Chapter Twenty-Five: The Young Master is Blessed
Yuan Qing, standing to the side, watched Shen Qingnian and Xiao Huaiyi chatting happily at the bow of the boat.
She glanced at Xie Yanzhi again. Xie Yanzhi seemed perfectly normal, quietly enjoying the beautiful scenery of the lake, as if he had forgotten about Miss Qing and Young Master Xiao.
Yuan Qing, however, was different. He clearly saw Ping An tug at Ling'er's arm. Ling'er had lost her balance, and Ping An had caught her just in time.
Ling'er revealed two dimples: "Thank you, Brother Ping An."
Ping An nodded to Ling'er.
He wasn't a smooth talker, but he found Ling'er very cute, which reminded him of his younger sister.
Yuan Qing also wanted to go to the stern of the boat and block Ping An from seeing Ling'er.
If my master wants to marry off Qing, then wouldn't Ling'er have to go with him?
But thinking about it now is useless. No matter how anxious he is, he can only watch the little water chestnut chattering away at Ping An.
After a while, Xiao Huaiyi and Shen Qingnian's small boat docked at the shore.
Xiao Huaiyi jumped off the boat first, then reached out his hand to Shen Qingnian: "Miss Shen, be careful."
Shen Qingnian looked at Xiao Huaiyi's hand through his sleeve and extended her hand: "Thank you, Young Master Xiao."
Seeing the group approaching, Xie Yanzhi walked out of the pavilion and looked at Shen Qingnian, saying, "It's time to go back to the manor."
After bowing to the two of them, Shen Qingnian led Ling'er toward the carriage.
Xie Yanzhi frowned when he saw Xiao Huaiyi holding Shen Qingnian's hand and saw Xiao Huaiyi's smug look: "She agreed to be with you?"
Xiao Huaiyi watched Shen Qingnian's retreating figure and said indifferently, "No." His words carried a hint of disappointment.
"Oh?" Xie Yanzhi squinted.
For some reason, he suddenly felt much better.
“Miss Shen said she needs some more time to consider it,” Xiao Huaiyi added.
"Is there something wrong with me?" Xiao Huaiyi turned to look at Xie Yanzhi.
Yuan Qing pursed her lips when she heard Xiao Huaiyi ask that. Didn't she know what she was doing? Luckily, Miss Qing didn't agree, otherwise Xiao Lingjiao would have run away too.
Xie Yanzhi hadn't expected Xiao Huaiyi to ask him this question.
After thinking for a moment, she finally spoke up: "Huaiyi is a man of refined taste and handsome appearance. I think he's perfect. Perhaps she's just too picky."
Even he, the heir apparent, refused; what else could it be but being picky!
Xie Yanzhi took Shen Qingnian back to the mansion.
Shen Qingnian sat on the daybed and took an embroidery hoop to do needlework.
Ling'er also took an embroidery hoop and sat down. She saw the lotus flower that her mistress was embroidering, which was very lifelike.
Ling'er exclaimed, "Miss's embroidery is truly beautiful."
Unlike her, who is always so careless and can't embroider well. She's been embroidering this fish for days and still hasn't finished.
However, if Miss agrees to Young Master Xiao's request, shouldn't she start embroidering mandarin ducks now?
So Ling'er asked curiously, "Miss, you and Young Master Xiao..."
Shen Qingnian knew that she wanted to ask her if she had agreed to Young Master Xiao's request.
She smiled and said, "I haven't agreed to Mr. Xiao's request yet. I need some more time to consider it."
Ling'er was very surprised. She put down her embroidery frame and asked, "Young Master Xiao fell in love with you at first sight and doesn't care about social status. Why don't you accept his offer?"
Shen Qingnian put down the embroidery frame and gently pinched Ling'er's nose: "So-called love at first sight is just liking my appearance; it won't last."
Beauty fades and love fades.
She didn't want to follow in her mother's footsteps. Back then, her father forced her mother into marriage simply because he was attracted to her mother's beauty.
But later, my father still kept bringing in more and more concubines to the courtyard, each one younger and more beautiful than the last.
Even if Xiao Huaiyi didn't care about social status and promised to be with one person for life, the two had only just met and knew very little about each other, so his words might not be trustworthy.
Furthermore, if Xiao Huaiyi truly liked her, he wouldn't give up so easily just because she rejected him once.
Sure enough, half a month later, Xiao Huaiyi wrote another letter, inviting Shen Qingnian to the lantern festival. Of course, Xie Yanzhi also went along.
