This novel gathering is still going on.

It seems that Ye Ruoxi was not just helping the men choose their female companions based on her ever-changing mood. From time to time, she would talk to the women at the table, or ask Li Jinshu and Du Yifu about something, think for a moment, then point her finger at the "Mandarin Duck Chart".

Li Jinshu was standing beside Ye Ruoxi at this time, being stared at by the women by the stream. Although he felt a little embarrassed, he still did not forget the fellow apprentices he brought with him.

Especially Zhao Rong, who is ranked first among the junior brothers.

Li Jinshu had been paying attention. At this moment, seeing Zhao Rong looking at the woman who seemed very "troublesome" to him, Li Jinshu couldn't help but feel a headache.

I used to think that my junior brother was quite steady... after all, he is still too young and has a youthful mentality.

This age group is the most difficult to persuade. To put it bluntly, they are rebellious and think that they can cross any gap and flatten any mountain or sea. To put it nicely, they are bookish and fearless. The same is true for women.

Over the years, Li Jinshu has seen too many such examples in the academy.

Ye Ruoxi ordered another pair of "Mandarin Ducks" and noticed his frown out of the corner of her eye.

She followed Li Jinshu's gaze and saw a student from the academy dressed in a green robe. She had seen him following Li Jinshu before and he seemed quite mature for his age. Unexpectedly... well, he was a bit cunning and couldn't control his eyes, but that was normal.

Ye Ruoxi looked at Zhao Lingfei who was making tea with a smile, then looked at Ji Qianyi behind Zhao Rong and thought for a moment.

She turned around and whispered to Li Jinshu, "I'll choose another good woman for him."

Li Jinshu wanted to bow and express his gratitude, but the next second Ye Ruoxi gave him a sidelong glance. He coughed lightly and didn't say any more politeness.

Soon, it was finally Zhao Rong's turn.

Ye Ruoxi smiled and said, "What's your name, young master?"

Zhao Rong: "My name is Zhao Rong, and my courtesy name is Ziyu. Miss Ye can just call me Zhao Ziyu."

Ye Ruoxi pretended to look him up and down carefully, and said to the women beside the warm stream: "Well, you are indeed a young talent of the academy... Ziyu, come with me, I have already thought of a solution for you, Junior Sister Lin is just the right person."

After saying that, without waiting for Zhao Rong to speak, she turned and walked towards Nuanxi, where there was a pretty girl whom Ye Ruoxi had already chosen, a gentle and well-behaved junior sister.

But.

After walking a few steps, Ye Ruoxi found that many people in front of her were still looking at her.

The academy student named Zhao Ziyu did not follow.

Ye Ruoxi looked back in surprise.

Zhao Rong was still hesitant about how to call her, but seeing this, he got straight to the point and said, "Thank you Miss Ye for your kindness. Miss Lin, I'm sorry, I already have a female companion."

He bowed apologetically, then turned slightly and walked in a direction he had been watching for a long time.

Ye Ruoxi was stunned. He has a female companion?

In a flash, she glanced at Li Jinshu with a reproachful look, but the next second, Ye Ruoxi found that Li Jinshu ignored her, but looked straight at the direction where Zhao Rong left, and subconsciously took two steps forward, almost wanting to chase him.

Ye Ruoxi reacted immediately and turned around to look.

In her field of vision, Zhao Rong only left her with an upright back view, and in the same direction as this gradually receding back view was a woman in a skirt who was quietly brewing tea.

There were many other people who paid the same attention to this scene as Ye Ruoxi, because Zhao Rong was ranked at the front of the queue and was the first man so far to reject Ye Ruoxi's choice and go find a female companion on his own, not to mention the Taiqing Mansion students and academy scholars who were still eagerly waiting in the queue behind Zhao Rong.

Zhao Rong could feel more and more eyes coming at him from all directions, and even the laughter of the women at the gathering gradually died down, but he remained calm and his steps steady.

Ever since Zhao Rong stepped into the Four Palaces of Taiqing to look for Qingjun, he had expected that he would often receive many "surprised" looks and face all kinds of gazes. After he couldn't help but kiss Qingjun secretly in Four Seasons Hall a few days ago, some things had changed, and these expectations gradually came true, and he slowly got used to it.

Whether they are suitable or not is a matter of outsiders, but the emotions are between him and Qingjun.

Being interfered with by other people's eyes and comments, as if the relationship is interfered with by a third party, is the greatest infidelity between a man and a woman.

Therefore, Zhao Rong had no worries in his mind at the moment, but was rather... a little worried.

