Under everyone's gaze, Wan Xueying smiled and replied, "Miss Ji, you're asking the wrong person. Although I've been in the capital for five years, I know very little about the affairs of its various families, let alone information about a man I've never met. However," she added, "I heard from Shen Yu that Lord Ji is extremely outstanding, excelling in every aspect." This last compliment was offered purely out of consideration for Xue Lingyue's sake. Of course, it was undeniable that Pei Xuanqing was indeed outstanding.
Ji Rongsan was not disappointed with her answer. She just wanted to mention Pei Xuanqing's romantic affairs to annoy Xue Lingyue. Her purpose was achieved.
Since she arrived late, the food and drinks were already prepared. Xue Lingyue suppressed her suspicions, ended the conversation, and invited everyone to join her.
The Xue family held a banquet just like the Cui family, with each person having a small table to eat, and Wan Xueying sat at the end again.
Northern women are known for their outgoing nature and particularly enjoy drinking competitions. Although Xue Lingyue suggested a few drinks before the meal, Ji Rongshan was the first to toast her after she broke the news of her engagement to Pei Xuanqing.
Now everyone toasted Xue Lingyue one after another, offering congratulations. Even Wan Xueying couldn't stand out from the crowd, so she toasted Xue Lingyue with a glass of wine and said "Congratulations."
Xue Lingyue drank a little too much, as expected, but as the host, she forced herself to stay with everyone until the end of the meal.
Wan Xueying initially had no idea why Ji Rongshan kept bringing up Pei Xuanqing. It wasn't until Ji Rongshan broke the news that Xue Lingyue and Pei Xuanqing were engaged that someone whispered, "Wasn't it rumored earlier that Miss Xue was going to be engaged to the third son of the Ji family? Why has the person suddenly changed?"
"I don't know! But compared to the Third Master Ji, Master Pei is more important, and the Empress is his aunt."
"That's right, if it were me, I would choose Master Pei too."
I originally thought that the party would end after the meal, but I didn’t expect that the host also arranged a plum blossom viewing session after the meal.
Wan Xueying, who was sitting at the last seat, heard everyone complimenting the plum blossoms in the County Magistrate's Mansion on how beautiful they were. Then, everyone happily went to stroll around the plum blossom garden in the County Magistrate's Mansion, chatting and laughing.
Wan Xueying wasn't interested in this, especially since she was all alone and felt awkward. But she didn't want to offend the host, so she just wandered around slowly behind everyone.
Fortunately, after the maids were treated to some snacks by the master, they were called to serve their respective masters. Baiji, who had been worried about Wan Xueying, also appeared beside Wan Xueying as soon as possible.
"Miss, did they give you any trouble?" Bai Ji asked Wan Xueying in a low voice.
"Not really." Wan Xueying turned around and asked her, "Are you being given a hard time?" If that was the case, she would not be polite.
"No, no." Baiji shook his head repeatedly, "But I don't know anyone here. I feel very awkward. I can't even eat well. It's not as comfortable as at home."
Wan Xueying smiled and said, "Me too." So she wanted this party to end early more than anyone else here.
"What should we do? How about you find an excuse and we leave first?"
"This is our first time visiting someone's family, so let's say goodbye." Wan Xueying planned to do as she did when she came, neither the first nor the last to leave.
"I will obey you all, young lady."
"Since you listened to me, let's find a place to stay first. We'll leave after someone leaves." Then, Wan Xueying took Baiji and separated from the main group, walking towards a small path.
The path led to a rockery with a pavilion on top. She had chosen it because it offered a place to rest and a view of the entire garden. She could return in time after the plum blossom viewing was over.
If Baiji didn't follow her, she could take out a thicker cushion from the space to sit on. As a last resort, she could only wrap herself tightly in the cloak and sit on the cold stone bench to rest.
But it was too cold to just sit there. She was fine, but Baiji was already shivering uncontrollably. Wan Xueying decided to go back to the flower hall with Baiji to warm up.
They had only walked down two stone steps when they saw a man forcibly dragging a woman to a secluded place.
"Let's go and don't tell anyone." She didn't want to get involved in these things that were likely to be shameful, so she told Baiji to leave quickly.
Ji Rongshan was chatting and laughing with everyone else, and suddenly asked, "Hey, where is Sister Lingyue, the head of the family?"
Qian Youyun, who knew where Xue Lingyue was, quickly replied, "Sister Lingyue drank a little too much just now and had to go to the bathroom urgently. I guess she'll be back soon."
"I see," Ji Rongshan said sympathetically. "Everyone's been drinking quite a bit. If anyone needs to go to the bathroom, don't hang around me. Go and do it quickly." She added, "The rest of you must be tired. Over there," she pointed in the direction of the pavilion, "there's a pavilion with a view of the surrounding scenery. Why don't we go there and then go back to the hall to rest for a while before returning home?"
"Great!" Qian Youyun complimented, "I think Miss Ji's suggestion is very good."
"I also think Miss Ji San's suggestion is excellent." Someone echoed.
