Jiang Mingzhi nodded, his attitude neither too close nor too distant being just right.
After Chu Jincheng walked away, Qingtang looked at her young lady nervously: "Miss, why did you agree to have lunch at the palace?"
They had just lost their composure in front of Prince Jin's concubine, and now if they went back, wouldn't they be asking for trouble? Would Princess Jin be able to give them a good face? How could they eat lunch?
Jiang Mingzhi smiled without saying anything. Qingtang also knew his limits and did not continue to ask questions. This was not the place to talk.
Han Qingyue was a little surprised to hear that the prince had returned. She was talking angrily to Bai Huiniang about Jiang Mingzhi. She was interrupted just as she was talking about how disrespectful Jiang Mingzhi was to the princess.
Prince Jin was in his prime, handsome and elegant. Han Qingyue knew that Bai Huiniang was always a protective person, so she was about to say goodbye and leave. However, before she even left the yard, Chu Jincheng arrived.
Chu Jincheng was not surprised to see Han Qingyue. Han Qingyue bowed her head with a slightly embarrassed look on her face. She had expected Chu Jincheng to nod and leave as before, but he actually took the initiative to speak to her: "Second Miss Han, you can stay at the mansion for lunch."
Han Qingyue was stunned for a moment, then she felt delighted, and her eyes looked at Chu Jincheng with a little more passion, but the passion did not last long, as it was extinguished by Chu Jincheng's words.
"Hui Niang, Miss Jiang will also be staying at the mansion for lunch today. Please have someone clean up the mess so as not to lose the host's hospitality.
When Bai Hui Niang heard this, her expression changed. She really wanted to ask Chu Jincheng why he wanted to keep Jiang Mingzhi, but seeing Han Qingyue was present, she resisted the urge to ask.
"Yes." She heard herself answer in a very obedient voice.
After Chu Jincheng gave the instructions, he went straight into the house to change his clothes.
Seeing Jiang Mingzhi coming back, Han Qingyue pulled the corners of her mouth, revealing an expression uglier than crying, but Jiang Mingzhi didn't care and walked forward openly.
Bai Hui Niang really disliked the person in front of her, but when she thought of Chu Jincheng being in the room, she had to act like a virtuous mistress and warmly invited Jiang Mingzhi to sit down.
Seeing Bai Hui Niang's flexible performance, Jiang Mingzhi decided to make the most of the lunch.
I have to say that Bai Hui Niang's acting talent is not something that everyone has. She was cold and sarcastic to her before because she came to apologize on her own initiative. Now she changed her attitude towards her because she was the one that Chu Jincheng invited to stay at his house for dinner.
Admittedly, Bai Hui Niang must be dissatisfied with this, but in order to show her virtue and magnanimity, she had to pretend to be happy no matter how unhappy she was. After all, her ambition was not just to be a concubine!
Jiang Mingzhi originally had no interest in staying at Prince Jin's mansion for lunch, but now, seeing Bai Hui Niang's expression, she suddenly felt that the decision to stay for lunch was a good one.
She suddenly thought, if Bai Huiniang and Chu Jincheng knew that the person sitting in front of them was Zhou Suihuan, whose body had already rotted away, and the person they least wanted to see in their dreams at midnight, how would they react?
"Why would the prince invite you to have lunch?"
Han Qingyue deliberately took two steps behind and asked in a low voice beside Jiang Mingzhi.
Jiang Mingzhi wanted to laugh when he saw her look. After all, she was a young lady from a noble family. She had not married for many years because she was mentally ill. But Han Qingyue was a good girl, yet she was still unmarried at this age. Now it seemed that it had a lot to do with her stupid temper.
"Miss Han, if you want to know why the prince asked me to have lunch with you, you can go and ask the prince yourself. How can I know what he is thinking?" Jiang Mingzhi deliberately raised his voice, causing Bai Huiniang and the others in front of him to stop and look at Han Qingyue.
Han Qingyue was startled by her deliberately raised voice, and then her face flushed. She hesitantly explained, "I don't mean to ask why the prince kept you, I just feel..."
"What do you feel?" Jiang Mingzhi looked at her leisurely, with a smile on his face, but it made people feel uncomfortable.
Han Qingyue bit her back teeth and didn't say anything. In the end, Bai Huiniang took the initiative to speak up and smooth things over, and the matter was finally put to rest.
Jiang Mingzhi did not argue with Han Qingyue over these trivial matters. These details could only cause them some discomfort at most, but could not really cause them any losses.
But since they were having lunch at Prince Jin's mansion, men and women should have sat at separate tables. Who would have thought that Chu Jincheng would actually eat at the same table with them.
Bai Hui Niang felt that this was unreasonable, but based on her understanding of Chu Jincheng, she was afraid that if she said anything, it would make Chu Jincheng unhappy, so she thought about it and didn't say anything.
But he felt unhappy in his heart. What did Chu Jincheng want to do? Why did he show different attitudes towards the eldest lady of Jinyi Marquis Mansion again and again? What was different about her?
This was not the first time Han Qingyue came to the house, but Chu Jincheng had never invited anyone to dine with him. Even if she occasionally invited Han Qingyue to dine at the house, Chu Jincheng would avoid it and would not dine at the same table with her so openly.
He felt a surge of jealousy in his heart, but he had to pretend to be magnanimous on the surface. Bai Huiniang and Han Qingyue both found the meal tasteless. Chu Jincheng seemed to be eating, but his eyes would occasionally fall on Jiang Mingzhi who was sitting opposite him.
Jiang Mingzhi pretended not to know. Whatever happened, Qingtang served her the dishes from behind. Wherever her eyes fell, Qingtang's chopsticks would fall on that dish. He didn't have the slightest restraint of a guest. In comparison, it seemed as if Bai Hui Niang and the others were the guests.
She was enjoying herself, but others were miserable.
Chu Jincheng's eyes fell on Qingtang's chopsticks, and his doubts deepened.
On the day he got married, the woman he saw in the back garden looked so much like Sui Huan, and the dishes she liked to eat were also similar to Sui Huan's. Why, why in this world could there be two people so similar?
When she smiles, she is as beautiful as the stars and the moon. When she doesn't smile, she is like a goddess, sacred and inviolable.
What kind of woman is this? After wasting ten years, she can appear in front of everyone like a star, making those who want to bully and humiliate her return empty-handed. How did she do it?
At this moment, Chu Jincheng had an unprecedented urge to get closer, closer, to see through this woman's appearance and see what unspeakable things were hidden in her heart.
"Your Majesty."
When Chu Jincheng heard Bai Hui Niang's voice, he suddenly came back to his senses and realized that he had just lost his composure.
He was distracted for a moment and forgot to stop staring at Jiang Mingzhi for a long time.
"Your Highness, are you lost in thought?"
Bai Hui Niang looked at Chu Jincheng with a smile, but her hands hidden in her sleeves were clenched into fists. If it was just a guess at the beginning, now looking at Chu Jincheng's expression, she was almost certain that Chu Jincheng had fallen in love with Jiang Mingzhi.
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