He stared at the table that was getting closer and closer. Concubine Zhao Lingfei still had her head down, fiddling with the tea. She seemed to be completely unconcerned about what was going on at the gathering or about Zhao Rong who was walking towards her.

My wife must be still angry. If she is still in a bad mood, it is best not to go...

Although he thought so, Zhao Rong still walked to the stream and stopped in front of Concubine Zhao Lingfei's desk.

At this time, he did not sit down immediately, but lowered his head and gave her an inquiring look, waiting for her to look up.

One breath.

Two breaths.

Three breaths.

Concubine Zhao Ling still did not look up at the man who was blocking her sunlight.

Zhao Rong coughed lightly, and tried to... remind him, "Qing Jun."

Concubine Zhao Ling still ignored her.

The field had been quiet for a while, but gradually, bursts of discussion arose.

Ye Lanzhi was sitting on the table near Zhao Lingfei. When she saw this scene, her expression was a little strange, but she nodded gently. Sister Lingfei, you did a great job. I just want to leave him alone for a while. If he continues to do what he did that day in the Four Seasons Hall, hiding his head and covering his face without saying a word after being secretly kissed, he will bully him to death in the future...

After the bored academy student in front of him walked aside, Ji Qianyi took a few steps forward, waiting leisurely for Ye Ruoxi to tell him about the arrangements that had been made. As a result, the next moment, Ji Qianyi suddenly turned his head and stared at Zhao Rong's back, then as if he remembered something, he frowned slightly.

However, when Ji Qian saw that Concubine Zhao Ling ignored Zhao Rong, he chuckled and shook his head.

At this time, facing this situation, others felt that it was reasonable and expected.

Liu Kongyi glanced at Zhao Rong who was standing motionless in front of the original table, and paid no more attention to him. Instead, he kept his eyes on Zhao Lingfei. Seeing that she still had the cold and high-definition demeanor of a goddess, Liu Kongyi curled the corners of his mouth slightly.

I don't know why you men like this kind of tune, are you so shameless?

Ever since Concubine Zhao Ling entered the palace, whenever the men talked about the outstanding women in Taiqing Palace, Concubine Zhao Ling, who was a loner and rarely socialized, would always be ranked ahead of them.

Seeing things develop into this embarrassing scene, Ye Ruoxi frowned and glanced at Li Jinshu beside her. He was clutching his sleeve with one hand and looked anxious.

"How come your junior brother is so ignorant..." Ye Ruoxi stopped talking halfway. It was pointless to say more now.

Li Jinshu said in a self-blaming tone, "I'm sorry, Miss Ye, it's all my fault for not telling him earlier..."

As he said this, he prepared to go to Zhao Rong.

Ye Ruoxi raised her hand to stop him, and said helplessly: "Wait, as a senior brother, don't go. It will embarrass you, the junior brother, even more. I'll do it."

She looked around and winked at the red carp girls beside her.

One of the girls, a round-faced, red-carp-colored girl who was giggling secretly, saw this and quickly stepped out in front of her sisters, volunteering to walk towards the place by the stream that was attracting everyone's attention.

The discussion on the field gradually increased, and began to be mixed with some low laughter.

However, at this moment, Zhao Rong did not pay attention to the teasing laughter in his ears. He just glanced at the seat next to Zhao Lingfei with some annoyance, where there was a cup of fragrant hot tea with white smoke coming out.

Zhao Rong twitched the corner of his mouth and stood in front of the table.

Concubine Zhao Ling still kept her eyes down and sat upright.

To outsiders, this was an awkward scene of rejection, but between the two of them there was a special tacit understanding and...silent communication.

Hey, lady, please give me some more hints. You didn’t say anything and didn’t even give me a glance.

Also, with this cup of tea, does it mean that you want me to sit on it and move it myself, or am I overthinking it, or is it another way of driving me away, asking me to stop bothering you for a while?

Concubine Zhao Ling waited for a moment, and seeing that Zhao Rong was "well-behaved" and didn't move, she felt somewhat satisfied and somewhat anxious.

Brother Rong'er, please sit down quickly. If this cup of tea isn't for you, then who is it for? Why are you standing there like an idiot? A few days ago in the classroom, you... why didn't you behave so well when you kissed me? You haven't even apologized for this yet, and now you want me to bow my head and respectfully invite you to sit down...

Zhao Rong had no idea that Concubine Zhao Ling was mired in so much psychological activity beneath her calm exterior. He turned his head, his eyes fixed on the person drinking hot tea on the table.

Suddenly, Zhao Rong's face became clear.

As the saying goes, a full cup of tea is a good way to send off guests.