The lantern festival in the capital was very lively, with all kinds of lanterns on the streets and alleys, as well as acrobatics and pitch-pot games.
Seeing that Shen Qingnian and the others had arrived, Xiao Huaiyi smiled and stepped forward: "Yanzhi, Miss Shen!"
Shen Qingnian wore a light pink dress today, her hair loosely tied up with a ribbon, her eyes like autumn water, lingering and captivating.
Xiao Huaiyi watched for a while, then noticed Shen Qingnian's discomfort. He looked away, took out a string of candied hawthorns from behind him, and handed it to her: "Miss Shen, candied hawthorns."
Shen Qingnian showed a hint of joy and accepted the candied hawthorn.
He actually remembered what she had said that day. That day, Shen Qingnian said she liked candied hawthorns, but she hadn't had any since coming to the capital.
Xie Yanzhi followed behind the two with a cold expression. His eyes showed disdain when he saw the candied hawthorns.
Candied hawthorns are just something to coax children; I don't understand why Shen Qingnian likes them so much.
However, Xiao Huaiyi had changed his usual playboy image, which was different from what Xie Yanzhi had expected.
He himself is now somewhat confused about what he is really thinking.
The more Shen Qingnian accepts Xiao Huaiyi, the more she will be hurt later.
Wasn't he waiting for her to regret it?
Why do I feel a little irritated seeing the two of them looking at each other so affectionately?
He shouldn't be agitated; he should be happy.
Just then, Yuan Qing saw a stall selling pine nuts ahead, so he bought some and handed them to Ling'er, saying, "Lingjiao, here you go!"
Ling'er was very happy. She took the pine nuts and said sweetly to Yuan Qing, "Thank you, Yuan Qing!"
Then he handed the pine nuts to Ping An: "Brother Ping An, have some pine nuts."
Ling'er thought that since the three of them were all servants, they should all share the good food.
Seeing this, Yuan Qing snorted and walked to the front.
Seeing that Yuan Qing seemed angry, Ling'er turned to Ping An and asked, "Brother Ping An, why does Yuan Qing seem angry all of a sudden?"
Ping An looked at Ling'er's bewildered eyes, smiled helplessly, and shook his head.
Ling'er quickly went forward to chase after Yuan Qing.
At this moment, Shen Qingnian saw that some people were playing pitch-pot ahead, so she stood aside and watched. Xiao Huai saw that she was watching very seriously, so he tried to ask, "Miss Shen, would you like to play pitch-pot?"
Shen Qingnian smiled and said, "I don't know how to play pitch-pot, I just watch them and find it interesting."
"Does Young Master Xiao know how to play pitch-pot?" Shen Qingnian asked again.
Ping An stepped forward and said, "Our young master is very skilled at pitch-pot."
"Miss Shen, would you like to see me play the arrow-throwing game?" Xiao Huaiyi looked at Shen Qingnian with a smile, his eyes full of tenderness.
Shen Qingnian looked at him and said, "Mm."
Having received Shen Qingnian's reply, Xiao Huaiyi gave the shopkeeper ten coins, took a few arrows, and went to the side to play the arrow-throwing game.
He was almost always right. Every time he hit a shot, the crowd cheered.
When there was only one left, Xiao Huaiyi turned around and smiled at Shen Qingnian, noticing the worry in her eyes.
Xiao Huaiyi gestured to her with his eyes that she didn't need to worry, and then threw the arrow with force, which landed steadily in the pot.
"Good! Good!" The crowd cheered again.
Xiao Huaiyi turned to look at Shen Qingnian, and she looked back at him, as if no one else around them existed.
The owner of the pitch-pot stall brought out a sandalwood comb as a prize and handed it to Xiao Huaiyi. Looking at Shen Qingnian beside him, he couldn't help but sigh, "Young master, you are so lucky."
"If I had such a beautiful wife, I'd brave mountains of knives and seas of fire for her," someone else chimed in.
Shen Qingnian lowered her head shyly. Xiao Huaiyi looked at the girl in front of him with tenderness.
Suddenly a woman's voice came from behind: "Young Master Xiao!"
Shen Qingnian turned around and saw that the woman, with a graceful figure, swaying her exquisite hairpin, her delicate face full of charm, slowly walked towards Xiao Huaiyi.
Xie Yanzhi recognized the woman; she was Butterfly Dance, a girl from Yicui Courtyard, and Xiao Huaiyi's confidante.
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