After lunch, Ye Guixue left the Eastern Palace.
Before leaving, he asked Su Rong, "Second Prince has invited me to Mingyue Building tonight. Do you want to join me?"
She declined, "No."
She had no affection for Yan Lin and felt his sharp tongue contained no sincerity. She had no interest in accompanying Ye Guixue to entertain him. As for her suspicion that someone from Nanchu had targeted him to get to her, she thought it was nothing new.
Ye Guixue nodded, climbed into the carriage.
She waved him goodbye and turned to Ya Qiuying, "Let’s go, time to go back and sleep. So sleepy."
Ya Qiuying reminded her, "Sister Su Qi, you just had lunch, will you go to sleep now?"
"Yes, after lunch, it’s time for a nap." Su Rong yawned, "Aren’t you feeling sleepy? Then just watch me sleep."
Ya Qiuying: "..."
Ye Guixue sat in the carriage, lifting the curtain to watch the pair - one tall, one small - as they exchanged amusing words while heading back to the palace. He smiled, shifted his gaze and let the curtain drop.
Instead of returning to the Duke Residence, he headed to Xie Residence on East Fourth Street.
The Mistress had just returned from a visit, sitting with her daughters, half laughing, half sighing to the ladies, "You two are in such a hurry to get married. You find a man compatible and won’t consider anyone else. If you were all like this, I would have a much easier time."
The eldest daughter had already embarrassed herself, and now it was the second daughter’s turn. She retorted, "Mother, I am not fussy. I genuinely think that Master Sun is decent."
"Just decent." said the Mistress, "Maybe the next one will be even better?"
The second daughter replied, blushing, "Let’s leave him for the third sister then!"
The third sister immediately turned red.
The Mistress sighed, "Alright, after all, these are all men chosen by your Aunt Shen. Her choices are generally reliable. Master Sun indeed appears pleasant, but he seems somewhat unsettled and immature. If you marry him, you might end up being worried."
The second daughter said, "Mother, he is the legitimate second son, he has an elder brother and sister-in-law. Even if I marry him, surely I wouldn’t have to worry too much! After all, there is always the mother-in-law."
"Speaking of your future mother-in-law, Madame Sun is quite formidable." the Mistress remarked, "You don’t act spoiled at all. Don’t allow yourself to be controlled and made to follow strict rules as soon as you are married."
"But Master Sun does not seem like the kind of man who would listen to his elders. If I win his heart and can handle myself in front of the mother-in-law, she probably won’t make things difficult for me." said the second daughter. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮
The Mistress nodded, "Alright, if you are willing and know what you want, then it shall be him!"
She then turned to the third daughter, "Prepare for tomorrow!"
Miss Three never thought that her older sisters would get engaged so quickly, and now it was her turn. She immediately said, "I’m not ready yet, how about sending Fourth sister tomorrow instead?"
Miss Four shook her head vigorously, "No way, we already agreed that we follow the sequence of age, we can’t mess up the order."
The Madame agreed, "Exactly." She looked at Miss Three, "You’re going tomorrow. What are you so nervous about? Learn from your two older sisters, chin up! I heard that Master Li, who you’re seeing tomorrow, holds the highest official position among the three. He’s mature for his age and has a steady character, working in the Ministry of Housing. You’re not obligated to get engaged right after seeing him. If you don’t like him, you can meet the rest later."
Miss Three could only nod, "Okay."
While everyone was talking, they heard that Second Young Master Ye had arrived. The Madame shooed them away, "You all should go!" After saying that, she personally hurried out to greet him.
Although Su Rong had broken off her engagement with Ye Guixue, it didn’t mean they were completely estranged. Her journey to Nanchu would be less strenuous with the support of Ye Guixue and Ye Xiang Residence. The Madame understood this and naturally wouldn’t be rude to them just because the two had broken off their engagement.
While the Madame was on her way, she saw Ye Guixue was alone, and asked with a surprised smile, "Guixue, why didn’t Xiaoqi come back with you?"
Ye Guixue greeted her with a bow and smiled, "Aunt, she thought it was too cold and didn’t want to come back, so she stayed with Qiuying in the Eastern Palace."
The Madame snorted dismissively, "Is it even cold today? She is just lazy and can’t stand the cold."
Ye Guixue laughed, "It’s mostly because of Qiuying. She was worried that Qiuying might not feel comfortable being alone in the Eastern Palace for the first time, so she decided to stay with her for a night."
The Madame liked hearing this, "In that case, let her stay with Qiuying for a few more days."
She continued to chat with Ye Guixue as they walked back into the house, "I heard you’re leaving tomorrow?"
Ye Guixue nodded, "I’ll start the journey tomorrow morning."
The Madame said, "You don’t need to worry about Little Qiuying. I am going to stay in the capital city for a few more days. If she can’t adapt to living in the Eastern Palace, I will bring her to stay with me. But by then, you’d better not worry about my inability to educate children. After all, I failed to discipline Xiaoqi."
"The princess is very good, you’re being too modest, aunt." Ye Guixue gave her a faint smile.
The Madame sighed when she heard his new way of addressing Xiaoqi. But she waved her hand, "Xiaoqi has always been a stubborn child. I’ve prepared several rod punishments for her when she was little, but I couldn’t bring myself to use them because she was so cute. Now that she’s grown up, she’s even more disobedient. Ah, with her temperament, let Nanchu King deal with her when she goes to Nanchu!"
Ye Guixue chuckled, "I’m afraid that the king, after meeting the princess, would prefer to spoil her."
"That’s true." The Madame also started to laugh.
The two of them continued their conversation while entering the house, and a servant offered them tea.
The Madame sighed deeply, "Guixue, I want to apologize to you on behalf of Xiaoqi. You should know her well after being together for so long. She may appear heartless and indifferent, but she does have a soft spot in her heart. When Zhou Gu first arrived in Jiangning County, she told me she was done for because she thought young master Zhou was so good that she was not worthy of him. With his elegant demeanor and radiant charm, he was indeed a boy who could capture people’s hearts. He’s well-liked for his delightful character and youthful energy. Not only Xiaoqi, but Master Xie, Xingze, and everyone in our residence also liked him a lot and always considered him a future son-in-law. During the month he stayed in the governor’s residence, none, not even the servants, disliked him. After he left, Xiaoqi learned about her origins and decided to break off the engagement once he returned from his studies. She was incredibly distressed about it. During her injury recovery, she used it as an excuse to isolate herself and her smile began to fade. No matter how harshly she talked to us or pretended to not care, I knew her better than anyone. It took her a long while to remove him from her heart, like excavating a piece of her soul. After Zhou Gu returned from his studies, she went to his house alone to break off the engagement. This caused such a fuss as Zhou Gu threatened to leave his family if they agreed to Xiaoqi’s cancellation. In the end, due to Xiaoqi’s firm attitude, they relented, which made Xiaoqi regret her decision later. After all, Zhou Gu was like a blank piece of paper when it comes to emotions. If Xiaoqi hadn’t led him on somehow, he wouldn’t have been deeply hurt in the first place. Every time he couldn’t get over his trauma, she always remained silent, but she felt a sense of guilt. Now, Zhou Gu has chosen to abandon his secure future for going to Nanchu with her despite the numerous dangers. How can she not be touched? Therefore, I hope you won’t hold any grudge against her. This is her first time dealing with such emotional matters, and she might not have handled it well, causing you to get hurt."
Ye Guixue pursed his lips into a smile and said gently, "Aunt, don’t worry, I don’t blame her."
It was he who had been too confident and missed his own opportunity. The player who was supposed to be out of the game suddenly came back, which was beyond his expectation.
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