All eyes in the room immediately focused on him. Hu's armor dug into his arm, but she kept a smile on her face: "My son is reckless, I have to make you laugh." She suddenly grabbed Jiang Qinghe's hand and said, "Good boy, I'm sorry to have scared you."
The jade bracelet on Jiang Qinghe's wrist clattered against the table, making a crisp sound. She withdrew her hand without a trace. "Auntie, your words are serious. Miss Peng's safety is of paramount importance."
Peng Yuyan suddenly pushed through the crowd and said, "Mei Weixing!" Her hairpins swayed wildly. "Since you hugged me in public, either marry me or I'll cut off my hair and become a nun!"
The whole room erupted in uproar. Hu Zizhu's teacup clattered to the ground, and Jiang Yuyao couldn't hide her smile even with her handkerchief covering her lips. Mei Weixing looked at Jiang Yuyao's smiling face and suddenly felt a dryness in his throat: "I..."
"Yuyan!" Mrs. Peng grabbed her daughter and said, "Stop talking nonsense!"
"Mother always taught me that a woman's reputation is paramount." Peng Yuyan pushed her mother away. "Now everyone in the capital knows that I'm being embraced by a man from another country. How do you want your daughter to cope with this?"
Princess Linchuan slammed her rosary beads on the table and said, "Master Mei, what do you say?"
Mei Weixing's forehead was covered with sweat. He caught a glimpse of Jiang Yuyao quietly signaling the number "three"—a code they'd agreed upon as children, representing "acceptance." For some unknown reason, he bowed and said, "Junior is willing to..."
"Weixing is saying that he wants to take Miss Peng as his sister!" Hu suddenly interrupted. "He and Qinghe will get married in the spring, and he will definitely give Miss Peng a nice make-up!"
Jiang Qinghe looked up suddenly when she heard that, only to see Mei Weixing staring at Jiang Yuyao. She suddenly remembered the gold hairpin inlaid with rubies that Mei Weixing had given her at her coming-of-age ceremony last month, which was exactly the same as the one Jiang Yuyao was wearing now.
"Madam, I appreciate your kindness." Jiang Shu suddenly stood up. "We are unfortunate and unworthy of Prince Mei's love." She took her daughter's hand and said, "When the Yongding Marquis's family marries off their daughter, we don't seek fame, but only a loyal partner."
Mrs. Hu's face paled instantly. Mei Weixing, however, was as if pardoned. Just as he was about to speak, Jiang Yuyao shook her head at him. The ruby and gold hairpin shone so brightly that it stung his heart—it turned out she had known it was part of the betrothal gift.
Peng Yuyan suddenly laughed out loud: "What a way to have the best of both worlds!" She tugged at Mei Weixing's soaked sleeve, "Either marry me with the proper formalities, or I jump back into the lake right now and pretend I was never rescued!"
Mrs. Hu paused as she twirled her Buddhist beads, the golden nanmu beads clacking against the huanghuali wood table with a thud. "That's quite interesting, Miss Peng. Are you asking us to cancel the engagement with the Marquis' Mansion and bring you home in a sedan chair carried by eight men?"
Peng Yuyan clutched her soaked sleeves, mud from the lotus pond still stained her fingernails. "How come Mei Weixing didn't remember you were engaged when he pulled me out of the water? Now he's pretending to be a gentleman!"
"Yuyan!" Mrs. Peng hurriedly covered her mouth. The jade bracelet on her wrist hit her daughter's gold necklace with a crisp "clang" sound. "Master Mei saved you out of kindness."
"Kindness?" Peng Yuyan turned her head away, and two pearls fell from her hair. "If he is really a gentleman, he should let the old woman rescue him!" These words made everyone in the hall's face change suddenly, even Jiang Qinghe couldn't help but look up at Mei Weixing.
Mrs. Hu slammed her Buddhist beads on the table and pointed the ruby-studded armor at Peng Yuyan's nose. "What a shameless girl! Did we, Weixing, save you and bring you into trouble?" She turned around and tugged at her son's sleeve. "Say something!"
Mei Weixing was stealing glances at the newly embroidered lotus flowers on Jiang Yuyao's waist when he was suddenly pulled, causing him to stumble. He caught a glimpse of Jiang Qinghe staring down at the embroidered branches on her skirt. He suddenly remembered the hangover soup she had sent him last month, and his throat moved. "Mother, I'll do whatever you say."