I see……

He thought he understood his wife's deep meaning, so he looked closely at the height of the tea. However, what made him speechless was that the height of the cup of tea in front of him was between full and not full. What did his wife mean by this? It was difficult to figure out...

Concubine Zhao Ling never expected that Zhao Rong had such a rich ability of imagination. When she saw that Zhao Rong was slow to sit down, she suddenly became anxious.

Zhao Lingfei lowered her head and puffed her lips slightly. The next second, she reached out and picked up her teacup. After taking a symbolic sip, she put it down with force, knocking on the table at the same time, and at the same time "knocking" the wooden block to make him more alert.

However, what caught Concubine Zhao Ling off guard was that as soon as she picked up the teacup, Zhao Rong, who was sitting at the table, left without even looking back.

Zhao Lingfei's narrow eyes suddenly opened...

Zhao Rong turned and left, sighing in his heart. Serve tea? Okay, I understand. Just see me off.

When he turned around, a round-faced girl with red carp hair appeared beside Zhao Rong at the right time and bowed coquettishly, "Sir, can you sit with me? I just have some questions that I want to ask you. I hope you won't mind."

The two of them had known each other for a while on the way up the mountain. After they finished talking, the round-faced red-carp girl winked at Zhao Rong quietly. Hmm, he turned out to be a fake idiot with lustful thoughts and the courage to do so, hehe...

Zhao Rong saw the mischievous smile in her eyes and felt a little helpless, but he also knew that this was probably the ladder arranged for him by Miss Ye. Although he didn't care about the looks around him, it was not convenient for him to refuse other people's kindness.

Zhao Rong nodded gently, "What's your name, young lady?"

"My name is Luzhu."

The two of them prepared to walk towards the empty table nearby.

Luzhu leaned to the right, getting closer to Zhao Rong, wanting to whisper a few more teasing words to this interesting fake idiot.

Zhao Rong said without turning his head: "I have a wife, don't get so close to me."

Lu Zhu snorted, "Oh, you're scaring me again, you have a wife and you still..."

The next second, her words suddenly stopped.

Because, a woman that Luzhu never expected blocked their way, and before she could think about it, the woman reached out and took the fake fool beside her away without any delay or rejection...

The students in the palace and the scholars in the academy at the gathering looked at Concubine Zhao Ling in astonishment, who had been keeping her head down and saying nothing. After Zhao Rong and Lu Zhu left, she suddenly looked up, as if she realized something. Her face turned pale, and she stood up abruptly, hurried forward, and stood in front of Zhao Rong and Lu Zhu. What happened next surprised everyone even more. Concubine Zhao Ling reached out and grabbed Zhao Rong, took his hand, and pulled Zhao Rong back to her seat without looking back.

The air at the gathering was somewhat silent and stagnant.

Countless eyes met and crossed from time to time, you looked at me, I looked at you, and then eyes couldn't help but converge on the couple who were still holding hands even after sitting down.

Concubine Zhao Ling held Zhao Rong's hand tightly and brought her husband back to his seat.

Zhao Lingfei's face gradually regained its color. She bit her lip, but did not dare to look at Zhao Rong. Instead, she lowered her head, stretched out her jade hand, carefully patted the dust on Zhao Rong's kneeling pad, and then let him sit down, as obedient as a kitten.

Just after Zhao Rong turned and left, Concubine Zhao Ling was a little angry at first, but when she heard those harsh words mocking Zhao Rong, her heart was suddenly in turmoil.

Concubine Zhao Ling suddenly realized that his indulgence and flattery towards her these days had made her unconsciously willful, and her willfulness just now had ignored her husband's feelings, which would make her lose face.

In fact, this was not Concubine Zhao Ling’s original intention. She was just intoxicated by the feeling of Zhao Rong doting on her - he hadn’t doted on her for a long time.

However, she was too harsh on Rong'er recently. He sent letters on time every day, but she didn't respond. Rong'er would get tired of it after a while, right? And this time when she came to see him, she was also cold to him, asking him to approach her actively, but was misunderstood and laughed at by outsiders... So, Concubine Zhao Ling was instantly scared, thinking that Zhao Rong turned away because she hurt his self-esteem. In her opinion, this was something that a Confucian scholar's wife should never do. At least in front of outsiders, she should always consider her husband's face.

So, she got up and chased after him without hesitation.

Concubine Zhao Ling quietly raised her eyes and stole a glance at Zhao Rong's expression.

She thought about it, picked up a cup of tea with both hands and handed it to Zhao Rong carefully.

Treat cases with respect.