The banquet had been set in the flower hall. Liu Ziqi, who had gone out of the house on business, was now sitting at the table. Next to him sat a man wearing a dark right-fronted robe. He was talking to Liu Ziqi with his face turned sideways. He seemed to sense someone entering the flower hall, so he looked up.
Yu Jiao met his gaze and was slightly startled. It was Gu Yun, whom she had not seen for many days. It seemed that the emperor had allowed him to leave the palace.
Gu Yun's eyes were full of Yu Jiao. When he saw Yu Jiao, he couldn't help but grinning. His starry eyes were filled with joy that was beyond words.
During the days he was locked up in the mansion, he sometimes wanted to sneak out to see her, but after his father returned to the capital, he didn't know how many people were secretly waiting to catch them doing anything wrong in the Annan Marquis Mansion, so he had to bear it and ask Liu Ziqi about her daily life.
"My father brought you some small things from Lingnan. He never had time to deliver them to you, so he asked me to bring them to you." Gu Yun stood up, took the gifts from the servant behind him, and stuffed them into Yu Jiao's hands. He pointed to the exquisite box on the top and said, "It contains night-shining rhinoceros. It glows at night, as bright as day, and can illuminate a hundred steps away. You don't need to light a candle or a fire to read medical books at night."
Yu Jiao's arms were stuffed with things, and she was somewhat unable to cope with Gu Yun's enthusiasm. She was increasingly determined to explain things to Gu Yun as soon as possible. She couldn't just keep enduring Gu Yun's kindness to her for no reason. She smiled at Gu Yun and thanked him.
Gu Yun looked at her smiling almond eyes, and a thin layer of red appeared on his handsome face. He didn't dare to stare at Yu Jiao anymore. He just felt that Yu Jiao seemed to be more beautiful after not seeing her for some time. When he saw her, his heart began to beat faster.
The two of them standing together looked like a perfect match. Even Liu Yaoyu smelled something. She seemed to have suddenly realized something. No wonder the young Marquis Gu, who had always been unruly and unrestrained and did not know how to be gentle with women, had been so good to Yu Jiao since she returned to Beijing.
Liu Ziqi saw Yu Qizhe saw Yu Jiao and Gu Yun standing together and talking, but his face remained calm, and a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth. He said to him, "Master Yu, sit down."
Liu Yu also smiled and said, "Everyone, sit down. This is a family dinner. Don't be so reserved."
Because it was a family dinner, men and women sat together at the same table. There were three siblings in the Yu family. They were connected to the Liu family because of Yu Jiao, so Yu Jiao sat next to the three of them. Yu Qizhe was on her left. When the two of them sat down, because they were so close, the backs of their hands accidentally brushed against each other's, and they separated as soon as they touched.
Yu Jiao's eyelashes trembled slightly, and she pretended nothing happened and sat down on the round stool, but subconsciously looked at Yu Qizhe's hands.
She had always thought that his hands were very beautiful, with large palms, distinct joints on all ten fingers, and fingers as slender as jade. However, his right hand had calluses on the knuckles from years of practicing calligraphy. At this moment, he was holding a green teacup, and she couldn't tell whether it was the wall of the cup that made his hand look beautiful, or because of his hand, the green teacup looked more precious.
As if he had noticed Yu Jiao's gaze, Yu Qizhe turned his head to look at Yu Jiao, but quickly looked away. After testing the temperature of the teacup with his fingertips, he placed it in front of Yu Jiao.
It seemed that he misunderstood that she wanted to drink tea. In order to hide her embarrassment, Yu Jiao picked up the tea he gave her and took a sip.
The meal was quite relaxing. Liu Ziqi raised his glass to congratulate Yu Qizhe on winning the top spot in the imperial examination. Gu Yun also joined in the fun, and everyone drank some wine.
During the meal, Liu Yu said that in a few days, after the parade and the Qionglin Banquet, Yu Qizhe would be appointed, and if nothing unexpected happened, he would enter the Hanlin Academy.
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