"Who are the people who attended Cousin Yartan's party today?" Ushiha asked Bechuk, his smile fading.
"It's said that they are all young ladies and gentlemen from first and second-rank families in the capital, as well as relatives of the imperial clan," Bechuk said hastily when he saw that Ushiha was finally showing interest in the people at the gathering.
"Oh, Chunfang from Prince Chun's Mansion, and her brother, are they going too?" Ushiha asked.
Bechuk found Ushiha's behavior a bit strange and asked in confusion, "When did you become so concerned about those two siblings?"
"I was just asking casually. Chunfang and you are quite close, so you've probably already mentioned the horse riding competition, right?" Wuxihasan said with a smile. She actually wanted to know if Tai'an would be going, and if so, whether that person would be going too. Unconsciously, Wuxihasan had begun to think of Suhari frequently, and she was becoming irritable and restless because of this contradictory feeling. Her mother's words made her feel strange about Suhari appearing before her time and time again, yet she couldn't help but recall the scene with him in Lotus Pier that day.
Ushiha didn't know that this was love, because Granny Gong had never taught them to actively like someone, but rather to passively obey their parents and accept the arrangements of fate.
“They should all be there. The two siblings are direct descendants of Prince Chun, so Cousin Yartan must have invited them,” Bechuk said. “Cousin Yartan’s gathering is actually an opportunity for the young masters and ladies of various families to meet. If they can find someone they like, and both sets of parents agree, that would be the best thing.”
“Bechuk, you’re not even of marriageable age yet, and you’re already so concerned about this kind of thing. I’m really surprised,” Ushiha teased.
“I’m going with you. You’re not married yet, so I can’t possibly go before you, can I?” Bechuk retorted, not wanting to be outdone by Ushiha’s teasing. “Alright, for your sake today, I’ll have to be a quiet lady, okay?” Ushiha sighed, looking at Bechuk.
“Hongli and Hongzhou also went today; they must have arrived earlier than us,” Bechuk said.
"Those two brats, they didn't even wait for us and ran off on their own. They haven't even had their coming-of-age ceremony yet, and they're acting like rabbits that have run out of grass," Ushiha cursed.
“They’ve found a good opportunity to escape the wind, so why not take advantage of it and get out to enjoy themselves?” Bechuk said.
“Yes, it’s not easy to go out and about freely now, so I would go out earlier too,” Ushiha said.
The rumbling of the carriage gradually subsided as they arrived at the residence of Princess Gushan Duoluo.
The two sisters had just gotten off the carriage on the benches that the maids had placed there when they saw that the entrance to the Duoluogege Horse Ranch in Muxidi, near Xizhimen, was already full of carriages, obviously belonging to young ladies and gentlemen from various families.
“There are quite a few people here today.” Bechuk looked at the carriage road.
The two reached the main gate, handed the invitation to the gatekeeper, and then entered Ya'ertan's horse ranch. This ranch was part of the Fourth Princess's dowry; after her death, she bequeathed it to her eldest daughter, Ya'ertan. Now, Ya'ertan's ranch was a highly sought-after location, extremely difficult to obtain. Many people asked to borrow this prime piece of land from her. Because Ya'ertan was Emperor Kangxi's niece and also the eldest grandson's wife of the Fucha family, she naturally held considerable influence and gradually transformed the ranch into a gathering place for Beijing's elite.
"Princess Dorrog says, please come to her side, you two princesses." A middle-aged woman in purple greeted them.
"Oh. Cousin Yartan has already arrived?" Bechuk asked.
"We've been here for quite some time now. There are so many people here today. Our mistress has been so busy she's barely had time to breathe, but she still specially instructed me to come and wait for the two princesses." The woman in purple said warmly, "The mistress said that all the guests here today are distinguished, but the two princesses are the most honored, so she specially instructed me to come and wait for them."
Ushiha and Bechuk then went with the woman in purple to see their cousin, Yartan.
"Come quickly, my two cousins have arrived. You've kept your older sister waiting." A woman dressed in a magenta cheongsam saw Ushiha and Bechuk enter the room and quickly stood up from the main seat, smiling as she greeted them.
Ushiha and Bechuk had met Yartan at Consort De's place. At this moment, they saw Yartan chatting with several women. In a quick glance, they recognized Miss Zhang, the granddaughter of Fucha Mingyu and Zhang Tingyu, and a few others they didn't recognize.
"Cousin~" Ushiha and Bechuk called out.
"Come, come, sit down." Yartan resembled Consort De somewhat, after all, she was her niece. She pulled Ushiha and Bechuk to sit down beside her.
"Wait a minute, all of you go to the horse farm and ride the horses. Don't just sit here," Yartan said with a smile. "You girls, go out and ride the horses. You're not allowed to sit here."
Ushiha quickly replied, "Great! I came to my cousin's place today because I wanted to ride horses."
Yartan quickly said, "Then let's not sit here. Let's all go to the horse farm."
Ushiha and Bechuk then followed Yartan and the others toward the horse farm. As they entered the farm's courtyard, they saw some glossy horses running on the grass.
Ushiha saw small groups of people standing around the horse farm. They were all young ladies or gentlemen from prominent families in the capital. Hongli and Hongzhou were chatting with a group of imperial relatives on the observation platform.
“Cousin, there are quite a few people here today. Have Tai’an and Chunfang from Prince Chun’s Mansion come?” Bechuk asked.
“It’s here, look, it’s not over there!” Yartan looked at the other one with relief.
Ushiha looked over and saw Tai'an and a group of young noblemen circling around several horses, clearly discussing their merits. Ushiha looked closely but couldn't find the man.
"Cousin, I'm going horseback riding!" Ushiha said.
“Alright, then go to the stables and choose one. There are servants to serve you,” Yartan said.
So Ushiha immediately walked to the other end of the stable, ignoring the wink Bechuk gave him.
"Fourth Princess is truly a woman of strong character; she never stays with us for long," Miss Zhang said.
“She has a lively personality and doesn’t like to sit around chatting,” said Bechuk. “Sister Mingyu, would you like to come over for a walk with me?”
Bechuk then went with Fucha Mingyu to see the horses in the pasture, leaving only a few Yartans and a few young ladies from noble families. She then had someone lead them to the viewing platform, while she returned to her house.
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