Soon it was the day of Zhao Yiming's thank-you banquet.
Tian An got up early and started preparing.
After bathing, she put on the apricot-colored Shu brocade dress that the An family had sent her earlier, then put on exquisite makeup, and put on the crystal headpiece she had picked out in advance. On her wrist, she only wore the mutton-fat white jade bracelet that belonged to Zhao Yiming's mother.
Although Zhao Yiming is the protagonist today, she cannot be left behind as his fiancée.
She usually wears light and plain makeup, and it's rare for her to look so exquisite, which is really eye-catching.
Tian Mingwu was already waiting by the carriage outside the gate. Today he had to go and support his daughter.
Many distinguished people were present today, and many of them knew Yaoyao, so it was not convenient for her to go with Tian An and the others. In order to accompany her, Xiaokang and Xiaoqi also decided to stay at home.
After Tian An got on the carriage, Tian Mingwu rode in front.
But not long after, he returned to the carriage, his tone full of worry, "My daughter! Let's go get to know the place first today. Don't be nervous! Just treat it like your own home."
Tian An's smiling voice came from the carriage, "Don't worry, Dad, I'm not nervous."
I thought to myself, his father is really rude, he treats me like his own family as soon as he comes.
Soon, they arrived at the place. It was worthy of being the Duke's Mansion. The stone lions at the gate were twice as big as their own.
The area at the entrance was also wide, and many carriages were parked there, but it was not crowded or chaotic at all.
After the carriage stopped, Tian An waited patiently for Lixiang to lift the curtain and help him get out of the carriage.
But she didn't expect that when the curtain was lifted, what she saw was not Li Xiang, but Zhao Yiming's handsome face that she hadn't seen for a long time.
He was wearing a dark blue suit today, also made of Shu brocade, which matched his outfit very well.
Zhao Yiming was also stunned by Tian An's bright and gorgeous outfit today. He stared at her blankly without blinking.
Looking at the slightly calloused hand stretched out in front of him, Tian An did not hesitate. He stretched out his hand and placed it on it, using it as leverage to get out of the carriage.
When Zhao Yiming saw the mutton-fat white jade bracelet on her wrist, the smile in his eyes deepened.
As Tian An got off the carriage, he heard a teasing male voice coming from the front: "I thought it was Zhao Tanhua who left us and left the hall, but it turns out it's the beauty who has come."
When I looked up, I saw several men walking out of the door, and the one leading them was none other than Zhou Churan, the new top scholar of this year.
Zhao Yiming took Tian An to pay his respects to Tian Mingwu first, and then asked the servant to lead him into the mansion.
He came up to the group and introduced them to Tian An, "This is Mr. Zhou Churan, the top scorer in the imperial examination."
Tian An also greeted him gracefully and said, "I've heard for a long time that the champion scholar is a dashing and unrestrained man. Seeing him today, I can see that his reputation is well-deserved."
Zhou Churan was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter, bowed and returned the greeting, saying, "Thank you for your courtesy, my lord."
Tian An looked at the person behind him again and greeted him politely, "Mr. Gu."
Gu Jinzhi cupped his hands, "Sister Tian."
Then he looked at his side and called out affectionately, "Brother."
An Yichen smiled and nodded at her, then said, "I came here first. It will probably take a while for grandma and the others to come over."
Hearing the conversation between An Yichen and Tian An, the top scholar Zhou Churan was surprised and said, "An Chuanlu and Xiangjun are actually related. How come I didn't know about this?"
An Yichen rolled his eyes at him and said without explaining, "There's still a lot you don't know!"
Zhou Churan smiled awkwardly and touched the back of his head. "An Chuanlu, do you have any misunderstandings about me? Why do I feel like you are hostile to me?"
An Yichen didn't even look at him and said coldly, "No."
"Is there no misunderstanding, or no hostility?"
An Yichen: “…”
Tian An watched the interaction between the two, and the more he looked at it, the more he felt that An Yichen simply disliked Zhou Churan for talking too much.
Gently pulling Zhao Yiming's sleeve, he whispered, "Is the number one scholar always so talkative?"
Zhao Yiming glanced at Zhou Churan, who was chasing An Yichen to get to the bottom of things, and nodded.
Zhao Yiming was helpless about the fact that Zhou Churan was talkative. He had never dealt with him before, and he only experienced it when he attended banquets in recent days.
An Yichen and he were both students at the Imperial College and classmates. An Yichen had already been deeply poisoned by Zhou Churan and always looked indifferent to him. Unfortunately, he did not dissuade Zhou Churan from his enthusiasm.
Ignoring the two of them, Zhao Yiming said to Tian An, "There is no hostess in the mansion, and Concubine Xu's status is not high enough. I'll have to trouble you to help me entertain the female guests later."
Tian An was stunned and pointed at himself and said, "Me?" He suddenly felt embarrassed, "This is not good!"
I'm afraid people will gossip about me if I act like a hostess and help him entertain guests before I get married!
Zhao Yiming saw her frown and knew she was overthinking it, so he explained, "This time, the female guests we've invited are a few of your good sisters, a few ladies, and your grandmother's family. They're all familiar people, so it's okay."
After hearing what he said, Tian An shyly agreed.
Seeing Tian An agreed, the smile in Zhao Yiming's eyes became even brighter.
At this moment, the top scholar Zhou Churan suddenly approached Zhao Yiming and joked, "It's true that a hero can't resist a beautiful woman! I thought Zhao Tanhua's usual sternness was just a matter of personality, but I didn't realize it was because he wanted to save his smile for his beloved!"
In response, Zhao Yiming gave him a ruthless kick.
However, Tian An had never expected that this fellow could actually practice martial arts. Not only did he easily dodge the attack, he also shamelessly pointed at Zhao Yiming and said, "Alas! Alas! Alas! Zhao Tanhua, you have no martial ethics! This is called a sneak attack."
"As the saying goes, a gentleman uses words, not fists. If you do this to me, you'll ruin the image of a noble and upright person in the eyes of the village master."
“…”
Zhao Yiming: "..."
Tian An: “…”
An Yichen held his forehead: "o(╯□╰)o"
Gu Jinzhi: "Hahaha..."
After entering the mansion, Tian An parted ways with several others and was taken to the backyard by Xiangtao.
Xiangtao finally managed to hold back and turned a corner. When she was farther away from the front yard, she could no longer control her excitement and turned around to hug Tian An.
"Miss, why did you come to see Xiangtao just now? Xiangtao missed you so much that she couldn't eat or sleep and even lost weight."
Tian An used some strength to pull her off his body. He reached out and pinched her face, which had obviously become much rounder. He didn't believe a word she said.
Even Lixiang came forward and put her arms around her waist and said, "Sister Xiangtao, why do I feel that your waist is at least three fingers thicker than before!"
Xiang Tao quickly put her hands on her waist and touched her waist. She was too guilty to look at Tian An and said, "That, Miss, that..."
Tian An couldn't help but pinch her face again, "Okay, seeing you like this, I know you haven't suffered any loss, so I feel relieved. Take us to the banquet hall quickly!"
"Yes, yes, Xiangtao will take the lady there right away."
Along the way, Xiangtao excitedly talked about what happened during her stay at the Duke's Mansion.
Li Xiang's blood boiled when she heard this, and she exclaimed, "Sister Xiang Tao is so majestic and domineering."
Tian An shook his head helplessly. This girl had been completely led astray by her.
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