Chapter 16 Chapter 16

Perhaps it was a coincidence that Gu Huaisheng and Miss Meng San came from the other side of the river and just as they got off the bridge, they ran into the two of them coming out of the alley. The bridge was opposite the exit of the alley, and the four of them met each other like this.

Jiang Jingchun looked at Gu Huaisheng, and his eyes also fell on her.

They looked at each other in silence, and the atmosphere was somewhat frozen for a moment.

Finally, it was the third daughter of the Meng family, the Minister of Rites, who spoke first. She looked at Gu Huaisheng and asked, "Mr. Gu, what's wrong?"

Gu Huaisheng was still looking at Jiang Jingchun, his gaze fell on her lips, on which there was a patch of...slightly messy bright red.

Gu Huaisheng had never been to any brothel before, let alone done such things with anyone, but when he looked at her red lips, he couldn't help but think of other things.

Under normal circumstances, this red would not have caused people to think too much, but when the two of them came out of the alley... coming out of there, it began to cause people to think too much.

The alley was dark, with no light coming in at night, and the end was as far as the eye could see. Young boys and girls stood at the entrance of the alley, with a thin light shining on them, looking so beautiful.

Gu Huaisheng knew that she had a good relationship with Song Xuan'an and she was playful. So, he didn't know if she would do something like that.

Did they... kiss?

He didn't know, but he couldn't ask.

Gu Huaisheng inexplicably felt a sense of irritation in his chest.

An emotion he hadn't felt in a long time.

Seeing that he hadn't spoken a word, Miss Meng San, who was standing by, looked in the direction of the two people at the entrance of the alley. In front of her stood a woman with two hanging buns, who looked very attractive. Behind her stood a man carrying large bags, who looked to be about the same age as her, perhaps two or three years older.

Jiang Jingchun was quite famous in the capital, and she had heard of her, so when she saw the two of them here, she could more or less guess that she was the cousin who liked to follow Gu Huaisheng around.

Just as she was about to say something, she heard the little girl in front of her speak. She looked at Gu Huaisheng and asked him, "Didn't my cousin say that he had something to do?"

There was a tone of grievance in her voice that she herself was not aware of.

But as soon as he asked this question, Jiang Jingchun felt a little regretful.

This made her even more embarrassed.

He was busy, but his business was just to accompany others.

She even had to ask such a question.

It's really annoying.

Miss Meng San was the first to notice the strange atmosphere. She said, "It's Miss Jiang. The one behind is..."

"He is from the Song family."

Gu Huai on the side spoke up.

Miss Meng nodded, as if she understood. She looked at Gu Huaisheng and asked, "Since we have met by chance, why don't we go together?"

Although she didn't like someone who liked to pester others everywhere, he was still Gu Huaisheng's relative after all. This was only their first meeting, and she was not yet at the point where she could make a decision for him.

However, she originally thought that Gu Huaisheng didn't like her very much and probably wouldn't agree.

But who would have thought that Gu Huaisheng on the side would speak out in agreement.

"Okay, let's go together."

Gu Huaisheng looked at the two men, his brows still furrowed.

Go, why not? If you don't keep an eye on her, who knows what trouble she might cause.

But it was obvious that Jiang Jingchun didn't want to get in between the two of them. Just as she was about to say no, Gu Huaisheng turned around and said to her, "Follow me."

The tone of voice left no room for questioning, and Jiang Jingchun had no choice but to follow.

The four of them walked together, Gu Huaisheng and his group walked in front, Jiang Jingchun and Song Xuan'an walked behind. Since Jiang Jingchun followed Gu Huaisheng, he felt uncomfortable. It was clear that he wanted to follow Gu Huaisheng from the beginning, and now that he got what he wanted, he was not very happy.

After seeing Gu Huaisheng and Miss Meng San together, Jiang Jingchun no longer had any desire to play. They walked side by side in front, and Jiang Jingchun followed behind with a listless look on his face.

Finally, it was finally over. After watching the lanterns, the group dispersed. Miss Meng San got on her carriage and went home. Gu Huaisheng said to Jiang Jingchun, "Let's go. I'll take you back to the Jiang Mansion."

Song Xuan'an, who was standing by, stepped forward before Jiang Jingchun and said, "No need, I'll take you there. You followed me here, so I should take you there. I won't bother you, young marquis."

