It was him
This time when they left the manor, Jiang Yan and Huang Ying still did not take a carriage.
Fearing they might encounter Liu's maids or servants, or Shangguan Zeyu, on the way, the two women went around to the back gate of the Prince's mansion and left from there.
Behind the Prince's Mansion were the back gates of other houses, so you hardly encountered anyone along the way.
Jiang Yan was delighted and laughed, "If I had known that going through the back door was so good, I should have done it sooner. Look, we can enjoy the scenery along the way without worrying about being disturbed. Isn't that great?!"
Huang Ying also sighed with emotion: "Yes, I had heard that the back gate of the Prince's mansion was heavily guarded, but I didn't expect it to be so easy to sneak out. It is indeed quite surprising."
"In my opinion, it's most likely that Shangguan Zeyu gave the order beforehand. Think about it, it's so easy to leave the mansion through the main gate these days, wouldn't it be even easier to leave through the back gate?"
Huang Ying smiled in agreement and echoed her.
Jiang Yan gazed excitedly at the distant scenery, then looked at the view in front of him. After a while, as if he had suddenly thought of something, he asked eagerly.
"What if we run into 'him'?"
Huang Ying couldn't guess who the "he" she was referring to was.
Jiang Yan hurriedly explained to her, "That 'Runlang'? The young man who took us to the restaurant last time?"
Huang Ying racked her brains for a while, but still couldn't figure out who this "Runlang" was.
Jiang Yan sighed helplessly: "Am I the only one who remembers him? He might be your young lady's sweetheart!!"
"What? How could that be? The young lady doesn't have someone she likes!!"
Jiang Yan said, "Don't rush, let me finish." He glanced at her and, seeing that she had calmed down a bit, said, "Do you remember that your young lady has a treasured folding fan with the character '润' (run) on the surface?"
"Yes, Miss does have such a folding fan, but..."
Jiang Yan gestured for her to stop, then slowly said, "Do you remember what he said when he saw me at the restaurant last time? He said I was 'my' Runlang! He obviously thought I was your young lady, which is why he said that and was so distressed. Besides, didn't you say before that your young lady likes to fly kites at night on the fifteenth of every month? Think about it, who would fly a kite at night for no reason, especially on the full moon? So, all the signs indicate that your young lady might really have someone she likes!!"
"this......"
"So much has happened before that I haven't had time to think about this carefully. Recently, I've been thinking about it more closely and connected what you told me with what happened that day. I'm absolutely certain that the 'Run' character on your young lady's treasured folding fan refers to him!!!"
"But..." Huang Ying wanted to continue defending her young mistress Liu Ruyi's innocence, but she didn't know what to say, and hung her head in frustration.
Jiang Yan sighed and looked at her: "Huang Ying, I don't mean to make fun of or look down on your young lady! What I mean is, now that we've found this useful clue, we shouldn't cut it off. We should use it to find more useful information!"
Huang Ying looked at her with red-rimmed eyes and pleaded, "Young Miss's reputation, honor, innocence... Master, you must protect her!!"
Jiang Yan understood her meaning and knew the importance of "innocence," "reputation," and "honor" to an unmarried woman, so she nodded heavily in agreement.
"Don't worry, I'm not an idiot!"
The two women, mistress and servant, wandered along the path to the market, and then inquired along the way to find "Hibiscus Pavilion".
Furonglou was the largest and most prosperous restaurant in the capital, and it also served as an entertainment venue. It was a place where people of status in the city often spent their time. Of course, many high-ranking officials and nobles from outside the capital also liked to come here.
The Hibiscus Tower has nine floors, symbolizing "returning to oneness," which Jiang Yan learned from others.
Huang Ying stood outside Furong Tower, her face full of shock. Looking up at Furong Tower, she couldn't see its top at all.
"It's so tall and huge! How many people must be inside?!"
Jiang Yan smiled as she looked up at Furong Tower. Hearing what she said, she smiled and glanced at her.
"What's there to worry about? No matter how many people are around, it's none of our business! We'll just mind our own!"
Huang Ying chuckled and looked at her.
Outside Furong Tower, crowds thronged, coming and going. The two women standing in the middle of the road were in the way, and they looked completely unsophisticated, so passersby glanced at them with disdain, whether intentionally or not.
Jiang Yan didn't stand on ceremony, rolled her eyes at them, and then pulled Huang Ying inside.
At first, Jiang Yan was worried that such a place that also served as an entertainment venue would not allow women to enter, but to her surprise, Furong Tower was open to anyone with money, regardless of gender or age.
After Jiang Yan and Huang Ying successfully entered Furong Tower, they were stunned by the extravagant and languid scene before them.
