Draw Lots

The sunshine today is particularly warm, as if the heavens are happy to witness this blind date event.

When Mu An Ning and Mu Jing Yue arrived, the place was already bustling with people, and the sound of music and laughter mixed into their ears.

This banquet was unusual in that there were no separate tables for men and women, but the boys and girls naturally split into two groups and gathered together to chat with each other.

Mu Jingyue excitedly pointed to where the crowd was gathered, her eyes gleaming with anticipation: "Big sister, let's go there."

She had spent a lot of time and effort dressing up for this banquet, and had specially taken out the most gorgeous light pink satin dress with golden butterflies and floral patterns from her closet.

The aunt also gave her her beloved red gold and agate begonia hairpin, and told her to perform well and show her best style when attending the banquet in Beijing for the first time.

Mu An Ning nodded slightly and led her towards that place. Anyway, nothing should go wrong for her.

It's a pity that the rules for today's banquet do not allow maids to enter, so Baoqin was forced to stay outside in the carriage and wait.

"Miss Mu, you are here today too?"

As the two were walking, they suddenly heard a clear female voice coming from behind them.

Mu Anning paused and turned back slowly, only to see a girl in a green pleated skirt standing behind her.

She didn't expect someone to talk to her. She paused, then smiled distantly, "I have nothing to do, so I came to join in the fun."

She glanced sideways at the person in front of her, and then she realized that she should be one of the women who had been talking about her with Liu Qingyue before.

The lady understood what he meant, and for a moment she could hardly suppress the smile on her lips.

Since Mu An Ning showed up at this blind date party specially held for unmarried men and women, it seems that the news that she had broken off her engagement with Prince Gu couldn't be more true.

She stopped smiling and suddenly turned her gaze to the girl standing next to Mu An Ning, who was a little shorter than her, and asked casually, "Who is this girl?"

Mu An Ning opened her mouth and was about to introduce herself to her, but she saw Mu Jingyue bowed and replied with a smile: "Hello, sister. I am also a girl from the Mu Mansion."

The woman in green thought about it for a moment, but still couldn't remember such a person.

She only remembered that there were two girls in the Marquis' Mansion, one was the adopted daughter Mu An Ning, and the other was Mu Wan'er, the real daughter who had just been found.

She thought that the person in front of her should be just a concubine's daughter, so she just smiled slightly and did not show too much enthusiasm.

Mu Jingyue seemed to have not expected that the other party would be so cold to her. There was a hint of unnaturalness on her face, and a hint of dissatisfaction arose in her heart towards the elder sister beside her.

As the eldest sister, Mu An Ning didn't even say a word for her.

After the woman left, Mu Jingyue still couldn't suppress the dissatisfaction in her heart. She stared at Mu An Ning and said, "Big sister, why didn't you introduce your sister to that girl just now?"

Mu An Ning choked, took a deep breath, and glanced at her speechlessly.

It was obvious that Mu Jingyue was the one who spoke first, but he still wanted to push the responsibility onto her.

Just as her patience was running out, a figure she hadn't seen for a long time suddenly appeared before her eyes.

Su Nianci?

Mu An Ning's heart moved, she looked at the rather dissatisfied Mu Jingyue calmly, and said slowly: "Just now I saw that my sister is quite eloquent, it seems that there is no need for me to speak for you." She did not care about her younger sister's reaction, but looked at the lively crowd and said: "Sister, go to the front by yourself, I just met an old friend, so I will leave first."

Mu Jingyue gritted her teeth and forced a smile, "Then sister, go first."

It’s just right. Without Mu An Ning by her side, those people won’t ignore her anymore.

After seeing Mu Jingyue leave on his own, Mu An Ning looked around, but did not see the figure of his only close friend in the surging crowd.

Just when she was looking disappointed and even thought she might have seen it wrong, the figure appeared again.

Her eyes lit up, and she quickened her pace to Su Nianci's side, saying with a smile, "Sister Su."

The blue-shirted woman trembled slightly when she heard the call, and suddenly turned around and asked in a mocking tone, "Ning'er?"

Mu An Ning nodded with a smile in her eyes, but suddenly her eyes became a little sad.

She met Su Nianci at a poetry reading, and over time, they became close friends who could talk about anything.

But now, the two of them haven't seen each other for half a year.

Mu An Ning took a look at her slightly tired expression and asked concernedly, "When did Sister Su come back? Is she feeling better now?"

Su Nianci has been weak since childhood, especially last year, when her condition worsened to the point where she could not get out of bed.

Therefore, half a year ago she was sent to live in a Buddhist temple.

Su Nianci smiled weakly, "I just got back yesterday. I was thinking of inviting you to my house for a gathering these days, but I didn't expect to meet you here."

Mu An Ning held her hand and smiled sincerely, "Sister Su and I are destined to be together."

Seeing that Su Nianci was a little unsteady, she hurriedly supported her friend and led her to a seat with few people. She asked, "Did Master Su force Sister Su to discuss marriage again?"

Su Nianci smiled bitterly and nodded: "However, my father did not expect me to find a husband here." She glanced at the group of young men not far away and said with a smile: "Today, I am mainly here to accompany my cousin who has just arrived in Beijing. I will introduce you two to each other later."

At this point, she suddenly looked worried: "Ning'er, you and the prince..."

She knew what today's banquet meant, and since Mu An Ning came to attend, it meant that her engagement with Prince Gu should no longer exist.

Mu An Ning pursed her lips and didn't respond, but Su Nianci already understood.

