He Yu straightened his moon-white silk robe with bamboo leaf patterns before getting off the carriage.

Looking up, I saw the three characters "Zuixianlou" written on a black lacquer background with hot gold. In the right corner was a small seal with the four ancient characters "Qingxi Sanren" engraved on it. That was the nickname of Lin Guanlan, the former president of the Hanlin Academy.

The bodyguard came over and whispered, "Sir, do you want me to follow you..."

"No need." He Yu interrupted the guard before he finished speaking, "Ji Jianming is not that kind of person. If he wants to harm me, he has many ways to do it. There is no need to find a restaurant like this where people come and go."

"Yes." The guard stepped back and helped with several other people to park the carriage in the square next to the restaurant.

He Yu entered Zuixianlou with his personal servant.

Ji Yong's followers were waiting for He Yu in the hall. When they saw him come in, they stepped forward, smiled and saluted, and invited him to the third floor: "Our young master is waiting for Master He in Canghai Pavilion."

Canghai Pavilion is the best private room in Zuixianlou, occupying an entire floor of Zuixianlou. If you want to have a meal there, you must spend two or three hundred taels of silver, and you have to make a reservation.

He Yu chuckled.

What on earth is Ji Jianming trying to do by making such a big show?

Someone came over to say hello to He Yu.

He is also a frequent visitor here.

He Yu was socializing absentmindedly, thinking about the look Ji Yong gave Dou Zhao when he was writing the Spring Festival couplets that day.

It shines brightly, as if burning with fire.

A strange feeling flashed through his mind, but he quickly put this uneasy feeling behind him.

Marry her as a wife and run away as a concubine.

Matters of marriage naturally require the permission of parents and the words of matchmakers.

He Yu felt slightly relieved and stepped onto the stairs with a smile.

Ji Yong stood with his hands behind his back in front of the wide-open window. The enamel-inlaid stained glass on the window framed his lotus-blue gown, making him look even taller and more upright.

Speaking of which, Ji Jianming is also a character.

He Yu muttered to himself.

Ji Yong had turned around, with no trace of smile on his handsome face. He greeted him coldly, "You're here!"

He Yu nodded indifferently, walked to the window leisurely as if strolling in the garden, opened his folding fan with a "swish" sound, waved it twice, then smiled and pointed to a crowded shop opposite Zuixianlou, and said: "Brother Ji, how many times have you come to Zuixianlou? The sugar-roasted peanuts of Yaoji Chaohuo opposite are very good. Everyone who comes to Zuixianlou to drink must buy a bag. No matter how Zuixianlou cooks, it is not as delicious as theirs. I have tried to buy their recipe several times but failed. People in Kyoto say that it was Zuixianlou that made Yaoji Chaohuo famous..." His tone carried the sense of superiority unique to locals, trying to suppress Ji Yong's aura.

Ji Yong's lips curled up when he heard this, revealing a half-smile, and he ordered Zi Shang: "Go, buy Mr. He a bag of sugar-fried peanuts from Yao Ji Chaohuo."

Zishang responded and left.

Ji Yong turned around and punched He Yu in the face.

He Yu was unable to avoid it, and he covered his face with a cry of "ouch", and stumbled onto the armchair beside him. The armchair did not move at all, but the teacups and teapots on the tea table fell to the ground with a "ding ling bang". He Yu cried out again and tried to support his waist, which was almost broken by the armrest of the armchair, and he could not care about his face. Only then did everyone realize that his face was covered with blood, and it was impossible to see where the injury was.

As early as when Ji Yong was swinging his fist, the two servants who followed He Yu upstairs had already shouted "Young Master" and rushed towards Ji Yong. Suddenly, seven or eight big men appeared from the side. They not only subdued He Yu's servants with their hands, but also took out two pieces of white cloth to cover the mouths of the two servants as if planned.

"Don't interfere in personal grudges!" Ji Yong shouted at the two servants unkindly, swinging his fist towards He Yu again.

After riding the Flying Eagle for a long time, He Yu's skills became more flexible. He rolled over and hid behind the armchair, shouting loudly for his guards, but he did not scream "Help" at the top of his lungs.

Ji Yong sneered in his heart.

This is the good thing about being a son of an aristocratic family: even at the critical moment of life and death, they still have to care about their face.

He chased after him, grabbed He Yu's collar, and punched him in the stomach.

At this time He Yu had already reacted. The punch that Ji Yong had just given him in the face made his nose hurt, his eyes sore, and his vision a little blurry. When Ji Yong grabbed his collar, he instinctively bent his knees and bumped into Ji Yong's lower body.

The two of them groaned at the same time, stumbled to the ground, and then got up at the same time and rushed towards each other... and wrestled with each other.

Ji Yong and He Yu were of similar age. One believed in "a gentleman uses his mouth, not his fists", while the other was petite and slender, living a life of fine clothes and delicious food. When they fought, they were evenly matched and it was hard to tell who was the better of them.

Fortunately, the guests of Zuixianlou were all people of status and position, so even though there was a loud fight on the third floor, no one came out to watch the fun. At most, there were a few servants who were following orders and peeking out from the entrance of the building.

By the time He Yu's guards rushed in, both of them were already exhausted.

He Yu's guards wanted to rescue their master, but Ji Yong's guards had been ordered not to interfere, so they naturally tried to stop them, and a fight broke out between the two sides.

