Walking side by side, Tao Qingyun said, "Why do you think love is like a bag..."
He gestured with his chin toward the backyard: "Today, you're not here to see him. Tell me about Woxue Pavilion."
Tao Qingyun raised her hand to interrupt, saying, "Wait a minute. Let me ask you something: if something really happens to Little Seven Sister, or if the two of you haven't recognized each other, are you planning to go on your own and not acknowledge us, is that it?"
Chu Yening lowered his eyes and remained silent.
Tao Qingyun shouted angrily, "Idiot!" and made as if to hit him with her fan handle.
Qin Weixi calmly picked up the dishes placed in front of her, but found them tasteless, and was filled with complicated emotions.
Chu Yening glanced at Qin Weixi, who was enjoying his meal, and a smile appeared in his eyes. He recounted what Songyang and Jiuqu had told him, and when he mentioned Lianren, who was the first to appear, he said, "I should personally go and explore Woxue Pavilion another day."
Upon hearing this, Qin Weixi calmly picked up another crystal dumpling with her chopsticks, but under the table, she gently kicked his brocade boot with a slipper.
Jiang Yuanjun remained silent until now, then said, "I have arranged for someone to work at Woxue Pavilion. It is a young man who does odd jobs, named A-Tiao. If you need anything, just say you are from the east."
Tao Qingyun narrowed her eyes: "There are a lot of shady dealings going on at Woxue Pavilion!"
Chu Yening asked, "You went to Zhuyu Lane?"
Tao Qingyun's eyes lit up: "What do you mean? Could it be that you're also keeping an eye on that place? I felt something was off when A-Ling mentioned it that day, and I said I'd leave it to me and keep an eye on it. Hey, you know what, that Prince Jing seems to have no ambition, and that Prince Jing's heir seems very honest, how could they have gotten involved in an affair? Do you want me to go with you to Woxue Pavilion? But you'll have to think of a way to protect me."
Aside from the first bite, Jiang Yuanjun didn't touch the food in front of him. He gripped his cup tightly and couldn't help but think of his fourth great-uncle, Prince Jing.
Chu Yening glanced at him with slightly raised eyelids. Tao Qingyun sensed something and before she could speak, Jiang Yuanjun said, "I have no objection."
After all, Prince Jing was a member of the royal family, as well as Jiang Yuanjun's great-uncle and the younger brother of the Great Xia Emperor.
Chu Yening did not answer Tao Qingyun, but looked at Qin Weixi beside her, who was happily taking small bites of meat dumplings, eating one and then picking up another.
"Let's not talk about him anymore. If Ah Ling were here, she would say I'm talking about members of the royal family without permission." Tao Qingyun muttered a couple of times. Following his gaze, she saw that the girl was eating intently and seemed not to have heard what they were talking about, so she knew there was a problem.
He narrowed his eyes slightly, a slight smile playing on his lips as he said to Chu Yening, "You think we don't understand her? Precisely because we understand her too well. Come and take a look, this quietness can't be good." He rose slightly, reaching across the table to flick Qin Weixi's forehead, "What mischief are you plotting? Trying to sneak over? Let me tell you, no way!"
Under the table, Qin Weixi gently kicked Chu Yening's brocade boots again with her hand.
Tao Qingyun glared at her and said, "Two grown men like us, with a girl who's too beautiful, do you want the whole capital to be in an uproar tomorrow, saying that your third brother is having a secret rendezvous with a young lady!"
Chu Yening said, "From now on, I will protect her."
Tao Qingyun composed herself and said, "What kind of place is Woxue Pavilion? It's like a little white rabbit entering a wolf's den."
When the word "rabbit" was suddenly mentioned, all four of them fell silent for a moment.
Tao Qingyun suddenly opened her folding fan, seemingly lost in thought: "If only Xiaoxing were here. When you two were little, if the Luo family couldn't find Xiaoxing, hey, she'd be right there in the Qin family's old house, in your Qingliang Garden, right behind you like a little shadow."
When Xiaoxing was mentioned, all four of them fell silent.
Over the years, Xiaoxing should have been reincarnated long ago, and must have been born into a happy family in an ordinary household, living a healthy and peaceful life year after year, until she lived for over a hundred years as she had hoped, becoming an old woman with white hair, growing old peacefully and healthily surrounded by her children and grandchildren.