So the group walked towards the pavilion where Wan Xueying had just stayed. On the way, they happened to pass by the place where the man and woman had just stayed.
But when they went there, the place was empty, but there were a lot of messy footsteps.
Ji Rongsan's expression changed but she didn't say anything. She led everyone to stay in the pavilion for a while, then lost interest. She then led everyone down the rockery and walked towards the flower hall.
On the way, they met Xue Lingyue who was returning from the toilet. Seeing that there was nothing unusual about her, Ji Rongshan just smiled and joked, "If you don't come back, we will all have to go look for you."
Then she said she was tired and wanted to go back home first, and asked if her third brother was with the eldest son of the Xue family?
"Is Third Young Master Ji here too?" Xue Lingyue asked in surprise.
"He came to see your elder brother and brought me here on the way." Ji Rongshan replied.
"I see!" Xue Lingyue nodded. "Then I'll send someone to ask. It won't be too late for you to leave after you get news about Third Young Master Ji."
"Okay."
"Then let's go to the flower hall to rest first."
When the group returned to the flower hall, Wan Xueying and a few other young ladies who had returned earlier were drinking tea to warm themselves up. Qian Youyun looked at Wan Xueying and sneered, "Miss Wan, you're so disrespectful to the County Magistrate's Mansion, even though you've just arrived. Are you dissatisfied with the plum blossoms in the County Magistrate's Mansion?"
Wan Xueying found it somewhat amusing and replied coldly, "Miss Qian, why do you sound like you're making things up? You're just looking for trouble. I'm just drinking tea and warming myself up, and the host hasn't said anything. So what's the point of you putting a big hat on me?"
"But everyone went to appreciate the plum blossoms. If you didn't go, you would be disrespecting the host."
"So what you mean is that the other young ladies here haven't given the host any face?" Wan Xueying dragged the other young ladies who came back early and didn't appreciate the plum blossoms into the problem.
"I, that's not what I meant. They, yes, they've admired the plum blossoms here before, so they don't have to go this time. But you're different. It's really inappropriate for you not to go on your first visit."
"How do you know we didn't go to see the plum blossoms? I just didn't hang around you. Isn't it okay for me to go and see them on my own?"
"But who can prove you were there?" Qian Youyun's lips curled slightly. She still didn't believe it. No one here was with Wan Xueying, so it was impossible for anyone to come forward to prove it.
Unexpectedly, Xue Lingyue stepped forward and said, "I can prove it. I just took Xueying for a spin."
"Really?" Qian Youyun said embarrassedly, "That's because I didn't see it."
Wan Xueying's lips curled slightly, but her eyes were like sharp swords staring at Qian Youyun. "You didn't see it, so you can say that? Then I said I just saw you and a man being affectionate in the woods."
"You...you're talking nonsense!" Qian Youyun stamped her feet in anger. "When did I ever have any intimate relationship with a man? Besides, I've never left the group, so how could I possibly meet another man?"
"If you admit that I was talking nonsense just now, then I will admit that I was talking nonsense too. If you don't admit it, then what I said is true." Let's argue and see who can win.
"You..." Qian Youyun's face flushed red, but he didn't want to admit in public that he was talking nonsense.
"What do you mean by 'you'? If you deny it, then what I said is true. If you need to add fuel to the fire, I'm happy to help."
"You are simply unreasonable."
"Ha, you're so angry now? Then why don't you think about what others will say when you say something about them?"
As the head of the household, it would be bad to just stand by and watch the two people fighting without stopping them, so Xue Lingyue had no choice but to say, "Okay, Xueying, don't bother with Miss Qian." Her words revealed her trust in Wan Xueying.
"I just find it baffling. How could someone be so rude?" That's exactly how she felt. Seeing Qian Youyun still wanting to refute her, Wan Xueying pressed on, "You want me to exaggerate further, right?"
The smile on her lips grew wider as she approached Qian Youyun step by step. Finally, in a voice that only the two of them could hear, she asked, "Do Mr. and Mrs. Qian Tongzhi know that Miss Qian is pregnant before marriage?"
"How...how did you know?" Qian Youyun's eyes were filled with fear. "Who told you?"
"Ha...you should apologize first."
"I was wrong. I shouldn't have said such nonsense just now, okay?" This time, Qian Youyun admitted his mistake very quickly and well, which really shocked everyone.
"You really shouldn't use me as a sacrifice to please the Xue family." You think she's the easiest to bully here, right?
However, because this matter involved the Xue family, Wan Xueying decided to let Qian Youyun go for the time being, so she said to everyone, "Since Miss Qian has admitted her mistake, I take back what I just said."
Even though she said that, Qian Youyun's performance just now still made everyone see some clues.
Ji Rongshan was even more afraid that Qian Youyun would be involved with her third brother, so she urged Xue Lingyue to help find the third young master Ji as soon as possible.
Wan Xueying just felt extremely unlucky as she encountered one mess after another. She was glad that she had not attended such a gathering in the capital.
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