"Listen!" Hu raised her chin proudly. "We in Weixing are the most polite people."
"So polite that you're flirting with the three Jiang sisters?" Peng Yuyan suddenly sneered, "The day before yesterday during the Dragon Boat Race, Prince Mei sent a sachet of perfume to Jiang Qinghe's boat; and yesterday on Guanyin's birthday, he also sent a consecrated jade pendant to Jiang Qingzhi—" She deliberately stretched out her voice, "When you saved me today, you glanced at Jiang Yuyao on the shore!"
Jiang Qinghe looked up suddenly, the handkerchief in her sleeve twisted into a knot. Jiang Yuyao pretended to fix her hair, revealing a new jade bracelet on her wrist—the very gift from the Mei family the day before.
"That's enough!" Madam Peng pulled Peng Yuyan behind her, the kingfisher hairpin in her bun tilted. "Madam, what happened today was an accident. Although our Peng family is not as powerful as the Marquis's, we are not one to be humiliated." She glanced at Jiang Qinghe deliberately. "It's just about this engagement."
"The engagement remains the same." Jiang Shu suddenly spoke, tucked her daughter's cold hand into her arms and held it. "Our Qing He is the Marquis' eldest daughter. There's absolutely no reason for anyone to be picky."
Mrs. Hu's face froze. She had originally thought of using this opportunity to suppress the Jiang family's arrogance, but she hadn't expected Jiang Shu to be so stubborn. Just as she was about to turn the situation around, she heard a sudden "crash"—Peng Xuanyue accidentally spilled the ginger soup.
"I'm sorry." Peng Xuanyue hurriedly squatted to pick up the broken porcelain pieces, her fingertips scratched with blood. She stared at the scarlet, then suddenly looked up: "Big sister, you look down on the poor scholar, but did you know that Master Li won the second place in the autumn examination?"
"Xuan Yue!" Mrs. Peng shouted, but she couldn't stop Peng Yuyan from getting angry.
"Great! Sure enough, there's a good marriage going on!" Peng Yuyan trembled with anger. "The second son of the Wuwei Marquisate will marry Xuanyue, and the newly-appointed scholar will marry me—my aunt has a good plan!"
Peng Xuanyue jumped up, her apricot skirt stained with tea. "Mr. Li was chosen by Daddy himself! If you're jealous, why not go tell Daddy!"
"You think I don't dare?" Peng Yuyan pulled off the purse from her waist and threw it on the ground. The golden lotus embroidered with twin stems was covered with dust. "I'm going to go find Daddy right now and show him how harshly the second wife treats the daughter of the first wife!"
Jiang Yuyao suddenly chuckled, the jade bracelet on her wrist jingling. "Don't worry, Sister Yuyan. I heard that the Wuwei Marquis's son is very weak." She glanced at Peng Xuanyue meaningfully, "The second son may not be without luck."
This remark pierced Peng Xuanyue's lungs. Her fiancé was a notorious playboy, having been reported by the Imperial Censor last month for cockfighting. Seeing her mother trying to settle the matter again, she suddenly broke free from Madam Peng's hand and said, "Sis, since you're so envious, why don't we switch? You marry that brothel-goer, and I'll marry Prince Mei!"
"Nonsense!" Madam Peng raised her hand to hit him, but couldn't bring herself to do so. She turned her hand and slapped her own leg. "Marriage is not a joke!" She turned to look at Hu, her eyes red. "Madam Bo, please give me your final say on today's matter."
Mrs. Hu stared at the white jade hairpin in Jiang Qinghe's hair—it was a token of engagement passed down from the Mei family. Thinking of the annual gifts piled in the storeroom, she gritted her teeth and said, "Three days from now, at an auspicious time, I will personally go to the Marquis' Mansion to deliver the engagement letter!"
Jiang Qinghe suddenly stood up, and the white jade hairpin fell to the blue brick floor with a clang. She bent down to pick it up and heard Mei Weixing gasp - the hairpin had just rolled to the side of his black boots.
"It's broken." Jiang Qinghe pinched the hairpin that was broken into two pieces and suddenly chuckled, "It must be God's will."
A spark of light popped from the candlestick in the flower hall. Peng Yuyan's scarlet skirt swept across the cracks in the blue bricks as she walked straight up to Mei Weixing: "Master Mei, please say something!" Her ears turned red, but her fingertips pinched into her palms.
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