She held her friend's hand and comforted him, "Don't think too much." She looked around and said with a smile, "Our Ning'er is so beautiful, how could she not find a husband?"

Mu An Ning saw that Su Nianci thought she was sad about this, so she smiled and nodded gently, not rejecting her kindness: "Then I'll take advantage of Sister Su's good words."

Su Nianci frowned and looked around again, with a trace of doubt on her face: "Ning'er, I don't know where my cousin has gone." She smiled helplessly: "He has just arrived. If he gets into trouble, my mother will probably complain. I will go find him first, and we will meet again later."

Mu An Ning nodded, looked at his friend's staggering body, and asked, "Do you need me to accompany you?"

Su Nianci smiled and said, "I'm not that fragile. Just stay here and I'll come back to find you later."

Mu An Ning nodded helplessly and watched this good friend who always loved to show off leave. He then sat there feeling quite bored, feeling the inquiring glances from people around him from time to time.

Not long after, the music around suddenly stopped.

Everyone's attention was drawn to the stage, and when they looked up, they saw a noble and graceful lady appear.

She smiled at the hundreds of young faces below, feeling happy from the bottom of her heart: "Everyone, almost everyone is here, so we can start the first activity." She raised her hand and signaled the maids to take out two tubes, and said with a smile: "There is a set of numbers on each of the slips of paper here. The young man and the young lady who draw the same number will become partners for today's boat trip."

As soon as the woman finished speaking, the boys and girls below showed anticipation on their faces and were eager to give it a try.

They had never participated in such a novel activity before, so they finally decided to come today.

For a moment, the crowd split into two waves.

The ladies flocked to the left side to draw, while the gentlemen went to the right side.

Mu An Ning also stood up, but felt that there were too many people and he didn't know where to go, so he had to sit down and wait for a while.

She stood up only when she saw that the crowd had almost dispersed.

However, she had only taken a few steps when she was stopped by a little maid.

She was about to ask when the maid looked around and quietly put a note into her hand, saying, "Miss Mu, you don't need to go and draw one. This one is specially left for you by our mistress."

Mu An Ning's eyebrows twitched slightly, she reached out to take it, and asked in a teasing tone, "May I ask who your wife is?"

The maid smiled and shook her head when she heard this. She didn't explain further and left after she bowed.

Mu An Ning lowered his eyes and slowly unfolded the note, only to see the words "Shiqi" written on it.

"Big sister."

She was just thinking about it when Mu Jingyue's sudden call brought her back to her senses.

Mu Jingyue looked surprised, staring at the note in her hand and asked, "Huh? Jingyue didn't see the elder sister picking up the note just now, where did you get this note?"

Mu An Ning folded it up calmly and said with a smile: "Maybe there were too many people, so my sister didn't notice me."

The corners of Mu Jingyue's mouth were slightly raised, but there was a hint of unhappiness between his brows.

Does Mu An Ning really think she is blind?

She saw it clearly just now. It was clearly the little maid who sneakily slipped the note into Mu An Ning's hand, and she did not take it out herself.

I don’t know who the guy who had the other note was, and how he could have done such a thing in secret.

Thinking of this, Mu Jingyue unconsciously tightened the paper in his hand, and the corners of his mouth couldn't help but curl.

The more Mu An Ning hid it, the stronger her desire for the paper became.

She suddenly smiled and suggested, "Sister, why don't we make an exchange?" She unfolded the note in her hand and showed it to Mu An Ning, saying in a coquettish voice, "The number written on my piece of paper is eighteen, which is very auspicious."

Mu An Ning's slender hand holding the note moved slightly, but she did not answer immediately.

She seemed to know who had the other "Shiqi".

If she guessed correctly, that man was the candidate for her future husband that her grandmother had mentioned.

Seeing her elder sister's doubtful expression, Mu Jingyue pretended to be surprised and asked, "Big sister, have you made an appointment with a young master?"

Seeing many people looking in their direction, she covered her mouth with an apologetic look on her face.

Mu An Ning's calm expression finally changed slightly.

Mu Jingyue's words sounded like he was directly saying that she had an affair with some young master.

She stroked the paper in her hand, raised her lips and said, "Sister, if you want it, I'll give it to you." She handed the note to the girl in front of her, and said in a much heavier tone, "Be careful what you say outside. It's not a big deal if it affects me alone, but if it affects the Marquis' Mansion..."

She raised her eyebrows slightly and looked at Mu Jingyue with a smile, the implication of her words was self-evident.

Mu Jingyue was startled, as if she had not expected that this seemingly elder sister would dare to teach her a lesson, but it was only for a moment, and she smiled again: "Sister didn't mean anything else, I'm afraid you misunderstood me."

Mu An Ning just nodded slightly, took the note from her, and didn't want to say anything more.

She suddenly sighed. She had never thought that the relationship between sisters could be so complicated.

The surroundings became quiet again. The woman stood on the stage and said with a smile, "Ladies and gentlemen, now that you have drawn your prizes, you can go to the lake." She paused and added with a smile, "Ladies, please get on the boat first. Gentlemen, please wait for a while."

As soon as she finished speaking, the noble ladies couldn't wait to walk towards the lake.

Mu Anning and Mu Jingyue followed behind, walking neither fast nor slow.

But not long after, Mu Jingyue hurried away, leaving her behind.

*

Mu An Ning searched for a long time before finally finding the wooden boat corresponding to "Shiqi". There was only an elderly boatman on it.

After she reluctantly sat down and looked at the clear lake water, she couldn't help but feel curious about which young man would be her destiny?