Qiaofu

As soon as the queen finished speaking, Gu Huaizhi's expression suddenly changed, but he quickly hid his displeasure in his heart.

"I appreciate your kindness, Madam." Gu Huaizhi raised the corners of his lips without changing his expression, and said calmly, "It's just that I don't want to discuss marriage too early."

Even if he wanted to discuss marriage, he would not marry another woman.

There is no way he would compromise and marry someone he doesn't like.

He thought so before, and he still thinks so now.

Although, he felt some regret for his past stubbornness.

The queen's phoenix eyes calmly looked at her delicate nail polish and said nonchalantly, "Huaizhi is really worry-free."

She raised her eyes and glanced at Gu Yihan, then turned to Gu Huaizhi and said with a smile: "Your cousin is not as good as you. He is completely bewitched by a woman."

Seeing that the empress no longer mentioned the marriage, Gu Huaizhi felt relieved.

He just smiled and nodded without saying anything, then raised his eyebrows at Gu Yihan with an attitude of watching the fun.

Gu Yihan seemed to be deeply in love with Mu Wan'er, and the queen should not know it, but she knew that it was impossible for Gu Yihan to be so affectionate to a woman.

At least in the past ten years or so, his cousin had never shown interest in anyone or anything except handling government affairs.

There must be some hidden secrets behind Gu Yihan and Mu Wan'er's marriage, but he can't see anything for the time being.

"But you have reached the age of marriage." The queen twirled the finger guard on her hand and turned the topic back to Huaizhi: "My niece happens to have haircuts, and I have discussed this matter with your mother."

This time, it was Gu Yihan's turn to look at his cousin with a half-smile on his face, the smile frozen on his face.

Naturally, he also recognized the Queen's niece.

The daughter of the Duke of Huguo, Liu Qingyue.

The queen was unhappy with his marriage because his future crown princess was not from her family.

Unexpectedly, she now has this idea on Gu Huaizhi.

Upon hearing this, Gu Huaizhi almost lost the smile on his face.

The Queen even told his mother about this, and his mother didn't seem to reject it.

"Auntie, I still think this matter cannot be rushed." He took a step forward suddenly, his expression serious and resolute: "I only want to marry a woman who shares my feelings, and I don't want to discuss marriage with a woman I have never met."

Gu Yihan paused for a moment while playing with the jade pendant, then raised his eyes to glance at Gu Huaizhi's back.

It's rare to see his cousin being so serious. It seems that he has fallen in love with Mu Wan'er's sister.

However, even though Mu Wan'er's words were cryptic and unpredictable, he still understood that his cousin and his beloved were destined not to have a good ending.

He now had almost no doubt about what Mu Wan'er said in her heart.

The Queen raised her finely drawn eyebrows and said meaningfully, "You two cousins ​​are really alike."

She turned her eyes away from her nail polish, and a hint of deep meaning flashed through her eyes: "But Huaizhi, don't be so hasty to refuse. You should have met my niece before, so it can't be considered that you have never met before. In a few days, there will be a Dragon Boat Festival banquet in the palace, and I will have someone arrange your seats together."

Liu Qingyue had deep feelings for Gu Huaizhi and had come to her for help a long time ago.

But at that time, Gu Huaizhi was still engaged, so it was inconvenient for her to show up.

But now that Gu Huaizhi has cancelled the engagement, she doesn't have to worry about anything.

*

Fang Ziweng pulled Mu An Ning's sleeve and asked curiously, "Sister An Ning, what are you looking at?"

Mu An Ning's eyes flickered slightly, and he gradually came back to his senses. He shook his head gently: "Nothing, let's go in."

Mu Wan'er's voice flashed past her ears just now, but when she turned around, there was no one there.

Fang Ziweng didn't think much about it. He led her to knock on the door, acting like a master: "Sister An Ning, our new home is very big. You will be surprised later!"

Their home now is at least three times bigger than their previous small yard, and his mother even allowed him to bring the two cats, Black and White Impermanence, to raise as well.