Qin Weixi lowered her eyes, picked up a piece of sweet cake, put it in her mouth but did not chew it carefully.
Tao Qingyun fanned herself with her large folding fan for a long time without saying a word.
It was Chu Yening who first broke the oppressive silence. He narrowed his eyes slightly and smiled, "Then, in Brother Tao's opinion, what should we do?"
Upon hearing the address "Brother Tao," Tao Qingyun's lips twitched involuntarily: "Did you take the wrong medicine?"
Chu Yening said, "Brother Tao is so handsome, with delicate features and fair skin. Wherever he goes, he always attracts the attention of women in the capital. Today, Brother Tao is dressed in pink, making him even more stunning. Will it be rumored in the capital tomorrow that the young master of the Jingning Marquis's mansion is having a rendezvous with two beauties? Little Seventh Sister, don't you think so?"
Qin Weixi understood his implied meaning, and Tao Qingyun immediately grasped it as well. The folding fan in her hand gradually slowed down its rustling, but at this moment, she could no longer laugh.
He forced a smile, then looked at Chu Yening, whose eyes were full of mischief, and immediately gritted his teeth: "Chu Yening!" He made a move to get up and hit him.
Qin Weixi smiled at them, then picked up another crystal dumpling and stuffed it into her mouth. The soup immediately splattered out, splashing all over Chu Yening, who was sitting to her right.
Chu Yening quickly stood up and remained silent for a while: "Why are there so many soupy dumplings today!"
Old Zhang laughed heartily, his cheerful laughter echoing through the backyard.
The dark clouds will soon clear up.
He turned to Qin Weixi and said softly, "I'm going to change my clothes."
Only the three of them remained in the dining hall. Tao Qingyun suddenly laughed and said, "Ha, Little Seventh Sister, how come someone who never ate meat fillings with juice when they were young can now eat them?"
Qin Weixi picked up another crystal dumpling and stuffed it into her mouth: "Why?"
Tao Qingyun quickly dodged away, and only approached her after seeing her eat the dumplings. Seeing that she was enjoying them, she quickly picked one up and put it in her own mouth.
It was indeed delicious.
Jiang Yuanjun, who was sitting next to her, watched her eat meat dumplings with a smile. Seeing this, she used serving chopsticks to put a piece of meat into her bowl.
"Thank you, Fifth Brother."
Tao Qingyun said, "Why do you say love is about acceptance, inclusion, growing together, and achieving together..."
Upon hearing this, Jiang Yuanjun's hand, which she had been retracting, paused in mid-air.
Footsteps approached from outside the dining hall, and Qin Weixi saw Chu Yening standing by the window, just one step away from entering.
What flashed through my mind was the scene in Old Zhang's little bamboo house just now.
Without hesitation, she picked up the bamboo chopsticks in front of Tao Qingyun, grabbed a large, juicy meat dumpling, and quickly stuffed it into his mouth.
"Hot, hot..."
Sitting opposite Qin Weixi, Jiang Yuanjun's gaze softened. He smiled gently and, seeing that her teacup was empty, poured her a refill and said softly, "Eat slowly, don't choke."
Upon hearing this, Tao Qingyun coughed lightly, then swallowed her drink quickly. She glanced at the two figures, one in black and one in white, and sighed, "This... is truly a difficult situation!"
Chu Yening returned to the dining hall still dressed in black. Seeing that it was getting late, he decided to return to the city. He looked down at Qin Weixi. They had come in the same carriage. Tao Qingyun had hitched a ride in the East Palace's carriage, and he had already sent Fa Cai back to the mansion ahead of him. But Song Yang had come on horseback.
"I'll take you." Almost simultaneously, Chu Yening and Jiang Yuanjun blurted out.
Qin Weixi smiled, her eyes crinkling: "Do you still think of me as an eight or nine-year-old girl? I can go back by myself."
"No."
"Seventh Sister, no."
Tao Qingyun glanced at this one and that one, feeling a headache coming on. He stepped between the two, who were on the verge of a fight, and said, "I'm the eldest here, I'll see you off! As for you two, whether you go back in a carriage, on horseback, or on foot, that's none of my business." With that, he strolled towards the door, not forgetting to wink at Qin Weixi as he turned back: "Seventh sister, come with me! Your third brother will escort you home today!"