The head shopkeeper, who followed He Yu's guards, didn't know who to pull - both of them were from aristocratic families. Master Ji was a man of honor, a scholar, and a gentleman, so he would definitely not be the first to start a fight; Master He looked a bit dandy, but he was very generous and not the kind of unreasonable person. Looking again, the guards of both sides were fighting fiercely, and the bodyguards of the restaurant couldn't intervene even if they wanted to. Well, he simply ordered the second shopkeeper: "Close the door, and we will go in when they call us."

The second shopkeeper understood and closed the door of Canghai Pavilion himself.

When He Yu saw his men had arrived, he relaxed and pushed Ji Yong away, sitting down on the ground. He then spoke: "Fuck Ji Yong, you don't hit people in the face, but you bastard, you actually hit me in the face!"

Ji Yong was also tired and had achieved his goal, so he stopped chasing He Yu and sat on the ground like He Yu, panting and saying, "You can hit other people's faces, but I can't hit yours?"

"Who the hell did I hit in the face?" He Yu wiped the blood off his face and said indignantly, "Don't spit blood on me!"

"I'm spitting blood on you?" Ji Yong's mood, which had just calmed down after punching He Yu twice, immediately became agitated again, "The fourth daughter of the Dou family and the Wei family have already had an engagement, but you interfered and made the fourth daughter of the Dou family feel like a nobody. She was pointed at by everyone and almost got herself killed!"

The fourth young lady of the Dou family cut her own throat?

This is impossible!

He Yu intuitively felt this way, which showed that Ji Yong's words were on the mark. After all, he and Dou Zhao had only met a few times, and he was a little unsure.

Seeing this, Ji Yong took advantage of the situation and attacked: "Don't you just want to find a backer? A good man does not eat the meal of a divided family, and a good woman does not wear the dress she wears when she gets married. Can't you be more ambitious? You want to rely on a woman to fight your brothers..."

He Yu's ears turned red with shame, and he argued, "What nonsense are you talking about? The fourth young lady of the Dou family is a very nice person..."

"Of course," Ji Yong said disdainfully, "the two ancient cypresses in front of the Imperial College are nice, too. Why don't you move them back home?"

"You..." He Yu was so angry that he said, "When will it be your turn to help the Ji family with the Dou family's affairs?"

"I'm not like you. I have no other identity except being the son of Mr. He." Ji Yong said proudly, "I am Ji Jianming from Yixing. What does the Ji family have to do with me? I will ask if I want to. If I don't want to ask, they are just passers-by."

How arrogant!

He Yu was speechless, but somehow he suddenly wanted to make friends with Ji Yong.

He murmured, "If I want to rely on women, there are many. It doesn't have to be the fourth daughter of the Dou family. I don't mean to make things difficult for her... The Wei family is not a good family either..."

Seeing He Yu's sincere words, Ji Yong knew that he had given in, so he softened his tone: "I know that too. I am not angry with you. The Wei family is indeed not a good family. It is shabby. If Dou Zhao marries into the family, she will probably have to work like a slave to help them make up for their losses. It is a world of difference compared to your family. But the problem is that Dou Zhao is obsessed with her late mother's will. , you can't ignore her wishes, can you?" He sighed and said bitterly, "She lost her mother at a young age, and has to live in fear under her stepmother, and has to look at the eyes of the elders in the East Palace. It's already not easy. If you make such a fuss again, think about it, how can she be good! Not to mention anything else, the spit of those women in the inner house can drown her."

He Yu lowered his head and remained silent for a long time.

He is reluctant to give up Dou Zhao, right?

Ji Yong looked at this and cursed He Yu a thousand times in his heart. The nameless anger in his heart subsided a little. He said, "Why don't you say something? Now the Wei family has decided not to return the token to the Dou family or to your He family. The one with the highest bid will get it... Do you still think it's not lively enough? When the time comes, your father feels that he can't make it and pats his butt and walks away, what about Dou Zhao? What did she do? Isn't it just that her father became your father's disciple, and she has provoked a plague that she can't get away from... Are you still a man? At worst, I can help you deal with your brothers in the future..."

He Yu gritted his teeth and asked Ji Yong: "If I withdraw, will the fourth daughter of the Dou family marry Wei Tingyu?" There was still some reluctance in his tone. He did not ask how Ji Yong would help him deal with his brother. He just wanted to know the future of Dou Zhao.

Ji Yong felt uncomfortable for no reason and said, "Of course she will marry Wei Tingyu! Could she marry someone else?"

"Okay!" He Yu said loudly, "I admit it!" It was decisive and manly.

※※※※※

At this time, Chen Qushui had returned to Zhending. He stood in Dou Zhao's flower room, looking at a peony bud in front of him that was about to bloom, and said with some worry: "If the Wei family comes to propose marriage, will the young lady really agree to this marriage?"

Dou Zhao washed the long and thin leaves of the mountain orchid with a spray bottle and answered the question irrelevantly: "Did the Marquis of Jining accept the herbs I asked you to send to them?"

"I accepted it." Chen Qushui said, "But from the look on Marquis Jining's face... he seems to be very normal..."

Before leaving, Dou Zhao asked him to bring two thirty-year-old ginsengs to Jining Hou. He thought these two ginsengs were meaningful, but Jining Hou just smiled and thanked him and asked him to put them away. He also thought that Jining Hou didn't realize Dou Zhao's intention, so he mentioned it a few times, but Jining Hou showed some disdain.

"It's all right as long as they bring it." Dou Zhao put down the spray bottle and said nonchalantly, "As for whether they can use it or not, that's their business."