The long street stretched as far as the eye could see, with vendors on both sides standing behind their carts, calling out their wares in unequal voices. The conversations of passersby seemed to freeze at this moment.
Xu Yunci's gaze was fixed on Li Shiyue's profile. It felt as if someone was deliberately blocking his way, preventing him from breathing, and even the surrounding air felt thin.
This feeling was strange; he had never felt this way before, and it made him feel a little uneasy.
He wanted to take Li Shiyue around to get acquainted with the capital, but Li Shiyue refused. After all, it was already inappropriate for the two of them to travel alone, especially since they had come without their families' knowledge.
She should go back soon, otherwise Chunling might not be able to hold out at Chengyu Pavilion for long.
The Chengyu Pavilion remained quiet as ever. Li Shiyue, who had just returned, held the wooden hairpin in front of the dressing table, trying on her hair for a while before finally placing it in front of the neatly arranged jade hairpins beside her.
"Has anyone been here?"
Chunling shook her head: "No one has come. Sister Liandong and I are on guard. Qiufan and Cuixia have also been sent out and haven't returned yet."
Li Shiyue felt a little relieved, so she took off the earrings from her earlobes and the pearl flowers from her hair bun, replacing them with neatly arranged plain hairpins.
In the Duke's mansion, she wasn't used to dressing so conspicuously. Today, she was wearing a bamboo-green brocade robe with a dark pattern, and she was about to get up and walk towards the east room.
Before she could even sit down, Lian Dong came in: "Miss, the people from the main courtyard have come to ask you to get ready. They say there are distinguished guests arriving at the flower hall in front."
"Distinguished guest?" Li Shiyue was naturally puzzled. Having followed Yang Shi around and listened to official affairs for quite some time, she knew that when visiting someone's home, one should send an invitation the day before, rather than arriving suddenly, which would be very impolite.
Lian Dong shook her head slightly: "Just say that the Sixth Miss is also going. Tell her to dress as usual and go directly to the flower hall in a little while."
Li Shiyue raised her hand, looked down at herself, and asked Lian Dong, "Is this outfit okay?"
Seeing that Lian Dong and Chun Ling both nodded, Li Shiyue got up and led Chun Ling toward the flower hall. To get to the flower hall, she had to pass by the entrance of Shousong Hall. She seemed to see a very familiar figure enter Shousong Hall.
Li Shiyue, unsuspecting, continued walking forward with Chunling. The corridor under the flower hall connected to a covered walkway. As soon as Li Shiyue approached the vicinity of the walkway, she heard the voices of women talking coming from the flower hall. They were none other than the protagonists she had been discussing with Xu Yunci earlier that day.
Lady Guangping sat at the lower end of the table, seemingly unaware that her sudden visit was impolite, and introduced her husband with a smile.
“Si Lang has grown up now. I was thinking that you hadn’t seen him the other day, so you came with me today and I’ll let you see him properly.”
The heir of the Marquis of Guangping was named Fu Chen. He had fair skin since childhood, and especially when sitting next to the Marquis of Guangping, his posture was upright, making him look like a very well-behaved young man.
He noticed Madam Yang's gaze and glanced almost imperceptibly at Lady Guangping beside him. He then stood up and bowed to Madam Yang with a warm smile on his face: "Auntie, how are you? It's been many years since we last met. Auntie, you still look as radiant as ever, as if I were still running around with my second brother and the others."
The second brother Fu Chen mentioned was Xu Yunci. When he was young, he was younger than the other young men in the Xu family. He called Xu Yunci "second brother" as well, and would also refer to him as "second brother of the Xu family" when they were out.
Li Shiyue stood under the corridor for a while, and only went in together with Xu Lingzi when she arrived. She clearly felt that Fu Chen's gaze lingered slightly on her and Xu Lingzi.
However, his gaze lingered on Xu Lingzi for a longer period of time.
It seems my cousin was right about something: even if you had a very good relationship before, if you haven't spent enough time together, it's hard to be sure if the person in front of you is the same person you just met.
When Yang saw the two sisters enter, her smile became even more genuine. She took their hands, one on each side, and said, "You haven't seen them properly yet. This is Sixth Sister, and this is Yan Yan."
Yan Yan? She's the young lady who lived in the Duke's mansion, and who was even granted the title of Princess Yichang by the Emperor and punished Princess Chunhui.
Fu Chen's gaze was somewhat appraising when he suddenly noticed his mother's warning look. He then remembered his mission for visiting today and quickly withdrew his gaze, bowing to Xu Lingzi.
"I didn't realize my sixth sister had grown up so much. It's my fault for not noticing at first glance."
Upon hearing the word "Sixth Sister," Xu Lingzi nearly broke out in goosebumps. Ever since she was seven, her brother had called her "Sixth Mother" like the elders, and she hadn't heard "Sixth Sister" in a long time.
It was a sudden and unexpected sound, and it felt rather awkward.
Madam Yang didn't even look at Fu Chen's attempts to curry favor, and said in a flat tone: "This is the heir of the Marquis of Guangping's mansion, the fourth son, Fu Chen. When you were young, the Marquis of Guangping's mansion was right next to our house. And yet you always bully him."
But with a smile on his face, he stood beside Madam Yang with his hands in front of him and his knees bent, and nodded slightly: "So it is Fourth Master Fu. No wonder I don't remember. I was not very old when the Guangping Marquis's Mansion moved away, so I don't really remember it."
"It wasn't my fault, Mother, please don't wrong me."
Xu Lingzi handed the conversation back to Madam Yang, then stood beside Li Shiyue, watching obediently, seemingly trying to avoid Fu Chen's following gaze.
There was an inexplicable enthusiasm in his eyes. Even if we knew each other before, it had been so many years since we last met. It was impossible for him to be so enthusiastic the moment we met again.
Moreover, she didn't think she was particularly good to Fu Chen when they were young; she was just afraid that if the two families quarreled too much, her fifth brother and the others would be severely punished, so she went to coax Fu Chen. Perhaps this person has some serious illness; his gaze keeps following her as he smiles foolishly, a very, very foolish smile.
Lady Guangping's gaze fell on the two sisters beside Lady Yang, and she clapped her hands in praise: "If only I could have a daughter, a daughter would be so much less troublesome than a husband."
"Oh right, I'll be returning to Luling in a few days. Before I leave, I'd like to hold a banquet at the Scholar's Mansion. Please be sure to bring the children with you, sister."
"I came here today for this very reason, and secondly, I wanted to get a closer look at these two young ladies. Standing next to the elder sister, they don't seem like mother and daughter, but rather like sisters."
She raised her hand to touch her face and said helplessly, "Unlike my sister, who doesn't have a worthy ruler and only knows how to manage Luling, she doesn't care about us. If I could have a daughter like that, I would definitely cherish her dearly."
Madam Yang smiled slightly: "Look at what you're saying. After Si Lang gets married and has a new wife, you will naturally have to be very good to Si Lang's new wife. It's not like you, as the mother-in-law, have to give the new wife a hard time in the future."
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