He was already eighteen years old and had almost grown into full size. He was actually about the same height as Gu Huaisheng, but he always seemed a little weaker when standing in front of him.

Gu Huaisheng winked at Shuliang behind him. Shuliang understood what he meant and stepped forward to take the bags in his hands.

Song Xuan'an naturally refused.

However, Gu Huaisheng's words forced him to let go.

"Do you want her to be punished again?"

Last time, wasn’t it because I sneaked out to play with him that I got beaten?

If the people from the Jiang family saw her going out with him again this time, they wouldn't know what to say.

But if it was Gu Huaisheng, no one would say anything about him.

The world is always particularly tolerant of people with good reputations.

There was no choice but for Song Xuan'an to give the things to Shu Liang, and then watch their backs disappear from his sight.

After a night of excitement, the dragon boat race was over. At 11 p.m., the noisy sounds on the street faded away, and some of the lanterns hanging outside were taken down. The glorious chapter ended, and everything returned to normal.

The two of them walked back to the Jiang Mansion. No one spoke first, and they walked in silence all the way.

It was not until they were almost at Jiang's house that Jiang Jingchun finally spoke.

She followed him and asked him, "Cousin, do you want to get married?"

Last time it was Lou Yanxin, and this time it’s unknown which family the girl is from. Anyway, there are a lot of people who like him. If he doesn’t like the Lou family, nor the one today, there will always be other families coming after him.

He is meeting this one today and that one tomorrow, and sooner or later he will decide on his own marriage.

What about her?

Who is she?

From the beginning to the end, it was all her own will.

She said, "My cousin didn't like the young lady from the building last time. Do you like this young lady this time?"

There was a hint of sourness in her words that she herself was not aware of, but it was obvious to others.

After hearing her childish words, Gu Huaisheng felt that there was no need to continue arguing with her. However, when he looked at her lips, he shamefully had the bad idea of ​​arguing with a child.

He said, “It’s OK.”

He said it was OK.

In Jiang Jingchun's impression, Gu Huaisheng has never lied to anyone, and she naturally thinks that he is not the kind of person who would lie, so... does he really think she is good?

Jiang Jingchun's face fell visibly.

"Marriage is no joke, cousin, please think about it carefully."

What else could she say? Was she asking him to stop liking her?

Did she mean to say bluntly, "Don't think about them, think about me instead?"

Jiang Jingchun maintained his last bit of sanity and said this, then turned around and went back to the mansion.

However, in the eyes of others, her efforts to maintain her rationality looked like a child imitating the way adults speak, which was just amusement.

Gu Huaisheng looked at her back and finally reminded her, "Mouth."

Jiang Jingchun didn't walk far. She heard what he said. Although she didn't understand what he meant by those two words, she was afraid that if she stayed any longer, she would burst into tears without any backbone. So in the end, she just stopped for a moment and walked back inside without looking back.

She held her breath and went back to the room. Thinking of Gu Huaisheng's words, she sat down in front of the bronze mirror and found that her lip balm was rubbed off.

She remembered that Song Xuan'an had pressed his palm against her mouth before, and it must have been at that time that he rubbed her.

She muttered, "I'm so upset. It's all Song Xuan'an's fault."

Naturally, she couldn't think of going anywhere else, but she subconsciously thought that a man as polite and rule-abiding as Gu Huaisheng would find the slight lip balm on her body inappropriate.

But she soon thought of what Gu Huaisheng had just said at the door, and she began to feel uncomfortable again. Her head was dizzy and the more she thought about it, the more unhappy she felt.

In the end, I couldn't hold back the tears and they rolled down from the corners of my eyes.

Hua Yun was shocked when she saw this, but she also knew why she was crying. How could she be happy when she saw the young marquis with others today?

But the person who tied the bell must be the one to untie it. As for the matter of the young marquis, no matter how Hua Yun tried to persuade her, it was useless. There was nothing she could do. She tried to coax her for a long time but she saw no improvement. She could only let her cry.

*

After Gu Huaisheng returned to the Marquis' Mansion, Madam Gu was already waiting there.

The flowing clouds had obscured the moonlight. He walked in from outside the house, his face dark for a moment, and only after he entered the house did his face finally brighten.

Seeing the young man with frosty eyebrows entering the room, Mrs. Gu felt something was wrong.

