It wasn't that Xu Lingzi was boasting. The eldest grandson of the emperor came from Chonghua Palace and was born to the Crown Princess. He was a direct descendant of the emperor. Before he was even a year old, the emperor issued an edict to confer the title of Crown Prince upon him and announced it to the world.
When Li Shiyue came to her senses, Xu Lingzi had already enthusiastically arranged the white paper and was looking at her with a smile.
Gripping the handle of the round fan tightly, she looked up at Xu Lingzi with a puzzled expression, as if asking what she was doing. Xu Lingzi responded with a meaningful smile, then ground the ink and handed her a brush.
"How about we put some thought into the invitation? But we'll need Jiaojiao to draw it, as my drawing skills are nothing to brag about."
Xu Lingzi winked playfully. She was the youngest daughter personally trained by the Yang family. Even if her painting skills were not proficient, she was still an ordinary person in a prestigious family.
She also had her own selfish motives. The invitations were to be handed over to each family. The banquets hosted by the young lady were naturally for female relatives to attend, or accompanied by their male relatives of the same generation. All the host family had to do was make good arrangements.
Invitations represent the face of the host family. From the strokes of the handwriting to the design on the first page, everything must be meticulously crafted and then handed over to the staff for procurement.
"Since it's a flower banquet, why not paint a few rose bushes? Two flowers blooming together are worse than one on a single branch. May is the perfect season for roses to bloom."
Li Shiyue held the pen but didn't rush to draw on the paper. She examined the size of the paper and estimated how big an invitation would be. The pen tip was dipped in different shades of ink from bottom to top, pausing briefly in the air above the paper.
The rose petals deepened in color from bottom to top, with pale yellow centers. The two roses leaned against each other. Li Shiyue glanced at them, took a new pen from the side, dipped it in ink, and used only black ink to outline the roses on another piece of paper.
"You can use gold to outline it, and the invitation should not be too complicated."
As for the word "invitation," Li Shiyue did not write it down. A hint of hesitation appeared between her brows. She thought of the couplet that was still hanging at the entrance of Chengyu Pavilion.
If one is to write, there is someone more suitable than her.
The pine garden was as quiet as ever. When Li Shiyue arrived with Chunling, only Chang Shun was waiting under the eaves. He had sharp eyes and had already spotted Li Shiyue and Chunling. It seemed that Chunling was holding a piece of white paper in her hand.
"Is my cousin here?"
Li Shiyue looked at Chang Shun, but didn't rush to look towards the study, as he was probably not there at this time.
As expected, Chang Shun looked much more troubled: "The young master has taken my brother out and hasn't returned yet. It will be difficult for you to find him these next few days, Miss."
Li Shiyue couldn't hide the disappointment in her eyes; clearly, she had come here on purpose.
Suppressing the emotions welling up in her eyes, she smiled as she looked up and said, "Thank you. I'll head back now; it's not a big deal anyway."
Before Chang Shun could speak, Li Shiyue had already turned around. He looked at Chunling for help, and she glanced at him, her lips curving upwards, and shook her head slightly.
Chang Shun breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that his cousin hadn't encountered any trouble. If she had, he was afraid that the young master would have taken his anger out on him.
Just as she stepped out of Songyuan, the person she encountered caught Li Shiyue completely off guard. She froze, and even the person standing in the corridor didn't react.
After a while, Li Shiyue was the first to look away, lifted her skirt, and walked forward calmly.
Xu Yunyang's gaze was deep as he looked at Li Shiyue. Today, she was wearing a rose-red jacket over a light-patterned silver-white ruqun (a type of traditional Chinese dress). The two colors, one vibrant and the other elegant, made her captivating.
He looked up at the courtyard where Li Shiyue had come out, a smile playing on his lips, his eyes filled with mockery.
Songyuan, it seems my little cousin rejected him because she found someone better. I couldn't help but clench my fists. Why is it that, from childhood to adulthood, the only young man in the Xu family who always attracts the most attention is Xu Yunci?
He was close in age to Xu Yunci and had diligently practiced both literature and martial arts since childhood, so how was he inferior to Xu Yunci?
Xu Yunci was already the Vice Prefect of Jingzhao Prefecture, clearly intending to succeed him as the Prefect of Jingzhao Prefecture, while Xu Yunyang was merely a minor official of the fifth rank in the Ministry of Justice.
If it weren't for the Rongguo Duke's mansion, who would take a mere civil official seriously?
He strode out to the end of the corridor, the gloom from before seemingly never appearing on his face, a smile spreading across his face: "Cousin? Cousin, is something the matter?"
Li Shiyue really didn't want to talk to him, especially those seemingly calm eyes that actually harbored malicious intentions; just thinking about them made her feel nauseous.
Avoiding Xu Yunyang's gaze discreetly, Li Shiyue smiled and had no choice but to bring up Xu Lingzi and Madam Yang. If all else failed, there was also Old Madam Xu. In broad daylight, he wouldn't dare to do anything.
“In a few days, my maternal grandmother and my eldest maternal aunt will be hosting a banquet for the ladies and gentlemen of various households. This matter has been entrusted to my sixth cousin, who asked me to help. Neither my sixth cousin nor I know anything about the situation of the various households.”
"My sixth cousin was busy going to report back to my maternal grandmother and aunt, so she specifically asked me to find my second cousin so he could make some decisions. But he wasn't here, so I had to take Chunling and go meet up with my sixth cousin first."
She seemed to only then realize what was happening, and looked up at Xu Yunyang with clear eyes that showed no sign of offense: "Oh, is Third Cousin going out?"
Xu Yunyang was captivated by her smile, but he had to maintain his gentle and refined demeanor, which was quite a struggle for him.
At this moment, he suddenly felt quite envious of Xu Yunbo's previous years. In the Xu family, whoever he took a fancy to, Wei Shi could always clean up his mess.
To maintain his image, he did almost everything Xu Yunci did. In particular, the two maids that Madam Liu chose for Xu Yunyang were delicate and pretty, and could be described as charming young ladies when viewed alone.
Having witnessed the charm of others, especially with Xu Yunyang now eyeing Li Shiyue's beauty and wealth, he looked down on everyone else.
"They're going out, but I don't know what it's about. Is there anything I can help with?"
Xu Yunyang's gaze fell on Li Shiyue's face. When she looked at him, there was a coldness and aloofness that she herself was unaware of.
Perhaps it was for the sake of appearances, but he still had to patiently greet her, though the emotions in his eyes were not fully concealed. Xu Yunyang didn't know when he had offended his little cousin; it seemed that from their very first meeting, his little cousin's indifference and aloofness towards him had been on full display.
She could play polo with Wu Lang and Qi Lang, and she could seek help from Xu Yun Ci when she needed it. But whenever her little cousin saw him, she would act like a hedgehog with its fur standing on end, as if she was afraid that he would hurt her. This puzzled Xu Yun Yang.
Li Shiyue suppressed the disgust rising in her heart and suppressed her impatience: "It's nothing serious. It's the same as waiting for my second cousin to come back. Perhaps my cousin already has some ideas."
"Third cousin, you still have to go out, so I won't keep you any longer. After all, my husband is away, and time is precious."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com