking a hole in Jing'an Palace? Young Master Yan's swordsmanship is truly exquisite and unparalleled, I admire him as well."
Zhu Jiayu turned her head and glanced at Yan Feng.
She trusted Wei Qinglou's words completely.
Yan Feng looked embarrassed. If it were any other time, he would have already retorted to Wei Qinglou.
He certainly made a fool of himself, but does that mean Wei Qinglou is some kind of saint? Didn't he once blind the eye of the beauty he sent over?
No, he gouged out the beauty's eyes. That kind of act was far more dangerous than the hole he'd punched in Jing'an Palace!
But he couldn't say it.
Zhu Jiayu is still here. If he were to reveal this, he would be the one who loses ground. After all, he was the one who provoked Wei Qinglou first... Moreover, sending a woman to one's opponent sounds rather unmanly.
Wouldn't that completely ruin his image in front of Zhu Jiayu?
He gritted his teeth and struggled to control himself from talking to Wei Qinglou.
However, Wei Qinglou was not about to stop. He turned his head again and whispered to Zhu Jiayu, "However... if you like, I have learned a few moves from a world-renowned swordsman. How about I perform a dance for you another day?"
He sighed, "It's just that I haven't used a sword in a long time, so I'm afraid my skills are not as refined as Young Master Yan's."
His voice wasn't too low; at least Yan Feng could hear him. Yan Feng quickly slammed his hand on the table and shouted, "What do you mean, Lord Wei? I did make some mistakes in the palace last time, but you don't need to keep praising me in front of Miss Zhu while subtly criticizing me, do you?"
He was furious with Wei Qinglou. Although he had no concrete evidence, he had reason to suspect that Wei Qinglou was deliberately saying it to him to provoke his anger.
Wei Qinglou looked up at him, his face innocent: "What are you talking about, Young Master Yan? I praised your outstanding swordsmanship, how did that become a veiled criticism?"
Yan Feng rolled his eyes dramatically.
Come on, Wei Qinglou's words were so full of sarcasm they were practically overflowing. If you said he didn't mean anything by it, I really wouldn't believe it.
Unexpectedly, Zhu Jiayu nodded and said seriously, "Young Master Yan, today is the coming-of-age ceremony of the third young master of the Earl's Mansion. Even if you don't get along with Lord Wei, if you want to cause trouble, you should change the time."
Yan Feng was so angry at her that he laughed, a look of shock appearing in his eyes. He seemed to find it hard to believe what Zhu Jiayu had said. He clicked his tongue and said, "You really can't understand what he means?"
Zhu Jiayu nodded: "I can tell, Lord Wei is praising Young Master Yan's outstanding swordsmanship."
Yan Feng pursed his lips, and after a long while, he finally squeezed out a single word through his teeth: "Okay."
Wei Qinglou sat to the side, smiling smugly as he handed Zhu Jiayu her favorite crystal cake. He then glanced at Yan Feng, his smugness barely concealed in his eyes.
Yan Feng sneered inwardly, having figured out Wei Qinglou's tricks. He turned around, took a plate of pastries, picked up a piece, and offered it to Zhu Jiayu.
"Yan Feng, have you gone mad!" His friend, who had never seen him like this before, gasped in shock and whispered in his ear.
Unlike Wei Qinglou, Yan Feng was a regular at visiting brothels and entertainment districts. Not to mention the courtesans and dancers, there were even quite a few noble ladies in the capital who secretly admired him.
After all, this man's family background and appearance were what they were, and he was also a student of Grand Tutor Chang and even on good terms with the Crown Prince. For these reasons, he was often fawned over by beautiful women when he went out.
However, he was arrogant and didn't find many women pleasing to the eye. Over the years, countless beauties in the capital had failed to win his favor and returned empty-handed.
His friend never expected that he would lower himself to such a lowly position to curry favor with this cousin from the Ning family.
—Even if it's just acting, isn't this going a bit too far?
He was really afraid that if he didn't remind Yan Feng now, Yan Feng would hold him accountable later.
However, Yan Feng brushed his hand away and said to Zhu Jiayu dismissively, "You should try this too, plum blossom shortbread, one of the most outstanding pastries of the Sheng'an Marquis's mansion."
Zhu Jiayu looked at him with some difficulty: "Young Master Yan, if you have nothing else to do, you should go back. Your presence next to me is quite bothersome."
After she finished speaking, her gaze swept meaningfully over the surrounding noble ladies who were eyeing her covetously.
Wei Qinglou's bad reputation doesn't really matter. Besides, they've all been to Suiping, and many people can guess that they might have crossed paths there, but Yan Feng is different.
The noble ladies were clearly curious about how she could be associated with Yan Feng, and there were also many young girls who admired Yan Feng. They cast scrutinizing glances at Zhu Jiayu, but they didn't go too far because it was the Third Young Master's coming-of-age ceremony.
But Zhu Jiayu still didn't want to cause herself any trouble.
Yan Feng misunderstood her meaning. He smiled modestly and said, "It seems that being too popular is not a good thing. But Miss Zhu, I have no connection with them, so you don't need to worry about that."
Zhu Jiayu: ...Thank you, she wasn't worried at all.
Yan Feng eventually complied and left, after all, he was trying to leave a good impression on Zhu Jiayu.
After he left, Wei Qinglou smiled slightly and poured a cup of tea for Zhu Jiayu: "You just ate several pastries, have some tea."
Zhu Jiayu accepted the tea. The sword dance on stage was nearing its end. She saw the Third Young Master perform a beautiful sword flourish before sheathing his sword and turning to ask the man seated beside him:
"Speaking of which, I think Lord Wei is no less than Young Master Yan. How come Young Master Yan has so many admirers, but I've never heard of Lord Wei..."
Wei Qinglou stared at her intently, then slowly said in a deep voice, "Perhaps it's because I'm chaste and self-disciplined?"
Forget it!
Shujian felt he couldn't listen to it anymore.
Can his young master ever tell the truth? If he and Miss Zhu weren't together, that would be fine, but if they were, and Miss Zhu brought up their past grievances, he was afraid his young master would be torn to pieces.
He previously claimed he hadn't touched a sword in a long time, but he clearly used it to cut off a prisoner's hands just yesterday. As for the claim of being chaste, that's even more absurd. The reason his young master is ignored is clearly because he's too sharp-tongued, okay?
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