As they emerged from Juxian Pavilion, dusk had fallen and a cool summer breeze blew. Wei Huaixu ordered his servants to bring over his cloak and draped it over Qingying's shoulders.
He slowly and carefully tied the ribbon for her, gently instructing her, "Be careful when you get back, and don't catch a cold again."
"knew."
Qingying got into the carriage, then leaned out and waved to him, "You should go back soon too."
Wei Huaixu stood there, watching her carriage gradually disappear into the distance until it vanished from sight before turning and leaving.
When Qingying returned to the mansion, a maid presented her with an invitation card, saying, "This is an invitation card from the fourth young lady of the Duke of Lu's mansion."
Ever since she started appearing in public, invitations have been coming in almost non-stop, for birthdays, coming-of-age ceremonies, and all sorts of other reasons. But ultimately, they all just wanted to befriend her.
She had previously declined the invitations citing illness, but Lu Xingli's invitation...
She thought about it for a moment, then opened it and took a look.
"Hmm~ She actually invited me to her residence for a chat? I've barely even met her a few times, what's there to chat about?"
Yu Yue smiled and said, "Miss, have you forgotten that the Duke of Lu's mansion intends to form a marriage alliance with our mansion?"
She almost forgot about this if she hadn't reminded Qingying. She hadn't been able to see Lu Erlang at the last Spring Festival banquet. Now that so much time had passed, the Lu family must find another reason to bring the two of them together.
Qingying closed the invitation, then opened it again. After a long while, she finally made up her mind, "Send someone to reply to her. I will accept the invitation on time."
"Yes." Tong Xia immediately went to do as instructed.
Her two personal maids always had a clear division of labor: Yu Yue was in charge of cooking, and Tong Xia was in charge of running errands.
After going out for a stroll today, Qingying was quite tired. She locked Wei Huaixu's cloak inside the closet and rested after being served by her maid.
...
Two days later.
Qingying arrived at the Duke of Lu's mansion on time, as invited in the invitation.
Lu Xingli was waiting at the door early on, and went to greet the carriage from the General's Mansion when she saw it.
The coachman put down the footstool, and two maids stepped down first, one on the left and one on the right. One stretched out her hand, and the other lifted the curtain. Then a small, jade-like hand emerged from the carriage. The ten fingers were slender, with no visible knuckles. The fingertips were neatly rounded and clean, and the nails had a faint pink tinge. Just by looking at this hand, one could tell that this must be a pampered young lady raised in a wealthy family.
She placed her jade-like hand on the back of the maid's hand, and then Qingying came out from inside.
Despite having met her several times, Lu Xingli was always stunned by her appearance. Today, she wore a smoky pink dress with large embroidered peach blossoms adorning it, yet it didn't look gaudy at all.
In the capital, Jin Heng is known as the most handsome man, while the title of the most beautiful woman has always been controversial. Previously, Princess Yongning and the eldest daughter of the Chu family were evenly matched, but now... it is estimated that a conclusion will be reached soon.
"Sister Lu, am I not late?" Qingying asked with a gentle smile.
Lu Xingli came to her senses and said, "No... Sister Liu arrived right on time. Jiaojiao and the others are already inside. Let's go in quickly."
In order not to make his purpose too obvious, Lu Xingli specially invited a few more people.
Qingying was led by her to the garden pavilion of the Duke of Lu's mansion. From afar, Xie Jiaoying waved to them, "Xingxing, Sister Liu, come quickly, there are freshly baked pastries here!"
Xie Jiaoying eats wherever she goes, yet she doesn't look fat at all.
As Qingying approached, she discovered that there were both men and women here. Including her and Lu Xingli, there were only twelve people in total, half men and half women. They were sitting at two separate tables, separated by a small, almost negligible screen.
Her arrival instantly drew everyone's attention, and the previously lively scene inexplicably quieted down.
Seeing this, Lu Xingli immediately took the initiative to liven up the atmosphere, "What are you all standing there for? Let's keep playing!"
The gatherings of young masters and ladies from aristocratic families were nothing more than playing games and chatting to pass the time. One woman was eating pastries and chatting about interesting things in the capital, while the other man was playing Pai Gow. Even though there were only six people, the place was as lively as a casino.
Qingying just wanted to quietly be a bystander, sitting inside and listening to them talk about which family's daughter had married which family's son, and which family's daughter had recently been jilted...
I really don't understand why, even though we're all sheltered in our own homes, they know so many secrets that she doesn't.
At that moment, she suddenly felt that she should take Pan's advice and attend more banquets invited by these noble ladies, otherwise she might become the subject of their gossip the next time she was not present.
"Have you heard? The Empress Dowager intends to marry Princess Anyang to the Seventh Prince."
"What? His Highness the Crown Prince's marriage hasn't even been settled yet, why is the Seventh Prince in such a hurry?"
"Don't even mention His Highness the Crown Prince, the Fourth Prince isn't married either, is he?"
"Yes, at the palace's 'Fanghua Banquet' before, I thought the Empress Dowager wanted to choose a candidate for the Crown Princess first, but in the end nothing was decided, making everyone happy for nothing."
"What are you so happy about? With your family background, do you really dare to dream of becoming the Crown Princess? Aren't you afraid of becoming a laughing stock?"
"You..." The woman's face flushed red and then turned pale, but she was powerless to refute it.
The person being talked about was the daughter of a fifth-rank official in the Ministry of Works, while the one making the remarks was the daughter of a fourth-rank official in the Hanlin Academy. It is said that a higher rank can have a crushing effect, and this is not only true in the imperial court.
As the hostess, Lu Xingli immediately stepped in to mediate, saying, "Sisters, please don't quarrel. We're all here to have fun, so let's not hurt each other's harmony."
The two then stopped arguing, since they were in the Duke of Lu's mansion and didn't want to make things too ugly.
Seeing this, Xie Jiaoying quickly changed the subject, "Let's not just sit here chatting, how about we do something fun?"
What to play?
How about a drawing game?
The group unanimously agreed.
Qingying asked, puzzled, "What is 'guessing the painting'?"
Everyone else had played and knew the rules, so Xie Jiaoying explained it to her separately: "The so-called 'guess the picture' game is where one person gives a question, and another person guesses it. The question is a line of poetry or a phrase. Then the remaining people take turns drawing, but each person can only add one stroke to the drawing. The last person to draw has to guess what is in the drawing."
Is there a limit to the number of attempts for this drawing game?
"You can guess three times. If you are wrong all three times, the question will be changed. During this time, the artist can give you a hint once, but the hinter can only suggest two words related to the question."
Qingying nodded knowingly: "I understand."
Lu Xingli said, "What's the point of just us playing? There has to be competition to make it fun."
Someone asked, "How do you compete?"
Lu Xingli blinked. "How about we divide the men and women into two groups, each group sets out a question, and then each group sends out a question setter. The group that guesses the most questions wins."
Upon hearing this, the man on the other end immediately responded, "Great! It's more fun to play together."
The two sides quickly reached an agreement.
Next, both sides discussed and each came up with thirty questions, with a time limit of one incense stick's time.
"Sister Liu is the youngest among us, so how about she be the dealer for the other side in the first round?"
Qingying looked at her and smiled.
So all that silence was for this moment.
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