Looking around, even on the first floor, there were men with bare chests and exposed bellies everywhere, and the women serving them were dressed extremely scantily. Jiang Yan couldn't help but blush and feel shy, so she quickly looked away.
The music played at the venue, and even the dance performances, were gentle, lingering, and highly hypnotic and seductive.
Jiang Yanqing couldn't help but hesitate, feeling afraid.
Just as they were wondering what to do, a beautiful young woman in a light yellow dress walked up to them and smiled.
"You two young ladies are here to participate in Young Master Chen's poetry matching event, right? Please come to the third floor." After saying that, she didn't care whether Jiang Yan and the others were really here to see this "Young Master Chen" or not. She waved her dark red peony fan and walked away, swaying her slender waist.
"Young Master Chen?" Jiang Yan was puzzled, but upon closer inspection, she saw that the women who looked like them had not stopped after entering, but instead went upstairs chatting and laughing, and they were vaguely talking about "Young Master Chen".
Without further hesitation, Jiang Yan grabbed Huang Ying and caught up with them.
Walking ahead of them were two women of similar age to Huang Ying, about the same height and slender build. Each held a floral fan, gently covering the lower half of their smiling faces as they whispered to each other.
"I heard this is Young Master Chen's last poetry competition. I must say a few words to Young Master Chen, otherwise I'll never see him again," said the woman in green walking in front of Jiang Yan.
"Yes, I don't know what happened. They just said they wouldn't hold it anymore." The woman in pink in front of Huang Ying said with great regret.
"Who knows? Maybe they're settling down and starting a family. Who knows? It's none of our business anyway."
"Yes, the woman who can be a match for Young Master Chen must be the best among women, either stunningly beautiful or breathtakingly gorgeous!"
They chatted with smiles about other things, and Jiang Yan listened casually for a while.
At this moment, Jiang Yan had not yet connected this "Young Master Chen" with the "Run Lang" she wanted to meet. She only felt that by following the two of them, she should be able to hear some things that would interest her.
Upon reaching the third floor, even before ascending, the rich aroma of various cosmetics wafted towards us.
Jiang Yan couldn't help but sneeze. Looking around, she saw brightly colored clothes, a constantly waving fan, a smiling, excited face, and a shy tone...
Are all these hundred or so young girls here for that young master Chen?
My elderly parents at home have agreed?
Jiang Yan couldn't help but click her tongue inwardly, thinking that the ancients were quite open-minded, even saying things like "men and women should not touch each other."
Jiang Yan then tried to locate the two women who had followed them all the way, but they had disappeared. When she asked Huang Ying, Huang Ying didn't seem to notice either, so she gave up and led Huang Ying into the crowd to listen to what they were saying.
"Young Master Chen said he would not hold a poetry competition again. Could it be that, as rumored, Young Master Chen is going to take up an official post?"
"This... I heard my brother mention it, that's the gist of it, but what's strange is that my brother said Prince Su invited him to join his staff early this morning, but he refused. So why did he suddenly go?"
Another woman overheard this and interjected, "It is rumored that Young Master Chen has a sweetheart, but Prince Duan has taken her away. Therefore, Young Master Chen is willing to join Prince Su and oppose Prince Duan in order to win back his love."
The woman who had spoken first pondered for a moment, then said, "In that case, it's not hard to understand. This Prince Duan, I've heard, has about ten concubines in addition to his two principal wives and secondary wives. He's a complete lecher!!! He deserves to be targeted!!!"
Jiang Yan couldn't help but smile.
Another woman whispered, "Don't say that. We women don't know anything about court affairs. We just admire Young Master Chen and appreciate his talent. We can't interfere in anything else."
The women who had been gossiping earlier immediately became serious and stopped talking.
Jiang Yan covered her mouth with her left hand and whispered in Huang Ying's ear, "Have you heard of this Young Master Chen before? Who is he, and how did he get involved with Shangguan Zeyu?"
Huang Ying looked completely bewildered, rolled her eyes and thought for a while, then said with difficulty, "This servant has never heard of it."
Jiang Yan had already guessed from her difficult reaction that she would say that, so she didn't have much hope. However, after hearing her say that, she teased her.
"You're just like your young lady, completely oblivious to what's going on around you! Haha."
Huang Ying blushed, embarrassed by what she said, and looked down at her feet, but suddenly her eyes widened and she exclaimed in surprise.
"Could it be him?"
"who?"
"That one... didn't Master ask me to inquire about this 'Runlang' before? I remember now, there is indeed a young master in the capital whose name contains 'Run', and..."
"And what else?" Jiang Yan sighed speechlessly. "Can you please stop beating around the bush and making me scratch my head?"
Huang Ying hesitated for a moment before saying, "And he also has the surname Chen."
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