Mu An Ning lowered his eyes and looked at Fang Ziweng's proud expression, then smiled and nodded.

In fact, you don't even need to go in, you can see it just by standing outside the house.

Compared to their small courtyard in Wutong City, this house is completely different and is indeed much more magnificent.

A servant came over to open the door for the two of them and called out to Fang Ziweng in a well-trained manner, "Young Master."

Fang Ziweng raised his bruised little face and nodded, then looked at Mu An Ning with considerable pride.

Now that they had money, my cousin bought a few maids and servants to take care of the household affairs.

But when they walked into the main hall, they didn't see Aunt Fang.

Mu An Ning looked around and couldn't help asking, "Zi Weng, where is Aunt Fang?"

Fang Ziweng frowned, then an idea suddenly occurred to him and he said, "Mother should be in the kitchen, Sister An Ning, come with me."

Mu An Ning was surprised for a moment, then slowly followed Fang Ziweng to the kitchen.

Sure enough, there was a woman busy in the kitchen, handling various ingredients skillfully.

Mu An Ning walked behind the woman with a smile: "Why doesn't Aunt Fang let the cook do it?"

Aunt Fang was stunned for a moment when she saw her niece, then she smiled gently and said, "This person is used to a hard life, so he can't sit still."

Mu An Ning's eyes suddenly became moist, and he felt inexplicably uncomfortable in his heart.

When her biological parents were alive, she should have been like Aunt Fang.

Mu An Ning took a deep breath and silently followed Aunt Fang to bring the dishes to the table.

Aunt Fang smiled helplessly, with an unconscious doting tone in her voice: "You kid, just leave it alone and let me do it."

They are all girls who are raised in a delicate way, how can they do such rough work?

When Mu Wan'er was still at home, she never did any housework.

When the meal started, Aunt Fang noticed the two bruises on Fang Ziweng's face: "Ziweng, what happened to your face?"

Fang Ziweng stammered, "Mother, I accidentally fell today, so Sister An Ning sent me back home."

As he spoke, he kept winking at Mu An Ning, signaling her to cooperate with what he said.

Seeing Aunt Fang looking at him, Mu An Ning sighed in his heart, then nodded lightly and said "hmm" in cooperation.

She originally wanted to explain the whole thing to Aunt Fang, but now seeing Aunt Fang's sad face, she understood Fang Ziweng's intention.

Seeing what Mu An Ning said, Aunt Fang no longer had any doubts and just said to Fang Ziweng, "Child, be careful when you walk next time and don't be so naughty."

Not long after, there was a burst of hurried footsteps.

The three of them looked at the same time and saw that it was Qiao Qingsheng.

"Aunt, I just saw..." Qiao Qingsheng couldn't hide his excitement, but when his eyes fell on the woman in the hall, he stopped involuntarily, "Miss An Ning?"

Mu An Ning nodded and greeted him, with a smile on his face: "Brother Qiao."

Brother Qiao was wearing an official uniform and looked very high-spirited, but there was still fatigue in his eyes.

Although she knew little about the affairs of the court, she was aware of the current changes in the court.

For scholars from humble backgrounds, climbing the official ladder is extremely difficult.

Aunt Fang asked him to wash his hands quickly before eating, and then she turned her attention to her niece and started chatting with her about family matters.

While chatting, he did not forget to hint at his niece's marriage.

Qiao Qingsheng and Fang Ziweng sat on the side, unable to say a word, and could only eat in silence.

The sky gradually darkened. After sending Mu An Ning to the door, Qiao Qingsheng returned to the house and joked, "Aunt, since you like Miss An Ning so much, why don't you just adopt her as your adopted daughter?"

He saw how much his aunt cared about Miss An Ning, and Miss An Ning treated her aunt like her own mother.

Aunt Fang's heart moved, but she immediately shook her head and rejected her nephew's suggestion.

They are aunt and niece. If An Ning is adopted as her adopted daughter, it will be completely confusing.

Aunt Fang hesitated for a moment, then finally spoke: "Qingsheng, An Ning..."

