"Wasn't it said that Lu Zilei was deeply in love with Lianhua? Why hasn't he come over yet after so long?"
Cui Wanyun stomped her feet in anger. There were so many mosquitoes in the forest that they had bitten her several times.
When she saw Lianhua leave the table, she thought it was a good opportunity, so she pretended to be Lianhua and went to find him, hoping to take the opportunity to meet him and slowly develop feelings for him, or better yet, to be seen by others and spread some rumors, which would also be beneficial to her.
The Marquis of Chang'an's mansion has fallen into ruin, and she no longer cares about her reputation. Finding a good place for herself is the most important thing.
She thought victory was assured, but after so much time had passed and no one had come, she started to get anxious.
The banquet is about to end, and if Lu Zilei doesn't arrive soon, she'll miss her chance.
She said to the maid beside her, "Go back to the banquet and find someone to go find Lu Zilei again."
"yes."
The maidservant hurriedly left, and Cui Wanyun continued to wait. After a while, she heard faint voices, which sounded quite familiar, and her heart tightened.
"The banquet should be almost over now. I don't have anything to do today, so I'll accompany you to stroll around the streets in a bit and buy you some rouge and jewelry."
Lei Zi, Lianhua, and Youya came back together. Thinking that he rarely had a vacation, he wanted to spend more time with them.
"Great idea! I heard that Lingfang Pavilion has released a new color of lip rouge that looks really nice. Let's go check it out!"
Youya is all grown up now, and she loves to look good and dress up. Jiang Jiuniang especially encourages them to bravely do what they want, so she never worries about these things. (I saw some comments saying some kids can't accept Jiuniang changing her name, and I'm not used to it either. So, we'll use Jiang Ying for formal occasions, but normally we'll still call her Jiang Jiuniang—it's like changing the surname, hehe.)
Lei Zi readily agreed: "Okay, I'll buy it for you then!"
As they were talking, they saw a person emerge from the woods ahead. She looked somewhat disheveled, with her skirt torn in several places by bushes, but she seemed unconcerned and greeted Lianhua and Youya with a smile.
"Miss Lotus, Miss Youyou, what brings you here? And who is this young master?"
She smiled at first, then blushed when she saw Lu Zilei, and quickly looked away, saying, "Miss Lotus, this is a banquet, it's inappropriate for you to act like this... But don't worry, I definitely won't tell anyone, and I would never want to damage your reputation!"
She waited in the woods for so long, only to find out the two of them had gone on a secret date. She wasn't going to be so easily shaken off!
She acted as if she didn't recognize Lei Zi, and her words implied that Lianhua and Youya were not at the banquet because they were out meeting with other men.
This is clearly an attempt to ruin the reputation of the two young girls; their intentions are despicable.
Although Youya was young, she wasn't stupid. She immediately understood the meaning behind her words and said, "What nonsense are you talking about? This is my older brother, and he's engaged to my sister Lianhua! We're good siblings, can't we even go out for a walk together?"
She didn't mean to say such harsh things, but after hearing Sister Lotus say that this woman clearly had fantasies about Brother Lei, it was one thing to pretend not to know him, but to say such disgusting things was utterly repulsive.
Cui Wanyun was taken aback by You's quick wit and felt awkward. She smiled embarrassedly and said, "I'm really sorry. I've never met Young Master Lu before and didn't recognize him. Please don't take offense."
Lei Zi pretended not to see her the whole time, and even turned his body to the side to avoid suspicion, but even so, it did not prevent Cui Wanyun from seeing his face clearly.
She had only caught a glimpse of him from afar and knew he must be a handsome young man, but now that she was closer, she realized he was far more handsome than she had imagined. She had also heard that he was skilled in both literature and martial arts, and her heart was instantly filled with excitement.
Although Lei Zi is somewhat unworthy of her given his current status, who can predict the future? Besides, with Lu Baichuan as his third uncle, how could Lei Zi possibly be bad in the future?
She immediately felt that her mother had a discerning eye and had found her such a good husband.
She was three years older than Lu Zilei, which perfectly fits the saying "a woman three years older brings good fortune," meaning she might even bring good luck to her husband. The Lu family would have to treat her with respect from now on.
Seeing that although she was apologizing, her eyes kept glancing at Lei Zi, Lianhua's smile instantly turned into a mocking one.
"I naturally believe that Miss Cui did not do it on purpose. In any case, only a few of us know about it today, and it will definitely not spread. Otherwise, it would not be good for Miss Cui's reputation, right?"
Cui Wanyun nodded repeatedly: "Of course, we're all on the same side, why would we gossip to outsiders!"
She was so focused on the phrase "one of us" that she didn't notice the sarcasm in Lianhua's tone.
Having finally spotted Lei Zi, she knew she had to seize the opportunity and said, "I heard you were saying you were going shopping after the banquet. I happen to have some things I'd like to buy too, so how about we go together?"
"This..." Lianhua glanced at Leizi and hesitated, "I'm afraid this might not be a good idea?"
Lei Zi finally spoke: "To Miss Cui, I am an outsider, and it would damage your reputation, so..."
"It's alright!"
Cui Wanyun smiled like a blooming peach blossom. What was she afraid of about her reputation being damaged? She was afraid of it not being damaged!
If his reputation is truly damaged, they can use that as an excuse to hold him accountable!
That would be better!
"Didn't Miss Lotus just say that my mother and Aunt Jiang have a good relationship? According to seniority, I should even be called your aunt! It's no big deal for us to go shopping together!"
Youya's mouth could fit a whole duck egg; I never imagined there could be such a shameless person in the world!
Since things had been said to this extent, the group couldn't refuse any longer and agreed.
Youya was so angry she wanted to curse, but then she saw Leizi and Lianhua give her a look to calm down. She thought that her older brother and sister would definitely have a solution, and her heart finally settled down.
As the group arrived, the banquet had indeed ended. Jiang Jiuniang had just boarded the carriage when she saw them coming together and looked at them with great interest.
"Auntie, I rarely have any free time, so I'm taking Lianhua and the others to go shopping and buy some things. You should go back first."
Lei Zi took the initiative to speak to Jiang Jiu Niang. Jiang Jiu Niang raised an eyebrow and glanced at Cui Wan Yun, her smile somewhat meaningful.
Lei Zi lowered his voice and said, "She insists on coming along. Don't worry, Auntie, we won't let her take advantage of us."
Jiang Jiuniang was quite at ease with the children in her family. She knew there would be even more to face in the future, so using Cui Wanyun as a practice subject was a good idea.
She waved her hand in agreement and led Jiezi and the others home first.
Seeing that Jiang Jiuniang did not reject her, Cui Wanyun was secretly pleased and became even more confident.
Youya was full of anticipation, wondering how her older brother and sister would deal with this shameless guy.
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