chance encounter
Jiang Yan had Huang Ying find her a maid's uniform, and after putting it on, the two of them left the mansion.
Directly opposite the gate of the Prince's Mansion was a wall, ten meters long on each side. Between the gate and the wall was a wide road, accessible from both sides.
Jiang Yan and Huang Ying chose to walk to the left.
The palace grounds were enormous; it took them a full half-cup of tea time to walk out.
As soon as they stepped off this road, they were greeted by a bustling and vibrant scene, completely different from the quiet streets they had just walked through.
Jiang Yan was stunned into silence at first glance.
Huang Ying was also seeing such a beautiful sight for the first time, and like her, she was so surprised that she didn't know what to say.
"Is it some kind of festival?" Jiang Yan thought to himself. Even modern society doesn't have this much excitement!
Huang Ying casually pulled up a middle-aged woman and asked, "Excuse me, is today a special day or holiday?"
The eldest sister glanced at Huang Ying from head to toe, then glanced at Jiang Yan, who was standing to Huang Ying's right, from head to toe, and said.
"Are you maids from that household? Is this your first time out here?"
Huang Ying smiled slightly: "Big sister guessed correctly."
The older woman looked around and smiled, "Isn't it almost mid-May? It's time to celebrate 'Summer Festival'." With that, she joined the crowd.
Jiang Yan asked curiously, "What is the 'Welcoming Summer Festival'? I've never heard of this festival."
Huang Ying was also puzzled: "This servant has never heard of it."
At this moment, another woman who overheard their conversation said, "This festival was set up a few days ago by the Empress Dowager herself, in order to pray for favorable weather and peace in the summer."
Jiang Yan and Huang Ying exchanged a glance, intending to ask for more details, but the older sister had already disappeared.
Jiang Yan: "It's great to have rights; you can celebrate whatever holidays you want."
Huang Ying was startled and quickly looked around. Seeing that no one was looking at them, she pulled her away to a less crowded place.
“Master, once we leave Pear Blossom Residence, please don’t say anything.”
Jiang Yan then belatedly realized that she had spoken carelessly in a moment of excitement, and felt embarrassed.
"It was my fault, I won't do it again next time." He even playfully made a beheading gesture.
Huang Ying couldn't help but chuckle: "Master, you're so funny!"
Jiang Yan smiled and looked around: "Let's walk along this street first. We might hear something interesting."
The oriole walked alongside her forward.
Along the way, we encountered several acrobatic performances, song and dance shows, poetry competitions, and ordinary people rolling dice.
Moreover, one stall after another sells delicious food. Candied hawthorn is nothing compared to other things like sugar blowing, freshly baked sticky candy, fried sugar water, roasted chestnuts, roasted peanuts, popcorn, and so on. If you haven't seen it before, they have it.
The crowds thronged between the stalls, mingling with onlookers, so tightly packed that it was impossible to move.
Jiang Yan and Huang Ying were afraid that the crowd would separate them, so they held each other's hands tightly and squeezed through the crowd, moving forward slowly and laboriously like turtles.
"I don't think we need to go anywhere tonight! It was so crowded we almost died!!!"
The oriole was so crowded that she didn't even want to speak.
Just as Jiang Yan was about to ask her how she was, someone who had been pushing and shoving behind her suddenly lunged forward, shoving her forward.
In front of her was a chubby older woman who was caught off guard by her sudden pounce. She was thrown around like a round sack, pushing the person in front of her forward repeatedly. Screams and curses rose and fell.
Seeing that the situation was not good, Jiang Yan tried to pull Huang Ying out of the crowd, but it was too late.
The crowd was chaotic, with people scattered here and there.
With a strong push from one side and another from the other, the two of them were like rattles, with no choice but to be pushed and swayed by the crowd.
Just as Jiang Yan was filled with fear and worried about a stampede, suddenly the space behind her and Huang Ying relaxed.
She was puzzled and turned around to look, only to find two young men who looked like they had been trained, staring at her with blank expressions.
Before she could even think about whether she had offended them, they had already spoken.
"Please come with us."
Jiang Yan was still in a daze when Huang Ying stood warily in front of her, staring at them and demanding an explanation.
Who are you? Do you know who we are?
I'm sorry.