Sure enough, when she asked him how Miss Meng San was.

Gu Huaisheng said again, "I don't like it."

Mrs. Gu was immediately overwhelmed. She had often gone to Mrs. Meng for this matter. She had even met Miss Meng San once before and she seemed like a very nice girl.

How could he be dissatisfied?

She said unhappily, "You clearly agreed to go and see each other at the beginning, so I introduced you to someone else. But now, you don't like this one, and you don't like that one either. Are you teasing me on purpose?"

She is already the best girl, but he doesn't like her. Does he like fairies instead?

Mrs. Gu had a hunch that no matter how much she showed him the other person, he would definitely not like her when she was in front of him.

"Okay, if you don't like the girl your mother found for you, then you have to tell me what kind of girl you like. By then, you will have met all the ladies in the capital, and I will have made enemies with all of them."

"I don't know." He said lightly.

Hearing his neither salty nor bland tone, Mrs. Gu almost lost her temper, "I worry about this and that for you, can't you pay more attention to it yourself?"

"Don't worry about it."

"Then how can I not worry about it?"

If she doesn't worry about his marriage, who will worry about it? Himself? If he worries about it himself, she will never have a grandson in her lifetime.

But seeing Gu Huaisheng's stubborn look, she felt that she couldn't continue talking to him. She couldn't vent her anger and should have fainted long ago.

Mrs. Gu got up and left. Gu Huaisheng sat for a while and also planned to get up and leave.

But at this moment, a little head popped out from the door. Gu Huaisheng looked up and found that it was Gu Huailang.

It's strange that he hasn't gone to bed yet at this time.

Gu Huaisheng pretended not to see the little ball and walked out without stopping.

Until Gu Huailang spoke up, he said, "Brother, which dragon boat team won today?"

A few days ago, he was walking on the street with his mother and saw the dragon boat team preparing for the Dragon Boat Festival competition. He thought they were all very good. At that time, he wanted to know which team won the competition in the end.

Gu Huaisheng stopped and looked down at him, "You didn't go out to play tonight?"

Speaking of this, Gu Huailang became angry, and his tone was also a little aggrieved. He said, "My mother had promised to take me out to play, but she was always busy and forgot about me. I said I would go with the servants, but she refused."

His mother never kept her word, and Gu Huailang was so angry that he couldn't even sleep.

Gu Huaisheng looked through the lantern hanging under the corridor at the door and realized that the child in front of him had swollen eyes, as if he had just cried.

At first, Mrs. Gu did agree to take him out, but tonight was the Dragon Boat Festival, and there was a family dinner to prepare. As a result, it was delayed until very late. Gu Huailang wanted to go out by himself, but Mrs. Gu refused to let him.

The incident of Jiang Jingchun going missing before still makes people feel uneasy. Moreover, Jiang Jingchun was still with Li at that time. How could Mrs. Gu let Gu Huailang go out alone with such an incident in mind?

So no matter how he cried or made a fuss, Mrs. Gu ignored him and only promised to take him out next time.

Next time, next time, and next time again! She always doesn't keep her word. How can Gu Huailang not be angry?

Gu Huaisheng saw that he was so angry that his face was puffed up, and he thought it was a little funny, so he knelt down on one knee, looked at him and asked, "You want to go out and play, why don't you come with me?"

Since Gu Huailang came to ask him which team won today, he should have known that he went to the street today.

"My brother doesn't like me." Gu Huailang said with his head down.

He will definitely be annoyed if he follows behind him.

Gu Huailang's somewhat childish voice reached Gu Huaisheng's ears. He was silent for a moment, not knowing what he was thinking about.

Isn't that the way children are? If you don't like him, he won't like you either.

At this time, he thought of Jiang Jingchun. He always thought she was a child, but if she was, she was a very determined child, wasn't she? No one would stay close to him because of his indifference, including his mother, his brother... many people.

But she, and it seemed like only she, was different from them.

Pushing away again and again, approaching again and again.

Why was he so moved tonight by her lip balm that had been rubbed off? He thought that it was because what they did was against the ethics he had always upheld, which was why he felt so depressed.

That's right.

Why else could it be?

She said she liked him, but how could she do such a thing?

Gu Huaisheng stood up and said, "The team with the blue band tied on their arms won."