Bai Chuxiao looked at the scene before her, a smile playing on her lips. Putting aside the eldest daughter of the Shen family, she quite liked both this third young lady and Le'er...
But then, suddenly remembering something, Bai Chuxiao turned her head and asked, "Your Highness, where is Yu Fengyang?"
Hearing this, Murong Xuan, who was standing nearby, said with a half-smile, "Little Sister Xiao, you only just remembered?"
Bai Chuxiao remained expressionless, saying, "I don't understand what Second Brother is saying."
Chu Tianze raised an eyebrow, "Don't worry about him, he'll be back in a few days after he's sad..."
Bai Chuxiao said slowly, "That's a real pity. It's been hard for me to worry about him so much."
Murong Xuan shook his head helplessly, "Sister Xiao, most people can't handle this kind of worry."
Kong Xihan asked in a low voice, somewhat puzzled, "Xuan, what's wrong?"
Murong Xuan paused for a moment, then smiled and said, "It's nothing, Sister Xiao is just worried about Feng Yang's marriage."
As for Xiao Meimei's suspicion that Yu Fengyang was gay, he decided not to mention it. Besides, Xiao Meimei's implication was that she felt Yu Fengyang was very close to him, and that he was being suspected as well. How could he tell Xihan about that?
Bai Chuxiao noticed Kong Xihan's guilty expression; she had even suspected her own second brother. She felt terrible. She decided to focus on the sparring match. As for Yu Fengyang, she was sure he would be back soon…
Not far away, Song Hang looked at Song Le'er with some annoyance and said, "Little sister, your big brother is really useless..."
Song Le'er comforted him, "It's alright, big brother. Losing to the young master of the Murong family isn't shameful..."
Not far away, the young master of the Shen family sighed towards the young master of the Song family, "Hang, no wonder Father wouldn't let us join the army. We're still far from qualified."
Shen Ru smiled and said, "Martial arts skills don't prove anything about me, little brother, there's no need to be discouraged."
Shen Yiyu shook his head; he knew they hadn't lost solely due to a lack of martial arts skills.
Shen Xuanxuan's attention was entirely focused on Murong Che, and she didn't hear a word they were saying.
Shen Yiyu saw this and said in a low voice, "Little sister, could you at least blink?"
Shen Xuanxuan snapped out of her reverie and chuckled awkwardly, "Little sister was lost in thought for a moment. What was big brother just saying?"
Shen Ru smiled gently and raised an eyebrow, asking, "Thinking about something, or about your ideal husband?"
Shen Xuanxuan blushed slightly, "Big sister, please stop teasing me."
Born into a family of military officers, she naturally favored them. However, in Yongzhou, besides the Prince of Yan, the next two families were the Shen and Song families.
Although the two families had previously considered marriage, the family preferred the eldest sister to marry the young master of the Song family. However, for some reason, the eldest sister insisted that she would not marry anyone but the Prince of Yan, which strained the relationship between the two families.
Furthermore, Song Hang and Shen Yizhi hadn't been very cooperative in the first few years, and she and Le'er had no intention of getting married, so the two families simply abandoned the idea of marriage to avoid it turning into enmity. However, this back and forth inevitably caused some delays...
"Your Highness, Madam Murong and the others request your presence," Granny Lan suddenly stepped forward and said.
Bai Chuxiao asked calmly, "But what happened over there?"
Granny Lan said, "No..."
Bai Chuxiao understood immediately; she probably wanted to ask about her eldest and third brothers' situations...
Chu Tianze raised an eyebrow, "I'll go with Xiaoxiao to take a look."
Bai Chuxiao nodded with a smile. Chu Tianze must have gotten tired of sitting too; with them gone, everyone could be more relaxed.
Thinking of this, she smiled and said, "Eldest brother, third brother, the prince and I will go over there to take a look. You must take good care of the young ladies and gentlemen of the Shen and Song families on our behalf."
Murong Che and Murong Shuo raised their eyebrows. The Song and Shen families were also Chu Tianze's confidants; why would they need to entertain them?
As soon as the two stood up, everyone else quickly stood up as well.
Chu Tianze said calmly, "Please make yourselves at home. My wife and I have other matters to attend to."
"Respectfully seeing off the Prince and Princess"
Once the two left, everyone breathed a sigh of relief, but Shen Ru stared at Chu Tianze's retreating figure, lost in thought...
After coming out, Bai Chuxiao smiled and asked, "Are you tired of staying here?"
Chu Tianze said calmly, "What's there to see? We've already achieved our goal for today. In my opinion, this banquet can be called off."
Bai Chuxiao was speechless. "Your Highness, you're really good at business. You take the money and then try to kick people out, is that it?"
Chu Tianze calmly replied, "Xiaoxiao, you've misunderstood me. We've already gotten to know everyone we need to, so there's really no need to treat them to lavish meals and drinks. We'd be better off spending that money on some nicer things for Xiaoxiao."
Bai Chuxiao raised an eyebrow, "Alright, ever since I met you, my money has been dwindling..."
Although she lacks nothing, and all that money is just sitting there anyway, having it and not having it are still different...
Chu Tianze raised an eyebrow, "While they're still here, how about we extort another sum from them?"
Bai Chuxiao remained silent. "Forget it, let's preserve some of our reputation. Besides, Brother Sifang will be sending the money soon, so we're not short of military supplies for the time being..."
Chu Tianze felt a little uneasy. "It wasn't a gift. He was just helping us manage the business. That money was originally ours. The way Xiaoxiao said it makes me sound like a gigolo..."
Bai Chuxiao raised an eyebrow, "What is Your Highness competing with him for?"
Chu Tianze felt a pang of jealousy, but remained outwardly composed, saying, "I have no jealousy whatsoever. How could he possibly compare to me?"
Bai Chuxiao smiled and said, "This is the prince I know."
As they approached the area for entertaining the women, Chu Tianze said casually, "Xiaoxiao, go ahead. I'll wait for you here."
Bai Chuxiao smiled and said, "Yes, I'll just say a few words to my aunt and be right back."
After she left, Chu Tianze stood in the garden with his hands behind his back, waiting.
A short while later, a gentle female voice came from behind, "Ru'er greets Your Highness."
Chu Tianze looked at the woman who had suddenly appeared and gave a faint reply.
This area leads to the reception area for women, so it's not surprising that she was here.
Shen Ru showed no intention of going in. She raised her eyes, a strange light in them, and asked, "Does Your Highness truly not remember Ru'er?"
Chu Tianze looked somewhat impatient when he saw that she still hadn't left.
Shen Ru said gently, "The Prince once rescued a woman who had been attacked by bandits outside the city."
Several years ago, on her way back to Yongzhou from her maternal grandparents' home, she encountered bandits. Because of the Shen family's reputation, she wasn't accompanied by many guards.
But the bandits completely disregarded the Shen family's reputation and weren't after any money; it was as if they were deliberately seeking revenge. Although she came from the Shen family, she was just an ordinary young lady and didn't practice martial arts.
She could only sit in the carriage with her wet nurse, watching helplessly as the guards died one by one at the hands of the bandits. Just when she thought she was doomed, a man in a black brocade robe suddenly appeared with a group of black-armored guards, swiftly and decisively killing the bandits and saving them.
She only caught a few quick glances and didn't even have time to thank him before the man left the two of them behind, saying, "Send them back," and quickly led the black-armored guards up the mountain...
The two remaining black-armored guards respectfully replied, "Yes, Your Highness."
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