The two young men, one on each side, grabbed Jiang Yan and Huang Ying and quickly got out of the crowd.
"How dare you touch my mistress! You're so bold!!" Huang Ying shouted, her face flushed, as she struggled.
But perhaps the noise of the crowd was too loud, they didn't hear it, and they even pulled them upstairs to the restaurant next door.
Jiang Yan's mind was in complete chaos, she didn't know what was happening, and before she knew it, they had been led up to the third floor.
Huang Ying was terrified; her face turned pale. She glared at the two young men standing in front of her, issuing a warning.
"You dare to touch my mistress, the King... the young master will definitely not forgive you!! Let us leave right now!!" With that, she hurriedly grabbed Jiang Yan's hand and tried to run downstairs.
Just then, a beautiful voice, so lovely that one could imagine an unparalleled beauty just by hearing it, rang out.
"Please wait."
Huang Ying paused for a moment.
Jiang Yan also paused for a moment.
The two women looked in the direction of the sound and saw a man with a face like white jade, red lips and white teeth, black eyebrows, phoenix eyes and a high nose walking towards them unhurriedly.
Who is this?
Jiang Yan lowered her eyes and searched her mind carefully.
I have absolutely no recollection of it!
Jiang Yan asked Huang Ying curiously in a low voice, "Who is he?"
The oriole seemed not to recognize him either, and just kept watching him warily.
"Ruyi, don't you remember me?" The man smiled, but his voice was tinged with loneliness.
Jiang Yan wondered how Liu Ruyi knew him.
Liu Ruyi never left her home, so when did she recognize him?
With suspicion, he took another step toward her, his smile mournful.
"Ruyi, it's me, Runlang. Don't you remember me?"
Runlang?
Which "Runlang"?
Jiang Yan is not Liu Ruyi, so naturally she doesn't remember him, and naturally she won't pretend to remember him just because he's disappointed.
Huang Ying then realized what was happening and said.
"Young master, to be honest, my master hit his head and has forgotten many things since waking up."
Upon hearing this, the man's eyes instantly reddened, as if he were about to cry from grievance.
Jiang Yan felt immense pressure and secretly glanced at Huang Ying.
Huang Ying also looked nervous and secretly watched her.
"Forgot? What a great forgetting! Hahaha..." The man was completely immersed in his own thoughts, filled with sorrow and grief.
Jiang Yan didn't know what to do. After hesitating for a moment, she grabbed Huang Ying and hurriedly ran downstairs.
It was quite a coincidence that Shangguan Zeyu was also in this restaurant, on the third floor, right across from the stairwell, so he saw the whole scene clearly.
Zhang Qin: "Master, shall we go after the concubine?"
Shangguan Zeyu didn't speak, but casually waved his right hand, then looked thoughtfully at "Runlang" who was still standing there, overwhelmed with grief.
Jiang Yan left the restaurant without pausing, pulling Huang Ying along as they made their way back to the palace through less crowded areas.
The two women, mistress and servant, walked all the way to the wide road in front of the Prince's mansion before daring to stop and catch their breath.
Jiang Yan: "Who exactly is he? Have you heard your young lady mention him?"
Huang Ying shook her head: "No. Miss has not mentioned anyone else to me."
"Not a single person?"
There wasn't a single person there.
"That's really strange! Judging from his appearance, he and your young lady seem to have a close relationship... Do you think they might have secretly pledged their lives to each other?"
Huang Ying remained calm despite Jiang Yan's pleasant surprise.
"Young Miss is so well-educated and reasonable, how could that be? No way! He must be in love with Young Miss and took advantage of this opportunity today."
Jiang Yan thought about it and felt it was possible. After all, many people who love but cannot be together will act this way, appearing very affectionate and aggrieved.
"That's right, sigh, I was careless! I was scared just now and didn't ask him his name. If I had known his name, I could have asked him for information if I needed anything in the future."
"Then... will I ever run into him again?"
"I think we should find out her name first. Huang Ying, when you have free time, chat with your girlfriends and see which young master in the capital has 'Run' in his name. As for me... I'll also try to find out."
"Your Highness, you're not going to ask the Prince about this, are you?"
"How could that be? Am I stupid? Alright, it's getting late, let's hurry back."
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