The group bid farewell to Old Man Zhang. Qin Weixi sat in the carriage, looking at the old man with a full head of white hair. He remembered the empty sleeve under the coarse cloth clothes and felt a slight pain in his chest.
Just then, Tao Qingyun lifted the carriage curtain and boarded the carriage. Seeing her expression and following her gaze, she raised an eyebrow and said softly, "Missing your grandfather?"
Qin Weixi nodded and smiled faintly.
She said to Old Zhang outside the car window, "Uncle, the food today was delicious, thank you. I can cook a lot of food, and I'll bring you more next time I come."
Old Zhang laughed heartily, "Good, good, good, then I'll be waiting for my granddaughter's delicious meal." As soon as he finished speaking, the two people in the carriage saw the curtain being lifted up quickly. They only felt a dark shadow flash by, and then Tao Qingyun felt herself being lifted up inexplicably. Then her buttocks were also hit, receiving a heavy kick.
In just a moment, Qin Weixi saw that the person beside him had changed to Chu Yening.
Qin and Tao: "..."
Chu Yening smiled lazily and said, "Black-beaked grouse, go take that carriage." He added at the end, "I can go to Woxue Pavilion by myself."
Qin Weixi lifted the curtain of the carriage window to look. Tao Qingyun was so angry that her teeth itched, and her eyes seemed to be shooting fire. This time, Songyang acted as the coachman, leaving the horses to Tao Qingyun. Tao Qingyun grabbed the reins and shouted at her, "Seventh Sister, there's a big bad wolf in sheep's clothing in that carriage. You must be very careful!"
Qin Weixi was both amused and exasperated by what she heard, while Jiang Yuanjun stood with her hands behind her back, gazing thoughtfully at the carriage. Tao Qingyun watched the carriage gradually disappear into the distance, and a smile slowly appeared on her face. All traces of her earlier rage were gone.
As night fell, the streets were bustling with activity. Qin Weixi, who was sitting in his carriage and had just lifted a corner of the curtain to look at the pedestrians in the city, suddenly saw a long queue of pastry shops selling freshly baked pastries.
Tongxinzhai.
My brother used to love eating these snacks the most.
Like his elder brother Luo Ling, the older brother was never good with words and never openly expressed what he liked to eat, but anyone who paid attention would know their preferences.
She suddenly thought of the wooden boy.
Chu Yening, who had been resting his head on his arm with his eyes closed, seemingly half-asleep, suddenly spoke up: "I want to buy some snacks."
Qin Weixi raised an eyebrow and asked, "How many eyes does Fourth Brother have?"
Chu Yening burst into laughter upon hearing this.
After Songyang slowly brought the carriage to a stop, she got off and went to Tongxinzhai to buy a lot of pastries. The long queue in front of the shop craned their necks to look.
Chu Yening, who was slowly approaching from a distance, hurried over and took the pastries from her hands: "Why did you buy so many pastries?"
Qin Weixi avoided his gaze and strode towards the carriage: "Delicious."
Chu Yening smiled, and upon hearing this, glanced at the plaque behind him. The three large characters "Tongxinzhai" immediately made him understand.
The carriage rumbled forward. In front of the Luo residence, Chu Yening offered to help her dismount: "Do you need help?"
Qin Weixi immediately jumped down, stuffed most of the pastries in her hand into his arms, but didn't look at him: "Fourth Brother, eat well and sleep well."
Chu Yening then clenched his hands tightly around the pastries in his arms, and then laughed heartily.
Qin Weixi, who had already climbed the stone steps, looked up and suddenly saw Luo Ling standing quietly by a small tree inside the mansion gate, holding a bright lantern.
She abruptly stopped and turned to look at Chu Yening, who stood at the bottom of the stone steps, dressed in black robes, with a silver crown binding his hair and a black veil covering his forehead. She smiled and said, "Fourth Brother, I will not hide behind you and watch you shield me from the wind and rain. I want to walk side by side with you and face the storms of this capital city together. We will embrace good things and deal with troubles together."
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