Qiao Qingsheng listened attentively, but suddenly remembered what he had just said. He interrupted Aunt Fang in a hurry and said, "Aunt, I just met Wan'er."

Aunt Fang paused, her tired eyes slightly widened, and she looked at her nephew with a raised corner of his lips: "Wan'er?"

The Chongde Marquis' Mansion is not far from the Qiao Mansion, so it is reasonable for Qiao Qingsheng to meet Wan'er.

Seeing Qiao Qingsheng nodded, she held her breath and asked with a complicated expression, "Is Wan'er doing well now?"

She couldn't explain how she felt about her niece.

When Wan'er was still at home, she was lively, clever, and filial to her elders.

But after she learned about her own life experience, she acted as if she didn't know them at all. Not only did she keep her distance from the Qiao family, she even went to Shangjing alone to recognize her relatives without saying a word.

Qiao Qingsheng smiled and nodded: "Wan'er's clothes look very good now. The fabric of the clothes is quite similar to Miss An Ning's."

He finished speaking, with a look of regret in his eyes: "It's just that she was in a hurry, so I didn't have the time to stop her and say a few words."

He finally saw his sister, but besides being excited, he was also filled with doubts.

Qiao Qingsheng turned around and said, "By the way, aunt, what happened to Miss An Ning?"

Aunt Fang was about to say something but stopped herself. In the end, all the words in her heart turned into a sigh: "It's nothing. Go and have a rest."

Perhaps, now is not the time to tell Qiao Qingsheng about their life stories.

Well, children have their own destiny.

*

"Mother, my son has entered the palace today." After paying his respects, Gu Huaizhi did not rush to sit down, but stood in front of Luo: "The Empress Dowager wants to arrange a marriage for me, and you already knew about this?"

Luo was about to explain, but seeing her son's unhappy expression, she changed her words to: "Son, you must always look forward."

She looked at her son with disbelief in his eyes and sighed deliberately: "Other boys of your age have also been arranged to marry."

But he is the only one who spends the whole day practicing martial arts and riding and shooting, and has no idea about romance.

Even if I understand now, it's too late.

Gu Huaizhi was speechless when he heard his mother's words: "Mother, you..."

Hasn't A Niang always loved An Ning? Why does she suddenly want someone else to be her daughter-in-law?

Luo secretly shook her head, ready to add fuel to the fire: "Son, the family background, character, and appearance of the girl from the Liu family are quite compatible with you. You should have a good time with her at the palace banquet in a few days..."

At this moment, Luo Zhiyan, who was eavesdropping outside, hurriedly lifted up the hem of her skirt and trotted to Luo's side: "Aunt, what palace banquet are you talking about?"

Her brother Huai had just broken off the engagement with Mu An Ning, and now here comes this Miss Liu.

If this Miss Liu was the arrogant and domineering daughter of the Duke of Huguo's Mansion that she knew, then she felt that she was not as good as Mu An Ning.

Luo's mood was interrupted for a moment, and she patiently explained: "In a few days, during the Dragon Boat Festival, there will be a banquet in the palace."

"Yan'er wants to go too." Luo Zhiyan rolled her eyes and hugged Luo's arm coquettishly.

Luo tapped her forehead helplessly: "Okay, go, go, follow your cousin closely and don't cause trouble for your aunt."

Gu Huaizhi crossed his arms and snorted, "Who said I would go?"

He couldn't openly reject the Queen's "kindness", but could he not hide?

Anyway, he said he would not go to the palace banquet no matter what. The thought of sitting at the same table with a woman made him feel uneasy.

In his opinion, instead of having the leisure time, he would be better off practicing martial arts more, or thinking about how to meet Mu An Ning.

Luo was about to dissuade him, but then she thought of something and deliberately said "oh", then turned to look at Luo Zhiyan: "Yan'er, since your cousin doesn't want to go, then you should go with Sister Mu."

She stopped talking and glanced at her son with satisfaction, whose expression changed slightly.